Playing through two linked amps
Sat, 04/23/2016 - 01:20
Hi Skip, I want to play live gigs (loud 5 piece band) with two amps linked so as to get the benefits of each different amp in the overall mix. I'm using a Sonny Jnr 4x10 and a Princeton reverb. If I use an AB-Y splitter box to get one amp or the other amp as well as getting the two combined when I want to - will there be any issues with the AB-Y such as mic signal supression or circuit hum? Is there any alternative way of linking two amps I should consider?
Tue, 05/10/2016 - 00:51
#2
Linking Two Amps
Thanks Skip - I'll give it a go - and yes - I'll experiment with the set up before going live!
Hello Phil- Thanks for writing. Your A/B box should work perfectly well with those two amps, so give it a try! As long as both amps have a three-prong (grounded) cord there shouldn't be issues with hum or shock potential. Most passive A/B boxes will drop the gain of both amps a little but that may be an actual benefit for harp players.
Another way of doing it would be to plug in to the Princeton as you normally would, then run another (shielded) cable from the Princeton's #2 input jack to the input jack of the Bassman. Technically this is the same as using a "Y" cord to connect a single mike to both amps. If you've ever seen one of those famous pictures of Jimi Hendrix in front of two Marshalls, you can see his cords connected in this way.
Any new technique like this will take some getting used to, so don't wait until the gig to try it!