A few, two amps in stereo topics.

[karpathion]

Is it just me, or does it seem like you can take 2, very different amps, put them in stereo and get a mad crazy tone that rocks?

I've tried a few amps like this recently, and I'm starting to like amps I didn't like before, as long as they are in stereo with something else.

I run stereo with a Krank Rev Jr pro, no effects, just straight in to the amp from the a/b/y box. And a Blackheart HD15 with just a few pedals.
I have a 2x12 cab with Governors for the blackheart, ( it likes that cab a lot!) and 2 1x12 Blackheart cabs with stock speakers for the Krank.

The mid range on the Blackheart setup is very bold, but classic in feel. The Krank setup, when used more like a 80's style rig, is very modern in feel with a noticable mid cut, but a very tight hard hitting bottom end.
The combination of the 2 just flat out rocks.
I get a a major bottom end change, it's like I have a loose and tight bottom at the same time. I get the super hard hit from the start then the sag from the blackheart. They mix very well!
The mid sits at a pretty good level, even though 1 amp is giving the mid. and the highs do what highs do, they combine and you have to drop 'em a little on both heads.
I think it's the best my rig has ever sounded. I'd love to see what I could do with a couple 100 watters.

It may just be my, "The tone" at the moment, but I don't think I want to get away from stereo. I'll probably keep 2 amps for the rest of my playing life.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

A lot of our favourite recorded guitar tones were generated this way. Same signal, multiple amplifiers and microphones, multiple recorder tracks, blend to taste.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I have enjoyed tone shaping with two amps ..... even using amps that aren't earth shakingly great alone.

Now I'd like to find a small high headroom mixer with an effects loop so I could send MY blend to the board (read soundman).

 

[karpathion]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

Same signal, multiple amplifiers and microphones, multiple recorder tracks, blend to taste.

Sounds like a tasty recipe to me!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

i used a late 80's Fender Princton Chorus amp with the heavy fuzzy/buzzy sound they are known for, in stereo with a cleaner, more bottom end Marshall SS 1x12 for a few years... apart these amps where nothing too great but together they had something special going!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

you can get some great sounds the old school way also...not stereo, but by using the parallel inputs on amps like the older fenders, marshalls, musicmans etc....
plug into one, then just chain it to the next amp....
It does affect the input impedance of the amp you are running in parrallel, but experiment and you can get some great sounds.

 

[karpathion]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

you can get some great sounds the old school way also...not stereo, but by using the parallel inputs on amps like the older fenders, marshalls, musicmans etc....
plug into one, then just chain it to the next amp....
It does affect the input impedance of the amp you are running in parrallel, but experiment and you can get some great sounds.

I've seen that before. I wish I had amps that would do that.
How does it differ from running them stereo. Wouldn't you get the same effect?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I haven't run in mono for several years now...I'm running either a Mission Amps V Front and a 62 Fender Deluxe or a 60 Ampeg Jet and the 62 Deluxe most of the time...

I love running 2 amps at the same time...big wide sound and 2 small amps is a much bigger sound than one big amp.

I split my signal stereo at a Boss DC-2 chorus which then runs stereo in to a Boss PN-2 for panning or tremolo, from there one side gets a little echo from an EP-3 Echoplex and the other side heads right to the amp that way only one side has the echo...

I can get a nice big sound from that w/o being too loud but best of all with a twist fo the volume knobs I can be plenty loud!

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

That's how twin-guitar Metal bands get such a crushing sound with not a lot of gain. Listen to You've Got Another Thing Comin, but pay close attention to the actual gain levels - they're basically just overdriven as opposed to distorted. The chords have almost no punch, and you can hear them dying out just before the changes. The bass adds the punch the chords lack.

Same with older Iron Maiden tracks - 2 guitars and one bass working together to lay down the heavy.


I've been running racks for years, and recently started using a GSP1101 in tandem with my ADA MP1, and it does as you said - adds the extra low end missing from the other one, and they work together to give a much better sound.

New players are always asking how to get the Master Of Puppets tone, and it can be done cheaply with 2 small amps and 2 different distortion pedal chains.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

My old rig = VHt 50 wtt Pittbull + 67 50 wtt Bassman + Boss Xtortion + 2 Marshall 2x12s. I used to rape my buddy's Mesa Triple Rec on a daily basis. Him and the bass player could never figure out how I was so much louder than them with two 50 wtt amps.....

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

Welcome to the club

2x 50W amps with different cabs, slapped into two with a signal splitter (some BOSS that goes stereo, Ibanez SC10 or Rocktron Tsunami, all set to sub-noticable level). My way to go onstage since 1996 or so.

 

[sbecker67]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I'm set up to run up to three amps at once, though I don't usually run more than one at a time. When I do, I either like to run two clean amps and go nuts with stereo effects like ping pong delay or set one clean and another dirty, light a smoke and give it my best Keef impersonation

 

[Red_Label]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I used to run a pair of Traynor YCS100H heads into a pair of Marshall JCM900 1960 cabs. The sound was pretty big. But now I run one of the Traynor heads into a Marshall cab, and on the other side I'm running a Bogner Shiva into a Bogner 2X12 sealed-back cab. The sound now is so much more full and "chewy". The amps compliment each other. Whereas the Shiva is very much a mid-range beast (especially into the V30-loaded 2X12), the Traynor into the H30 loaded 4X12 has a very punchy, thumpy low end, and a just the right amount of presence. The sound generated is VERY full and three-dimensional.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I want a stereo rig bad, but i'm not willing to part with my big amps


If I did though, it'd probably be a blackface and a tweed. Ideal would be a super reverb and a '59 bassman, but that probably wouldn't be all that practical since sound guys... exist

 

[Despair]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I loved the tones James Mankey (of Concrete Blonde) got with his multi-amp rigs (particularly the Matchless DC30 + Hiwatt).

Funny that blending different amps seems to have caught on more with country crowd than with rockers. Though for many of them seems to be more image than tone, or at least they seem to have trouble getting it to sound good live...

 

[karpathion]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I loved the tones James Mankey (of Concrete Blonde) got with his multi-amp rigs (particularly the Matchless DC30 + Hiwatt).

Funny that blending different amps seems to have caught on more with country crowd than with rockers. Though for many of them seems to be more image than tone, or at least they seem to have trouble getting it to sound good live...

Yeah, I've noticed the country folks doing it for a while now. I got the idea from James Hetfield ( using 2 different amps), but since then I've noticed a lot more players doing it. So, as usual, I jumped on the band wagon. It's cool though, I like this wagon.

On another note.
Does any one know how to get the highs right? It doesn't matter which head I mess with, it's too much or not enough. Just the smallest tweek and the highs jump back out again. I'm just having a hard time getting the tone right where I want it.

Oh yeah.... I'm a guitar player. It's always like that, no matter what gear I have!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I've been doing it since '82 when I bought a used MXR Stereo Chorus (still have it). Even with the chorus off, it just sounds better. One of the reasons is not just the different characters of two amps but just the simple fact that the two amps -- even if they are identical -- are never the exact same distance from your ear so the sound from one will hit your ears just slightly after the other, and in stereo too. Each amp will be slightly louder in one ear than the other because one ear is closer than the other depending on how you have your head turned.

The effect of it is depth and complexity and 3D-ness that just sounds killer to the human brain. It's why guitar tracks are almost always doubled in the studio, and why a 2-guitar band sounds better on a crunchy riff (or for that matter, clean riffs too) than just one, which sounds flat and 2-dimensional alone. A stereo rig approximates the 2-guitar effect which is why it sounds good.

 

[squatch57]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I want a stereo rig bad, but i'm not willing to part with my big amps


If I did though, it'd probably be a blackface and a tweed. Ideal would be a super reverb and a '59 bassman, but that probably wouldn't be all that practical since sound guys... exist

I'll go along with that idea drew!
I was gonna set up my rig for stereo with my BF Super Reverb & Ceriatone D-clone (which is based on the Bassman)
I mainly want to get my H&K Tube Rotosphere running in stereo to get that groovy Leslie effect

I did have one of those Rivera stereo rack amps years ago but could never pull a good sound from it

I'm also thinking of modding the Super Reverb with an effects loop so I can use both it and the D-clone
properly with stereo effects in the loop...then I can go properly psychedelic!

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

I heartily endorse this idea.

I have a few 15 - 20W amps that I have tried pairing up in stereo. I think it is an easier way to get good sound under varying conditions. Even if you botch a knob tweak and one amp isn't cutting through the mix, the other one will usually still be there. It also means you've always got a backup amp ready (and warm) in case one fails on you unexpectedly.

The rest of the band just loves the way this setup is working for me:

 

[alteredbeast]

Re: A few, two amps in stereo topics.

iDig 2 amp setups. Pertaining to this topic somewhat, how does one get ones effects loop pedals going through both amps? I have axe->wah->tuner->OD->noise reduction->whirlwind ab->both amps up front, but only use one amp for effects loop. I know there's some thingamajig.