How to run a clean channel and a dirty channel through a single amp.

[ben12390]

i want to be able to parallel a clean bass tone with a dirty bass tone under it. like run the clean tone say at 8 with the distortion at say 4. catch my drift?
i want it to sound layered, like dual basses playing.

is there any way to rig that up?

[CopperheadLXXIX]

They have some bass amps with two channels that can be blended together to achieve this, including my current amp, which is a Marshall MB450.

A few others that come to mind are the Genz-Benz Shuttlemaxes and Mesa's Titan V12. I'm sure there are others as well.

[Ric5]

I mix clean and dirty together on my pedalboard.



1 - First I run into an equalizer

2 - Then I split the signal into 4 parallel signals with a rolls mixer.

3 - I run one of the parallel lines into the Line6 bass pod where I model an acoustic 360 with a rat or big muff distortion pedal. I use this to get a retro growlly distorted sound. Or I also model an Ampeg fliptop with the Rat Distortion pedal. And I also Model an old Marshall amp. With the bass pod I can get a wide range of clean or dirty sounds and various effects and model different amps and speaker cabinets.

4 - The second parallel signal goes into a MXR bass di+. I use this pedal to get a clean modern sound. It also has a distortion button that can give a moderate to extreme amount of modern distortion.

5 - The third parallel signal goes into a Marshall Guv'nor. This gives me an old 60s marshall stack sound. This can go from a small amount of distortion to an over the top marshall sound. This effect can give you a Chris Squire Yes sound or a heavy metal sound, or just a subtle amount of distortion.

6 - The fourth parallel signal goes into a Tech21 VT Bass pedal. With this effect I get a slightly dirty Ampeg SVT bass amp sound with a tube like growl.

7 - Then I remix the 4 signals back together and run it into a bass amp, or pa, or studio mixer. Because the signals are parallel I can mix clean and overdriven sounds together and still get effect and a sound that punches through the mix.

[ben12390]

here is my rig. fender jazz and p bass, line 6 lowdown pro 300.
big muff pi, boss bass overdrive.

what i want to do is run somehow the overdrive and/or muff into the amp at a lower level along with the clean.
so would i still need to get two of the mixers?

whats a cheap mixer i can buy?

[fatherjohncough]

Simple Answer: Use a fuzz with a less than steller clean blend (Bass Big Muff for example ) First post btw...

[CopperheadLXXIX]

Originally Posted by ben12390

here is my rig. fender jazz and p bass, line 6 lowdown pro 300.
big muff pi, boss bass overdrive.

what i want to do is run somehow the overdrive and/or muff into the amp at a lower level along with the clean.
so would i still need to get two of the mixers?

whats a cheap mixer i can buy?

If all you're looking to do is blend a little extra clean signal along with the muff or overdrive, you could get a looper with a clean blend.
Honestly, there are several different ways to get where you want to go-Amp with 2 channels, a setup like Ric5 has, or a looper.
Another option would be to get a different overdrive or fuzz that has a good blend. I have the MXR Blowtorch that I use for my fuzz sound-It has controls for blend, volume and gain, not to mention a 3 band EQ, and mid selector switch. You could say crank the gain up, but then also crank the blend to introduce lots more clean signal.

[ben12390]

I want to literally have two sounds going, so i can adjust the level of each, and i want it to be available later if i get more pedals. so simply getting a different overdrive wouldnt suffice.
i like the mixer idea. i just dont see how his mixers are working.

i see that you have your bass to eq then to the mixer, but youre inputting it through the output.. is that just how it works? if so, then can i do that with any cheap mixer?

[agedhorse]

Whatever you are doing, be very careful that your polarity and phase remain correct throughout the signal paths... or you can end up with horrible unexpected results. Some devices invert signal and some have unexpected phase shift.

[rr5025]

Dunno how this guy hasn't been brought up;

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by rr5025

Dunno how this guy hasn't been brought up;

In addition:

Xotix Xblender
Wounded Paw Effects Blender or Super Blender
Badger Effects Schism

They all are capable of what you are asking and there are many more I can't think of now. Each works in a slightly different way so you'll need to guess what features you'll need most. One thing to be aware of is phase inversion. Some pedals invert the phase of your signal. When an inverted signal is blended with a non-inverted signal some of the frequencies can get cut, leading to a thin tone. Some blenders have a phase inversion switch to correct this, some don't. If your pedals don't invert phase then you'll be fine without. If they do invert, then you'll probably want an inversion switch for your loop.

[screaminglucy]

Originally Posted by Ric5

I mix clean and dirty together on my pedalboard.



1 - First I run into an equalizer

2 - Then I split the signal into 4 parallel signals with a rolls mixer.

3 - I run one of the parallel lines into the Line6 bass pod where I model an acoustic 360 with a rat or big muff distortion pedal. I use this to get a retro growlly distorted sound. Or I also model an Ampeg fliptop with the Rat Distortion pedal. And I also Model an old Marshall amp. With the bass pod I can get a wide range of clean or dirty sounds and various effects and model different amps and speaker cabinets.

4 - The second parallel signal goes into a MXR bass di+. I use this pedal to get a clean modern sound. It also has a distortion button that can give a moderate to extreme amount of modern distortion.

5 - The third parallel signal goes into a Marshall Guv'nor. This gives me an old 60s marshall stack sound. This can go from a small amount of distortion to an over the top marshall sound. This effect can give you a Chris Squire Yes sound or a heavy metal sound, or just a subtle amount of distortion.

6 - The fourth parallel signal goes into a Tech21 VT Bass pedal. With this effect I get a slightly dirty Ampeg SVT bass amp sound with a tube like growl.

7 - Then I remix the 4 signals back together and run it into a bass amp, or pa, or studio mixer. Because the signals are parallel I can mix clean and overdriven sounds together and still get effect and a sound that punches through the mix.

this works because you are running every channel through a pedal. to mix in the clean you would need a buffer like an mxr micro amp in place of one of the pedals.

[Happynoj]

Boss LS-2 is perfect for this. I use it to run 2 parallel channels in my setup (although I'm using it for dirty/dirty more than clean/dirty). It has a volume control for each side, it is rugged, cheap, easily replacable, and it does a whole lot more than blending two channels, should you ever need any of the other modes.

In my setup, I have all of my pedals going through the 2 channels of the LS-2. When it is bypassed, I have a perfect clean tone, but I can turn 7 pedals on inside the loops, and then hit the LS-2 and suddenly go from clean to insane 7-pedal synth death noise. Then when I hit the LS-2 again, it goes back to clean.

[dmot002]

Xotic X Blender !!!!

[bigchiefbc]

[comet9]

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....dal?sku=581812

[ga_edwards]

Originally Posted by rr5025

Dunno how this guy hasn't been brought up;

+1. I use one for the same purpose. I send one output of my Attitude bass through compression into the LS2, then the other through eq, compression and overdrive into the LS2, then blend them together into my amp. Works like a charm.