Decided to dabble in some rack effects.

[fitz]

Recently started scrounging Reverb & Craigslist for some inexpensive rack effects.
Looking for something a little different to use in the loop of my 2204 clone.
Still having issues with that amp, but that'll be another thread...
Setting it up on my 5100 for now.



Started with a lowball offer on the TC Electronic G Sharp from a Reverb listing.
It's a modulation & reverb multi effects unit that'll get me my mandatory chorus and some reverb options.

I'm a proponent of EQ in the loop so I snagged a cheap Nady GEQ 131 with another Reverb offer.

Got the 4 channel Furman noise gate from a local CL listing for a price so low I just ask for directions to pick it up.

Rounded it out with a power conditioner from Ambazon and an undershelf 4U rack to hold them together.
Just got it all bolted up tonight, so actually haven't fired it all up yet.

There's a fairly high probability of some sort of shell build using the rack frame mounted in some kinda box thingy.
Just something basic like this as an example.

 

[Seamus OReally]

That TC unit is schweet.

 

[fitz]

That TC unit is schweet.

Yeah, that's the heart & soul of my little loop rack setup.
Got it for the price of a mid-range stomp box pedal.
Lots of options, but just one modulation & one reverb at a time.


You can save presets of different combinations and cycle through them with a footswitch if you want.

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

I am going to say this, I have never used any rack equipment in my life, but I remember people who used them exclusively, and they were too far out of reach for my measly budget.. good luck with this now new rabbit hole @fitz , I wish you the best of luck with it , and I know you will be inspired by what you can do with it.

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

Congratulations on the score of some fantastic equipment

 

[fitz]

I am going to say this, I have never used any rack equipment in my life, but I remember people who used them exclusively, and they were too far out of reach for my measly budget.. good luck with this now new rabbit hole @fitz , I wish you the best of luck with it , and I know you will be inspired by what you can do with it.

Thanks!
I think the prices on this old stuff is dropping because everyone wants the new digital stuff.
Probably would have spent just as much to get a chorus, reverb, EQ & noise gate pedals, maybe more.

Jumped the 1st hurdle...
Apparently, the version of the 4-channel Furman noise gate I got dirt cheap locally is for XLR input only.
(JRTFM)
Output from each channel can be either TS or XLR female.

Cobbled together a TS to XLR male patch cable from parts in the stash.
Cabling is a bit of a mess right now, but at least it's all working.
Running loop send to the EQ, out through the noise gate, through the TC and back to loop return.



Going to order a few new XLR / TS patch cables or adapters, and some 2ft IEC power cables from Ambazon.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Going to order a few new XLR / TS patch cables or adapters, and some 2ft IEC power cables from Ambazon.

I have a bunch of the adapters in use here. They are handy to have around.

 

[Purgasound]

I used a TC Electronics G Major back in the day and it was pretty cool but I ultimately ditched it when MIDI controlled loop switchers became more accessible and I could go back to pedals on a rack shelf.

My only complaint with the G-Major was that it changed the tone even when no effects were in use. I assumed it was the A/D/D/A conversion that changed the tone. Nowadays converters are much better but I don't know much about current rack effects units and if they're any better or still made.

 

[PelliX]

but I remember people who used them exclusively, and they were too far out of reach for my measly budget..

Things have changed, nobody wants the rackgear and a lot of it is going cheap and is still in decent shape. I suspect - much like most things - that it will become popular again at some point. I've always been a rack-over-pedals person for various reasons. Studio gear, computing or networking kit, guitar FX processors - I'll take 19" every time.

Going to order a few new XLR / TS patch cables or adapters, and some 2ft IEC power cables from Ambazon.

Pay attention to the wiring. Generally if you're going from unbalanced (guitar, etc) to a balanced connector, you want pins #1 and #3 tied together on the XLR plug. If you buy something off the shelf, just make sure it doesn't have molded plugs on both ends so that you can correct it if required.

My only complaint with the G-Major was that it changed the tone even when no effects were in use. I assumed it was the A/D/D/A conversion that changed the tone. Nowadays converters are much better but I don't know much about current rack effects units and if they're any better or still made.

I'm still on the casual lookout for a G-Major. Not something I particularly need, but a welcome addition.

I've got a couple of flightcases for the rack FX I take a long generally:





This is the larger one (the GP-8 is a deep unit) with the MIDI, footswitching and I/O on the front. A while back I got a smaller, lighter 2U case for "grab-n-go" usage and a 2nd GX-700 for it. I also have a second GP-8 and a couple of FC-100's for them plus an old EV-5.





Even just a single GX-700 gives me infinitely more than filling the entire case with pedals. My pedalboard is fairly sparse and not even required most of the time.

Then there's all the studio gear that can be had relatively cheap thesedays. I've got a couple of digital and analog EQ's, interfaces, ADAT extensions, patch bays, DBx compressors, 1176 clones, reverbs, FX processors, etc. Often when that stuff is sold off cheap as "broken" it's just in need of a couple of new caps and/or a battery replacement.