Dumb rack question...

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JerEvil

JerEvil

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So let’s say I had a Mezzabarba Nirvana, and Engl E530 and likely an Engl E570 inbound... if I want them all connected to a single power amp but want to be able to switch between them, is a patch bay the easiest way to do that?
 
Switching patch panel, or a rack effects unit that has multiple loops to stick those preamps in.
 
Yes you could use a switcher. I had this setup a few years back with a diezel Hagen, Uberschall and one other (forgot the amp) but I wanted to use the same effects pedals in the loop of each amp by switching. Side effect is that I was able to play a preamp through a different power amp, so I could play the Uberschall pre through the Hagen power for example.

I would suggest drawing it out on paper so you know the size switcher you need.

For example, connect all 3 preamps (effects out) in loops 1, 2 and 3, effects in loop 4 and power amps (effects in) in loops 5, 6 and 7. Then you can select the pre and power sections from each amp. Trick is having 3 cabs or otherwise be extremely careful what amps are powered on, something like that anyway.
 
The Mesa High Gain Amp Switcher is how I would do it. Not only can you choose one, but can choose all four preamps at once, and take it a step further, add a switcher and it could all be done via midi.

The old Peavey Midi Pro would also work, and has the midi built in. It has the four A/B switches, along with 8 IIRC other switches. I had one of these in my racks for years. This is much cheaper but similar to the old Mesa Midi Matrix, Bradshaw RSB, or Rocktron Patchmate.

https://peavey.com/manuals/80302036.pdf
 
A patch bay will be the cheapest. If you want something that will let you hit a floor button to go between all of them, maybe look at a VooDoo GCX switcher.

If you want the best you can get, go for an RJM Effects Gizmo. 1 rack space, 12 loops (last 4 loops are stereo), and each loop has a dedicated on/off button on the front panel and the unit is fully MIDI controllable.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
A patch bay will be the cheapest. If you want something that will let you hit a floor button to go between all of them, maybe look at a VooDoo GCX switcher.

If you want the best you can get, go for an RJM Effects Gizmo. 1 rack space, 12 loops (last 4 loops are stereo), and each loop has a dedicated button and the unit is fully MIDI controllable.
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This, or a Switchblade.
 
Snave said:
Overkill if you're not switching power amps.
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Disagree... Adding the feature of switching power amps, imo-- would be Over-kill; however I admit seeing no problem with 'Overkill' if you can pull it off. ;) (Not everyone can)
 
I have the KHE 4x4 FX amp and cab switcher. I want all these preamps available through the Fryette power amp into one spot on the amp switcher. I mean, I COULD just reach behind the rack to connect/disconnect pre’s... I just don’t want to. What’s nice is the KHE has a global effects loop and the Fryette has an effects loop on it so all my Pre’s can have the Helix effects in them as well.
 
I'd love a rig that allowed me to swap between a bunch of amp heads.

It would be expensive, but I've been thinking about getting a Suhr Reactive Load for each of my handful of tube amps, which would effectively allow me to treat them like effects pedals, bringing each one's output down to line level. As a bonus, unlike a regular amp switcher, I could run each of my amps at whatever master volume sounds best for each one and then adjust each Reactive Load output level so the output levels of all the amps could be matched. That way I wouldn't get a volume jump going from a master volume to non-master volume amp.

From there, I could run them all into a looper to control which one is active, then out to a solid state poweramp into a cab.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
I'd love a rig that allowed me to swap between a bunch of amp heads.

It would be expensive, but I've been thinking about getting a Suhr Reactive Load for each of my handful of tube amps, which would effectively allow me to treat them like effects pedals, bringing each one's output down to line level. As a bonus, unlike a regular amp switcher, I could run each of my amps at whatever master volume sounds best for each one and then adjust each Reactive Load output level so the output levels of all the amps could be matched. That way I wouldn't get a volume jump going from a master volume to non-master volume amp.

From there, I could run them all into a looper to control which one is active, then out to a solid state poweramp into a cab.
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On my CAE V.1, there are individual line level controls for each of the selected amps, which send to the FX Inputs. VERY convenient

I run a W/D/W architecture and utilize up to 4 amp heads (One at a time) routed through the same middle Dry cabinet, with a protective load on the unselected amps via the amp selector, and the Line out tapped off the Power Section of the 'Selected' amp (Which runs the center 'Dry Cabinet), but dropped down to an adjustable line signal to run the L/R FX via a separate stereo power amp (Boogie Simul 395), and 2 additional L/R (Wet FX) Cabinets.

 
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JerEvil said:
I have the KHE 4x4 FX amp and cab switcher. I want all these preamps available through the Fryette power amp into one spot on the amp switcher. I mean, I COULD just reach behind the rack to connect/disconnect pre’s... I just don’t want to. What’s nice is the KHE has a global effects loop and the Fryette has an effects loop on it so all my Pre’s can have the Helix effects in them as well.
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If I understand correctly, seems like a simple switcher would do it for you like the attached drawing?
Note I did not draw the cab switcher. But this assumes you have the amps power under Load through it or some other way
EDEA9DF1-05B1-447C-8B33-C8DDBFDC82D2.png
 
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stratjacket said:
If I understand correctly, seems like a simple switcher would do it for you like the attached drawing?
Note I did not draw the cab switcher. But this assumes you have the amps power under Load through it or some other way
View attachment 66233
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That would cause popping when switching preamps. Ideally you switch only outputs to prevent this. Any of the usual suspects could handle this (e.g. GCX, CAE 4x4, Effect Gizmo). The trick then is to split your signal to three different (pre)amps. The GCX and others can effectively split to two only, so you'd need a separate splitter and things get more complex...Mesa High Gain Amp Switcher does all this in the box but has no MIDI. It's also fairly rare and costly.
 
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