Following the release of the Strymon Sunset dual overdrive pedal and it's possibility to run two different overdrive sounds in parallel rather than in series (as would be normal for using pedals in between guitar and amp or in the effects loop), I have become really interested in the availability of having different pedals running in parallel into a mono amp setup.
As I'm sure many guitarists will testify, the tones which come from having a two amp setup can be really inspiring. The way the guitar can interact with two different preamp stages with different levels of drive and compression as well as the variations in alterable tones by using the same pedal on both amps can create really unique sounds and if I'm playing a larger gig I do prefer to use a dual amp setup. This does take some preparation however, as I use my delays and reverbs in the effects loop and it is not possible to run parallel effects loops (the two preamps will blend in the pedal creating a messy sound) so when I do use two amps one is "dry" with no reverbs or delays and one is "wet". This means before the gig I have to go through my pedals and presets ensuring that the balances on each are correct and working well - basically it's a hassle. When I heard of the Sunset's parallel capabilities I was really interested, as it led me to thinking that similar dual amp tones would be possible with just one amplifier.
To reassure myself that I didn't come up with the idea and therefor owe it to the guitarist community to create and develop a pedal which does this, I did a bit of Googling and found Saturnworks Pedals who make a variety of summing/mixer pedals which could be the solution. My idea is that I could use a pedal which has more drive and therefor compression, such as my tubescreamer, in one "channel", and either a clean (although my clean is slightly pushed) or a Blues Driven channel to retain that upper-mid/treble clarity and string attack.
Issues I can foresee with a passive blend/mixer pedal thing is crosstalk and interference from the two inputs, as well as doubling the volume by simply summing the two inputs, so some sort of active balancing could be required. Routing of the pedals would also be an issue, as I definitely see a place for just having one pedal on, or having one drive pushing into another in series, however my imaginary blending pedal-thing could have a three way toggle which could cycle through various options, such as A->B, B<-A, AB=, giving even more tonal exploration possibilities (especially if each mode was foot-switchable).
I'm currently trying to find out a bit more about if there is anything like this currently on the market, so if you know of anything which could work on a pedalboard then please do get in contact - I genuinely think it could be a very cool way of getting unique guitar tones.
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