Can I do this with an ENGL E530?

[Riga Crypto]

I have recently bought an ENGL E530 preamp and I've run into a little problem.
I want to use it live, plugging it into the fx return or even the input of a head (I'll get a power amp sooner or later).

Trouble is, I want two tones out of it: clean, which would be on the clean channel with the hi/lo gain in the low position, and heavy, which would be lead channel with hi gain. Now, if I get a footswitch with 2 switches I'd have to step on both of them to switch between the two tones. Getting a MIDI interface and a MIDI pedal board would be overkill. I have a mono footswitch that works, but keeps the hi/lo blocked on hi.

So I'm thinking, is there any way I could rig the mono footswitch to switch both channel and hi/lo at the same time, perhaps fitting a stereo jack on it? Or do I need to open it up and put a stereo cable on it, too?

My grasp of electricity and circuits is rather limited, I'm afraid, so I'm not sure this would work and I'd like to have a few better-informed opinions before I go and mess up the poor footswitch.

 

[chaosmonger]

Digging up an oold thread, because I just got an e530 and I have the exact same problem Mr. Riga Crypto has (or had). I don't see myself using the clean/hi gain or lead/lo gain modes of the preamp (not live, at least), and I was wondering about the same: being able to switch channel and gain at the same time with just one tap.

I already have a single footswitch I use to switch channels in my custom tube amp, and the pre is intended to be used for gigs outside my hometown, so if I could use the same switching device it would be freaking cool.

Can any of you guys (with some electronics knowledge) help me out?

 

[AdamWathan]

Part of me thinks that if you just plug a single relay footswitch with a mono cable into that TRS jack on the back of the preamp that it will switch both at once, since it's just tip-sleeve on the mono cable and the sleeve will be making contact on both the sleeve and ring connectors on the internal jack which are normally used to separate the two functions... Failing that, if you can find a cable that is TS on one end and TRS on the other where it's wired to send the same signal from the TS end to both the sleeve and ring connectors on the TRS end, that should theoretically do it...

 

[Riga Crypto]

Well, I gave up on that idea because I usually use the engl live through whatever head is available, and I use a single footswitch to bypass the engl. So I'm not using its clean channel at all. It's a bit of a waste, but that's the best I could come up with.

Edit: I just saw forbidden's post and I have to add that it doesn't really work. Using a mono footswitch blocks the other channel in the on position (i.e. high gain lead/high gain clean)

 

[alan1990]

re wire the 2 button foot switch unsolder one switch and solder those wires on top of the same ones on the other switch. that should switch both at the same time. I did the same thing with my 5150 i wanted the fx loop off on the lead channel and it on for the rhythm channel, and well it worked wonders.

 

[AdamWathan]

re wire the 2 button foot switch unsolder one switch and solder those wires on top of the same ones on the other switch. that should switch both at the same time. I did the same thing with my 5150 i wanted the fx loop off on the lead channel and it on for the rhythm channel, and well it worked wonders.

Yeah this should do it for sure