Switching Between Heads on the Same Cabinet

[Obese Chess]

Hey y'all,

Figured "Live Sound" was the closest to what I'm looking for here. I am confident such a product exists, but can't for the life of me figure out how to find it.

In the interest of saving room in a rehearsal space shared by three different bands, my bandmates and I are discussing just leaving one cabinet per instrument in the space and then just having folks bring their heads. We've all used all of these cabinets with our different heads, so there's no compatibility issues there. However, it's a big time suck to have to mess around with the physical process of unplugging and re-plugging peoples' heads, especially since a lot of us leave them in the space anyway - we just want to show up and play!

I am wondering if there essentially exists an A/B switch, possibly rack-mountable but not necessarily, where we could plug two different heads into the same cabinet and then switch back and forth as needed depending on which band is playing.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't need anything boutique, just a cheap and reliable way to plug, say, two different old Peavey heads into the same SVT Fridge.

Cheers!

 

[gln1955]

I'm sure there will be folks here to tell you how to do this safely. Is it really a big challenge to unplug one cable and plug in another? Really?

 

[Obese Chess]

I'm sure there will be folks here to tell you how to do this safely. Is it really a big challenge to unplug one cable and plug in another? Really?

Not generally - the big issue for me is that the other bassist who uses the space has a huge rack (gear, not breasts) with a big rats nest of wires behind it, all precariously balanced on top of an SVT 810, with an ancient tube head precariously balanced on top of that. I would simply like to be able to put my head down on the shelves next to that 8x10 and plug in rather than have to deal with moving all that stuff around and figuring out which of his wires is supposed to go where and why for 10-15 minutes at the beginning and end of every rehearsal, and it's worth spending a couple bucks to me to be able to do that.

 

[Wasnex]

IMHO, no. The best solution is to bring your head and a speaker cable and make the connection every time. Also make sure nothing else is plugged into the speaker.

It would be different if you were not sharing the cabs with other people. Then I would suggest leaving the speaker cable plugged in, and dangled where you can easily access it.

An AB switch could work with some types of amps, but not necessarily with all. If anyone uses a Class-D amp or an amp configured in bridge mode, most switchers cannot be used.

Tube amps and old lead sleds typically ground the - terminal of their speaker out. Class D and other amps operating in bridge mode put a signal on the - terminal. So if you connect the output to a switcher that grounds the - terminal, the amp will either go into protect mode or let out its magic smoke. IMHO, best not to take the chance.

I do dangle speaker cords from some of my amps...I have a bunch of amps on tables and some are hard to get to, so I leave the power and a short speaker cable plugged in. Then when I want to play one of these amps, I plug in the cable from my wireless and run a speakON and any necessary adapter to connect the desired amp to the desired cab(s). I actually have a long speakOn permanently snaked around the room where it can reach all of my amps and cabs.

Here's an approximation of the layout of the main room in my basement.

Green indicates amps in permanent positions. Red is cabs in permanent positions. Orange is amps in non-playing positions. Purple is guitar cabs in non-playing positions. Yellow is positions where I move amps to play them. Blue is speaker wires.

Some amps and cabs use speakON ad some use 1/4" jacks. I have couplers and adapters so I can connect the long wire to the speakers at the top of the image, or connect one of the amps at the top of the image and play it through the cabs near the bottom.

 

[Obese Chess]

Thanks. With the caveat that one guy has an old tube amp and I've got an old lead sled, it sounds like a better solution is just to try to arrange things such that this dude does not have the Leaning Tower of SVT-sa taking up an entire corner of the rehearsal space so that he and I can easily swap out our amps.

 

[pfschim]

I used to frequent a great bass shop in the SF Bay Area (Geb Music in Redwood City). They had a set up there with multiple amps and cabs connected thru some kind of switching box where you could select an amp, and then try several different cabs just by turning a dial (A, B, C, D ...). Same with amps (which I guess were all turned on). Some kind of passive routing switch ? I'm not an EE so I can't say for sure, but it definitely worked. That's how I auditioned my Mesa Walkabout and several Bergantino cabs.

good luck

 

[Obese Chess]

Yeah, that's sort of what I had in mind - I got a text from my guitarist this morning suggesting we may be moving rehearsal spaces soon anyway so it may be a moot point. If needed, I'll check this thread again and ask for more insight.