Loopers and AB switches

Ancient1

What do you use and why?

On a fundamental level they all fulfill the same function, but are there any to avoid or any to recommend?

Has anyone heard of / dealt with Wobo Electronics?

Doctor J

I've been looking into these too. I have in mind running two amps off one guitar and options range from the €20 Behringer through Boss to something like this. Be careful, a lot of them offer A/B only, not A/B/Y (the ability to split your signal to two outputs).

feylya

This is supposed to be good.

Ancient1

So what should one look out for in terms of quality?

True bypass? Relays? Gold plated this and that?

Doctor J

All of that sort of stuff, I reckon. Those Wobo ones look pretty good actually

Ancient1

They do look great indeed and my trigger finger is getting itchy...

Eoin - I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too.

Eoin Madsen

You could build an ABY for 50 euros, including the cost of a (good) soldering iron from Maplin.

Using relays would probably be better than passing the signal through the switch. I've been planning to test that myself, but I've been a bit too busy... next week, hopefully. It means you need a 12 or 5 volt power supply for it, of course.

I haven't spent much time checking out MIDI loopers yet, so I wouldn't presume to recommend one. Gold-plated connectors are only really an advantage in fixtures, where the contacts might oxidise from lack of use.

Ancient1

Not an option for me I'm afraid, as my hands and fingers are more suited to ploughing a field than fine soldering work.

So apart from splitting a signal or bypassing effects etc what other uses does a switch or looper have?

Would it make sense to use one if you were, for example, sending time-based effects through the FX loop and putting others through the front of the same amp?

tibor

I got this one a few weeks ago: http://www.loop-master.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=87

It's the business.

Ancient1

Oh my god, so many options.........

Thanks for that link, Tibor. How much was shipping by the way?

Eoin Madsen

Ancient1 wrote:

Not an option for me I'm afraid, as my hands and fingers are more suited to ploughing a field than fine soldering work.

The soldering inside an ABY box could not be described as "fine". It's pretty blunt work, as wiring goes.

If you made it yourself you could get a switch box to do just about any kind of sequencing you needed. I designed a box that you would basically have ins and outs for 8 pedals - and would have four groups, each of which could contain any combination of pedals. So you could punch in a group of pedals on one switch. Or possibly change the order in series, or put some in an FX loop thru and others in the guitar path. I lost the random piece of paper I had it scribbled down on mind you. And it would have cost about 200 euros in parts. But you get the idea.

I'm planning on building a simpler* switch that will kick in or out a booster pedal while simultaneously flipping a (make-before-break) relay in another box beside the amp for the purpose of kicking in a hotplate/other attenuator. Electronics are great.

*as in, may actually happen

tibor

Ancient1 wrote:

Oh my god, so many options.........

Thanks for that link, Tibor. How much was shipping by the way?

Near 30 dollars - pain in the ass.
Worked out at 75/80ish eurobucks all in.

Ancient1

tibor wrote:

Worked out at 75/80ish eurobucks all in.

Ouch. Could be worth it though...

Eoin Madsen wrote:

I'm planning on building a simpler* switch that will kick in or out a booster pedal while simultaneously flipping a (make-before-break) relay in another box beside the amp for the purpose of kicking in a hotplate/other attenuator. Electronics are great.

Electronics are great, and you are mad.

The thing is, when I was in school I always applied my mind to orks, dwarves and elves, and never enough to the scientific subjects. And now even a simple switch box offers enough possibilities to confuse me, never mind a contraption that you just described!

Doctor J

But the elves still speak highly of your bravery in battle, Ancient1!

Ancient1

I know, I made many friends there during my frequent travels in Elfland.

John

Doctor J wrote:

But the elves still speak highly of your bravery in battle, Ancient1!

And the Dwarves still sing songs of his valour in the halls of Belegost in the Blue Mountains.

Tolkien ftw

Ancient1

Here's another to add to my list of AB switch conundrums:

Tone Jones

Anyone heard of them before?