Suggestions to PIMP-OUT an ABY pedal

[WholeLottaDimitri]

I'll be building an ABY pedal for a friend and I was wondering how I can add a little something to it
Nothing too big just something useful , functional, or handy
One of you guys must have some advice or have something that you know from experience is helpful to have on a ABY pedal!

[petemoore]

 Without power, passive mods subtract, perhaps desirable...
With power, indicators, buffer or even boost could be useful accessories.
Bypassable active stages would also allow passive operation.

[WholeLottaDimitri]

Ya it'll have power cause he wants indicator LEDs on it

[sshrugg]

Since your going active, I think the first one is my favorite idea.

1: add a clean booster to each channel.  This will allow your friend to set the gain for each channel, and balance the volume when switching between A and B
2: add switches that allow your friend to either switch between two channels, or combine them for a mix of the two

[mth5044]

Are you doing an active pedal, or just have power because of the LEDs?

[WholeLottaDimitri]

just the power for the LEDs

[deadastronaut]

add a vu meter if you have lots of room left over......

lm3916

for extra bling...

[wavley]

just the power for the LEDs

Honestly, after battling these things with all the problems of multi amp setups (ground loops, phase problems...) I really think that you should consider R.G.'s Hum Free ABY and adding a couple of tweaks that I did, like a phase switch on one of the transformers and gain controls so you can boost (in case one of your amps likes a hotter input than the other).

I've run into lots of things like my Traynor keeps the phase the same input to output, but no reverb channel on a vintage Fender does, without being able to flip the phase on the input of the Fender the cancellations get rid of bass and imaging, plus if you mic them to a mono PA it sounds hollow and phasey.  You would be surprised how many amps aren't phase coherent, shoot the two channels of Fenders aren't even the same phase which is why you can't jumper them without modding them.

[stallik]

If you want to add bling for blings sake then OK but I'd highly recommend that you start of with a simple passive box, with or without led's just to see what kind of issues that you're going to Have to address - Ground loops, hum, phase etc as Waveley mentions. The most simple solution is often the best.

[deadastronaut]

''The most simple solution is often the best.''

+1.

[duck_arse]

simple, yes.

but then fill the box w/ something useful. add a couple of 3 terminal regs to provide dc's out.

[mth5044]

just the power for the LEDs

Honestly, after battling these things with all the problems of multi amp setups (ground loops, phase problems...) I really think that you should consider R.G.'s Hum Free ABY and adding a couple of tweaks that I did, like a phase switch on one of the transformers and gain controls so you can boost (in case one of your amps likes a hotter input than the other).

I've run into lots of things like my Traynor keeps the phase the same input to output, but no reverb channel on a vintage Fender does, without being able to flip the phase on the input of the Fender the cancellations get rid of bass and imaging, plus if you mic them to a mono PA it sounds hollow and phasey.  You would be surprised how many amps aren't phase coherent, shoot the two channels of Fenders aren't even the same phase which is why you can't jumper them without modding them.

This is what I was leading into with my question - passive ABY can be a huge pain. I'm sure some people get along fine, but I've had nothing but heartbreak. GEOFEX and the BYOC are great for active ABY with some very useful extras.

[stallik]

Made this one some time ago. Passive ABY but added a USB port to accept a computer USB gooseneck light. The idea was to illuminate my board. It worked OK until the board grew too big for even coverage. Really needed a bigger box for stability if it wasn't screwed down. The switch on the top lifts the ground to one of the amps.

[deadastronaut]

cool idea with usb kevin, i should've done that with the lightwah...

[WholeLottaDimitri]

What schematic did you use for that ABY?

[WholeLottaDimitri]

Also What does the ground lift do

[stallik]

Tried it with the lightwah Rob but it was a little too focused and the shadow too sharp for it to work well.
@wholelottadimitri made that on up as I went but have just built a new one using this layout. It came from this forum but for the life of me I can't remember who posted it so my apologies. The ground lift reduced hum on one of the amps but appears to be no longer necessary now I've serviced the amp

[nocentelli]

In an ABY pedal, a third footswitch for "invert" is handy, like the WOBO dual looper. If you have A only selected, a single press gives you B only and vice versa. If you have both selected, it mutes both. It means any combination of A, AB, B of mute is accessible with a single click. I assume, however, that it is relay+logic based.