Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

[Sirion]

I'm not getting one, but I might be trying to put together a slightly less ambitious rig in the spirit of the giants of pro rig design, and I would have been curious to hear if there are anybody here who has ever shelved out a significant amount of money to have a professional build a rack rig for you. If so, why did you do it? how did it sound compared to an 'amateur' rig? what did it end up costing? were the results, all things considered, satisfactory? did you discover any secret 'tricks of the trade'? (or anything else that is fun, really.)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I am thinking that these days, it is a lot less compelling to do so. Back 30 years or more ago, a out of the switching & routing had to be custom designed, and there was no such thing as pro sounding, well designed multi-effects. Now we have things like Fractal and Kemper, and many touring artists bringing a lot less gear with them (it cost $$ and space to carry a big rack). So, unless it is a retro/nostalgia thing, or some rock star is having a fire sale on his/her old gear, there is no compelling reason to get anything like that today.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

That is partially true, I suppose. On the other hand the Kemper/Fractal/Helix could still be the heart of a larger rig, as they have done a lot to rekindle the interest in rack units, which seemed dormant a decade ago.

It would be fun to see ancient rigs here too, of course.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I found a few galleries of Cornish rigs online...I remember Trevor Rabin's massive Cornish rig from the 9012Live video that was played on MTV a lot back in the 80s. I am sure his rigs used very expensive relays and custom fabrications. He was building these by hand...very cool, if not industrial-looking work.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

being close to LA I'll see some interesting rack stuff pop up on CL every now and then. rather than have one built, I'd just stalk that for awhile and pick up some retired musician's rack parts.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

It is amazing to me how much the price has fallen on rack effects, except for a few pieces. Back in the 80s they charged whatever they wanted for them.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I keep going back to the Unearth show I saw a few months ago. Their guitarist Ken Susi's rig was:

Evertune-equipped guitar
Kemper head
Cab

I watched him set up and break down. Total time *for both* was maybe 5 minutes.

Guitar was in tune from the time it came out of the case to when it went back in. No stopping to tune during the set, not once.

Set ends. Turn Kemper off, put it in a rolling airline-style luggage case, and go.

Ken told me he stopped hiring roadies - now I see why. With the Kemper, you get stage-ready sound immediately. No need for a rack when all that processing capability now fits in a 11.73 lb. head.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I had one from 93 - 96 when they were more in style. I assembled it myself, and took it to my buddy at the Mesa Hollywood store a couple times when I'd run into MIDI mapping problems, ground hum, or when the Mesa Abacus foot controller had problems.

One thing I learned is that your input jack is the achilles heel because it's more fragile than ones on an amp. I installed a metal jack on a blank panel and patched it to the JMP-1.

At big shows, I was running two Marshall 412's in stereo off a JMP-1/Hush II/Quadraverb/Mesa 295. It sounded massive. I don't miss moving it around.
I'm really lucky I don't have back problems, because that 12 spc. loaded shock mounted rack was so awkward to lift. I lifted it into a truck hundreds of times by myself. Then again, look what drummers go through.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

That is awesome, GJ!

It is amazing to me how much the price has fallen on rack effects, except for a few pieces. Back in the 80s they charged whatever they wanted for them.

Yes, and this counts even for effects units that are relatively new on the market. I'm not too keen on the new modellers JUST yet (in a hardware generation or two I will probably go that route), but for now setting up a rack rig is so much fun, and cheaper than it has ever been.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

XSSIVE has had a few cool setups. Randomonium as well.

For S&Gs I had a bug to build a rack with an MP-1, JMP-1 and TriAxis feeding a Marshall power amp with an Alesis and a drawer/switcher with a few boosts. Then I realized that would still cost a ton of dough and I already have the tones in my Mesa, Splawn and Fender amps, and more pedals than I can shake a stick at.... so I decided to go pedalboard with switcher. Unfortunately it's still a work in progrsss a few months later.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

There's just not the need for it anymore. Some people (myself included) can still find there they need a few other options such as a fuzz box or something, but digital rigs get us so close without having to have a whole rack of gear. It's a lot different now than it was 30+ years ago.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

Fair enough, if one runs mono rigs and/or like the sounds and portability of the latest generations of modellers. I believe racks have a place still, but respect that many will disagree.

That being said, I was really hoping to see some more bodacious rigs of yesteryears in this thread!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

Here's what replaced it. I wouldn't have if it didn't sound even better.


Or something from the wall of tonal delight.
Egnater Vengeance is gone. Bad Cat Cougar 50 replaced it.

08 Tiny Terror
84 4103
86 2204
87 2550
95 XTC #32
01 Vox AD60VTH #68 .....$350 for sale right now.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

Fair enough, if one runs mono rigs and/or like the sounds and portability of the latest generations of modellers. I believe racks have a place still, but respect that many will disagree.

That being said, I was really hoping to see some more bodacious rigs of yesteryears in this thread!

Definitely not a yesteryear rig cause I am using this right now (minus the TC M350 now replaced with a Steinberg UR824):

 

[Sirion]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

Really cool! Would you indulge me with going through the units? I can recognize quite a few but not all. How do you like the BBE? I might be getting one of them myself, as I run a solid state power amp in my rack, and BBEs have been regarded as something of a secret weapon to spice them up.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

O yeah, racks are nice to look at, even though we all know they are a pain in the butt and irrelevant these days.

All of my gear are pro-audio oriented but looking at the effects I reckon they are made with guitarirsts in mind but sold as a pro-audio gear.

Here we go (from top to bottom):
- Samson power conditioner.
- BBE 482i.
- dbx 231s.
- TC Electronic M350.
- Lexicon MX300.
- Alesis 3630 compressor.
- Focusrite Octopre (mic preamp).

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

The BBE is a quick fix to fatten up the bass sound, instant "...and Justice for All" I would say. That if your sound is thin, but if you have already achieved that sought-after tone, the BBE will destroy it.

It's basically just a 2-band EQ. You'd be better off buying an EQ. Ever since I bought my dbx EQ in 2014, the BBE just sits there as a fixture for visual enhancement.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I like the idea of taking 5 minutes to set up. I use a Fractal AX8, and can be set up that quickly. I may check out the Evertune-equipped guitars now. The humidity here is hell on tuning.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

If they can get a tremolo version that can rival the Floyd Rose in flexibility I will be first in line to get it – I hate tuning!

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Bradshaw/Cornish/[insert top-of-the-line rack builder here], who has owned?

I found a few galleries of Cornish rigs online...I remember Trevor Rabin's massive Cornish rig from the 9012Live video that was played on MTV a lot back in the 80s. I am sure his rigs used very expensive relays and custom fabrications. He was building these by hand...very cool, if not industrial-looking work.

Trevor with Yes and solo has always been a great inspiration to me. Very clever player and knowledegable gearhound, too. And a great singer!

I can't say that his....ummm, busy looking...Strat from his early Yes era was my favorite cosmetically, but he had great tone!

I was just a kid who could barely afford the basics when racks were all the rage, and by the time my finances were better, Grunge had taken over and I already had my core sound anyway with about 4 or 5 pedals. So I missed out on the rack craze other than playing through the latest on Saturday afternoons at my local guitar store. :grumble: One honest salesman in that store did make a good point---he said all people really want is good tube TONE. You don't need all of the rack crap unless you have to pull off a lot of different tones in one night on stage with instant switching.

I guess I am nostalgic, and have been thinking about putting something together just for the fun of it. My tone will always come from tubes, but I don't mind digital for most effects. It's almost too easy to have the Axe-FX II do everything! More like a Mesa Triaxis or Quad Preamp + Simul 295, an Eventide something or other and t.c.electronic G Major, and a really good rackmount stereo graphic EQ setup. Unnecessary sure, but building it is half the fun! There have been plenty of times when a single new effect or other piece of gear has inspired me to a write a new song.