A\B\Y box for Mesa Rectifiers and another amp

[Platypus]

There are a bunch on the market, the switchbone is one I see tossed around a lot. If I was going to do it myself I'd get a Liehle Dual pedal but they're not cheap.. totally worth it however.

 

[Guitarzan]

+100 on the Liehle

 

[ylo]

Passive ones like the Morley SUCK TONE and can result in ground loops and massive HUMMMMMMM.

The ToneBone and Framptone use active buffers and do it correctly, as does the Voodoo Labs switcher.

If you are good with the soldering iron, you can build your own with a couple of opamp ICs. Using isolation transformers is a nice touch, but I have found that it isn't necessary (so far, but keeping my fingers crossed).

I have a home built one similar to Craig Anderton's circuit in Electronics for Musicians, but lately I have been using a Lehle D.Loop, which allows MIDI control.

 

[ylo]

If you go with the ToneBone, stick with the SwitchBone rather than the BigShot. The BigShot is passive and you will lose some treble if not overall signal level.

 

[RoCk4souls]

For a good affordable passive switcher check out http://www.startouchpedals.com/

The guy makes extremely well made switch pedals and takes very good care of his customers. I highly reccomend checking them out.

 

[RoCk4souls]

that Startouch seems to operate with 9V only.

The 9v is for the LED's only and will work without it. The pedal is totally passive.

 

[tele_jas]

I've got a Behringer A/B pedal, it cost $20-ish and works like a charm! Even has volume knobs for the two channels.......Not pops or delay in between amps. I A/B my Roadster with a Vox AC30.

It's made a little cheaper, but it's a really strong plastic and should last a long time (unless a 4x12 falls on top of it).

 

[eliot323]

The Framptone series available from Robert Keeley electronics are the best I've ever used (IMHO the Lehle series are very noisy and the ground lift doesn't work too well).

The Framptone is the bog's dollocks...

 

[ursinus]

I use a HBE "Bytchn Swytchn" that has A/B/C capability. A and B have isolated outputs and C is direct to the input. It does not color the sound at all and I use it between my Roadster, MKIV, and tuner. Give it a shot. Its not cheap though....

 

[misterstomach]

i recently got a new a/b/y to replace my shitty morely. i decided on a wobo. hadn't heard to much about them but the few reveiws that i saw were good and it seemed like a well built active a/b/y. they're made in poland. all the other active a/b/y pedals were upwards of $150 and this one was less than $100 and seemed worth the gamble. well, i haven't had it too long, but so far it is incredible. i really like the way the LEDs function, there is a separate LED for the both function so that you can still see which amp you will switch back to when you turn off the both function. it is true bypass and actively buffered and doesn't seem to affect tone at all. i couldn't be happier with it. can't run on 9volt but has an AC adapter out. the company sells them through ebay. they're really nice and quick to respond to emails and very helpful. i reccomend checking them out.

 

[MrT-Man]

Yeah the Morley is crap... I got the ToneBone SwitchBone, pricey but does the job perfectly, no complaints, very good isolation between amps & close to zero hum (which was the problem with the Morley)

 

[Lurch]

Whirlwind sucks too! Big buzz ground loops.

I'm using the Radial Bigshot (for 2 amps) and the Voodoo Labs selector (for 3 amps). Both are great!

 

[disassembled]

You need to get a switch that isolates your guitar output. Without isolating the outputs you are almost certain to get a ground loop. Behringer makes a device that does this but the better amp switchers come with this built in. Most A/B boxes work great but you will probably have a problem using an ABY box in Y mode without isolating your outputs from the Y box.

 

[MasterTrax]

The Switchbone seemed the only logical choice to me after much research.

It does indeed come with a power supply

M