For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

[Mincer]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

Yeah, it has been a long time since I had an X15, and I eventually got a Digitech PMC-10, which was a great controller, but it would send messages on the release of the switches, not the initial press! (Good going, Digitech!). Then I got a Digital Music Ground Control which I used for years, and now I use a Behringer with a hacked firmware to do my bidding. The main thing (getting back to the OP) is that any good rack preamp (which there aren't many these days) and separate effects processors have to be controlled remotely, and you have to know what you want to do with them, hopefully before you buy anything. Rack stuff is expensive- and heavy- and luckily, research is free.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

I can kinda understand Digitech's logic behind that - rather than hovering your foot over a button while playing, you mash it and then release when you're ready. Still, given decades of "press a button, get a response", they surely knew it was going to be too late to introduce such a concept.

 

[aleclee]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

Why oh why? I can think of at least three reasons not to go that route:

1. Weight: A rack-based rig is gonna weigh more than a head and board full of stomp boxes.
2. Programming: This might sound funny coming from a guy who made a living creating software for a couple of decades but maintaining presets on a rack-based rig is a bigger PITA than I care to take on. In addition to programming the individual devices, there's also the foot controller. Keeping everything in sync can be a major undertaking. Reordering presets to accommodate a set list is tedious at best.
3. Bang for buck:A lot of the older rack gear isn't too expensive but you might have to spend some real $$$ to get something beyond a limited preamp and cheesy multifx. By the time you get the preamp, power amp, effect unit(s), rack, power conditioner, MIDI controller, and cables for everything, you've dropped a chunk o' change.

If you're looking to indulge some 80s nostalgia, knock yourself out. Other than that, a tube-based rack setup is the last thing I'd want as a functional rig. Heck, for live use, I'm downsizing my rig from an AxeFx in a 3U rack and 20 lb. board to simply a 16 lb. board built around an Atomic Amplifire.

If you do decide to go down this path and want to use your foot controller to do more than select presets, do yourself a huge favor and get one with a PC-based editor. Otherwise, you're liable to spend half your guitar time hunched over your pedalboard programming FX states.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

Lerv my VooduValve


.02

:headbang:

 

[big kurka]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

WOW that was a lot of information given and I would like to say thanks to all, so thank you all.

I got to say I had no idea at just how complicated this would be. I was seriously thinking you guys were going to tell "hey check out these couple of preamps and so on"

I think I need to rethink this a little. Maybe you guys can point me in the right direction and maybe give me a better thinking on this.

Ultimately I would like to have a setup that is on the simple side of things and studio like (meaning I won't be taking from place to place), its going to be in a man cave.
I have this idea were I could have a preamp(s) of some type in a rack form that would feed into a tc g-system for effects and controls along with like a rack eq, tuner, and etc.
I wasn't thinking midi controls or anything like. Maybe a channel switcher for the preamp stuff. As for tones there's probably at most a dozen tones that I would really want. I'm not a computer geek by all mean but I like to tweak tones. I would like to have my tones save them and be able to recall them with a push of a button. I would like to use the g-system to recall different fx settings.

I think the retco recording preamp would be cool but it doesn't appear that you can recall settings. Also I like how the engl e570 works, but the flavor of the tone is to modern me i think(not that many video of them on the youtube.

I know I said that I really wanted a tube preamp but after reading all the post from you guys I'm starting to rethink that. As you can see in my signature I have a bunch of amt preamp pedals and I got to say I think they sound pretty damn good. I don't get any fizz from them, they don't sound thin or anything like that. When it comes to the whole digital world of tone I keep reading bad things about it, like fizz with higher gain stuff or thin sounding. As for the axefx I hear both great things and bad things. Also, and maybe I'm wrong, but it seems with digital processors you have to do a ton of tweaking before you dial in a decent tone before you can start playing.

I feel like I'm starting to just ramble. What do you guys think aboutmy wants? What do you recommend for what I'm trying to achieve. Oh and just to be clear I'm going to get the TC Electronics G-System for sure.

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate all of your guys input.

 

[Mincer]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

Well, you would need midi control to call up a sound on a preamp, different effects on an effects processor, and, say, turn on and manipulate a wah. If you aren't going to do the midi thing, there is no reason to get a rig with presets. Something like a good amp simulator and a multi effects pedal is smaller, lighter, and likely to sound better.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: For the Rack Gurus - Really want to start building a rack unit, BUT

In all honesty, after owning my MP-1 for about 20 years now, I use three primary custom patches in it - clean, crunch, and lead - the rest is handled entirely by the TSR-12. The MP-1's EQ is set to flat on all 3, with maybe a tweak here and there to fine-tune it for a given guitar and/or pickup combo.

MIDI is not a necessity, in the sense of MIDI cables connecting multiple devices, for a Man Cave setup. Time simply is not a factor in that case, and you're most likely within arm's reach of it anyway, so changing the preamp to #4 and the FX unit to #22 takes all of about 10 seconds at most (assuming either unit only has step up/down buttons and not a numerical selector). Of course if you're using a collection of BOSS rack items where each one does only one effect, then you're looking at a couple of minutes tweaking each one individually every time you want to change. However, no one does that.


The Wah should be a mechanical switch, unless you're getting a Crybaby Rack or have an expression pedal for an FX unit with a Wah in it.
Wah On/Off would be in the patch you were using, but if you can set it up so that the EXP pedal full Up equals Wah Off, then you're good to go.

But then, you're getting into the complexity again, so I'd stick with an old-fashioned mechanically-switched standalone wah pedal.

However, you would need a unit with a foot controller to turn Delay on/off, as well as most coloring effects.
Scrolling through a parameter/effect list to turn the Chorus on/off is a PITA in most units, except those with front-panel effect-specific buttons.