Your Band's Gear All In One Rack

[rockstarbassist]

So we've been talking about doing this lately, as it would cut down on load in/out time dramatically, and especially since we're looking at a trailer, seems to be a possibly good idea. Also it would clean the stage up a lot and just leave the cabs which would be very looking.

Does anyone else do this? We'd have pre+power amps for both guitards, plus my Mesa in a 16U rolling shock rack. The only drawback I can foresee is, I use a pedalboard, so I'd need something like a 50' cable to run from my board to my amp, and then any changes I'd need/want to do on the fly I'd have to run over there and do in between tunes. Which isn't a huge deal but still.
Or I thought about (I've seen this done on certain PB's in the Effects forum) is run something small/cheap like an older basic XDS unit from my PB to the rack, while still using my XDS-Plus unit for my bass-->PB connection. Only thing I'd have to do is get one of those 9V battery--> Boss-style pin connector adapters to make the transmitter unit AC powered.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by rockstarbassist

So we've been talking about doing this lately, as it would cut down on load in/out time dramatically, and especially since we're looking at a trailer, seems to be a possibly good idea. Also it would clean the stage up a lot and just leave the cabs which would be very looking.

Does anyone else do this? We'd have pre+power amps for both guitards, plus my Mesa in a 16U rolling shock rack. The only drawback I can foresee is, I use a pedalboard, so I'd need something like a 50' cable to run from my board to my amp, and then any changes I'd need/want to do on the fly I'd have to run over there and do in between tunes. Which isn't a huge deal but still.
Or I thought about (I've seen this done on certain PB's in the Effects forum) is run something small/cheap like an older basic XDS unit from my PB to the rack, while still using my XDS-Plus unit for my bass-->PB connection. Only thing I'd have to do is get one of those 9V battery--> Boss-style pin connector adapters to make the transmitter unit AC powered.

Neat idea, but no I / we don't. It would make more sense if you put a pedal-format preamp on your board then ran a balanced line to the power amp in the shared rack. It would be a "hands off" affair.

50 feet?!? Are you kidding? Where are you planning on stashing this thing while performing? Pull the thing up on stage or close proximity so you at least look like a band.

Riis

[MattyH]

Knew a band that used to tour around. They had 3 guitar players and a bassist. The bass head and one guitar head was in 1 rolling flight case, and the 2 other guitar heads were in another. All fitted with Furman's, tuners, lights, and drawers for cable storage and whatnot. Looked real cool, saved big time on set up, and made everything easier. BUT, they were about 3.5 feet high, heavy as hell, large, and expensive!

It looked like this. Foam padding on the inside along with the metal rack. But theirs were a little more high quality, and heavy duty.



I'd say go for it if you have the room, the cash, and no back problems!

[georgestrings]

Another drawback I can imagine would be access to your amps - it could get awkward if more than 1 person needed to make amp adjustments... My rig takes less than 1 minute to set up - I really don't need to save any more time from that, and figure the guitarists are on their own...

Also, should there be any mishap with that 1 rack, it could really be a problem... I don't think I'd consider such a setup...


- georgestrings

[MNAirHead]

We do..

All Direct... digital board... snake.. IEM... We can sound check and setup within 15 minutes flat...

Oh yea.... I started with new members.. new gear.. and took about 4 months to plan it all out.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

We do..

All Direct... digital board... snake.. IEM... We can sound check and setup within 15 minutes flat...

Oh yea.... I started with new members.. new gear.. and took about 4 months to plan it all out.

You mean everything goes to / thru the board with no onstage enclosures (instrument, that is)?

Riis

[rockstarbassist]

Well we tried it out last night, and I gotta say I was really impressed w/ the results.

It goes as thus:
Furman PL-8 II
BBE Sonic Maximizer (stereo for lead git)
Boss GT preamp (for lead git)
few spacers
Mesa M9 Carbine (for me)
few spacers
2x Mesa Stereo 2:90 power amps (for lead git and singer, who's using a BOSS floor preamp ATM, but buying a Marshall or Mesa rack pre)

And basically since I adjust all my EQ from my bass, it was really simple. Although I knocked a few of the sliders out of place on my G-EQ while racking it. :facepalm: And even though I put them back in their correct spots, it still didn't sound "right" (I know you guys know how that goes! ).

And regarding the 50' cable, I have a backup XLR that's about that long, just in case. One of the main places we play has a pretty big stage, and what we're thinking of doing is just having both full guitar stacks and mine on stage, and then hide the rack behind one of them so just want to make sure I have room. I don't want to get a 30' one and then be 5-7' feet short, ya know. Plus most relatively cheap speaker cable only comes in 10, 25, 50 or 100 ft runs, and 25' is gonna be too short for me to be comfortable.

But yeah I'll keep this updated but for now it looks as though it's gonna work out which is great.

[newwavefrank]

We do this and I love it. All we bring is one rack, roland drums, and speakers. Set up and soundcheck take no time at all. From top to bottom our rack is: Presonus 16 channel board; wireless receivers for guitar, bass, my vocal headset, 2 handheld vocal mics; Sansamp preamp; Sabine tuner; POD pro; Transmitters for Shure psm 400 in ear monitors; Driverack PA; QSC power amp for subs.
We open the rack, guitarist runs a cable from floorboard to the POD Pro, Drummer runs a 6 channel snake to the board, and its done

[MNAirHead]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

You mean everything goes to / thru the board with no onstage enclosures (instrument, that is)?

Riis

Yes... VDrums too.