# how to run STEREO?



## lenbone (May 12, 2006)

I have 2 amps that i would like to use in STEREO,is there any type of splitter box i could build to go to the amp after the pedals?(just a box with 2 outputs) or is there one on the market? i dont wanna buy a stereo pedal!


----------



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

lenbone said:


> I have 2 amps that i would like to use in STEREO,is there any type of splitter box i could build to go to the amp after the pedals?(just a box with 2 outputs) or is there one on the market? i dont wanna buy a stereo pedal!



Two amps doesn't make your rig stereo. You really have to have stereo effects to call it stereo, and furthermore, the PA has to be stereo and you have to mic both amps and run the signals into seperate channels panned hard left and right to get any real benefit from stereo in a live situation.


If you just want a two amp rig for the tonal complexity and flexibility an A/B/Y box will do nicely. You can get one for anywhere from $80 ~????

Yorkville Sound makes a nice one.


----------



## lenbone (May 12, 2006)

*stereo*

Thanks for the info Milkman ,Could i not just build a box of some sort?


----------



## Xanadu (Feb 3, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Two amps doesn't make your rig stereo. You really have to have stereo effects to call it stereo, and furthermore, the PA has to be stereo and you have to mic both amps and run the signals into seperate channels panned hard left and right to get any real benefit from stereo in a live situation.
> 
> 
> If you just want a two amp rig for the tonal complexity and flexibility an A/B/Y box will do nicely. You can get one for anywhere from $80 ~????
> ...


i think behringer makes one too, and it would be $39


----------



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

lenbone said:


> Thanks for the info Milkman ,Could i not just build a box of some sort?



I'm sure you could, but for what they cost, I'd buy one. It's nice to have status LEDs to let you know whether you're running one amp, the other, or both.

I used the Yorkville Sound model. I've heard good things about the Morley and if money's no object, the Framptone is very highly regarded.


----------



## lenbone (May 12, 2006)

*stereo*

I will look into that,Thanks again.


----------



## FrogRick12 (Feb 21, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Two amps doesn't make your rig stereo. You really have to have stereo effects to call it stereo, and furthermore, the PA has to be stereo and you have to mic both amps and run the signals into seperate channels panned hard left and right to get any real benefit from stereo in a live situation.
> 
> 
> If you just want a two amp rig for the tonal complexity and flexibility an A/B/Y box will do nicely. You can get one for anywhere from $80 ~????
> ...


Actually, for TRUE stereo, your SOURCE (guitar) has to be stereo as in the Gibson ES-347TDSV or the Rickenbacker Rick-O-Sound system that takes signal from the rhythm pickup and the bridge pickup at the same time and routes it to two separate outputs. 

If you want to use two amps just for the tonal variety and the stage coverage, you need a splitter with transformer isolated outputs to eliminate ground loop. Most of the inexpensive garden-variety A/B/Y boxes that are available just don't have that.

Lehle makes the best transformer-isolated amp splitter on the market today - the P-Split. They cost around $160 but they are worth every penny.

www.lehle.com


----------



## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

back in the late eighties, there was the Ripley (??) guitar that Kramer briefly marketed with EVH....each string had its own pickup with a panpot.....

That could be redone today with a ghost or rmc bridge........

The easiest stereo....which is exactly what Roland did with the Jazz Chorus (afaik the granddaddy of stereo guitar amps), would be to have dry on one side and delay based effects on the other. 

This can done by running one guitar into a splitter, and on to two amps, one dry, the other with effects. EVH did this with great success

Then, people started putting the dry amp centre and having stereo or dual mono f/x amps on each side.....I guess this would have started with Rhodes player using the Tri stereo chorus...which quickly found its way into Lukather's rig and others. Those sucker are $3K+ on ebay now.....

Another way to quickly get stereo is to run into both channels of a stereo graphic eq and place the sliders to look like a comb....but l and r have opposite sliders up or down. That then goes into 2 amps

Andy


----------



## lenbone (May 12, 2006)

*2 amps*

Thats basically what i want to do--run 2 amps,1 dry, and 1 with effects,but i will need some type of splitter box ,,right??---Lenny.


----------



## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

well maybe yes, maybe not.....and I'm the guy who'd want to sell you a splitter (Lehle).

Here's why the Lehle would be a fabulous choice. It has a super transparent transformer that isolates the two amps from each other in a manner that doesn't compromise either sound quality or electrical safety and can be configured to work in just about any multi amp situation.

That being said, depending on the amps used and the manner that the effects are connected, a splitter may not be required. Some amps allow one to jump from the an unused jack to another amp (Don't try this with speaker jacks!!!!!please). you could plug into one amp and then jumper through the effects to amp 2. 

There are also certain pedals and racks that have a dry out. Use that effect at the start of the chain and send the dry out right to an amp and run the effect out through the rest of the effects to the "wet" amp. Certain effects required that the dry out be assigned as such (boss stereo chorus for one).

If the rig is humming, the splitter will surely solve the problem.

Andy


----------



## buckaroobanzai (Feb 2, 2006)

My $45 pawnshop-special Boss CH-1 does the job of splitting to two amps quite nicely. My signal goes thru a compressor, two overdrives and a fuzz, then splits at the CH-1. One side then goes direct to one amp while the other goes to a couple of delay pedals first. Quite a range of sonic options with this rig.

I also bought a $39 Apex A-B-Y at L&M that so far does not have any hum issues with my gear. It also has a parallel-out for a tuner, which is a nice bonus.

BTW, the only switcher that Behringer makes right now is A-B only, not A-B-Y.
I have one to switch between 2 guitars, it's OK for the money. Some people have mentioned signal-bleed issues, but mine seems not to have this problem.

I suppose you could split your signal with a Behringer Ultra Chorus, which also has 2 outs, but I have no idea what that would sound like.


----------

