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I've always used heads and cabinets, but was always wondering why some people use rack mounted systems. Are they used with heads, do they replace heads? What are the benefits and drawbacks compared to using a head with a cabinet. Any info. is hugely appreciated, as I continue my quest for 'the' tone! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
If you are going to go entirely rack, you would replace a head with a preamp and poweramp or get a rack mounted head (like the Racktifier). Some people love the flexibility a rack based system provides - 2 popular preamps, the Mesa Triaxis and the Marshall JMP1 are midi controlled and allow you to save patches with different settings, so you could have more tones at your finger tips than you might with a regular head.
The benefits would most likely be flexibility and the fact that you can choose what preamp and power amp you want in your system, theoretically giving you more tone shaping options. The drawbacks include the fact that generally they are heavy as all hell, especially if you have a refrigerator sized rack, and they can get expensive quick. -
Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
you can also just go with a small rack system used in conjunction with your existing head. replace all those pedals and stuff and get a nice effects system like a Gmajor, get a nice rack mounted tuner thats always on with big LEDs, maybe get a big ass EQ to shape your tone with and get a Sonic maximizer or whatever the hell else you want! thats the fun of rack systems.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
yeah, what he said. basically, when fully going rack (that means building an entire rack rig, not just effects, tuner, wireless and the likes), you'll have a very versatile rig (after all that's pretty much the point of owning a rack, it's like the all tube version of a line 6 [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ) that you can customize according to your needs by swapping out single components. as for the con's, it's gonna be expensive, heavy, and in general a pain in the ass to carry around.
plus it's not as "pure" sounding as a tube head....in the words of iced earth mastermind john schaffer
" I do not recommend rack units and processors for recording. They sound like shit. If you want power you need a powerful tube amp. Often those processors sound like an "attack of the killer mosquitoes" instead of a guitar."Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
There's some neat rack gear around for cheap, like the Peavey Rockmaster preamp (I had one of those), which I'm told you can run into the 'return' on another tube amp, so I could have run that into my Fender Concert, and gotten a low priced high-gain 3 channel switcher. There's some cool tube power amps from Mesa, and even Peavey, and the peaveys are typically cheap. I think I paid about less than $400 total for the rockmaster preamp and the classic 50/50 power amp, -which is a pretty good price for 3 channels of all tube.
You get one good power amp, and you can mess around with several different preamp just for experimentation.
I don't quite 'get it' as far as those huge racks of the '80s, all those effects and noise gates... A good way to start would be to keep an eye out for a nice power amp, -the peaveys are actually quite good, there's a lot of cool used preamps from ADA and Rocktron for cheap these days. Add a nice rack effects unit (like an alesis) and you could have a lot of fun. Or use a POD as your preamp, that's fair too.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
I'm in the final stages of setting up my rack rig, and my suggestion is that you have a specific goal in mind when buying the various components. For example, I have always used a pedalboard and single-channel tube amps for my live rig. The sound is great, but that rig is very much a "one trick pony". With a little digging, I was able to find rackmount components that would give me the sound I like in a studio-friendly configuration. Plus, if I play shows where a shared backline is supplied, I can just plug in my rack rig instead of lugging around a pedalboard, amp and cab.
My only "warning" would be to avoid overwhelming yourself. Don't buy expensive gear if you will only use 10% of the features, or won't be able to use them effectively in a playing environment. There's no denying the ease of use of a simple amp or stompbox.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
A rack system doesn't have to be big. I use a rocktron pirhanha -> Xpression -> Velocity 150 and control it with a MidiXChange controller.
Very compact (3 rack spaces), relatively light, drives 2 cabs and is very loud. Only other thing I need is my wah.
I still want to replace the velocity with a tube amp. Gonna pick up a VHT 2/50/2 as soon as I assemble the funds. That's still only 4 rack spaces total. A bit heavier, but I bet still lighter than a tube head + effects pedal board.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
So if replacing a head for instance, the pre-amp and power amp have tubes in them right? It's not digital or solid-state?
Also, I was thinking of going with a ENGL Powerball head...if I wanted some effects like flanger, chorus (for cleans),etc. I could go with the small rack config (eq, effects, tuner), right? Would a rack like that be overkill with the ENGL?Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
[ QUOTE ]
So if replacing a head for instance, the pre-amp and power amp have tubes in them right? It's not digital or solid-state?
Also, I was thinking of going with a ENGL Powerball head...if I wanted some effects like flanger, chorus (for cleans),etc. I could go with the small rack config (eq, effects, tuner), right? Would a rack like that be overkill with the ENGL?
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It's not overkill if you need it! If you are going to use a head AND a rack, you might look into finding items that combine multiple functions or only take half a space. For instance, I have a Furman PL-tuner that combines a power conditioner with a tuner. I also have half-space units such as the ART Tube EQ and Rocktron Hush II. Boss used to make a line of half-space effects also.
Just as with regular amps, rack preamps and power amps are available in solid state or tube. My rack preamp is a solid state ART DST-4, but I run it through a tube parametric EQ and into a tube power amp, so it still sounds great. Solid state power amps such as the Rocktron Velocity are very nice despite not having tubes. Then there are hybrids like the old ADA Microtube power amps that are solid state power amps that also have preamp tubes to "warm up" the sound, although opinions differ on how well that works.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
Thanks for all the info guys, especially InAZone. I appreciate it hugely. I'm going to try and check some things out based on these reccomendations.Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
[ QUOTE ]
So if replacing a head for instance, the pre-amp and power amp have tubes in them right? It's not digital or solid-state?
Also, I was thinking of going with a ENGL Powerball head...if I wanted some effects like flanger, chorus (for cleans),etc. I could go with the small rack config (eq, effects, tuner), right? Would a rack like that be overkill with the ENGL?
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I would suggest looking into the Engl E570 preamp if you are interested in the Powerball. I have one and it just crushes.Good deals with:
Metal Medal II, Tonyl11Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
Thanks for the recommendation. Is the e570 comparable in price to the Powerball?Comment
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Re: What are the basics of starting a rack system?
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I would suggest looking into the Engl E570 preamp if you are interested in the Powerball. I have one and it just crushes.
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+1, and yes it's about the same price as the Powerball. The E570 is basically the ENGL Special Edition's Preamp section with one less efx loop.Comment
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