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Topic: routing two instruments to one volume pedal |
James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 6:53 am |
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I will have two lap steel that aren't wired together. I need an ABY box to route them both to my volume pedal input. I've read about several ABY boxes out there that have a signal loss when using the "Y" mode. I'm also concerned that my two lap steels have different pickup output levels.
Can anyone recommend a good ABY or "Y" line mixer that has level controls on it? |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Marc Jenkins
From:
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 8:13 am
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James,
I've tried the Line Selector. I found it altered the guitar's tone just a hint - a little high end was lost. But for the price, I'd say it was something that could easily be lived with.
You could always get one of these. Radial's products are high quality, and this pedal switcher is true bypass, and shouldn't mess with your tone as much. It looks like it's not much more than the Boss too! |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 8:18 am
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Marc, I looked into the Radial Bigshot I/O. It doesn't permit "Y" routing. You can have either instrument, but not both at the same time.
The other Radial Bigshot(for amps) can be used for two instruments and has "Y" but there are reviews that state serious signal loss when using the Y over the A/B. |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 8:46 am
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James, if all you need to do is to switch two instruments on and off independently and "Y" them into your amp, Bobbe Seymour has what you are looking for. On his website, his AB box is listed under "Miscellaneous".
The fancy ones, with extra switches and controls may be overkill for you.
edit: This one will not change your tone in any way. It's simply a couple of foot switches, nothing else.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 8:50 am
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| Mike, I checked it out. There is no "Y" capability with that box either. A and B, but not A and B at the same time. |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 9:48 am
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Sorry James, I misunderstood.
Try this one.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike |
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Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
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Max W. Thompson
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 11:44 am
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| I use the Morley that Mike suggested, and have had good luck. I run a guitar and a mandolin, each with different types of transducer pickups in them, and take them from the A-B box to a Barcus Berry preamp. I just have to remember to cut the gain a little for the guitar. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 12:53 pm
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| Max, ever set it to "Y" and see if the level drops? |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 1:03 pm
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| Cook, thanks. |
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Marc Jenkins
From:
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 3:44 pm
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| These switches are pricey, but made VERY well. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 4:02 pm
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| Be advised that any passive device that hooks two pickups together (be they in the same guitar, or different guitars) will change the tone on both pickups, somewhat. That's just the nature of the beast. If you want to be able to fully isolate and/or combine signals from two pickups, you'll need some sort of active (powered) preamp or driver. |
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Mike Christensen
From:
Cook Minnesota
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 5:24 pm 2 guitars one pedal
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| You didn't say what amp you use. If you use a Peavey hook your pedal up to the Pre-Eq patch and just plug your guitars into the input jacks like normal. You may have to turn the volume way down on the instrument you are not using. I use this all the time with my pedal and lap guitars,works fine. Happy Trails, Mike C. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 17 Jul 2007 6:35 am
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| Mike, I'm amp shopping right now, waiting for my insurance check so I can replace my stolen gear. I don't have an amp at the moment. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 6:41 am
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Why won't this work?
These AB/Y boxes are passive, so this simple Y adapter shouldn't be any different? Right? I don't really need to ability to switch between necks. I'm really just interested in the "Y" capability of the boxes we've discussed. |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 7:51 am
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Yep, that will work, but with limitations. The difference with a switch box is that when you switch off one of the instruments, it's out of the signal path...no interaction happens between the two pickups and their volume/tone pots. With the "Y" adapter you refer to, any changes on one instrument will interact with the other...meaning turning the volume control off on one will turn it off for the other also.
That's why the ABY box is important. It keeps the instruments independent of each other.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 7:56 am
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Mike, I don't get it. I understand what you are saying but I can't see how turning off one neck by turning down the volume would completely cut out the signal.
I thought the ABY boxes simply summed to mono signals into one mono signal, same as the cheap Y splitter. |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:20 am
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The output of a volume control decreases by bringing the output signal line to ground. With two guitars "Yed" together, their outputs are tied together. When one guitar's volume pot is turned off, it's output is then connected to ground, thus grounding both guitars' signals.
If you leave both guitars on, as when two guys are playing at the same time, you won't have as much of a problem. But each guitar's controls will still affect the other to some extent.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike |
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Max W. Thompson
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:21 am
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Mike is right. When you "Y" two instruments, they become one circuit. Turning the volume down on one grounds out the signal (I think) and kills both instruments. And yes, when I use the A+B setting on my Morley switch, the signal goes down a little, but I just up the gain at that point. The only time I ever do this is if a friend wants to play my guitar while I am playing the mandolin, so I usually just switch between A and B.
Which is basically what Mike just said. I type slowly. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:25 am
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| So, if I turn the tone knob down, does it have the same effect? Does the overall tone change for both necks? I ask because I never use the volume control knobs, they are always wide open. |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:33 am
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Yes, the tone knob will affect both guitars to some degree, because the outputs are tied together as one circuit, as Max pointed out.
The only way to isolate the guitars and still sum the outputs together is through some sort of mixer.
A passive mixer (a couple of pots and a few resistors) will slightly decrease the total volume available, but would be an inexpensive solution to achieve independence between the guitars.
An active mixer (with powered electronic circuits) would be the best choice because the guitars would be completely independent of one another, and would have separate gain controls for balancing them against each other. This is the most expensive choice, though.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike |
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:38 am
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The price range of the various ABY switches is, to some extent, because of this very issue. The least expensive ones are simply switches and wires...a "Y" cable with switches. The more expensive ones usually involve some extra circuitry to try to isolate the two signal paths and prevent interaction.
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Best regards,
Mike |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 18 Jul 2007 8:57 am
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| Ok, thanks for the info. Glad I posted the question. |
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