A/B/Y pedal or good guitar splitter that won't change tone?

joninc · Post by **joninc** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:48 pm

i have been getting into multi amp recording lately and i have a morley
ABY a few years back which sucked the tone like crazy so i replaced it with a RADIAL Bigshot ABY - to use for splitting the signal to 2 amps.

i was under the impression that this was a much better pedal and wouldn't change the tone BUT lately i have been noticing that it does change the tone quite noticeably - the top end gets dulled quite a bit on one of the channels.

it has a bunch very useful features - phase reverse, ground lift, isolating transformer but the tone change is kind of annoying.

any suggestions? is my pedal busted or is there a better quality one i should consider?

ckeene · Post by **ckeene** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:31 pm

Funny, I was just revisiting a topic of mine from the DIY forum 2 years ago:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=38513

The upshot is that Jakob E had a buffered splitter he seemed to dig, and put up a link to the schematic. I'm just getting around to ordering up some parts, so I can't really vouch for it personally, although Jakob's endorsement should be reason enough to give it a shot.

I agree, those morley A/B/Y boxes can be pretty dismal.

Tears of Rage · Post by **Tears of Rage** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:41 pm

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=56782

Rolsen · Post by **Rolsen** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:53 am

Hey! Tears of Rage just provided the link to a post I started a few days ago. I was considering the Radial like you have, as it seemed to have consistently good reviews. I ended up ordering one from here: www.loop-master.com Ultra-positive reviews all round, come with LED?s (which the radial does not), are made to your specification, and are cheaper than the radial. I got the ABY with tuner channel (essentially and ABC/Y). That cost $75, but the most basic ABY with no LED?s cost $50. They do not come with the phase switch or isolation transformer, but I seem to remember someone claiming that the transformer imparts something onto your signal, for better or for worse ? I wouldn?t know. The loop master thing takes 4 weeks for them to make and deliver, unfortunately.

decocco · Post by **decocco** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:00 am

Check out the Little Labs PCP. It's my favorite so far.

Rolsen · Post by **Rolsen** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:03 am

decocco wrote:Check out the Little Labs PCP. It's my favorite so far.

No offense, but your recommendation cost $1100 per Little Lab's homepage. The high end active ABY's, like Lehle and their ilk, cost less than $400. High quality passive's cost less than $100.

You had me all excited about the Little Labs, until I saw the price that is!

Holy Wolf · Post by **Holy Wolf** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:30 am

just make sure it has transformers

Rolsen · Post by **Rolsen** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:25 am

Holy Wolf wrote:just make sure it has transformers

Do you recommend transformers for active or passive splitters? Do you need one just for either A or B, both? What exactly does the transformer do to benefit the aby box?

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A/B/Y pedal or good guitar splitter that won't change tone?

A/B/Y pedal or good guitar splitter that won't change tone?

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