Post your rackmounted pedals!

  • Thread starter Thread starter smucarolina
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smucarolina

smucarolina

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Would love to see some pics of some peoples rack mounted pedals...

talk about it if you would...what cables you used to wire it? how did you keep it clean/organized? what is your favorite pedal in your rack setup?

Looking to start on my own soon. Bought the sliding rack drawer. Next is the pedals!
 
Greetiings :)

I thought I had a recent photo of the completed tray, but I guess it's not on this computer. I'm not sure if this will be much help, but here you go. It was my first effort at building and cabling a rack...

Photo 1:
Shows some of the pedals in the position they will be in when the tray is completed (upside down so the Velcro won't stick...). The Pedal Power 2 is already fastened and I was just starting to get all of the wires cut to length and laid out neatly. I used Mogami W2319 cable (purchased from Redco) and Switchcraft #226 and #280 connectors (purchased from Best-Tronics)

Photo 2:
A better view of the progress of getting the cables neatly organized and secured to the tray. I'm a little OCD :) I taped labels to the end of each cable according to which loop they would connect to on the GCX for ease of re-placement since I intended to remove the bundle after dry-fitting so I could solder the connectors on a bench. I only had to snip the Zip Ties that were holding the bundle to the mounts; the other ties held the bundle together and made putting it back in much easier.

Photo 3:
A view from the rear of the rack showing the cable bundle. I was in the process of determining how much extra cable would need to be looped to allow the tray to be pulled out (and how I was going to route it)...

Photo 4:
A view of the service loop. There is enough cable to completely extend the tray, but the bundle is secured at both ends to minimize movement otherwise. Don't forget that you need to leave a service loop for the power cord to the Pedal Power (if you use one and have it on the tray...)

Hope this helps. If I find some more recent photos, I'll re-post...
 

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What mounts did you use on the tray for your Zip strips?
 
Thank you very much, I have some that are very much like these. I couldn't see them clearly in the pictures. Oh, I didn't mention that you do good work, looks great!
 
craftm1":q4n6shp3 said:
Thank you very much, I have some that are very much like these. I couldn't see them clearly in the pictures. Oh, I didn't mention that you do good work, looks great!
Click to expand...
You're welcome - and, Thank you, sir :)
 
Here's mine:

DSC03781.jpg


I don't remember the actual name of the stuff that I used, but it's the right angle Switchcraft jacks and I believe Canare wire? I control them with two GCXs, one of them stereo modded so I can run this as a stereo rig.
 
Posting to see some pedal porn... considering grabbing a '90s 2-channel rackmount Dual Rectifier soon and setting up a GCX MIDI rig, sine I've never been down that road before, and really don't like having pedals at my feet anymore.
 
IndyWS6":3r71kbbr said:
Greetiings :)

I thought I had a recent photo of the completed tray, but I guess it's not on this computer. I'm not sure if this will be much help, but here you go. It was my first effort at building and cabling a rack...

Photo 1:
Shows some of the pedals in the position they will be in when the tray is completed (upside down so the Velcro won't stick...). The Pedal Power 2 is already fastened and I was just starting to get all of the wires cut to length and laid out neatly. I used Mogami W2319 cable (purchased from Redco) and Switchcraft #226 and #280 connectors (purchased from Best-Tronics)

Photo 2:
A better view of the progress of getting the cables neatly organized and secured to the tray. I'm a little OCD :) I taped labels to the end of each cable according to which loop they would connect to on the GCX for ease of re-placement since I intended to remove the bundle after dry-fitting so I could solder the connectors on a bench. I only had to snip the Zip Ties that were holding the bundle to the mounts; the other ties held the bundle together and made putting it back in much easier.

Photo 3:
A view from the rear of the rack showing the cable bundle. I was in the process of determining how much extra cable would need to be looped to allow the tray to be pulled out (and how I was going to route it)...

Photo 4:
A view of the service loop. There is enough cable to completely extend the tray, but the bundle is secured at both ends to minimize movement otherwise. Don't forget that you need to leave a service loop for the power cord to the Pedal Power (if you use one and have it on the tray...)

Hope this helps. If I find some more recent photos, I'll re-post...
Click to expand...

Looks great! How do you attach the Power Supply to the tray? Velcro? Bolted it down? Also, what do you mean service loop?
 
Thanks...

The Pedal Power is held down with Velcro just like the pedals. It's a reasonably light unit and the Velcro works well. I haven't had any problems with anything moving, even though the rack gets loaded into and out of a trailer for gigs 4-5 times a month. If I had to do it over, I'd spend a little extra and get the dual-lock that Zach and others have recommended, but I haven't had any problems with the "industrial strength" Velcro thus far...

By "service loop", I mean the excess cable that is needed to allow the tray to be pulled out of the rack. In the picture below, you can see where the cable bundle is attached to a mount on the tray on the bottom left and also to a mount on the side of the rack. The excess cable in-between allows the tray to be pulled out. The way that it is bundled and looped keeps everything neat and tidy and prevents anything from becoming disconnected. There are several ways to do it, but this worked for my situation.

Hope this helps...

For CRAFTM1 - the mounts that I used were 1" x 1" Gardner Bender self-stick plastic Mounting Bases. The part number is 45-1MBUVL and I found them at Lowe's.
http://m.lowes.com/mt/www.lowes.com/pd_ ... facetInfo=
 

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I see what you did. Makes sense! My rack is only 4 spaces. I plan to keep it that way. I will try a similar technique. Any cables that do not require soldering? I saw some planet waves that you could make yourself without soldering...but not sure on its quality. I don't have any tools to solder. Thats why I am asking.
 
smucarolina":2rbqazep said:
I see what you did. Makes sense! My rack is only 4 spaces. I plan to keep it that way. I will try a similar technique. Any cables that do not require soldering? I saw some planet waves that you could make yourself without soldering...but not sure on its quality. I don't have any tools to solder. Thats why I am asking.
Click to expand...
Good luck with your build...
There's been a lot of threads about solderless connectors - I think the George L's are recommended, but I have no firsthand knowledge. You might do a search and see what you can turn up. Others may chime in on that as well.

Rock on :rock:
 
I wired my old rack up with George L and I'll never do that again. I tested all the cables and made sure they were securely connected between the cable and ends and not long after i started getting dead cables and the some of the ends were becoming loose. All soldering with mogami cable and neutrik ends from here on out.
 
Still deciding. For my Triaxis rig, I have a TC Electronic VPD1, Nova Drive and EH BMPwTW I'm considering for the G-System pedal loops.
 
Does the GCX switch non-MIDI amps, so that I could use the Ground Control to switch from boosted dirty to clean and modulated in one move? I'm looking through the Voodoo Lab website, and I'm not really getting an answer out of this, since I'm a MIDI dumbass.
 
The GCX should switch non-MIDI amps from what I remember. A lot of people use them to switch preamps in rack systems I know.

Question: What velcro does everyone use? I used some on a pedal board. After a hot summer the adhesive got sticky on my pedals. Nonetheless it was not fun to clean. Is there a velcro that won't do that.
 
I used Industrial Strength Velcro brand fastener and I haven't had any problems. My rack gets lugged in and out of the equipment trailer and bars nearly every weekend and sees temps from 0 to 100 degrees - and none of my pedals have moved. But, like I mentioned, if I was going to do it again, I'd spend a little more and get 3M Dual Lock fastener. It's stronger and would likely work better over time. That's what Zachman and others recommend - and they've been around this game a long time :yes:

http://www.3m.com/product/information/D ... tener.html
 

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Spaceboy":38iocx9s said:
Does the GCX switch non-MIDI amps, so that I could use the Ground Control to switch from boosted dirty to clean and modulated in one move? I'm looking through the Voodoo Lab website, and I'm not really getting an answer out of this, since I'm a MIDI dumbass.
Click to expand...

You can switch any effect out plus you can switch functions on the amp using TS connectors that either connect the tip to ground or leave it open. There's jacks on the back for either normally open or normally closed. I switch my Mesas no problem, but for my Sig:X, I made a cable that connects to the connector and then connects the different pins to ground to switch the functions on that amp. It all depends on what amp you have if you need to make a custom cable or not.
 
that is some serious cable management, never knew people mounted their boards into racks but it makes sense
 
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