Two Amps

dindude

I've been having fun with an ABY box and my Carr Sportsman and Vox AC10 on the "Y".

The amps complement each other and I can get a massive wall of sound rhythm type thing going on, but I have to say, as a core tone I've never quite taken to the sound of two different amps combined.

Outside of the above wall of sound effect, you just don't hear the glorius detail of each individual amp.

Am I alone here? Interetsed in people's experiences.

Gassage

@dindude

Pete Cornish once told me there are two types of 2 amp rigs;

1. a stereo which needs two amps the same.
2. A two amp set up.

Both are diff. I have a stereo rig, 2 tone kings. it's amazing and I prefer it to the two amp unbalanced approach.

Cabicular

When it is working I really like the helix for that
Gives me all the valvey goodness onstage and Stereo XLRs for FOH
I'm the only guitar in the band so a big sound really helps (plus it feels amazing ... Gives me the Jesters toes)

dindude

Gassage said:

@dindude

Pete Cornish once told me there are two types of 2 amp rigs;

1. a stereo which needs two amps the same.
2. A two amp set up.

Both are diff. I have a stereo rig, 2 tone kings. it's amazing and I prefer it to the two amp unbalanced approach.

Yup, makes sense.

Bonus points for name dropping

richardhomer

dindude;981623" said:

Bonus points for name dropping

And twice - Pete Cornish AND Tone King.

Mind you, I'd be boasting about having a pair of TKs if I had. Mark Knopfler said to me they're definitely the best amps he's used....

shaunm

When I discussed this with Jimi Hendrix he told me that he likes two amps but only when he can use a set up that consists of only true bypass effects.

But really I use two amps, I love it. I use one clean with all my effects in and one which is set to a crunchy sound.

I find that I can get a great deal of depth by having a clean amp and a driven amp.

Cabicular

Adele said to me
Wos an amp then nahahahahahahahaha
Before collapsing face first into a pile of chips with curry sauce

samzadgan

i use 2 amps....matamp and marshall

i have the matamp with more mids and little hair and going through a 4x12 and have the marshall (Superbass) set up with more bottom end and going through 4x10 bass cab.

together they sound very big and thunderous.

ToneControl

dindude said:

I've been having fun with an ABY box and my Carr Sportsman and Vox AC10 on the "Y".

The amps complement each other and I can get a massive wall of sound rhythm type thing going on, but I have to say, as a core tone I've never quite taken to the sound of two different amps combined.

Outside of the above wall of sound effect, you just don't hear the glorius detail of each individual amp.

Am I alone here? Interetsed in people's experiences.

yes, it's amazing running 2 amps

is that a proper early 60s AC10?

dindude

ToneControl said:

dindude said:

I've been having fun with an ABY box and my Carr Sportsman and Vox AC10 on the "Y".

The amps complement each other and I can get a massive wall of sound rhythm type thing going on, but I have to say, as a core tone I've never quite taken to the sound of two different amps combined.

Outside of the above wall of sound effect, you just don't hear the glorius detail of each individual amp.

Am I alone here? Interetsed in people's experiences.

yes, it's amazing running 2 amps

is that a proper early 60s AC10?

Unfortunately not, it's a new AC10C1. I know there's a quality difference compared to the Carr, but if you ignor the slightly cheesey build, it's a great sounding little amp.

Wazmeister

@dindude - ive just found the same nirvana...

Rambler one side - Lazy J the other. Mind blowing, esp with the FX8 and ehx 45000 - panning sounds either side !

keir

I've been using two amps for a while now in dual mono and it sounds massive, but this week have switched to wet / dry and it sounds even better

dindude

A gree that it sounds massive / expansive, but do you guys find that single note lines lack the detail and subtlety of a single amp?

shaunm

For me I don't get that feeling. Though I know why you might if you are playing quite clean.

I don't tend to solo using both amps though. I chose one or the other to solo or both to thicken up things like a special effect.

Cirrus

Personally I'm not a fan, at least for what I do - I've heard it done well by others. I tried it out now and then at gigs but I like picking an amp for its character, and to my ears using two different amps gives you something that has less character.

Then I get to thinking about how it's going to be heard - will the amps be panned, will they be miked appropriately, how will the tone smear across the sound stage (common frequencies appearing in the centre, differences in tone leaning left and right), polarity and phase issues...

If I had a great production crew and was putting on good sized shows, I'd consider a stereo rig of two identical amps/ cabs and generate space with stereo echoes, that kind of thing. I'd also consider having a clean/ dirty dual amp setup. But two different amps playing at the same time doesn't appeal to me much.

Dominic

why use 2 when 4 is better !

randomhandclaps

Gassage said:

@dindude

Pete Cornish once told me there are two types of 2 amp rigs;

1. One where each amp is smaller than a Pete Cornish pedal enclosure
2. One where both amps combined are smaller than a Pete Cornish pedal enclosure.

True that ^.

randomhandclaps

Actually though that original Pete Cornish quote is naïve as it ignores the fact the first reason for multi amp rigs had nothing to do with stereo but to do with tone layering.  SRV's tone for years was difficult for people to chase because it had one hard driven amp to give sustain and attitude and another amp run in an almost clean surf mode to give the punchy fat attack.  Personally I prefer the tone thickening of two differing amps or two different settings if I'm using more than one amp, otherwise you are just using an expensive slave system.

Even now most true multi amp set ups (as in more than one amp actually on at a time) you see nowadays are again two different amps running in mono often say one mid-humped and the other mid-scooped.

Wazmeister

randomhandclaps said:

Actually though that original Pete Cornish quote is naïve as it ignores the fact the first reason for multi amp rigs had nothing to do with stereo but to do with tone layering.  SRV's tone for years was difficult for people to chase because it had one hard driven amp to give sustain and attitude and another amp run in an almost clean surf mode to give the punchy fat attack.  Personally I prefer the tone thickening of two differing amps or two different settings if I'm using more than one amp, otherwise you are just using an expensive slave system.

Even now most true multi amp set ups (as in more than one amp actually on at a time) you see nowadays are again two different amps running in mono often say one mid-humped and the other mid-scooped.

This is how I use mine. Bang on.

ChuckManual

Rather than switching between clean and driven tones in a single amp, I use one for clean and then add another for gain, without turning the clean one off.  I've heard this called, "Tone Stacking", in the past.

I'm pretty convinced it wouldn't work for everyone, especially if you're playing in a two-or-more guitarist line-up, but I like the breadth of tone it gives me.

shaunm

ChuckManual;982160" said:

Rather than switching between clean and driven tones in a single amp, I use one for clean and then add another for gain, without turning the clean one off.  I've heard this called, "Tone Stacking", in the past.

I'm pretty convinced it wouldn't work for everyone, especially if you're playing in a two-or-more guitarist line-up, but I like the breadth of tone it gives me.

I do this and in a band with another guitarist. I find it still works because I try to cover ground that the other is not.

I like the effect you get when you've a trem or delay set quickly on a clean amp but have the drive of the other amp. Instant "what's the frequency" tone.