Rack Systems for Dummies?

!_Brian_!

Anyone have any decent links to a guide to rack systems or somethingg along the lines of? I'm playing guitar years but am a bit of a noob when it come to things of a tech nature.


So how does it work?

My understanding would be something like, your effects unit, into a poweramp and that plugged directly into you cab without the need for the cabs head?

Anyone able to shed any light on the situation would be most welcome!

feylya

A rack system is basically:

Preamp - effects - poweramp - Cabs

A normal guitar head is:

{Preamp - poweramp} - cabs

A rack is basically a way of getting the "perfect" combination of preamp, effects and poweramps.

!_Brian_!

a preamp is basically what you plug your guitar into,

then the signal is sent thru effects for tones,

then thru a poweramp to boost the signal and power the cab???

feylya

Basically

The Boarder Man

What's the difference between this setup and using an FX loop on an amp?

Thanks.

feylya

You can't change the preamp in an amp head. At least, not easily

!_Brian_!

is the preamp like a multi effects unit? or is there a seperae unit for effects?

do you plug in an amp head from th rig or straight into a speaker cab?

feylya

Preamp - distortion and eq
Effects - chorus, delay, reverb etc
Poweramp - makes it loud.

The Boarder Man

Thanks feylya.

!_Brian_!

Can anyone recommend any good preamp makers leaning towards the metal side of things?

Karl Hungus

!_Brian_! wrote:

Can anyone recommend any good preamp makers leaning towards the metal side of things?

Depends on your budget, and whether you're after tube/solid state/digital or suchlike.

!_Brian_!

No budget at the mo. No ideas about the other questions. Just looking to see whats available and work from there. Point me towards the top end stuff for now I suppose.

Karl Hungus

!_Brian_! wrote:

No budget at the mo. No ideas about the other questions. Just looking to see whats available and work from there. Point me towards the top end stuff for now I suppose.

Top end, eh?

How about the Engl E570 Midi Preamp? Honestly, if you're into Metal, Engl are probably one of the best amp manufacturers going.

The Mesa Boogie Triaxis is also worth a look in, as Mesa are basically the classic sound for a lot of Metal and more, from the likes of Metallica to Dream Theater to Carlos Santana, you'll pretty much get every Mesa sound from that baby.

If that's too pricey for you, how about a Pod XT Pro? Modelling pre-amp and multieffects all in one, and a lot more affordable.

disgruntled

The Marshall Jmp1 is also worth a look. They been around a while and can be picked up secondhand for around €300 - 350. As far as I remember theres a guy with the username BillyCorgan on the Harmony Central boards who has posted a bunch of Jmp1 and Triaxis clips, it might be worth a look.

SirLemonhead

disgruntled wrote:

The Marshall Jmp1 is also worth a look. They been around a while and can be picked up secondhand for around €300 - 350. As far as I remember theres a guy with the username BillyCorgan on the Harmony Central boards who has posted a bunch of Jmp1 and Triaxis clips, it might be worth a look.

Indeed. Destroys a Triaxis (what doesn't though )

Karl Hungus

Aye, I've heard some good things about the JMP1, definetly worth looking into.

Doc_Savage

feylya wrote:

Preamp - distortion and eq
Effects - chorus, delay, reverb etc
Poweramp - makes it loud.

Preamp - Distortion?
not really true,,
the preamp is the part that reacts to what you do on the guitar gives you the feel and tone you want and determines the sound of everything that comes thereafter.

its possible the most influential thing in a rack.. choose one you like and a half decent power amp would do it and you justice!

effects on racks give you complete freedom.. pre or post effects, parallel effects
splitting the signal into two cabs with two different sounds..

remember though the more you put on the rach the more you'll have to control and it'll be an unreliable nightmare if it's not top notch..

have a clear idea of the flexability and sounds you want from it and look at a preamp first..
i believe some manufacturers now have preamps with integrated effects and although simple.. they may be all you need.

feylya

Generally, gain is added in the preamp unless preamp design has changed over night?

Doc_Savage

my point was that the preamp is not solely for distortion.. it determines the entire sound.. come on it's not a rack mounted distortion unit!

but there are rack mounted distortion units available in spades!

Rocktron anyone?

Doc_Savage

The Boarder Man wrote:

What's the difference between this setup and using an FX loop on an amp?

not much appart from you get to pick the combination of preamp and power amp with a solely rackmount system..

in a head the manufacturer has developed a head and power amp to work together in harmony.. this can be a good or a bad thing!

in the high end of guitar amps (ENGL i'm looking at you) you can control your fx loop and head from one controller..

so a possibile solution for you could be using rack mounted effects through the effects loop of a high end head and using one controller on the floor to control everything.. some high end heads now feature midi control interfaces and that'd allow effects and amp to be controlled by one floor controller..

Rock&Roll

Try www.customaudioelectronics.com
and www.petecornish.co.uk

Bob Bradshaw builds racks for the rich and famous this will give you and indication of the shear complexity of systems it will also highlight the types of modules be it preamp/power amp time based fx units etc...
Happy days

feylya

Dragging up a 2 year old thread to pimp your wares is not acceptable.