Re: Which Guitar Rig would you prefer? (rack vs pedalboard)
I had a rack for a while in the mid-2000s with an ADA MP-1 and Soldano SP-77 (at different times) as well as a borrowed Marshall JMP-1, first into a Marshall 9005 and later with a borrowed Mesa 50/50 or Simul 395, but I was never 100% happy with the tone. I was able to channel the sounds of several of my influences; JMP-1 into Mesa 50/50 was instant Megadeth - Cryptic Writings, while the Soldano did a great Alice in Chains tone. The ADA MP-1 is a classic in its own right; Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. As cool as those were, I just liked my Marshall Jubilee 2555 better, and the only rackmount solution for those tones (at the time) was an Egnater or Randall modular preamp with a pretty expensive modded module. Despite never being completely happy with the tone of my rack, it was wonderful being able to switch sounds with almost zero tap dancing.
When I ditched the rack, I ran an H&K combo amp along with the Jubilee using an A/B box. The tones were pretty much everything I wanted, but the tap-dancing was a bit much for a singer, and it was a lot of hardware to carry. I suppose I could've built a similar rack to what I'm considering now, but I just didn't have the money back then. I went back to the Jubilee and an old school board for about a decade before building my current board in 2017:
This board allows me to emulate the dual amp rig with just the 2555 or 2525H, with the added benefit of getting pretty close to the MP-1 solid state clean courtesy of the CS-3. The downside is that I still have to tap dance, even if the loop master reduces it somewhat. I've had low-level rack GAS on and off over the years, but picking up a Lexicon MPX-1 for my studio rack was a turning point. Of course I had to patch it into the Jubilee loop and take it for a spin; of course it sounded amazing, and now I'm seriously pondering the 'what ifs' of a rack again. Perhaps a final straw on the proverbial camel's back is having a practice rig consisting of a POD and ADA MC-1 midi controller, so there's a convenient reminder of those wonderful single button patch changes.
The rack I've been pondering has far more in common with the 'Mini Rack of Doom' than the behemoth at the beginning of this thread. I've carried a 10-space shock rack, and that isn't something I ever intend to do again if I can possibly avoid it. Since I've never been happy with a rackmount preamp, I'm going to run it with either the 2555 or 2525H using 4-cable method. I'm thinking 6 spaces along these lines:
- 1U rear-mounted interface
- Furman PL+ power conditioner
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Voodoo Lab GCX
- 2U sliding pedal shelf
I'm picking TC over a second MPX-1 here because I like the TC better for everything except reverb, and the MPX-1 has a pretty slow load time. I'm thinking G-Force over G-Major 2 for the increased routing flexibility, deeper editing options, and far more solid build quality. I had an original G-Major suffer the typical broken encoder, and I've heard that the G-Major 2 isn't built much if any better. I've also been lusting over one for 15 years and the prices are finally in the realm I can seriously consider.
For GCX loops, I'm currently thinking of something like this, all in front of the amp:
- BOSS MIJ CS-3
- Line 6 M9
- Wampler Tumnus
- Homebrew Electronics UFO
- Fulltone GT-500
- ----------
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- channel switch
That'll leave me with a volume pedal, wah, and tuner on the floor. For a foot controller, I'm planning to pick up an RJM Mastermind LT with a Mission Engineering expression pedal. I'd really love a Mastermind GT-10, but they're out of my price range and a bit bigger than I really want to deal with. I've had a Ground Control Pro and they're pretty easy to program, but RJM has a PC editor with the ability to back up all of your patches, songs, and setlists. The Mastermind LT is also significantly smaller than a GCP for not much more money. I know racks aren't super cool these days, but it's a topic I've always enjoyed for what I'm guessing are similar reasons to the OP.