One Box Wet/Dry

[broughton1320]

Hey Guys,
I'm pretty new to this game and have been soaking up as much info as possible, but some things are still escaping me. I have a dream of building a single head and single 4x12 cabinet for a wet/dry rig. I was thinking 50W/ish total output with the head having 2 complete amps (something like a Hiwatt or similar high clean headroom amp for the wet signal and a JCM800ish dirty amp for the dry signal) feeding into a 4x12 cabinet with 2 isolated 2x12 speaker sets. Is it possible to blend two preamps into one power section and still get the wet/dry sound or do I need separate power amps for each? I do not intend to overdrive the power amp tubes, all "dirt" would be coming from the preamp.
I've been playing through 2 amps for a while and have loved the sound, but it's getting to be a PITA, not only because they're both obscenely loud (210W power between them) but also because of all the power cords, a-b-y box, tons of cables, etc.
At this point I'd rather lift a 100lb head than a lug a head, cab AND combo along with my other gear. I also figured I could save a little money on transformers (even if I need to have a custom PT made) by having the same power supply/rectification/chokes feeding both amps.
Has anyone done a DIY build like this here? Does anyone have tips?
Thanks for Reading!

[The Dude]

If you want 2 completely separate amps driving 2 separate loads, you will need two separate power amps. Basically it will be two complete guitar amps in one chassis. That said, it shouldn't be necessary. Just drive a traditionally wired 4x12 or 2x12 cabinet with one amp and design two preamps that you like driving the same amplifier. Then, add channel switching. If you're building it, you could have, for instance, a Fender style preamp for clean and a Marshall design for the dirty channel. It would be less weight, less wiring hassle, fewer mics if you're micing, etc.

[Chuck H]

More info about the rig you're using might be helpful in considering work arounds. For example, are you creating wet signals prior to and dirt boxes and then blending clean wet signals and dirty signals with the two amps? That sort of thing would be more difficult to emulate without the two amp setup. Otherwise...

Since you're getting all your dirt from pedals and not overdriving the power amps I don't see any reason (not for 'purity of signal' or otherwise) that you couldn't be using an effects loop. Why the two amps? It wouldn't be hard as hard to design an amp with a fancy effects loop (or two) for managing effected signals more concisely. Something like two effects loops that could be blended and then a master wet/dry mix control that allows 80/20 either way. It would be harder to implement a one box/two amp/one speaker cabinet rig.

[pdf64]

When I was gigging in the 90s, I went through a phase of using stereo fx and amps. Mainly trying to that EVH detuned thing on one side, I built a 2xJTM50 kinda amp in a 19”rack unit.
On the basis that ‘everything sounds better through a Marshall’

[Chuck H]

When I was gigging in the 90s, I went through a phase of using stereo fx and amps. Mainly trying to that EVH detuned thing on one side, I built a 2xJTM50 kinda amp in a 19”rack unit.
On the basis that ‘everything sounds better through a Marshall’

Nice! For gigging in a cover band I had a pair of Mesa Subway amps. I set up the preamps differently with different pedals. Then I A/B switched the effects send outputs to a Quadreverb and used the stereo outputs to the effects returns of either amp. Boom! Two preamps and full stereo effects. It actually sounded really good. But my jones for that raw sound eventually kicked back in and I returned to the Marshall half stack with a RAT pedal.

[broughton1320]

More info about the rig you're using might be helpful in considering work arounds. For example, are you creating wet signals prior to and dirt boxes and then blending clean wet signals and dirty signals with the two amps? That sort of thing would be more difficult to emulate without the two amp setup. Otherwise...

Since you're getting all your dirt from pedals and not overdriving the power amps I don't see any reason (not for 'purity of signal' or otherwise) that you couldn't be using an effects loop. Why the two amps? It wouldn't be hard as hard to design an amp with a fancy effects loop (or two) for managing effected signals more concisely. Something like two effects loops that could be blended and then a master wet/dry mix control that allows 80/20 either way. It would be harder to implement a one box/two amp/one speaker cabinet rig.

I'm currently running my wet signal through the effects loop of a Fender combo set to have just a little crunch when I turn up the volume at the pedal board. The preamp on that amp is turned down and I get clean volume at the master. My dry rig is an HD130 with a dirt pedal in front of it (because I don't like the way it sounds overdriving itself and to get to that point it's savage loud). The rig I'm planning will just have a Tube Driver at the input of the dry amp for a boost.

[The Dude]

When I was gigging in the 90s, I went through a phase of using stereo fx and amps. Mainly trying to that EVH detuned thing on one side, I built a 2xJTM50 kinda amp in a 19”rack unit.
On the basis that ‘everything sounds better through a Marshall’

I run a stereo rig for a similar reason, but I have a tube preamp and a cabinet emulator. No power amps or speakers. Between the preamp and cabinet emulator, I have a delay. It's not an effect delay, but one that's made for time aligning speakers in a room. I use it to delay one side of my stereo send to get a sort of live track double effect.