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Stereo into two amps, six months in, regrets and rewards

JR
@jules.rourke
6 weeks agoAsked in Rig Diaries
Six months ago I split the Ricky 330 into two AC30s in stereo and posted about it on the old board. Here's the update. Rewards: chords have a depth nothing mono can replicate. The high E on amp A and the low E on amp B with the middle strings split between them, you hear chord voicings differently. I am writing better songs because I can hear the inside of them. The recordings I've made this year are the best of my career. Regrets: the rig is a logistical disaster. Two AC30s is 50kg of amp before I touch the board. Both amps need biasing simultaneously or the stereo image drifts. When one tube goes microphonic only one side hears it and you spend an hour troubleshooting the wrong amp. Two power cables, two cab miking solutions, two of every cable I own. Would I undo it? No. Would I recommend it to a working musician on tour? Absolutely not. The split is a Lehle Little Dual into one effects chain that's mono and then splits to two stereo modulations and stereo delay and stereo reverb. The mod/time stuff is what justifies the rig. If you split mono pedals you've doubled the cost of your board for nothing. If the room can't tell, you haven't gone far enough. The room can tell.
4 replies

4 replies

  • LF
    @lo.flannery5 weeks ago
    I've run stereo on studio dates for fifteen years. I'd never tour it. The phase issues alone when you sum to mono for streaming or radio are a nightmare unless you've got someone watching the meters on every take. For a writing/recording rig at home it's a different conversation. Sounds like you've found the right context for it.
  • KT
    @kobu.tinker5 weeks ago
    Two AC30s in stereo with a chime guitar is the most expensive way to discover that the AC30 has a personality. They are not identical amps. Even matched pairs drift. The stereo image you're hearing is partly the stereo effects and partly the two amps being subtly different. Some people love that. It's why some people hate it.
  • DK
    @dani.kowalski5 weeks ago
    Yes. Yes. Yes. I run a Mustang into an AC10 and a Princeton in stereo for some songs and Jules is right, you hear the inside of chords. People who haven't done it think it's just 'wider'. It's not wider, it's deeper. Different axis.
  • TW
    @thelma.weller5 weeks ago
    Two AC30s is just one more amp than I need. The Twin in mono in Sextant is doing everything that needs doing. But if you've found the songs in there I'm not going to argue with the songs.

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