Amp switching box
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 6:25 pm
Not an amp build but “amp adjacent”, I have put together a box to switch between my amps.
I’ve got a silver jubilee, and ac30 and a wee orange terror stamp lined up in my garage. It struck me as a hassle to switch between them casually, particularly as I’m generally running effects in front of the amp as well as in the effects loop, plus the orange doesn’t have speakers of its own, I just plug it into either the v30s in the silver jubilee or the greenbacks from the ac30.
So I hatched a little idea in my head to be able to switch amps and also speakers in a little box. It grew to include the effects loop and here we have it:
So the signal path goes
Guitar
Front of amp effects
Into amp box through the first rotary switch (“pre amp”)
3 outputs, one going to the input of each amp
The 3 amp send go back to the switch box, through another pair of poles on the pre amp switch. This allows the single switch to select the amp input and send from each amp (1, 2 and 3)
Single output from rotary switch to modulation effects
Effects return to the second rotary switch (power amp)
3 outputs from power amp switch to the amps return jacks
Amp main outputs back to the power amp rotary switch
Output from the rotary to attenuator output (not necessary but good to play in the garage, can loop this out if needed)
Attenuator returns to the speaker switch - just a 2 way toggle
Speaker switch out to either the greenbacks or v30s
I don’t know if that makes sense but essentially I can choose any of the 3 preamps, power amps and 2 speaker cabs in whichever combination I like.
Seemed like a fun idea at the time.
I’ve got a silver jubilee, and ac30 and a wee orange terror stamp lined up in my garage. It struck me as a hassle to switch between them casually, particularly as I’m generally running effects in front of the amp as well as in the effects loop, plus the orange doesn’t have speakers of its own, I just plug it into either the v30s in the silver jubilee or the greenbacks from the ac30.
So I hatched a little idea in my head to be able to switch amps and also speakers in a little box. It grew to include the effects loop and here we have it:
So the signal path goes
Guitar
Front of amp effects
Into amp box through the first rotary switch (“pre amp”)
3 outputs, one going to the input of each amp
The 3 amp send go back to the switch box, through another pair of poles on the pre amp switch. This allows the single switch to select the amp input and send from each amp (1, 2 and 3)
Single output from rotary switch to modulation effects
Effects return to the second rotary switch (power amp)
3 outputs from power amp switch to the amps return jacks
Amp main outputs back to the power amp rotary switch
Output from the rotary to attenuator output (not necessary but good to play in the garage, can loop this out if needed)
Attenuator returns to the speaker switch - just a 2 way toggle
Speaker switch out to either the greenbacks or v30s
I don’t know if that makes sense but essentially I can choose any of the 3 preamps, power amps and 2 speaker cabs in whichever combination I like.
Seemed like a fun idea at the time.