Pedals vs racks.

  • Thread starter Thread starter cujo
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cujo

cujo

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Dear God will it ever end. I drive my self insane with this shit. Had the rg16 set up w my pedals in the rack. Got this wild idea to get a gmajor2 less wires. Set it all up. Yeah it sounds awesome that is until I pulled out my pedals and a/b'd them. :doh: a have only a couple of my favorite pedals. H20 chorus v2 , hardwire delay & phaser, boss trem, voodoo microvibe,an old dod fx25 filter. I put each against the gmaj2.

Conclusion :doh:

Anyone else feel like this :doh:
 
I like pedals, but I've never had a really nice rack unit. (except for my wife's) :rock:
 
Rack like this?

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i run both.

rack mounted for backup in the rack, and analog pedals MIDI controlled both in front and out back in the loop of my signal chain.
 
I think it really depends on what you need out of the gear. If we are talking full gig setup, I would say running both is essential. Run a rack effects unit or 2 in the loop of the amp, with some pedals upfront. If we are talking about practice, I would say whatever is the easiest to use, which is probably the small pedalboard setup into an amp.

The GM2 is a super easy unit to use though, but I found it to not sound that good into the loop of my amp at the time. I had it setup correctly with the killdry and all that stuff. I never did know if it was the loop that was bad or the GM2 that made it sound bad.
 
Good rack unit + midi capable head + ground control equals perfect.
 
Man, I'm debating both as well. Gotta wait until the Axe II gets here to make a final decision though.
 
I keep going back and forth.

I reckon that ultimately I am a better musician with fewer choices in front of me and I really do think that pedals sound better because you can mix/match the ones you like rather than accepting what your processor has.

For instance- I love most of the effects in the Axe FX.
I don't like the octaver in it though- it isn't as nice as the Ibanez OT10 I have on my pedalboard.
I also don't like the wah as much as the modded Crybaby I have.

That means that if I use the Axe FX in my rig I am constantly annoyed when I kick in the octaver or the wah.
Blending some pedals with a rack makes it a much more complex rig.
It is more to carry, more can go wrong with it etc.

Also I reckon single function boxes tend to be easier to integrate rather than relying on patch changes and/or CC's.
More time playing, less time tweaking.
 
I think pedals do one thing and one thing perfectly that's why they sound so good. Racks are a jack of all trades n master of none. Not really but it sounded good. :lol: :LOL:
 
I use a rack unit for delay's and 'verb, pedals for everything else.
 
If you're talking multifx rack units vs pedals, I prefer pedals. I'd rather have the flexibility to pick effects piece by piece based on their particular character rather than go with an all-in-one unit.
 
mrkmas":32ljw2d0 said:
I think it really depends on what you need out of the gear. If we are talking full gig setup, I would say running both is essential.
Click to expand...

This!!! seriously, make a list of what you need and how and why you need it to do what it does and when I say that, I mean the essentials. You may find that you have pedals or rack gear that you just dont use. When you get to the essentials, figure how itill serve you best in a live situation.

My needs are met by a small pedalboard and a small rack. Its portable, highly functionable and doesnt infringe on my playing. I have a relatively small MIDI controller( 10" x 11.5") that is set up in banks of 10 presets only. Next to that is the controller for the rack wah and next to that is the Expression pedal to control volume or whatever I want within the GSP1101 that is rack mounted. The Rack is a 4sp effects rack( only 12" deep) that has the rack wah module,The GSP1101 and then a sliding shelf that has 4 pedals. The cool thing is that my board is phantom powered so I dont have to worry about plugging it in and I dont have any long cable runs, everything is back at the rack and I pop my wireless reciever on top of it. I can set it up and break it down in under 5 min and when all is said and done, I have a rack and pedal board that are really easy to move around and take anywhere

Originally, all I wanted was a pedalboard and no rack but that would have meant a much bigger pedalboard with a bunch more hassles. Splitting it up made things alot more streamlined and in the end, made for a much better all around expreience for me. I get to concentrate on the music, not the gear...

My best advice is as I stated above; Make a list of what you have, then make a list of what you need Vs What you want and go from there. Once youve taken every little thing into consideration, go through mock ups and see if what you came up with is practical in the real world. If not, then make adjustments as needed...

Kage
 
Dammit. Everybody beat me to the easy rack jokes.....

On the flipside, I appreciate everyone's sense of humor... :rock: :rock:
 
Do u lose signal when chaining a bunch together on floor. Only thing I put in loop is delay
 
cujo":1zqastjq said:
Do u lose signal when chaining a bunch together on floor. Only thing I put in loop is delay
Click to expand...
I dont do it but thats only because I have them all going through a switcher/ router so that I can call up a channel switch and any combo of pedals and/or programs from a rack processor at once with one button stomp...

That said, there are countless players out there who have had Stomps all chained together and they do just fine..
 
I have the rg16 n mastermind. Works flawless. I just thought to try out gmaj2. But I'm so in tune to my pedals I instantly hear the difference. I wanted to try harmonized maybe I'll pick up that digitech harmonizer pedal n go back to my couple pedals. Never tried that digitech red pedal harmonizer. Any good?
 
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