Splitter?

[saustindavis]

Well, since my son woke up puking and I am now wide awake I thought I'd get one here and ask a question that I've been wondering recently... I'd like to run my bass dry and effected into one amp, and was wondering if I could use a y-splitter to send my signal to an ABY box and to the pedals, then out of the pedals into the ABY, and out of the ABY to my amp as one signal. Is this possible? I'm wondering because I like the idea of using effects, but don't want to lose any low-end, and I only have one input on my amp (technically 2 i guess, 1 active and 1 passive, but the active is -10db right?). I don't really have the funds to go spending money just to try it, so I thought I'd ask first. Thanks!

[Mr.Hat]

BOSS LS-2 Line Selector :: Overview

[cheapbasslovin]

It can work, but you shouldn't use a simply ABY to mix signals. Many problems can occur, bad sound is only one. You'll want to use some kind of a mixer or something like the LS-2 mentioned above.

Similar products to an LS-2 include a Badger Schism, Xotic Xblender, Wounded Paw Blender or Super Blender, and a handful of others I can't remember right now. Each of those has their own strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities but they are a pretty useful.

I split my pedals passively and then blended them with a mini mixer for a while and then switched to an early version of the Badger. Having a single pedal perform that function is MUCH easier then trying to cobble a couple of other clunkier pieces together.

[Colonel Monk]

+1

ABY is not the way to do this, neither is passive splitting. Passive splitting will halve the strength of an already weak signal and that will affect how the signals interact with effects.

I have used an active splitter and mixer to do this. It's clunky, but works. Cheaper than a purpose-built mixer (lehle) and allows one to run a synth into bass rig as well as mix dry with wet.

Just bought a schism, the blending can be done with different level controls for clean and effect loop.

Still need to figure it out. Not as straightforward as xblender with single knob.

[wolffman]

*slight thread derail* I wish I could find a looper that has the same controls as an A/B/Y. All i want is 2 loops- one footswitch to go between loop A or B and one footswitch to add A and B together. I'd prefer not to go the custom route, but after months and months of searching it looks like I can do a custom pedal or use an active A/B/B/Y and then a mixer to put both signals back together... are these the only 2 options?

[wolffman]

Originally Posted by Colonel Monk

+1

ABY is not the way to do this, neither is passive splitting. Passive splitting will halve the strength of an already weak signal and that will affect how the signals interact with effects.

I have used an active splitter and mixer to do this. It's clunky, but works. Cheaper than a purpose-built mixer (lehle) and allows one to run a synth into bass rig as well as mix dry with wet.

If one wants the advantage of selecting A/B or Y and gets an active A/B/Y what problems would one encounter?

[cheapbasslovin]

If you use an active bass, or have a buffered pedal before the ABY, then you can use a straight ABY and an active mixer with very little negative consequence (aside from the massive space taken up by those pedals).

Passive mixing is where I was mentioning problems. Certain situations can arise where you are creating feedback loops and major loading down of input signals. Passive splitting can load down your pickups, but it is a pretty predictable interaction.

[Vlad5]

My experience...

I am using a diy passive ABY (A/B or A+B) pedal to split the incoming signal from my active bass.

A (ch 1 red): distortion > fuzz > filter > phaser > chorus > mid tone control
B (ch 2 blue): octaver > delay > full range tone control

I mix them both together with an active FEA 2 CH Mixer (great pedal by the way).

It works really well except for some bleed-through on channel 2 (engaged) when I have the fuzz/distortion pedals active on channel one (disengaged). Not a problem when both channels are active, but not good when I want to flip back and forth between uber clean bass (ch 2) to noisy mayhem (ch 1) without the extra noise on ch 2.

I guess an active ABY would solve this? Again, with both channels engaged its not a problem, and the clean tone mixed with the noisy mess tone (A+B) is frikkin awesome!

Comments?

Here is a jpg of my setup...

[MSUsousaphone]

Hey Vlad, that's a cool setup. Quick question....when you have both channels on, does it sound like two completely distinct sounds.....or is it mixed back in to one sound?

I've been looking to get two distinct sounds....like the sound I would get if I had a Channel A distortion and Channel B synth going to two different amps....only into one amp. It gets confusing because everything is "blenders" and "mixers"...and that's the exact opposite of what I want to do.

[Vlad5]

Hey Sousa,

Well basically you will be splitting, then mixing.

The above setup of mine is an old one, as I no longer use the aby/2ch-Mixer combo. But it did work well. Here is a pic of it:



Now I'm using a Badger Schism (2 channel paralell mixer). I think it works a little better in that I have my basic clean signal outside the Schism; and two separate effected signals to mix or choose individually.

This allows me to shut off the schism and go clean, or chose one or the other or both of the channels for mixing. It does sound like two separate channels playing in unison (as it is parallel mixing), so I put it through one amp. Also, given that each channel has a separate volume control, they can be set to unity or not, so one can be more pronounced than the other. I could do this too with the 2CH Mixer, but again, no clean with a push of the button. And, and, and, the Schism has an extra 3rd channel which is a clean blend that you can add in parallel with the other two channels. So if you want just a little more articulation or bottom end, you can dial that in too.

Of course, parallel mixing has its own problems (as did two channel mixing with the FEA pedal) in that some fuzzes and such invert the signal, which can mess with your tone when combined with some effects in the other channel. But, the Schism has a fix for that in the invert switches. Of course the 2Ch mixer has that too. To be honest, the only reason I'm sticking with the Schism over the 2CH Mixer, as both are super high quality utility pedals, is the ability to blend a clean channel with the other 2, or go completely clean with a single step on the master switch.

The FEA 2CH Mixer was designed with the FEA Compressors in mind, so you can split the bandwidth, separately compress each, and then mix them back together again. Imagine only wanting to distort the high-freqencies, or delay the lows only. These two pedals will accomplish that. If I had an FEA compressor, it'd be no brainer for me to get the 2CH Mixer again. I miss that pedal, its just an amazingly useful, well thought out and elegant utility pedal. (sigh) I need a better job so I can keep all the effects I love instead of trading them in to afford trying new things.

So my setup now is:


Which goes:

relay/mute (diy) > Schism > Submarine Designer

Schism ch1: Timeline
Schisme ch2: TRF > tafm > B3K > BMC

This is easier to control than splitting and then mixing two separate channels, as again, it allows me to shut off the Schism, and go clean. Whereas if I had two channels with effects in each, I'd have to shut off all the effects in one channel to go clean. Which may or may not be a big deal depending on your need for a clean signal, but my experiments led me to the Schism setup, which I like a bit more... for my current usage of course.

I hope this helps. I'll keep this thread subscribed for a bit, and of course, pm me again if like.

Cheers!

[MSUsousaphone]

That is such a sweet setup, man. Looks so clean for all the stuff you're doing with it. Thanks for the info. I think that's exactly what I'm looking to do (plus a ton of stuff I hadn't even thought of).

[Vlad5]

NP... Stay tuned to the PYPB thread... I have a few more goodies in the mail to add to that sonic carnage (next week) ...

Waffling over an Octron too... hmmmm....