Does anyone actually make use of the dual input channels on Fender amps when changing guitars?

CaseOfAce

... and if so..does it really cater for the volume differences from using single coils and humbuckers?

Most people generally just use input 1 and adjust volume elsewhere in the chain?
It seems Fender could reduce a whole lot of unnecessary circuitry etc.. if they just went to one input?
so why do they insist on still manufacturing amps like this?

ICBM

It’s a historical thing - most amps designed after about 1975 do have just one input, but these are reissues of earlier amps.

It’s useful for a few reasons - as a backup if the main jack gets damaged, to better match the output of an active instrument (both for volume and impedance), it allows you to run two instruments into the same channel (not that it’s very likely) and most usefully for modern players, you can use the second input as a splitter output to jumper the channels, or to another amp.

I don’t find it essential, but overall I’d probably rather have it than not, and it only adds a tiny bit of cost.

impmann

No but I used to use them with an A/B box to give me a slightly quieter sound for certain songs/segments. Not quite as a 'boost' for solos, but a softer tone for certain rhythm parts. 

Voxsupertwin

No

Lebarque

impmann said:

No but I used to use them with an A/B box to give me a slightly quieter sound for certain songs/segments. Not quite as a 'boost' for solos, but a softer tone for certain rhythm parts. 

I thought they defaulted to the same volume if you plug into both?

ICBM

Lebarque said:

I thought they defaulted to the same volume if you plug into both?

They do - both the same as 1. (High, on amps where they're labelled high and low.)

Yorkie

I used that on the Bandit quite a lot. I had the pedalboard plugged into the low gain input, and used the high gain input for plugging straight into the amp. Footswitch to enable/disable effects loop as required, ready to play.

It's convenient, and I do miss it now that the DSL has taken over.  

Fishboy7

Never noticed much difference really 

Modulus_Amps

If you have a really hot guitar pickup input 2 can be helpful to get a cleaner tone. 

Dave_Mc

I've never used the low input until recently, but I got a 5F2-A clone and humbuckers (even vintage output ones) seem to sound better into the lower input. I really wasn't expecting that, usually it just sounds worse!

Flanging_Fred

I use both inputs on my Fender SKX 100r.  High input with the band/gigs. Low input when I’m at home. I just prefer the sound like that. Mellower at home, cuts through better at volume.

It’s even more pronounced on my Marshall JCM800 though. I’ve ended up using almost completely different pedal boards depending on if I want to use the high or low inputs.

ICBM

Flanging_Fred said:

It’s even more pronounced on my Marshall JCM800 though. I’ve ended up using almost completely different pedal boards depending on if I want to use the high or low inputs.

That's a different thing - the High and Low inputs on a 2203/4 circuit are totally different in gain, there's an extra valve stage for the High rather than just a resistor divider between the two. (But oddly, the Lead/Bass 12/20/30 do use a divider, although it's a bigger drop than the standard 2:1 type in two-input Fenders and older Marshalls.)

mburekenge

I use 'em on my Victoria 5112. 

1Strat2many

On a gig I always use the second input of the normal channel on my ‘ 74 Deluxe as a pedal platform and it sounds great for any guitar I use, with plenty of punch. If i am using a Jazz Guitar indoors I will generally use the second input of the reverb channel to optimise the “clean” sound. I’m used to having this option on my amps for many decades, though I also happily use a Carr Rambler some times.