quick q about Radial Headbone

[lex666]

Hey guys,

I got my tax return and the okay from the wifey to purchase a new amp... The Mesa Boogie Mark V... unfortunately, its on back order...

Anyways, I'm gonna keep my Marshall and wanted to play both 'heads' thru my Marshall cabs. I was thinking of getting the Headbone to swtich between amps... problem is I'm using 2 cabs and the headbone only has 1 output...

Can I just split the single output with a 1/4 "Y" cable or do I need a splitter or some other piece of gear?

Thanks,

 

[James Rock]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

If you want to play through seperate cabs its best to use an a/b splitter before the amps then each amp into its on speaker box. If you wanted to use each head with two cabs then you may need an a/b box infront and loaded cab switcher unless you can slave the cabs into each other then just use the one output going into the first cab which goes into the second but you need to be careful with impedance.

 

[J Moose]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

I'm slightly confused... you want to run both heads into both cabs? At the same time? Or switch between the heads in an A/B or what?

Anyway, you can't split a speaker level output with a $6 Y-cable... not unless you like the scent of melted transformers.

 

[pinto79]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

The Headbone is for switching 2 heads using a single cabinet.

You want the Switchbone which is an ABY pedal with some tweaks.

http://www.tonebone.com/tb-switchbone.htm

 

[lex666]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

I'm slightly confused... you want to run both heads into both cabs? At the same time? Or switch between the heads in an A/B or what?

Anyway, you can't split a speaker level output with a $6 Y-cable... not unless you like the scent of melted transformers.

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm currently running 2 2x12 cabs... I wanted to switch between heads in an A/B format, each head utilizing both 2x12 cabs. Basically, both heads hooked up to both cabs with the ability to A/B between them.

So, if a Y-cable from the single output of the Headbone is a bad idea, would a A/B/Y box from Loop Master work? Or, is something else needed instead?

Thanks,

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm currently running 2 2x12 cabs... I wanted to switch between heads in an A/B format, each head utilizing both 2x12 cabs. Basically, both heads hooked up to both cabs with the ability to A/B between them.

So, if a Y-cable from the single output of the Headbone is a bad idea, would a A/B/Y box from Loop Master work? Or, is something else needed instead?

Thanks,

Use the headbone, but run out to one cabinet and then daisy chain the cabs, just make sure to pay attention to the impedence of the daisy chained cabs.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

just an FYI they do not advertise well about the headbone which thankfully i learned before i bought one (and just bought a second cab instead) it will not work with anything in the loop of the heads used with it like reverb and delay. that little tidbit is hidden in the manual somewhere and not clearly advertised anywhere else where it should be.

i'd run a radial twin city bones a/b/y (i have one it works great) and run each head into its own 2x12 if i were you to a/b/y them that way you can also play with both on at once too.

-Mike

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

i'd run a radial twin city bones a/b/y (i have one it works great) and run each head into it's own 2x12 if i were you to a/b/y them that way you can also play with both on at once too.

-Mike

I do the same thing. It rocks!

 

[J Moose]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

So, if a Y-cable from the single output of the Headbone is a bad idea, would a A/B/Y box from Loop Master work? Or, is something else needed instead?

Thanks,

NO!

You can't mix line and speaker level signals... not unless you want to melt the amps output transformers. You also need to take the load of each cab into account...

There's no easy way to do what you want to do using commercially available products... you could have a box built to do it, go the Bradshaw route or whatever... but the easiest and likely better option is to either daisy chain the cabs & A/B the heads on the front end, or run each head into its own cab... which would also involve switching on the front end.

 

[J Moose]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

just an FYI they do not advertise well about the headbone which thankfully i learned before i bought one (and just bought a second cab instead) it will not work with anything in the loop of the heads used with it like reverb and delay. that little tidbit is hidden in the manual somewhere and not clearly advertised anywhere else where it should be.

Why doesn't it work with effects loops? The Headbone gets the speaker output of each head right? That'd be post FX loop... at least I remember it working like that...

 

[lex666]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

NO!

You can't mix line and speaker level signals... not unless you want to melt the amps output transformers. You also need to take the load of each cab into account...

There's no easy way to do what you want to do using commercially available products... you could have a box built to do it, go the Bradshaw route or whatever... but the easiest and likely better option is to either daisy chain the cabs & A/B the heads on the front end, or run each head into its own cab... which would also involve switching on the front end.

Thanks for the help Moose.

I'm open to the idea of daisy chain'ing the 2 cabs together... How is this done? Sorry for the noob question, I haven't done this before...

Thanks,

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

Why doesn't it work with effects loops? The Headbone gets the speaker output of each head right? That'd be post FX loop... at least I remember it working like that...

no idea but it says it buried in the instruction manual. i think it's the delay trails that cause a problem when you switch from one head to the other and they have nowhere to go so to speak and are being sent through a head with no load and...BOOM. check the manual, it's buried in there saying not to use it with delay...thankfully i read it before i bought one. that thing is pointless to me since it can't be used with delay.


page 11 in the pdf marked 8 on the bottom...

http://www.tonebone.com/manual-headbone.pdf


-Mike

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

Thanks for the help Moose.

I'm open to the idea of daisy chain'ing the 2 cabs together... How is this done? Sorry for the noob question, I haven't done this before...

Thanks,

Most cabs have an input and a parallel out (to go to another cab).

You go into one cab 1, then out from cab 1 into cab 2.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Guitar Cabinets/1x12+2x12-JackplateLG.htm

Just make sure to select the correct impedence. Daisy chaining two 8 Ohm cabs will have net result of a 4 Ohm load on the amp(s).

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

no idea but it says it buried in the instruction manual. i think it's the delay trails that cause a problem when you switch from one head to the other and they have nowhere to go so to speak and are being sent through a head with no load and...BOOM. check the manual, it's buried in there saying not to use it with delay...thankfully i read it before i bought one. that thing is pointless to me since it can't be used with delay.


page 11 in the pdf marked 8 on the bottom...

http://www.tonebone.com/manual-headbone.pdf


-Mike

Wow! Is that ever lame!.....You basically have to go "big dog" with MIDI switching and loops to be able to switch the FX (from one amp to another) at the same time as the head. So you might as well go "rack" and get the good stuff....and pay $$$$

Not such a great product if that simple detail can melt down a tranny.

 

[lex666]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

Most cabs have an input and a parallel out (to go to another cab).

You go into one cab 1, then out from cab 1 into cab 2.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Guitar Cabinets/1x12+2x12-JackplateLG.htm

Just make sure to select the correct impedence. Daisy chaining two 8 Ohm cabs will have net result of a 4 Ohm load on the amp(s).

Thanks for the tip, Binnerscot but both of my cabs only a have a single input. Can this still be done or do I need to do some re-wiring?

 

[WhoFan]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

i have an Axess Electronic's head switcher that is basicly the exact same as the Headbone... it is limited with what you can do with it but it works great for what it does... you can't use boosters in front of it, and you can't use FX's in the loops... it is meant to just allow you to a/b heads into a single cab...

a quality Radial ABY sounds like what you really want

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: quick q about Radial Headbone

Thanks for the tip, Binnerscot but both of my cabs only a have a single input. Can this still be done or do I need to do some re-wiring?

You just rewire. You can get new jack plates, or drill for a 1/4" jack on each cab. There are a lot of wiring diagrams for that stuff. Just remember that you are looking for a "parallel out" as opposed to "series". Almost all cabs are paralleled for daisy chain.