lehle p-split or other isolated splitter

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bandit2013

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Has any body used an isolated y splitter? I figured I would try at least one to see how it works. End goal is to run two amps with one guitar and cut back on ground loop issues and noise when one amp is in stand-by and the other is not. I have already toasted one stereo pedal when I tried mixing a tube amp and solid state amp. I will not do that again... Amps survived but the pedal did not. Also when attempting to do the same with two tube amps, the amp that gets taken out of standby makes a huge noise until the other amp is out of standby. I would run the amps like this more often but the noise and ground issues are not very desirable. I ordered a Lehle P-split isolated Y splitter and hope this will resolve the problem. I was looking for more of a passive solution without a buffer and power supply requirement. Hopefully it will do the job. What are you using to accomplish bi-amp set up for a stereo rig?
 
It finally came, along with some other gear I ordered for recording along with Mesa 6V6 to try out in the TC-50.
What to pair up with first. JP-2C and Mark V or JP-2C and the Roadster? RA100 and the TC-50 or the TC-50 and JP-2C. I have run amps in stereo before but never had a splitter with an isolated output. Should be interesting. Hopefully I will not hear the buzz and noise when taking the amp out of stand-by. The splitter also has phase inversion and ground lift on the isolated output. Too bad they do not make an stereo version of this for stereo in, stereo out with isolation on at least one side. For the moment I will run the amps each with their own delay pedal in the respective loops. I think this will do what I want it to do. When I was doing this before, I was using my Line 6 DL4 for the stereo out to each amp. The circuit board blew out when I tried a tube amp and solidstate bass amp at the same time (was curious what that would have sounded like and smoked the delay pedal shortly after taking the tube amp out of standby. I was able to repair it as it was the copper traces that vaporized. The pedal still works just as good now as it did before I smoked it with the amps).

More to come once I get the amps going.
 
WOW. I decided to run the JP-2C though the Vertical 212 cab and the Mark V combo with an EV loaded extension cab. (Mark V has an EV speaker in it as well). With the ground switch lifted (actually it disconnects ground of the isolated side from the guitar input) No noise at all when one amp is in stand by. Does not matter which in this case. I started out with both amps on the clean channel and experimented with the phase switch. This thing is cool. I did not notice any signal cancellation with the phase switch. When I had the phase switch pressed in, it sounded like the sound from both amps was coming from the center point between the two amps. I did have them close together with a 10 inch gap between the two cabinets. When I changed the phase switch the sound from both amps was separated and no longer focused at the center. That was way cool. I ran the JP-2C on the clean channel and changed the Mark V over to CH2 on cruch with an aggressive gain setting. Volume between the two amps was well balanced. Clean and crunchy was very interesting sound. Note that my Mark V has a simple mod (preamp tube change for V4 which brings the amp character closer to the JP-2C when using CH3 of the Mark V.) Tried the CH2 of the JP with CH3 mark IIC mode. That sounded great. Changed the voice of CH3 on the V to Mark IV mode. Holy crap that was amazing. And finally changed over to Extreme mode and set the JP-2C to CH3. :shock: :shock: :shock: I think I have suffered some hearing loss.

I have to admit, this sounded incredible without any signal loss out of either amp. No hum or buzz to be found. I have thought running one amp with a pair of 412 cabinets was Nirvana. Not any more. Having two amps pumping out in harmony even when out of phase was Heaven. Not I have to try this with some effects in the loop. Too bad I cannot make use of stereo out from one of my delays. I will have to look for one that can isolate a stereo pair. For now this Lehle P-split II is awesome. Time to mess around with two different delays, one on each amp loop.
 
I found what I am getting next. Lehle little dual amp switcher. It is similar to the P-split but had a dual input for stereo effects. What is cool about this I can use the P-split and run that to one amp as a dry signal, then the non isolated signal send to delay mono in, stereo out to the little dual amp switcher for stereo output to two other amps. Have to get it as this is one more step closer to quadraphonic sound....Three amps is enough. A blend of the roadster, JP-2C and the Mark V. This will probably kill me with excitement. So far I am loving this P-split. All I need now is something for stereo to get a wet/dry/wet rig going. I even have three 412 cabs if I dare (finally loaded the G12H75 CB into the Egnator cab, not bad in the small traditional sized cab).

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LittleDual
 
Odd, the Lehle P-split is very quiet but the Little Dual switcher seemed to pick up the power line under the floor. This has plagued me on many occasions especially with single coil guitars. The high current feed to the air conditioner runs in that area. The Family room where I have the TC-50 is terrible for playing guitar especially when the air condition is running. Where I moved all of my other gear is electrically noiseless on most accounts.

Running three amps at once was interesting. It does matter what the phase switch is set too on both the isolated channels. I ran the dual switcher and used the isolate out to run to the RA100 combo, the non-isolated side went to the RA100 head driving the Horz212 cab. TC-50 was in the center and that was channeled with the P-split isolated output. The non-isolated output ran to a Strymon DIG delay and stereo out to the Little Dual switcher. Awesome. I think I like just using two amps as that was easier to manage. (RA100 combo is inverted compared to the RA100 head which was enough to drive me nuts, perhaps more nuts than I currently am).

P-split is worth it. Not sure on the Little Dual switcher at the moment as I need to try in out in the studio to see if the noise level was related to the power lines under the room feeing the air handler and AC unit outside. House is a rancher and no basement. The crawl space under the home is taken up with the duct work, plumbing, air handler and all the electrical wires, not to mention critters of sorts.
 

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