Split stereo signal- feeding 1/2 a signal to an effects pedal?

Fassa Albrecht · #1 09-06-2007, 04:08 PM

Just wondering whether anyone using a stereo bass had ever used a stereo-dual mono cable to split the signal then fed one of the mono signals to their effects pedal and the other 'clean' signal to their amp??

What is the sound like? Which pedals work best??

niftydog · #2 09-06-2007, 04:47 PM

Haven't encountered anyone with a stereo bass, but there's plenty of people here who do that with a regular bass that might chime in. For some effects types I really like the sound of the dual dry/wet signal, but for others like envelope filters it seems to lessen the impact of the effect.

There's also a large contingent of "blenders" around here. Similar concept, except you only need one amplifier. Your dry and wet signal are essentially mixed together by a blender pedal such as the Barge Concepts VFB.

bongomania · #3 09-06-2007, 04:56 PM

+1 to all of that. We talk about blender-loop pedals all day, every day here, so it's extremely common to combine wet and dry signals, with no stereo bass necessary.

OTOH, I imagine it would be cool with a stereo bass which sent the bridge pup to one output and the neck pup to the other, as then you'd have even more radically different voicings combined in the end.

Plus then you've got Bootsy, whose Star Bass has quite a bit more than two pups and outputs, blended together through a variety of processors.

RickenBoogie · #4 09-06-2007, 08:59 PM

I don't do it often, and when I do, it's just for fun at home. Ric bass, stereo to dual mono cable, one side through an overdrive, chorus, and bassballs, sometimes delay, other side clean. Two amps, crazy cool stereo effects. Too much hassle to set it up with the band, and they don't much care for my shananagans anyway, but I have some fun with it anyway.

gotBASS? · #5 09-07-2007, 07:20 AM

My knowledge of the electronics side of all this is somewhat limited - Could you use a stereo to dual mono cable, out of a mono bass? What would happen?

If it actually works, would you have to keep all cables/pedals mono from that point on?

Would it make a difference if your bass was active/passive?

bongomania · #6 09-07-2007, 08:31 AM

You can split a mono bass signal with a Y-cable, no problem. It would sound like two identical copies of the mono signal. Passive/active makes no difference, although I guess the passive signal might be lower-amplitude when split? I'm not sure. You'd have two mono signals at that point; whether any later processing is stereo or mono is up to the pedals, and has nothing to do with whether the bass signal is duplicated on a second wire. Almost all pedals are mono in; most are mono out, but there are many with stereo outs. That would mean you would be splitting the signal again at the stereo-out unit, resulting in three or more cables going out... you'd need a mixer to recombine them all.

niftydog · #7 09-09-2007, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotBASS?

Could you use a stereo to dual mono cable, out of a mono bass? What would happen?

Depending on whether your bass is passive or active -
you'd get signal on one mono plug and either nothing or a DC voltage on the other. The signal from your bass only comes out on the tip of the cable. The sleeve is either tied to ground (passive) or is used to connect the battery (active.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotBASS?

If it actually works, would you have to keep all cables/pedals mono from that point on?

You can do whatever you like wherever you like whenever you like. Whether it works or not depends on how you go about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotBASS?

Would it make a difference if your bass was active/passive?

In terms of signal splitting, most certainly yes. Passive basses are "fragile" and hence susceptible to tone/volume suck unless properly terminated with a high impedance. By passively splitting (Y cable) your signal you are asking the fragile signal to feed two circuits simultaneously, which can be a recipe for disaster.