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View Full Version : Do you double your pleasure? - Use of 2 amps



Tone2TheBone
May 14th, 2007, 02:50 PM
Some players run 2 amps to get their sound. Think Joe Bonamassa, SRV et al. I think there is some merit to "layering" your tone with 2 amps. One amp could be set with a certain amount of grit or (back the other way)...cleanliness. The other amp set slightly differently or even be a different make of amp altogether. You can come up with different combinations of tone using 2 amps at the same time...especially when you're recording. You'd be able to contour the sounds you want by simply fading in or out the best sounds from both amps on the mixdown. Do any of you guys do this?

Plank_Spanker
May 14th, 2007, 04:17 PM
I do. I A/B my Germino with a Johnson Millennium using a Framptone amp switcher. The Johnsons have a few patches that sound sweet, and the Germino is just sweet any way you play it.....:D

guitartist
May 14th, 2007, 05:42 PM
I do too. Love the different textures you can get by playing through two amps at once...it really adds a lot of dimension to your sound. Crappy little solid state amps can actually suprisingly good when you combine them and space them apart (although if I could get away with playing loud very often, and $$$ wasn't an issue, I'd ditch them in a new york minute for tube heads and 4x12 cabs!)

Rather than use my A/B pedal to switch amps, I usually use it as an "on/off switch" for an amp set up to sound dirty, while I leave the clean amp on all the time (i use the dirty amp as a boost for solos). Depending on my mood though, sometimes I'll use an overdrive pedal for the boost, and leave both amps on all the time, or just set the A/B pedal to switch between the clean and dirty amps. Even when I am just noodling around playing through my Pignose while watching TV, it sounds so much better when I am also running my signal through a mini-amp, such as my Smokey or Dean Markley, etc.

Since I started doing this, its really inspired me to acquire more amps (although as you can see from my list below, they're all fairly inexpensive). Its really a lot of fun seeing what sounds you get through different amp combinations. Sometimes I'll play through my two tube amps, sometimes I'll play through my two Voxes, sometimes I'll combine different sounding amps, such as my Vox Pathfinder with the Marshall MG15 - depending on how ya tweak the knobs they can sound really good together. I'm getting a vintage Marshall Lead 12 amp (from the eighties, made in the UK) - can't wait to get that puppy so I can play through two Marshalls at once (even though they're wee little solid state combos, I can still pretend I'm a heavy metal god!):DR

Sometimes I'll get crazy and do a threeway, using either the stereo outputs on my POD, or a Radio Shack line splitter for the third output. (I'm planning on getting an A/B looper with three outputs in the near future).

For playing electric at low volumes, a multi-amp set up definitely helps getting a bigger sound. And at high volumes, it can melt your face!

tot_Ou_tard
May 14th, 2007, 08:44 PM
I've thought about doing this if I get a new amp.

I'd get a tube amp & use that & my AD30VT.

DaveO
May 15th, 2007, 10:35 AM
I have 2 Roland cubes. The cube 60 has a tuner out plug that puts out a low signal, so I run it into the input on the cube 30 and set one for tweed setting and the other on black panel or brit combo. Six models with lots of combinations. They sound pretty good like that. I was thinking of selling one but I would probably miss the sounds you can get from them.
Dave

Tone2TheBone
May 15th, 2007, 12:29 PM
Great posts guys thanks. I have a general question regarding the use of OD pedals on 2 amps at the same time. I'm thinking that one would have to configure each amp for tone while any OD pedal was on, especially while using different kinds of amps (either different tube amps or solid state/tube amp) because of how each amp would react with input gain of some type. What might sound good and balanced out of 2 amps in a clean mode might be out of whack with overdrive introducted. Have you found this to be true if you're running both amps on and stomping on an OD pedal guitarist?

TS808
May 15th, 2007, 05:36 PM
I never ran two amps at once, but definitely prefer the sound of dual 12's over a single 12" speaker.

If this counts, I had a Line 6 Duoverb amp that allowed you to use two amp models at once or blend the two together. I really liked the tones from the amp using the twin reverb and mesa boogie models, or two marshalls together. I'd like to see more amp modeling technology do this. To my knowledge, the only amp that allows you to do this now is the Line 6 Vetta.

guitartist
May 16th, 2007, 09:49 AM
Hi Tone2theBone,
You raise a very good point. When I am running a pedal (or pedals) through two amps at once, sometimes it sounds good and sometimes it doesn't. It takes experimentation to find a combination that works. When playing an OD pedal through two amps, I usually keep the gain turned down pretty low on both amps so that the sound doesn't get too muddy (its not as critical an issue with effects like digital delay, rotary, tremolo, reverb, etc.). Also I find that my Crybaby Wah doesn't sound as good if both amps are set to much gain. An OD pedal run through two amps definitely works best when the amps sound similar (like playing through two Voxes or two tube amps).

Sometimes I'll just run my effects through one amp, and keep the other totally dry, or run the wah through both amps and an OD pedal just through one amp (gives more of a layering of sound that way). I'm still experimenting all the time trying to get a better tone.

Lately I haven't been using effects as much, been going more for pure amp sound, but I do love playing with effects. I try to limit it to just a few at a time though these days, cause even though I've got a boss noise suppressor I usually get a nasty hum if I use more than two or three pedals. Its a ***** constantly resetting up my pedals though, I need to get a pedal board and figure out a way to get rid of that hum when all my pedals are hooked up (I hope I can find a better noise gate than the boss, I'm not very happy with it) .

Tone2TheBone
May 16th, 2007, 10:15 AM
I prefer the sound of pure amps also. I really need to try running 2 at once to try some layering for myself, thank you for your information. Have you isolated your pedals to find out which is making noise? You shouldn't be getting any hum noise. A little hiss here and there maybe but no hum.

guitartist
May 16th, 2007, 06:19 PM
Hi T2TB, I highly recommend that you try playing through two amps; especially if you're not using any pedals, it can really fill out your sound.

I'm surprised not more guys have chimed in on this, I would think a lot of guys are into the stereo surround-sound of a duo-amp set-up. I'm no expert on any of this stuff, I'm definitely no pro, just a dedicated picker who loves to play...I've been at it a long time but am still learning all the time.

I'm a cheapskate when it comes to gear, and have to play fairly quietly for the most part these days, and am on a perpetual quest for good tone with inexpensive equipment.

The hum mostly happens when I have my FX57 Hard Rock Distortion unit in the chain...its a pretty crappy pedal, I guess I oughta just retire it. The Boss Noise suppressor doesn't clean the hum up much at all when the FX57 is plugged in. Even without it though my FX102 Mystic Blues Overdrive with my wah pedal sometimes gets a loud hiss going.

Tone2TheBone
May 17th, 2007, 09:20 AM
Single coil hum from a Strat doesn't bother me at all. In fact I think it's part of the idiom. The other night I was watching an Aerosmith DVD and Joe had this hellacoius hum coming from one of his Strats while recording in the studio and I just laughed and said "dang thank God for filters and gates...at least you won't hear that noise on the tunes". It was crazy bad too. There are times when you can still hear a faint hum on other recordings though if you really listen. Even heard some pedal noise on Joe Bonamassa's BD CD.

Pedals for me though are another thing. I don't like noisy pedals. It interferes with my enjoyment of hearing the 60 cycle hum. ;)

guitartist
May 17th, 2007, 05:03 PM
Yeah, when you play electric, a certain amount of hum is to be expected, especially with single coils. It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't get crazy loud, then it can be very annoying. When I play my Arion Tubulator through my Marshall MG15's distortion channel, it picks up radio stations! So of course I avoid that.

I used to play with a keyboard player who was very particular about any noise in my signal, and he made me a lot more aware of it than I had been previously. My tone has come a long way since those days (thank God!...still got a ways to go though.)

I forgot to mention earlier that if anyone else out there ever plays though a mini-amp, they ought to try playing through two of them. IMO mini-amps like the Smokey and the danelectro honeytone sound really awful by themselves, but played with another amp they sound 10 times better.

Plank_Spanker
May 17th, 2007, 05:31 PM
I don't usually run both amps at once. I use two amps for "more color on the pallette". The Johnson is a modeler that has its uses; the Germino is my straight up rocker. Together, they're one hell of a team! :D

Leonidas
June 4th, 2007, 02:08 PM
I had the idea of running two amps before, and came across this thread, so it moved me to try it out...

I tried running my valve jr more on the cleaner side along with my vox with more distortion.. AWESOME sound! It ads a whole level of dimension. The dirty crunch combined with the cleaner punchier sound made for a really cool sound, and all kinds of possibilities adjusting volumes of each, and tone and distortion of each. Definitely a cool way to get new sounds.. Also stereo chorus sounds SWEET through the dano cool cat :)

Tone2TheBone
June 4th, 2007, 02:34 PM
That video of Joe Bonamassa showing off his equipment and amps got me to asking this question originally. I know he blends the sound of his Jubilees and (on the video) his Budda amps. I'm thinking you'd get some really hellacious tones that way and the harmonics would just color the sound of your playing in an awesome way. I'm glad you tried it Leonidas I've been wanting to try it too.

Leonidas
June 4th, 2007, 09:48 PM
Yeah seems that that idea gets used often in recording. I originally had the idea when I saw the gear video of Warren Haynes from Gov't Mule. On the new Mule album (High and Mighty) he used combinations of 3 amps: a Diaz, a Soldano, and a Fender Blues Jr...


I really like it. Gives the sound a lot of depth.

sunvalleylaw
March 18th, 2010, 06:50 PM
Dragging up this old thread, as I was considering trying this. I don't want to spend a bunch of money to try it though.

Is this a/b/y box ok? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-CoolSWITCH-ABY-Box?sku=180614

You can get them new on ebay for cheap, $39 shipped. I am not really wanting to spend $150 or something for a Lehle(sp?) splitter to try it.

FrankenFretter
March 18th, 2010, 07:05 PM
I run both my Marshall and my Vox at the same time, using a stereo chorus. It's a very full, wide sound with the chorus on. Sounds good with it off, too.

markb
March 18th, 2010, 07:08 PM
Dragging up this old thread, as I was considering trying this. I don't want to spend a bunch of money to try it though.

Is this a/b/y box ok? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-CoolSWITCH-ABY-Box?sku=180614

You can get them new on ebay for cheap, $39 shipped. I am not really wanting to spend $150 or something for a Lehle(sp?) splitter to try it.

It'll do the job but some of the more expensive boxes use isolating circuits to avoid earth loops. Worth a try.

Katastrophe
March 18th, 2010, 07:26 PM
I've never run two amphs together by myself, but a bandmate and I used to do the same thing, essentially.

His distortion tones emphasized the lower end of the spectrum, and mine had a touch less gain and emphasized the mids and highs. By ourselves, it sounded crappy. But played together, the sound was huge!

sunvalleylaw
March 18th, 2010, 08:15 PM
I run both my Marshall and my Vox at the same time, using a stereo chorus. It's a very full, wide sound with the chorus on. Sounds good with it off, too.


I guess I could try that off my Boss CE-5 and not buy anything.

MAXIFUNK
March 18th, 2010, 09:58 PM
The things I learn here just a wealth of info.

markb
March 18th, 2010, 10:27 PM
I guess I could try that off my Boss CE-5 and not buy anything.

You didn't say about the CE-5, Steve or I'd have told you to use that to split your signal, just move it to the end of the chain.

sunvalleylaw
March 18th, 2010, 10:38 PM
Ya, I didn't think of that before. I was thinking, if I was not going to use the chorus (edit, not use the effect but still use the pedal to split), maybe I could split at the beginning, and then have separate dirt set ups too, the Rodent and ZYS on one side, and the DS-1 and Bad Monkey on the other, throw the Little Big Muff in there somewhere, and Hah! Might be fun to play around with.

FrankenFretter
March 19th, 2010, 12:54 AM
Ya, I didn't think of that before. I was thinking, if I was not going to use the chorus, maybe I could split at the beginning, and then have separate dirt set ups too, the Rodent and ZYS on one side, and the DS-1 and Bad Monkey on the other, throw the Little Big Muff in there somewhere, and Hah! Might be fun to play around with.

I never considered doing that; might have to experiment this weekend. Thanks Steve.

Tell us how your experiment turns out!

oldguy
March 19th, 2010, 04:21 AM
Ya, I didn't think of that before. I was thinking, if I was not going to use the chorus, maybe I could split at the beginning, and then have separate dirt set ups too, the Rodent and ZYS on one side, and the DS-1 and Bad Monkey on the other, throw the Little Big Muff in there somewhere, and Hah! Might be fun to play around with.

You might want to try adding reverb/delay to one side and grit/dirt to the other, then tweak the volume levels to taste. You can get a full fat sound doing that.

deeaa
March 19th, 2010, 06:40 AM
I have sometimes experimented w/two amps - well in recording I pretty much always do it, at least by re-amping and duplicating tracks - but in 'real life' I find it gives not enough added value compared to the trouble.

Aside from the haulage & more gear, I find it's hard to match the two amps so it won't distract me when playing. I mean, if I have two amps with quite different tonality, it can be great for some part such as a wide, strong rhythm like doubled, but for another part like a lead riff etc. it may sound downright weird, like there was an octover tracking it or something. You don't want a cleanish twang underneath a weeping solo for instance.

And that translates to a lot of problems for switching channels etc...

But I do like to for instance mix&match speakers and mike them differently and run that in stereo for instance. Or insert a D/I line with emulation & mix with the miked tone and so on.

But two actual amps live...I'd need a robot with a logistics program to adjust them amps to my liking from part to part. Something like Neil Young's Whizzer and so on. So it'd be feasible only if I had roadies and other crew etc...

Brian Krashpad
March 19th, 2010, 07:31 AM
I recently used 2 amphs in a gigging sitch for the first time in about 10 years. Wanted to use the sounds available (especially the delay for one song in particular) on my Super Champ XD, but also wanted more oomph than a 15W 1x10 on a big stage.

So I used the SC XD up close to me, where I could change the effects between songs, with the pedal for clean and drive channels, then lined that out to a 60W Sunn head with a 2x12 cab in the backline. Worked a charm.

Here's the rig, SC XD off to the right, Sunn rig back behind me:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3645/mlc2010015.jpg

sunvalleylaw
March 19th, 2010, 07:50 AM
You might want to try adding reverb/delay to one side and grit/dirt to the other, then tweak the volume levels to taste. You can get a full fat sound doing that.

Thanks all for the input. As I am not playing out electrically at this time, this will be just for fun. It will be fun to experiment a little and try all that out. OG, I went back and watched your recent vid to try to see how to do it. That was a good, full, fat sound you had going there. Part of what was inspiring me to figure out how to try it. :AOK

tunghaichuan
March 19th, 2010, 09:25 AM
About 15 years ago, I got two RSA 1x12" cabs, which are carpet-covered versions of Mesa/Boogie's Thiele cabs which in turn are copies of an EVM-designed cab for their 12L speakers.

I've run a stereo setup since then. First it was stereo using a power amp, preamp and FX rackmount units. Sounded okay, but rather generic.

Then a while back I got a Boss Digital Reverb pedal and run that into two Valve Jr. amps and the RSA cabs which are loaded with Celestion speakers.

I've also experimented with running a Blackheart Little Giant Head into a 1x12" cab and a Valve Jr. into a Valve Junior cab at the same time using the stereo Boss Reverb pedal. I bought the BH cab empty and threw an old Carvin speaker in it which is scooped in the mids. The VJ cab has the stock speaker which is pretty middy, so the two balance each other out very well.

I have used to use a CE-5 chorus with both of the aforementioned setups, but I didn't like the tone when it was on.