panning pedal between two amp?

Rocks · #1 10-24-2010, 12:02 AM

Does anyone make a panning pedal that would pan between two amps while maintaining the volume? It would be nice if it could handle two basses too. If no one makes this, would it be hard ti build? I can solder and follow electrical diagrams as long as the are not too complex. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT : I should clarify that of course only one bass would be active at a time.

bongomania · #2 10-24-2010, 12:14 AM

By panning, do you mean an A/B switch, or do you want dynamic panning like a stereo bounce effect?

Rocks · #3 10-24-2010, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

By panning, do you mean an A/B switch, or do you want dynamic panning like a stereo bounce effect?

By panning I want to adjust the volume of each amp with a foot pedal. This way If I want more of the Trace coming through for certain songs I can pan more that way, If I want more tueb tone, I pan the other way. This would give me an great mix between the two amps with many variations.Plus on smaller stages where only the vocals are going FOH, I can aim the second amp across the stage as a monitor for the rest of the band. If its not made, I'm going to have to design and patent it

. Maybe even make a version that can handle a few basses and possibly a clean boost. Any other ideas to add?

bongomania · #4 10-24-2010, 12:41 AM

The problem is trying to have constant volume, plus potential phase issues. There are items out there like the Ernie Ball Volume/Pan pedal, but it's a safe bet you would not get constant volume from the amps across the range--in fact it would change quite a lot. Among other reasons, this is because of the various non-linear tapers of the pan pot and the two amp input gain pots. It's like lining up planets for a cosmic convergence. Or like the broken watch that tells the right time twice a day.

There is a digital volume pedal that has presets, so instead of a smooth sweep, you put in specific levels it's to go to. You could get two of those, and experiment with them until you had a couple of useful "mixed pan" presets; but that would be expensive.

fourstringburn · #5 10-24-2010, 01:00 AM

Try the Radial pedal. it is specifically made for switching 2 amps. I use this pedal to switch or combine between my 2 preamps that feed my stereo amp. I also use a small 4 channel mixer inline so I can pan one preamp with distortion on the left channel and pan the other preamp with a clean bass sound on both channels so I have a full bass sound accented with one channel of distortion when needed. I do use 2 cabs for the amp to achieve this though.

Here is a link for the Radial pedal...

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...her?sku=153931

onionpuzzle · #6 10-24-2010, 01:04 AM

clever things can be done with small mixers.

fourstringburn · #7 10-24-2010, 01:09 AM

your right! I use a small Behringer mixer for level setting and panning purposes only and it works great for that, and I paid less than $50.00 for it!

onionpuzzle · #8 10-24-2010, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fourstringburn

your right! I use a small Behringer mixer for level setting and panning purposes only and it works great for that, and I paid less than $50.00 for it!

wow,yes..a great goal on TB is to be right haha

seriously, my Mackie 4-channel small mixer is the most versitile thing I own. If you can afford the couple extra bucks buy Mackie...Behringer and Yamaha work too.

Unwound · #9 10-24-2010, 01:22 AM

pigtronix keymaster or two?

onionpuzzle · #10 10-24-2010, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unwound

pigtronix keymaster or two?

what's the keymaster ?

Rocks · #11 10-24-2010, 01:41 AM

Hmmmm....
I have an old fostex multi track it has a nice little mixer built in and it works percetly. I couls I would recored with it, but then again, I thinkit has RCA outs that I could record toa laptop, may have to experiment. Ill just have to rig something to adjust volume from f thorough floor. I with a good sound check k it should be a nice little toy.I might even add a mid/treble booth for the higher notes notes,

Rocks · #12 10-24-2010, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

The problem is trying to have constant volume, plus potential phase issues. There are items out there like the Ernie Ball Volume/Pan pedal, but it's a safe bet you would not get constant volume from the amps across the range--in fact it would change quite a lot. Among other reasons, this is because of the various non-linear tapers of the pan pot and the two amp input gain pots. It's like lining up planets for a cosmic convergence. Or like the broken watch that tells the right time twice a day.

There is a digital volume pedal that has presets, so instead of a smooth sweep, you put in specific levels it's to go to. You could get two of those, and experiment with them until you had a couple of useful "mixed pan" presets; but that would be expensive.

Bongo, don't they make pot that pods the center neutral ?

Rocks · #13 10-24-2010, 02:48 AM

[quote=bongomania;9887652]The problem is trying to have constant volume, plus potential phase issues. There are items out there like the Ernie Ball Volume/Pan pedal, but it's a safe bet you would not get constant volume from the amps across the range--in fact it would change quite a lot. Among other reasons, this is because of the various non-linear tapers of the pan pot and the two amp input gain pots. It's like lining up planets for a cosmic convergence. Or like the broken watch that tells the right time twice a day
There is a digital volume pedal that has presets, so instead of a smooth sweep, you put in specific levels it's to go to. You could get two of those, and experiment with them until you had a couple of useful "mixed pan" presets; but that would be expensive.{/quote}.
It's there a pot that makes flat

bongomania · #14 10-24-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocks

{/quote}.
It's there a pot that makes flat

Robitussin and beer make a brutal cocktail, eh?

Pan pots are meant to keep the levels relatively even in theory, but the reality is usually far from that. I don't want to say it "can't be done", but I am skeptical about any cheap/ordinary pan pot doing the job well at all. Really I think there are only two practical approaches:

1) Spend the money on those electronic preset volume controls I mentioned (you're looking at like $500 or so).

2) Get an ordinary EB volume/pan pedal and just play with it and see if the results are good enough for you.

I don't recommend the mixer approach in this case just because you would be unable to get consistent levels as you fiddle with the mixer knobs, and the house soundman will hate you. I mean HATE, to where he may just turn your PA channel all the way down to zero and say "eff it".

If there's no soundman, or especially if you are just playing at home, then a mixer is a great solution.