I actually have a board specifically for playing live, and then I used a $25 desk off Amazon as a pedal table for home. I covered the top of the table with Velcro like my board, and now I can mess with signal path at home without needing to touch my live rig. It's great, because the more set up I do the less creative I get 😂
I wish you had A/B tested some of these to show series vs parallel. I know it would have been extra work but it would be cool to hear the differences in real time.
+1! I run pedals in parallel using the EHX Switchblade pro (sonicake Portal can do it too), it has loop in parallel or series, can control blend too and a dry signal. Way better than this metod, in just 1 device.
I was thinking that at first, but once I heard what they were doing, I think it's unnecessary. It's clearly totally different from running in series. The effects are clearly kept distinct so much so that it borders on weird. I don't need to have an "in series" comparison to know that parallel is just a different beast.
I tried to "radio shack" a borrowed p a once, with the power amp out into another mixer, thinking I could vary the speaker volumes with my radio shack mixer....It do not work. Not unless a fried p a was the desired result.
the splitting is okay if all involved pedals have a proper high-imedance input stage with a buffer op amp/emiter follower transistor. the mixing you probably want a real mixer since passive summing can bog down output stages that don't have sufficiently low output impedance.
Right, though the issue is loading affecting the frequency response, not noise. Most pedals have a high enough input impedance that the S/N shouldn't be significantly affected by use in parallel. But, depending on the pedal, paralleling the input networks across pedals could do bad things to the frequency response. Exactly how it may be bad will depend on the pedals.
You can buy a solution that is pretty much that - two ABY pedals... one of which you plug in backward. They aren't buffered, which is why you can do that. But then you easily run into the types of problems one gets into with multiple unbuffered signals. It can still work, but under constant risk of shitty sound.
Parallel on bass, especially if you have a frequency splitter instead of a simple splitter, is a game changer. Running just the lows and subs into a compressor to get that massive low-end and going wild with mids + treble massively amplifies your sound palette.
One cool trick I use with this technique in my ambient work is to place a reverb (100% wet) before a distortion or fuzz while the other side has a slight overdrive. You get the cleanish tone 1st then a slightly delayed/reverbed distorted sound in the background.
Really cool demo. Been doing parallel processing for decades. The difference is that, instead of summing them back into one signal path, I keep each path separate by sending each path to different amps. This allows each chain to end up in a amp that best suits that sound and allows even more control that each path works best with. It's more bother. But it's also more exactly what I want to hear from both sides.
I don't know why it is, but everytime I hear this JHS TH-cam song intro, I get really happy. It's like some sort of magic nostalgia that's happening in real time.
This is exactly what I’ve been doing for 10+ years. I used an EHX switchblade+ to split and Morley twin mix to combine. One side being heavy distortion with less treble and one side with a vintage crunch tone more on the treble side. Blended sounds great! 👍
Should have sprung for the EHX Tri-Parallel Mixer. 3 effects loops that can be run in parallel or as a switching mechanism, plus phase inversion capabilities for each channel so it doesn’t phase out any signal with adjustable output levels for each send and return, and a clean blend. Hands down my favorite utility pedal.
@@joseanything I'm using one at the beginning of my board for switching between guitar, keyboard, and an Alesis Samplepad 4. Then it goes through my mono serial effects, then a looper. Pretty cool for my attempt at being a "one man band"
I’m so glad you are still making videos! I ran into a video from 6 years ago and I love the personality man! I am a new pedal person and I’m currently buying clone pedals of Amazon and Aliexpress! More specifically the Klone’s and some more basic pedals (fuzz, delay, reverb, etc.) and I am very excited for my journey and now I get to share it with you!
Electro-Harmonix Tri Parallel Mixer. Worth every penny! Three separate FX loops. Phase control. EQ. Dry mix control. Looks cool. Love mine. Add some fuzz to your modern distortion!!!
This has been my secret weapon since I bought an Exotic X-Blender pedal about 8 years ago. Keeping the clean signal means you can do HUGE fuzzy chords and keep the articulation of the notes instead of just a wall of clipping.
parallel processing is a VERY powerful tool, i freakin love it! getting into modular synths got me into it and i love the copying signals and mixing them back together, it makes some of the most rich cool effect pallets available!!!! i wish it were more common with pedals!
Josh, Keep up the great work here. I hope this turns into a series (no pun intended). When you ran the chorus in parallel, it sounded like something off of a Stevie Nicks recording. Incredible.
I have been talking about buying these pedals and doing this for weeks. Either Josh is reading my mind, or Josh's are inherently connected mentally. Amazing video as always.
I had a thought to try to run pedals in parallel a long time ago, but i didn't because i wasn't sure how id go about it. Cool to see that you have done it here
This is the concept I use in my bass rig. I split the signal into 3 channels, 1 is always clean with compression, 2 is either distortion or fuzz with a cab simulator, and 3 is some extra FX or boost low-end. Great video guys!
Adding a volume pedal in on one side gives you a way to blend it in. I use a OD pedal on one side and then use a volume pedal and a Fuzz on the other to make variable distortion. You can do the same with delay or chorus.
This was a really cool and informative vide. I knew this was a thing , but I just never put much thought behind it, let alone seen it done it real time. Endless possibilities! I definitely foresee some rabbit holes in my future
Just use the Boss LS-2 Line Selector to do the same thing as the 2 JHS boxs and it can also do much more..... the other cool thing is that it will only takes 1 power output from your power supply(not really because the pedal has a 9V power output so it take 0 power output.... or put a 9V battery in it)
When running fuzz in parallel one of my favorite tricks is to use the volume on the guitar to control how much of each effect I get. Rolling back volume will make one sound get very quiet but the fuzz will handle that rolled back volume like a champ and make cool sounds, then crank up to get a mix of both.
Works best with a type Lehle passive splitter (Lehle P split), so the fuzz "see" a high impedance signal. A buffer before fuzz does not sound right when guitars volume is lowered. If buffer before fuzz, the signal works best with a reamper befor the fuzz. Or, one can get a fuzz that is designed for low impedance input signal (and EMG pickups), like a Pete Cornish or Guitarsystems fuzz. This is a pro tip.
This is a great video to help folks get truer sounds from their pedals. 🎉Going parallel is an excellent way to keep an articulate sound while adding other effects. Thank you!
I'm not a huge chorus fan, but having two pedals in parallel was surprising. Kind of like having different speeds of the rotating low-frequency "drum" and high-frequency "horn" of a Leslie unit. Lots of possibilities!
@@GeeBee135 to me the secret sauce of parallel processing is splitting EQ bands . If you're not usually a chorus person, you might also find you're a "chorus and delay on the highs, reverb on the lows" rather more interesting
@@GeeBee135 lol yeah but you might want to take some seasickness tablets first! The EHX triparallel (yes, that's THREE parallel effects) and the KMA Tyler both have EQ built in. I think the Sonicake Portal does too.
This was a great episode. Really eye opening. I've never run pedals in parallel, but I think I really prefer the sound. And look, you're promoting your own pedals! I'll probably get these.
Josh, I've got the old JHS Blender and used to blend fuzz and clean and you're right it's super weird but cool all the same. Because of this video I've put it back on my board and I'm incorporating some of the combinations you presented in the video. Love your pedals, your show, and your place in the industry. Keep it up.
My pedalboard is in parallel, but I use an old Boss DD2 to split the signal with a micro interval, so it sounds like two guitars playing the same. Channel 1 has chorus into turbo overdrive into tremolo into flanger; channel 2 has only fuzz and reverb. Then they get "together" (still separated) again in a DD7, which is my real delay effect - the result is crazy. If the stage has two amps, I use one of them for each channel; if it has only one amp, I merge my channels into one using an ABY pedal just inverting the position.
Getting a Boss LS2 was a game changer for me. I originally added it just to run wet/dry tones into my amp and blend the clean signal with my whole pedalboard in parallel. Once I figured out what it could do I ended up putting my overdrives, delays, and modulation in parallel loops of the LS2. It sounds so good and I'm still finding new ways to combine my effects.
My favourite parallel setup lately is by using a soundcraft mixer I have with built in effects , I send my guitar from the channel input to the effects and then each effect to the other, creating a feedback loop. On a lot of settings before the obvious feedback you can get the most lush sounding effects. I love having a lofi delay that gets darker repeats to a modulated reverb and they reverb back to the delay , it gives you a synthesised like pad sound following the clean guitar
When the pedal world goes eurorack... 😅 But seriously, I love it. The best pedals we didn't know we needed are routers. I'd love to see a crossover/parallel device, which I guess one could achieve by using EQ pedals in conjunction with a splitter + summer. BUT, I'm only ~12 minutes in... Maybe that's coming... ? 🤷🏻♂️🤓🤷🏻♂️🤓🤷🏻♂️
I’m just an old lunkhead Bassist that really digs on using fx, this was very informative. I also would like to point out that Josh is one fucking hell of a great guitar player. 🤘🏼
It would be cool if you combined the splitter and summer together into one pedal with a footswitch that could bypass both pedals and a three-way switch that would change from series (loop 1 into loop 2) / parallel / series (loop 2 into loop 1).
i use electro harmonix mixer pedal for that - it has 3 different loops and also a dry so basically 4. cant remember what its called but its green. and it has volume mix for each loop
Been using it with 2 delays and a reverb certainly makes a difference EHX makes innovated products at fair prices my first pedal was small stone phaser 1976😊😊
@@zyvtriem8722 yeah - when he put this vid out, it gave me a lot of ideas for used I hadn't thought of... This pedal wasn't that popular when it first came out - I started picking these up at blowout prices (I think they also had some issues with the firmware - since fixed) - there are SO many ways to use this EHX pedal... (l"programmable" for different applications (see user manual)
@@ericchambers77 parallel, or serial, noise from noisy pedals will usually sum, but parallel can make quite quiet pedals sum in a more prominent way. In serial though you might multiply noise from earlier in the chain, depending on the combo you go for. It's trial-and-error in my experience. There are pedals, particularly dirt pedals, which do parallel effects, and these tend to be less noisy. Also, if you have the right pedal, flipping the phase in a noisy parallel chain sometimes makes the volume suddenly jump, revealing that one of your pedals was inverting the signal phase.
@@avidbroodwhile you're at it, change the EQ/tone settings. A dark fuzz or distortion with a bright, soft-clipping overdrive is great. A low-pass EQ, clean under a transparent distortion on medium gain is great too.
Wow that is amazing! Thanks for the tip/demos!! I can already do this with my Boss GX-100 but I never even thought to try it! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Awesome video. I was just looking into this recently with two pedals with tap tempo and syncing each of their internal clocks. Putting them in parallel with an external tap tempo switch is looking like a good solution. But this basically adds a 3rd dimension to pedals and signal processing and opens up endless possibilities. Holy crap…
Hell yeah Josh, teach the people! I made the switch to parallel a while back with the OBNE Signal Blender. I almost went the splitter sum amp route but I wanted to be able to control the mix volume. Plus the OBNE Signal Blender has a dedicated clean channel so I can have over drive,distortion and clean blended in for clarity
Awesome stuff, I’ll say that last little test scenario from the wild and wonderful mind of Nick was freaking weird but cool at the same time. I really enjoy all the content y’all put out.
YES! I haven't even watched the video yet, but I do exactly this with two Victory Preamp pedals. I use an A/B/Y splitter to go 1) Kraken 2) Sheriff. Each preamp goes to a different input on a Boss IR-200 for the cab sims. Finally, JHS Summing pedal to sum them together, and THEN the delays and reverbs and a looper
At one point I ran my minilogue through a stereo pedal setup, where a pitch shifter pedal only affected one side of the stereo signal, except it didn't modulate like a chorus/vibrato would. I love it when you have a synth where each ear is getting signals slightly detuned from eachother, it just hits different.
Yes, totally! Thank you, Josh. I need this very much! I have to save a bit but definitely parallel stacked circuits would be a bit of fun! I'm just stacking them at the moment.
This is super cool! Honestly, it makes more sense to me to use this on your pedalboard versus in the studio, where you could just double track the guitars with totally different effects signals. I realize the end result won't sound exactly the same, but that's a trick I've used for different sounds and combos that I couldn't pull off live, but this lets you pull off something very similar live
K... I don't mean to spam the comments, but clearly this episode got the juices flowing... This whole concept is one of the reasons I lust after a Roland JC amp. It lets one adjust the effects loop to parallel or series. Based on the block diagram of the amp, I suspect one could even bypass the preamp for one or both channels. I always dreamed of running a tube preamp on one of the stereo outs in parallel with that good clean roland solid state sound. 🤷🏻♂️ Btw, here's the gist of the signal path on that amp: Pre-amp > EQ/distortion > effects loop* > reverb/chorus/vibrato > power amp. *The effects loop is mono send, stereo returns. There's a parallel/series switch on the back. 🤓
Great video. Parallel experiments next on my list. Love the Kodak ISO 200!!😄 Thanks for continuing to educate in addition to designing and making great gear.
I use a Joyo Orhros line select pedal. Guitar in, it splits into A & B paths that return back to the pedal where each path is mixed with its own level control. Many other uses as well. It's apparently based on the Boss Line Select pedal, so that should do something similar. Will look into your splitter and summer boxes as well, they could be helpful as well. Loved hearing all the different combinations! I use a DAW called Waveform Pro, it has the ability to easily split and combine audio signals and run them through different processing paths, with crossfade to blend the signals however you want. You can also add filters or a crossover to get say, high-frequency reverb tails with low frequency echoes. Similar to adding an EQ pedal or two into the parallel pedal setup. Fun stuff!
I have a ehx switchblade plus, that I use for bass to get a clean di and drive. Definitely gonna need to do more experimenting with guitar and fx now!! Josh always bringing the info and inspiration!! Love the channel!!
The OBNE Signal Blender is perfect for this application. I ran it for a good while in my bass setup to run fuzz and drive parallel with my clean tone. Super fun!
JHS has really very rapidly become my favorite brand of pedals. Josh has taught me so much with this channel too. Currently only own a sweet tea v3, but I see a morning glory in my future next week plus this buffered splitter and summing amp thing so I can try some experimenting. Which effects should be run in stereo? My current board custard of a tuner, wah, overdrive, delay, and reverb all being powered with a voodoo lab pedal power 3 plus.
I went down a rabbit hole of blending overdrives/distortions after seeing the Tech 21 Double Drive on this channel thinking that its two drives were parallel rather than in series. I just wound up endlessly tweaking with option paralysis, but it was interesting at least
This made me realize the beauty of what systems like the Gigrig G3 series can do. Didn’t realize the connection until now and thought it was overkill but hearing the different sounds I can see the appeal now. From my understanding you can make any pedal parallel or Wet-Dry-Wet with any other pedal. You are paying $1200+ depending how big you want to go but mapping your pedalboard any way you want and press one button to completely change it to an entirely different setup is pretty neat.
That ended up being my solution. Less cables and boxes creating that terrible hum present in this video and failing. Every option of stereo/mono/series/parallel wet dry, w/d/w all in one. Was so worth the $ !!!
As bassist who loves pedals, it's super common for us to run some kind of parallel situation to preserve low end. Last weekend I had my JHS PackRat for dirt, and a Mantic Flex in parallel for some wild s***. If I went straight into the Flex, it would just zap my low end and then no one is happy ...Boss Line Selector was the tool for me that day
@@MadeOnTape solidarity with the bass brethren! I was surprised we didn't get a mention frankly, because clean blend is a must-have for me now, and to impress me you've got to have clean blend with a crossover EQ
Please do more creative pedal routing configuration videos! This is awesome! I want to see a series on all sorts of unique sounds using different combinations of JHS pedals! And maybe not even all on guitar! Some keys, some drums, unique delays on percussion would be sick with stacked overdrive, all sorts of craziness! I LOVE THIS!
Thanks for demoing the different effects in parallel. I've been using delay and reverb in parallel for a while on the Helix. Now I'm going to try some other effect combinations
I’ve gone crazy with this kind of thing over the years with split lines to two amps: one into a tube amp (Hot Rod Deluxe) and one into a solid state (JC120). Loads of fun playing with what’s in parallel and what’s in series.
This is one of the reasons I love my MXR FOD (which is based on the Dookie Drive). It's, essentially, 2 amp-in-a-box pedals run in parallel. Funny how you released this just before Marshall released/announced their own new (Marshall-in-a-box) pedals, that would allow recreating that pedal, but more flexible.
One of my favorite effects is to run a heavy, mid scooped fuzz like the Big Muff Op-Amp in parallel with an MXR Prime Distortion, and run that summed signal in parallel with the buzziest setting I can get off the Boss SY-1 synth pedal blended in just a touch. Slap a chorus on the end and you've got a really sweet synth tone that is still recognizable as a guitar; really great for some fast paced, single note looping lines
Now I can run two Metal Zones in parallel for the ultimate metal.
This needs to be top comment
Para-Metal
Moar
Ultimetal
Get four and do paralell series.
Man I just spent 2 hours running cables and ties on my board. Now I gotta undo all that to try some of this. Dammit Josh!!!! haha
I don't tie down because I may want to swap around or move to a smaller PB.
A gig board... Maybe. A practice/fun board, NEVER!
is why i never mess w pedal boards. keep ‘em on a table to better play !
I actually have a board specifically for playing live, and then I used a $25 desk off Amazon as a pedal table for home.
I covered the top of the table with Velcro like my board, and now I can mess with signal path at home without needing to touch my live rig.
It's great, because the more set up I do the less creative I get 😂
You're welcome? lol
And that's why I have a helix now
I wish you had A/B tested some of these to show series vs parallel. I know it would have been extra work but it would be cool to hear the differences in real time.
Quickly for better discernment. Right
Now I’m sad I started this video know this didn’t happen lol
Especially good to use parallel compression on the back end of the signal
+1! I run pedals in parallel using the EHX Switchblade pro (sonicake Portal can do it too), it has loop in parallel or series, can control blend too and a dry signal. Way better than this metod, in just 1 device.
I was thinking that at first, but once I heard what they were doing, I think it's unnecessary. It's clearly totally different from running in series. The effects are clearly kept distinct so much so that it borders on weird. I don't need to have an "in series" comparison to know that parallel is just a different beast.
I love how you immediately addressed those who would try and "radio shack" this solution. Thank you.
Felt so weird to watch a video on TH-cam and feel like the guy is truly speaking to me
I tried to "radio shack" a borrowed p a once, with the power amp out into another mixer, thinking I could vary the speaker volumes with my radio shack mixer....It do not work. Not unless a fried p a was the desired result.
the splitting is okay if all involved pedals have a proper high-imedance input stage with a buffer op amp/emiter follower transistor. the mixing you probably want a real mixer since passive summing can bog down output stages that don't have sufficiently low output impedance.
Right, though the issue is loading affecting the frequency response, not noise. Most pedals have a high enough input impedance that the S/N shouldn't be significantly affected by use in parallel. But, depending on the pedal, paralleling the input networks across pedals could do bad things to the frequency response. Exactly how it may be bad will depend on the pedals.
You can buy a solution that is pretty much that - two ABY pedals... one of which you plug in backward. They aren't buffered, which is why you can do that. But then you easily run into the types of problems one gets into with multiple unbuffered signals. It can still work, but under constant risk of shitty sound.
This is why i love the hx stomp. the parallel paths, especially for bass, is an absolute game changer
Yeah, when it comes to experimenting with parallel paths without spending a ton of time and money, the HX Stomp is
unparalleled
I just got an hx stomp xl, i haven't figured out how to set up parallel, will have to figure this out, very cool idea.
Hell yeah. Fuzz/distortion in parallel on bass is bliss.
Parallel on bass, especially if you have a frequency splitter instead of a simple splitter, is a game changer. Running just the lows and subs into a compressor to get that massive low-end and going wild with mids + treble massively amplifies your sound palette.
Honestly, the hx stomp is the most useful pedal I've ever purchased.
One cool trick I use with this technique in my ambient work is to place a reverb (100% wet) before a distortion or fuzz while the other side has a slight overdrive. You get the cleanish tone 1st then a slightly delayed/reverbed distorted sound in the background.
Really cool demo.
Been doing parallel processing for decades. The difference is that, instead of summing them back into one signal path, I keep each path separate by sending each path to different amps. This allows each chain to end up in a amp that best suits that sound and allows even more control that each path works best with. It's more bother. But it's also more exactly what I want to hear from both sides.
Yes!🙌
I don't know why it is, but everytime I hear this JHS TH-cam song intro, I get really happy. It's like some sort of magic nostalgia that's happening in real time.
Agreed...Nick really created a classic there...
@@geschickt I agree that it's a classic but to me it's a sad happy, like the theme music to Taxi.
Sounds like the Portlandia theme honestly
@@uvulapie - "Angela" by Bob James (a k a. Taxi theme song).
We play that song every Sunday at a winery for dinner music. I love that song!
This is exactly what I’ve been doing for 10+ years. I used an EHX switchblade+ to split and Morley twin mix to combine. One side being heavy distortion with less treble and one side with a vintage crunch tone more on the treble side. Blended sounds great! 👍
Should have sprung for the EHX Tri-Parallel Mixer. 3 effects loops that can be run in parallel or as a switching mechanism, plus phase inversion capabilities for each channel so it doesn’t phase out any signal with adjustable output levels for each send and return, and a clean blend. Hands down my favorite utility pedal.
@@joseanything I'm using one at the beginning of my board for switching between guitar, keyboard, and an Alesis Samplepad 4. Then it goes through my mono serial effects, then a looper. Pretty cool for my attempt at being a "one man band"
YEAH!! Way better metod!
I read that the Radial ABY is great also if you have phasing issues.
EHX Switchblade Pro is also great for experimenting with series / parallel pedals.
I’m so glad you are still making videos! I ran into a video from 6 years ago and I love the personality man! I am a new pedal person and I’m currently buying clone pedals of Amazon and Aliexpress! More specifically the Klone’s and some more basic pedals (fuzz, delay, reverb, etc.) and I am very excited for my journey and now I get to share it with you!
You just made all of my old pedals new again. Thanks for this video!
Electro-Harmonix Tri Parallel Mixer. Worth every penny! Three separate FX loops. Phase control. EQ. Dry mix control. Looks cool. Love mine. Add some fuzz to your modern distortion!!!
Also the OBNE Signal Blender will give you two parallel loops, plus a clean blend and phase control.
@arnie2288 Love the unique look of that pedal!
Absolutely. Owned one for years. Excellent flexibility for creating new sounds.
The phase control on the tri parallel mixer is really useful when using overdrive pedals that flip the phase 180
I do this with a bright and a dark sounding overdrive and a Boss LS2 switch. Love it.
This has been my secret weapon since I bought an Exotic X-Blender pedal about 8 years ago. Keeping the clean signal means you can do HUGE fuzzy chords and keep the articulation of the notes instead of just a wall of clipping.
That sounds nice
Xotic
Oh. Dude. I'm already up to my neck with combinations.
Thanks for this. Great stuff!
You are so good at clearly and simply explaining this stuff!
Using a Boss line switcher for this with wet FX and digital pedals improved my setup exponentially
*Bass forums across the world go wild*
parallel processing is a VERY powerful tool, i freakin love it! getting into modular synths got me into it and i love the copying signals and mixing them back together, it makes some of the most rich cool effect pallets available!!!! i wish it were more common with pedals!
This might be my most favorite video yet.
My favorite JHS video yet! Opened up my eyes and i love it! Into the pedal verse i go!
OBNE Signal Blender - your splitter and summing amp in one. Great tool! You can create whole parallel loops. My fav piece of gear I own.
same with the Boss LS-2
Sonicake Portal for cheap option!
I made the same comment. The Signal Blender is was a way more elegant solution, and it includes a third path with the clean blend.
Also, the electro, harmonix tri parallel mixer
Josh,
Keep up the great work here. I hope this turns into a series (no pun intended). When you ran the chorus in parallel, it sounded like something off of a Stevie Nicks recording. Incredible.
I have been talking about buying these pedals and doing this for weeks. Either Josh is reading my mind, or Josh's are inherently connected mentally. Amazing video as always.
Talking? hi yaw!! LoL
This might be my favorite episode, opens up a ton of possibilities for tones I’d never even considered. Thanks!
omg yes I would love more vids about the utility pedals y'all sell, this is so rad
I had a thought to try to run pedals in parallel a long time ago, but i didn't because i wasn't sure how id go about it.
Cool to see that you have done it here
Genuinely one of the coolest vids you've made
This is the concept I use in my bass rig. I split the signal into 3 channels, 1 is always clean with compression, 2 is either distortion or fuzz with a cab simulator, and 3 is some extra FX or boost low-end.
Great video guys!
Adding a volume pedal in on one side gives you a way to blend it in. I use a OD pedal on one side and then use a volume pedal and a Fuzz on the other to make variable distortion. You can do the same with delay or chorus.
This was a really cool and informative vide. I knew this was a thing , but I just never put much thought behind it, let alone seen it done it real time. Endless possibilities! I definitely foresee some rabbit holes in my future
Just use the Boss LS-2 Line Selector to do the same thing as the 2 JHS boxs and it can also do much more..... the other cool thing is that it will only takes 1 power output from your power supply(not really because the pedal has a 9V power output so it take 0 power output.... or put a 9V battery in it)
By the way, I love all of your video, very explicit, very well thought and also with a lot of décontraction and humour, great, thumbs up!
When running fuzz in parallel one of my favorite tricks is to use the volume on the guitar to control how much of each effect I get. Rolling back volume will make one sound get very quiet but the fuzz will handle that rolled back volume like a champ and make cool sounds, then crank up to get a mix of both.
Works best with a type Lehle passive splitter (Lehle P split), so the fuzz "see" a high impedance signal. A buffer before fuzz does not sound right when guitars volume is lowered. If buffer before fuzz, the signal works best with a reamper befor the fuzz. Or, one can get a fuzz that is designed for low impedance input signal (and EMG pickups), like a Pete Cornish or Guitarsystems fuzz. This is a pro tip.
This is a great video to help folks get truer sounds from their pedals. 🎉Going parallel is an excellent way to keep an articulate sound while adding other effects. Thank you!
I'm not a huge chorus fan, but having two pedals in parallel was surprising. Kind of like having different speeds of the rotating low-frequency "drum" and high-frequency "horn" of a Leslie unit. Lots of possibilities!
I think this is what Prince did to get his ultra-lush chorus sound.
@@GeeBee135 to me the secret sauce of parallel processing is splitting EQ bands . If you're not usually a chorus person, you might also find you're a "chorus and delay on the highs, reverb on the lows" rather more interesting
@@johnbehan1526 Cool idea to use DIFFERENT effects (chorus + delay vs. reverb) on different frequency bands!
@@GeeBee135 lol yeah but you might want to take some seasickness tablets first!
The EHX triparallel (yes, that's THREE parallel effects) and the KMA Tyler both have EQ built in. I think the Sonicake Portal does too.
That double chorus was glorious… just when I thought I’d given up on chorus! 🤯
This was a great episode. Really eye opening. I've never run pedals in parallel, but I think I really prefer the sound. And look, you're promoting your own pedals! I'll probably get these.
Have I tried this? You bet! In fact, this video is a great piece of marketing for a couple-three of my products! Thanks much!
Josh, I've got the old JHS Blender and used to blend fuzz and clean and you're right it's super weird but cool all the same. Because of this video I've put it back on my board and I'm incorporating some of the combinations you presented in the video. Love your pedals, your show, and your place in the industry. Keep it up.
My pedalboard is in parallel, but I use an old Boss DD2 to split the signal with a micro interval, so it sounds like two guitars playing the same. Channel 1 has chorus into turbo overdrive into tremolo into flanger; channel 2 has only fuzz and reverb. Then they get "together" (still separated) again in a DD7, which is my real delay effect - the result is crazy. If the stage has two amps, I use one of them for each channel; if it has only one amp, I merge my channels into one using an ABY pedal just inverting the position.
i think Keeley has a pedal designed to do exactly that. the 30ms or something like that.
Getting a Boss LS2 was a game changer for me. I originally added it just to run wet/dry tones into my amp and blend the clean signal with my whole pedalboard in parallel. Once I figured out what it could do I ended up putting my overdrives, delays, and modulation in parallel loops of the LS2. It sounds so good and I'm still finding new ways to combine my effects.
My mind is very hard old ground. The moist wisdom of this has reached a seed planted somewhere! I understand pedals differently now. Thank you Josh!
Moist wisdom is my new band name, I called it
My favourite parallel setup lately is by using a soundcraft mixer I have with built in effects , I send my guitar from the channel input to the effects and then each effect to the other, creating a feedback loop. On a lot of settings before the obvious feedback you can get the most lush sounding effects. I love having a lofi delay that gets darker repeats to a modulated reverb and they reverb back to the delay , it gives you a synthesised like pad sound following the clean guitar
When the pedal world goes eurorack... 😅
But seriously, I love it. The best pedals we didn't know we needed are routers. I'd love to see a crossover/parallel device, which I guess one could achieve by using EQ pedals in conjunction with a splitter + summer. BUT, I'm only ~12 minutes in... Maybe that's coming... ? 🤷🏻♂️🤓🤷🏻♂️🤓🤷🏻♂️
Old Blood Noise Endeavors' Signal Blender is the thing you're looking for
@JonathanMacFarlane huzzah! I figured it existed. Thank you.
Just use hx stomp lol :P one of the split blocks there is crossover split.
I've been working on this for years now, trying to get it done passively.
This is brilliant. Thanks.
@@JLeppert ... You never came across the Boss Line Selector?
Delay + reverb sounds yummy
I’m just an old lunkhead Bassist that really digs on using fx, this was very informative.
I also would like to point out that Josh is one fucking hell of a great guitar player. 🤘🏼
It would be cool if you combined the splitter and summer together into one pedal with a footswitch that could bypass both pedals and a three-way switch that would change from series (loop 1 into loop 2) / parallel / series (loop 2 into loop 1).
i use electro harmonix mixer pedal for that - it has 3 different loops and also a dry so basically 4. cant remember what its called but its green. and it has volume mix for each loop
Coming from the world of synths, I never understood why this isn't more common. Great video :-)
I’ve been doing this with different fuzzes using an EHX TriParallel Mixer. It’s super cool.
Ooooooooooh, new pedal for me to buy lol
Been using it with 2 delays and a reverb certainly makes a difference EHX makes innovated products at fair prices my first pedal was small stone phaser 1976😊😊
The low-gain/high-gain split sound is something I always liked about being able to get with my old Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive
I've been using the EHX tri-parallel mixer for years
(the OBNE signal blender is also good)
this video (th-cam.com/video/g8GB7MoKUxA/w-d-xo.html) convinced me about parallel sounds.
@@zyvtriem8722 yeah - when he put this vid out, it gave me a lot of ideas for used I hadn't thought of...
This pedal wasn't that popular when it first came out - I started picking these up at blowout prices (I think they also had some issues with the firmware - since fixed) - there are SO many ways to use this EHX pedal... (l"programmable" for different applications (see user manual)
I scrolled a long ways down the comments to find this one. One thing that Josh doesn't mention is phase cancellation, which the DHX unit addresses.
A chorus parallel pedal for sure.
I'll try this with the many chorus pedals that make my life a warm fuzzy blanket.
Thanks Josh😊
You should do an episode covering wet dry wet setups for bass and guitar!
Up to the Delay // Reverb I was like "yeah, you could do that." But MAN, that's awesome! Modulation is where this really shines for me.
Cool, but it sounded like it added a LOT of noise.
@@ericchambers77 parallel, or serial, noise from noisy pedals will usually sum, but parallel can make quite quiet pedals sum in a more prominent way. In serial though you might multiply noise from earlier in the chain, depending on the combo you go for. It's trial-and-error in my experience.
There are pedals, particularly dirt pedals, which do parallel effects, and these tend to be less noisy. Also, if you have the right pedal, flipping the phase in a noisy parallel chain sometimes makes the volume suddenly jump, revealing that one of your pedals was inverting the signal phase.
I love this idea. Cant wait to try it. One path with gain while the other is cleaner but yet boosted and dominating the gain path.
@@avidbroodwhile you're at it, change the EQ/tone settings. A dark fuzz or distortion with a bright, soft-clipping overdrive is great. A low-pass EQ, clean under a transparent distortion on medium gain is great too.
Wow that is amazing! Thanks for the tip/demos!! I can already do this with my Boss GX-100 but I never even thought to try it! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Absolutely cool. Thanks for doing this. Adds more dimensions, especially with two amps.
Once again you have opened my eyes & ears to a whole new range of possibilities. Like a pedal kama sutra.
Awesome video. I was just looking into this recently with two pedals with tap tempo and syncing each of their internal clocks. Putting them in parallel with an external tap tempo switch is looking like a good solution.
But this basically adds a 3rd dimension to pedals and signal processing and opens up endless possibilities. Holy crap…
one of the most interesting videos on guitar pedal experimentation ever!
Hell yeah Josh, teach the people! I made the switch to parallel a while back with the OBNE Signal Blender. I almost went the splitter sum amp route but I wanted to be able to control the mix volume. Plus the OBNE Signal Blender has a dedicated clean channel so I can have over drive,distortion and clean blended in for clarity
Thanks, man. Well explained and informative as hell. Keep up the good work!
Awesome stuff, I’ll say that last little test scenario from the wild and wonderful mind of Nick was freaking weird but cool at the same time. I really enjoy all the content y’all put out.
YES! I haven't even watched the video yet, but I do exactly this with two Victory Preamp pedals. I use an A/B/Y splitter to go 1) Kraken 2) Sheriff. Each preamp goes to a different input on a Boss IR-200 for the cab sims. Finally, JHS Summing pedal to sum them together, and THEN the delays and reverbs and a looper
At one point I ran my minilogue through a stereo pedal setup, where a pitch shifter pedal only affected one side of the stereo signal, except it didn't modulate like a chorus/vibrato would. I love it when you have a synth where each ear is getting signals slightly detuned from eachother, it just hits different.
Yes, totally! Thank you, Josh. I need this very much! I have to save a bit but definitely parallel stacked circuits would be a bit of fun! I'm just stacking them at the moment.
Coolest idea ! I am going to get into this concept as soon as I get the wiring. Thanks for the inspiration, recently got a jhs pedal too.
Can't recommend trying this enough. Currently runnign syereo delays in parallel and it sounds marvelous.
was looking to construct a new pedalboard now I'm putting more thought into this thanks to this awesome video!
Thanks!
This is super cool! Honestly, it makes more sense to me to use this on your pedalboard versus in the studio, where you could just double track the guitars with totally different effects signals. I realize the end result won't sound exactly the same, but that's a trick I've used for different sounds and combos that I couldn't pull off live, but this lets you pull off something very similar live
K... I don't mean to spam the comments, but clearly this episode got the juices flowing... This whole concept is one of the reasons I lust after a Roland JC amp. It lets one adjust the effects loop to parallel or series. Based on the block diagram of the amp, I suspect one could even bypass the preamp for one or both channels. I always dreamed of running a tube preamp on one of the stereo outs in parallel with that good clean roland solid state sound. 🤷🏻♂️
Btw, here's the gist of the signal path on that amp: Pre-amp > EQ/distortion > effects loop* > reverb/chorus/vibrato > power amp.
*The effects loop is mono send, stereo returns. There's a parallel/series switch on the back. 🤓
Great video. Parallel experiments next on my list. Love the Kodak ISO 200!!😄 Thanks for continuing to educate in addition to designing and making great gear.
Love the breakdown. I know how they work and I know why I'd want them. But it's nice to be shown.
I use a Joyo Orhros line select pedal. Guitar in, it splits into A & B paths that return back to the pedal where each path is mixed with its own level control. Many other uses as well. It's apparently based on the Boss Line Select pedal, so that should do something similar. Will look into your splitter and summer boxes as well, they could be helpful as well. Loved hearing all the different combinations! I use a DAW called Waveform Pro, it has the ability to easily split and combine audio signals and run them through different processing paths, with crossfade to blend the signals however you want. You can also add filters or a crossover to get say, high-frequency reverb tails with low frequency echoes. Similar to adding an EQ pedal or two into the parallel pedal setup. Fun stuff!
I have a ehx switchblade plus, that I use for bass to get a clean di and drive. Definitely gonna need to do more experimenting with guitar and fx now!! Josh always bringing the info and inspiration!! Love the channel!!
I’ve been using a Boss LS-2 to do this for some time. Two effects loops in parallel with return level/gain control. Love it.
These tools are amazing to learn about. Thank you Josh.
That's probably the single most inspiring gear video I've seen in years.
I absolutely love exploring effects in parallel. Been using a Roland Line mixer and using 2 amplifiers. Bliss!
Fantastic video! Thank you to everyone involved
The OBNE Signal Blender is perfect for this application. I ran it for a good while in my bass setup to run fuzz and drive parallel with my clean tone. Super fun!
JHS has really very rapidly become my favorite brand of pedals. Josh has taught me so much with this channel too. Currently only own a sweet tea v3, but I see a morning glory in my future next week plus this buffered splitter and summing amp thing so I can try some experimenting. Which effects should be run in stereo? My current board custard of a tuner, wah, overdrive, delay, and reverb all being powered with a voodoo lab pedal power 3 plus.
I went down a rabbit hole of blending overdrives/distortions after seeing the Tech 21 Double Drive on this channel thinking that its two drives were parallel rather than in series. I just wound up endlessly tweaking with option paralysis, but it was interesting at least
I did a lot of research before I went to buy my Glenn Fricker pedal. So the parallel overdrive/distortion stuff made 100% sense to me.
Very cool, highly creative sounds. Gets one to thinking 💭.
I had a Peavey Mace that had series & parallel between the channels...I liked the parallel option vs. stacking the channels 😊
This made me realize the beauty of what systems like the Gigrig G3 series can do. Didn’t realize the connection until now and thought it was overkill but hearing the different sounds I can see the appeal now.
From my understanding you can make any pedal parallel or Wet-Dry-Wet with any other pedal. You are paying $1200+ depending how big you want to go but mapping your pedalboard any way you want and press one button to completely change it to an entirely different setup is pretty neat.
That ended up being my solution. Less cables and boxes creating that terrible hum present in this video and failing. Every option of stereo/mono/series/parallel wet dry, w/d/w all in one. Was so worth the $ !!!
As bassist who loves pedals, it's super common for us to run some kind of parallel situation to preserve low end. Last weekend I had my JHS PackRat for dirt, and a Mantic Flex in parallel for some wild s***. If I went straight into the Flex, it would just zap my low end and then no one is happy
...Boss Line Selector was the tool for me that day
@@MadeOnTape solidarity with the bass brethren!
I was surprised we didn't get a mention frankly, because clean blend is a must-have for me now, and to impress me you've got to have clean blend with a crossover EQ
Bass player supremacy
@TechVdot8 steady on old boy that escalated quickly
@@johnbehan1526 Right. We shouldn't reveal our plans for world domination.. not yet.
@ what kind of crossover EQ do you use on a pedalboard?
Please do more creative pedal routing configuration videos! This is awesome! I want to see a series on all sorts of unique sounds using different combinations of JHS pedals! And maybe not even all on guitar! Some keys, some drums, unique delays on percussion would be sick with stacked overdrive, all sorts of craziness! I LOVE THIS!
Just used the Angry Charlie in parallel mode in the studio today. It’s awesome 🤩
Thanks for demoing the different effects in parallel. I've been using delay and reverb in parallel for a while on the Helix. Now I'm going to try some other effect combinations
Running dirt in parallel is the reason I bought the Boss OD200. Really opens up lots of possibilies compared to series.
I’ve gone crazy with this kind of thing over the years with split lines to two amps: one into a tube amp (Hot Rod Deluxe) and one into a solid state (JC120). Loads of fun playing with what’s in parallel and what’s in series.
This is one of the reasons I love my MXR FOD (which is based on the Dookie Drive). It's, essentially, 2 amp-in-a-box pedals run in parallel.
Funny how you released this just before Marshall released/announced their own new (Marshall-in-a-box) pedals, that would allow recreating that pedal, but more flexible.
11:09 - That sounds super fantastic! It sounds like you isolated a track on a hit song.
time based fx in parallel sound amazing!!!
One of my favorite effects is to run a heavy, mid scooped fuzz like the Big Muff Op-Amp in parallel with an MXR Prime Distortion, and run that summed signal in parallel with the buzziest setting I can get off the Boss SY-1 synth pedal blended in just a touch. Slap a chorus on the end and you've got a really sweet synth tone that is still recognizable as a guitar; really great for some fast paced, single note looping lines