My Roland EX is starting to sound a bit honky on the COSM channel so I just ordered a pair of Behringer MPA40BT to stay safe from loss of income if the bugger should go down on me.

I will put the two MPAs inside a shopping trolley on top of each other and feed them through a pedalboard (or rather "pedal table") that causes some diffusion that blends the true stereo L/R inputs. That's how I like it, not spreading out the physical amp front in stereo but rather offering the audience a focused tone that is well balanced frequency-wise.

Below is the effect chain I prefer, that I have been using with several two channel or two amps setups. I'm not using a pedal board per se though, pedals are in the shopping trolly at its top level so I can push buttons with my hand. That top level of the trolley is also my CD sales rack with big signs where people can read about the two CDs I'm selling. One stereo cable (send + return) goes down from there for my Melo side volume pedal that is the only pedal I keep on the ground (in the busking setup. With the indoors setup I also have kill switch pedal on the floor, on the same send loop affecting just the melody side).

1) Stick SG-12. Two mono outputs from the PASV-4 pickup.
2) Melody side passing through an Ibanez Tube Screamer and then through a volume pedal.
3) Bass and Melody sides entering as true stereo L/R into a TC Electronics Flashback 1. The Flashback's switch set to the third alternative that means straight bounces on the Bass Side and triplets on the Melody side. I use a TonePrint slightly wobbling tape delay mod that cuts out the lows and highs from the feedback chain. This makes it possible to use almost eternal slap-back without the signal ever staying the same or becoming harsh (I love that TonePrint. Have tried to duplicate it on the Fractal Audio AxeFx2 and almost succeeded, but the TC still does it better).
3) Flashback stereo L and R feeding into a Trinity Reverb L and R true stereo inputs. I know from tests that the Trinity adds a pleasant stereo diffusion even to the dry sound so I will have both Bass and Melody side signals plus effects in both speakers.

I just got booked for a church concert two weeks from now and I hope I will receive the MPAs for that so I can try them out also with the Fractal Audio AxeFx2. So far I have brought the GENELEC studio monitors for those church gigs but that's a bit heavy and time consuming (having to de-mount and pack them when I would rather use that time working on music recordings).

Will be interested in your thoughts about the MPA. No match for your Genelecs in critical listening, that's for sure! I'm still pretty happy with mine. Once you start pushing the Behringers, the sound tends to deteriorate fast, but with a pair I find them quite good for the type of gigs I do. I've recently started using an XLR cable via the DI on my Zoom G3, and the volume and fullness of the tone has improved.

Cheers,
Andy

I just got back from a church concert with the SG12 and two GENELECS studio monitors. Great sound! But not running on batteries.

Back home I received delivery of the two new MPAs I intend to use for street busking. The first test was to mount them on a trolley, one on top of the other and both lying sideways to keep the stack low. Bass side went into the bottom MPA and melody side into the top MPA. Sounded great! In fact too good hi-fi style sound for using delay so I ripped out my TC Flashback and used only the Trinity reverb (in true stereo, so the direct signal will be kept apart but the diffusion of notes on both sides going to both speakers). This is a very stylish sound. I use a preset I beamed down through the iPhone that has just a little bit of "shimmer effect" to the reverb (feedback loop returning through a pitch-up harmoniser), darkest tone, quite low level and the switch at the long pre-delay position. Wow! Very ECM-ish, making me think about Abercrombie's album Characters. I had to turn down the treble all way on both MPAs to cure the treble in the tone. And I'm avoiding the full low mid/bass boost knob position on the PASV-4 to avoid too harsh and clonky attacks in the speakers. I'm finding this sound so clear and honest that I don't even want to use the TubeScreemer. This is a sound for slo-mo playing like Pat Matheney under water or something. But the rig becomes heavy.

So heavy that I have to use a heavy trolley for it, in fact it all got so heavy that I decided it isn't worth it for street busking.

So I'm now trying out a one MPA rig instead. Only the Trinity reverb with both SG12 sides going through in true stere and the two outputs feeding the two inputs of the MPA. Nice and handy little rig to lug around; no pedals, reverb and VOLTO ackumulator in a little bag on the trolley. Sounds good too! Not as ridiculously hi-fi as the two boxes setup, but more handy to walk around with when looking for good spots around town. I'll take it out tomorrow for a real-world test. So far I have only done indoor lab testing.

This brings to mind something that I discovered when programming sound patches on the Fractal Audio AxeFx2; that I like what the SG12 sounds like with no typical "guitar amp" (amp simulation) but only a clear and transparent high fidelity amplification. This transparent sound works well for the well balanced pickups and perfected instrument intonation. Bottom line is that I'm finding the MPA extremely MUD FREE So for a clear hi-fi Stick sound it is highly inspiring. But please note that these are all reflections based on my SG12s, I have not tried it with my 36".

Very interesting perspective, Per. I've come to a similar conclusion re. using one MPA for busking. In my experience, portability and practicality usually win out over better audio quality. I base that comment partly on the fact that I made more money busking with my old Crate Taxi amp than any other speaker I've owned so far... I've also found that my full-range Stick sound becomes more difficult to balance through a stereo setup. With two MPAs on the ground, the sound becomes very bass heavy. There's a lot of low end on tap in these vs something like the Roland Cubes. I still think these Behringers are one of the best value for money deals around. While I'm definitely happy to have a pair for my "portable gigs" (outdoor weddings etc), I'm mainly going with a single speaker for busking. In general, my outboard EQ settings don't change much from amp to amp, neither does my always-on reverb. I do use a bit of modulated delay at times too, but that's about it. I don't like amp modelling on the Stick.
Let us know how you go with the "street test" Per!

Cheers,
Andy

With only one MPA the high end is smoother and I don't need to cut treble on the EQ. And I like how the one speaker "breathes" when feeding it two Stick signals. Must say I totally depend on my PASV-4 pickup for finding the balanced sweet-spot where such general system compression feels most musical (on the PASV-4 each side has four alternative EQ boost settings)


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The Stickup only has one EQ setting
But I find it relatively consistent, providing there's some form of simple preamp in the chain. The MPA yields an acceptable tone as a plug-and-play amp with my Stick, but a small amount of reverb and high-mid "cut" really makes it sparkle. The more I play, the more I'm going for simple signal paths and a uniform sound.

I've been out today playing the MPA without any sort of preamp in the chain and it sounded great with exception for the highest frequencies that come out too powerful. It doesn't compress as the sag in a guitar amp, so tapping produces a really sharp treble attack. I tried to cut down the treble knob but it didn't help even though I keep the MPA inside a shopping bag on wheels all the time (I think playing though the fabric adds a nice diffusion to the sound - doing that also with the Street Cubes). When I got back home I tried to connect my old trusty FMR Audio RNC - Really Nice Compressor - which would have been just perfect I guess, but the Pedaltrain VOLTO can't power it up since it sucks 500mA.

So I guess I'm looking for an EQ pedal or maybe preamp thingy.

I also need to download a less bass heavy reverb toneprint for my Trinity reverb pedal. It was booming too much down around 200 Hz. It would really be nice to have a software application where you could EQ design reverb impulse responses for a pedal like the TC Trinity/Hall Of Fame. Small adjustments down under 500 Hz is essential to shape a good live rig reverb.

(edit)
I just found out that there is an editor app. I'll check it out.

The little Zoom MS-50, MS-100 and MS-70CDR pedals make great "Swiss Army Knife" pedals for busking. They're all multi-effects units with tone shaping options and some excellent delays/reverbs (particularly on the MS-70). The cost would be comparable to buying a Boss EQ or similar.

I think I have found a good sound now with the MPA. The trick was so simple I had not tried it: I'm just cranking the two gain input knobs all the way and adjust my playing volume by the global volume knob. This fixes a bit of the harsh high frequency transient peak. The rest could be fixed with the two "eq" knobs. Treble knob set to ten o'clock and bass knob set to eleven o'clock. The new thing, that I had not noticed before, is that these two eq knobs work in a different way when the input gain is maxed, compared to when main volume is maxed and the two inputs set at low gain.

I'm glad I found this MPA setting because then I won't have to buy two Xotic SP compressors, that would have been a nice fix for everything except my household economy Two rainy indoors days incoming here now but then there will be four to five busking days on a row to give the MPA the final road test.

My final word on the MP: I actually did pick up two Xotic SP compressors and they inspired me to change my MPA approach: now I'm running it with full main volume and just a little gain on the two channel inputs.. Lovely sound thanks to the SPs!


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