ABY Box and 2 Amps

[Old lefty 101]

I have a Radial Big Shot ABY Box and I run a Fender Champ 600 and a Vox AC4TV through it. There is no shock hazard. Button A = both on or choice of left, right. Button B= L or R amp. Use Button B to balance amps L or R volume. This Box is analogue and the are no batteries. Set the small Switches for no hum and also so that the signals dont cancel each other out. The end result is the most amazing sound (Fender and Vox together.) I use reverb on the Fender to achieve just the right separation. You can reverse the Box to have the choice of 2 guitars and 1 amp. This setup really brings the flavor of the 2 amps to life. Let me know if you have tried this setup out. Cheers

 

[J-bass&Tele]

I have done a lot of playing through two amps. Mostly at home.
Have used a Big Shot ABY, a Lehle Little Dual and now use a Lehle P-split II as I never switch between amps, just need the transformer isolation and phase inversion. Dual mono or split before reverb/delay/trem.
AC15 and a modded Laney Cub 10 (2x6v6 version) sounds really good and loud together but a Pathfinder 15r and a Fender Rumble 15 sounds great at home.
Haven't used two amps on live gigs that much though. Usually there is a PA and monitors that'll make whatever amp I use sound big

 

[Dukex]

Yes, don't use it often, but it's great (inexpensive) tone option.

 

[Old lefty 101]

Yes, don't use it often, but it's great (inexpensive) tone option.

Yes inexpensive is true this is the type of effect I like, nice and clean soundscape

 

[JamesAM]

I like the bigger and louder sound it provides- I do it with a 5e3 and an 18w, both driven hard. Really deep, aggressive sound.

I find I do get some tone suck with the passive big shot box, which is extremely easy to remedy- just stick a boss tuner in front. The buffer in the pedal tightens it right up.

 

[black_doug]

I have thought about this, and I’m sure it would sound good. Places I play are trying to keep stage volume at a minimum, with IEMs being used. Even one amp is frowned upon.

 

[loudboy]

I used to use a Boogie Mk I/Roland JC-77 in tandem. Sounded enormous, and was very compact.

The Boogie was all mids, and the JC filled in the top and bottom.

 

[stormsedge]

I ran my Quilter (w/pedals) and DV Mark (clean clean clean) that way for a long time. Recent science experiments have altered the signal path, but a fun way to run a rig.

 

[Maguchi]

I have a Radial Big Shot ABY Box and I run a Fender Champ 600 and a Vox AC4TV through it. There is no shock hazard. Button A = both on or choice of left, right. Button B= L or R amp. Use Button B to balance amps L or R volume. This Box is analogue and the are no batteries. Set the small Switches for no hum and also so that the signals dont cancel each other out. The end result is the most amazing sound (Fender and Vox together.) I use reverb on the Fender to achieve just the right separation. You can reverse the Box to have the choice of 2 guitars and 1 amp. This setup really brings the flavor of the 2 amps to life. Let me know if you have tried this setup out. Cheers

I have but with an inexpensive Carvin A/B box without any fancy electronics. Sounds pretty good though. Use it with a Blackface Princeton and a Tweed Deluxe. The best of both worlds.

 

[northernguitar]

Tried this at home and it was fun. Took it to a gig and it was a little nightmarish. Enough work to get one amp sounding great in the mix in different venues; dealing with two was more trouble than I wanted to deal with, never mind that my band was ready to gut me.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Radial Switchbone fan here. I use it to pair, in various ways,

'74 Bandmaster Reverb
Vox AC15C1
Excelsior Pro
Pro Junior IV
Ibanez TSH15
Princeton Chorus

Works great, with excellent on-board boost/EQ features, too.

 

[JohnnyThul]

I had two AC30HW combos, one with greenbacks, one with Blue AlNiCos. Used a Lehle Dual and a TC Mimiq, wall of sound at it's best! Cool was also when you started playing, then added a Deja Vibe in one amp and then switched in a Delay later on the other amp, you could bath in that sound! Live: pure horror to set this up to sound good. I mainly used just one amp, easier to use on a lot levels.
But running both parallel with time based effects, that was a lot of fun!

 

[Old lefty 101]

Tried this at home and it was fun. Took it to a gig and it was a little nightmarish. Enough work to get one amp sounding great in the mix in different venues; dealing with two was more trouble than I wanted to deal with, never mind that my band was ready to gut me.

I play at home mostly, an audience might not have the ear to appreciate it. That's my playing and the setup as well. LoL

 

[Willie Johnson]

I do two Princetons of slightly different flavors but gave up on the ABY--I use both on at the same time and use a y-plug to split two separate paths of pedals to each amp. Both amps share a graphic eq and a few drive pedals, and then after the y-plug get two different sets of effects.

 

[muscmp]

i run 75 vibrochamp and 76 champ with a morley aby. also have run two gibson ga79rtv that way as well as two 5e3 builds. fun stuff, especially with pedals set up on either side.

play music!

 

[ReverendRevolver]

Last practice I ran the Frenzel and the 5E5. I normally just run:tele->delay dialed to slapback->ABY(EhX switchblade+)->the 2 inputs of the Frenzel, and use the Mside a little louder and dirtier.
Running the 5e5 (which I'm not driving hard, I have Frenzel at half power for practice) as a clean and dialing the Frenzel for dirty gave a gorgeous sound on songs where I could pull back the gain a hair and run both.

Before now I never really used ABY, but fir a few gigs when I didn't mind hauling 2 huge amps 12+ years ago, I'd run the AB165 bassman rig and the Fender 75 on an AB box, and used the bassman as my lead channel with a graphic fuzz on some songs. The amps took up the whole back of my Isuzu Rodeo back then, I slid the guitars between the 75 and the bassman cab and tossed the cable bag In the passenger seat.

If I could swing it, I'd never use a distortion or OD pedal and just push amps on an ABY box. Of course, pushing a 50w sf bassman only flew at outdoor gigs, but still.......

As of now, I'm trying to make the load/unload go faster, so I'm getting a backpack for the head, isobar, 2 pedals, and the cables. Then speaker cab in left hand, tele case in right. One trip, so we can get the PA and drums in faster.

If I change my mind, 2 amps will be my new norm.

 

[erratick]

I have a Radial Big Shot ABY Box and I run a Fender Champ 600 and a Vox AC4TV through it. There is no shock hazard. Button A = both on or choice of left, right. Button B= L or R amp. Use Button B to balance amps L or R volume. This Box is analogue and the are no batteries. Set the small Switches for no hum and also so that the signals dont cancel each other out. The end result is the most amazing sound (Fender and Vox together.) I use reverb on the Fender to achieve just the right separation. You can reverse the Box to have the choice of 2 guitars and 1 amp. This setup really brings the flavor of the 2 amps to life. Let me know if you have tried this setup out. Cheers

I do this for bass. One path is bass to bass amp. The other is bass to octave up (and some other effects) to a guitar amp.

Got the idea from Royal Blood. I'm still experimenting, but I can have bass only, "guitar only" and both.

 

[Tom Hicks]

Under the influence of That Pedal Show a few months back I did several gigs with a 2 amp wet/dry rig using an ABY box.

The dry amp was a vintage 1958 Gibson GA6 (6v6s) and the wet amp was a modern Monoprice 15 (el84s).

I didn't hear any special mojo and it was a bit of a hassle.

 

[Old lefty 101]

I have done a lot of playing through two amps. Mostly at home.
Have used a Big Shot ABY, a Lehle Little Dual and now use a Lehle P-split II as I never switch between amps, just need the transformer isolation and phase inversion. Dual mono or split before reverb/delay/trem.
AC15 and a modded Laney Cub 10 (2x6v6 version) sounds really good and loud together but a Pathfinder 15r and a Fender Rumble 15 sounds great at home.
Haven't used two amps on live gigs that much though. Usually there is a PA and monitors that'll make whatever amp I use sound big

You know what I'm talking about, when i split 2 amps with the big shot i get an increase in definition in tone that guitar pedals will not reproduce. I have tried it with different amps at different price levels and different power balances and enjoyed all the results surprisingly

 

[Old lefty 101]

Tried this at home and it was fun. Took it to a gig and it was a little nightmarish. Enough work to get one amp sounding great in the mix in different venues; dealing with two was more trouble than I wanted to deal with, never mind that my band was ready to gut me.

i just play at home in my small studio with low watt amps to keep my wife happy. I've never gigged or used high powered amps.