Need help linking two combos!

[Truckstop]

Hello all,

So I've ended up with two SWR Workingman's 10 combos (80w @ 8ohms, 100w @ 4ohms). I had originally planned to have just one combo and find a suitable 1x10 cab but couldn't find any and when the chance came to grab another combo, I thought "Why not?! Together I'll be louder than if I used a combo and a cab!".

So, on the advice of BCers, I've plugged the instrument into the input of the first combo and then ran a line from the 'tuner out' to the instrument input of the second combo. Sounds great at lower volumes; I set one to be ultra-bassy and one to be sparkly. However I needed to see what it sounds like at gigging volume. So i turned them both up to about 10 o'clock each and the speaker of the second combo starts farting out at a volume much lower than what it's capable of!

I swap the combos around and sure enough the speaker of the second combo (previously the first one) starts farting. On closer inspection, whichever combo is second in line seems to be quite louder than the first too. Why is this? And when I disconnected the combos, I played through them both in turn at pretty violent volume levels and they ran as smooth as butter.

So, I guess I'm asking to see whether it's possible to link the combos in such a fashion that doesn't cause the speaker in the second combo to sound like it's breaking. Is it something to do with ohmage?

The combos have the following sockets in the back;
Tuner out
Effect send
Effect return
Headphones
Ext. Cab (8ohm)
DI out

And just a single instrument input in the top.

Can anyone help?

Alex

[warwickhunt]

You've got a higher output from the first combo than you'd have from the bass, nothing to do with ohmage, it is just gain stacking.

Take the effects send of combo #1 (which your bass is plugged into) and plug that into the effects return of #2 that should do it. The tuner, DI and headphones are outputs (as is the effects send) and the effects return and front input are 'inputs' so you could try combinations of out/in from #1 - #2 but don't use the Ext Cab option.

Does that make sense?

[stingrayPete1977]

Sounds like the tuner out is hotter than your instrument in on the first amp? Try fx return instead but that might be after the eq, maybe take the di from amp one to amp two input?

[BassTractor]

To my noob ears this sounds as if the tuner out is a stepped up output, not a direct "copy" of what you put into the instrument input. You'd need to turn down the gain of the second one.

best,
bert

Edit: beaten to it. I hasten to add that the pre in the first combo can drive two power stages, so you could just as well connect the effects send on the first combo with the effects return of the second if they're unused. Can't see any drawback there, but may get corrected on this.

Edited May 29, 2013 by BassTractor

[stingrayPete1977]

Beat me too it while I was typing, fx out into fx in will give the tone shaping of combo one into combo two though won't it?

[BassTractor]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1369857615' post='2093682']
fx out into fx in will give the tone shaping of combo one into combo two though won't it?
[/quote]

Normally it will indeed, but Alex's idea of one ultra bassy and one sparkly doesn't seem like the best solution to me unless I'm missing something here, and he for example plays with the settings live (which could be a nice idea).
At any rate, the ultra bassy one will take all the beating, so it becomes a matter of playing at low enough volume.

On a slightly different note: did you deliberately opt out of a Y cable feeding two combos, Alex?

b,
b

Edited May 29, 2013 by BassTractor

[Truckstop]

Thanks for all your help everyone!

No, I'll be using the same sound for both combos live; I was just messing about earlier! I haven't got a Y-cable but I'd be happy to buy one if I can't come up with a solution to this using the materials I already have.

So we all think it'd be ok to use the effects send?

Alex

[rOB]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1369860172' post='2093733']
So we all think it'd be ok to use the effects send?
[/quote]

That's what I'd do.

[tonyquipment]

the Y cable thing doesnt work so well because the signal will flow unevenly

use the fx send, it shouldnt color your signal unlike the buffered tuner out hole.

i've chained both my trace elliot combos together...made a thread about it a month or so back..

[Truckstop]

Yeah I saw that thread! Terrifying results!

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Alex

[BassTractor]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1369861898' post='2093768']
the Y cable thing doesnt work so well because the signal will flow unevenly
[/quote]

Will it? Do you mean that identical cabs have enough of differences in their input impedance curves, or is there something else?

b,
b

[Lozz196]

When I`ve done this, I`ve used my Boss TU2 tuner. Bass into tuner, tuner to both amps. Only when the tuner is switched on does it mute the signal to one of the amps. So easy to set all controls the same on each amp. And you can stay in tune as well Alex.

[Truckstop]

Nah, staying in tune's for chumps and mugs.

I was thinking if I couldn't link the two using conventional means then I'd have to go through something like that. Looks like the effects send is a winner though!

Alex

[MoonBassAlpha]

if you just run from the send of the first I think it will mute the output unless the signal is returned in the, er, return socket.
I'd send the tuner out from the first into the return of the second. Shouldn't be too hot a signal because the effects loop runs at line level.

[Truckstop]

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1369866744' post='2093843']
if you just run from the send of the first I think it will mute the output unless the signal is returned in the, er, return socket.
I'd send the tuner out from the first into the return of the second. Shouldn't be too hot a signal because the effects loop runs at line level.
[/quote]

And there's the winner!
Had half hour to myself earlier to try various things and yes; 'tuner out' of combo 1 to the 'effects return' of combo 2 works! Just have to control the volume of the second combo using the FX blend

Cheers!

Alex

[The Dark Lord]

I do this. At some gigs I play a Precision into 2 x AER Amp One combos.

I use one of these:

[url="http://goo.gl/pOgOH"]http://goo.gl/pOgOH[/url] .... that's a basschater who has one for sale at the moment!

... which has two outputs. One goes into each of the AER amps.

Sometimes I use the exact same sound through each. Sometimes I have a separate patch for each of the amps (one clean with a slight perception of day and chorus, the other with a teeny bit of distortion).

Edited May 30, 2013 by The Dark Lord

[MoonBassAlpha]

Always happy to help!