Help using an A/B/Y box

Cliff Scholle · From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA

I'm just starting to take my steel out to gigs, and I'm trying to figure out the logistics of changing from my guitar to the steel. I'd rather not take two amps out, and changing the guitar cord to the steel is OK, but not ideal. What I'm wondering is this: Can I use an A/B/Y box backwards.....in other words, plug the guitar and steel into the two outlets of the box, and plug the amp into the inlet. If not, what is a reasonable way to run two instruments to a single amp? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Peter Jacobs · From: Northern Virginia

Cliff -- this is a perfectly good way to do it. I've used the reverse A/B box set up to run two instruments to one amp, as it also means I can share an effects chain and tuner.

You can go basic with a Carvin or DOD model, or spend more for the Morley or Whirlwind, which give you LEDs so you know which chain is active. I use the Carvin -- I figure that the instrument I can hear is the active one

Cliff Scholle · From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Thanks, Peter. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do, but on the other hand, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had said, "No way! Your amp will get sucked into the A/B box and never be seen again." This will be great...much better to carry around another stomp box than another amp.

Matt Farrow · From: Raleigh, NC, USA

Cliff, depending on the A/B box, you might not be able to use it "backwards." However, the Morley ABY box and the DOD box are both "passive," meaning that they are simply a mechanical switch and some wires.If you don't need to switch on the fly, and can put the box on your amp somewhere, you can make your own for about $10 in parts from Radio Shack.

One thing you might want to think about - the EQ curves needed to make a guitar sound good might not necessarily be the same as the ones you need for your steel. What I do is this - I set up the amp for steel, all controls about 6, a nice balanced sound, then I use a Boss graphic EQ for the guitar, I just run it inline between the guitar and the AB box. Simpler than carrying another amp.

Of course, I only do that when space constraints dictate leaving my 2-channel guitar amp at home. Usually I run the steel thru one channel of my Kustom amp, and the guitar thru the other. One channel has a mid control (for guitar) and the other channel doesn't (for steel.)

There's lots of ways around all this, be creative and you'll come up with something that suits you. Good luck

Matt Farrow
Pharaoh Amplifiers

Tim Rowley · From: Pinconning, MI, USA

Hi Cliff:

I have a passive A/B box that I built several years ago and use whenever I play, to switch between my steel and my Tele. It works great. The box clips onto the right rear leg of my steel with "jiffy" broom clips. The steel and the Tele (or whatever other instrument) both plug into the A/B box via short cables, the output of the A/B box plugs into my volume pedal or amplifier.

Mine cost a little more than $15.00 to build because the first time I built it I made the mistake of using Radio Shack 1/4" jacks and a Radio Shack switch, all cheap parts imported from Taiwan or someplace. I don't mean to offend anyone, but that stuff was pure JUNK. The only decent part of it was the aluminum minibox. All three jacks shorted out one by one and the switch failed within 4 nights of playing. A waste of money and time. I immediately rebuilt the unit using Switchcraft jacks and a good heavy duty American-made single-pole double-throw toggle switch from the auto parts store. It has, of course, worked just fine ever since. This is a free country, get your parts from Radio Shack if you want to, but don't expect their parts to hold up for long in a live playing situation.

The nice thing about using a double-throw switch with a center "off" position and an aluminum box is that you have a dead-quiet shielded unit and when the switch is in the off position you can plug and unplug an instrument without making any noise nor hum. For use with a steel guitar, I've found that good toggle switches are much handier than stomp buttons and are more reliable.

Tim R.

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

If you roll your own and use a Double pole switch, you can add LEDs your self to one side of the switch run off a 9 volt battery to show which channel is active. I have a three channel model I made, works great. The LEDs are a good idea- I still get a kick out of watching our fiddle/mandolin player using his "lightless" A/B box every night trying to figure out which instrument is active...

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Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Pedal, Non-Pedal, Lap, and Dobro

Cliff Scholle · From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Some cool ideas. The A/B box I have is a Whirlwind that I bought off the net used about a year ago. Not sure if it's "passive", but I guess just plugging in backwards will tell. Pharaoh has a good point...the Stringmaster's pickups are quite a bit hotter than my Tele and seem to be voiced differently. It seems that I'll still have to mess with my amp settings and/or get some sort of EQ for when I switch from guitar to steel. Still better than carrying two amps. I like the idea of building a simple switch box myself...tinker, tinker. Never thought of using a toggle instead of a stomp, as suggested by Tim. That sounds good, as I've had trouble in the past with stomp switches on my homemade gadgets. Thanks for the input and ideas, guys. All the extra gear is a hassle, but man, the steel just sounds so good with the band.

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Hi, cliff, I made a box with a double pole- 3 throw rotary switch, has three detents and double poles so you can hook up one side to the hots of the inputs you need to swittch, run the grounds together, and hook the other side to the three leds and a battery- three positions, each with it's own LED and input jack. I used it to run steel, lap, and dobro through the same rig, really easy to wire up. You could put the battery on a switchable (output) jack or a separate switch to turn it off when not in use. Leds take little current and batteries last a long time.

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Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Pedal, Non-Pedal, Lap, and Dobro

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