Thoughtless 7 Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Hello! I'm having some trouble getting my pedalboard to work properly. I've got it so i've got all my modulation effects on one channel, and all my distortion effects on the other. Now, when i swtich to the modulation effects its at normal volume, but when i switch to my distortion its really quite. I've tried changing the channels over, but it does it the same. When i unplug everything and just plug in my distortion pedals they work at the normal volume. Does anyone know why it might be doing this? Cheers Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 What pedalboard, which channels? So confused. I'm afraid you're not giving a complete enough picture of what your setup is! What are you using to split into 2 channels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted July 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Lol, right! From my guitar it goes into an A/B box. From this, Channel A has all my distortion pedals on, whereas Channel B has all my modulation effects (flanger, chorus, phaer, etc) from there the signal goes into a Y box. Now, i tried changing all the leads and switching the Channels around, but for some reason my distortion channel is always really quiet to the point you can barely hear it, but the clean/modulated channel is normal volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 I'm not an electronics genius or anything, but it sounds like the signal is simply not making it into the "B" channel. What happens if you bypass all your distortion units but keep the A/B and Y boxes intact? Does the "B" channel have enough signal going in? A decent A/B should work fine (and is the right tool for the job), but if it's a dodgy unit, it's possible that it won't work. I know that a Y-cable won't split a guitar signal properly (for reasons beyond my comprehension) so if your A/B box is acting as a glorified Y-cable, that might be one explanation. Even one bad connection could be another cause; however, you indicate that when taken off the splitter, the distortion chain works. So the leads between units aren't at fault-- that leaves only the first and last leads to check. It's a long shot and I doubt it's the cause, but it's worth checking. If you're REALLY up to it, you could add effects back in piece by piece to find out where it goes wrong. Start off with your A/B box going directly to your Y box with no effects in either channel. Make sure the levels are the same. If not, you know where to start trouble-shooting. Then start adding effects in one at a time. Not sure which channel should be your first, but I'd alternate back and forth with each new effect added back in. By doing this, you get to check the effects for possible failures at the same time as checking the corresponding cables. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Unless your A/B and Y boxes have some active buffers inside them I doubt this setup of yours is going to work well - sounds like your signal isn't being shared equally when you split it to the different "channels" with the A/B box, and isn't being mixed properly with the Y box at the other end. The distortion channel is probably being loaded bown by the output of the modulation channel in the Y box. The only real way to do it is to use an active A/B box at the input to prevent unequal splitting of the input signal, and a mixer at the output to prevent cross-loading of one set of pedals into the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Can I just ask WHY?...why split the distortion & mod effects?...do you never use them together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 (edited) Never mind, i wasn't looking in the right places. Edited July 5, 2007 by Thoughtless 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 I've just had a thought, would i be able to use something like the Ernie Ball Stereo Volume/Pan Pedal to switch between the two chains without loss of sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I've just had a thought, would i be able to use something like the Ernie Ball Stereo Volume/Pan Pedal to switch between the two chains without loss of sound? If curtisa is right with this... "The distortion channel is probably being loaded bown by the output of the modulation channel in the Y box. " Then you'll still have the same problem. I think what he means is that the distortion output is looking at both the Y input and the modulation output, in parallel. Here's a solution... ditch the pedals! Okay, sorry, I just don't like pedals personally. It might still be simpler to line up all your pedals in series and just turn on the appropriate ones at the right time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capello Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 i assume when you use modulations,you can't get distortions,right? so i believe this is what you need,only using a 3pdt stompswitch,4 resistors and 2 led. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted September 8, 2007 Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 I built something exactly like this to switch between two different sets of effects. It works great. i assume when you use modulations,you can't get distortions,right? so i believe this is what you need,only using a 3pdt stompswitch,4 resistors and 2 led. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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