Mono vs. Stereo Guitar Amp/Effects

[Brent Hutto]

It's been months since I switched my home guitar rig over to a stereo pair of Katana amps. My delay, tremolo and looper pedals all work in stereo so the setup is simple to do.

It's mono from the Telecaster into Fuzz Face then Phase 90 then Distortion+ (mono/analog side)

From there into a Boss DD-500 delay then Source Audio Vertigo tremolo then Line6 DL4 (stereo/digital side).

The stereo outs of the DL4 have separate cables to the Katanas, one situated behind my playing position and one 90-degrees to the right.

Today just out of curiosity I briefly switched everything over to mono and just the Katana behind me. Practiced my latest fiddle tune for about 30-45 minutes that way then switched back.

Just as I thought, the difference was like comparing a Grand Piano to a kids Xylophone. Wow does everything sound bigger, fuller, richer in stereo.

P.S. The looper is on the "digital side", being digital and all, and it will do stereo but I'm just using it in mono before the DD-500 does the actual stereo signal split.

 

[Tarkus60]

Oh yes my first time was ...2 PRRI's . On a chorus pedal with stereo out. One side distorted, the other clean. Oh yes it was glorious!

 

[TwoBear]

Trying to fight my long-winded meanderings.

1. Seem to remember John Lennon saying he liked to listen to music in Mono.

2. I definitely miss it now that my Pod Go has been sent in for service.

3. Not playing out much anymore in bands.

4. I have gone busking in stereo and like it.

5. I took the PodGo as a back up to one of the few gigs I did this year, was glad I didn’t need it because the PA was a hassle enough.

6. I could see how if the sound person was up to snuff the pod could’ve been a great thing.

7. When I was young, I used to listen to recordings more in mono-Tube amps like Eico, Macintosh, I think Harmon Kardon? Couple names I can’t remember.

8. When everything‘s working right in my home studio which is very minimal, I run some stereo effects out of the pod, w/a few mono fx in front & in fx loop, into the Xenyx (stereo effects) mixer, through a Behringer composer pro XL (which seems to bypass cleanly) And stacking stereo effects and panning really seem to open up spatially.

9. I’ve got a long way to go on that verbosity

10. Something I found interesting-when I added a static (non-spinning) cabinet spread away from my Cordovox Leslie 16 type, I thought the same signal coming from the non-spinning speaker might diminish the swirly sound, but it increased it.

11. Refer to 9 & back to top. I’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there… tell ‘em Jerry!

 

[NoTeleBob]

Stereo (or usually dual mono) is huge. Such a glorious sound. It's like adding one plus one and getting ten.

 

[Refugee]

For you guys using 2 of the same amp, try using something different for one side. Like.op dial Katanas. If you happen to have a tune amp lying around, try it. Evan better if it has a tube rectifier. The idea is to have one half of the stereo mix take longer to negotiate the signal path. Even just a couple of milliseconds will make a difference and increase your stereo spread width.

 

[Brent Hutto]

This morning, just to see if I had been missing anything, I unhooked all my stereo cables, and shut down the second Katana. Also got rid of the harmonic tremolo pedal.

It sounded nice, a very clear and direct guitar tone even with my usual delay and dirt pedals in there. I liked it OK but oh my goodness turning the stereo rig back on a few minutes later was like the clouds parted, and the choir of angels started back singing.

I just need to accept the fact that a year-plus into this electric guitar odyssey of mine, what I think of as “sounding like me“ involves a Telecaster, two Katanas, and at least five pedals. There’s plenty of other ways I could pick a tune, but they aren’t really my sound as I’ve come to think of it.

I guess it’s kind of like some women feel like they aren’t really themselves until they “put their face on“ in front of a makeup mirror first thing every morning. They may actually be quite attractive without the makeup, but to them, they just doesn’t look like themselves without it.

 

[middy]

It sounds good at home, but can become problematic in a band context. I don’t need to deal with 2 monitors and two lines to the desk and the two eyes of the sound man rolling back in his head when I ask for two channels.
Also, good tone can be problematic when it’s so good you want to just sit and strum the same two chords all day.

 

[Killing Floor]

It’s the same except for your shoes

 

[Donny Osmond fan]

It's been months since I switched my home guitar rig over to a stereo pair of Katana amps. My delay, tremolo and looper pedals all work in stereo so the setup is simple to do.

It's mono from the Telecaster into Fuzz Face then Phase 90 then Distortion+ (mono/analog side)

From there into a Boss DD-500 delay then Source Audio Vertigo tremolo then Line6 DL4 (stereo/digital side).

The stereo outs of the DL4 have separate cables to the Katanas, one situated behind my playing position and one 90-degrees to the right.

Today just out of curiosity I briefly switched everything over to mono and just the Katana behind me. Practiced my latest fiddle tune for about 30-45 minutes that way then switched back.

Just as I thought, the difference was like comparing a Grand Piano to a kids Xylophone. Wow does everything sound bigger, fuller, richer in stereo.

P.S. The looper is on the "digital side", being digital and all, and it will do stereo but I'm just using it in mono before the DD-500 does the actual stereo signal split.

My guitar one of them has 2 jacks. I can get a stereo effect.

 

[4pickupguy]

Sounds great in recordings, sounds great at home, sounds great on stage. In fact, stereo Keyboards, drums, vocals and guitar are all worth the effort. Its one the easiest way set a band apart from the also rans.
Nothing is more effective than stereo keyboards live and those alone will make a huge difference in the sound of the band. Of course not many bands run the stereo PA they bought and carry around, in stereo.

 

[Brent Hutto]

My guitar one of them has 2 jacks. I can get a stereo effect.

Dang!

 

[middy]

Sounds great in recordings, sounds great at home, sounds great on stage. In fact, stereo Keyboards, drums, vocals and guitar are all worth the effort. Its one the easiest way set a band apart from the also rans.
Nothing is more effective than stereo keyboards live and those alone will make a huge difference in the sound of the band. Of course not many bands run the stereo PA they bought and carry around, in stereo.

It can also sound weird live if you're not sitting in the middle. But I generally concur. I just don't want to deal with it until we're doing in-ears.

 

[4pickupguy]

It can also sound weird live if you're not sitting in the middle. But I generally concur. I just don't want to deal with it until we're doing in-ears.

It can sound weird if go nuts with it in the wrong room. We had a sound man who knew how to set things up in a given room. People tend to hard pan everything and expect it to be mixed. Spashy, reflective rooms can be challenging. Get the levels right, then set the pans. One of my favorite sounds is drums with a touch of stereo verb. Goes from gig to concert instantly. Its so easy to do, especially these days. Even our little rehearsal board has built in digital stereo effects that sound good built in.

 

[Donny Osmond fan]

Dang!

 

[1955]

It’s great in a controlled environment, but it was too much trouble for me beyond a few gigs. Last time I did it was an outdoor gig in MD and I fussed with it so much that I forgot the main reason I was there.

 

[dreamingtele]

Recently Ive been doing dual mono. The stereo “effect” is great when I’m using in-ears for gigs. Other than that, the Panning effect just gets lost in the thick of the mix and House PA.

It sounds huge of course, and the delay ping pong is so nice. However, I felt like the Dual Mono is the way to go for me since its just me that notices it anyway. Lol. My Boss RV500 reverb and DD500 delay already sounds big and bold without stereo.

 

[String Tree]

It's been months since I switched my home guitar rig over to a stereo pair of Katana amps. My delay, tremolo and looper pedals all work in stereo so the setup is simple to do.

It's mono from the Telecaster into Fuzz Face then Phase 90 then Distortion+ (mono/analog side)

From there into a Boss DD-500 delay then Source Audio Vertigo tremolo then Line6 DL4 (stereo/digital side).

The stereo outs of the DL4 have separate cables to the Katanas, one situated behind my playing position and one 90-degrees to the right.

Today just out of curiosity I briefly switched everything over to mono and just the Katana behind me. Practiced my latest fiddle tune for about 30-45 minutes that way then switched back.

Just as I thought, the difference was like comparing a Grand Piano to a kids Xylophone. Wow does everything sound bigger, fuller, richer in stereo.

P.S. The looper is on the "digital side", being digital and all, and it will do stereo but I'm just using it in mono before the DD-500 does the actual stereo signal split.

IMHO - The thing about Stereo is where you (or the Listener) is in relation to the Stereo Source.
Off to the Left, right, too far back ... you simply miss a LOT of it.
Cheers.

 

[Brent Hutto]

IMHO - The thing about Stereo is where you (or the Listener) is in relation to the Stereo Source.
Off to the Left, right, too far back ... you simply miss a LOT of it.
Cheers.

Yep. And I'm in a squarish room so there are a few off-axis spots that sound pretty bad with resonant modes.

It sounds really good sitting in my usual seat to play if I stand up and move about 3' to the left of my seat I totally lose the stereo effect and get this weird boomy, thuddy sound on certain notes. So I don't stand there and play!

 

[That Cal Webway]

Sometimes ya gotta go steroid stereo!