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Let's talk about the TRS to Dual Mono Splitter

Depending on the situation, you may need a TRS splitter. A TRS splitter splits a TRS plug's Tip and Ring signal into two independent mono plugs. Often this is purchased as a Y-Cable.

There are a variety of products that do this. Where it's beneficial to have a splitter is with the Rick-O-Sound and the Jerry Garcia style OBEL (On-Board Effects Loop).

Rickenbacker's Rick-O-Sound

On some Rickenbacker instruments, there are two output jacks on the guitar. One labeled "Standard" and the other "Rick-O-Sound." Then Standard accepts a standard 1/4" mono plug, and the Rick-O-Sound accepts a TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) stereo plug.

When plugged into the Rick-O-Sound TRS output, the pickups are individually wired (Bridge going on one conductor and the Neck to another). Both signals are sent to separate amps or effects. Some musicians look for a Y-Cable, but it can be difficult to find the proper lengths and durability to meet their needs. That’s where the TRS to Dual Mono splitter comes in very handy.

With the TRS to Dual Mono Splitter, you can run a single TRS cable from the instrument to the splitter. You can add a pair of standard mono instrument cables from the splitter. You have the flexibility to change lengths (or switch to patch cables, etc.) at any time or as needs change without having to change the entire setup.

Check out this great video where Dan Hildebrand demonstrates his Rickenbacker set up with Rattlesnake Cables and the Rattlesnake TRS to Dual Mono Splitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2veN5iG3uQ

Jerry Garcia OBEL

When Jerry Garcia was playing with the white Travis Bean TB500, he began working with the OBEL option. The OBEL (On-Board Effects Loop) is an effects loop running through the guitar circuitry instead of the signal going from guitar to pedals to amp. With this setup, two cables are required. One cable is a standard mono instrument cable that would go to an amp (or pedals to amp). The second cable is a TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) Stereo cable acting as send and return of the effects loop (which would be an array of pedals on the ground). In the past, this would need to be a Y-Cable with various lengths. With the TRS to Dual Mono Splitter, a single TRS of any length can be used to go from guitar to splitter. To create the send and return effects loop, the player can use short mono instrument cables or patch cables to and from the splitter to effects pedals on the floor.

With the TRS to Dual Mono Splitter, you have the flexibility to change cables and lengths depending on the application or situation.

The advantage of going with a splitter is that the strain of the ground split is contained in a rugged enclosure and not reliant on the cable. Cable strain can lead to cable failure. I'm sure some of you had Y-Cables fail.

We are very partial to Splitters vs. Y-Cables and offer a variety of splitters such as our Mono to Dual Mono Splitter, Stereo to Dual Stereo Headphone Splitter and our super popular TRS to Dual Mono Splitter. All are passive (no power), simple and built to last!

Below is a listing of our Recent Articles

Your Rick-O-Sound Not Working?

Here at Rattlesnake Cable Company, we field many calls and emails about the Rickenbacker® Rick-O-Sound feature. Usually, these calls are all related to the Rick-O-Sound (or Ric-O-Sound) functionality not behaving as expected. Over the years, I started to notice a trend in relation to these calls, and wanted to basically create a checklist of reasons why your Rick-O-Sound is not working correctly. Some are obvious, but I'm adding them since I do get calls for this. So here are seven reasons...

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Custom Stage Cable Looms

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TRS cables vs. TS Cables. What's the difference?

A question this often asked is, “What is the difference between a TRS and a TS cable?” This is a frequent question and has a lot of information associated with it. We wanted to provide some answers to some of the most common questions surrounding this simple yet complex topic. We thought the best approach was to break down the various questions we get since there are several angles to the answer. TRS Cables vs TS Cables The first fundamental to understand is that the underlying cables are...

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What is the perfect guitar cable length?

What is the perfect guitar cable length? At Rattlesnake Cable Company, we often get asked, "what is the perfect guitar cable length?" That is a difficult question to answer without knowing some of the critical variables and applications for the musician. But before we get started, let's start with some of the common questions. Are long guitar cables bad? Yes and no. Typically, extremely long guitar cables can be a problem due to cable capacitance. The longer the run, the more capacitance can be...

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What Is Rick-O-Sound? And what do you need?

What is the Rickenbacker® Rick-o-Sound (Ricko sound)? On the Deluxe Rickenbacker® models, they introduced the Rick-O-Sound circuit in their instruments. The Rick-O-Sound separates the two pick-ups (bridge and neck) into separate, independent lines that require a TRS (aka Balanced or Stereo) cable. You can then use these individual lines and send them to specific amps, pedal setups, etc., via our TRS to Dual Mono Splitter. This split signal handling is managed via a separate output jack...

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Reviews on Google

Tommy Springer
3/12/2021
What an awesome product!!! The customer service is outstanding as well!!! Keep up the great work!!!

Scott Roland
12/4/2023
TESTIMONIAL: First time purchase based upon research and reviews. All I can say is "WOW" and "Why didn't I buy sooner". Amazing product that is high quality and great sounding. Materials and colors are stunning. Pairs perfectly with my recent bass purchase: Ibanez ANB205 Adam Nitti Signature 5-String Bass Transparent Wine Red Burst. Highly recommend!!!!! THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR SERVICE: Exceptional customer service! Wish everyone else was this amazing. WHAT WAS PURCHASED: 10' Snake Head in Oxblood with Neutrik Straight Gold (connected to instrument) to Neutrik Straight Gold.

Tommy Springer
3/12/2021
What an awesome product!!! The customer service is outstanding as well!!! Keep up the great work!!!

Alan Henager
6/21/2022
I was honestly a skeptic, and figured since I only use 10' cables for recording, cable quality would make little difference. I always used cheap cables until I got tired of them failing on me and bought a 10' Rattlesnake cable and a couple of jumper patch cables for my effects loop. I was surprised to find that apparently my instrument cables had apparently been a significant noise source. The Rattlesnake cable was completely silent even with guitars I just thought had noisier pickups. In addition, the jumper cable I was using on my board apparently was draining quite a lot of high-end off, which I learned after swapping in one of the Rattlesnake jumpers. I ended up with a second order to replace all the patch and jumper cables in my setup, and a spare 10' cable. My new setup clearly retains more top end and is more quiet than I thought was possible. I didn't play a lot of high gain before and just accepted the noise when I did, but even high gain is no problem now. I'm sold!

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Let's talk about the TRS to Dual Mono Splitter

Rickenbacker's Rick-O-Sound

Jerry Garcia OBEL

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