Path switching amps often have two, sometimes three preamp stages that feed into a common “tone stack”(1) — most often foot switchable. The most infamous path switching amp is the Dumble Overdrive Special—an amp so in demand that used Dumbles now sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Another is the Soldano SLO and numerous others

The value or desirability of a path switching amp is the ability to set the overall “clean” tone and volume of the amp and then with a simple push of a foot switch increase the gain and response of the amp-with the fundamental tone already set—similar to a variable boost circuit.

IronHorse amp’s Copperhead™ allows the guitarist to set the clean path volume(2) and tone (Hi, Mid and Low) and then, by adjusting the Gain Control and the Lead Volume controls of the higher gain Drive path the guitarist is able to shift the amp from clean to mild crunch all the way through searing sustain with rich harmonic overtones and presence.

With a quick click of the footswitch you can return to clean rhythm and cleaner lead tones. Click again and the high gain path will produce the rich, harmonic and driven lead tones so popular today—no distortion or “fuzz” pedal needed.. The IronHorse Copperhead™ amps are path switching amps.

Channel switching amps have two, sometimes three, fully independent preamps that allow greater flexibility and tonal shaping. Each channel has a full complement of volume and tone controls – typically High (Treble) Middle and Low (Bass). Some amps also utilize a Presence (or Bright) control to further shape the higher frequencies. The higher gain channels often have both a Gain(3) control and a Lead or Lead Volume control in addition to the tone controls.

Some channel switching amps may have a “clean” channel, a “brown” or crunch channel and an over the top, lead IronHorseTM style channel all in one head—like having several amps in one box!! Individual gain and volume as well as tone controls for each channel allows you to “shape” each of the channels to your specific needs . Each channel funnels into a common power amp.

The IronHorse Dragon Series™ amps are full channel switching amps.

The term “tone stack” is used to describe the cluster of tone controls typically used in most modern amps that control the amount of treble, middle and bass frequencies. Some amps may also have a Presence or Bright control that affects the driver circuit and/or power amp section of the amp.

In the early days of guitar amps, the Volume control was often a single control that varied the overall loudness of an amp. In many cases there was a single volume control and a single tone control. There are still many modern amps and clones of older designs that have a single volume control along with one or more tone controls. As you increase the Volume, the loudness of the amp increases. If the amp has two channels, both channels often had a single volume control per channel.

In newer amps you may see one or more “Gain” controls as well as volume and tone controls. A gain control allows the guitarist to “load” or “ store” gain in one or more early gain stages to overdrive that and subsequent stages, thus producing the preamp distortion (of various quality) in many amps today.