whoa, nice setup!
well, yes i need to switch channels, otherwise it would be simple as fuck.
let's say i'd like to run my fireball 100 together with my 5150 I.
both amp heads are set for rhythm sounds (i'd love to have the 5150 boosted with a TS but then i'll run into problems later, see below), switching off one side to mimic the left/right guitar thing when starting riffs, in breaks etc....
i also need a clean channel. this means, i could either switch the fireball to clean, and mute the 5150 (5150 cleans suck), or switch the 5150 to that 5150 style sorta clean sound - which i guess should blend pretty well, the gritty 5150 clean and the pristine engl clean.
the problem is that both amp heads need to be switched at the same time. right now the only solution for this that i can think of is a midi interface like the engl z11, and switching amp channels with a single midi program change.
now, if i want to run the 5150 together with a TS for rhythms, i'd have to switch to clean using the midi board AND turn of the tube screamer.
i also need a lead sound. at this point, there's probably no need for a volume boost. 2 heads should give me enough volume hehe. there are a number of options...i could run the 5150 dry, and the engl 100% wet (talking about delay here, no other effects will be used), run the 5150 dry and use the fx loop blend on the engl to blend in some delay, i could also switch the loop on the engl AND the mid boost at the same time for a different tone etc. it's getting rather complicated at this point i guess.
the fun starts at those sections where i need to switch from lead to cleans.
i'm *thinking* that my best bet is indeed an engl z11 or similar, boss delay in the engl fx loop, and wire it like this:
midi patch 1: both amps distorted rhythm, dry
midi patch 2: 5150 dry, fireball fx loop and mid boost on
midi patch 3: 5150 clean, fireball clean, fx loop on - switching off the 5150 side of things for the sections that need a pristine clean.
then use the morley aby box to switch between heads for those special sections.
i wonder if there's a simpler way to set it up though....i thought about it, and it sounds like a NIGHTMARE to set up in a typical live changeover.
- set up both heads, connect power, connect cabinets on my side and the other side of the stage
- connect the z11 switching loops to the engl and 5150 (4 cables involved here, no way to hardwire it)
- set up the delay, another 2 cables going from engl fx loop to the pedal (at least i can keep this on all the time)
- set up the midi board at the front of the stage
- set up the wireless system, run a cable to front of stage to boss TU2, to the amp switcher, and two cables back to the amp inputs.
it's possible, but there's a lot of room for errors.
technically i could rack up the wireless and z11, get a rack tuner, and prepare the most important connections in the rack (like labeling the switching cables from z11 to the amps etc)....i could probably rack up the delay too, but i don't quite see a benefit here. setup would essentially be the same as listed above, but less clutter involved.
