dewman
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by dewman on Oct 10, 2005 0:14:04 GMT -7
Hey, I have three amps (a Z Route 66, a Bluesbreaker and an old Ampeg VT-40) and I wanted to get an A/B/C/Y switch in order to play two or even three amps simultaneously. I thought about making a switcher box but haven't found any good schematics on the net. Any recommendations for homebrews or commercial switchers?
Thanks-
D
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Post by joekondziella on Oct 10, 2005 1:56:20 GMT -7
I think Keeley makes, one but it's pricey.
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Post by greenmachine on Oct 10, 2005 2:19:41 GMT -7
two Radial Engineering Switchbones in tandum ;D(only a/b/y)
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Post by bluzsteel on Oct 10, 2005 5:50:03 GMT -7
Startouch....the best,makes em out of his house. Ive got one , bulletproof
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Post by LittleBlindShakey on Oct 10, 2005 5:52:09 GMT -7
D, Analog Man makes several different stock switching boxes and in addition to that will custom make boxes. www.analogman.com/switchbox/index.htm As you may have read Analog Man and Keeley are the two high end pedal mod companies that most people favor. I think Analog Man has the more extensive list of switching boxes. I purchased one a couple of years ago and it works great. Solidly built.
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Post by real oldster on Oct 11, 2005 12:47:17 GMT -7
"I have three amps (a Z Route 66, a Bluesbreaker and an old Ampeg VT-40)"I have fond memories of a VT40. Used one with 4-10s and a Leslie, circa 1875. Which Z would the meisters say gets closest to capturing the Ampeg vibe?
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dewman
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by dewman on Oct 11, 2005 20:10:52 GMT -7
I tell you the VT-40 is an amazing amp. I have an earlier model, from 1974 I believe. Got it from Guitar center all banged up for around 300 bucks. It had a master volume when I got it - I had Todd Sharp from Nashville Amplifier service completely redo the amp - It needed a cap job and although I can handle your average Marshall or Fender, the Ampeg was a different beast. Anyway, Todd tore out the master volume control (tone instantly returned) and put in a new reverb circuit and replaced caps and a few resistors. The VT40 reverb sounded great before, but if a drummer kicked the amp pinged with that 'I dropped my amp' sound. There is a Tonequest report recounting how Todd rebuilt an Ampeg V2, which is the head version that you can get if you Google tonequest and 'Ventilator' since its the amp the Stones made a lot of use with on "Exile on Main Street'.
Well I ditched the CTS speakers that came with the amp, replacing them originally with Jensen reissue C10Qs which sounded good, but recently Todd recommended dropping in Celestion Vintage 10s or the combination of Jensen Neo's with Celestion V10s or Eminence Ramrods. I found two old celestion vintage 10s on Ebay after about two months of looking, and recently installed two 10 Neos. The old celestions aren't made any more, and I guess the new ones sound like vintage 30s. Anyway, the amp is pretty amazing. Its about as fat as you can get. The Ampeg company knew something about getting tight bass and these lower wattage V amps (VT40 and V2) really sound amazing. Teles and Strats are huge sounding. You have two tone shaping switches bass, mid and treble along with two channels which have their separate decibel reduction switches as well. The amp has two outs for extension cabs (although my mods removed I only have one ext cab out). The remaining out is an amp out to drive another amp. Being loyal to my Zs I actually play the amp a lot through the 4x10 and a Z Best cab. That is a sick combination.
VT-40s are entirely different amps than Zs, which I really love, yet sound very complementary since they have a very tight bass and sound fat. I am looking for a V2 head to restore over the winter to have a spare that I can actually lift...the head alone weighs 50 lbs approx. At least my fatboy VT40 has casters. The Neos really lighten the load too...
The VT40 is voiced very Fenderish, like the super reverb you never heard. But can get greasy or swampy (listen to Mick Taylor from 1971-73) as well as Marshally when driven but more open. So I put about a grand into it over the past year reluctantly for a 300$ amp, but I am more than pleased with the results. These are killer amps, so expect the prices to go through the roof, especially with me talking them up! Wait- these amps are horrible, a waste of cash...Power tubes are a pain ($$$) too since the plate voltages are around 585 volts - and some tubes are no longer made like the 6K11. Only NOS tubes like 7591A can take the voltage and still sound decent, although there are 7027s reissued by JJ I think. So its gonna get difficult before it gets better...oh well -
So you can imagine how jazzed I'll be if I can get for cheap a quiet ABCY switch so I can mix and match between amps. Thanks for the suggestions above, they have been helpful. I would like to make one if possible, so if anyone has a decent schematic and experience with, then please let me know. I found out Framptone sells the '3 Banger' for $369 which is expensive but does have an internal transformer and these switches to lift grounds so you dont get the hum. Gerald Weber talks about this type of thing in his book too I read last night, so the search continues.
I would say that the Route 66 gets close to the VT-40 vibe since they both are so fat sounding and have such tight bass response. I have not yet played my 66 through the VT-40 cab but will check it out. The VT-40 is a 4x10, so I imagine that playing the Route 66 through it might get a step closer. Neither the Ghia or the Route 66 can get at the swampy nasaly mid range that the VT40 can generate, although set on the high switch the Ghia sparkle can be emulated by the ampeg. Its a unique amp, loud, but at around 60 watts still breaks up nicely at 1/3 volume. Bet the Leslie/VT40 combination was pretty nice...
D
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Post by LittleBlindShakey on Oct 12, 2005 8:04:59 GMT -7
Anyone who works that hard to get an amp to sound good deserves a Karma...
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Post by bluzsteel on Oct 12, 2005 9:03:46 GMT -7
a buddy of mine in Nashville James Pennebacker has a 410 Ampeg, Im still lookin. Todd is who turned him on to it , by the way all three of us spent some years with Delbert McClintons Band
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Post by real oldster on Oct 12, 2005 19:45:19 GMT -7
"Bet the Leslie/VT40 combination was pretty nice..."
In the early 70s people hadn't heard many guitars played through Leslies in 'live' situations. They kept looking for the organist. Pretty nice it was...
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dewman
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by dewman on Oct 13, 2005 8:43:10 GMT -7
Yeah I know I sort of overdid it on redoing the VT40 - probably could have bought a blackface fender!! But it does sound different and huge.. It was over a year and a half and done more as a project....
I heard that the Leslie's were great w/ guitar but guess there is some volume loss when you switch over to them. A local store has a used Cordovox Leslie cab (used with accordion) that I recently tried but thought it would be too quiet. Guess you have to mike them I suppose.
Back in the 80s I saw a band called the Point (one of the members of Cry of Love, Audley Freed's band, and I think Audley played in the point too) and they had a killer Leslie going that night w/ guitar and the B3 Hammond. I remember seeing the horn from the Leslie swingin since they opened up the cab , maybe for more volume...
After all the amp work was done, Todd gave me a copy of his latest solo CD. Some nice tones on there....
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Post by mossman on Oct 19, 2005 10:50:10 GMT -7
How about a 70s vt22 it has 2 12s and weights about a kazillion pounds. I acually switched it to el 34 ,thought it was to sterile.Im sure it can be switched back. I dont play it much I play a 79 jmp 50 w marshall with a trainwreck mod on the master.Im look at the maz sr for a second amp will it keep up with the marshall?I guess Im way of topic. ciao
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Post by steveinnashville on Oct 30, 2005 13:55:08 GMT -7
Voodoo Labs' Amp Selector seems really nice, with independent volume output controls and a tuner out. You can send one signal to four amps or send two signals to two amps each, with a Y cable you could send multple signals to the same amp(s)... Two modes of operation, you can use all the stomps individually or make them exclusive. You might also check out this company: www.woboge.com (You might have to hit "reload" for each page, and then it will load, at least I have to)... WOBO is going to make my custom switching unit. Very good customer service from Poland, and that is a job where you NEED to pay very careful attention to every part of the customer's setup. They have done a great job so far in making recommendations and helping me design a custom switcher with many oddball quirks. It's got 12 stomps, 3 inputs + switchable effects loop for loop station pedal- with stomp for choice of input channel, tuner out, 2 four channel mixers for parallel mixing of each signal's strength for each amplifier, buffered outputs and two mute switches for each of the four channels' (clean/dirty/echo/loop) output, so I each signal can be selected on/off for either amp individually. There is also an effects loop for output B, so I can put an E-H POG and weird fake 70s Walco Chord & Note Sutainer- essentially a compressor, but weird- in front of a Champ II driving a '63 Leslie cabinet. So, if they work with that, they should be able to make you a great pedal. Oh, and that monstrosity of a switching system I just described, compeletely custom-designed from my description of setup and specifications, is only $299... Before I got the quote I was expecting to pay $400-500. So, even though I haven't actually placed the order yet, I highly recommend investigating their website and emailing Filip (International Sales Manager) to see what kind of solution they might be able to cook up for you. They can make use of relays, mixers, buffered outputs, etc.... You might also want to check these: www.analogman.comwww.loop-master.comwww.loooper.com-Steve
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Post by jvdunne on Nov 7, 2005 14:26:06 GMT -7
I use a Morley-only $50, good to hook up two amps, either one at a time, or both together. I use it to play my CG, and a 65 Deluxe Reverb-pure heaven.
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Post by StrangeC on Nov 15, 2005 10:45:01 GMT -7
Does anyone know if a guitar signal can simply be split using a Y cable? ie one signal to go to a tuner but keep another signal live bypassing the tone-sucking tuner.
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Post by steveinnashville on Nov 16, 2005 2:39:47 GMT -7
It definitely can, the quality of the cable is apparently the determinant for minimizing signal degradation, but short of a high-end Y cable you could definitely use a loop box, A/B or A/B/Y box, a "simple mixer" unit (essentially splitting one input to two outputs passively, just a box). If you were needing something like dewman with switching multiple amps, the Voodoo Lab unit has a buffered tuner out. So does teh WOBO system I should be seeing in the mail this next week. I believe the ToneBone models and several others have tuner outs as well.
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