I am now sharing a practice space with roughly 15 people with 6? Bands between us. 2 bass rigs in there. Not a problem. Already sorted.
The guitar amp and cabinet situation is something to behold. 6 heads on shelves above 2 cabinets. We're crawling back there switching out speaker cables between amps. It's not so bad, except my amp is on the top shelf and switching cables by hand is annoying.
Is there a passive box out there that would switch between amp heads and speaker cabinets? 6 ins in the back, 2 out. Activate 1 amp and one cabinet at a time?
I should take a pic next time I'm there.
Re: Recommend me a...
362Can you use a patch bay?GuyLaCroix wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:27 pm I am now sharing a practice space with roughly 15 people with 6? Bands between us. 2 bass rigs in there. Not a problem. Already sorted.
The guitar amp and cabinet situation is something to behold. 6 heads on shelves above 2 cabinets. We're crawling back there switching out speaker cables between amps. It's not so bad, except my amp is on the top shelf and switching cables by hand is annoying.
Is there a passive box out there that would switch between amp heads and speaker cabinets? 6 ins in the back, 2 out. Activate 1 amp and one cabinet at a time?
I should take a pic next time I'm there.
Re: Recommend me a...
363This is nightmare fuel for me. All it takes is somebody screwing up a connection where two amps are connected to a cab simultaneously and you blow up the output stage of one or more amps.GuyLaCroix wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:27 pm I am now sharing a practice space with roughly 15 people with 6? Bands between us. 2 bass rigs in there. Not a problem. Already sorted.
The guitar amp and cabinet situation is something to behold. 6 heads on shelves above 2 cabinets. We're crawling back there switching out speaker cables between amps. It's not so bad, except my amp is on the top shelf and switching cables by hand is annoying.
Is there a passive box out there that would switch between amp heads and speaker cabinets? 6 ins in the back, 2 out. Activate 1 amp and one cabinet at a time?
I should take a pic next time I'm there.
If it were me, I'd DIY a simple 1/4" patch bay/box for this. An off-the-shelf one isn't going to be able to handle the power. You'd have to use heavier gauge wire.
Re: Recommend me a...
364You could buy 2 of these guys - https://delisleguitar.com/shop/de-lisle ... lector-v1/GuyLaCroix wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:27 pm
Is there a passive box out there that would switch between amp heads and speaker cabinets? 6 ins in the back, 2 out. Activate 1 amp and one cabinet at a time?
I haven't used one myself, but I've been curious and it seems fairly dummy-proof!
Jazz Titan/Ruthie Cohen
Current -
Future Living / Daddy's Boy / Blank Banker / Solo
Fomer -
Hungry Man / No Trust / Retreaters
Current -
Future Living / Daddy's Boy / Blank Banker / Solo
Fomer -
Hungry Man / No Trust / Retreaters
Re: Recommend me a...
365I think about how brave and organized I would have to be to not fuck my amps up with any of those boxes and then multiply by 15. NOPE.
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366What Nate suggested is the way I would go about this to avoid confusion. Every amp has its own labeled speaker cable coming out of it, as does every cab. The most bare-bones way of doing this is just making a junction box (basically a female-to-female connector) so you can connect the cable from an amp to the cable from a cab. A fancier way would be doing the patch bay, but either are the same concept.....just something to make it easier so you dont have to dig around behind amps.
If there are impedance mismatches in certain combinations you might include impedance on the cable labels.
If there are impedance mismatches in certain combinations you might include impedance on the cable labels.
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36750% of the guitarists I’ve played with would catastrophically fuck up a switching or patchbay solution.
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368Possibly, yeah. But a junction box connector wouldnt be any more complicated than connecting a head to a cab. Just like a Hammond 1590A enclosure with a jack at either end and a couple inches of stout wire connecting them to make a stout female-to-female connector.twelvepoint wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 8:51 am 50% of the guitarists I’ve played with would catastrophically fuck up a switching or patchbay solution.
There are plenty of female-to-female 1/4" connectors available commercially but as Nate suggested they wont be able to handle the power going through an amp speaker cable.
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369I've been thinking about doing this because....well reasons. I have something I might put together today if there's time and post here, but yeah it's just a patchbay in an enclosure.Dr Tony Balls wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 9:16 amPossibly, yeah. But a junction box connector wouldnt be any more complicated than connecting a head to a cab. Just like a Hammond 1590A enclosure with a jack at either end and a couple inches of stout wire connecting them to make a stout female-to-female connector.twelvepoint wrote: Mon Jun 23, 2025 8:51 am 50% of the guitarists I’ve played with would catastrophically fuck up a switching or patchbay solution.
There are plenty of female-to-female 1/4" connectors available commercially but as Nate suggested they wont be able to handle the power going through an amp speaker cable.
Re: Recommend me a...
370Y'all are kind of scaring me off with the possibility of nuking a head or 3.
I think I trust the other guys more than myself, and it's easy to put up my 400$ Carvin but might be a different question for the 5150s and Mesas these guys have. I'd feel awful if I fried one, and I don't need that kind of heat this early in a babyface run.
I think I trust the other guys more than myself, and it's easy to put up my 400$ Carvin but might be a different question for the 5150s and Mesas these guys have. I'd feel awful if I fried one, and I don't need that kind of heat this early in a babyface run.