Amp switchers?

I don't normally say less than positive things about a product. But I do want to say that I've had a Voodoo Labs Amp Switcher and now have a Lehle 1@3 and I prefer the Lehle. I read in previous posts (you might do a search) that in order to have each channel able to have its own volume, the VL has to have some sort of preamp or something (sorry, I'm a little fuzzy about the details...it's been awhile since I read this). Whatever the case, the VL changes the tone. I played through the VL into my Two Rock Ruby and whereas before I loved the tone, when I played through the VL, the tone just wasn't there anymore...it sounded worse. Didn't have the vibe that I dig about the Ruby. Most of my other amps that I played switched through the VL didn't really suffer that much negative tonal effect...but the Ruby did, and it was noticeable. I bought the Lehle and have been very happy playing into all my amps, with no noticeable tonal degradation. Lehle purportedly uses the most direct and high quality passive switching mechanism possible. The quality of the switches and functionality of the Lehle have been great. And the most important thing is that the sound is not affected as far as I can tell. So my point is that the Voodoo Lab does have great possibilities, but there can be some effect on your tone through certain amps (the preamp or whatever effects the tone)....whereas I understand that the simple, high quality, passive switching mechanism of certain amp switchers like the Lehle (and some others, I assume) do not involve a preamp and do not change the tone very much. Hopefully someone else will chime in here. Do a search in the archives...that's where I found out about the difference between the passive switchers and the reamped/preamped or whatever ones.

Best.

Gonzo

 

Red Planet,
I found a couple of posts that talk about the issue. The VL and some others go through a solid state amplifier before it hits the input of the guitar amp. With the Lehle and Framptone "...the signal is divided using a very high quality transformer. There are no active components in the path, in fact you can use the switch as a passive splitter with no power required at all. The signal to the amp with these units is closer to just plugging your guitar straight in."

Here are the posts that talk about this:

amp switching delight

which amp switcher?


I think with the Lehle 1@3 there is a 4th input (beyond the normal 3) that you could input an A/B switch and have 4 channels...not sure about that possibility...check the lehle site.

Hope this all helps!

Gonzo

 

I tried to order a Framptone or two, evidently they're not shipping for some reason. Hope that changes - I really want to get my hands on one.

 

Hey RP, how's the new Mesa??

 

Did you play the special? If so, how did the EL84's sound? I'm sure they broke up quick but did it sound as thick as the 6L6's?

 

Hey Red Planet,

I have the VL amp switcher and I found that it works fine, never noticed a change in tone and the switches are smooth and quiet.

Now I use a Tonebone because it fits on my pedal board and I only need a two amp switcher... It is awesome and I love the tuner out option and the boost.

BTW I might be willing to sell the VL cuz I am not using it anymore... Is this what they call 'spam'?

 

Don't be scared! Dude, it's just money....

Sure man, bring 'em on over to Kevin. Maybe he'll do them pretty quick.

 

I paid $240 a few months ago, and it is still like new. but I don't know what a 'good deal' would be or how much I would be willing to settle for right now. You can go ahead and make me an offer...

 

Just bit the bullet and got the Framptone amp switcher. Never had much ground loop action, but the passive switches suck tone for running two amps at the same time. Switching if fine, but together neither one sounds as it would straight in. Played a gig recently with two amps, jumpered from one to the other. Amp 2 lost volume noticeably.

Haven't tried to Framptone yet, but am hoping this does the trick.

 

I have the VooDoo Labs Amp selector and I think its worth the price they go for. I like having individual v-level pots to balance levels and also ground lifts. To me it does NOT have too much if an adverse affect on the amps original tone. I can't hear the difference between white fender heavy picks or blue fender heavy picks either I use it in the 4x1 mode where I can select either of the four amps at any time or any of the combination if the four amps or all four simultaneously. Its quite and switching is silent.

I use it with 2203-101B-VHT 50 CL-Mesa DC-5