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Help regarding rack equipment

H

Hatred

Feb 8, 2012
2
0
Gothenburg, Sweden
www.panic-area.com
#1
Hi,

Been playing bass for a couple of years. I'm guitarist from the beginning.
I'm thinking of upgrading my equipment to get rid of all the pedals and have it simple on stage.
I'm looking for just one sound for playing metal. No clean, solo stuff nor other effects.
You can check out our music at Link Removed

Now, today I have following:
Warwick Corvette
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Boss NS-2 Noise Supressor
SansAmp Tech 21 Bass Driver DI V2 (as a stompbox in front of the amp)
Ampeg SVT-3 Pro
Ampeg SVT410HE
Ampeg SVT15E

I think I want to put everything in a rack. And maybe something like this:

Peterson Stroborack Virtual Strobe Rack
Tech 21 Sansamp RBI
Rocktron Hush Super C
Alesis 3632 Compressor
Ampeg SVT-3 PRO

Would really like to hear your opinion! Or if you recommend anything else? And maybe suggestion how the connection between everything should be? Haven't been working with rack mounted systems before... =)

Thank you!

/Erik
 
#2
Hatred said:
Hi,

Peterson Stroborack Virtual Strobe Rack
Tech 21 Sansamp RBI
Rocktron Hush Super C
Alesis 3632 Compressor
Ampeg SVT-3 PRO
Click to expand...

I count 6 RU.
Would be a nice rack, but heavy.

I have a rackmount setup right now, and it's really great, except the rack (4RU) currently weighs something like 55 lbs. And it's not even full :(

However, rack setups are quite durable and everything is so nice and organized.
 
#3
I am wondering what you are using the Compressor and Noise Supressor for? I can somewhat see the use of the Compressor, but what noise could you need to get rid of?

Rack effects in a rack case is a good idea, but that good idea goes out the window when you have to pick it up....all of that gear will WEIGH A LOT. You may think you can handle it, and you probably can. But when you witness a bass player with no rack, a 5lb amp and a few cords achieve a better tone than you, you will want to throw that rack into the drunks chicks....

Edit: I sued to do the rack thing, never again. So damn heavy and I now get the tone I want out of something much lighter.
 
#4
The noise suppressor is a total waste of time. Guitarists commonly have very noisy high-gain distortions that feed back like crazy, and just about the only way they can keep it from being all noise and feedback between notes is with a gate. Bassists, even metal ones, tend to run much cleaner, not relying on feedback for tone. So no noise suppression, no gate.

The 3630 is crap. If you want a compressor, buy a good one. You may not even really need or want one though--I'd say wait until you've spent some time playing through your new rig, to see how the dynamics and peaks sound/feel, before adding a compressor.

Also, the point of the Sansamp is to emulate the sound of an Ampeg amp. Using one WITH an Ampeg amp may not be productive. I mean, it can be done, it can sound good even, but I would not go that direction as a first step with the amp rig.
 
#5
Thanks for all the replies!

OK, so the weight could be a problem of course... For a small guy ;) I will see it just as extra training beside the gym 7 days a week. :P

Noise suppressor I will take away from the list. And compressor, I will start with the rig as it is before adding that. If I even need that??

When it comes to the SansAmp BDDI which I already have. Of course it can emulate sound of an Ampeg. But with the settings I have and use it before the amp I think it enhance the sound and get it much more dirtier. That's why the choice of the Sansamp RBI. But it's maybe more commonly used as a preamp with just a power amp?

But of course maybe I should look into something else as well beside SansAmp? Because we are just one guitarist in the band and will keep it that way. I think I want something which gives more distortion, but still have the low and punch? Something like the band "Nasum". Any ideas?

I saw something else as well in other's rack systems. Power conditioner?? Your opinion?

Thank you for taking time! I appreciate it!
 
#6
I too would skip the rack. Been there, done that. I still have some nice rack pres, but they stay at home. If you start gigging regularly you'll see what we mean. It's so much nicer the carry a small 5lb amp into a venue and get the same tone than lug a huge/heavy rack.

If you're using the SansAmp to get OD/distortion, why not just get a pedal or continue to use the SA that way? It's a lot smaller and easier to carry the pedal than the same thing in a rack enclosure.

A power conditioner is nothing more than a glorified power strip. Skip the wasted rack space and just use a power strip. If you really want the lights or whatever, go for it. Just know that the $100+ spent on it doesn't mean it does anything more than the $10 strip you can get at the hardware store.

This is the problem with racks. People always look at what other people have, think they need it, then buy it not having any idea about whether they actually need it or not. Don't just go and blow money on stuff.

Put the TU-2 and SansAmp on a small pedal board and play your rig for awhile. If you think it sounds great, awesome! If you think you're missing something, start trying to figure out what that is.
 
#8
Hactar said:
I count 6 RU.
Would be a nice rack, but heavy.

I have a rackmount setup right now, and it's really great, except the rack (4RU) currently weighs something like 55 lbs. And it's not even full :(

However, rack setups are quite durable and everything is so nice and organized.
Click to expand...

Yep. If you get too crazy stuffing gear into a single rack, the weight gets to be excessive in fairly short order

My original rack setup was an Ampeg SVP preamp > QSC RMX 1450, along with a Furman power conditioner. Well over 60lbs in a plastic 6-space SKB full-depth case. That doesn't sound like all that much weight to deal with. After the end of a long gig, it most definitely is

Selling off the RMX and moving up to a PLX 1804 shaved off 27 lbs and also had the side benefit of giving me far more power packed into the same 2 rack spaces. Had to pay extra for that.... In any event, downsizing the rack case to a Gator shallow 6-space shaved off an additional 2 lbs to bring the all-up rig weight down to a far more reasonable 43 lbs

Then I just had to get a rackmount tuner..... I had the extra space in the case, and it looked So Cool in the stack along with all the other blinky lights and whatnot

You probably guessed it: back up to 55 lbs :hmm:

Not as bad as the very first version, but not as easy to manage as that oh-so-nice 43 lbs either. At this point I'm seriously thinking about ditching the power conditioner (@ 12 lbs) and just using an outboard power strip of some kind. Maybe even downsizing the case as well, to shave off another pound or two

Bottom Line: anything over about 40 lbs, every single pound makes a Big difference
 
#10
I use a SUPER hot bass into an Ampeg B4R effect-looped with a SansAmp RBI set to heavy drive (fast-paced punk rock/ska that needs a very present and distinguishable bottom end while staying dirty, but clean enough for the ska parts.) The blend on the RBI is not 100% wet, to keep it from being too dirty. After that in the loop there's an Alesis 3632 (i think?) that I use as a peak controller and a gate ( because that damn 'presence' knob on the RBI can get REALLY noisy + super hot bass) and finally a rack tuner and power conditionner. All this mono-bridged into a 410HE and 115b. I have yet to find a better setup for me (would probably change the compressor, or could simply live without it since I don't even send it to FOH it's just for the cabs/gate). Concerning weight, my bands always help with the gear (I don't understand why they wouldn't since I help just as much with theirs and everything else).

PS: I thought too that a SansAmp + Ampeg amp would be useless.... but seriously especially if you're a metal player that needs that extra 'umph' AND grit, I think it's the way to go..
 
#11
I can tell you my 6 space weighs in at 77 pounds. Your Ampeg is pretty darn heavy! I don't see your speakers, so I am not really sure why you would use a compressor. Remeber they don't react the same for bass as they do for guitar. Can't think about this set up with a guitar in mind. You were talking about simplifying your rig yet your still putting in the Sans Amp and the Rocktron. No offense. I am old school. Amp, Tuner, cable and bass. Nothing more needed. Rock on though. Welcome to the low side
 
#12
Keeping stuff on the floor is easier to troubleshoot, replace, fix, repair, and move around especially.

You don't need the Hush or NS-2 w/ that amp.

Get a 2U rack for the amp and then a floor tuner, overdrive/distortion and compressor if you think you need it. I use compression almost as an "effect" to get my tone but it happens to be built in on my amp, otherwise I probably wouldn't use it.
 
#13
The Rocktron Hush isn't that great. I had one and sold it because I didn't like it. I also don't agree that bass players don't need one. The idea of a gate is that it takes out noise when there is no signal. It's nice to have dead quiet from your amp when you are not playing. It depends on how noisy your rig is when you aren't playing.

The Alesis compressor is kind of notorious as the worst compressor ever, not worth the even the cheapo price they go for.

Look at the dbx 266XL - It's cheap and works great as a compressor and much better as a NG than the Rocktron. It can do compressor or gate, but since it's stereo you can run one channel into the other and have both in one rack space. EDIT: I am wrong, you can do both gate and comp on one channel...

Finally, you can go with a clip on tuner instead of a rack one as well.

If I were to have any of this, I'd do it in a rack because I find a lot of advantages to not having a pedal board.
 
#15
I don't know if the Snark is any better than the Planet Waves NS-2, but my experience with that one isn't so good. Works well on my singer's acoustic, until there's some outside noise, and then it can't get a stable reading. On my bass, same problem, plus won't register the B string. At all.

As for everything else suggested I agree. I carry a 4 space rack, and it holds a Genz Benz Shuttle and all my cables. About ten pounds total. Everything else is on the pedalboard. Only reason for the rack is for protection in the trailer and storage for extra cables.
 

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