| Author |
Topic: A/B pedal /switch |
Brendan Mitchell
From:
Melbourne Australia
|
Posted 4 Sep 2010 11:03 pm |
|
I've been thinking of getting one to allow me to switch switch between steel and guitar .
Why do they have power {9v} to run them ? I would have thought they would just be a passive switch . |
|
|
 |
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 4 Sep 2010 11:13 pm
|
|
| Some have l.e.d.'s to indicate the selection, they would need a power source. |
|
|
|
Brendan Mitchell
From:
Melbourne Australia
|
Posted 4 Sep 2010 11:23 pm
|
|
| Thanks Jerry , obvious when you think about it .Is this the only reason for having power to the pedal ? |
|
|
|
Tom Wolverton
From:
Carpinteria, CA
|
Posted 5 Sep 2010 1:05 am
|
|
I've had good luck with the passive, basic DOD A/B pedal.
_________________
To write with a broken pencil is pointless. |
|
|
|
Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
|
Posted 5 Sep 2010 11:29 am
|
|
| I have too.Works fine.The OP may have to figure out some EQ if he's using a single-channel amp.My experience was that when steel sounded good,six-string sounded muddy,and when six-string sounded good,steel had too much high and high-mid. |
|
|
|
Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
|
Posted 6 Sep 2010 7:53 am
|
|
Brenden, I use a Morley pedal which is an A, B & C pedal so you can use three instruments with it. It has a 9 volt battery inside to power the LED lights for each input.........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
|
|
|
Rick Batey
|
Posted 6 Sep 2010 1:15 pm
|
|
| I've just ordered a Loopmaster A/B/Tune switch for this job. It needs 9vDC power for the LEDs, which I have, but it will also work fine without. |
|
|
|
John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 1:45 am
|
|
I have the Morley A/B switch, and it hurts tone, both channels. Others claim to hear no tone suck, but mine definitely does...fyi.
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
|
|
|
Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 5:33 am
|
|
the battery powered ones are annoying because you cant leave em plugged in. this is a pain on a pedalboard where you want eveyrthing to remain plugged in and secured.
I make my own. totally passive, no tone suck. and I can put the jacks and led anywhere I want, or not have an led , etc |
|
|
|
David Griffin
From:
Jimmy Creek,Arkansas via Cowtown, USA
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 9:07 am
|
|
I agree w/ John,LOTS of passive A/B boxes suck tone,not to mention ground loop problems. Boss makes a decent one for about $40,it uses 2 AAA batteries but they last a long time. But,in some situations I've encountered ground loop problems with it. A friend of mine has one that is made in Germany called the Little Lehle that is wonderful. Built like a tank w/ switches that have gold contacts sealed in nitrogen gas that are supposedly good for 2 million cycles. I plan on getting one. The only thing holding me back is the price: $150! 
_________________
http://www.myspace.com/davidagriffin |
|
|
|
Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 9:18 am
|
|
Some of the switches have buffering circuits as well, which require power.
Another plug for the Lehle stuff, wonderful switches.
You can easily build your own with a double pole switch with as many positions as you need for your setup, ie: double pole triple throw for three instruments- one pole switches the hot leg of the various input jacks to the output, and the other pole switches the battery power to a different LED for each input. A simple on/off switch in line with the battery eliminates the need to unplug to save battery power. |
|
|
|
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 10:19 am
|
|
Loop-master claims their switchers are true bypass. So, what's the difference in these and the ones that cause ground loops and dull your tone?
Is it the quality of the switches used, or the wiring routes?...or what? |
|
|
|
Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 11:28 am
|
|
| True bypass does just that. When off, the input sinal bypasses the switch. With Non TBP, the input signal goes through a buffered circuit (wet vs dry) whether on of off. |
|
|
|
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 11 Sep 2010 11:39 am
|
|
I understand how this would work for true bypass if you are switching the effect off and on, but in the case of an A/B switch being discussed in this topic, one or the other is on all the time. Therefore, it's never switched off.
This is what I am trying to understand. |
|
|
|
Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
|
|
|
|
Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
|
Posted 12 Sep 2010 12:24 pm
|
|
| Jerry Overstreet wrote: |
I understand how this would work for true bypass if you are switching the effect off and on, but in the case of an A/B switch being discussed in this topic, one or the other is on all the time. Therefore, it's never switched off.
This is what I am trying to understand. |
theres nothing in a good a/b switcher to bypass but an led and resistor. I think its the opamps in pedals that generally are blamed for tone sucking and need to be bypassed? When i opened up my morley, i was bummed to see alot of components on a circuit board...whY??!
Check out this excellent diagram from fulltone. Ive built several. I like that they are completely passive and that I can customize them to my needs. enclosure size, jack orientation, led or not...I decide depending on what its used for. you can make them in really small enclosures also.
http://www.fulltone.com/PDfFiles/AB_switcher.pdf |
|
|
|
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 12 Sep 2010 12:38 pm
|
|
Thanks fellows. I guess I was not reading thoroughly their propaganda there. They were referring to true bypass for the effects pedals and I guess, not including the A/B/C etc. selectors.
They claim those have no bleedover between channels.
Anyhow, they seem to be building really clean sounding devices. |
|
|
|
David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
|
Posted 12 Sep 2010 1:38 pm
|
|
I've been using a Radial "Big Shot ABY"switch, and like it a lot. It's completely passive, offers ground lifting/isolating on one of the B channel to help prevent ground loops, and also has a 180 degree phase shift on the B channel to get both amps in phase if you use the "both" channel option. Nicely made box, and doesn't seem to color the tone at all.
Dave |
|
|
|
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 12 Sep 2010 7:05 pm
|
|
Well, I'm confused again. Radial's blurb hypes their a/b/y as being true bypass as well.
Bypassing what? The other circuit? The other output? The tuner? No leds, nothing but a tuner output, a transformer and a selector switch. Reckon they mean zero bleedover 
No biggie, just sometimes gearheads wanna know stuff.  |
|
|
|
Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 6:22 am
|
|
| The Boss LS-2 works for me! |
|
|
|
Tom Wolverton
From:
Carpinteria, CA
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 7:06 am
|
|
I use both the DOD A/B and the Boss LS2. Have not noticed any tone loss. Besides, what is "tone loss" anyway? We pay all that money for really good EQ on our amps. Isn't it just a minor tweak to adjust for any tone change that might have happened? 'so no big deal, is it?
_________________
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
Last edited by Tom Wolverton on 13 Sep 2010 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 7:38 am
|
|
Well, I was intrigued enough to put in a bid on an LS-2. But can this be used for, say, 2 guitars, one out a/b switch? I'm hoping so. I use 2 6-strings for certain bands and one has more output than the other so lowering the volume would be handy. Looking at it I don't see how this is done.
_________________
Mullen RP D10, Peavey NV112, Hilton volume. Hound Dog reso. Piles of other stuff. |
|
|
|
Tom Wolverton
From:
Carpinteria, CA
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 8:24 am Yes
|
|
Michael -
I use my LS-2 just as you say. Two guitars in, and a single out to my amp. You have to put a dummy jack in the normal in, and run the guitars into the A and B inserts on the RHS of the box. The manual describes how to to it. Works great.
_________________
To write with a broken pencil is pointless. |
|
|
|
Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 8:27 am
|
|
Excellent. Thanks, Tom. I have a Strat with single coils and a G&L with humbuckers and when I switch to that it's much hotter.
_________________
Mullen RP D10, Peavey NV112, Hilton volume. Hound Dog reso. Piles of other stuff. |
|
|
|
Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
|
Posted 13 Sep 2010 9:01 am
|
|
I bought the LS-2 to use for my acoustic guitar, mandolin & accordion/dobro, depending on the venue. I need to have the volume/level controls for each instrument at my fingertip. It really does a good job & there doesn't appear to be any problem with it altering my tone/signal.
You can also use it to drive two amps if you're using one for electric guitar and one for acoustic. I run my pedal steel seperate into my 15" Webb, and use the GP Webb for the acoustic instruments. It allows you to have A inst or B instr or both at the same time (if desired/needed) depending on what is selected on the selector switch. As stated earlier, may be overkill for your application. |
|
|
|
