Let the journey begin....(rack building story)

[bste328]

Hi all! Just settled in a new house where I have a place where I can dedicate myself to my passion (music and guitar) and to work from home from day to day...

I don't play regularly anymore, just some random jams here and there with friends and some random noodling at home but this "quiet" time has led me to sell most of my "giggable" stuff (racks pedalboard, flight cases, extra this and that etc etc) and concentrate myseflt on a "all-in-one" solution that will allow me to use all the effects and amps that I collected through out the years (and that I am gonna purchase in the future as well....) and put everything together for my home studio.

So basically I took what was left of a 7U rack + amp rig, a modeler rig + power amp, a huge midi controlled pedalboard....and scrapped EVERYTHING and put together a 18U rack that will allow me to:
- play through up to 5 amps or a modeler (axe fx 3 in this case)
- run everything either in mono, W/D/W or Stereo
- wet sides are mixed with the dry signal thx to a line mixer
- all analog and digital pedals are in dedicated loops
- attenuate the active amp via a fryette power station
- record silently thanks to an external reactive load box
- use all the pedals that I have and in case I want to experiment with a specific fx type that I don't own, I can rely on the capability of the AXE FX 3 to add that flavour to any combination of routing I am using (dedicated axe fx paths are both in front of the amps but also in the power station loop)
- everything will be accessible via physical switches in front of the rack (channel changes, amp selection, fx loops etc) for ease of use but also via midi (controlled by an RJM MM GT16 midi pedalboard - not shown in pictures yet)
- audio is STRICTLY residing in the rack and kept analog for 100% of the time, except when I engage the axe fx for amp simulation or for fx that are in series. No audio to external pedalboards etc..

I just finished selling all the extra gear that I had around and bought the last couple of missing items (some still on the way home but let's say 99% is here) and put almost everything in the big rack.

It will take me some months (I think) before everything is put together and running since I will solder probably couple of cables a day/weekend when I have some free time, but since I am doing everything as professionally as I could I need time and attention. Every cable will be cut to lenght, labeled etc. I will use cable management systems to secure everything and making it look as neat as possible. I will document the journey and post as soon as I have relevant updates.

Hope you dig it!

 

[bste328]

Phase 1: starting to put everything in the rack...deciding if everything is fitting nicely in the (definitely) crowded rack. In fact some changes happened afterwards...

 

[bste328]

Phase 2: Final disposition!

 

[bste328]

Phase 3: Wiring Main AC lines and speaker cables...

 

[bste328]

Phase 4: pedals disposition

 

[John4021]

Make your own Cables?
That was the hardest part I dealt with my rack gear. After years of using
Ended up pulling it apart to build 2 huge Pedalboards.
Still have a mish mosh of 14 space and 8 space gear,

Last thing to buy and get it into a smaller rack is the Fryette amp/cab switcher.
Love the way it matches different Ohm cabs and be able to have 2 4x12's on at the same time.

Keep us informed with the wiring.

 

[bste328]

Make your own Cables?
That was the hardest part I dealt with my rack gear. After years of using
Ended up pulling it apart to build 2 huge Pedalboards.
Still have a mish mosh of 14 space and 8 space gear,

Last thing to buy and get it into a smaller rack is the Fryette amp/cab switcher.
Love the way it matches different Ohm cabs and be able to have 2 4x12's on at the same time.

Keep us informed with the wiring.

Yeah making my own cable is definitely a PITA. I almosy teared everything apart for 2 smaller rack but then went for a simpler solution to play outside my home studio so decided to put it back together again. It changed quite from this post and now I am checking what I can or cannot re-use for the wiring as I am not very fond of buying and redoing everything from the start

BTW this is the new version, hope it will stay this way for some time.

Will post an update on the wiring soon, but before that I need to finish a small Pedalboard LOL

 

[John4021]

What are you using to power the X88-IR.
A member here bought a Fryette 2/90/2 power amp.
He said it's killer with the Soldano Preamp.
That RJM Rack Gizmo is a like saver for your pedals.
Damn your set up looks great

I'm running mine through a Mesa 295 stereo Class A/AB
Sounds great using it in Class AB (4 6L6's/4 EL34's) .
Putting the 6L6's in standby and just the EL34's in Class A gives it more Power Amp gain saturation
which is great when using the 2 clean options.

I really tried to keep cable length tidy ,but Dave Friedman I am not.
The racks he has built look great in the rear(Please, no "In the rear" jokes"

 

[bste328]

What are you using to power the X88-IR.
A member here bought a Fryette 2/90/2 power amp.
He said it's killer with the Soldano Preamp.
That RJM Rack Gizmo is a like saver for your pedals.
Damn your set up looks great

I'm running mine through a Mesa 295 stereo Class A/AB
Sounds great using it in Class AB (4 6L6's/4 EL34's) .
Putting the 6L6's in standby and just the EL34's in Class A gives it more Power Amp gain saturation
which is great when using the 2 clean options.

I really tried to keep cable length tidy ,but Dave Friedman I am not.
The racks he has built look great in the rear(Please, no "In the rear" jokes"

Thanks! It’s a kitchen sink type of setup. The X88IR is powered by the PS100 for the dry signal and by the 2502 for the wet signals (WDW). In stereo, only by the 2502. It sounds great with those power amps
….as far as RJM goes…the effect gizmos are godsends

I used to drool over those perfect rigs put together by Dave or Bob Bradshaw etc....so I am taking my time but I want to do the best work possible given my abilities (I am far from professional but I can solder a cable...)

 

[bste328]

Ooook.
I THINK I am finally settled with a new configuration.

 

[bste328]

Now The wiring begun again:
- 230v power cables all done
- low voltage power cable 99% soldered, now i am tidying them up 1 and a half drawers done)

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

Ooook.
I THINK I am finally settled with a new configuration.

Some great choices there!

For me, it is very important for my tone to originate from a real tube preamp (in my case, the Mesa Quad with 2:90) and then most effects are rack (especially G-Force), but I still keep my favorite pedals for what they do so well. I really love the 2290p, although I'm tempted to eventually pick up the OG 2290 rack, mostly for the '80s Star Wars look. The 2290P actually has more options of course. If t.c. really wants to take my money FAST, they should reissue the 2290 rack with tons of modern updates.

 

[Jakem]

Looks fantastic, great work!

 

[bste328]

Some great choices there!

For me, it is very important for my tone to originate from a real tube preamp (in my case, the Mesa Quad with 2:90) and then most effects are rack (especially G-Force), but I still keep my favorite pedals for what they do so well. I really love the 2290p, although I'm tempted to eventually pick up the OG 2290 rack, mostly for the '80s Star Wars look. The 2290P actually has more options of course. If t.c. really wants to take my money FAST, they should reissue the 2290 rack with tons of modern updates.

thanks!

same here. My "pre-s" are: soldano x88ir, loaded down heads + QC for the flavors I don't have at disposal. Most of the fx you see (2 drawers out of 3) are pre effects. All Time based and post efx are H90, QC and fractal VP4 mixed in with a line mixer in stereo or WDW.

 

[bste328]

Looks fantastic, great work!

thanks! Far from having it finished but I like to take my time and do it properly. I solder each and every cable and test it. Sometimes I finish some supplies and order them since I don't remember what I have in "stock" by heart and these things (plugs, cable, etc etc) cost so much that buying in eccess is something I try to avoid. hahaha

 

[Jakem]

thanks! Far from having it finished but I like to take my time and do it properly. I solder each and every cable and test it. Sometimes I finish some supplies and order them since I don't have a clear "stock" by hear and these things (plugs, cable, etc etc) cost so much so buying in eccess is something I try to avoid. hahaha

That’s the way to do it! I’m gonna put together a rack myself as well but it includes some units that have not been manufactured in a long time and I prefer to buy mint or close to mint gear so it takes some time. Waiting eagerly for Friedman IR load to be used with my amp heads as well.

 

[ChurchHill]

Some great choices there!

For me, it is very important for my tone to originate from a real tube preamp (in my case, the Mesa Quad with 2:90) and then most effects are rack (especially G-Force), but I still keep my favorite pedals for what they do so well. I really love the 2290p, although I'm tempted to eventually pick up the OG 2290 rack, mostly for the '80s Star Wars look. The 2290P actually has more options of course. If t.c. really wants to take my money FAST, they should reissue the 2290 rack with tons of modern updates.

Not to be a bad influence, but you should. The 2290p is really nice, but doesn't come close to the OG 2290. The Star Wars hyper-drive look is just a bonus.