Question about Blues Jr(s). !

Just get a phono jack Y splitter that has 3 female connectors. Plug your guitar into the stem of the Y and then run regular instrument cable from each of the arms of the Y to each of the amps.

Something like this except the only one I could find had a male coupling on the stem so you would need to have a male-female adapter or a female end on the cable from your guitar.

Thanks, hyperborea! Something that simple??? How about this:

Adapter

Sorry, that one won't work. It's a stereo to dual mono adapter. What you want is this one that's mono to dual mono -
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Planet-Waves-1-4--Female-to-1-4--Male-Pigtail-335229-i1129014.gc

Except that this one has male connectors on the arms of the Y. That might work ok if the amps are close together. Otherwise you'll need to run an instrument cable from the adapter to the amp that's female on one end and male on the other. Does't appear to be a Y adapter out there that's mono female to dual mono female.

No, what you want is an A/B box like this:

A/B Box

An A/B box is designed to do exactly what you want to do. Your guitar goes into the Input, but there are two Outputs to go to the amps. You can select one amp at a time or play both at once. This was just the first model I found on Musician's Friend, can't say if it is good or not, but there are many other brands to choose from.

Actually, I play quite often with 2 different amps at the same time, and blend the 2 sounds. The way I do it, which works great, is on my pedalboard, the last effect in my signal chain before the amps is a stereo chorus pedal (in my case, a Rocktron Tsunami..excellent pedal, btw) and I simply use both outputs, running one to the first amp, and the other to the second amp.

This has the advantage of isolating and buffering the signals to each amp, and avoids any loading and/or impedance effects you would experience in simply "Y-ing" into both amps with a simple adapter or A/B switch.

Also, here's a great general info page on amps, effects, and more that can answer many basic questions.

http://www.amptone.com/

Cheers!

Strat

Thanks much, Wes, for the info. I've seen similar gadgets online, so I'll check 'em out.

Also, thanks stratman_el84 for your input. I have quite a few effects pedals, but not the one you mentioned. I know I have some stereo ones. I wonder if anything stereo (with 2 outputs) will work...??? :? Thanks for the link, too. It looks very informative. I'll see if I understand any of it tomorrow! :|

Thanks, guys! I greatly appreciate your replies! :D

You're very welcome, glad to help. If you look at that A/B box link, note the very first customer review where he bemoans the signal loss. As to your other pedals with two outputs/stereo outputs, give them a try. Some pedals with stereo outputs disable one output in mono mode and/or in bypass mode.

That amptone website has tons of info, and nobody but a geek could be expected to understand everything. That's why we're here! :)

Cheers!

Strat

If you do the splitting after any good active effects pedal without true bypassing, then passive splitting (A-B or Y-cable) will work without tone loss, as the effect will act as a buffer for your guitar. Without that buffering, the two amp inputs in parallel will present a much lower impedence to the guitar pups than one amp alone => tone loss. Use of a stereo out pedal is a nice way to accomplish the buffer as suggested. You can also buy active (buffered) A-B switches ... uh, somewhere (but sorry, no link yet).

... or you can try this Ernie Ball Volume/Panning Pedal. It is passive so may cause a little tone loss, but used after an active effect with buffer (not true bypass), there should be little or no tone loss.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ernie-Ball-6165-Stereo-VolumePan-Pedal?sku=152102

Hey gnease,

That pedal looks really cool! And it's something I could use even if I don't get the BJ NOS. :) I wonder if it could possibly make me appreciate (in at least some small way) my Spider II????? It could be fun to try. 8)

Thanks!!! :D

E-B passive volume pedals are pretty much the best -- you can't go wrong.

**************************************

"What would Jeff do?"

The reason I suggested using 2 separate buffered outputs (like a stereo pedal) is the problem of impedance mis-matching. When using a single output to drive 2 inputs, the impedance of the 2 inputs divides the total impedance seen by the single output, causing a mis-match, which affects both tone, and the voltage and current of the signal at each input.

A single buffered output routed through a passive switch/splitter/pan-pedal may have a sufficient output level to provide enough signal to drive both inputs despite the impedance mis-match, but the frequency response *will* be altered. One other thing to be aware of is phase inversions. Some pedals with dual/stereo outputs invert the phase between the 2 outputs. Driving 2 amps out of phase may be desired in some limited situations for that specific out of phase sound, but is undesirable in most situations.

If you plan on using an EB passive pan pedal or similar, it would be a good idea to buffer each output between the pan pedals' output and each amps' input or even between 2 inputs on the same amp. Of course you may be fine with the results with none of this stuff. It's all subjective. I just wanted to provide the technically-correct info to promote understanding of what's going on.

Cheers!

Strat

Most pedal FX have output buffers that can more than make up the pan/volume pedal voltage gain loss. (Caution sweeping generalization ahead...) 95% of players won't be this picky about the subtle tonal change. The buffers can usually be added after if that really is an issue. The ideal buffer for each post-split channel: an equalizer for each amp. But refer again to "sweeping generalization."

... or one can add one buffer ahead of the passive pan/volume pedal (same as most FX outputs) and use the confusingly named "active" version of the E-B passive pan/volume pedal which actually only uses lower resistance pots (25k IIRC). But that limits use of the pedal in most setups. Experimenters will likely run into problems using a low-Z pedal in the wrong place. Gets messy.

I've been off for a few days, musica23. You may have read me talking about my friend Billy Crawford playing through two Blues Juniors. He uses a signal splitter as above. I've never seen him turn them up past 3 in a club setting, and they're plenty loud. I think the main reason he doubles the amps is for equipment redundancy. If one breaks down, you just turn the other one up a hair and keep playing. The volume increase is small.

The reason I run 2 amps is all in the differences between them. The Stromberg-Carlson (2-EL84's, tube rectifier) being around 18-20 watts, breaks up much sooner than the Seymour Duncan 84-40 (4-EL84's, solid-state rectifier)..the SD has a Fender-y tone, while the Stromberg has a definite Marshall vibe. Together, they produce an aggressive, but defined tone. Even when the Stromberg is well into crunch-land, the SD is still spanky and tight.

With this combination, I'm able to get a very SRV-like clean-but-overdriven tone, with great definition when playing chords. It avoids the 'notes running together' muddiness when playing chords like minor-9ths, while remaining powerful and gritty, and all while remaining at levels that won't have the venue owner yelling about excessive volumes.

Cheers!

Strat