Alright, i always see these things with big bands i dont really understand them....what do you put in them....guitar effects? can you customize your own sound with them? What do they do?..

Anything that is guitar related. Effects, pre-amps, tuners. Pretty much all the basic stuff, its better than having a giant floor board.

i have in mine
from the top
a rack power strip with lights
a shure wireless
a sabian rack tuner
a digitech gsp 21 legnd II (the basis of my distortion and sound)
bottom

in the back i have a ada stereo power amp 100 watts per side i use this for shows cause i can never get my heads to shows or my 4X12's either

it's all about what you like that matters if you like stomp boxes or even your amps natural distortion rock on, me i like digital and fx

for fx i use a harmonizer, deley and chorus with a lot of distortion the deley and chorus only in certin parts of songs the harmonizer is always on except in the second half of the solo in from soild heart to infected tongue (on the cd it was another guitarist all together so i try and emulate what he did live)

sabian makes guitar stuff also?

thanxs man, but what would you recomend getting for starters when it comes to al that stuff, like for basics what does the pre amp do?....dont think im stupid hahah im just uninformed and young..

Pre-amp prepares the sound before amplification. A normal guitar head has a pre-amp in it (basically clean/distortion channel volume) along with the basic amplifier itself which only does volume, doesn't affect the quality of the sound.

Other good stuff in a rack mount:
1/3 Octave 31-band EQ (2/3 Octave and/or 15-band is a waste of money in my eyes)
Sonic Maximizer
Tuner
Effect processor(s)
Light/Power strip if you need it

The only necessities are a pre-amp and a power amp. Everything else is just bells and whistles, some far more important than others.

bane of existance = GODLY guitar tone

figure it this way,

power amp = volume
pre-amp = your sound you want
equalizer = fine tune your sound

there are so many other things such as compressers, noise reduction, guitar synths, tuners

in my opinion a good pre-amp should have all these things already built in, instead of looking like you have a suitcase full of money for a head

my rack includes a noise gate. It gets rid of that shitty hiss. other than that i haven't found anything else i would like to add to it at this point.

basically, rack mounts give you less-room for knobs/pedals/controls, but gives you all the same functions. They are also usually less expensive then full models.

terence, I disagree about getting it all in one... single point of failure and all.

i have a rack and i personally hate the fucking thing, i want a nice tube amp, either a Framus, VHT, or Mesa

Right now i run this

250 stero power amp (125 per side @4ohm, 250 mono @ 8ohm, i have a 4ohm cab so i can only use one side)
digitech 2112 pre amp
BBE Sonic max (386 or 382...i dunno)
and my power conditioner.

right now i'm having major issues with my digitech as it's becoming outdated (major drawback for most digital preamp/proccessors)

but i'm looking to get a new preamp, either a marshall or the VHT valvulator, but both are pricey. Racks are clunky and in my case pretty heavy so i'm anti rack currently. maybe when i get a new preamp i'll be happier with it.

My Ampeg tube head is better at having sex with women than all your power amp rigs.

i think i spelt it wronge (sue me)

housebythecemetery said:

thanx


xPaulBLAHBLAHx said:

depends on what you are after for a sound really

get a good preamp there are many out there i'd research em on the web (i actually read guitar magizine reviews of the gsp 21 legend befor i got mine)

this is what i have for a power amp in mine now ADA Microtube 100 Stereo power amp it's not loud enough for a hall show with no mic'd cabs but fine for actual clubs with the cabs mic'd
http://i21.ebayimg.com/03/i/00/be/f5/c1_1.JPG

i have this but it weighs a ton ADA pro power amp amplifier B200S so i don't use it anymore

for the studio i use a marshall and pv 5150 heads through 2 pv 5150 cabs


xDysenteryTomx said:

Rackmounts bad.

Analog effects pedals GOOD (Boss / Roland)

Rackmount amps......OK, I can see that, but would never own one.

Bad part about analog effects pedals = You better have a back-up AC power supply. I stomp the shit outta my pedals and always break the tips off of the AC adapters.

Rackmount effects need MIDI adapters that are a pain in the ass to set up.

It's up in the air.....speaking of air, I just fuckin' farted.

my set up is so basic you could have a monkey to set it up

footpedal cord goes to the pedal
the speaker cords to the speakers (and i have em marked which goes to the right and left)
plug the guitar in and i'm good to go

Hoser said:

Hooray for simplicity.....

You ever read the back of that communist magazine "GUITAR WORLD?"

It shows some bands set-ups for guitar.....no wonder these assholes need guitar techs.

Fuckin' dickheads

rackmout is the way to go!
i have a qcs power amp
dod steroi eq
digitec rp 2000
2 labtec 4 by 10s
jackson dinky custom reverse usa

rackmount is better than you. where else can you get your entire amp with a tuner, a noise gate, and other good stuff all in a case you can beat the crap out of?

ya, I used to use pedals and it got old real fast. I had my distortion pedal, my equalizer, and was forced to use the boss niosegate pedal also cause the metal zone was so noisey. A cord would start cutting out live and I would have to change them out one by one untill I found which one was fucking up. Also, they would always come unplugged from the crowd or me tripping over them. My rack made life a hell of alot easier. I use the Roctron Chameleon and I think it sounds awesome

at this point i'm pretty content with my rigg, My power amp is rocktron, it's a really basic power amp with a couple knobs to adjust the sound for your cab, But i have some major issues with my digitech 2112, First off it's out put level is so drastic from my clean channel, to my distorted. no matter what i do i can't get the damn thing to stay comparable to my dist channel in terms of volume. Also i there have been 2 sepperate occasions where i would find a distrotion tone i really like but it sends the unit into digital clip. i don't think the unit was designed for people that play metal, if i was in a space rock band i think i would love this unit. maybe when i get a new preamp i'll like rack stuff more.

the_reverend said:

No way. Having all the shit together is so much better. Sure it will take hours to configure your sound, but in the end its so worth it. I would actually have sex with my rackmount equipment! And rightfully so!! I paid enough for it.

once you get a rack you'll never go back. 8-space all ya need.

I still use a Boss Hyper Metal and EQ and Dunlop volume pedal, but the Behringer pre-amp and the GK head make it sound better than ever.

next thing to do? Buy a tour bus, ha-ha-ha! Buy a country while you're at it!

none of your rackmounts can have as much tone as a true HEAD