Method 1: Rectifier as a preamp, stereo effects, Two amps in Stereo
This routing is a little complicated - The guitar goes into my wah, compressor, overdrive, distortion and then into the Rectifier input. Then it leaves the rectifier through the effects send into my modulation, delay and reverb - which all process the signal into stereo. One output goes back to the Rectifier effects return, the other into the Transatlantic - which is set to a perfect clean tone.Pros: This is what I was dreaming of. Get the full benefit of the two channels on the Rectifier, all the benefit of my effects, and then output all of that into two Mesa power sections in Stereo. I get five different "drive" sounds - Rectifier clean; clean with compressor, White Light overdrive, Pinnacle distortion, and Rectifier hi-gain. the effects sound perfect, buffered by the Mesa effects loop, and after all of the gain stages, and the power sections of both amps to finish the sound.
Cons: You would think - how can there by any problems with this? And here it is. Obviously, you would set up the rectifier gain and master on clean channel to get a decent sound, let it pass through the effects and then adjust the output of the Transatlantic to balance the volume level between the two amps. BUT - as soon as you switch over to the Rectifier hi-gain channel you realize that you have to adjust the Transatlantic volume again to balance with the higher output of the additional gain stage. The result is that the balance of the amps is unachievable if you want to use both Rectifier channels.
Method 2: Effects in stereo into two amps
In this method, the guitar goes into the pedal board in sequence, and leaves the pedal board in stereo out of the Reverb, with one cable going to the Mini Rectifier input, the other into the Transatlantic input.Pros: Everything is in stereo, and if you set up the tone and gains on the amps right it envelopes the listener in effects. This method is great for U2-type sounds.
Cons: Tt is basically unusable to have any overdrive on either amp, you have to use the overdrive/distortion pedals to get driven sounds. A bit of push or bite sounds good, but once you increase the gain and simultaneously use effects, your sound will get all muddy.
Method 3: One guitar, Two amps
Forget effects - this setup is all-out, raw Mesa/Boogie "Wall of tone". Simple setup - Guitar is split into two with a A/B/Y box, and you've got two tones at once.Pros: Having each amp setup with different preamp settings (gain/tone) gives incredible variety between the two amps. This is "Stereo" - but not in the typical "Stereo chorus/delay/reverb-sense. For clean sounds you can set one amp to be more on the treble/"vox"tone side, and the other with a bit of bite and warmth. When using driven channels, you can set up the amps with the Rectifier doing a modern high0gain setting and the Transatlantic pushing out a vintage Marshall crunch. It sounds like two guitarists playing together and adds up to a giant a wall of tone. Wah and compressors work great in front of the amps as well. It is quite easy to balance the volume of both amps on either channels. This is perfect for recording just the pure output of the amps, for further processing in the studio.
Cons: Dont bother using modulation, delay or reverb effects when the amps are overdriven - it just sounds like mud. This is not for delicate, effected sounds. It would be nice to have a single footswitch to switch both amp's channels.
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