A/B switching and noise

[Paco]

alright, I've got a problem here...

im working on setting up my effects. I'm running my guitar into an A/B switcher. running A through a boss ph2, ibanez de7, and then a boss sd1. B runs through a big muff and a boss mt3. then i took 3 spare jacks, and wired them in parallel, and plugged in the output from the sd1 and mt3, took the third one and plugged it into my amp (a fender 100w hybrid head)

now the problem is, the signal is a lot quieter than it should be, going into the amp, and I'm getting a lot of interference from the metal pedal, even when im running my a/b switch through the phaser/delay/od. im guessing that the two pedals are interfering with eachother, and even with no input in the metal pedal the signal going into the output is causing a lot of noise...

i could simply split the signal before the pedals run the signal through both sets, and put the AB after the pedals so theres no noise, but I want to be able to (a.) let my delay oscillate while playing over it with my distortion and (b.) not have the signal constantly running through my delay even when i'm on my distortion channel so when i switch back i don't get the delayed remnants of what i was playing earlier... if you can understand what i mean... basically i want the AB to select which set of pedals i run through and have both sets being input into the amp at the same time...
without a lot of noise and interference...

can it be done?
do i need buffers or something of that sort? wiring change?

bottom line: how do i get both effect pedals to runto my amp in parallel at the same time without the noise.


any help would be appreciated

thanks

[Stu]

Hey mate, you'll need a buffer, at the end, two parallel jacks are very unlikely to work.

Stu

[toneman]

Try putting the A/B box at the *end* of the chain of effects.
Y the guitar into both effects rows.
Each effect string into one side of the A/B box.
Now, select A-effect string or B-effect string.
easy
stayswitched
tone

[Paco]

okay... do i put the buffer after the overdrive and the metal pedals, before they get mixed back together?

or after that...?

also where can i get such a thing

[Paco]

Try putting the A/B box at the *end* of the chain of effects.
Y the guitar into both effects rows.
Each effect string into one side of the A/B box.
Now, select A-effect string or B-effect string.
easy
stayswitched
tone

well thats what i did before this new setup, and while it worked, when i switched back to the delay/phaser/od "channel" so to speak, id get a lot of mess because the signal was going thru it the whole time... IE i'd try to switch from my metal distortion to a quiet part and id get echoes of my loud guitar playing (w/o the metal of course but still loud) since the delay was on, and was echoing the whole time...

also if possible id like to be able to run both channels at the same time in a way, so the delay can self oscillate (it wouldnt need input for that, just an output connected to the amp) while i play a distortion guitar over it in the other channel

perhaps im asking too much of this setup with only one amp.

what if i added say a small 4 channel mixer , plugged each effects string into it, and outputted it to my amp?

[The Tone God]

You should really do an active splitter with ground isolation at the beginning for the two signal chains then remix the chains at the end. You can then drive both chains at the same time and switch at the end which chain (or both chains if you wish) is feeding into the amp.

Andrew

[toneman]

yep,
sounds like U need a buffer/splitter B4 the A/B box,
and a Mixer for the 2 strings of effects into 1 amp.
T

[toneman]

BTW, nice drawing & link.
Saw right away what U were proposing.
This is a really good example of how to ask questions.

T

[Paco]

heh well after posting on message boards for 5 years or so, i know a 1 post noob with a message that says "OMG MY GUITAR IS LIEK MAKING NOISE WHEN I PLUG STUFF INTO OTHER STUFF WTF PLZ HELP K THNX BYE" won't get the help he's lookin for.

plus its fun making drawings like that... when I'm bored in class i'll just start drawing out different ways to arrange stuff ( i actually have more pedals and another a/b switch, i just used that to simplify it all) ... this was a design i drew out but i guess pencil graphite doesnt care about impedance and drawing a junction going to an amp doesnt necessarily mean itll work

on that note, i think instead of buying the mixer and trying to figure out where to get the buffers and such I'll go for this...
http://www.loop-master.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=57
looper with 2 effects loops, and the key is they can both be on at once (so the delay can oscillate while i play something else in a clean channel) and it has bypass as well so i can get basic tone going straight to my amp with no loss via a bunch of non true-bypass pedals...
its like $70 but i think i can pull that off, and maybe sell one of my a/b boxes on ebay

one more picture just for fun, heres my setup from about 3 months ago, i have since gotten a modified boss sd-1 overdrive, and my DoD compressor just died so i don't use it anymore

[toneman]

The LoopMaster looks nice.
U'd B hard pressed 2 build it the 1st time 4 $70.
There'd  B $30 in just parts fersure.
That place gots lots of A/B A/B/Y Loop etc boxes!!
Is a box with NO electronics  considered a stompbox??
Must B!!  
Nice compact floor setup!
But where's your axe??

[Paco]

my guitar of choice right now is my squier jagmaster...
the other one i have is a $70 (brand new) rogue fat strat copy that i bought... maybe four years ago

[Paco]

Nice compact floor setup!

yeah, it gets the job done... i played a few incubus songs with my band at a gig a few weeks ago and it can handle just about everything (the zoom 506 has a envelope filter that i use)

just about everything except ring modulator and tremolo, and pitch shifter

[Paco]

how about this...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=live/s=mixers/search/detail/base_pid/180623/

would this take care of my 'buffering' needs and all that... so AB split to a OD and a dist, both into the mixer and then out to an amp?

or would i still get the problems from before...

[Gilles C]

From the manual, it looks like it's a passive box. Just 4 pots and some jacks.

It wouldn't fix your problems.

Gilles C