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I posted a thread about a prospective ADA MP-1 rig some days back. Since then I have been thinking about ways one might expand this in the future, if one were to get a separate amplifier. In fact, gigging might lead to one using different amplifiers every night, and this might be considered an experiment in how to consistently be able to run a wet/dry/wet rig with the least need of tinkering between the rigs. I am in particular wondering about the Suhr ISO Line Out box. This box has, from what I can understand, been devised to work as an effects loop in an amp where there is none, by splitting the post-power amp signal and sending a manageable signal to effects, which then require a separate power amp.
My effects rig would basically be a TC Electronics G-Major 2 going into a Marshall 9040 2x200w solid state amp. The 9040 doesn't have a volume control, which is a bit of a hassle, but sounds surprisingly good. Each channel could then go into a 1x12. This would bring the equipment I needed to carry around to a very acceptable level.
But then there is the question of how to feed the FX processor. The easiest way would be to use the effects loop. But if the plan was to be flexible regarding the host amplifier one suddenly runs into trouble, effects loops can be of very different design. In most cases plugging in the send in the FX loop would kill the signal unless one plugged something into the receive, meaning that one would require the dry signal to go from the amp, into the effects processor and back into the amp again, as I have illustrated here with all my artistic skill:
This means that one would sometimes need to put in a splitter box between the FX processor and the power amp if one wanted a true w/d/w rig:
In this way a w/d/w rig would be achievable, but only with an extra box and rewiring which may or may not be needed depending on the amp it is being connected to. If possible I would avoid having to tamper too much with the wiring – that is, after all, supposed to be one of the conveniences of rack gear!
I have found one potential solution which would allow a standardisation of the rack wiring, viz., a Suhr ISO Line Out. In this manner, the effect loop will be unused, and the effects taken out after the power amp. This means that the FX processor can split the signal into each side of the power amp, and a w/d/w set-up be achieved conveniently, regardless of which host amplifier is being used:
As this box has a level knob it would also solve the problem of the power amp being knobless.
Finding one of these boxes around here would be impossible, though, so I was wondering (1) if I at all have understood how it works, (2) if this would be a viable set-up, and (3) how much the tube power amp would colour the wet signals. Does anybody here have experience with these boxes?
EDIT: I forgot the most important question of them all: (4) is there a more convenient way to do a w/d/w rig?
My effects rig would basically be a TC Electronics G-Major 2 going into a Marshall 9040 2x200w solid state amp. The 9040 doesn't have a volume control, which is a bit of a hassle, but sounds surprisingly good. Each channel could then go into a 1x12. This would bring the equipment I needed to carry around to a very acceptable level.
But then there is the question of how to feed the FX processor. The easiest way would be to use the effects loop. But if the plan was to be flexible regarding the host amplifier one suddenly runs into trouble, effects loops can be of very different design. In most cases plugging in the send in the FX loop would kill the signal unless one plugged something into the receive, meaning that one would require the dry signal to go from the amp, into the effects processor and back into the amp again, as I have illustrated here with all my artistic skill:
This means that one would sometimes need to put in a splitter box between the FX processor and the power amp if one wanted a true w/d/w rig:
In this way a w/d/w rig would be achievable, but only with an extra box and rewiring which may or may not be needed depending on the amp it is being connected to. If possible I would avoid having to tamper too much with the wiring – that is, after all, supposed to be one of the conveniences of rack gear!
I have found one potential solution which would allow a standardisation of the rack wiring, viz., a Suhr ISO Line Out. In this manner, the effect loop will be unused, and the effects taken out after the power amp. This means that the FX processor can split the signal into each side of the power amp, and a w/d/w set-up be achieved conveniently, regardless of which host amplifier is being used:
As this box has a level knob it would also solve the problem of the power amp being knobless.
Finding one of these boxes around here would be impossible, though, so I was wondering (1) if I at all have understood how it works, (2) if this would be a viable set-up, and (3) how much the tube power amp would colour the wet signals. Does anybody here have experience with these boxes?
EDIT: I forgot the most important question of them all: (4) is there a more convenient way to do a w/d/w rig?
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