How do I run 2 guitars together

[bloozeman]

Hope this is the right forum to post this in.
I have a show coming up where I will be using an acoustic and a resonator together. I want to run just a bit of delay on my sound on both guitars to add some thickness and depth to the tone, i was going to use my carbon copy delay pedal with the cables running like I would hook up any other guitar but instead of an amp into a DI box to the sound system. Would this be the correct way or should I use delay straight from the FX on the sound system? Also how do I hook up both acoustic and resonator so when I'm done with the acoustic I can just set it down and pick up the resonator and start playing that. I'm sure it's possible to run them both to the board with delay and the sound guy can just turn over to the resonator when its ready to be played? I'm not very tech savvy on running cables etc

[burkeingraffia]

You should look into an A/B switch like:

https://saturnworkspedals.com/product/ab-pedals/

To keep both guitars plugged in and just switch from one to another.

or if you need the option of using them both simultaneously, look for an A/B/Y switch.

[skoshi84]

If both guitars are active, meaning they have some sort of onboard preamp, you could even get away with just using a summing box or y-cable that would leave both guitars live the whole time. But I think an A/B switch like burkeinggraffia suggested would be the safest bet. There are a bunch of these on the market.

If you have passive pick ups you could run into impedance issues having two guitars plugged in together without a switch.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by bloozeman

Hope this is the right forum to post this in.
I have a show coming up where I will be using an acoustic and a resonator together. I want to run just a bit of delay on my sound on both guitars to add some thickness and depth to the tone, i was going to use my carbon copy delay pedal with the cables running like I would hook up any other guitar but instead of an amp into a DI box to the sound system. Would this be the correct way or should I use delay straight from the FX on the sound system? Also how do I hook up both acoustic and resonator so when I'm done with the acoustic I can just set it down and pick up the resonator and start playing that. I'm sure it's possible to run them both to the board with delay and the sound guy can just turn over to the resonator when its ready to be played? I'm not very tech savvy on running cables etc

Yes delay to DI sound board is the usual method.
So the only issue is that the resonator and the acoustic are likely to need/want to be at different levels and maybe different EQ settings on the house board.
So if the DI does not have 2 outputs to go into 2 different inputs on the board or you don't have a stage mixer to set the levels and EQ separately, then the sound guy may have keep adjusting when you switch.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by bloozeman

(editd for focus) I'm sure it's possible to run them both to the board with delay and the sound guy can just turn over to the resonator when its ready to be played? I'm not very tech savvy on running cables etc

Since you want to have both guitars running through an effects loop (carbon copy delay pedal) the sound board operator will not be able to select (at his point of operation) which guitar. He will only be taking the output from the effects loop. Choosing which guitar will have to take place upstream of the effects.

It would probably be helpful if you draw a picture of your layout. (for your benefit more than for ours)

Start with the two guitars at the top of the paper and the sound board at the bottom. Laying out where the selection between the guitars is made and the effects applied should become obvious.

[pieterh]

I use a Radial A/B switch. It has a drag control which reduces the level on the channel with the hottest guitar so that levels match. The output can then be fed to the reverb unit before going on to mixer, DI or amp.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Lost Sheep

Since you want to have both guitars running through an effects loop (carbon copy delay pedal) the sound board operator will not be able to select (at his point of operation) which guitar. He will only be taking the output from the effects loop. Choosing which guitar will have to take place upstream of the effects.

It would probably be helpful if you draw a picture of your layout. (for your benefit more than for ours)

Start with the two guitars at the top of the paper and the sound board at the bottom. Laying out where the selection between the guitars is made and the effects applied should become obvious.

I agree a diagram/drawing would be useful. Because from his description to me it does not sound like he is running the CC Delay into an amp FX "loop" at all.... But is thinking going direct. Guitar/s > CC > DI > sound board ??

[shufflebeat]

A slightly different take on this:

- Single jack lead shared between instruments
- Boss tuner with mute facility
- FX chain (jack out at the end of the chain)
- A/B box taking a single jack (usually the output, now the input) and splitting it between A/B (usually inputs, now outputs)
- Jack patch leads out of A/B into a 2 channel DI box
- 2x XLR outputs to separate channels on the desk.

Both instruments get to use FX, no "on the fly" adjustment, no problem with un-muted instruments on stage.

[EZYPIKINS]

My pedalboard currently has two inputs, two tuners, two Morley Li'l Aligator's Volume, Radial Duplex JDI to mixer.

Get EQ, Reverb, and a bit of Chorus directly from mixer.

Just the way I do.

[MikeBmusic]

Radial PZ Pre Toneport.
2 switchable inputs with volume controls for each.
A switchable FX loop that can also be used as a boost.
Amp (1/4") and DI (XLR outputs (post and pre-EQ).

[-GF-]

The Boss LS-2 should do this well - see the 2nd example application discussed in this blog post:-

DISCOVERING THE BOSS LS-2 LINE SELECTOR - https://stinkfoot.se/archives/4080

• Main input buffer with level matching and input selector

Basically the same as above, but this time we will also use separate cables for the different instruments. Normally, I’d advise against using multiple guitar cables, since it very quickly becomes a tangled mess. But if you have a synthesizer, theremin or some other sound source you want to be able to run through the pedalboard, or for that matter a lap or pedal steel, it is very handy. Set the LS-2 to A->Bypass mode, and use the main input for the regular guitar cable. The steel guitar/synth/theremin/whatever plugs into return A, and its signal level can then easily be matched using the level control. Using A->B->Bypass mode will allow you to use two additional sources, or you can use the extra loop to level match different guitars plugged into the main input. Tip: in that case, I’d leave loop A empty, to cycle between normal guitar -> level adjusted guitar -> synth/theremin/steel guitar.