Wet/Dry rigs. Anyone gigging them?

Rowby1

I’ve been interested in trying this for some time and back in the summer finally bought a splitter (bright onion). 

I’ve gigged with the wet/dry set up twice since. First time using my MJW and DRRI and second time with an Egnater Tweaker 15 and the DRRI.

It sounded great both times (well, to me anyway). Rich, full but defined and clear. Very pleasing to the point that I thought it made me play better than I normally do.

The down side is of course, lifting two amps/cabs about is a bit of a pain (in the back) and you need a bit of space. Not all that practical for the average pub gig.

Anyone else have any experience/thoughts on this?

rico

Never done it but for the average pub gig it sounds way too much hassle. 

Teyeplayer

Did for quite some time with the wet/dry signals in stereo and got an awesome sound. That was until both amps packed up on me one after the other at the same gig. Both were fixed and both did the same thing at the next gig so were sold off quickly and a new amp sort. Never had such a jaw dropping sound since unfortunately. If you can deal with the lugging (and have more reliable gear than I had back then) you can’t beat it.

Teyeplayer

I should add the benefits were two fold. The sound covered a far wider tonal spectrum but was also more articulate. 

sted

Definitely considering it for my new band, going to be just a trio so think it would be a benefit, plus I'm all for taking a back up amp to gigs so if it's already there it may as well get used.
keeping s sharp eye on the classified for a suitable partner for my studio pro 35.

danowens

I used to gig (on bass) a multiple-path rig that split my signal across 3 pedal boards and an audio-midi setup, into a guitar amp, bass amp and DI into the house rig. I could cover about 6 octaves and it had so much harmonic content that it was a wall of sound. It was a very tech-heavy band but the lengthy load-in/out was worth it for the sound.

TommyVercetti

Forgive my ignorance here, does this refer to running one amp clean and one with effects from one signal source?

Do you need a guitar with stereo outputs? Or is there a splitter gizmo thingy that can do it?

jeztone2

rico said:

Never done it but for the average pub gig it sounds way too much hassle. 

This! 

In 2016 I played 12 gigs, of those, for 10 of them I was forced to plug my pedalboard into the venues own amp. Which was usually a Fender Hot Rod Deville or a Marshall Valvestate. I'd love to gig wet/dry. I did once try it in rehearsals years ago and I sounded huge. But on a 5 band bill?

EricTheWeary

TommyVercetti said:

Forgive my ignorance here, does this refer to running one amp clean and one with effects from one signal source?

Do you need a guitar with stereo outputs? Or is there a splitter gizmo thingy that can do it?

Any 'wet' effects ( modulation, delay, reverb) into one amp so the other runs dry. Different ways of achieving it but not usually needing a guitar with stereo outputs ( although I guess that's possible). You also get more complex variations like wet dry wet. Not uncommon in pro rigs, Larry Carlton comes to mind as the first person I recall talking about a wet dry rig. 

Rowby1

TommyVercetti said:

Forgive my ignorance here, does this refer to running one amp clean and one with effects from one signal source?

Do you need a guitar with stereo outputs? Or is there a splitter gizmo thingy that can do it?

I’ve used a splitter box after my drives but before reverb and delay so drives go to both amps, verb etc to just one. 

There’s a few splitters on the market, I went for the Bright Onion one which allows you to flip the signal phase on one output if your two amps are normally out of phase. Works a treat.

shaunm

I did this for a year, gigged it regularly too. 

Plus points - The sound, it’s up there with the best live sound that I’ve had. Really clear and articulate for my effects and for my driven sounds (I used one clean amp and one overdriving amp with the delays and modulation going to the clean, the drive pedals and filters going to both). 

Its always great to have a back up amp on stage 

It helps get the sound dispersed as I used too combos.

Down sides - Obviously the load in. 

Space on stage

sound guys hate you (if you are doing multi band nights) 

more equipment means more potential to go wrong/take longer to fix. If you rely on your twin set up for certain songs and something goes wrong, rejigging your set up mid set is not going to happen.

sted

There a great vid on YouTube of a guy with a simple DIY board that he has pre wired to go from mono to wet dry or even WDW, just by unplugging a few jacks and using an ABY pedal, just search for wet dry guitar rig.

Trude

I think one of the selling points of the Yamaha THD100 was a simple wet/dry config as it has two discrete power amps and a stereo cab? Might be worth a look for anyone who wants to avoid lugging two amps. 

hotpickups

I've toyed with the idea of a Wet/Dry rig but ended uo with a stereo rig which sounds awesome to my ears. However, I'm a realist and recognise that some venues I play at are too damn small to have 2 amps just for me on stage so I fitted a Sum to Mon box from Bright Onion. That way I can have a stereo rig fig space allows or a single amp without having to fiddle with all my fx, at a flick of a switch Works a treat 

JayGee

The Orange Rocker 32 (2x10 combo with a dual 15 Watt power stages and a stereo effects return) seems like it might be the answer to the small venue issue...

NorthenLights

I've never understood the benefits of a W/D rig as opposed to simply s stereo rig. Could somone with experience of both shed some light on the difference?

FreddieVanHalen

NorthenLights said:

I've never understood the benefits of a W/D rig as opposed to simply s stereo rig. Could somone with experience of both shed some light on the difference?

Scott Henderson has spoken about stereo vs. w/d gigs on the guitarwank podcast.

He plays w/d rather than stereo because in his view:

1. The audience doesn't get the full benefit of stereo unless they're getting great sound in the venue and sat right in the middle of the stereo field.
2. w/d allows you to hear the pure and direct sound coming out of the amp without being muddied by effects.

He might have some more commentary on his view on his website or discussion forum....

Gadget

^ re. the above...

Then I presume he has his wet and dry cabs right next to each other? Otherwise, as @Gassage said earlier, I really can't see the point, as having a cab spewing out dry on one side of the stage and another doing wet on the other side would surely cause just as many problems as the audience's placement in a stereo field?

FreddieVanHalen

@Gadget yep when I saw him play they wet and dry cabs were right next to each other.

pmg

I have my amps next to each other stacked or side by side depending on space in a wet/dry setup

Gadget

I tried w/d/w in the past, with my cabs all pretty close together and didn't note any better drive definition than with well-mixed stereo. However, I will give w/d a try when I get chance to see if the stereo wet fx were masking it.