Gigging with two amps

[SmallEQ]

As a bass player, I don't buy an amp that wouldn't serve for the whole gig by itself. As a bass player and an effects enthusiast, I don't think there is a bass amp out there that would be cool enough to make carry two amps to a gig unless I planned on actually using them at the same time.

[Gearmond]

my home setup is a hartke 12" kickback and an ampeg 15" and that sounds amazin with the smaller one handling trebz n midz and the big-ass cube-o-death speaker doing all the bass.

i'm 60% sure i blew it out, but that just made it sound better.

also if you're gonna do it based on frequency i'd recommend putting fuzzes going into the higher/smaller amp because at least for me a lot of the super low frequencies get lost with fuzz

[univalve]

If using only one at a time with the same cab it would only be the additonal head (and the switcher). Not much more stuff in my Book.

[univalve]

That is the Tube Head switcher i meant: http://www.tonebone.com/tb-headbone-vt.htm

[STOMPBOXSONIC]

Big fan of 2 (or more) amps. I like running one clean/gritty with a touch of reverb but no other effects and another slightly louder amp with all the fun stuff.
Playing in a three piece it made for a bigger more textured sound than simply playing louder.
Sometimes I would do stereo flange or tremolo. Running the delay effect out to one amp keeping the other dry was also fun.

[Fuzzy Fred]

word. two amps is awesome, i like having an amp set to dirty and one to clean. sure, you could just use an effects pedal, but that's for pussies. carry an extra 50-100 pounds and be a man

[benjuro]

DO it.
When venues (or our mode of transportation) can handle it, I use an Electric Amps dual amp switcher to run two ampegs or an ampeg/sunn set to cover different tones...nothing like it.

[bigchiefbc]

I ended up not going back to get it yesterday, so the idea is on hold for the moment. But I'm still batting it around in my mind, and keeping my eye open for any 50ish watt tube amps selling for cheap. I have 2 cabs, a 1x15 and a 4x10, so I'll probably run each head into it's own cab. Most of the head-switchers only seem to have one speaker out jack, so I'd have to have another splitter after it if I wanted to run both heads into both cabs.

Thanks for the input, guys.

[univalve]

I ended up not going back to get it yesterday, so the idea is on hold for the moment. But I'm still batting it around in my mind, and keeping my eye open for any 50ish watt tube amps selling for cheap. I have 2 cabs, a 1x15 and a 4x10, so I'll probably run each head into it's own cab. Most of the head-switchers only seem to have one speaker out jack, so I'd have to have another splitter after it if I wanted to run both heads into both cabs.

Do your speaker cabs only have one jack? normally they have two in parallel wired jacks - so you can go from the first cab to the second one.
Running two amps really rules. So get another head

[masked elwood]

Running two amps really rules. So get another head

multi amps are king.
at one time i was using a peavey classic 50 through a 1/15, another classic 50 through a 1/15, and a jcm 800 through (2) 4/10 cabs. just plaining basic 4 chord punk rock. fantastic sound. still on the small side of amp stacks as i could see over the top. i used a boss dimension c at the tend of my signal chain to split it into 2, then made a Y for the peavey heads.
then i moved up to a vox royal guardsmen through a vox 2/10, '60 fender bassman through a vox 4/12, marshall slp 100 and jcm 800, each through a marshall 4/12...i used a a/b/y to split the signal into 2, then daisy chained the vox to the bassman and the jcm from the slp. it was stompbox based music and when i'd step on pedals each amp reacts very different to each pedal. that's the joy of the moment when the textures get so huge and then huger. the bass dood used a ampeg B15 through 2/15 cab, swr through (2) hartke 4/10's pre amp out to a crown power amp through a small cerwin vega p.a. cab.
we was loud.
when that fukker stepped on a brassmaster or a green muff, i'd have to wipe my ass.
you start running into impedance probs doing it the punk rock method and if you get a box with isolated outs the signal is more "pure". the biggest issue of using multi amps is grounding. especially in shitty clubs. totally worth it.

[ural]

Splitter with "transformer isolated out" and "phase switch" is necessary. (I'm using Lehle and Little Labs.)

If you run two (or more) full stacks together you'll need a tool to avoid phase cancelation.

[ural]

And also be careful - impedances of each "splitted signal to amp" should be the same. Otherwise it'll affect gain. So my recommendation - put your splitter as last one in chain before amps.

[brian m]

when i used to gig i'd often end up parking 1/4 mile away. one amp is enough. now im older and i dont even think i could carry 90 pounds that distance.

you guys that use lighter amps or a head/cab setup are so much smarter than i was.

[modernage]

It wouldn't seem like as big of a deal if you were to get a flight case to put the heads in. That way you could just wheel it in. Plus you can stack your other gear on top and have a Leaning Tower of Gear for load-in. Bam! One trip.

If you run two (or more) full stacks together you'll need a tool to avoid phase cancelation.

He would only have to worry about phase issues if he was planning on running both amps at the same time. Which he isn't.

[Derelict78]

But he should