Radial Shotgun: Feed Four Amps at Once, Buzz-Free

The Radial Shotgun is a compact guitar-level buffer and signal distributor that drives up to four amplifiers simultaneously while fitting easily on a pedalboard. It takes the single output of your guitar or pedal chain and sends a clean, buffered copy to each amp, using isolation transformers to strip away the hum and buzz that normally wreck a multi-amp rig. For the player chasing a huge, layered wall of tone, it is the small box that finally makes running a stack of amps quiet and easy.

Why Splitting to Multiple Amps Creates Hum

Plugging one guitar into several amps sounds simple, but it rarely is. The moment two or more amps share a signal and are plugged into different outlets, their grounds interconnect and form a ground loop, and that loop induces the low, persistent hum every multi-amp player knows. Passive Y-cables make it worse by also loading down your pickups and sucking away high end. Solving the problem cleanly takes a device built specifically to buffer the signal and break those ground connections, which is exactly the Shotgun's job.

Isolation Transformers and a Buffered Circuit

The Shotgun handles distribution in two coordinated ways. First, a unity-gain buffer with a high 220 kilohm input impedance faithfully reproduces the high-impedance guitar signal so your tone and touch stay intact no matter how many amps you feed. Second, the first output is direct while the other three are transformer-isolated, breaking the ground loops that cause hum. Each isolated output also carries a 180-degree polarity switch so you can phase-match every amp, keeping the combined sound tight instead of hollow.

Mono 1x4 and Stereo 2x2 Modes

The Shotgun reconfigures automatically based on how you patch it. Feed a single source into input 1 and it runs in 1x4 mono mode, sending that one signal to all four amps at once. Connect a stereo source to both inputs and it switches to 2x2 stereo mode, routing input 1 to the first pair of amps and input 2 to the second pair, and rebalancing the load so your stereo image and tone stay intact. One box covers both a giant mono rig and a true stereo setup.

Studio and Stage Applications

On stage the Shotgun drives a multi-amp backline without a trace of ground hum, letting you blend the voice of several amps into one massive tone. In the studio it becomes a routing hub: split your guitar to several amps and effects at once, or send one feed to an amp and another to a direct box so you can reamp the performance later. Its clean, isolated distribution makes it just as useful for feeding a stereo effect into two amps as it is for a four-amp arena rig.

Connections, Controls, and Power

Every output on the Shotgun is a 1/4-inch jack, with ground-lift and 180-degree polarity switches on the isolated channels to hunt down and defeat any remaining hum or phase issues. The buffered circuit delivers less than 0.02 percent distortion with a linear 20 Hz to 20 kHz response, so what reaches each amp is a faithful copy of your signal. It runs on a standard 9 VDC center-negative supply, the same kind that powers a pedalboard, so it fits right into your existing power setup.

Who the Shotgun Is For

The Shotgun is for the guitarist who wants the size and depth of multiple amps without fighting ground-loop hum; for the touring player who needs a roadworthy, pedalboard-friendly distributor for a backline; and for the studio engineer building layered, reamped, or stereo guitar tones. Plug in once, feed four amps, and let the tone get as big as you want it.