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Post by T-R☼CK ♫ on Feb 12, 2008 15:09:56 GMT -7
This has probably been covered (forgive me).
Is there a "safe" way to use 1 head as a "switchable" pre-amp (a "dirt" box if you will) into another head? Specifically: I want to use my modded EVJ head ( 5 watts/class A) for lead/slide tones driving my Ghia (single cab)..
I have a good "ABY" box, but I'm just not sure about the head/head connections....A direct box from head1(out)/head2(in) maybe??..I'm spooked..
I've seen folks chain multiple heads forever, but I'm not sure how to go about this, OR, if it is advisable... Just curious.
Thx to all.....
T
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Post by kruzty on Feb 12, 2008 15:22:21 GMT -7
A Weber MiniMASS has a line out. I suppose you could stick that in the input of the ghia.
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Post by T-R☼CK ♫ on Feb 12, 2008 15:52:43 GMT -7
Thx Kruzty..That would prolly work fer sure. But, that's a $250 fix...I'm kinda tryin' to stay in the "two fitty" range....
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 12, 2008 19:36:30 GMT -7
There are a lot of issues with trying to do something like this. Each of your amps needs a load on the output transformer, which is normally a speaker. A speaker is a very low impedance, but the input to your amp is a very high impedance. You can't directly plug one amp's speaker out into the other amp's guitar input without taking care of the loading issue. The second issue is the noise. Your first amp is amplifying your guitar many times, but it's also amplifying any noise present. This isn't normally an issue, but when you take THAT signal and amplify it many times again, you're going to find that it's one noisy mess. Not trying to discourage you, but you need to know there are some challenges. The impedance challenge can be met with a direct box and a load resistor. Since the first amp is only 5 watts, you can get a 10 to 25 watt resistor (to keep it from being boiling hot all the time) as your pseudo speaker. Those kinds of resistors can be had for a few dollars. The direct box will cost a little more, but I've seen very reasonable ones out there, like the Behringer unit over at zzounds.com ( www.zzounds.com/item--BEHDI100). You might check - it could be that direct box can do the load resistor part, but if not, you'll have to wire the resistor to a plug so you can plug it in where the speaker goes. The noise could be a big problem or not a problem at all - it's going to depend on how you set things, how quiet your first amp is, how good your cabling is, and what kind of power and lighting is in the vicinity. You'll just have to try it. If it's a mess, you can try better cables and such, but you are fighting a real problem of too much gain and it might be a losing battle. You just have to try it to see, and try a lot of different settings. You won't need a tremendously high level of signal from the first amp to make the second amp go completely nuts, so some finesse on the knobs will go a long way. Good luck!
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Post by T-R☼CK ♫ on Feb 16, 2008 14:50:08 GMT -7
Ahhhhhh the voice of clarity...Bad idea..... thx Steve.......
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Post by deltone on Feb 18, 2008 11:13:13 GMT -7
In the Feb issue of Guitar Player magazine, Robben Ford says that he likes to run a Super Reverb and a Twin Reverb together ("...complement each other for a big, fat, wonderful tone.").
Here's how he does it: "The trick is to go into the first input of the second channel of either amp, and then connect the second input of that same channel to the first input on the other amp."
I'm under the impression that he doesn't do it for channel switching, though, which may not be what you're after. Apparently that's what he's using for his overall sound.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 18, 2008 11:24:21 GMT -7
He's running them in parallel. I never liked this method because your amp input becomes the Lo input all the time. I like running my guitars into the Hi input. But RF uses a humbucker, so he has more signal to work with. I use two heads as well, but use a Radial JX-2 A/B/Y. The "Y" in that description is a switch that turns both heads on at the same time. Doing two heads via the A/B/Y or via Robben Ford's method doesn't add gain, which was the original purpose of the thread. It DOES sound very cool though!
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Post by Curt on Feb 18, 2008 20:27:18 GMT -7
I dig doin' it RF's way with 2 imput Z's ! The "Ray slaved > SRZ is cool The RXJr> Ghia is cool too Still gotta play with feeding the RXJr into the Galaxie or the 'Ray But then I tend to prefer Lo Imput on Z amps. Makes for a PHAT Wall-O-Tone.
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Post by mjmtri on Feb 19, 2008 18:02:47 GMT -7
I use an Earnie Ball Pan pedal. You hook your guitar into your board - goes to pan pedal - on the back it has two (2) outputs - you hook one to one amp and the other to the second amp. Push the pedal forward = all amp #1, pull pedal all the way back =all amp #2. Put it anywhere in between and you get the coolest mix of both amps. I have used it with a Fender Twin and an EVH III. WOW what a wall of sound!!!!
Michael.
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