Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

RE: Did anyone report back on the success of these adapters?
OK Brian, good question.
It's finally below 90 degrees in my studio, so I unwrapped the Hosa Y-adapter and gave it a whirl on my 360/12.
Wow! Very cool. Works great.
Connected the Treble signal to the Vox and the bass to the Fender and placed the two amps in different corners of the room. It almost sounds like two guitars playing.
The only disadvantage, as others have mentioned before, is that now there are TWO guitar cables dragging behind me.
But on the most basic level, the Y-adapter works. Is the signal as "pure" as using the Ric kit? I have no idea. Sorry, I'm not an engineer.

Thanks Mark,

That is a very helpful report. It sounds like you had quiet a bit of fun with the experiment too.

"I've never heard of stereo guitar cable, just wondering how to wire up one of these?"

This is basically the same thing as a balanced microphone cable except for the tip/ring/sleeve 1/4" plugs instead of XLR connectors.

It would be cool to keep the dual input jack plate on certain models and wire up those guitars and basses with modern and vintage tone cap set ups. That way you wouldn't need any push-pull pots and would keep the original appearance of the instrument.

I always thought that microphone cable was different to guitar cable?

I've made guitar cables with Nutrik jacks & Koltz guitar cable which is different to signal / mic cable?

Oh, yeah, Brian, I was sweating and had a LOT of fun. I ran through Rock n' Roll Star, American Girl and High Flying Bird.
Ya know what song seemed to really benefit from stereo ... Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The bass strings boomed out at one end and the high strings were shining at the other.
I could record it and post it but of course the stereo would get list.

Could anyone post a picture of what these Y adapters (or the inside of a Ric - O Sound kit) look like. I'm having a hard time visualizing how these would work. If it's a Y adapter, doesn't it go from two ends that go into the jackplate to one plug at the other end? Don't you need two lines coming off to the amps? I'm confused. I want to get my 360 stereo sound running and I'd like to see what I need to buy to get it functional.

I have a fairly new Ric-O-Sound unit that I was going to put on E-bay. $65.00 shipped in the US to forum members. I replaced the straight stereo plug on the cable with a right angle one which I think is much tidier looking.

Sorry Dane,

But I bought one from RIC this afternoon. It should be here in about three weeks. I can't wait to try it out.

Bill, here is a photo of the Y-adapter.
It is very simple. The male end goes into the Ric stereo jack on the guitar. The other two go to separate amps (or to amps that handle two signals). That's it.

Ah, I was assuming that you had two cables coming out of the guitar-i.e., one from the standard jack and one from the stereo jack. Thanks Mark.

No problem.
And here is a photo of the Rick-o-Sound box.



The kit comes with one stereo cable (that plugs into the guitar) and two amp cables.

I suppose if you're just playing at home or recording,a Y adapter would be okay. If I'm at a gig trying to move around on stage, having two cables dragging behind me to the amps just seems kinda goofy. A stereo cable coming out of the guitar that splits at the amps or plugs into a Y adapter going to the amps is a much more convienient solution.

Absolutely agree Dan.
That's what I mentioned above.
I suppose one could tape or use cable ties to hold the two cables together so they sort of look like one .

I use a stereo microphone cable that is TRS instead of XLR. Plug into the Rick-o-sound jack on the guitar then use a stereo to 2 mono Y splitter at the amp end. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!
That way you just have 1 cable instead of trying to drag 2 mono cables with you at the guitar end.
Looks cooler too!!!