Playing Guitar In Stereo: Everything You Need To Know (it's easier than you think!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
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Playing guitar in stereo is way simpler than you think!
People are often confused and ask me:
'' Which stereo amp should I buy? ''
'' What kind of Y splitter should I use? ''
And the answer is... you don't even need any of that!
In this video, I'm going to give you 6 quick and easy tips that will simplify playing stereo with your guitar immensely. You'll know exactly what to get (and what not to get!)
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This is the Ambient Guitar youtube channel of Canadian multi-instrumentist Antoine Michaud. Through original ambient music, chordal guitar lessons and tips on guitar pedals, Antoine is looking to educate and inspire aspiring ambient musicians to learn everything about the world of ambient guitar and chordal voicings on guitar. - เพลง
I ran a stereo rig for about 10 years, and this is all excellent advice. My preference was to use 2 identical amps so that I got a true stereo image. With two different amps, the sound can be thicker -- but also unbalanced. Since what happens in the L and R channels is processed differently, they often sound different, and don't meld into a single stereo source as neatly.
If you can get 2 identical amps that have effects loops, it's even better. This is what I did with a pair of Quilters. I placed all the pedals I wanted to go through the preamp in front of the amp. All my time based/looping/reverb pedals were in the loop, which was sent out of the first amp, and then back to the returns of both amps. This way, all the detail and movement of those stereo effects is preserved and sounds absolutely huge.
Hi, this sounds very interesting. I would love to try this setup. However, I did not fully understand how exactly you connected the effects and the two amps. Would you mind trying to describe again? I did not get the part with how you use the effects loop of the amps.
Thank you!
🎸 -> Compression -> Overdrive/Distortion -> Amp Input.
Amp 1 FX Loop Send -> Stereo Chorus In, then Stereo Chorus outs-> Stereo Delay In(s), then Stereo Delay Outs -< FX Loop Return of both Amp 1 & 2.
So there's 1 cable going from Amp1 fx send into the stereo chorus (mono input), then 2 cables (L & R) going out from the chorus pedal into a delay pedal in stereo (L & R), then 2 cables going out where 1 cable goes into Return of Amp 1, the 2nd cable goes into the Return of cable 2.
Did you place the stereo chorus & delay pedal behind the amps?
I too discovered this. It’s the only way to run guitar amps.
Hi..I have roland multieffect with 2 output left and right is this a Dual mono or Stereo ?Should i buy a Stereo pedal to put in Between?
Great tips! Two different amps opens the sound up so much and fills in any “gaps” that two similar amps leave. I’ve mixed and matched similar and different amps and found that I can get the best, fullest sound with two different ones. Matching up a Fender with a Vox or Marshall is amazing!!
I do find that getting two copies of the same amp gets me a clearer, wider image than two different amps. I agree that having two amps on the opposite sides of the room is much more satisfying though.
I use my PA set up when playing a home as well as gigging....it's a Yamaha Stagepas 500 with a stereo channel in the mixer/amp and stereo pedals sound fantastic, although I do play mostly acoustic so don't drive it too hard!
Thanks Antoine, you are so helpful! I want to get into ambient guitar playing but I'm a finger style acoustic folk type of player. I've bought a couple of budget electrics, glarry and Donner to get started but I find it awkward trying to play them. But thanks anyway, I enjoy your content. Got a big sky as well but I've not used it yet!
i agree with you even if i don't use so much modulation, only reverb and i need a stereo big distorted sound because i am the only guitarist.
Thanks..you answered my question about using a solid state with tupe amp..ml deville and fender front man 212.
My personal trick: I use mono pedals i.e. the OBNE Sunlight or Darkstar, run them into a Lehle P-Split and one output directly goes to amp 1, the other goes into a Walrus Julia chorus (or their Lillian phaser) with the blend control to vibe (no clean signal), the rate set to minimum and the rest to taste. This gives a great stereo image, even better than using 2 Sunlight (Darkstar) pedals.
The other thing you can do is using a super short delay like the BOSS DD-3 set to fully wet in one channel. You won't hear any delay, you'll hear two slightly chorusy guitars in unison.
Regards from Vienna, Austria!
Great video. Thanks!
Nice video.I play only stereo.It`a kind of magic.BTW,even I got my RV 6.Have a nice day,Antoine.
another approach is to have a panning volume pedal. You go into the panning volume pedal with the guitar. 2 outs can go to different pedal chains and then to separate amps. That doesn't require stereo effects, but it can be stereo-like. You do have to have a panning volume pedal.
Mi segundo amplificador fue un Vox pathfinder 10 y a pesar de ser un mini amp el sonido que se logra en stereo fue maravilloso.
1er comentario que veo en español en este canal 😃
One thing that I can recommend that is not mentioned is to have the 2nd output isolated through a transformer to stop any issues of noise/hum.
Very good video on stereo amp setup. What if you want stereo modulation pedals in the fx loop of both amps? How would you hook that up?
There is a great video in which Steve Vai outlined how he uses stereo. He splits the signal and uses the rear loop into a pair of delay pedals.
What if I want to set up the rig with time-based stereo effects on the FX-Loop and not in front of the preamp? Let's assume I have AMP1 and AMP2, a compressor and an overdrive to connect in front of the preamp, and a stereo reverb to connect to the FX Loop. The signal exits the guitar, enters the compressor, then the overdrive, and finally enters AMP1. I connect a cable from the SEND exit of AMP1 to the mono input of the stereo reverb, and then I use the first exit of the stereo reverb to connect to the RETURN input of AMP1, and the second exit of the stereo reverb to the RETURN of AMP2. My question is: AMP2 preamp does not receive any signal, AMP2 receives in the POWER section a signal amplified by AMP1 and enriched by the stereo reverb. Is this setup correct? Can we say that AMP2 is used more or less as an active cabinet? Many thanks
What if your Delay, Reverb and Chorus are in the FX loop?
Can you go to FX return of second amp?
Maybe a Powered speaker like people use with Helix ?
You can use mono pedals with a stereo looper, so that you can make your 2nd, 3rd, etc. layers have a different pan, so it sounds like multiple guitars playing at at different locations at the same time. However, you do need a way to control the pan, and I haven't had any luck finding a simple pan control pedal. The only way I can think of is using an audio interface with a manual pan feature like the Behringer 802.
have you tried the ernie ball 6165 volume / pan pedal for pan control?
Holy crap what an asset.
Sometimes dual mono sounds better then stereo with Strymon pelals. :) I'd recommend to try both.
If you are buying two amps to play in stereo. Does it make a difference if the amps have one or two speakers? For example those Fender twin reverb amps. Or is better to get the single speaker ones?
Thanks for this video. I have 2 little Boss Katana 50 and I am struggling with a phase issue. I am running my boomerang out to each amp but the right side of the pedal out kills the sound of one amp. I tried switching jacks from left out and right and it is the right output that is problematic. My board has a strymon big sky and nunaber immersed before the boomerang and then el capistan, and some mono pedals at the front. (subnup, soul food, compressor, boss tuner). Very frustrating...
Hi ! Is it possible to proceed same way in a DAW using two tracks, stereo VST pedals and two different amps simulations with panning L/R to reach same result iyo ? How to split the signal ? I'm figuring to use a stereo pedal and enter simultaneously on two different jack inputs of the audio interface to reproduce what you do, get the width panning and using different amps sims. Neko
So I’m playing in stereo and I always wonder if you have a few pedals that are mono (early in the chain) to pedals that have One input but two outputs and then pedals with two inputs and two outputs. Your thoughts? Thanks
i have 2 blackstar debut 50r..but 1 pedal for changing channel( clean/ overdrive)
how can i connect the pedal to change the channels both?
Hey Antoine, does it matter if I play to the both amps using stereo pedals at the same time? I have one tube amp that I want to use and then I have a preamp pedal that I'd like to bypass the first amp's preamp with. Meaning I can only record one "amp" at a time.
hello sir,im using two trs cable (L/R) from my multi effect guitar output to my L/R input Yamaha Mixer..and i only have a turbosound milan 10 powered speaker.mixer output to my speaker im using only one xlr cable.. is the resulting sound stereo? or do I need two xlr cables to my speaker? because my speaker has two inputs...
I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to play in stereo. I have 2 amps and 3 stereo pedals in my chain, including a Boss NS-1, which has an effect loop. My problem is that one of my amp has no effect loop (a vintage Traynor YGL-3). So if I split the signal at the end of the pedal chain to both amps, it will be dual mono right? Is it even possible to achieve true stereo in my case? How should I use the amp that has an effect loop and is the noise supressor effect loop useful at all to achieve stereo?
I have a question. If my board has mono distortion pedals, chrous stereo, modulation stereo and reverb stereo but inbetween there is a mono delay pedal then what happens? only reverb stereo now or everything stereo but the delay and distortion? This would be really helpfull to know :)
What about ground loops?
Splitting signal without lifting one’s ground can cause excessive amount of hum and noise.
Nice !
Great video - as always.
So if I run signals running from stereo pedals through two channels to a main console into the mix through two channels.
Would you consider this “stereo”?
Yes!
What if the last stereo pedal on your stereo chain only one TRS input and output?
Hey what if I have one mono pedal . The big sky and two others are stereo pedals??
What if I want to run the stereo pedal into a UAD Apollo Twin?
Buy a Roland JC-40, ABY pedal, connect both inputs, bingo, lush warm Stereo output from one amp.
What if you have a strictly mono pedal in the middle of your chain? Are you relegated to dual-mono at the end? Also, let's assume you have all stereo pedals. Do you need to connect all the R/L inputs/outputs, or just R/L out in the end as suggested?
So there may be something that I'm not understanding, but to go a little against what he said in the video, I believe even if you have the same signal sent to two different amps that is not necessarily dual mono. Here's why: Even if the exact same signal comes from the guitars and pedals, each amp will have its own distinct frequency profile, distortion sounds, eq, reverb, speaker response, room placement, etc. and all of this will equal a subtle stereo sound, especially if you attempt to differentiate the amps more, say by making one your "low end" amp and the other your "higher end" amp, put more reverb on one, maybe vibrato on the other; you know, just mix them up. Now where he is correct it that if you have stereo effects like ping pong delays then of course you would need stereo outputs on that effect pedal, however if you used no delay pedal, but put the amp's built-in effects on delay, and put one at 1/4T and the other at 1/8, you'll still get some very cool stereo delay effects. It just depends what effects your amps have built in and possibly how easy it is for you to trigger them mid-show.
I'm running the L & R outs of my Volante into a Blues Junior and a 2x10 stereo Fender Princeton Chorus ? Am I doing it right? 😃
tol' wrong ....Delay comes (like Reverb) always at the end of your processing NEVER IN FRONT OF AN AMP !!!! so use a stereo Chorus pedal (such as the Dreamscape which is pretty cheap indeed) instead of the Volante .....N plug both Volante outputs into the stereo Return of your both amps if they have one !?!
@@lushkordz6643 NEVER IN FRONT OF AN AMP?!? 🙃I think Gilmour, Page, Blackmore, etc. might have something to say about that. 😉Besides, the "pristine" definition is provided by the clean solid state of the Princeton and the Jr. provides the warmth and edge of break-up.
@@alasdairriddock5763 i just have to say! study the definition of the acoustic phenomenoms so-called Reverb & Delay ...N i guess you gonna find out (by yourself!) instead of trying to find examples of artists (maybe!) doing so in some very specific context in order to bring out a very special effect (that is not going to fit in 99%) coz have you ever heard about a Reverb (or a Delay) produced before a sound has occurred (your intrument + the Preamp function in this case) ....but it's ok do whatever you judge for yourself right ?! i'm just relying on common sense 🤓
Has anyone tried one of those column PA's like the Maui 5 as a more compact alternative to two amps? Do they give good stereo? They won't have an "amp" sound but in theory you can get all that from pedals?
Yes was wondering about a set of powered speakers cheep , Harbingers 10" or the Gemini AS-2110BT? If I could?
Thanks Antoine one question I have from my stereo looper two cables each going into two amps as you suggested. If I want to play a bit quieter , Neighbors! , is there a small splitter type item that I could get to have my headphones on and have both amps plugged into it somehow ? sorry if dumb question I am a rookie!
I don't know of something like that. If your amps are on, they will make sound in the room, not really a way to avoid that! You would need to go the virtual route. For example, my Strymon Iridium has amp/cab simulation, and an headphone connection, all in the same pedal, so no need for amps if you put it as the last pedal in your chain!
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar Hey Antoine I found the item I was looking for . Its a 1/4" 3way female splitter , Amazon - Duttek Guitar Y Cable, 6.35mm 1/4 inch Mono TS Female to 2x6.35mm 1/4 Inch Mono TS Female Y Splitter Cable, you need one short TS- 1/4" cable from Ea. headphone jack on amp in to the splitter then plug in headphone into the 3rd input of splitter and it works No sound from amps just thru headphones!
I really prefer Wet/dry. But it depends on your style
Even inexpensive pedals like Zoom MS-50 or CDR-70 can get you in Stereo world. They're actually decent FX pedals.
I use the Zoom CDR-70 after my Two Notes Cab M going into my interface.
yeah actually a good old Zoom G9 is one of my fav multiFX ...the FX loop is very good (i run a Carvin X1 or an E530 preamp into with killer results) N the Cab-sim is more than decent with basic settings but a good dynamic to polish the preamp signal .....the G9 have tons of amazing stereo Delays, Reverbs, Chorus such as Dimension ++ kinda alien panning FXs never found anywhere else that delivers stellar results (with its 9 FX blocks available onboard) the Amp-sims are also very well made & convincing IMHO
Do those have a manual pan setting? Or are the pans all automated?
@@cryora I use Stereo Delay and set the MS rate for each side. Stereo Chorus with rate on Zero will give a Big Wide push into the Stereo spectrum without using Chorus
so Antoine you advice folks @2:50 to run a Reverb stereo pedal to split your signal in 2 different amps FRONT INPUTS
which will simply resul into a big weird mushy tone coz you should do this by plugging into the RETURN OF YOUR AMPS in order to bypass the Preamp .......it will be better to achieve this with a stereo Mod pedal such as the TC Dreamscape ...not a Reverb or Delay which of course come always at the end of the signal processing in 99.99% of the case... i think you should have talked about the glorious 4CM (4 cable method) which is the ultimate stereo setup or even more the W-D-W method (Wet Dry Wet) with one stereo setup running in // with a mono Dry signal (even with a 212 Cab) in order to deliver an even wider stereo effect while preserving the integrity of the basic tone of your amp N Cab (the best setup so far IMO)
What you say here is great and I'm sure, super useful, but the goal of this video was to SIMPLIFY stereo for people who are confused with it! W-D-W method, send and returns of 2 amps, 4CM method... if I were someone already overwhelmed with stereo, that stuff would sound very complicated and I might just as well give up ;-) Also, I play front of the amp and I don't think my sound is all mushy all the time. It is possible not to use the FX loop and get good results, in my opinion!
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar yeah but i mean if folks are really confused with stereo maybe they should stick to mono 🤓 IMO there is nothing super over complicated in understanding this, it is just about making clear the simple rules !!! (it's part of the learning music process in some ways) or they should maybe buy a multiFX unit which is already setup for stereo 😎 N run it into a monitoring speakers or an cheap FRFR stereo amp (such the ones for Keyboards) ....it sounds a lil' like : i wanna play killa jazz solo but i dont' want to learn too much scales or arpeggios.... it won't work 4 sure 😢
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar I'm with you. Unless you're playing in a 80's tribute band, who want's CLANG, CLAng, CLang, clang...?
Hi So on my small board I have a stereo Looper last in the chain , I have two TS patch cables to the Input of the the looper so question is Can I use one TRS cable from the Output to the amp which has Stereo link ( Roland Cube St. EX) ,or do I have to use two TS cables ?
Always use TS when you deal with instruments, pedals or amps. TRS is going to be used for studio equipment (studio monitors, audio interface, monitoring controller, etc).
Thanks for your recommendation. I have a IMMERSE reverb pedal got two days ago and on the instruction card it showed the option to use a TRS cable or two TS ones?
The TRS stereo option mentionned in Neunaber's manual is only to use a stereo breakout cable (like this: www.strymon.net/product/1-4-trs-male-to-dual-1-4-ts-female-cable/) to keep a stereo signal intact if the pedal is only mono. You don't need that option to use the Immerse, since it has 2 inputs and outputs. I don't know why they included that option. Aside from that, TS is always recommended with instruments and pedals!
Well explained antione. Mate.
it's actually full of mistakes 🤣
@@lushkordz6643 how come ??
@@garethowen6701 you never run a Wet FX (such Reverbs or Delays) in front of an amp nobody in the business does so (or only for very weird fuzzy tone purpose) ....it always come at the end of your signal !!! you can perhaps do this (split your signal) with modulation pedal such as a stereo Chorus but the best way is to buy a good ABY switcher of top-notch quality such as the Radial Bigshot (with isolation transformer N Phase Reverse + Grounding Lift switch)
@@lushkordz6643 aw right I see what you mean.
So you can plug 1 cable from the Guitar to the Pedal and from the Pedal two cables out to the two Amps?
Yes!
When you split the signal like this, don't you lose half the signal or does the pedal have something that boosts or maintains the signal strength?@@AntoineMichaudGuitar
ok now I'm quite confused, if I buy a splitter for example FENDER ABY PEDAL and plug it into both combos will I play in stereo or not?
Only if you play on the ''Y'' setting, yes.
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar I'm beginner what you mean Y setting?
The ABY pedal means that there are three settings. ''A'' is to choose only the first amp. ''B'' is to choose only the second amp. And ''Y'' means both at the same time.
P.S: I just looked at the Fender pedal you mentionned, and they labelled it as ''A and B'' instead of ''Y'', which is why it was confusing considering the pedal is litterally called ''ABY''!
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar thanks for answer now understanding👍👍👍👍
Hi , i have the strymon blue sky and i have two amps. Should i toggle the switch on the blue sky to stereo after using both output to plug on the second amp input? Thank you
The switch on the BlueSky is only for the input, not the output. So if you're not using a stereo breakout cable on the input of the pedal, you can leave the switch to the ''mono'' position, and it's still going to be stereo if you send a cable from both the L and R outputs to each of your amps.
Thank you Antoine!!!!! Im a fan now!!!
Antoine, another question. You see my delay, and strymon bluesky v2 is using the fx loop of the marshall dsl20hr. So is it still ok to use the second output of the strymon to plug on the input of the second amp? Thank you
Yes, you can. In the best of worlds, you would put the second output to the FX loop of the second amp, so that both sides are in the FX loop of their own respective amp.
Does one of the amps for the stereo set-up need to have the effects loop built in?
No, if you play very clean, you don't need effects loops, in my opinion! I don't use FX Loops personally.
Would a person still get a wide Stereo sound? Also, can a person get away with just using one stereo pedal similar to the one you are using@@AntoineMichaudGuitar
No disrespect to anyone on this video but fair play to antione. He Always goes out of his way to explain to people who are learning ambiant guitar or just guitar in general. But if you listen to any of this man’s music videos they are always played well and his sound is awesome. That’s what I think anyway.
Don't worry about this, Gareth! There are always going to be people who disagree with any opinion, fact or belief on TH-cam, whatever you say, because they have different experiences and realities. Nobody is wrong on either side. Someone could accuse me of spreading misinformation by omitting to mention FX loops, but the truth is that I don't use them, and I like my sound without them, as I setup my amps so clean and so quiet, that it works without them like a charm! That works for me, and I'm the teacher here. People who are on this channel probably want my opinions because they like how I explain things and they like my simplicity. I never talk about FX loops or MIDI or that kind of stuff, because I'm the kind of person who wants to plug and make music right away and talk about chords and songwriting. I don't like the tech stuff that much, but some people do, and they might be repelled by my methods, and that's ok. I could make a video telling that dogs are mammals, and I'm certain some people would find a way to say: "technically, not all breeds are" ... or " they have not always been like this from an evolutionary standpoint " etc. If you want people to always agree and never confront you in the comments, you are doing it wrong. If people always agree with you, it means you are too vanilla, you don't stand for anything, you don't have methods worth sharing, you're not doing anything different, you are too concerned about being liked. I've been making videos for 10 years, I'm used to it, and that's the way it should be, as long as it stays respectful! The video I made for next week is going to be even more provocative and I'm sure will attract its fair share of different opinions or even mean comments, but that's the price to pay to share a message worth sharing. I appreciate that you wanted to defend me, that was a nice gesture of you :-)
@@AntoineMichaudGuitar hi mate ye I see what you mean and that’s fair enough and as you say people will always have they own kind of playing. But thanks for your message regarding this. As all with your videos I’ve always been so keen and what you have to offer people on what ever you do next. I always have liked your playing and style but also the sounds. That’s you can come up with. I’m not a fan my self of distortion but again some are well in to that. It’s the awesome clear sounds that comes from your self and your equipment. That’s what makes your videos so enjoyable to watch and listen to. As always thank you for your time and sharing with so many of us. Take care man.
use balanced stereo cables
To me its not stereo when the output from the instrument is mono
Why in the world is guitar technology so backwards and behind the times that we need to incorporate pedals to get a stereo signal (or sometimes dual mono. Single cables capable of l+r splitting existed for decades now .
There’s a lot of ppl out there that bought an extra speaker cab who think they’re playing in stereo.
Yeah, if it's connected to the same amp, it's not stereo.
Headphones are even less expensive. 🎧😂
Next step: wet-dry setup.
It’s not true stereo unless your guitar has to separate feeds.
As he explains it ….the pedal has a stereo out…..
As he explains it ….the pedal has a stereo out…..
@@WhiteWizzard Yes but the guitar is a mono instrument. The guitar would need to have two outputs. Two pickups each sending a signal.
@@HalJikaKick I agree. If you use a splitter you lose signal strength. With a true stero guitar like you described you will true stereo. I want to make a guitar with piezo pickup saddles in the bridge and run a separate jack but I'm not sure how piezos sound on a distorted amp. My other option is to route a middle humbucker pup ran to its own jack and volume and hopefully it won't sound muddy like trying distorted rhythms on a neck pup. I found this video while playing with these ideas for my custom stereo guitar.
Great video! Thanks