ShortScale.org

I've owned a few stereo pedals over the years and always liked rigging them up to two amps. All the one's I've ever owned have one mono input and the two mono outs for the stereo bit. This means that you can only have the stereo effect from the last pedal in your chain. Is it possible to gain the stereo effect from all stereo pedals in the chain if they were built with 2 inputs AND the two outputs (along with some wiring wizardry inbetween) and each stereo pedal would then have two connectors between each of them?

I'd love to have my Arion SAD 1 hacked and rehoused with 2 inputs and other modulation effects with a similar stereo set up all running in a line with the stereo effects from all functioning in a line.

Possible?

Dave wrote:only have the stereo effect from the last pedal in your chain

Don't all the Boss stereo pedals have two ins and two outs?

Whilst the idea of stereo panning and tremolo always appealed to me, I'd never run a stereo setup due to the fuss and amount of gear I'd have to take to the gig.

I know my dd6 has 2 inputs & 2 outputs but my hr6 has 1 input & 2 outputs. I'm sure most pedals could be modded (although there might be a reason a second input was omitted in the first place) but stereo effects always seemed like they needed a dedicated amp for themselves. Although, couldn't you split the output 2's into multiple inputs of an amp (assuming it has them)?

Where there's a single input, there's usually a single processing chain. The SAD-1 mixes the dry and delayed signals in mono mode, separates the dry and delayed signals in stereo mode. There's only one delay.

If an effect has two inputs it's likely either to be digital or have two signal processing chains - some chorus/flange designs had two delay chips and one would have fixed delay while the other speeded up and slowed down to be earlier or later than the fixed signal.

It's difficult to guess what you're trying to achieve - are you trying to combine stereo effects or just reduce cabling complexity?

Dave, Hardwire pedals have 2 ins and 2 outs!

So do some Behringers....

Behringer Multi-FX?? Why don't I own this!

I think the question Dave's asking is one that I've wondered about too. Maybe it isn't but maybe someone can help me anyway.

I have several stereo pedals set in various places throughout my chain. Most of the rest of my pedals only have one input. Is there any way for me to take the stereoness engendered to my signal and retain it through my board until I get to amps at the end.

For instance, my chorus pedal has two outputs. I like the sound of chorus before distortion. Can I have my guitar go into my chorus pedal, come out as a stereo signal through the two outputs, then somehow be bounced back down to one cable so that it can go through my distortion unit, then go to my amps as two sides of a stereo signal again?

Not unless someone builds a stereo distortion pedal. Typically you'd have distortion/fuzz earlier in a chain than anything that'd be meaningful in stereo (chorus, trem etc) so I'm not sure there'd be much of a market for a stereo distortion that kept the L and R channels separate.

I see. It'd be nice if everything somehow handled stereo inputs.

Would this work: Imagine a box that would take one of the stereo outputs from a number of pedals and recombine them to leave as one signal (ie. as one side of a stereo signal). Or would that sound shit?

A mixer pedal? Yeah it's pretty easy to do, but I don't know if anyone makes a decent mixer in pedal form. It'd be a bit odd because all the delay/chorus/modulation stuff going on will be out of sync but mixed together.

Phase issues a plenty I fear also.

I was thinking more as a way of using the stereo pedals one at a time but being able to get the stereo goodness from them anyway. I think it would sound a bit dodgy with more than one stereo effect at once because on one side you'd have phased delayed overdriven chorus and on the other you'd a mix of those effects on different signals. Actually, it'd sound shit anyway because you'd have dirty chorus on one side and clean chorus on the other.

Ah well.