Did I mention? I wrecked my Tremolux!

[mezcalhead]

I agree with chris here .. an extension cab is just going to make your sound guy even less happy.

starting again in order to find a new driven sound I like would reduce me to tears!!

Well, you don't need to start over IMO .. I was just thinking of a way to tide you over maybe with a pod and a pedal until the TLux is fixed. I wasn't suggesting you ditch the TLux, but even a Boss DS-1 would sound way better than digital clipping in the meantime.

If you're still having trouble down the line with being too loud onstage, maybe buy an A/B/Y box (or get someone to make you one) and a smaller tube amp for your overdriven sound like say some kind of champ or princeton .. keep the TLux for the clean sound.

                                              ->  SD 2-in-1  ->  champ or princeton
Zhiv ->  '61 JM  ->  A/B/Y 
                                              ->  AD900      ->  BF TLux

Versatile rig too .. just take the smaller amp for small gigs or rehearsals, both for larger gigs.

[pullover]

+1 on having a smaller tube amp for smaller gigs and rehearsals. Or at least an attenuator, but a small tube amp is easier to carry. I use my little Gibsonette way more than my Super Reverb. I have even built up a little effects chain for the Gibson so that I can still get all the same sounds from it as my Super. When I use my Gibson I use my regular pedal board into a smaller board with a Holy Grail, a tremolo, then a Rangemaster clone. I haven't felt the need to use both amps at a gig, as the Super is plenty of amp by itself (more often than not it's too much). I made an ABY switch but I use it with my Tuner rather than the 2 amps, 2 tube amps into a passive AB switch like to hum for some reason.

[mezcalhead]

I'm a bit hazy on this, but I think the A/B/Y needs to be an isolated one, or something .. is the problem a ground loop?

[pullover]

Yeah, the Transformer Isolated one that they have on General Guitar Gadgets should work. The passive A/B/Y hums when both are connected in Y mode, and I've noticed on occasion that there is a really high pitch squeal when on of them is turned off (either a or b mode). It could be my pedal board inducing the squeal, but the hum is a common tube on tube related problem. I have never noticed a hum problem like this when using a solid state amp and a tube amp together.
But yeah the problem is the ground loop created between the two amps.

http://generalguitargadgets.com/index.p ... Itemid=102

[zhivago]

Well, you don't need to start over IMO .. I was just thinking of a way to tide you over maybe with a pod and a pedal until the TLux is fixed. I wasn't suggesting you ditch the TLux, but even a Boss DS-1 would sound way better than digital clipping in the meantime.

If you're still having trouble down the line with being too loud onstage, maybe buy an A/B/Y box (or get someone to make you one) and a smaller tube amp for your overdriven sound like say some kind of champ or princeton .. keep the TLux for the clean sound.

                                              ->  SD 2-in-1  ->  champ or princeton
Zhiv ->  '61 JM  ->  A/B/Y 
                                              ->  AD900      ->  BF TLux

Versatile rig too .. just take the smaller amp for small gigs or rehearsals, both for larger gigs.

hmmm...not a bad idea...I could run the Musicmaster Bass Amp I have for drive, as it's 12 watts....

....I'll have a think...I'll have to get the Tremolux up and running for now, and then I'll look into this setup....sounds rather cool.....

[Jez]

Bummer about the tremolux...

Andi does a MonkeyFX isolated ABY. The problem is apparently ground loop, yeah... Which is a pretty horrible noise. It's not like backgroud pickup noise, you can't ignore it!

The clean/od problem and volume is such a pain in the arse. It doesn't help being in a band where the goalposts keep changing either... I gigged a 15watt valve amp for ages, but I kept getting schtick for not getting a loud enough clean. So I've now bought a Laney LC30 because it has a really great sounding od and clean channel. It is too loud to get above 2 on either channel though, which means I now never get the balls to the wall sound of all the tubes and speakers melting, with a boost and two ODs on...   
It doesn't help that we have a female singer with acoustic guitar - we have to keep stage volume really low, or it's feedback hell.

The two amp setup sounds good... I've often thought about it, I think it's the only real purist option. And your nothing if not a purist when it comes to tone, Zhivago! However, cost and practicality have always meant it's a no-no for me. If you can hack carrying it all around with you and the band will tolerate waiting for you to setup each time, I say go for it.

One thing I'm curious about... An ideal solution would be to have your ABY between the heads and one cab, however, there's so many issues with dummy loads and routing... I wonder if it's possible though?

[chrisjedijane]

Radial make a head switcher pedal which switches 2 heads into one cab, while keeping a load on both amps at all times. It's pretty expensive though (around £250 I think).

here's the link:

http://www.tonebone.com/tb-headbone-vt.htm

[mezcalhead]

Heh, the MonkeyFX ABY was actually what I was thinking of when I mentioned it.

The two-heads-one-cab idea is cool .. although it loses a couple of the nice things about the setup I outlined above such as: if one amp or speaker breaks down you still have one left .. and less practically, you still get the echoes from the delay spilling over when you switch to your dirty sound.

and the band will tolerate waiting for you to setup each time

I could bring four piggyback amps, a pedal and an effects rack and still set up quicker than most of the drummers I've worked with!

[chrisjedijane]

I could bring four piggyback amps, a pedal and an effects rack and still set up quicker than most of the drummers I've worked with!

+1 on that!

[rabidhamster]

you dont need to switch the amps, just get a stereo 4x12 cabinet, like the marshall 1960 series, and some of the mesa cabs I beleive.  but then its more like youve got 2 2x12 cabs I suppose...