Cabinet sharing???

[jgcable]

Have any of you ever tried it?
Here is the gear:
2 lead guitarists in my current band
Amps used:
Vetta 2 head
Carvin X100B with Boss GT-6
One 4 x 12 cabinet on each side of the stage
Both cabinets are wired in stereo
We set up on opposite sides of the stage
What if I used the left top and bottom speakers on the 4 x 12 on my side and the right top and bottom speakers on my bandmates 4 x 12 on his side? He could do the same using my right side and his left side.
We could also both line into the board with the same stereo spread from the PA cabinets. Our drummer has an $8k set of Roland digital drums so with the proper mix I would think the sound would be killer and extremely balanced. Any thoughts?

[ejpii]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

Once you put the cabinet in stereo the left and right should be independent of one another. The only thing you need to watch is the impedance. My Marshall when in Mono is either 4 Ohms or 16 Ohms. When I put it in stereo the left and right become 8 Ohms. My amp has individual impedance switches so using one impedance on one channel and a different impedance on another is not a problem. As far as sound, as long as one guitar does not stomp on the other it would probably sound cool.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

that sounds like it could be pretty cool but you'd have to be really careful on the power/volume balances. I rather this be done through the PA myself but thats just me and I never was in a 2 guitar band. I used the stereo'ish setup with 4 4x12 cabs in an X formation before and it projected a killer sound

[Matt Crooks]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

I personally would avoid stereo in a live situation. Stereo only sounds really good when you stand in the middle. At most clubs the audience isn't all in the middle of the floor, so the people off to the right or left won't be getting a very good mix.

However, what you're suggesting would work. I'd be more interested in doing it that way so that I could hear my guitar when I'm on the other side of the stage from my amp, since we rarely get a good monitor mix.

[Tooling]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

Running cabs in stereo sounds really huge...great sound but I don't know about a live situation. I don't like live bands that sound really, "busy", it's just too much.

[Chuckracer]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

In theory that works great and will give a better spread to the audience.
In practice, it...depends. I've tried this in a couple different bands where the other guitarist and myself each have two 4x12's, running one on each side of the stage. I didn't like hearing the other guitar blasting as loud as mine right behind me. If there was some easy way to be able to adjust the individule volumes going to each cab it would work better. We tried facing the cabs differently and that worked somewhat, but wound up going back to having both of our cabs behind ourselves.
It might work for you though. If you both have stero input cabs, try it!

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

Unless the cabs are physically isolated between the two sets of speakers like with a wood partition, to make them essentially two separate cabs, I feel that the two sets of speakers playing different things will conflict with each other and sound like ass.

In a sealed 4x12 cab, say one set is throwing the cone outwards, it will be trying to pull the other set of cones inwards. Then, if you are actuating your speaker set by playing, they will be forever working against each other. How could that possibly sound ok?

[Tooling]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

MESA 4x12 cabs are not isolated and when you run two seperate amp heads into two speakers each..the sound is incredible...it sounds like a wall of cabs. I don't know how it can possibly sound OK, but I can tell you it sounds incredible and HUGE.

[jackson1]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

I am totally with Cleveland on this one. It is not speculation. It is a fact. They will work against each other and sometimes even balance each other out = reduced energy = attenuated sound. It will be a mess.

[charvelguy]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

yep, back in the day when I was in High School, I used to run a 4x12 on my side and a Fender Bassman 2x12 under the other guitarists 4x12 on his side and he did the same in reverse with his Marshall and another Bassman 2x12.

Going thru the same cab isn't a good idea unless as Cleve says it's separated by a partition. I have a Laney 4x12 I'm modding were the top 2x12's are separated at the bottom of the angled from the bottom 2x12 with birch ply so I can run two heads a/b's into the same cab if need be.

[Outlander]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

Seperate cabs sound best.The tones don't fight each other so much that way.We have also tried having extension cabs from the other guitarist on the same side of our amps.It was sonically a mess, too confusing to the ears.It seemed to me at least that the guitars liked there own physical space best where you could definately tell where the sound was coming from as opposed to eminating from all over the stage.When guitars are run through the mains (pa) aren't they usually assigned to one side or the other except for solos?

[charvelguy]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

In the mains? They should be mixed with no pan-straight up on the center and relative to everything else.

I agree tho, running an extension cab to the other side can also get a little messy. You have more opportunity for mic bleed. Running thru a good monitor system with independent monitors and ideally separate monitor mixes with the ability to adjust the level of each item in the monitor tailored for each respective monitor is the best solution.

[Tooling]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

I guess when I tried it, I had my amps dialed in perfectly because it sounded great BUT...I'm talking in the bedroom and as I said in my earlier post...I think it would sound too busy on stage with other instruments. I don't think there is anything scientific about this....try it and if it sounds good , (as with anything), use it .<Period

[Tooling]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

Hey..off the subject....why am I still a junior member turd...I thought 50 posts brought you up to maggot status....

[Guest]

Re: Cabinet sharing???

I hope I'm not speaking out of line here. I believe it is a 100 posts now OR 50 posts can let you view classifieds but you have to notify the admin to update since thier tools do not do this?