Morley ABY Switch

Simple set up. Used with a JCM2000 and Orange Rocker in stereo configuration. Now I use this pedal to switch my POD X3 out of the loop with the Orange amp. No complaints.

Very quiet and clean. No issue with 60hz hum. No noticeable degradation sound quality.

Rugged steel case. Switch came loose after initial purchase. Easy fix, just had to add the lock-tite, tighten the nut down and I was good to go.

Didn't have to deal with customer support.

Solid, simple, and one of the lesser expensive pedals I found on my weekend Guitar Center binge. I have seen it listed on the GC web page for $60 but if I recall correctly I paid $30?? The advertised price is pretty high for a simple device like this.

Gripes.. I had to mod it. (Though I mod everything...)

I like to leave my rig setup and ready to roll. Cables must be unplugged to disable the LED's and will drain the battery down over a long period of time. I added a toggle switch so I can turn off the indicator lights.

I'd rather use 9v batteries for something else. 9v is overkill for 2 LED's anyhow. Replaced the 9v battery with a double A holder that has a connector for 9V hook up and changed LED 12k resistors with 3.6k to compensate for voltage difference so the unit would light up nice and bright.

LED's are the same color. In the dark, sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the 2 channels. I changed the color of LED 1 to yellow.

Overall: I like the case, and I like the switches and connectors. The unit is solid and you can smash the hell out of it. I would imagine you'd need to give this little box hell to bend the case. Advertised price is a little high so HAGGLE.

I like it and use it everyday.

It's easy to hook up, but if you want the LEDs to light up, they could do a lot to improve the battery access. Once you get the screws undone, you still need a screwdriver or something to pry off the back panel to get at the battery hookup.

I noticed a barely noticeable drain off my top end when I hooked this in line with my . There were no pops or anything. I tried it in several spots in my signal chain both before, after and in my new skb pedalboard, and depending on the configuration I had it in, it either slighty increased my background 60 Hz buzz off my strat or had no effect.

Only used it for a couple of weeks, but no reliability issues.

Didn't need them.

I can't compare it to other ABY switches, but if you want to run a signal into either of two outputs, or vice versa, I think this thing would do the job pretty well. Are there better boxes out there that do this? Probably, but I haven't tried any others out.

Extremely simple to operate.

Absolute garbage. I attempted to use this to switch between/combine 2 amps. Signal bleed, obvious tone degradation. Why bother, when you can buy an ABY from a dozen other makers for not much more?

If you only use it as a tuner mute, it is acceptable. But then... why use a big, heavy ABY box for a tuner mute? Heck, buy a Korg Pitchblack tuner and enjoy the true bypass.

Mine seemed to work fine, seemed solidly constructed. Many of the reviewers below had bad experiences. I couldn't keep it long enough for it break down.

No experience. It seemed to work as intended, so I saw no point in contacting them.

I play loud rock & roll, for about 35 years now. The rest of my rig is probably irrelevant for this review. It seems to me that an ABY switch ought to do one thing only, and do it flawlessly. For $50, this is terrible product. For 50 cents, I'd use it as a doorstop. Sad.

This thing makes a loud *POP* when you change channels!
I have eliminated everything from my chain and this is the problem. If there is signal going through the amp when I change channels get a really loud pop and the other people in the band look at me like I am crazy for doing on purpose.
I agree that is does not affect the overall tone a significant manner. I just can deal with the pop!

I emailed tech support and they said it was working fine and the do not guarantee these against popping when channel switching. At least they emailed me back.

Don???t buy this and get a better aby box!

Pretty straight forward pedal. Pedal works great and is built like a tank. Very nice, smooth switching. No manual, it is not needed.... I do wish the battery was a little quicker to change, but that is hardly nothing since it is not required to use this product.

I am using this to switch between a Peavey 6505+ and a 79 Fender Vibrolux. I mainly use a Peavey Wolfgang guitar, and sometimes a G&L Tele. And sometimes A Peavey 5150 combo. In any combonation, this pedal works great. It is very quite and has a nice smooth transaction between amps. I don't hear any "extra" noise from this pedal, just the normal hiss from a "high gain" amp.

Have only had it for about a week, but like all Morley products, it is built very well. I would not consider having a backup.

Don't know. Haven't ever dealt with them. Seems pretty nice though, I have seen some of their people post on here.

I looked at some other A/B boxes, I liked this one because of the 1 into 2, and the price was great. I would replace it if it were lost or stolen for sure.

I rated sound with 5 because there is a noticeable sound degradation due to the signal leakage through the 100K resistors that links the positive signal to ground in each channel.

I just cut the Chanel A 100 k resistor (NOT THE 12 K RESISTOR THAT RELATES TO THE LIGTHS) and I received in that channel a total clean signal, with no loss of tone of any kind, that I feed directly to my mesa bogie amp.
I left Chanel B without modification because I use effects in that channel that obviously alter my tone.

Good Luck

I bought this pedal to replace my Boss A-B switch cause the Morley has 2 switches. One controls either A or B and the other controls A& B on or off. I have two effects loops running into two amps. I like this switch. It came with no manual but a little info on the box is all you really need.

This is very quiet. I have 2 loops on my pedal board. It all starts with my SKB pedal board, my Ibanez Weeping Deamo Wah into my Fender Tuner. Loop A has a Boss Noise Suppressor, Marshall EVH Compressor, and a Boss Overdrive OD3 pedal. Loop B has a MXR EVH Phaser 90 , and an Ibanez 808 Reissue Overdrive pedal. I use 2 different tube amps. One is my Peavey Windsor Single channel 120 watt amp and Cab and my other is a Peavey Valve King Combo amp 100 watts into my Marshall Avt. 412 cab.

I have read some of the rewiews that said that it was not reliable but I have not had any trouble with it. But I am not heavy footed either. Any switch will wear out if you stomp on it. I feel very strongly that I could depend on it in the long run.

I've not had to use it.

I have been playing for over 20 yrs. and I try to buy things that I will use on a regular basis. I have 4 guitars presently. I own a Gibson Premium Plus guitar, An Epiphone Ace Frehley Les Paul, an Epiphone Tony Iommi SG, and a Takamine Acoustic, electric. I play late 60's to late 80's Rock and Blues. The only thing I wish it had was a plug to hook it up to my pedal board. I hate to change batteries.

Works great, it is a very simple unit. I use it to switch between to amps and one guitar with effects pedal.

Crystal clear like it isnt even there!

never failed me and I bought it used

I called them regarding an older model of this to find out some differnces with the new and they were very helpfull

It is exactly waht I wanted. The only thing is that the led stays on unless you unplug the input cable. It would be cool if they found another way to turn the led on and off.

pretty easy, doesn't come with instructions, but if you need instructions for something this simple how did you ever figure out that you can get a switch to run one guitar through two amps or one guitar through two amps?

No noticable cut in sound quality. I've heard of popping noises, but i didn't have any. (i use a Vox ac30 and an Orange ad30 head)

BROKE IN A MATTER OF HOURS! GLAD I DIDN'T MOUNT IT INTO THE PEDAL BOARD! SO PISSED!

Didn't bother calling, I'm bringing it back. Should have never happened. considering I didn't sue it that much seems senseless, they have already lost my trust.

I give it a 1 because stuff needs to work. End of the story, and I barely did anything to it and it broke.

Easy to use with one caveat. The equipment you're plugging into this thing should all be high impedance meaning at least 20 k ohm resistivity at all frequencies. The reason will be told below.

If it's working, okay.

Out of the box, I noticed the same thing other people did. I tried to have two guitars go into a single amp, and the level dropped considerably. I sent it back to Morley, and they replaced the 10k resister to 1 meg and the situation improved considerably. 10k is too low of a shunt to ground in my opinion. Many pickups have impedance in 47 k range. 10 k will eat up about 30% of the voltage not counting the amplifier load (assuming amplifier input resistance is very high). 1 Meg resistor should be the standard. I haven't used it long so I don't know about reliability at this point.

Morley was very courtious. One of few manufacturer who actually have a working customer service in my opinion.

I have a serious problem with the owners manual. It shows that you can use this box either as two sources to one output or one source to two outputs. It only talks about not connecting a speaker wire to it. Okay, then some may try to use it as a combiner for two effect devices. Big trouble. The outputs of the two effects devices will short each other out. It probably won't destroy them, but it sure won't work. Owner's manual have no warnings about hooking up two effects devices in this manner. I was tempted to use this box in this manner, and checked out the schematic (good that Morley have them ready on their site) and I found out about this.

Just a switch.

Transparent. No detectable noise.

Broke the second time I used it. Same problem as previously report. Switch stuck on the "B" position; no longer functions

Will return it to GitMart.

Sorry, I'd like to like this. It seems solid enough. All metal construction, looks robust. I'm really suprised it broke. Seems pretty bulletproof.

Very easy to use. Its an ABY what do you expect. Jacks a little tight, but I like that.

Sounds fine to me. No degredation that I can tell.

Not reliable at all. POS. I have busted two of these quite easily. The first I allowed as a fluke, the second "died" on the first song of the first gig I used it for. For some reason the A/B switch goes out and is stuck on B, the Both switch still works though, but I can't switch between A and B. Not acceptable. For the same thing to happen to both units is releflective of the product in general I think.

Have not delt with Morley, its cheap so I am not going to bother. Banjo Center should give me back my money on the second one.

Very dissapointing. I liked the Morley because the switches were spaced wide so no accedental button pushes, but it broke so I don't care. Going change up my rig so I don't need an ABY.

The Morley ABY is easy to figure out and use. But, understanding the signal changes that it's causing can be frustrating at first...more on that later.

I bought the Morley so I could use my Laney GH100L and Mesa Dual Rectifier Tremoverb half-stacks at the same time. This is where understanding the grounds/signal changes comes into play. The first time I used it switching from one amp to the other was fine. Then I tried both amps at the same time and I got a loud buzz. I assumed it was a faulty pedal. I took it apart, checked all the wires and connections but couldn't find anything wrong with it. I put it back together and didn't use it for a while. A few months later I tried it again, same result.

I posted my problem on a guitar forum where I knew a few knowledgeable guitar shop guys would see it. One suggested it was a grounding problem between the amps. He said it was easy to test the grounding theory.

Have both amps on. If one of your two amps has 2 input jacks, plug the guitar into one jack as normal. Then run a cable from that amp's 2nd input jack to the other amp. If you hear a buzz/hum when the two are connected, it's a grounding problem with the amps being linked together. I tried the test and that was the problem I was having.

He said there are two ways to to fix it. First, sometimes plugging both amps into the same outlet in a room will fix the problem. I was already using the same outlet, so that wasn't it. The second solution is to plug one amp into the wall as normal, but then plug the 2nd amp into a cheap $3 2-prong cheater, and then the outlet, which eliminates that amp's ground connection. When both amps are connected to the ABY switch, the whole connection is working from one amp's ground. It fixed my buzz/hum problem.

Now that the problem is solved I don't notice any major sound changes/problems when using the ABY. I don't have any problems with popping when switching channels either.

As long as I have my little cheater plug with me I'm not worried to use the ABY. The ABY pedal itself is metal and virtually unbreakable. And I don't think you even need to use a battery. If I remember correctly the battery is only for the LED indicators, so if you don't care about the LEDs working you don't even need a battery.

I remember when I first got it and was frustrated with the buzzing I emailed the company about something or another and they replied quickly. That was few years ago. I haven't needed to contact them since.

Since I'm trying to reduce the amount of equipment I use, I don't play two amps at the same time much anymore, but it still works when I need it and it's one of the cheaper ABYs available.

The unit if fool proof for my application. Just switching btwn two amps. No manual necessary.

Never noticed a buzz, a pop when swiching, or any tone sucking. I run it to switch btwn a Marshall JCM900 and a Fender bassman. The bassman is used to power a dunlop/heil talkbox unit. I would notice any popping since the heil sound comes thru the PA and montior system. I rarely use the Y function.

I don't back up any pedals at this point, just fly by the seat of my pants and if it don't work: overcome and improvise. This is a switch and only a switch. Not too much to say about that, it works or it don't. I do tend to take the term "stomp" a little to seriously when it comes to stomp boxes and this tends to be havoc on the actual switch but this happens on all my boxes sooner or later.

I found them to be very helpful and answered all my questions quickly. Sent me what I needed at no charge and told me to call with any more questions/or problems. If you are supporting a company by buying their product, why not give them a chance to answer/solve your problems?

simple simon ease of use, requires 2 guitars and 1 amp, or 1 guitar and 2 amps, cables and Dr. Seus level of intelligence. I use it with 1 guitar and 2 amps. This pedal allows you to use amp A, or amp B or both amps simultaneously. There is a battery which has long life span located on the bottom, easy to get to with normal screwdriver and no machinists trade school certificate required ha!

excellent! I bought this pedal in 1995. At that time used it with fender hot rod deluxe, and line 6 amp, guitar at that time was fender american strat, cables George L. I dumped both these amps (yech) and currently play gibson nighthawk or schecter PT custom with Fender concert amp and my trusty roland jazz chorus 120, again with George L cables. I experience NO pops, NO hum, NO noise, smooth quiet operation, a joy to use. Most of the time I use the A AND B feature, as the fender and roland complement each other beautifully, like a good marriage ha!. Good price/quality ratio 9.8 on the Reichter scale of happiness.

For me it has been and is totally reliable, has never failed me, never made an annoying noise, don't need backup, I just bring spare battery just in case, but the box has been running for 10 years with intermittent use on the original battery, probably will still be working long after I am dead. No loss of tone experienced, built solid, I like the button locations, I like the distance that the buttons are raised from the surface, I like the size of the pedal, well you get the idea chum, dont'cha?

never needed customer support

the style of music I play is irrelevant to this pedal's use, it is impervious to playing style. I would like this pedal to make me coffee on request, but alas, morley will not consider my request.

Mine didn't even come with a manual- just a little diagram that shows the signal flow options......

I bought this yesterday. I willl be returning it today. It just does not do what it says it can.... I didn't buy this to switch b/w amps (as far as i can tell it works great for that) i needed this to have two guitars going into one output at the same time..... but....this box is NOT a mixer. it cut my signal in half. get an ehx mini mixer.

oh yeah- both my guitars were hitting their own ernie ball volume pedal before the morley. it was actually sending the A guitar back through the B guitar's vol. pedal. impedance....contrary to what morley advertises -without some sort of buffer, this box can't effectively send 2 guitars down to 1 output.

i play a parker fly and a fretless steinberger 7 string through a 8 rack space line6 rockman
emulator into a peavey heritage and a line6 pod emulator. it's perfect for the grunge type music i play sometimes.

looks solid enough. i didn't manage to break it in the 24 hours i owned it.

this pedal is extremely easy to use, whether you are combining two inputs to one, or splitting one input signal to two outputs...simply keep track of your ins and outs....keep the battery fresh to let you know what's happening via the led's....easy.....

may reviewers have complained of pop when switching, or tone degradation...i have had none of these problems...it may very well depend upon how you use the thing.....

my son was using it as part of his bass rig, and complained to me that a jack had failed, but it turned out to be erroneous...the pedal has never broken down....

as mentioned previously, we had thought that there was a failure in one of the jacks...when i inquired about a replacement to morley, they sent me not one, but two replacements free of charge, and very quickly....they were simply wonderful....

i use the pedal in a signal chain configured as follows:


|----->Digitech RP14D----->
guitar------>homemade y-splitter cable|
|---->Boss GT5----------->


--------RP14D---->|
|morley a/b/y---------->fender blues jr. or
-------GT5------->| peaver classic 50/212


this rig makes it possible to use sounds from both processors either singly, or together, and route a mono signal to the amp....with onstage micing, one amp is the simplest thing, and one small miced amp is all anyone needs...i have had very good results with this setup....i have been playing and teaching for 35 years, and have had a great deal of expreience with all sorts of gear....this pedal does exactly what i want it to....no more, and no less....

unless you have identical leads bundled like a plate of spaghetti it's almost impossible to get wrong. there is an option to have battery power to indicate the channel in use but if you can't hear well...................

i have a tele fmt and taylor 514ce going into pedal board (overdrive>distortion>phaser>autowah>tremelo>chorus>delay)this is plugged into the morley aby with A going to a hotrod deluxe and B to AER 60. this allows me to play acoustic through the same effects such as phaser or tremelo which i use for both electric and acoustic. it also allows me to use both amps together to give some electric clean sounds some extra top end via the AER.

there is absolutely no loss of power or tone, neither is there any additional noise, hiss pops or anything else at any volume

its totally solid with nothing to go wrong so no backup needed

never needed to contact

play all sorts for 25 years, does the job perfectly so i would get another one. its certainly made swopping electric to acoustic between songs incredibly easy

Simple-plug in whatever you want to split and there you go.

I have had no "tone sucking" occurances with my unit(s). There really isn't any way for this thing to load or screw up your circuit; all there is are two switches attaching three outputs. People who are having noise or tone suckage should:

(1) Change your patch cables or instrument cables!! I have "isolated" many tone problems for both myself and other people by replacing the five-year-old patch cable that they have stepped on, thrown in the back of their amplifier/guitar case/gig bag/duffle bag/etc. or generally abused--then they wonder why there's a hum or buzz or static that wasn't there five years ago.

(2) Replace the battery that enables the LEDs to work. A dead/dying battery can screw up your sound integrity very easily.

I use my first ABY so I can switch between my harp mic (harmonica to all you non-blues cats) and my guitar(s). A is for harp, B is for guitar, in/out port goes to the rest of my effects.

I recently purchased a second ABY to use as a channel switcher for my 63RI Fender Vibroverb (brownface with 2x10 speakers). That way I can adjust my tone (and compensate for different output levels) between harp and guitar more easily.

This unit does not add any sound quallity, but it doesn't detract from it, either.

I have used one of my ABYs for over three years of regular abuse--no problems. I have (and will) continue to gig without a backup.

Never dealt with Morley. I did at one time, own a A/B/C swither that they made, but it didn't do what I wanted, so Guitar Center took it back, no questions asked. I then bought the ABY.

I play guitar/slide guitar/harp/vox in a Texas Roadhouse band called THE SCREAMIN' ARMADILLOS. (Blues+classic rock+outlaw country=Texas Roadhouse music). The fact that I have to change between instruments quickly makes this device indispensible.

I use it with various Lee Oskar and Hohner harmonicas through an 1940's Astatic S200 microphone in input A, or;
62RI Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster (modded to Esquire specs), G&L F-100, or Danelectro DC3 guitar into input B;
this is plugged into my other effects, and all into a 63RI Fender Vibroverb.

Easy. Plug in one amp to A and one to B. Plug your guitar in and you are good to go

I thought it drained some of my signal.

Seems sturdy enough. But I'm taking it back because I still hear the signal bleed in Amp A when the signal to it is off and I am routing to Amp B.

N/A

Doesn't really do what it is supposed to. When I am playing one amp the other should be completely silent. I really don't have the hum everyone talks about though. If you can stand a little signal bleed to the amp you are not using then this is for you.

Bill Wenzloff from Morley here again. If you are having any problems with Ground Loop Hum, it is because of mismatched ground potentials on your amplifiers. There are a few easy ways to diagnose the problem and easy ways to fix the problem. If anyone is interested, give me a call Toll Free at 800-284-5172 ext 12. Being educated beats simply giving up.

Also, if you have any problem with gear, always try to get help from the company that makes the product. In most cases, you'll be glad you did.

Keep the reviews coming (good and bad)! We read them all and take your opinions very seriously.

C'mon,

Not to hate on Morley, but this thing is horrible. Not only do i own one but I actually own two. Same outcome on both. Massive hum, and huge "pops" when i switch. I bought the second one to give Morley the benefit of the doubt. I play through a Peavey Classic 30 and 5150. I can actually touch the pedal(grounding it) and it stops. Some may say it's my equipment but my amps have normal hum without the Morley being used, and i have used it with several different rigs and guitars and again it's the same outcome. I used my friends switch and 'POOF' the hum was gone.

It has never failed on me, I will give it that. But I am getting a Switch from StarTouch to replace it. I can't handle the problems any more. I can only give a 5 due to its well-known problems.

I have never dealt with customer care but after seeing them post on here I feel they are not very customer oriented. Instead of addressing the actual problems (maybe a recall) They instead make suggestions about your rig.

Overall, I would say get something else. So far i have really spent around $120.00 dollars buying two of them, thinking that maybe I had damaged the first one. I can't speak for everyone but seriously i bought two and they did the same thing. Don't waste your money on this product, you will not be happy.

*I have to say this* To those who are getting pissed' and calling others "whiney" get the F@&K on somewhere. This is a place for opinions and reviews. Don't be shitty because someones opinion doesn't agree with yours. HC has helped me make decisions on equipment because of honest people who come here and say their piece, good or bad.

easy to use

the input should not be between the two outputs however....just makes my cords a messier situation

I don't notice any signal loss or bleed over.

What I do notice is a loud "pop" sound from my amps when switching either channel on or off. I can't tolerate it during living performance but at home.....who cares?

If it were lost I would look for something else.....

I've been playing since 1969. I play in our church now every Sunday night.

I don't own this pedal, and have no intention of EVER coming near one of 'em.

I am posting this as a DIRECT challenge to Mr. Bill Wenzloff's recommendation of converting the 3 prong SAFETY plug of an amplifier to a 2-prong non-earthed plug.

See, I know that the safety ground prong (the third one) of an electrical plug is tied directly to the amp's chassis. That means that in the event of a major short to the chassis, the current will hopefully flow straight to the earth, and save everything plugged into the amp (read: YOU and your instrument)

Now, suppose for a second that you defeated that third prong with an adaptor as Mr. Wenzloff has suggested. You have the amp plugged into the switchbox, and are currently running with only that amp enabled. If a catastrophic short happens within that amp's circuits, guess where 4 or 5 HUNDRED DC volts are heading? Yup, right for ya, buddy! And don't think for one second that your house/venue's circuit breaker will save you, either. The filter capacitors on an amp hold enough juice in 'em to STILL give you a very rude jolt at the VERY least, if you're VERY lucky.

If you happen to be running both amps at once, there's a CHANCE that the voltage would go to the second amp, and from there to earth, in which case, you'd likely wreck an amp, but hopefully live.

At any rate, I want to know how you can explain this, "Sir". Because I can't see why in the world you'd be putting your customers lives in jeopardy for the sake of a shoddy product.

To everyone reading this: Think long and hard about what I just finished writing here...

Good day.

I looked at a schematic for this pedal. I've never actually tried one but... On each "output",(for the older units, anyway) there is a 100k resister to ground. I know that guitarists trying to push their preamps hard will be dissatisfied with any signal loss. Cutting that resister out of the circuit might help and is possibly causing some signal bleed under some circumstances (I doubt it). I suspect that some complaints about the signal loss are coming from people who put a passive guitar straight into the aby. 100k resister loss plus signal splitting loss. Maybe I'm wrong. I'd be interested in seeing an online response from Morley.

I've talked to the people at Morley about a different issue and they were very patient and helpful.

self-explanatory :)

no extra noise or signal degradation! I use it on my pedal board to bypass my Morley Power Wah Boost (doesn't have true bypass). To do this I run from my effects loop send to the input on my ernie ball volume pedal, to my Electro Harmonix big muff pi (it has true bypass), to my Boss Chorus, to the input on the Morley ABY. Then one output goes into the input of my Morley PWB and the other goes directly to the amp's effects loop return. I use a split instrument cable to go back to the amp... I have the cable connected between the output of my PWB and the second output of my Morley ABY switch. When I press the "A or B" button on the ABY switch, it truly bypasses my PWB... that way I don't have to push both buttons on the PWB and rock the treadle forward when not in use. My drummer was impressed with my quick thinking, but I am mechanically inclined.

backups are cool to have, but I don't have one and never needed one yet!

as stated in my review for the PWB (power wah boost pedal) I've had wonderful service and great interaction with Morley

see my Power Wah Boost review,... I'm too lazy to keep typing it!

Easy to use. It's an A/B/Y pedal.

This is where I will part the water between good and bad pedals. This one POPS when stepped on for channel switching, and Bleeds the signal from one amp to the other. I use a 100 watt Fender Quad, and a 100 watt Marshall JMP. I don't want to hear any drain in my signal or bleed through from one amp to the other and this pedal fails the test. My smaller amps are powerful too (Fender Super Champ and Princeton Reverb II) and the results are the same. If you want a excellent pedal for this function, that won't bleed through, and is absolutely silent, buy an USA made Startouch! Startouch is the only switch boxes I will ever use again (because their built to last and work as they should)

Doesn't matter. I sold it. This pedal sucks.

Again, this doesn't matter because the product sucks.

This pedal will only piss you off. Buy an American made Startouch, and be happy.

So simple to connect and use you would have to brain dead not to figure it out.

I can't tell any difference in the sound with the box in or out of the circuit.There is no level drop or HF loss.The users who are critical of this product on this point probably have problems that lie elsewhere in their set ups.Also hum loops will always be a problem on a simple switcher like this,just the same as using two amps with a stereo output processor can sometimes be troublesome.There are solutions to the problem that can reduce/stop the hum but I don't consider the prescence of any earth loop hum to be a fault of the Morley,it is merely a consequence and has to be seen and dealt with as such.There are A/B boxes that will provide isolation to the two amps earth wise but they are considerably more expensive to buy and at its price the Morley is fine.

Seems very well built and I don't expect any problems.Other Morley gear that I have owned even back to the big chrome pedals of the 70s has always been very good.

Never had to deal with them

Overall a simple pedal,well made,not expensive and does the job.Consequential noise problems should not be seen as an inherant fault of the pedal itself if they occur but rather as a known condition that has to be addressed whenever two mains powered amps are driven from a single source signal or unit.

Two buttons. If you can't operate this thing you've got some real problems.

I used it to run two amps at once mainly, a Marshall JCM 800 and a Fender Bassman. This pedal kills some of the signal going into the amps and causes humming. Flat out, this pedal sucks!!! After trying to use this pedal and not being happy with the end results I finally went out and bought a Lehle A/B/Y pedal, HUGE improvement. Now I get a strong signal going to each amp and there is absolutely no hum whatsoever. I would NOT recommend the Morley switcher to even my worst enemy. How can a product like this even leave their factory?? Someone there actually thought this pedal was a good idea??

Seems pretty tough.

Never dealt with them and never intend to.

Overall this thing is horrible. Creates a loop hum and kills the signal going into the amps. Avoid this pedal at all costs!! If you need an A/B/Y man up and spend the money and get a Lehle, Framptone or something similar. You get what you pay for!

My cat, Alby, uses her paw to switch amps for me. If you're having a problem, best stick with acoustic guitar for now, champ.

Dear Dufus,

Open it up and look inside the little box. The switches are HARD WIRED. The box cannot be "sucking" any tone. Check out below for dealing with hum issues. It would be very difficult to get a cleaner signal path. If you want the least junk in your signal path, you've got it with this box.

Could be thrown against a wall without a problem.

Haven't needed it. But this box is MADE IN U.S.A.! Stop buying Chinese gear! It's made by miserable slaves ruled by a group dictatorship. Your idiot congress won't do anything about it, but you can - don't buy Chinese!

Basic switch, does what I need and no more. It will last forever. It's made in America - thank you Morley!

Simple as it gets

This thing has a lot of noticable signal loss. I was running it with a 1976 Marshall JMP and a DSL 50... it just destroys you're signal and makes everything sound weaker. This thing sounds like a bag of ass.

As for the hum... that's not this pedals problem. If you have a lot of hum, buy a power conditioner of some kind. You most likely have a ground loop between you're fucking Gorilla amp and Peavey Rage 158.

Piece of shit...

oh yeah... if you are going to write a review, DON'T DO IT IN F$%^ING CAPS!!! See the little light on the top right of your keyboard that says "CAPS LOCK"? Good, now do you see the button to the far left that says "CAPS LOCK"? Good.

IF THAT LITTLE LIGHT IS ON, PRESS THE BUTTON TO TURN IT OFF FIRST YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH!

First off I don't like where the LED's are on this ABY. I think this could have been thought out better. Second, it is not very heavy and seems to need securing to a pedal board or something. And its too small!! I would not use this alone on the floor! Flops around. The manual is okay. But could give more routing options.

Absolutely horrible period!! CLICKS and POPS bad!!! Very noisy indeed. And the HUM is unbearable!! I'm (was)using this to switch between a 5150 and a Marshall JCM 2000. A clean and dirty set-up. This thing also BLEEDS the signal through to the other channel. I found the noise to be just crazy.

Don't think I would be able to depend on this for very long. I took the bottom plate off to put in the battery and the wiring (or lack thereof) was a mess!! The solder joints too! As far as using without a backup I would pick another company for a backup!!

Here is where I think there might be a problem with these guys at Morley. I have not dealt with them yet, (I will take mine back to Guitar Center for a REFUND!)However i've checked other reviews on Morley products on HC and it seems this Bill Wenzloff guy from Morley is constantly logging on here and playing damage control for their products. This is lame. These HC reviews are not for companys to log onto and try to smooth things over. I think they need to worry about putting out a better product and not chase all of the reviewers and try to change peoples opinions about their obviosly flawed product. JUST BUILD A BETTER ONE! And then you won't have to come onto HC with a thousand excuses. Don't take my word for it check out the other reviews on their wah pedals and such. This guy is all over the place. I'm sure he will see this review and have a field day......unprofessional!

I play newer and older rock (Creed, Disturbed, Skynard, Aerosmith,)
and have been playing guitar for about 17 years. Does not help me make music in any way. Talk about counter productive... If it were stolen I would thank the guy who took the damn thing off my hands.

Ease of use if fairly straight ahead. A and B on the left. A or B on the right. It requires three 1/4" cables and one 9 volt battery, which only powers the on/off led lights. I'd rather see a three button setup, with A for one amp, B for the other, and a center one for both. It can also be used to plug two guitar into one amp.

The box does what it advertises, but no more. There is obvious signal gain loss when going through it. Since the original output is constant (guitar), there's less signal when patched into two seperate amps. However, even when running just one of two amps, there's still noticeable signal degeneration than from running directly into the one amp. I'll use the box but I can't honestly say I'm thrilled. It requires cranking gain and presense (if available) on both amps to generate the same actual output volume as going direct. Some loss of both high and low frequencies through this device. In case you haven't heard, the switches do pop, especially at louder volumes.

The unit is typical Morely quality, as far as strength of the actual box. The inside looks clean and well ordered. However, due to performance issues, I'd say its about an 8.

N/A

I play original rock/blues/country/funk, and have played for about 25 years. My primary axe is a G&L S-500, with the whammy-bar locked tight for chord bend accuracy. (didn't want to wait for a hardtail to be special ordered) The two amps I'm integrating with the Morely a/b/y are a Laney LC50 with Bogner 1x12 ext. cab, and a Soldano Astroverb 16 head over a large 1x12 open-back cab. Each has their own mojo, and combining them was my idea of a good time. I'll use the Morely for this, but will eventually seek some with better sound quality, and quiet switching.

I read a review below where someone said they couldn't figure out how to use it. That guy should be beaten to death before he dilutes the gene pool because a monkey could work this thing. For anyone who can't figure it out on their own, Morley posts the manual on their homepage.

I use it to AB between a 5150 for heavy sounds and a GK Micro Lead for clean sounds. I don't what people are talking about when they say it affects their tone, I haven't noticed any difference what so ever in my tone straight into the amp or through the box. It doesn't process your signal, it simply re-routes it. The one thing that I have noticed is that your signal bleeds through to whichever amp you are not using, ever so slightly. For example, when I switch to the GK for clean sounds, a small amount of the signal still comes out of the 5150. It's nothing major, at full volume you don't even notice it, but if you put your ear close to the 5150 while I switched to the GK, you can hear a very faint version of what is coming out of the GK. I thought I might be mistaken, but when I put the GK 15 feet away so that I could clearly distinguish between which cab the sound was coming from, I could clearly hear the sound bleeding through the 5150's cabinet. Part of this is due to the fact that the 5150 could make a mouse fart sound like an atomic explosion, but it's strange none the less.

I've never had a problem with it. I've stomped all over it, dropped it, done everything short of poor beer all over it and I've never had a problem with it. People who complained about the LED not being bright enough need to take their medication and change the battery. If you leave a chords plugged into the "B" jack when you are done, the LED's will remain on, thus they will drain the battery. If you don't get in the habit of disconnecting the "B" jack between uses, you will need to replace the battery often as it will constantly be running the LED. If you are as smart as a chimp and can remember to disconnect one chord between uses, the same battery should keep the LED bright for a LONG time. I've had the same battery in there over a year with no signs of fading LEDs. The unit will still work if the battery is dead, the battery does not effect the operation of the unit, it merely powers the LEDs. So, if you don't care about the LED's, you can use it without ever replacing the battery. If you need to see the LED's, you will need to keep a working battery in the unit.

Like half the world, I had grounding issues between the two amps I was using. Upon contacting Morley's customer support, they gave me a few options on how to diagnose and fix the problem. Very helpful and timely.

It does what it is supposed to. Forrest Gump could use this thing without incident, so if you are having problems with it, there is something wrong with your other gear or your brain. I'm not sure why other A/B boxes cost so much more, maybe they have built in features that this one doesn't. Otherwise, they are ripoffs, because this one does the job for a fraction of what some other A/B boxes cost.

I don't have one of these Sitchers yet, but I am going to buy one. A friend of mine has one and I'm looking to get one. He never had any of the problems people have mentioned here. But here's what I have to say:
1. So what if you have to take the back off for the battery. Are you that busy you can't take 5 minutes to do that. It just goes to show how lazy you are.
2. For those of you who complained that you couldn't see the LED's: You only have the choice of two rigs to switch between, and you should be able to recognize which one you are using at a time. It shouldn't be a guessing game, you know what rig you're using and what one other one you can choose.
3. You should check you're gear. How do you figure this little piece of electronics could be the cause of all your problems.

You guys give guitar players bad names. Stop being so whiney and grow up. Play your guitar. If it's soooo bad you can't handle it, don't come here and complain, change it that's all. I came on here to find out about this switcher, not read about you guys complain about the stupid problems you have.

Hello, Bill Wenzloff from Morley again. I had posted some comments below about using a 2 to 3 prong adapter (ground lift) when you get ground loop hum. THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE TO TEST WHETHER OR NOT GROUND LOOP HUM IS ACTUALLY YOUR PROBLEM. If then noise goes away when you (temporarily) use a ground lift plug, then you have a ground loop that needs to be solved. Continuing to use this ground lift plug CAN BE DANGEROUS. There are a few solutions for ground loop hum, one of which is our Ebtech Hum Eliminator. If anybody in this forum has any questions about ground loop hum or having an issue with our ABY box, please CONTACT me. That is what I am here for. Thanks for the reviews (good and bad) KEEP THEM COMING AND KEEP THEM HONEST.

Hello to everyone, I'm writing from Italy.

I'm pretty interested in buying the ABY switch to jump between my Strat an my Les Paul during gigs, so I won't have the problem of ground loop hum caused by parallel connection of two amps.
Mr. Wenzloff, who is very kind indeed (I had an e-mail "conversation" with him some times ago about Bad Horsie II wah wah I was planning to buy: now I actually have it: fantastic!), suggested that you should lift one of the grounds of the amps to break the ground loop and the hum. This may be a good idea, unless this may cause quite a huge shock hazard.

I read something on the Internet about this problem, just check this link and you'll find an article as a result from a Usenet group discussion between manufacturers and musicians: http://www.guitarnuts.com/safety/clubshock.html

You can also read something about it on the Roger Mayer Crossroads description at www.rogermayer.co.uk or rogermayerusa.com (please note: I'm not trying to recommend that product to you, RM website it is simply the very first place where I read about this shock problems.)
The problem in liftng one of the two grounds is that, in case this amplifier breaks up,a consistent current wil be drawn trough the ground wire of the input cable an then in ALL the ground connections of your guitar, that means (in case you have a Strat,for example):

The metal jack plate
The bridge
The strings

and, if you have metal knobs, volume and tone controls.

I'm quite confident that Mr Wenzloff will soon express his opinion about it after he reads those articles. I do appreciate him and the company he works for,and he himself often posts messages here on HC to make every Morley user know that the company follows its customer always).

I hope this message may be usefull in any way.



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This is NOT easy to use, in my opinion, I can't figure the damn thing out.

Well I don't know cuz I can't get it to work

From what I heard, its a good pedal, I just can't get it to work on my rig.

Well basically, I wanted to use this to switch between my distortion and my phaser pedal cuz I do a lot of switching between the two and I don't want to have to press them both at the same time. Heres the order of my pedals: Dunlop Crybaby Wah -->Digitech Whammy Reissue -->DOD Death Metal Distortion -->DOD Stereo Phaser -->Ibanez Chorus/Flanger. Thats my rig so far, like I said, I want to switch between my distortion and phaser...to go distortion to clean with the phaser turned on at the same time then back again, don't know how to do it and I never go any help. If anyone can help me out, I would GREATly appreciate it!

This box is pretty darn easy to use. Switch between amps or both, or guitars. Don't see how you could not understand how to use this.

I use this switch to split my signal into a Hot Rod Deluxe with an extension speaker, and a Deluxe Reverb. My main Guitar is a Gibson Tennessean. I can only hear minimal volume loss when using one amp but it is MINIMAL! I have enough pedals and control over the guitar to compensate. For those who hate this switch box, it bodes the question: Is it YOU or your GEAR! Probably you. It's a simple switch, no noise. It doesn not change my sound.

Tank

Don't think I'll need this.

I play all styles and gig in clubs that range in capacity from 50 to 500. This box helps me use my amps in stereo and get a bigger sound. I've been playing for over 14 years, gig alot. This is a 'tool' of the trade in my opinion, just like a stage tuner! Simple switch, simple to use, adds great versatility.

simple

IT is the simplest of things to switch a circuit. There is really no way to screw this up. its like attaching two wires together.
yes there is a volume loss when your switching between two guitars....ok...so turn up the volume. Its enherent in analog electronics..when you split a signal...your splitting it...of course its going to be a bit less when you split. But the box does not suck tone..it doesnt do much at all to the tone..just weakens the signal a bit so you turn it up or put a boost in front if you absolutely need that high input power.





Its so affordable and It should be....its a switch and the 200 dollar versions should feel ashamed of themselves.

This really is not a effect in the true sense. Very, very easy to use.

This blows my mind. A lot of people have been bitching about this box being some kind of sound sucking device. IT IS NOT. It does not degrade sound quality at all. I am using this to switch from one relativly processed over driven Laney pro tube 50 head ( acually the clean channel with the gains up there for a SRV sound ), A Boss Reverb in amps effects loop and a Metal zone, Ibanez tube driver and noise suppressor on the floor. The ABY switches this into set up to a Laney Linebacker 100R head that is set crystal clean. You do get a little reverb pop that the linebacker makes when you switch from amp to amp. This box does not effect tone in any way! Down the list of reviews is a Morley tech that should be looked at for you non-believers.

Not much that can really go wrong. I am not going to start backing up my pedals either, so it better work.

Never dealt, never will.

Our band does everything from really classic classics like Uriah Heep's "Stealin'" Molly Hatchets "Dreams" and "Flirtin'" to some Metal like Metallica and Priest. We even do some originals. Been Playing for 20 years. I wish my amp of choice had a real clean channel but it doesn't and I not going to switch. The way the Pro 50 is set up is just too nice to compromise the overdrive trying to get a clean sound. On the "clean" channel the master volume is never over 5, even for gigs, and the pre-amps are all on 10, set like this you can get the most popular electric sounds, Hit the tube screamer and you are in lead heaven, switch to the Metal zone and look out, you are beyond any metal god. This ABY just gives me the choice of a great clean without dialing around my pre-amp knobs. I can't believe some ABY boxes sell for $200.00 when this one works so well and costs so little.

VERY EASY TO USE NO PROBLEMS

I USE THIS TO SWITCH BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT JAZZ BASSES (DIFFERENT TUNINGS)AND SOMETIMES I USE IT AS A MUTE BUTTON I RUN IT INTO TWO SVT350H AMPS AND OUT TO TWO 8X10 CABS

I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE UNIT AND I DONT MIND TAKING OFF FOUR SCREWS TO CHANGE THE BATTERY IT SURE BEATS A FLIMSY BATTERY COMPARTMENT THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BREAK OFF

This is real easy to use, unless you don't want ground hum or noise. Just plug in an amp to each channel. Unfortunately, this is a gamble. If your two amps are not balanced electrically, you will get excessive noise. I used my Marshall JCM900 in the A channel and my 65 Fender Super Reverb in the B channel. The switch works as advertised, but I get excessive noise at all times that is real annoying! I will give it a 2 , in case you are lucky.

This is not the switch you want, if you have a setup like mine. I have the Marshall JCM 900 in one channel (doesn't matter which way-
A or B) and my 65 Fender Super Reverb in the other. It just buzzes and makes annoying noise, no matter how well gounded the amps are, or have a common ground.The louder I play, the louder the excess noise The switch is the problem. I tried the same setup using a Roger Meyer Crossroads A/B switch,which has electronics added and it was quiet. I advise anyone looking for an A/B switch with a setup like mine to go with something like the RM Crossroads or the Framptone amp switcher. You get what you pay for!

I don't really care if this lasts forever. I don't use it.

N/A

Iv'e been playing classic rock, funk, r&r for over 20 years. I am on the neverending quest for tone, and i figured I would use my 65 Fender SR for a "clean" channel with great tone, and the Marshall JCM 900 for the "distortion" channel also with great tone. The Morley is not the way to go for this. I don't worry about losing it-I tossed it myself. I will go with the Framptone amp switcher when I can afford it. At a lower cost is the Roger Mayer Crossroads, which I also recommend. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

pretty ridiculous if you ask me... its easy and flexible...lets ya switch to all or none... diggit.

i use a gibson sg with a boss tu2, boss cs2, boss dd5, boss ph3, and boss trem with a peavey classic 30. i use the aby in the beginning of the line sometimes and i cant ask for anything better...its quite and leaves my tone ok.

pretty cool by me.

marked it down only because there is no input for an ac adapter... you need to get a power converter and plug it in at the bottom, after removing the cover...kinda inconvenient... other than that, i cant imagine this pedal being any better.

A. B. A+B.

Re Dave's post below... This thing sucks tone? What, are you stupid? The signal path consists of 2 wires and a switch, fer God's sake. Have you ever played a gig? If your tone sucks, don't blame a passive switch.

If you're talking about the slight volume drop from each channel when using A+B, well that's what happens with a passive signal splitter. You're also going to two amps now.

It's a couple wires and switches. It sounds fine. Good grief.

Had one for maybe 5 years now, not even a hiccup. Battery lasts plenty loooong time.

Never had to. N/A

It's an ABY switch. Not much to get excited about. It works. It doesn't break.

Whoever is giving this unit high marks in sound must not know what tone sucking sounds like because this pedal is the worst offender I've ever come across. I returned it to Guitar Center as soon as I could. The signal, when compared to plugging straight in, was weak. I swear it lost half the signal.

This is the worst tone suck I've ever come across.

Pretty easy to use as it just acts as a switch. I mainly use it to switch between guitars (e.g. classical and acoustic steel string) either into a P.A. system directly or into a single amp. The only minor gripe I have is having to unscrew the back off to change the batteries. Granted the battery lasts a very long time (as all they have to do is power the LED, the battery isn't required for the switching functionality).

Seems very transparent. I've not noticed any loss or change of signal.

All Morleys are built rock solid and will last forever even if abused. The ABY is no exception. I also own Boss pedals (and other Morley pedals) so reliability as well as sound quality is very important to me.

Morley customer support is the best I've ever experienced. I've had some great customer experiences before (read my review on the Taylor 510 acoustic guitar - those folks are great as well) but I've never experienced this level of customer support first hand. I live and work in the Chicagoland area so had the privilege of having some work done for me by Bill Wenzloff out of their Cary, IL main location. The work he did for me was regarding my NSW Wah (I'll put a review there shortly) and the work was very professional, very friendly and very fast and very effective (addressed my concerns). What more could you ask for? The description of "Incredibly kind and helpful" for a rating of "10" definitely applies to Morley.

The ABY switch does all it should and will last forever. My minor gripe is of an easier way to change the battery however considering how long the battery lasts this is very nitpicky. The customer support is top notch. I've seen Bill Wenzloff's name in quite a few other reviews and I can say firsthand he's the real deal when it comes to giving excellent customer support.

Two standard foot switches spaced apart enough so that I don't step on both at the same time, large white letters are easy to see while one stage, same with the two red LEDs.

I use this to switch between a Marshall DSL401 and a Mesa Boogie MKIIB; both amps are 1x12 combos. On occasion I combine both. Except for a small audible pop when switching between A/B, this unit is very quiet. I don't notice any tone loss with this switch. There is a slight decrease in volume when combining A&B.

I've owned this switch for almost a year now, have used it at numerous gigs and have had no problems at all. My only complaint is the lack of a 9V AC adapter plug; it takes a single 9V battery only, so I unplug my cables when it's not in use.

Never dealt with the company

I looked around for other A/B switches, but settled on this one because of it was readly available at my local music store and the price was very reasonable.

Very easy way to split or combine outputs when using two guitars into one amp or one guitar into two amps, etc. Large switches and easy to read LEDs.

I'm using it to switch between and combine a Fender Stage 100 Head/GE112 Speaker setup and a Fender Princeton 112 Plus. The switching is absolutely noiseless and fully transparent. There is no audible pop when switching and there is no drop in volume levels when combining amps, as I've read in other reviews. I find it to be a reliable and unobtrusive device for its intended purpose.

I believe that it will prove to be reliable because of its simple design and sturdy construction. I have not used it enough to form a solid opinion on this. If I have problems with it in this area I will submit a follow up. I don't think it is wise to ever gig without a backup for any of your critical equipment.

I have no opinion in this area as I have never contacted them.

My playing style runs the gamut from hard rock/metal to folk. I've been playing off and on for about 25 years. I own a couple of Fender amps as mentioned above. A couple of acoustic and electric guitars. I bought this device primarily to switch and combine my amps for certain situations. I was somewhat concerned about loss of signal, etc., but find this device to be transparent in my effects chain--in other words it does not get in the way of my playing or sound.

Its an A+B box, doesn't get any easier.

Doesn't affect your sound per se; but is not noisy. I do hear a slight drop in volume from each of the channels when A+B is combined, however.

This baby is a tank. All I've ever had to do was tighten the screws around the DPDT's due to aggression in stompin'. This is the one thing I never have to worry about.

N/A

I'm not using this to switch amps, like most have mentioned here (and don't seem to be having good luck). I have a vintage Marshall Super PA, which is basically a Super Lead with 4 channels with 4 separate volumes. I have channels 2 & 4 jumpered from 1&2 and I run different OD boxes and effects thru those channels. The ABY is used to switch between a clean, OD rhythm or distorted lead, all at different volumes. The Morley ABY has been great for this. I wanted to try their ABC, but it had gone out of production by then.
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