2 heads on stage

[Madison]

Hi all.
Been away for awhile.
Life is a mess.
Been playing more than building.

I have a high (EL34) powered BF Princeton clone.An AA1164 basically.
I have a 36 watt EF86 Marshall clone.


I have been running the Princeton into a Power Soak, then to the Marshall.
Reason: I was missing the Reverb and the Vibrato effects on stage.


What I want to do is:


1.Install a line out or an effects loop on the Princeton so I can just use the preamp section.
Does anyone have a link on schematic for something like that?


2.I want to turn off the power tubes on the Princeton, somehow, to save on tube life.
Would I just lift the grounds on the power tubes?
Will this harm anything else in the amp?


This way I can just run the Fender preamp/effects into the Marshall.


Peace.

[terminalgs]

On stage, do you run the Marshall wide open?  If so, they why not run Princeton cranked with a speaker side line out into Marshall?



Line out parallel with speaker is easiest. Make R2 100 or 150 ohm, and R1 1k-2k or whatever makes the output 0.5V to 1Vrms (or whatever level you want to feed the Marshall).

[SILVERGUN]

Hey brother,,,I'm assuming you know this , but:
Your AA1164 circuit has bias modulating tremolo, which incorporates the output section, so if you kill the output tubes, you kill the trem.

You could do a line out and keep the reverb.

If your only concern is power tube life, I would consider just lowering the current and optimizing the load.....

The rig probably sounds pretty amazing being run like that, and you'll definitely lose some of that magic if you bypass the output stage of the Princeton.

I'm no super-genius, but that's my take on it.

[jjasilli]

Why not just use pedals in front of the Marshal?

[Madison]

Why not just use pedals in front of the Marshal?

Got a couple of them too.
I just want the Reverb and Tremolo off the other amp. (ie;CCR-Born on a Bayou)
Instead of building or buying something new (no space at the moment) , I just thought I'll use what I have.

Hey brother,,,I'm assuming you know this , but:
Your AA1164 circuit has bias modulating tremolo, which incorporates the output section, so if you kill the output tubes, you kill the trem.

You could do a line out and keep the reverb.

If your only concern is power tube life, I would consider just lowering the current and optimizing the load.....

The rig probably sounds pretty amazing being run like that, and you'll definitely lose some of that magic if you bypass the output stage of the Princeton.

I'm no super-genius, but that's my take on it.

Yo Dude!
I totally spaced that off about the power tubes being modulated!
Duh!


Yes, it does sound pretty amazing, pretty warm.
I'll just keep the volume down on it and keep running it into the Power Soak.
Maybe I'll run some old EL34s in it.


Thank all.

[SILVERGUN]

Yo Dude!
I totally spaced that off about the power tubes being modulated!
Duh!

That's why we're here.....if one dude spaces out, somebodys gotta go get him......I know you'd do the same for me

Been playing more than building.

That's the happy part of the story right there....
When I'm building, I always think I should be playing....and when I'm doing anything else, I think I should be building... 

[jjasilli]

OK, then you can do a Line-out, a/k/a DI, mod on the secondary side of the Princeton OT.  As stated above, this will necessary to get trem out of the Princeton.  But this will leave the Princeton live onstage, unless you also connect the the Princeton OT to a dummy load.  This could be arranged with a SW.


If both amps are to be live simultaneously anyway (which is not a bad idea): you could just jumper the amps at their inputs, or use an A/B/Y box.

[terminalgs]

OK, then you can do a Line-out, a/k/a DI, mod on the secondary side of the Princeton OT.  As stated above, this will necessary to get trem out of the Princeton.  But this will leave the Princeton live onstage, unless you also connect the the Princeton OT to a dummy load.  This could be arranged with a SW.


If both amps are to be live simultaneously anyway (which is not a bad idea): you could just jumper the amps at their inputs, or use an A/B/Y box.

you've got a 12W-15W Princeton at a clean volume, so it must be on 6 or 7 ??   running the input into a 36W Marshall,   I don't know why you need the power soak. just run a lineout off the speaker to the Marshall.    I don't think the Princeton would be heard over the Marshall.  Is the Marshall mic'ed for house?   

you can also put the princeton at the front of the stage, let it face you as an extra monitor, but at 6 or 7, I'm not sure you'd hear it over house monitors. 

[jjasilli]

The difference between 12W : 36W is not very large as to perceived vol., which is logarithmic.  In the early days, a smaller reverb amp with its own smaller speaker was used with the main amp.  This might work on stage for Madison.  Also the Princeton could be aimed forward & the Marshall sideways.

[Madison]

I like the preamp grind of the Marshall, this is the reason to do this.
I do a lot of good,  in-tune feedback on stage, which the Marshall does it better.



In a perfect world I might add tremolo and reverb to the Marshall.(no spare room for a tube, I am too busy right now)


Our set list has pretty much no "clean" music on it at the moment.
So, I don't have a use for a "Fender clean" but I don't want to change the preamp.
It sounds great clean.


BTW, it's a 50(?) watt Princeton-EL34 powered with PT/OT upgrades.


This 36 watt is pretty damned loud.
I run it into a single old single 12" and can blow away the band, and most small venues, if I want to.


Thanks for the input.
Peace.