Dual Amps

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DetroitBlues

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I'm toying with the idea of running through 2 amps when I play live.  The bands first "gig" is just a grad party next month we are playing just to get us out and playing live before we start our shows in October. 

Being all my amps are 20watt 1x12 combos, I thought about running two amps at once.  Saw a recent video from Intheblues has me thinking I could do this to get more air moving.  Plus the two amps have different voices, so it seems to sound richer/fuller?  Thoughts?  


 



 
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At 1 point I had the music room wired to run as many as 12 amps at once.  Things get complicated fast but it is a beautiful experience.

Bonamassa has 5 or 6 combos on stage and 2 roadcases with ~6 60s Marshalls just off stage.

The caveat here is if, in your band, you're trying to capture the sound of various artists.  Each between song break you'll be feverously playing spin the dials.

I applaud your Moxy

 
If you don't mind lugging around several amps, I say go for it. You can get some great sounds out of two amps played at once. I have Voo Doo amp selector that allows you to play up to four amps at once.  It's really a lot of fun to mess around with. You get some great sounds. The downside is who wants to lug around multiple amps?  I use a Quilter Labs 101, 50wat head as a backup amp. It weighs only a couple of pounds and the sound is adequate.

 
Steiner said:
At 1 point I had the music room wired to run as many as 12 amps at once.  Things get complicated fast but it is a beautiful experience.

Bonamassa has 5 or 6 combos on stage and 2 roadcases with ~6 60s Marshalls just off stage.

The caveat here is if, in your band, you're trying to capture the sound of various artists.  Each between song break you'll be feverously playing spin the dials.

I applaud your Moxy
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Well, the most tweaking will probably come from the guitar volume and depend greatly on what guitar I'm playing.  Most likely my Tele will be number one, just because it cuts through so well.  My 137 will be coming along, but as I continue to experiment, I'd like to have my 535 in the mix.

 
Another option is to bring an extension speaker that is ohm compatible with your amp. 

Extension speaker cabs weigh much less than combos, and depending on the speaker, can give you the sound variety you seek.  Your back will thank you.

 
Gitfiddler said:
Another option is to bring an extension speaker that is ohm compatible with your amp. 

Extension speaker cabs weigh much less than combos, and depending on the speaker, can give you the sound variety you seek.  Your back will thank you.
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THIS! ^^^

What a great idea!  No ground loops, no worrying about pedal settings, etc, etc...  Bravo Gitfiddler!

 
If it helps, I have a Seymour Duncan Catalina stereo chorus pedal that I could part with. I used to get great sounds out of it, but I don't use it anymore.

 
The Quad Cortex, Helix, etc. makes this easy. you get two separate amps and you can run them together or separately. Two deluxes, a deluxe and a Marshall, a Dr. Z and capture of your Traynor, etc. With the Line 6 powercab 212+ you can run each amp into a separate speaker. As I have said in the past, i fought this digital stuff as I am a dyed in the wool tube guy. However it is now that good.

 
I’ve been running 2 amps for a little bit, love the sound you can get. I have 2 inexpensive small amps, I  run one clean and one dirty. Guitar> boost > delay > a,b,y> amps. 

 
Of course to confirm; could always check the impedance of the current internal speaker and see if it falls within the would of what is considered to be 8ohm (likely will ready around 5-7 ohms). 

 
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