Does anyone use a 2 amp rig ? Wet/dry or otherwise

professorben

Gadget said:

I presume all you guys having problems with FOH are in support bands? Otherwise, somebody seriously needs to go kick ass and remind him who's paying the bill / the talent

Ha, ive had a few great sound guys, but they are the exception. 
Soundman = guy who bought a PA or best mates with club/bar owner. 

BintyTwanger77

Well I do now! At home. Because I don't drive and can't take 2 amps on public transport...and I can't afford a roadie/chauffeur/minion...

I tried running my stereo pedals into my new Mesa Rectoverb 25 and the Deluxe Reverb (one stereo output per amp, no wet-dry), and they sounded so f***ing good, it felt illegal.

I couldn't use this for anything more than home practice/composing/self-indulgent noodling, but I'm a huge fan of stereo set-ups now.

Jtaylor

I've just started running two amps in stereo, if you've never tried it, I'd definitely recommend it

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/guitarrocker1/16935997_10206924517186083_1145506167_o_zpsmzgjew9s.jpg

Wyzard

I've been doing it since I was a bassist in the 80's, and have carried on ever since. Now I run a MkII C+ and MkIII most of the time. 

I'm using a hybrid setup right now, with Ethos/Lexicon front ending the Boogies, that can pin you to the wall. It's seriously non-subtle stuff.

professorben

Wyzard said:

I've been doing it since I was a bassist in the 80's, and have carried on ever since. Now I run a MkII C+ and MkIII most of the time. 

I'm using a hybrid setup right now, with Ethos/Lexicon front ending the Boogies, that can pin you to the wall. It's seriously non-subtle stuff.

Good grief that must sound epic!!!!

Wyzard

It's actually better/worse than that - I keep a spare identical rig in the warehouse.

Quad, anyone?

ZenOvertone

Did it last weekend, two amps with a standard TC Flashback connected to both between them set to slight ping pong delay, as the other guitarist was unwell at short notice it made up for it to a degree.

Norwegian_Blue

Just put some new speakers in the AC30 so couldn't possibly leave it at home tonight... Clean and Stereo with this pair!

hotpickups

There seems to be differences between wet/dry set ups. Is there a definitive accepted set up for the term WET/DRY?

Is it:-

1. All drives/dirt go into one amp, all modulation go into he other
or
2. All drives/dirt go to both amps, modulation just goes to one of them
or
3. A stereo set up, everything goes to both amps

EDIT What's the band called you are in @Norwegian_Blue as I'd love to hear that rig in action

hotpickups

Jtaylor said:

I've just started running two amps in stereo, if you've never tried it, I'd definitely recommend it

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/guitarrocker1/16935997_10206924517186083_1145506167_o_zpsmzgjew9s.jpg

How do you set up a stereo rig then @Jtaylor ? I am presuming you are setting up the 'ping pong' effect with the delays etc?

pmg

hotpickups said:

There seems to be differences between wet/dry set ups. Is there a definitive accepted set up for the term WET/DRY?

Is it:-

1. All drives/dirt go into one amp, all modulation go into he other
or
2. All drives/dirt go to both amps, modulation just goes to one of them
or
3. A stereo set up, everything goes to both amps

EDIT What's the band called you are in @Norwegian_Blue as I'd love to hear that rig in action

Surely the definition is delays to one amp only. 

Norwegian_Blue

Hey @hotpickups , Last night with that rig was for an artist called Alex Hart (Plymouth based)... First time out, but was really pleased with it so I think I'll do it whenever possible! Studio session for another next week where they have requested stereo chorus/delay specifically, so I'll pop some videos up! I've been trying to get up your way with my own band too!

hotpickups

Norwegian_Blue said:

Hey @hotpickups , Last night with that rig was for an artist called Alex Hart (Plymouth based)... First time out, but was really pleased with it so I think I'll do it whenever possible! Studio session for another next week where they have requested stereo chorus/delay specifically, so I'll pop some videos up! I've been trying to get up your way with my own band too!

That'll be great please do @Norwegian_Blue ;

Moltisanti

i think the common usage is both amps have drive and "in front" effects, whereas the wet cab only has the delay/reverb/modulation, the idea being that because the dry amp is pure, you can up the mix level on the wet one without it ever interfering too much

Jtaylor

hotpickups said:

Jtaylor said:

I've just started running two amps in stereo, if you've never tried it, I'd definitely recommend it

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/guitarrocker1/16935997_10206924517186083_1145506167_o_zpsmzgjew9s.jpg

How do you set up a stereo rig then @Jtaylor ? I am presuming you are setting up the 'ping pong' effect with the delays etc?

I have the switch on the timeline set to stereo in and out, and connect the left and right outs to the left and right inputs on the big sky that then gets sent to a junction box that has a switch to sum the stereo signal to dual mono or have it set as stereo, so that if i play at a smaller venue i can connect just one amp without having to change any cables. It also has a switch for flipping the phase of one amp and another for lifting the ground of one amp so its makes running any two amps really easy.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/guitarrocker1/16990970_10206936489725389_2120745841_o_zpswnm57xdt.jpg

I use the dual delay on the timeline a fair bit, it allows you to send one set of repeats to one amp and the other set of repeats to the second amp so you get a really wide sound. Thats how i like to do it anyway, but I'm sure other people prefer doing it another way  

hotpickups

Interesting @Jtaylor Where did you get the switcher for mono / stereo from? Does it really make a difference in stereo I mean actually really noticeable? What genre of music do you play?

hotpickups

Moltisanti said:

i think the common usage is both amps have drive and "in front" effects, whereas the wet cab only has the delay/reverb/modulation, the idea being that because the dry amp is pure, you can up the mix level on the wet one without it ever interfering too much

This is where I get confused @Moltisanti. Surely if both amps are getting the dirt etc then they are both dry/pure. Adding the modulation to only one of them, what would that do? Again is it really really noticeably better ?

Jtaylor

hotpickups said:

Interesting @Jtaylor Where did you get the switcher for mono / stereo from? Does it really make a difference in stereo I mean actually really noticeable? What genre of music do you play?

Bright onion pedals made it for me, their really reasonable on price and are really knowledgable so can work out a way to make anything you could think of in terms of switching, true bypass loopers etc. Its massively noticeable running stereo over mono, it sounds wider / bigger, fuller, my fiancee who isn't a musician or musical in anyway way, said it made it sound really big, so its definitely not just a small difference that only a muso would notice. From a playing point of view, i also find it super inspiring to play, either of those amps sound great but when they're both ran in stereo its really hard not to just play for hours!

hotpickups

That sounds a really cool set up @Jtaylor and something I'm going to look into further. I wonder if there are any advantages of wet / dry set ups over the stereo one?

Jtaylor

Its definitely worth trying, if you dont like it you could always go back to one amp, but for me anyway i wouldn't ever want to have to run mono if i didn't really have to, as stereo is so so much better. I have a friend who used to run wet dry wet amps @hotpickups, he used a 1969 jmp50 marshall, an ac30 and a super reverb, he had the marshall in the middle and the ac30 and super reverb either side with time based effects in stereo between the two either side, apparently it worked really well for in the context of a trio, but in a bigger band would take up too much room in the mix. So i guess it depends on the size of the band you play in, I tend to play in a bigger band, so two electrics, bass / sometimes bass synth, drums, keys, tracks, acoustic guitar, vocals x2/3 sometimes 4 so having my amps in stereo will sound big but without taking up too much room in the mix like a wet dry wet set up would. Hope that helps