What Is a Line Out Box – And How Does It Work?

If you’ve ever wondered how professional guitarists get clean, flexible signal routing from their amps into effects, mixers, or recording setups, you’ve likely heard the term line out box. But what is it exactly, and how can it transform your guitar rig? 

Let’s break it down.

What Is a Line Out Box?

A line out box is a device that taps the speaker output of your amplifier without interrupting its normal operation. Essentially, it allows you to take a portion of your amp’s signal and send it to another amplifiers input or FX Return, a mixer, other pedals and effects, recording interfaces and whatever else you can think of! 

This means you can blend multiple amps, process wet effects independently, or record without changing the tone of your main amp.

One important note right at the beginning: A line out box is not a load. You always need a speaker or cab connected to your amplifier, otherwise you risk damaging your gear.

How Does a Line Out Box Work?

At its core, a line out box passes the amp’s speaker output through to your cab just like normal, while simultaneously sending a tap of the signal elsewhere. Here’s a simplified breakdown:

1. Speaker Through: The main amp signal goes straight to your cab, unaffected.
   

2. Line Out: A copy of the signal is sent out for processing—this is perfect for running delays, reverbs, or other wet effects to another amp, mixer or DAW.
   

3. No Cab Simulation: The line out tap does not include a cab sim, so make sure your wet effects chain ends with a cab sim, a real amp, or a mic’d speaker.
   

Example Signal Chain:

How to Connect a Line Out Box

1. Connect your amp’s speaker out to the line out box speaker thru.
   

2. Connect your cab to the other speaker thru output on the box.
   

3. Send the line out tap to your effects, another amp, or recording interface.

Why Guitarists Use a Line Out Box

• Wet/Dry/Wet setups: Send your dry amp to one speaker and wet effects to a second amp or multiple amps (for stereo wet effects).
  

• Parallel effects processing: Keep dry and wet signals separate for maximum clarity.
  

• Recording flexibility: Adjust levels and EQ independently after recording.
  

• No FX Loop on your amp: If your amp doesn’t have an FX loop, now you can run processing effects after the pre-amp of your amplifier.
  
  

Limitations of a Standard Line Out Box

While line out boxes are incredibly useful, there’s a key limitation:

You cannot mute the dry amp only while keeping the wet effects running.
If you mute the dry amp, you also cut the signal to your wet effects.

This is where Goodwood Audio’s innovations come into play.

Goodwood Audio Solutions

Wet Dry Wet Box

The Wet Dry Wet Box solves the classic line out box problem: it allows you to mute your dry amp independently while still sending signal to your wet effects. Perfect for ambient guitar setups where you want your wet effects to float freely without the dry signal.

This setup gives you maximum separation and control, making your rig feel bigger and more flexible than the sum of its parts.

3-Channel Line Mixer

The 3-channel line mixer lets you mix 3 mono or stereo signals into one stereo output. It also gives you a parallel dry output as well with a mute built in!

This is particularly useful for wet/dry/wet setups, allowing each channel to occupy its own sonic space.

Buffered Splitter

Goodwood’s 4 way buffered splitter preserves your tone when sending one signal to multiple destinations. Without buffering, splitting a guitar signal can weaken high frequencies and introduce noise. 

The 4 Way Buffered Split allows you to take your dry signal and send it to 4 different places. 
1. Dry output
2. Parallel Wet effect 1
3. Parallel Wet effect 2
4. Parallel Wet effect 3

Typically this is where and how you split your signal into parallel wet effects then you’d mix them back down again in parallel with the 3 Channel Line Mixer. 

Practical Example: Wet/Dry/Wet with Line Out Box

Here’s a typical setup using a line out box with Goodwood Audio gear:

• Dry signal stays clean through the main amp.
  

• Wet effects are processed independently, in parallel to a DAW (or other amps or an amp sim)
  

• Levels, EQ, and tone can be tweaked individually for perfect separation.
  

Conclusion

A line out box is an incredibly versatile tool for guitarists looking to expand their rig’s capabilities. Whether you want:

• Parallel effects chains
  

• Wet/Dry/Wet setups
  

• Recording flexibility
  

…a line out box can make your life easier.

With Goodwood Audio’s Wet Dry Wet Box, 3-channel line mixer, and buffered splitter, you can take the concept further in parallel for even more control over your lines and sound.

Want to Learn More?

Check out our Wet Dry Wet Box diagrams and detailed signal routing examples to see exactly how this can fit into your rig.