The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    anybody has expierience with two amps in stereo mode?

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  3. #2

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    Not sure if this is what you're asking ...

    I used to use two amps. I used a Boss ME50 on the Stereo Chorus setting. This made one signal dry, one wet, and the chorusing took place in the air of the room as the waves intersected. It sounded great where I sat. But, I eventually discovered that it could detune the sound at spots in the room. So, the guitar could sound badly out of tune, depending on where the listener was standing. So I stopped using it.

    Notably, the Stereo Chorus setting was eliminated in the next model, the ME70 and is not in the ME80 either.

    I was interested in using two amps to thicken or enlarge the sound, but I never could find another way of doing it. I tried various forms of delay, but couldn't get a sound I liked.

  4. #3

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    Well, I'll chime in. Last solo gig I did was with a Fender Princeton Stereo Chorus Amp (2 10s) and an AER 60. The stereo chorus on the Fender is pretty good and the AER is run dry. I split the two with a slight delay (El Capistan or an MXR) almost at a slap back. It's a wide sound with a bit of everything, chorus, delay, dry. Friends in the back of the room who I trust said it worked. Sounded good where I was, so that's all that mattered.

  5. #4

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    One of my setups is a Pearce G2r (stereo) head into two RE-12ER cabs. Time based efx (revb/chor/dlay) sound gorgeous. But it's so much to carry, I mostly enjoy it in my own studio.

  6. #5

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    I used to play around with a two-amp setup at home, using an RP300A as a splitter. Really cool and I sure enjoyed the wash of sound, but I didn't -- and wouldn't -- gig with such a rig. Pain in the ass to tote, and most likely harder for a soundman to work with in the rock-band settings I was gigging. We were lucky enough to get a soundcheck at all, no sense eating up precious time by putting another amp onstage, was my thinking.

  7. #6

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    I also occasionally mess around with two amps and a stereo chorus pedal. It's a cool sound, but at least for me it's too much stuff to schlep around.

    John

  8. #7

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    have had a ric 360 stereo guitar for years...has two separate output jacks...one normal mono and the other stereo...in stereo, neck pup goes one way, the bridge pup the other...huge sound..can use big 15" cab amp for neck pup and smaller amp for bridge...incredible tone


    if you are talking about splitting your mono guitar into 2 amps...you want to get a splitter box that has a ground lift feature...otherwise massive ground hum can be a problem


    cheers

  9. #8

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    Here's what I've seen and heard myself:

    My dad uses a double setup often, a DV Mark Jazz 12 in tandem with something like a blues jr or similar.
    When I saw Lee Ritenour and later Mike Stern, both used (at least) two amps. IIRC both used twins.
    My guitar teacher told me that he also used to do dual twins in his session & tour days, f.ex. when he was backing randy crawford

    It really fattens up the sound in a way that can't be explained as much as it can be felt. Mike Stern wasn't playing particularly loud when I saw him a few weeks ago, but the two amps really made him fill the room up in a powerful way. I'll echo what some others have mentioned already, though: it's much too impractical for a mortal like me

  10. #9

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    Plan is to have quad sound with 4 separate amps with 4 separate effects , through 4 separate FRFR speakers using only 1 pedal . Lehle amp switcher stereo pedal .
    4 amps courtesy of Axe FX2 and Axe FX3.

    Only thing missing is a solid body rock guitar , which I am in the process of ordering

    A new Strat model with the Fernandes Sustainer neck pick up. If you don’t know what that is, Google it. Check out Bob Fripp. I am not using this with any of the jazz guitars or arch tops. A solid-state amp is perfect for that. Set up would be totally overkill for arch tops. would be completely over kill for arch tops . I may use two other pedals but they are not necessary: those pedals would be a Wah pedal and a looper

    This is going to be really fun. Can you imagine for separate amps with four separate FX delays and reverbs and so forth going to different parts of the room? What a blast

    The weird thing is, I didn’t even own a rock guitar or solid body . That will change soon.

  11. #10

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    pink floyd toured a quad system around in the 70's & 80's....they would move the sound all around the room...joystick fun!! hah

    cheers

  12. #11

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    Last year I picked up another SGOS Lehle pedal that is great for two amps:

    Lehle Dual SGoS Dual Amplifier Switcher Features at a Glance:
    Dual amplifier switcher with three sets of outputs
    Outputs A and B can feed two amplifiers simultaneously
    Outputs are electrically isolated by the Lehle LTHZ high-end transformer
    Onboard potentiometers let you adjust the output signal for A and B separately
    Output T can be used for a tuner or a third amplifier
    Can be controlled and synchronized with other Lehle SGoS switchers via MIDI

    There's a switch to invert output "A" 180* to keep signals in phase (or not). I've found two clean amps can get a really full sound -- this was better than expected. The SGOS stuff adds midi control, and it's pretty easy to make it switch along with the Lehle D.Loop pedal when I've got more elaborate effects wired in.

    Even without midi, these Lehle pedals allow user assignment for the switches, it's very simple to enter the "programming" mode to assign any of the 3 outputs to any switch.
    Have not actually been doing stereo effects, as my playing two amps has mostly just been straight into the two clean amps with just their tube driven tank reverb. The Lehle Dual is pricey, but I got lucky and found one used for <$100


  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    anybody has expierience with two amps in stereo mode?
    Like quadraphonic?

  14. #13

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    I have a Gibson ES-345 with stereo VariTone. I used to run two blackface Deluxe Reverbs about 6' apart - neck pup in one, bridge pup in the other. The stereo sound was just huge and lush. Princeton Reverbs would work as well and take up less stageroom. If you have a soundman, there are a ton of possibilities. Great set-up for a trio.

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    have had a ric 360 stereo guitar for years...has two separate output jacks...one normal mono and the other stereo...in stereo, neck pup goes one way, the bridge pup the other...huge sound..can use big 15" cab amp for neck pup and smaller amp for bridge...incredible tone


    if you are talking about splitting your mono guitar into 2 amps...you want to get a splitter box that has a ground lift feature...otherwise massive ground hum can be a problem


    cheers
    Yep. That's why I used the multiFX as a splitter, because polarity and ground were handled before the signal hit either amp. I would sometimes do it by a jumper from the second input on my main amp to the input on the second amp. I was lucky, the ground lined up and the speakers were on the same polarity -- but that can be an issue much of the time.

    Once I get my Epi VJ up and running again, I may do a stereo set-up again, because EL-84s against 6L6s sounds like a good tone recipe to me.But my space is small enough that it might not be worth the trouble ... ? We'll see.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by NSJ
    Plan is to have quad sound with 4 separate amps with 4 separate effects , through 4 separate FRFR speakers using only 1 pedal . Lehle amp switcher stereo pedal .
    4 amps courtesy of Axe FX2 and Axe FX3.

    Only thing missing is a solid body rock guitar , which I am in the process of ordering

    A new Strat model with the Fernandes Sustainer neck pick up. If you don’t know what that is, Google it. Check out Bob Fripp. I am not using this with any of the jazz guitars or arch tops. A solid-state amp is perfect for that. Set up would be totally overkill for arch tops. would be completely over kill for arch tops . I may use two other pedals but they are not necessary: those pedals would be a Wah pedal and a looper

    This is going to be really fun. Can you imagine for separate amps with four separate FX delays and reverbs and so forth going to different parts of the room? What a blast

    The weird thing is, I didn’t even own a rock guitar or solid body . That will change soon.
    I've seen both Eric Johnson and Robert Cray use multiple amps onstage -- Johnson used three, Cray four. Both in small settings (<600 seats). The sound was glorious. Glad I wasn't a roadie. Pretty sure Cray had a Carr and a Vibroverb on at all times, switching in a Caroline and another unknown-to-me amp for boost and cutting power. EJ generally used one amp at a time, but in some instances it was obvious he had his JCM 800 and Twin going together.

    My back hurts just writing this post.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

    I may do a stereo set-up again, because EL-84s against 6L6s sounds like a good tone recipe to me.But my space is small enough that it might not be worth the trouble ... ?
    definitely worth it!!!

    6l6 tube amp and el84 amp is wonderful mix...can always go small..2 6l6 fendery amp and a small voxy (single or dual el84)...perfect blend of warm open fender and chimey uk vox snap

    cheers
    Last edited by neatomic; 04-13-2018 at 09:05 PM.

  18. #17

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    There also are standalone amps that let you have a stereo setup, for example the Yamaha THR100HD with the 2x12" cabinet, or even the Roland JC-40, if you send a dry/clean signal to one input and a wet/dirty signal to the other input.

  19. #18

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    The Rivera TBR-1 ,rack mode,is naturally stereo ,with one send,2 returns L and R and 2 out's to 2 speaker cabinets
    That's what I use
    HB

  20. #19

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    the boss reverb pedals sound great in stereo. Running with 2 amps is the only way to compete with saxophone or loud electric keys IMO. Axefx of course works great with 2 powered PA cabs and the amps are inexpensive.

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    definitely worth it!!!

    6l6 tube amp and el84 amp is wonderful mix...can always go small..2 6l6 fendery amp and a small voxy (single or dual el84)...perfect blend of warm open fender and chimey uk vox snap

    cheers
    Yeah, small it is -- I'm running 2x 6L6s in my Tweaker 15, output is probably 17 or 18 watts with the non-stock bottles. The Epi VJ is 1x EL-84, 5w output.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    One of my setups is a Pearce G2r (stereo) head into two RE-12ER cabs. Time based efx (revb/chor/dlay) sound gorgeous. But it's so much to carry, I mostly enjoy it in my own studio.
    Stereo Amps Set for Guitar-stereo-jpg

  23. #22

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    is it better to use seperate two amps or just one stereo guitar head?
    I/ve seen Scofield and Stern used two amps...Scof used two of the same model Vox as I know.

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    is it better to use seperate two amps or just one stereo guitar head?
    I/ve seen Scofield and Stern used two amps...Scof used two of the same model Vox as I know.
    It doesn't really matter where the split happens, head or pedalboard. What gives stereo amping its quality is having the sound spread physically.

    I like using two different amps ... to my ears the sound is richer.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    is it better to use seperate two amps or just one stereo guitar head?
    I/ve seen Scofield and Stern used two amps...Scof used two of the same model Vox as I know.
    You only need two amps if you’d like stereo (or independent) reverb, different EQ in each channel, or double the power. All those features can be useful, but aren’t mandatory. In a small or dead room it can be nice to have two amps with different reverb settings to give the effect of a larger room.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    is it better to use seperate two amps or just one stereo guitar head?
    I/ve seen Scofield and Stern used two amps...Scof used two of the same model Vox as I know.
    For me, I'm using two different amps that have distinct voices, and as they get added together, the resulting combination was surprisingly fuller than expected (playing both clean, one tube + one SS.)
    I'm doing that more often than having the two amps act like traditional channel switching, as in having one clean / one overdrive.

    There's a lot of flexibility in how to blend or switch between two amps, but my favorite is just the two clean voices, each with their own character, singing well together. With the Lehle Dual for amp switching/blending, and the Lehle D.Loop allowing me to insert or bypass my pedals into either or both, there's more possibilities than just playing both amps straight in and clean, even though that is my favorite at the moment. I don't have a stereo guitar head, and not sure I can justify getting one (unless I had to gig this rig a lot, and the sound was not too compromised.)
    John