Doing some multi amp recording and need a good ABY box.

drumzalicious · 13th January 2012

Hey folks. I have a session coming up where I'm going to recording some guitar and I'm looking for a good ABY box.

Basically the signal I'm looking to do is

Guitar player - ABY/Signal Splitter - Amp 1 and DI 1 + Amp 2 and DI 2

I know all I need to do this is an ABY box but I'm sure some are better than others. Any suggestions?

kennybro · 13th January 2012

Someone just recently posted this same question.

The Morley ABY has never giving me a moment's trouble. Built like a tank, and does what it's designed to do.

drumzalicious · 13th January 2012

Does it allow you to play through both amps at the same time? Some of the ones I've been seeing are switches.

IdiotManchild · 13th January 2012

Howdy, this is my first post and I hope it's helpful!

I like this thing: Lucas Deceiver

And this one too:Little Labs PCP

I've used them both and won't hesitate to use them again. They won't f*** up your guitar sound.

If the above tools are too expensive, you can use a Boss tuner pedal as a ghetto splitter by using both outputs at the same time.

DrFrankencopter · 13th January 2012

I use a Radial Switchbone in my setup, and it works nicely. It has the option to isolate one output, and offers polarity flip which is often needed when running 2 amps in a Y configuration.

If you don't have polarity invert options you can always reverse the speaker leads on one of the amps, by that's not always an easy or quick option.

Cheers

Kris

Ketster · 13th January 2012

two distorted amps without a buffered splitter puts a different impedance load on the gtr pickups making the tone underpowered basically

radial have a proper buffered device just out - that's the on i'd buy

Radial Bones Twin-City ABY Amp Switcher Guitar Pedal at Gear4Music.com

Capashitor · 13th January 2012

I use a radial big shot, entirely passive. If you're ok with a little output level loss when both channel are used, its quite clean and easy to use. Also transformer isolated and built like a german tank. (french ones fall appart).

kennybro · 13th January 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennybro

Someone just recently posted this same question.

The Morley ABY has never giving me a moment's trouble. Built like a tank, and does what it's designed to do.

Yeah. It'll do A, B or A+B.
Morley Pedals - ABY Switching/Routing

The Radials mentioned are also well built, and do the job. And they've got more cool switches. Your choice.

drumzalicious · 14th January 2012

Lower output is fine as the gain can always be adjusted at the amp/console. My main concern is tone changing. Anyone have issues with tone changing?

Also when you guys are talking about phase why would this be an issue if the amps speakers are going to be in separate rooms?

Thanks

DrFrankencopter · 14th January 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumzalicious

Also when you guys are talking about phase why would this be an issue if the amps speakers are going to be in separate rooms?

Thanks

Not really an issue if the amps are in different rooms...as long as you polarity reverse one of the mic's (assuming here that one of the amps is reverse polarity). In the same room though you'll need to fix this problem before the signal hits the amps (or at the speaker).

Cheers

Kris

drumzalicious · 14th January 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrFrankencopter

Not really an issue if the amps are in different rooms...as long as you polarity reverse one of the mic's (assuming here that one of the amps is reverse polarity). In the same room though you'll need to fix this problem before the signal hits the amps (or at the speaker).

Cheers

Kris

Ah so we're referring to the actual cabinets themselves being out of phase with one another. Gotcha.

Any other things I should be aware of?

Dick_Money · 14th January 2012

+1 LL PCP

or a custom made switcher

nedorama · 15th January 2012

I also have the Radial Bigshot ABY and it's great. I use it between my Bandmaster and Dr. Z for recording, my Bandmaster and a Showman for live, or just one amp for live.

Transformer iso and 180 degrees phase flip is great for when you have 2 amps going - out of phase isn't an issue.

The More expensive Radial gives you buffered I/O and lights, but I haven't had an issue with tone through my setup with the Radial Bigshot. Worth trying out with your gear and if you don't like it, return it.

A4722 · 15th January 2012

Pigtronix Keymaster perhaps ?

drumzalicious · 16th January 2012

cool thanks folks. Looks like its the Radial Big Shot

drumzalicious · 9th February 2012

Got the Radial Big Shot and will be using it with a guitar player for a session Friday. Would you guys who have used it recommend putting his pedal board between the guitar and the Big Shot as a buffer? We're going to be doing distortion and such.

nedorama · 9th February 2012

Yes. I have mine at the end of the pedalboard and usually go between a clean Fender and a cruncher EL84 like my Dr. Z.

You could have it so that you have some pedals on A, some on B or a mixture if you really wanted different chains. I like having all my pedals available for use with either amp (or both) so end of the pedalboard works for me.

Which brings me to - 1/2 the time, I'm leaving it on both - having 2 different amps brings something to the party. Mic both amps up and record to 2 tracks; now you can bring one amp up for verses, the other for choruses. Fun stuff - learned the trick from an old article on Dean DeLeo of STP.

drumzalicious · 9th February 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by nedorama

Yes. I have mine at the end of the pedalboard and usually go between a clean Fender and a cruncher EL84 like my Dr. Z.

You could have it so that you have some pedals on A, some on B or a mixture if you really wanted different chains. I like having all my pedals available for use with either amp (or both) so end of the pedalboard works for me.

Which brings me to - 1/2 the time, I'm leaving it on both - having 2 different amps brings something to the party. Mic both amps up and record to 2 tracks; now you can bring one amp up for verses, the other for choruses. Fun stuff - learned the trick from an old article on Dean DeLeo of STP.

The plan is to record both amps at once. Did you notice a big difference going guitar-box-amps vs guitar-pedals-box-amps?

Mainly wondering about tone not really volume

PhilDW · 9th February 2012

Little Labs also has the STD, I've been using and liking it. Basically a line driver, uses mic cables if you need more length. Mercenary link:

Mercenary Audio - Little Labs Signal Transmission Device Mercenary Edition

drbob1 · 9th February 2012

Guitar/box/amps will lose you some high end, especially if you're using single coils like P90s or Fender pickups. Humbucker will be much harder to hear a change. All you need is a simple buffer, like a Boss TU2 tuner, or any buffered pedal, or ANY pedal that's turned on between guitar and splitter.

drumzalicious · 20th February 2012

Reporting back. The session ended up coming out great. The way we did the recording was

Guitar (Gibson Les Paul) - Box - 2 Amps. One was an Egnater the other a Randall. There was a slight hum coming from the Randall that we couldn't get rid of. It was pretty quiet so it wasn't an issue. Didn't really notice any terrible sound change from the 2nd amp (the Randall). Ended up boosting the highs on the amp just a bit anyway to get desired tone.

In the end I'd suggest this little box to anyone looking for a similar solution. Great price and the stuff came out sounding great.

13th January 2012	#1
drumzalicious Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 266 Thread Starter	Doing some multi amp recording and need a good ABY box. Hey folks. I have a session coming up where I'm going to recording some guitar and I'm looking for a good ABY box. Basically the signal I'm looking to do is Guitar player - ABY/Signal Splitter - Amp 1 and DI 1 + Amp 2 and DI 2 I know all I need to do this is an ABY box but I'm sure some are better than others. Any suggestions?

13th January 2012	#7
Capashitor Gear nut Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Alsace, France Posts: 108	I use a radial big shot, entirely passive. If you're ok with a little output level loss when both channel are used, its quite clean and easy to use. Also transformer isolated and built like a german tank. (french ones fall appart). __________________ "Lots of units are more flexible than the PCM70. An Alesis Quadraverb has quad raverbs: that's 4 times as many raverbs as other leading raverbs . It sounds like 4X crap. " - Eganmedia

15th January 2012	#13
nedorama Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,243	I also have the Radial Bigshot ABY and it's great. I use it between my Bandmaster and Dr. Z for recording, my Bandmaster and a Showman for live, or just one amp for live. Transformer iso and 180 degrees phase flip is great for when you have 2 amps going - out of phase isn't an issue. The More expensive Radial gives you buffered I/O and lights, but I haven't had an issue with tone through my setup with the Radial Bigshot. Worth trying out with your gear and if you don't like it, return it. __________________ nedorama Monkey Boy Studios Summit 2BA-221, TLA-50 mBox Pro 3, Pro Tools 10.1.3 Radial JDI x 2, ProD2, ProRMP '65 Bandmaster 2x12 combo with Dr. Z Brake Lite, '65 Showman, '74 Princeton, '77 Princeton Reverb, Dr. Z. Mini Z Head, Dr. Z 1x12 Cab, pedals, George L's cabling

15th January 2012	#14
A4722 Gear maniac Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Buena Park, CA Posts: 262	piggy Pigtronix Keymaster perhaps ?

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13th January 2012	#2
kennybro Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2010 Posts: 1,409	Someone just recently posted this same question. The Morley ABY has never giving me a moment's trouble. Built like a tank, and does what it's designed to do.

13th January 2012	#4
IdiotManchild Gear Head Joined: Jan 2012 Location: In a tent Posts: 51	Howdy, this is my first post and I hope it's helpful! I like this thing: Lucas Deceiver And this one too:Little Labs PCP I've used them both and won't hesitate to use them again. They won't f*** up your guitar sound. If the above tools are too expensive, you can use a Boss tuner pedal as a ghetto splitter by using both outputs at the same time.

13th January 2012	#5
DrFrankencopter Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2003 Location: Ottawa Posts: 917	I use a Radial Switchbone in my setup, and it works nicely. It has the option to isolate one output, and offers polarity flip which is often needed when running 2 amps in a Y configuration. If you don't have polarity invert options you can always reverse the speaker leads on one of the amps, by that's not always an easy or quick option. Cheers Kris

13th January 2012	#6
Ketster Gear Head Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 37	two distorted amps without a buffered splitter puts a different impedance load on the gtr pickups making the tone underpowered basically radial have a proper buffered device just out - that's the on i'd buy Radial Bones Twin-City ABY Amp Switcher Guitar Pedal at Gear4Music.com

14th January 2012	#9
drumzalicious Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 266 Thread Starter	Lower output is fine as the gain can always be adjusted at the amp/console. My main concern is tone changing. Anyone have issues with tone changing? Also when you guys are talking about phase why would this be an issue if the amps speakers are going to be in separate rooms? Thanks

14th January 2012	#12
Dick_Money Gear addict Joined: May 2007 Posts: 382	+1 LL PCP or a custom made switcher

16th January 2012	#15
drumzalicious Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 266 Thread Starter	cool thanks folks. Looks like its the Radial Big Shot

9th February 2012	#16
drumzalicious Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 266 Thread Starter	Got the Radial Big Shot and will be using it with a guitar player for a session Friday. Would you guys who have used it recommend putting his pedal board between the guitar and the Big Shot as a buffer? We're going to be doing distortion and such.

9th February 2012	#19
PhilDW Gear addict Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 398	Little Labs also has the STD, I've been using and liking it. Basically a line driver, uses mic cables if you need more length. Mercenary link: Mercenary Audio - Little Labs Signal Transmission Device Mercenary Edition

9th February 2012	#20
drbob1 Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 1,420 3 Reviews written	Guitar/box/amps will lose you some high end, especially if you're using single coils like P90s or Fender pickups. Humbucker will be much harder to hear a change. All you need is a simple buffer, like a Boss TU2 tuner, or any buffered pedal, or ANY pedal that's turned on between guitar and splitter.

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20th February 2012	#21
drumzalicious Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 266 Thread Starter	Reporting back. The session ended up coming out great. The way we did the recording was Guitar (Gibson Les Paul) - Box - 2 Amps. One was an Egnater the other a Randall. There was a slight hum coming from the Randall that we couldn't get rid of. It was pretty quiet so it wasn't an issue. Didn't really notice any terrible sound change from the 2nd amp (the Randall). Ended up boosting the highs on the amp just a bit anyway to get desired tone. In the end I'd suggest this little box to anyone looking for a similar solution. Great price and the stuff came out sounding great.