Pedals vs. Racks in 2018

Badronald":1ta51ko6 said:

Whatever works for you and gets you the tones you want.

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Truth!

Badronald":1ta51ko6 said:

Having said that, I haven't seen a guitar rig with a rack out in the wild for over 25+ years.

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Well, maybe we don't go to the same shows, but I have, even in clubs, all the time. Personally, I wouldn't take my big rack to a club gig, either, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't take a smaller rack. It depends on the situation.

I would only build a rack if I was playing in stereo or wdw

I think that the BEST rig is one that is as "simple" as possible, so that you can sound as good as possible.

I think that FX processing (i.e., delay/reverb/pitch/chorusing) is BEST performed by RACK units......

However, there are some quintesential FX units that are be run in front of the amp (e.g., Phase 90)

I live near Toronto..... I use BOTH types of devices.......

Cheers
Ian

sleewell2":725ibf9s said:

if there was stuff like the Helix, KPA or AX8 around back in the 70s and 80s I highly doubt the average joe without roadies would haul around a huge rack to most gigs.

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If the above "junk" were in existence back in the '70s & the '90s, this minimal rack would be negligible in the key sense of the word.

sleewell2":3ov93hu4 said:

if there was stuff like the Helix, KPA or AX8 around back in the 70s and 80s I highly doubt the average joe without roadies would haul around a huge rack to most gigs.

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Whoever suggested that those huge racks were for the average joe, or for 'most' gigs? ... And since when does the average joe have roadies at 'Most' gigs?

None the less, technology has come a long way since the 70's, and there are a lot of available tools which sound fantastic. They are getting so close to some of the classic tones-- it's awesome.

The trick is finding and achieving the intended result from the gear. Each device has it's own color, and texture that they bring to the table-- and those who are lucky, find their preferences available because they were specific when making their gear selection.

It only matters when close enough is too far away, as it goes to the framework of this vs that. Having the right gear doesn't even guarantee a great result. Knowing what to do with the gear once we have it, is the thing that can frustrate those who may have a complicated soundscape in mind, but not really know how to achieve it by programming, and routing the gear to hit the target.

I know I'm not unique in that even though I have the huge w/d/w rig, it isn't my only gear. I figure the guys who have the crazy big rigs also have medium and small sized rigs for various live club, concert, touring, and/or studio gigs, and/or rehearsals, or jam sessions.

I had a small rack in the 80s/90s then fell in the pedal craze in the 2000s and ended up with a 18" x 48" pedalboard with huge case. It was obnoxious as heck to bring on stage at most gigs. I then replaced all the digital pedals with an Eventide Eclipse and Lexicon PCM80 in a shallow rack with a smaller controller/pedal board and now it takes far less stage real estate and sounds so much more amazing.

Only this man knew "the real truth . . .

WHOA!!!

3 space rack and a half stack live for me, but I'm somewhat of a minimalist.

Thanks, guys, for the great replies. It seems the right answer is "BOTH", just as I'd suspected haha.
I will post back a bit later with some more questions if that's cool, just regarding some rack stuff.

Zachman":zdvtjx90 said:

sleewell2":zdvtjx90 said:

if there was stuff like the Helix, KPA or AX8 around back in the 70s and 80s I highly doubt the average joe without roadies would haul around a huge rack to most gigs.

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Whoever suggested that those huge racks were for the average joe, or for 'most' gigs? [...]

None the less, technology has come a long way since the 70's, and there are a lot of available tools which sound fantastic. They are getting so close to some of the classic tones-- it's awesome.

The trick is finding and achieving the intended result from the gear. Each device has it's own color, and texture that they bring to the table-- and those who are lucky, find their preferences available because they were specific when making their gear selection.

It only matters when close enough is too far away, as it goes to the framework of this vs that. Having the right gear doesn't even guarantee a great result. Knowing what to do with the gear once we have it, is the thing that can frustrate those who may have a complicated soundscape in mind, but not really know how to achieve it by programming, and routing the gear to hit the target.

I know I'm not unique in that even though I have the huge w/d/w rig, it isn't my only gear. I figure the guys who have the crazy big rigs also have medium and small sized rigs for various live club, concert, touring, and/or studio gigs, and/or rehearsals, or jam sessions.

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This pretty much sums it up.

I have a multieffects unit (ADA 2FX) that its only purpose is to provide analog chorus in the front of an amplifier. Why? Because over many years of playing I'm partial to the ADA chorus over anything else that's out there. As Zach literally says, big racks are for when close enough is still far away. I know what I like and will run the gear as I see fit to drive the inspiration for music. That's the whole purpose

Maybe a stupid question, but would it be possible just run a PCM81 and H3000 straight into my amp? I do that with my Korg SDD-3000 with no issues.

You will need to look at whether the older gear wants line level or instrument level as each of those could easily qualify as studio use pieces. With that said, I believe the PCM-80 was marketed as a guitar effects processor and not a reverb processor for studio use that also has effects.

The H3000 I'm not so sure about for what it wants.

As far as what works, you can definitely stick them in the loop of an amplifier and just go. The downside is that you'll lose a lot of the benefits of stereo processing and not really getting the full advantage of such high-end processors.

white buffalo":1v99mwxv said:

Maybe a stupid question, but would it be possible just run a PCM81 and H3000 straight into my amp? I do that with my Korg SDD-3000 with no issues.

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You technically can, (I am assuming you mean straight into your amp's loop (NOT all loops are equal. If you run into an amp's loop-- use a Series loop, not a parallel loop. You "Can", do it in front of the amp's input--BUT that is NOT the way to get the most out of those devices), but if you do, I highly recommend a line mixer to eliminate any glitch/delay while loading programs as both of those items do have a small delay while loading a program.