Best way to run stereo (via two separate amps/speakers)

[jackalGreen]

So, I was chatting here on a thread about the TOOB Metro and even Markku confirms (as have I through just testing at home) that the Metro 6.5BG with the SICA speaker/driver has plenty of range to get down to roughly 30 Hz.

I'm mildly considering buying a second Metro (maybe one with a 10" or so) and using it to provide stereo to the Leslie simulation on a Hammond organ (in my case, I use the EH Lester-K box).

So, of course, I'd need a second microamp (well, in my case that would be logical, since I currently have the Metro 6.5BG with a BAM200).

I do have other powered monitors that can be fiddled with, I suppose to roughly give a nice stereo image (a kind of wretched old, road-beaten-by-me JBL EON 15 G1, and some others), but it would be nice to get somewhat of a matched pair.

How do people who run stereo on guitar (or guitar-synths) manage to keep each discrete amp, especially when paired with a cabinet of different characteristics (but similar, I presume, in the case of the TOOB series), "sync'ed up"?

I know there's a lot of tuning by ear, and placement, and so forth, but at this point putting together a stereo rig made of discrete components almost seems like an exercise in endless fiddling with knobs until she's ready to go.

Or is the process much less complex than I've made it out to be?

For guitar, such as I can "play" the instrument, I stick with mono, one cabinet, one amp, but for harmony's sake, it would be nice to have a second sympathetic system, not necessarily a clone of the first amp+cabinet, but close, for playing Hammond organ or perhaps other purposes.

One use case would be, I leave, say, another BAM200 (or other class-D amp...not married to the BAM200 "sound!") paired with a different TOOB cabinet perhaps with a larger speaker set up permanently to the organ/lower manual/bass pedal/Lester-K, and then easily scoop up the Metro 6.5BG+BAM200 with one hand, plug it in in two seconds, and transition that way.

Obviously, this is for at-home use....I don't have a patch bay, nor any outboard gear to speak of, except for some pedals, just an old Mackie 1202VLZ as a mixer which I only really have used live, so simplicity is key.

[bluejaybill]

It's pretty simple, just run out of the stereo outs of the EH box and into each amp. It becomes more complicated when you want to use an effects loop on one amp, but that's another story.

It is difficult to get a good balance, and you kind of have a very limited optimal seating spot in between the two amps. While they needn't match, it helps if they are in the ballpark of each other, or one side might have much more lows or highs.

I use the outputs of a Keeley Halo into a Deluxe Reverb and a Fat Jimmy amp, which is in the ballpark of a DR but sounds a bit more full, so not an exact match, but close enough.

The closest I've come to stereo playing live was years ago with two tweed Fender Bassman amps and a Roland 501 chorus echo in between- quite a glorious sound, but not strictly stereo, more like wet/dry.

Good luck, it's fun to play around with stereo- not sure I'd bother with it live though!

[jackalGreen]

It is difficult to get a good balance, and you kind of have a very limited optimal seating spot in between the two amps. While they needn't match, it helps if they are in the ballpark of each other, or one side might have much more lows or highs.

Spot on for bringing me back down to reality check.

Yeah, considering this is strictly for (IMHO a good Leslie speaker effect works just fine in mono, but stereo is the other dimension) Hammond organ emulation....

It's good to keep in mind (for me, anyway), that some of the original Leslies, whether one-speed or two-speed+brake, were very simple devices getting away with spinning sound just willy-nilly about the room. I've never used a Motion Sound horn or one of the newer Hammond-Suzuki Leslies, and it's been quarter-century or so since I've had a Hammond, or a bit more recently played through a Leslie (I think a 145 attached to somebody's Nord Electro in a studio out in Georgia, the US state).

Yeah, I'm not going to sweat it, because, after all, the randomness of the sound "effect" is, to me, part of the effect. Of course audiences like to look at the real thing, but I'm burned out on playing jobs for money where I'm at, and I sure don't do it for free!

Good comment, my man! Thanks!

[st.bede]

I tend to prefer a wet/dry instead of stereo. There is a good “The Pedal Show”, on such setups. I prefer to use a radial shotgun to have the option to flip phase and/or use a ground lift is necessary. For how much I like wet/dry rigs, I still end up using just one amp most of the time. Weight, simplicity, set up time, and lazy-ness are the main reason. If I am running two amps, I have come to enjoy a Henriksen Jazz amp, and a Tweed Clone as a pair. I think the gel together and are complementary.

[lammie200]

I use a Radial BigShot ABY. I run it passive. Active just activates the LEDs which I don’t need illuminated.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

You may be overthinking this. I use a pair of Metros (a BG+ and a GP) powered by various amp heads for the B3 / Leslie patches in my Roland guitar synth. Most of the time, I just use a pair of Quilters - either the SBUS and a Microblock, or two Microblocks. I bought the MBs used as backups, but they turn out to be very gig-worthy.

I’ve driven small stereo rigs for this with my DV Mark EG250, an Elf, a Vox Nighttrain 15, and even a few $50 class D amps from Pyle and Nobsound. The channels don’t have to be perfectly matched in tone or volume to get a great sound. If you’re within a few dB, it’s fine IME. And tonal variation from side to side just adds character to the Leslie effect.

I carry the Toobs and amps in a gym bag:



FWIW, I have a current model Leslie 3300 at the club, and it’s stellar. But the pair o’ Toobs acquits itself very well even if you’re used to the real thing. If you can, point the Toobs toward the wall behind you - the diffusion really opens up the sound field.

[pingu]

hi Never,

are the microblocks noticably
louder than the SBUS through a
small Toob ?

im using a BAM200 at the moment
which is fine but i want a bit of grit
to the sound ….

and i’d prefer not to use a pedal
if possible

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

hi Never,

are the microblocks noticably
louder than the SBUS through a
small Toob ?

im using a BAM200 at the moment
which is fine but i want a bit of grit
to the sound ….

and i’d prefer not to use a pedal
if possible

The Microblocks and the SBUS are just about equally loud. The rated power discrepancy (45 vs 25 Watts) is of no consequence and amounts to no more than 2 dB in maximum SPL. The clean volumes are close but the Microblock gets gritty a bit earlier. You can use the gain and volume controls the same way on both - high volume + low gain = clean, lower volume + higher gain = grittier. The Q pot on the MB is a combo tone pot & response curve shaper. The best description I can come up with is that one end of the range is a bit more blackface and the other is tweedier.

Through a Metro BG+, the MB has a bit less clean headroom than the SB but is as loud with some grit. Through a 10” Toob, they both have a bit more clean headroom. Unlike the Q control on the MB, the EQ in the SB is active and does push its clean headroom a bit beyond the MB if you increase one or more bands.