Using 2 Valve Junior Heads?

[kgrove85]

Hello. This might seem like a stupid question, but i've only used tube combo amps so i'm kind of new to stacks. If i purchased 2 Valve Junior Half Stacks, how would i connect them together. I would Like to get two cabinets for each head, meaning i would have 4 1X12 cabs driven by 2 heads. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Eracer_Team]

well if I read you right.. you are buying 4 - 1x12 cabs then putting 2 cab's on each head and 1 guitar to both heads...

So you have two problems to cover here.. easy one first.

Yes you can have multiple speaker(s) or cabs connected to any amp.

first off start off with 1 head and 2 cab's (lets assume they are the Epip 1x12 which are 16ohms each) got to Rat Shack and buy yourself a 1/4" Y jack. two 1/4" female to 1/4" male MONO (not stereo) Y jack

(http://www.radioshack.com)

Model: 274-892

Catalog #: 274-892

now since you are putting two cab's in parallel 16ohms+16ohms= 8ohms parallel. plug the y into the head 8ohm then plug both speakers into the two 1/4" female jacks. Or you can connect the Y into one of the cab's and then run the speaker cable from 8ohm jack to the y and another cable from the Y that's plugged into the first cab to the second cab.

 

Or you can make yourself a Y cable... or you can solder in a new 1/4" mono jack into one of the speaker cab's which does the same thing.

Once you have 1 head/cab/cab unit running you can do the same to the second head.

 

Now running your 1 guitar to two heads.. that a different story.. you're going to need a buffered splitter otherwise you will get a big ground-loop hum... these aren't cheap. You can't use a Y cable here since the ground-loop will occur.

 

You really dont' need to be running 2 heads and 4 cab's unless you're doing some sort of gig.

[iansmitchell]

Hello. This might seem like a stupid question' date=' but i've only used tube combo amps so i'm kind of new to stacks. If i purchased 2 Valve Junior Half Stacks, how would i connect them together. I would Like to get two cabinets for each head, meaning i would have 4 1X12 cabs driven by 2 heads. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[/quote']

It would be a much simpler, cheaper, and better solution IMO, to go with a Blackheart handsome devil 15W head, and a lower-end 4x12speaker cabinet:

Total cost:

600+shipping

(I'd wait for MF to have another free shipping for heavy gear sale)

Head:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Blackheart-BH15H-Handsome-Devil-Series-15W-Tube-Head-?sku=483096

Possible cabs:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-FM-412-4x12-100-Watt-4Ohm-Cabinet?sku=601726

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Kustom-QUAD-ST-412-A-260W-4x12-Guitar-Speaker-Cabinet?sku=600653

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Marshall-MG412A-MG412B-120W-4x12-Guitar-Extension-Cabinet?sku=482951

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-Windsor-412-4x12-Speaker-Cabinet?sku=601428

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Raven-RG412-4x12-Mono-Guitar-Speaker-Cabinet?sku=601145

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-V412BK-4x12-Guitar-Speaker-Cab?sku=482628V

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/B52-LS412-400W-4x12-Guitar-Extension-Cabinet?sku=600486

 

 

Anyway, with this solution you get 50% more power, a 1-piece cab and single head, you don't have to buy a splitter, or figure out wiring two cabs in series to make the valve junior drive them at the same time.

 

But if you wanna get big headaches and wast time and money, and get less power and quality, the epi solution IS possible, in theory. For another 150 bucks.

[strangedogs]

this ain't a Blackheart forum...

[Eracer_Team]

alright didn't know they had released the 15w Blackheart.. excelent!

 

 

yeah I thought 2 heads and 4 cab's was overly complicated,, trust me my wife tells me my 1x12 is too loud let alone my 2x12 british leads or my 4x12 vintage 30's ( I like the V30's the best)

[iansmitchell]

this ain't a Blackheart forum...

So? We're not being payed to suggest either.

I'd rather this guy save his money and get what he wants, in a simpler manner.

[cGil]

Blackheart's 15watt head at $299 is actually a ridiculously good deal. Especially when I consider that it cost me well over $1300 to build an 18watt combo kit once I had added extremely high end components and an appropriately top-shelf cab and speaker. Granted, it looks and sounds the part, and it'd take well over $2500 to get me to part with it, but that's another matter.

 

I'm currently doing a 22watt Rocktal Deluxe style scratch build. The cab, chassis, and iron has cost me about $300; but I got lucky with a half price deal on the Fender Deluxe OT. Otherwise, I'd be looking at $340. And that doesn't include the cost of the switches, pots, and jacks; or the tube sockets, board, and all those caps and resistors.

 

So, for Blackheart head cab, chassis with pieces parts and a set of iron for only $300, I'd say the BH 15w is actually a fairly decent price for a starter kit on a scratch build, or simply a heck of a deal for a functional 18watt-type amp, just as it is! Think about it!

 

Gil...

[m-theory]

got to Rat Shack and buy yourself a 1/4" Y jack.

This isn't the best way to do this at all. Seeing as how a flaky speaker connection can destroy a tube amp, it just doesn't make much sense to me to cheap out and go the mickey mouse route on this. The proper way is to add a jack to each speaker cabinet, and parallel wire it to the original jack, then use regular speaker cable to go from amp to box to box.

 

Now running your 1 guitar to two heads.. that a different story.. you're going to need a buffered splitter otherwise you will get a big ground-loop hum... these aren't cheap

You can buy isolated ground, buffered A/B/Y pedals for as little as around $100, but you could build one for probably under $50. This is really the only way to run two amps and not have to worry about ground loop hum or electrocution.

 

All that said, if all you're looking for is more horsepower, you're definitely going about it the complicated way, in light of the above-mentioned 15w amp, and any number of others in that horsepower range. The double Vjr full stack arrangement would look pretty tight, though! It'd just be a huge hassle to cart around, and with every cable connection, there's a risk of cable/jack failure at some point. K.I.S.S is a brilliant philosophy when you gig regularly. The more pieces you use, the more chance for failure, and equipment failures on stage suck.

[strangedogs]

so how do some pros run 2 or 3 Marshall heads at the same time (or any amp)? I remember seeing Hendrix "back in the day" playing through 3 Marshall 100-watt Superleads at the same time - how did they do it?

[Eracer_Team]

Marshall right on their web site says to plug your guitar into input low1 and then you can take the input high1 out to the next amp. Or you can bridge high1 to low2 with your guitar pluged into low1 input.

 

Don't think i've ever been at a show that didn't have humming from the amp's some shows are worse than others though.

But I don't know how Marshall gets around this issue.

 

I just went to the marshall site and checked out a signature Super100JH heads user manual. Here's what it says:

 

Performance Note: ‘Jumping’ the two channels and

‘Daisy Chaining’ amps.

Because both channels of the Super 100JH have the same

number of gain stages and are in phase with each other, it is

possible to ‘jump’ (a.k.a. ‘link’ or ‘bridge’) them together and use

them both at the same time. Doing this enables you to expand

upon the amp's tonal capabilities.

The most common way of doing this is to plug your guitar into the

top input of Channel 1 and then run a short ‘jumper’ guitar cable

(i.e. a screened cable) from Channel 1’s bottom input to the top

input of Channel 2, (Fig. 1). Adjust Loudness 1 & 2 controls until

the desired mix of tone is achieved.

The reverse is also possible, i.e. plugging your guitar into

Channel 2’s top input and then running the ‘jumper’ cable from

Channel 2’s bottom input to Channel 1’s top input (Fig. 2).

Whether the channels are linked or not is entirely the choice of

the individual player’s taste in tone. As always, experimentation is

the key.

It is possible to ‘Daisy Chain’ or Link a number of amplifiers

together using the same principals described above. As illustrated

in numerous photographs, Jimi would often use this facility to

‘split’ his guitar signal between two or more full stacks - his guitar

would be plugged into the top input of Channel 1 on his main

amp and then a relatively long ‘jumper’ cable went from the

bottom input of the same channel to the top input of Channel 1 of

the second amp.

[strangedogs]

so basically he "daisy-chained" them? I have ran my old 80's Roland 50-watt (from the line -out) into my VJ through the "front door" input - I kept the Roland turned down low (1 or 2) and turned the VJ up - seemed to work OK although the SS Roland defeated the warm tube sound from my normally warm VJ. I was using the effects built-in my Roland as an experiment - Chorus, Delay, etc. I normally just run my Korg Toneworks into my VJ now to use the Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Rotary, etc from my Korg - not the amp sims so much - just the effects - until I can afford some single pedals (Reverb, Chorus, etc). I also still use my ART TUBE preamp inline too - it does seem to add "something" extra... although on my single coil Ax it adds a bit of extra "noise" on selector switch 1, 3 and 5 when I crank up the "input" and "output" on the preamp (overdriving the 12AX7 in it) - the selector switches (on the strat now I'm talking) for 2 and 4 are still basically noiseless as usual. On my LP it's not that noticeable as humbuckers aren't as sensitive as single coils...

[iansmitchell]

so basically he "daisy-chained" them? I have ran my old 80's Roland 50-watt (from the line -out) into my VJ through the "front door" input - I kept the Roland turned down low (1 or 2) and turned the VJ up - seemed to work OK although the SS Roland defeated the warm tube sound from my normally warm VJ. I was using the effects built-in my Roland as an experiment - Chorus' date=' Delay, etc. I normally just run my Korg Toneworks into my VJ now to use the Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Rotary, etc from my Korg - not the amp sims so much - just the effects - until I can afford some single pedals (Reverb, Chorus, etc). I also still use my ART TUBE preamp inline too - it does seem to add "something" extra... although on my single coil Ax it adds a bit of [b']extra[/b] "noise" on selector switch 1, 3 and 5 when I crank up the "input" and "output" on the preamp (overdriving the 12AX7 in it) - the selector switches (on the strat now I'm talking) for 2 and 4 are still basically noiseless as usual. On my LP it's not that noticeable as humbuckers aren't as sensitive as single coils...

 

I'm thinking of putting an ART preamp in my vocal monitor rigs to warm up the sond?

[strangedogs]

I think they're great an inexpensive too. Try one!

[layboomo]

The problem with daisy chaning amps without buffered distribution is ground loops. Most pro rigs use buffered distribution and loops for everything from multi amp rigs to effects drawers with pedals. Bradshaw is known as one of the pedal board masters.

[Eracer_Team]

I hear you on the ground loop thing.. this was right out of the Marshall 100JH super lead head manual, how to they get around it.

[cGil]

Listening to old Hendrix live cuts on the Electric Ladyland and Live at Berkley (w/Billy Cox), it doesn't appear that they got around it so well, but as soon as the jams started, it didn't matter anyway. They just cranked it up and kicked a**. Nowadays when I hear that amp buzz breaking the silence, or the cop radio in the fuzz pedal on the intro to "Hey Joe", it's just another part of the recording that I always look forward to hearing whenever I play that CD.

 

Gil...

[layboomo]

Listening to old Hendrix live cuts on the Electric Ladyland and Live at Berkley (w/Billy Cox)' date=' it doesn't appear that they got around it so well, but as soon as the jams started, it didn't matter anyway. They just cranked it up and kicked a**. Nowadays when I hear that amp buzz breaking the silence, or the cop radio in the fuzz pedal on the intro to "Hey Joe", it's just another part of the recording that I always look forward to hearing whenever I play that CD.

 

Gil... [/quote']

 

Yup there's quite a bit of amp noise on record if you listen for it........like you said once they start playing it's usually well hidden in volume anyhow. SRV had some noisy takes too with a vintage strat and wound up fenders......just adds to the vibe though...you know somethin' good is coming.

[strangedogs]

that's what made it Rock & Roll. I saw Hendrix 3 times - everytime the sound systems were really HORRIBLE - first 2 times no PA that I know of - just playing through their amps. When Jimi talked no one even knew what the heck he was sayin' . If you really wanna hear "noise" listen to old Big Brother & the Holding Company recordings (Janis Joplin) from the 60's... Also the Doors in concert had enough amp noise in the background to make what Jim was saying almost unintelligible. We didn't care though - it was Rock & Roll LIVE!