A/B Box

[Eric Christian]

I've got two separate Vypyr stacks now. Basically one is running my high gain rhythm and the other my high gain lead with delay etc. I've got some other pedals I use in front of both setups as well. In everyones opinion what is the absolute best A/B Box to seemlessly switch between these two setups?

 

[Adrian-XI]

The absolute best A/B box? They all do pretty much the same thing... What else do you want it to do? I know some have adjustable levels, but apart from that, I don't know how they differ.

 

[TheKindred]

True Bypass Signal Routing Solutions

You can have it configured any way you like.

 

[Eric Christian]

The absolute best A/B box? They all do pretty much the same thing... What else do you want it to do? I know some have adjustable levels, but apart from that, I don't know how they differ.

I wish it was that simple. They do all differ. Some don't actually ground the channel you're not using for instance. Others use poor quality components. Some use batteries and other don't. I'm just looking for honest real world experiences of users here before I buy one.

 

[iamdunker]

I use this little guy and it works great. Boss AB-2 2-Way Selector Pedal: Shop Guitars & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

 

[TheKindred]

I use this little guy and it works great. Boss AB-2 2-Way Selector Pedal: Shop Guitars & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

agreed. for a little more flexibility, try an LS-2. Really versatile box.

Boss LS-2 Line Selector/Power Supply: Shop Guitars & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

 

[Eric Christian]

Thanks for all the input people... keep it coming. I'm currently leaning towards this one as its so simple.

DOD VAC270 A/B Box Standard and more Guitar Effects Pedals at GuitarCenter.com.

 

[Sephael]

I use a Morley ABY MIX, two inputs that I can blend (great for routing a clean signal parallel to effects), and switch for both outs. A tad more tap dancing, but being able to switch between either or both on the fly is nice.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ABYMix/

 

[jordanky]

Get an Electro-Harmonix Switchblade. As simple as can be and rock solid. Also pretty cheap as well.

 

[iff]

I'd be more concerned about quality if it was an ABY...AB, not so much.

That said, if I was after an AB, I'd go with Loop Master.

 

[amarshism]

I used to use a radial and it was awesome.

 

[oniduder]

i recommend the y-not by rjm and the radial either the bones aby or the tonebone jx-2

everything else i can't vouch for, except to say the morley shit is, well, shitty

and i haven't tried anything by lehle but i'd assume they know what they're doing, it's german so yeah

the rjm though is cheap as all get out on the website rjmmusic.com 129 or so,

cheap cheap and midi controllable, so i think it's i win win

 

[KingAenarion]

The radial ones... hands down no questions asked in my books.

Reliable, tough... what a good piece of guitar gear should be!

 

[bikewoods]

If you trust your soldering, build one using Mike Fuller's (Fulltone) schematic. It's pretty simple, and as long as you have good wire, it's really transparent. I built one for the band I guitar tech for (Versus The World) and it's perfect for what they need it for. AB only no Y blending though.

if you wanna buy one, Radial is really great and the Palmer ABY is amazing

 

[Eric Christian]

Get an Electro-Harmonix Switchblade. As simple as can be and rock solid. Also pretty cheap as well.

So, I ordered one from GC last weekend and it showed up today...

God what a piece of crap this thing is... Not even worth taking a picture of because its going to be returned tomorrow. 0 out 5 stars. Two thumbs down.

Bottom line I'm using it to switch between two half stacks. Well, you can still hear amp B muted when you're on amp A. Plus when you then switch to amp B the volume is noticably diminished compared to normal and then when you turn it up the speakers of the other cabinet go all microphonic and then both amps feeback like crazy. Oh, and when both amps are turned down all the way there is a real noticeable hum that changes when you move the pedal around so thats telling me its got other issues with shielding or something.

So yeah, back to square one. Can anyone suggest a better solution? All I want to do it seemlessly switch between two heads; one being my gated 6505+ and the other being my Vypyr. I want no loss of tone, no hum, no popping when switching and a complete bypass of the killed amp.

 

[antknee]

Radial switchbone. Its expensive. But its killer. Lots of options like gain, mid boost,polarity reverse{wich I had to have] and ground lift. Check it out.

 

[oniduder]

yeah you shouldn't get a cheap aby or the like, i'm running a lehle p-split II right now and just running two amps at one time all the time,

the rjm i owned still is a very cool good unit but i don't need it with all the other crap i own

peace sorry it didn't work out for you

 

[EOT]

The only one I've used is the Voodoo Labs amp selector(?). It's actually got 4 outs that can all be used at the same time. Worked great though. I'm using a RJM RG16 now and it's great. A lot more than you're looking I know, but based on the quality of it, and RJM's customer service, I'd recommend the Y not.

 

[Scordare]

I use a Radial Bigshot ABY, its a great box for $80. Its all passive (no battery needed), no pops and sounds transparent to me. The only thing I dont like is that there is no indicator of what channel/mode you are using..but that is because it doesnt use batteries. Check it out.

 

[fitterhappier]

Get the Radial Bigshot. Prob the best one out there.

I used to have a Livewire ABY box that I got from GC - crapped out after 6 months of use. Horrible noise issues.