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Anyone going back to or still using a rack - even without a cab for DI/IEM?

#5
beans-on-toast said:
I use racks at home for recording equipment. My back won’t let me take anything outside. It’s all about the total weight, ATA grade racks are heavy. A small light weight rack as you described is manageable.
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Jennifer Batten the guitarist said that in the 1980s she carried a refrigerator to gigs - her rack system. Now she has an mfx. Much easier. ;)
 
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#6
I'm using vintage SKU rack cases to hold my big amp/preamp/rack gear, and I put foam underneath whatever gear is on the bottom for support and a bit of shock absorption. The SKUs are light enough that I don't have any trouble with transport.

OTOH, I have an SA200 in an ATA case, and this racked amp weighs a gajillion pounds and I may never gig with it again.
 
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#7
SteveC said:
So I am debating dumping my little board and getting a head (Genzler Kinetix) to use as my pre/DI and rack it with a compressor and a wireless for my bass. Or maybe just leave it unracked and use my current Nano board with my Shure GLXD+ and maybe an Empress Compressor.

Am I nuts?
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I bought a badass little TC Electronics amp from Sweetwater...not even $200. Will use it for recording, as it sounds awesome. But, live, I will stick to the hidden gem that is Zoom's MS60B.
 
#8
SteveC said:
So I am debating dumping my little board and getting a head (Genzler Kinetix) to use as my pre/DI and rack it with a compressor and a wireless for my bass. Or maybe just leave it unracked and use my current Nano board with my Shure GLXD+ and maybe an Empress Compressor.

Am I nuts?
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I am still rearranging things in the racks but am overall very happy with the results and options.
: )
20260113_224933.jpg
 
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#10
I joined a “silent stage” band 3 years ago. My first endeavor without a cab, changing to IEM’s. I had no gear to prep me so I just brought my 900W genz benz streamliner and ran the same bass rig as I always had…sans cab. Now 3 years later I have dumped EVERYTHING. My pedalboard, my DI, and have 1 pedal. An HX stomp. Its my everything. DI, Effects, etc. Were at a point where its simply not necessary to lug anything anymore. I mean HARD CASES aren't even used anymore.

if it makes you feel better or the sound quality is worth luggin a rack around, then hey….knock yerself out. But the reality is, you can get a fantastic tone AND every feature you need, likely in a single small box that’ll fit in the pocket of your gig bag. Took me three years to accept that, so I’ll always understand the opposing view.
 
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#13
I've been playing small gigs with a rack preamp and small power amp in an SKB 2U rack bag on top of a homebuilt 1x12 cabinet (Eminence BP122, "medium sealed" reference design), plus a small pedalboard in front of it. Rack bag and speaker are each under 30 lbs., easy carry. Coffeehouse? Turn it down! Large room with PA support? Throw a mic in front of it. Always sounds good.

If I need to be loud, I have an SVT-3Pro in a 4U heavy duty rack, usually accompanied by a preamp (I switch preamps for fretted/fretless). That rig's a beast to haul, as is the 2x10 cabinet I use with it. It only comes out if I need a lot of stage volume or to carry a large room. The band helps me move it (my days of lifting a 75 lb. cab by myself are over).

Yeah, old skool, I know. :laugh:
 
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#15
pb9717 said:
I joined a “silent stage” band 3 years ago. My first endeavor without a cab, changing to IEM’s. I had no gear to prep me so I just brought my 900W genz benz streamliner and ran the same bass rig as I always had…sans cab. Now 3 years later I have dumped EVERYTHING. My pedalboard, my DI, and have 1 pedal. An HX stomp. Its my everything. DI, Effects, etc. Were at a point where its simply not necessary to lug anything anymore. I mean HARD CASES aren't even used anymore.

if it makes you feel better or the sound quality is worth luggin a rack around, then hey….knock yerself out. But the reality is, you can get a fantastic tone AND every feature you need, likely in a single small box that’ll fit in the pocket of your gig bag. Took me three years to accept that, so I’ll always understand the opposing view.
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I’ve been using a Shure GLXD and Stomp on a Mono board for years.
 
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#16
DanAdams said:
I'm considering ditching all of my bass specific electronics and going with a studio channel strip as a preamp into a Pa amplifier.
I would use a rack for making those easy to carry together... 'Voicied for bass guitar'... eye roll
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I have often toyed with this idea. My ideal bass sound is a DI'd bass through a nice studio front end. No amp sound. Live I only use a bass amp for onstage monitoring. I only send a clean DI'd bass signal to FOH.
 
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#18
SteveC said:
So I am debating dumping my little board and getting a head (Genzler Kinetix) to use as my pre/DI and rack it with a compressor and a wireless for my bass. Or maybe just leave it unracked and use my current Nano board with my Shure GLXD+ and maybe an Empress Compressor.

Am I nuts?
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You do you, but as for me I'll never go back to racks, and I still own mine!

I went Class D and it's the best of everything. However, I think there's an adjustment period and a learning curve.

To my ears, the bass isn't quite as deep but I don't think that's Class D's fault. These days, many, actually I think most, preamps in class D amps have a high pass filter built into them around 25 or 30 Hz. That's good for protection, but not necessarily great if one is looking for subharmonic lows.

The rack thing even looks bad onstage, too clinical and technical for my tastes.
 
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#19
SteveC said:
So I am debating dumping my little board and getting a head (Genzler Kinetix) to use as my pre/DI and rack it with a compressor and a wireless for my bass. Or maybe just leave it unracked and use my current Nano board with my Shure GLXD+ and maybe an Empress Compressor.

Am I nuts?
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My "rack" is a Temple Audio board with all that you listed but a Tonehammer rather than a Genzler. It also has my AT IEM wireless transmitter. I could replace the TH with a Markbass Little Mark but never considered that. I would just be using it as a pre-amp to FOH. So why bother. I only use a full amp head when I'm outdoors there's no FOH support.

I much prefer carrying the pedal board in it's soft case than a rack. With the Temple modules, it's easy to setup/teardown like a rack.
 
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