How to make a A/B box

Learn how to make a amp selector box.

Step 1 Tools and Supplies:

-Soldering iron w/ rosin core solder
-Drill w/ bits
-Phillips Screwdriver
-Electrical tape

1x Project Box
1x DPDT switch
3x 1/4 Mono jacks
and wire.

Comments

[uashada]

This wiring diagram is wrong, please check it

[J3PPiSH]

can you have 2 guitars insted of 2 amps? :D

[thestyrofoampeanut]

that defeats the purpose
and no it wouldnt make a difference
the point is to get two different sounds and two guitars going through the same amp wouldnt sound too different, just a little depending on the pot setup of the guitars 

[aritoner]

 i agree it defeats the purpose...but i guess if he had like a les paul and a stratocaster...and you can wire it that way but still i agree it defeats the purpose...but to each his/her own

[dhargreave]

Actually, A/B boxes are often used this way because many people who play live have more than one guitar... this way, one guitar can be tuned differently and quickly switched out for a standard tuning guitar without having to unplug, or two guitars with different sounds (yes, guitars do have varying sounds. Two guitars plugged into the same amp won't sound the same unless they're similar guitars). It works both ways for a reason. So yes, you can have 2 guitars instead of two amps (or even a mic and a guitar plugged into an effects board, which you can select between), and no, it doesn't defeat the purpose.

[pilaurox]

does this work to plug two guitars into one amp?

if not, is there anything you"d have to change in the wiring to make it for two guitars?

[aritoner]

 say i wanted to run two different pedal configurations using this A/B box...if i wanted to connect the signal after to have one lead to amp would something similar but just two input jacks wired to one output with no switch do the trick?

[-Syrus-]

You are better of with this box then 2 different chains of effects and that connected via a Y-cable to a single input. This way you don't load the signal as much.

so Guitar-> A/B/Y box -> path1 -> Y-cable -> Amp
->path 2

say you make a path 1 clean and path 2 disto, its the same as having a 2 channel amp.

[12vox3]

My DPDT switch is an "on-on" switch. Is this the same as you are using?

[ttrat]

I accidentally bought stereo jacks, would these work as well?

[brnofud]

This is great! Can you do this with XLR jacks? Could you do this with an XLR input, then two XLR outs on A and just one XLR out on B?

[Txiske]

Like this project! does it also work as 2 inputs and an output???

[Little_Buster]

Yes it can work as two inputs and an output. Cheers, -Buster

[exlxaxd]

So, you wouldn't need to make any wiring modifications at all? For example, you could just plug your guitar and your keyboard into the jacks labeled (in your diagram) as "Output A" and "Output B," then plug your amp into the jack labeled as "Mono Input" and it'll work in reverse? If that's the case, this would be a really useful item to have around.

[marcusjc]

im sorry but how do u change it from outputs to two inputs, what i wanna do is make a pedal that i can run into the one amp, but plug my lapsteel and my electric piano into.....

[cdousley]

use the same pedal no mod needed

[cdousley]

nice picture

[Microscope]

What about the battery?

[Little_Buster]

You dont need a battery. Unless of course you threw some LED's in the mix. As leobsd said, Its more or less "Mechanical" switching.

[leobsd]

actually, you don't need a battery in this case because there are no leds on the circuit. You're only switching between the two outputs according to the DPDT state... it's sort of "mechanical" switching,

[jj123]

Yo I built this today and it works alright except the guitar is quite a lot quieter than if I plug it directly into the amp. Awesome project though, well done.

[Little_Buster]

Check all your solder joints to make sure none of them are cold. Cheers, Buster

[jj123]

Yeh they all are as my soldering iron was to week to get it anywhere near melted by heating the component.

[Little_Buster]

Then thats probably the problem. Just go pick up a cheap one and correct all those joints :] Cheers, Buster