Got some rack preamp, power amp, power conditioner and hush?'s

[Inazone]

Here's a shot of my rack rig. I went with this particular setup so I could have everything necessary for recording my band's guitar tracks, hence many of the pieces (tuner, HUSH, BBE, power amp) are dual-channel.



If you only need a mono setup, the Rocktron Guitar Silencer is the best *affordable* noise reduction unit I've found, but the IICX really does the trick for me when switching between two preamps. However, the GS is more expensive than the later HUSH models - it was built under license by Rocktron before they actually owned the HUSH technology. I'm a big fan of the ART preamps from the early `90s, but also have a modded ADA MP-1 (not pictured) that is loaded with tones. I just don't need MIDI capability for what I'm using this for, so I pulled the ADA.

[jacksonaxes]

Get a 2101 if you can, I run one through a VHT 2/90/2 it kills in my opinion.

[Ozz666]

Just a note on the Furman PL Plus...those are only power conditioners...they DO NOT regulate the power...they will only protect against surges and spikes. The Furman AR-1215 is the line voltage regulator.

[hippietim]

A budget would be good. How much are you willing to spend? A rack system doesn't have to cost a lot of money but it can

Just like any other gear purchase, decide what's important to you now and learn the limitations of the gear for down the road. Limitations can be a much bigger or smaller deal than you might think. You need to find out if there are workarounds. Here is an example:



I have a preamp that can only change channels in response to MIDI program change commands. That seemed ok when I got it. But then you start to build a rig and realize this can be a pain. What are the pains you ask?

(a) The preamp runs in MIDI OMNI mode which means it responds to program changes on any of the 16 MIDI channels. This is a problem if I want to just change programs on an effect unit but not the preamp itself. It is particularly problematic if you have two patches on different units at the same program location. You end up having to have lots more unique patches which means more shit to remember.

(b) What if you want to just change preamp channels in the middle of a song but not change any of your effects? The normal way you'd do this with a flexible foot controller (like the Rocktron MIDIMate or All Access or CAE RS10) is that you program a switch as an "instant access" to send a MIDI controller message out in response to your foot stomp. But my preamp can only respond to program change messages.

Fortunately, there is a fix for both problems that cost me about a hundred bucks. A MIDI event filter from MIDI Solutions. It's a small box that can take any MIDI message and let you "act" on it - basically you can transform the message into something else. I set it up so that it is inline before my MIDI preamp but not inline with anything else. So when the MIDI controller message comes from the foot controller on a specific MIDI channel, it is transformed into a program change message to the preamp.

Here are some quick reviews on rack gear I own or have owned.

Preamps:

• the Hafler Triple Giant is still reasonably priced and sounds fantastic
• the Soldano SP77 is really good and they too are reasonably cheap
• JMP-1 is fine - lots of presets and decent quality tones
• VHT Valvulator GP3 - yuck, I didn't like this at all - it's not cheap either
• CAE 3+SE - this is in my current cover band rack - it kills. fantastic cleans, tons of gain, great crunch - the downside is that it is expensive. It absolutely kills though.
• Brunetti Mille - this is an absolutely killer preamp. It does all the various Marshall tones from classic to modern extremely well. This is in my larger ridiculous rack.
• PODxt Pro - this too is in my ridiculous rack because it adds so much versatility in terms of effects and additional amp models.
• Behringer V-Amp - their stuff is very hit or miss - the V-Amp is a hit. It sounds great. They are very affordable.
• Rocktron Chameleon - the older ones are great - the original Chameleon and the Chameleon online - they are the same thing with different fact plates and presets. They sound great. The cleans are crystal clear, the distorted tones are very good. Excellent effects. The Chameleon 2000 is not as good.
• Digitech 2120 Artist - meh. It was ok. Everything sounded thin or brittle to me. I got it cheap so I made money when I sold it.

Power amps:

• Marshall 50/50 - I had the 5881 version - it sounded great to me. Some guys bash them but with the JMP-1 and the Soldano it was very nice. Just not as nice as the...
• VHT 2150 - this sounded amazing! It just weighed more than my car and was way more power than I needed.
• VHT 2502 - this sounds even better than the 2150 to me - it's in my current big rig - outstanding power amp
• Mesa Boogie 2:100 - Sounds killer with my CAE 3+SE in my cover band rig. Great low end - I run it with the GE reissue 6L6 tubes. It can get very loud.
• Carvin Tube 100 - nice clean power amp - I think it'd be a better hi-fi amp than a guitar amp though.

Switchers:

• Digital Music GCX - very good reasonably priced 8-loop switcher. I didn't like the buffer on it so I used it without it - the only pain is that the loops don't automatically daisy chain so if you are trying to chain effects you have to create a few 3" cables to from say Loop 1 OUT to Loop 2 IN. It's a good unit though.
• Sound Sculpture Switchblade - this is the shit right here. I can route any in to any out and sooooooooo much more. This is in my big rig. This is the ultimate switcher IMO. You are limited only by your imagination really.

Foot controllers:

• Rocktron MIDIMate - I used it for years with a Rocktron Chameleon - they are affordable and very flexible - I still use it occasionally.
• Rocktron All Access - this is a killer foot controller. You can do darn near anything you want in terms of bank arrangement, instant access switches, etc. It is extremely well made.
• Digital Music Ground Control - very good MIDI pedal, particularly if you have the GCX. It provides a reasonable amount of flexibility in terms of instant access switches and such.
• Behringer FCB1010 - I never actually even used it while I owned it. I got it in a trade and later traded it away. I did end up having to learn the thing because the guy I traded it to had me setup his rack. As-is, I thought it sucked. You couldn't program any instant access switches, very limited out of the box as a general MIDI foot controller. There is a 3rd party firmware update called UnO out there that supposedly addresses the shortcomings - the guy that got my FCB did the update but I don't think he's done much with it yet.

Outboard gear:

• Digitech IPS33B - great shimmer patch! It is the same firmware code as the original Whammy pedal (aka, the good one). Pretty darn good harmonizer.
• PODxt Pro - it gets in the list here as well because it is a fantastic effects unit even without the amp models. This is just a great unit.
• Eventide Eclipse - by far the best effects unit I have ever used. Other units seem like toys once you've used one of these. The most remarkable thing about it is how well it preserves your fundamental guitar sound - even with a crazy wet and whacky cavernous chorused reverb your guitar tone is still there. I don't know how to describe it better than that unfortunately.
• V-Amp - aside from amp models it has effects but they won't make you want to stop looking for better units
• Line 6 Echo Pro, Filter Pro, Modulation Pro - they are amazing units. Every one of them kicks ass. I sold them because the PODxt Pro does 90% of the three units combined while adding capabilities.
• G-Major - It is easy to program and sounds pretty good.
• Roland SRV-3030 - brilliant reverb unit - I use it on our PA now but it was wonderful with the guitar. It has the RSS 3-D imaging techology which is way cooler than you'd think it would be. They can be had pretty cheap - they also have additional effects capabilities beyond just reverb as well. There is a 330 unit as well, it sounds great but doesn't have the features of the 3030.
• Roland SDE-330 - another fantastic Roland unit. This is just a great sounding delay. Also has the RSS 3-D stuff.
• Roland SDX-330 - this is the "dimension" unit in the 330 series - modulations, etc. Another kick ass unit that has the RSS 3-D stuff.
• Roland VF-1 - this is the little half rack space all-in-one unit. It is a little of everything for guitars, vocals, bass, etc. It has amp sims, mic sims, tons of effects. Basically most of the goodness from the 330/3030 series including the RSS technology.

There's been more but I'm tired of typing

[hippietim]

here is a pic during a period of preamp and poweramp "shoot-outs":

[catzodellamarina]

Rack Me

WOW! Even Dolly Parton would say, "Nice rack"


Mine is simple. VHT 2902, modded Rockmaster, G-Major, spacer, Furman
INAZONE - Nice to see another Rockmaster. Hey aren't you the guy who bought our VTM head a year or 2 ago?

[sl2lover]

Drop the Hush if you can afford a ISP Prorack G!! Mine rulz!!

[jk2171]

Just a note on the Furman PL Plus...those are only power conditioners...they DO NOT regulate the power...they will only protect against surges and spikes. The Furman AR-1215 is the line voltage regulator.

My bad. Good catch, Joel!

[Inazone]

INAZONE - Nice to see another Rockmaster. Hey aren't you the guy who bought our VTM head a year or 2 ago?

Yup, that was me. I ended up selling it (for what I paid) to a guy whose band shares our practice space. He only needed a single channel and no effects, while I prefer 2+ channels and a loop or onboard effects. I used it for a couple of gigs and liked it, but he was in a bind and I didn't *need* it. Good amp, though.

The Rockmaster seems pretty cool so far. I initially had some issues with it, but it's working fine now. I'm planning to use it to record rhythm tracks and use the ART DST-4 for leads.

[catzodellamarina]

VTM - I'm glad it went to some good homes & good use.

Rockmaster - I got mine modded by Jerry Pinelli back when he only done a few RM's. It's been fantastic since. There's so much more tone he uncorked. The knobs have a greater range. I visited his site recently and he now has a couple variations for RM mods.

[Robotechnology]

A budget would be good. How much are you willing to spend? A rack system doesn't have to cost a lot of money but it can

Just like any other gear purchase, decide what's important to you now and learn the limitations of the gear for down the road. Limitations can be a much bigger or smaller deal than you might think. You need to find out if there are workarounds. Here is an example:



I have a preamp that can only change channels in response to MIDI program change commands. That seemed ok when I got it. But then you start to build a rig and realize this can be a pain. What are the pains you ask?

(a) The preamp runs in MIDI OMNI mode which means it responds to program changes on any of the 16 MIDI channels. This is a problem if I want to just change programs on an effect unit but not the preamp itself. It is particularly problematic if you have two patches on different units at the same program location. You end up having to have lots more unique patches which means more shit to remember.

(b) What if you want to just change preamp channels in the middle of a song but not change any of your effects? The normal way you'd do this with a flexible foot controller (like the Rocktron MIDIMate or All Access or CAE RS10) is that you program a switch as an "instant access" to send a MIDI controller message out in response to your foot stomp. But my preamp can only respond to program change messages.

Fortunately, there is a fix for both problems that cost me about a hundred bucks. A MIDI event filter from MIDI Solutions. It's a small box that can take any MIDI message and let you "act" on it - basically you can transform the message into something else. I set it up so that it is inline before my MIDI preamp but not inline with anything else. So when the MIDI controller message comes from the foot controller on a specific MIDI channel, it is transformed into a program change message to the preamp.

Here are some quick reviews on rack gear I own or have owned.

Preamps:

• the Hafler Triple Giant is still reasonably priced and sounds fantastic
• the Soldano SP77 is really good and they too are reasonably cheap
• JMP-1 is fine - lots of presets and decent quality tones
• VHT Valvulator GP3 - yuck, I didn't like this at all - it's not cheap either
• CAE 3+SE - this is in my current cover band rack - it kills. fantastic cleans, tons of gain, great crunch - the downside is that it is expensive. It absolutely kills though.
• Brunetti Mille - this is an absolutely killer preamp. It does all the various Marshall tones from classic to modern extremely well. This is in my larger ridiculous rack.
• PODxt Pro - this too is in my ridiculous rack because it adds so much versatility in terms of effects and additional amp models.
• Behringer V-Amp - their stuff is very hit or miss - the V-Amp is a hit. It sounds great. They are very affordable.
• Rocktron Chameleon - the older ones are great - the original Chameleon and the Chameleon online - they are the same thing with different fact plates and presets. They sound great. The cleans are crystal clear, the distorted tones are very good. Excellent effects. The Chameleon 2000 is not as good.
• Digitech 2120 Artist - meh. It was ok. Everything sounded thin or brittle to me. I got it cheap so I made money when I sold it.

Power amps:

• Marshall 50/50 - I had the 5881 version - it sounded great to me. Some guys bash them but with the JMP-1 and the Soldano it was very nice. Just not as nice as the...
• VHT 2150 - this sounded amazing! It just weighed more than my car and was way more power than I needed.
• VHT 2502 - this sounds even better than the 2150 to me - it's in my current big rig - outstanding power amp
• Mesa Boogie 2:100 - Sounds killer with my CAE 3+SE in my cover band rig. Great low end - I run it with the GE reissue 6L6 tubes. It can get very loud.
• Carvin Tube 100 - nice clean power amp - I think it'd be a better hi-fi amp than a guitar amp though.

Switchers:

• Digital Music GCX - very good reasonably priced 8-loop switcher. I didn't like the buffer on it so I used it without it - the only pain is that the loops don't automatically daisy chain so if you are trying to chain effects you have to create a few 3" cables to from say Loop 1 OUT to Loop 2 IN. It's a good unit though.
• Sound Sculpture Switchblade - this is the shit right here. I can route any in to any out and sooooooooo much more. This is in my big rig. This is the ultimate switcher IMO. You are limited only by your imagination really.

Foot controllers:

• Rocktron MIDIMate - I used it for years with a Rocktron Chameleon - they are affordable and very flexible - I still use it occasionally.
• Rocktron All Access - this is a killer foot controller. You can do darn near anything you want in terms of bank arrangement, instant access switches, etc. It is extremely well made.
• Digital Music Ground Control - very good MIDI pedal, particularly if you have the GCX. It provides a reasonable amount of flexibility in terms of instant access switches and such.
• Behringer FCB1010 - I never actually even used it while I owned it. I got it in a trade and later traded it away. I did end up having to learn the thing because the guy I traded it to had me setup his rack. As-is, I thought it sucked. You couldn't program any instant access switches, very limited out of the box as a general MIDI foot controller. There is a 3rd party firmware update called UnO out there that supposedly addresses the shortcomings - the guy that got my FCB did the update but I don't think he's done much with it yet.

Outboard gear:

• Digitech IPS33B - great shimmer patch! It is the same firmware code as the original Whammy pedal (aka, the good one). Pretty darn good harmonizer.
• PODxt Pro - it gets in the list here as well because it is a fantastic effects unit even without the amp models. This is just a great unit.
• Eventide Eclipse - by far the best effects unit I have ever used. Other units seem like toys once you've used one of these. The most remarkable thing about it is how well it preserves your fundamental guitar sound - even with a crazy wet and whacky cavernous chorused reverb your guitar tone is still there. I don't know how to describe it better than that unfortunately.
• V-Amp - aside from amp models it has effects but they won't make you want to stop looking for better units
• Line 6 Echo Pro, Filter Pro, Modulation Pro - they are amazing units. Every one of them kicks ass. I sold them because the PODxt Pro does 90% of the three units combined while adding capabilities.
• G-Major - It is easy to program and sounds pretty good.
• Roland SRV-3030 - brilliant reverb unit - I use it on our PA now but it was wonderful with the guitar. It has the RSS 3-D imaging techology which is way cooler than you'd think it would be. They can be had pretty cheap - they also have additional effects capabilities beyond just reverb as well. There is a 330 unit as well, it sounds great but doesn't have the features of the 3030.
• Roland SDE-330 - another fantastic Roland unit. This is just a great sounding delay. Also has the RSS 3-D stuff.
• Roland SDX-330 - this is the "dimension" unit in the 330 series - modulations, etc. Another kick ass unit that has the RSS 3-D stuff.
• Roland VF-1 - this is the little half rack space all-in-one unit. It is a little of everything for guitars, vocals, bass, etc. It has amp sims, mic sims, tons of effects. Basically most of the goodness from the 330/3030 series including the RSS technology.

There's been more but I'm tired of typing

HOLY!! And I thought I was bad! Rock on!

[GuerillaPete]

I'm preparing to do some gigging again in 2007

What kind of gigging? Is it a heavy, long distance road tour or a local gig?

If it's local. May I suggest you save your back and go "light". Perhaps a Line 6 Floor unit and a Crate Powerblock. That and two 1x12 cabs. You're set.

PT

[yard dawg]

Has anyone tried the new Carvin pre that Frank Gambale uses? Maybe thats a good one for ya dude

[charvelguy]

Leave it to Tim to deliver on presentation.. bullets and all.

[Freyr]

I'd just like to throw in that Alesis makes a mean power conditioner. The PowerTrip8. Dirt cheap too.