DIY Y-box, should be simple but need help

[TimWaldvogel]

OK EVERYBODY, SO I AM A NOOB IN DIY ELECTRONICS BUT NOT SO DUMB ON TERMINOLOGY. SO HERES MY THING
I HAVE A PEDALBOARD AND WANNA RUN TWO DIFFERENT DISTORTIONS IN PARALLEL WITH EACH OTHER. I NEED TO BUILD 2 PASSIVE BOXES FOR THIS PROJECT AND NEED HELP DOING SO...
I WILL RUN MY GUITAR INTO MY BOSS TUNER WHICH IS BUFFERED SO MY IMPEDANCE FROM MY GUITAR SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE.

I NEED TO SPLIT THE SIGNAL, WHICH I AM AWARE CUTS THE SIGNAL AROUND 6db AND THATS OK....
AND I NEED TO BUILD A BOX THAT DOES THE EXACT OPPOSITE AND JOINS TWO MONO SIGNALS INTO SINGLE MONO OUTPUT TO RUN THROUGH MY OTHER STOMPBOXES.

SO HERES THE CHAIN, CAN YOU HELP ME FILL THE QUESTION MARKS? the ones in ">>(...)" are the parallel bottom signal

guitar>boss tuner>SPLIT BOX>mxr zw-44>>(v.s. jekyll and hyde)> boss ds-1>> digitech hardwire valve distortion>>>JOINER BOX> crybaby wah> Boss EQ>>> etc.. etc...




SO MY SIGNAL CHAIN STARTS AND ENDS WITH BOSS BUFFERED PEDALS. SO I SHOULD BE OKAY WITH THE 6 dB cut. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL ME AN EASY WAY TO WIRE UP THESE BOXES PASSIVELY?

[R.G.]

Hi, Tim. Look at the left side of your keyboard. There's a key there marked "Caps Lock". Try pressing that a time or so until the all-caps you're typing reverts to normal case. It will sure help us help you. Many people find all-caps very irritating.

I WILL RUN MY GUITAR INTO MY BOSS TUNER WHICH IS BUFFERED SO MY IMPEDANCE FROM MY GUITAR SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE.

Ok, so your signal is buffered from the start.

I NEED TO SPLIT THE SIGNAL, WHICH I AM AWARE CUTS THE SIGNAL AROUND 6db

That is incorrect, given that your signal is already buffered. The actual loss after a buffer may well be undetectably low.

AND I NEED TO BUILD A BOX THAT DOES THE EXACT OPPOSITE AND JOINS TWO MONO SIGNALS INTO SINGLE MONO OUTPUT TO RUN THROUGH MY OTHER STOMPBOXES.

A two-resistor mixer will do this. But it *will* have a loss because of the resistive mixing. An active mixer can avoid this.

guitar>boss tuner>SPLIT BOX>mxr zw-44>>(v.s. jekyll and hyde)> boss ds-1>> digitech hardwire valve distortion>>>JOINER BOX> crybaby wah> Boss EQ>>> etc.. etc...

Sorry - I can't decipher from that what's in which chain and where the split/join are.
Can you try that again, with one line for guitar up to split box, second line with top chain before join box, and third line for bottom chain before join box, then fourth line for after join box?

SO MY SIGNAL CHAIN STARTS AND ENDS WITH BOSS BUFFERED PEDALS. SO I SHOULD BE OKAY WITH THE 6 dB cut. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL ME AN EASY WAY TO WIRE UP THESE BOXES PASSIVELY?

Just use a Y cable to split since you're buffered after the tuner. Two 10K resistors, one each in series from each of top chain and bottom chain and output at the joint should work.

Do go look over your keyboard for that Caps Lock key, would you?

[TimWaldvogel]

Ok, so your signal is buffered from the start.


That is incorrect, given that your signal is already buffered. The actual loss after a buffer may well be undetectably low.

A two-resistor mixer will do this. But it *will* have a loss because of the resistive mixing. An active mixer can avoid this.


Sorry - I can't decipher from that what's in which chain and where the split/join are.
Can you try that again, with one line for guitar up to split box, second line with top chain before join box, and third line for bottom chain before join box, then fourth line for after join box?


Just use a Y cable to split since you're buffered after the tuner. Two 10K resistors, one each in series from each of top chain and bottom chain and output at the joint should work.

ok so here is my signal chain

guitar-> boss tuner-> SPLIT BOX->

-->(output one from splitter)-->Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde--> mxr zw-44
--->(output two from splitter)---> Boss DS-1---> Digitech hardwire valve dist.

chain 1--> JOINER BOX----> crybaby wah-> boss eq-> morely volume-> boss delay-> AMP
chain 2---> JOINER BOX----> ( joined to same as above)

so let me get this straight, to SPLIT the signal i should go from my tuner to the input of the splitter. solder 2 wires together from the tip of the input and run them each to a 10k resistor THEN to the tips of the two output jacks.

and to join them together i just basically flip the circuit around? do i just connect the grounds together?

[R.G.]

ok so here is my signal chain

guitar-> boss tuner-> SPLIT BOX->

-->(output one from splitter)-->Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde--> mxr zw-44
--->(output two from splitter)---> Boss DS-1---> Digitech hardwire valve dist.

chain 1--> JOINER BOX----> crybaby wah-> boss eq-> morely volume-> boss delay-> AMP
chain 2---> JOINER BOX----> ( joined to same as above)

Ah, that helps.

If your tuner does have a buffer in it, then you can simply use a hard-wired Y cable. The low impedance of the buffer in the tuner and the high impedance of the DS1 and the J&H will prevent them from loading down the tuner, and they will work as normal, no significant losses. This is NOT true if the tuner is not buffered. That's more complex.

so let me get this straight, to SPLIT the signal i should go from my tuner to the input of the splitter. solder 2 wires together from the tip of the input and run them each to a 10k resistor THEN to the tips of the two output jacks.

You could do that, but the special conditions of the buffer in the tuner and the high impedance of the two pedals being driven let you just get or make a Y cable. This cable as three plugs on it, two on each end and one in the middle. All the plugs connect to ground/shield and signal as normal. One goes into the tuner, the other two into the chains.

and to join them together i just basically flip the circuit around? do i just connect the grounds together?

To join them, you do what you described above as a splitter. You need the two resistors to let the two inputs to the joiner not step on each other. A simple Y cable will not work here.

[TimWaldvogel]

THANKS !!! that helps alot. now you said an active splitter would work better. how difficult is it to make an active splitter? can you send me the pcb layout or something for an active splitting circuit?

[R.G.]

THANKS !!! that helps alot. now you said an active splitter would work better. how difficult is it to make an active splitter? can you send me the pcb layout or something for an active splitting circuit?

I could, but in your setup an active splitter would make almost no difference.

The key factor is that your tuner is buffered; the buffered output can drive more than one input, especially more than one high impedance inputs like you have. An active splitter in this would add complexity but no performance.