What do you need to watch out for when buying rack gear?

Drew_TNBD

I get that if you've got a Line FX loop, no problem. Buy away... and pretty much you can whack a unit into the loop and it'll be fine.

But what about when going into the front of the amp? If the rack unit doesn't have a hi-Z input, what is the route you should take then?

digitalscream

Not entirely sure, but one thing to watch is ground loops when you have multiple units in your rack, both in front and in the loop. Can be very "entertaining" sorting that shit out.

Guitarnut

If you can't run them in an fx loop personally I'd not bother. You could get a suhr line out iso box and set up a wet/dry rig. You will need another amp and cab for the effects or maybe a powered speaker.

octatonic

You could use a reaping box to take the line level signal down to guitar level:

http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/palmer-daccapo-reamping-box-p-2167.html?gclid=CIagkNmS2roCFWzItAod6lwAfw

Cirrus

When I had a rack it all went into the front of my AC30. It was a mix of a shelf of pedals, then a few rack units - Line 6 DL pro, MM pro, Digitech IPS, Korg tuner, Midiverb etc.

What I found was that as long as the guitar is plugged into a high impedance load what happens after doesn't matter too much as long as you balance the individual unit's input and output volume trims sensibly to maintain the proper gain staging throughout. On most line level gear you can whack the input trim way up and bring the output level down, I tended to find myself reading the manuals online when contemplating buying something to work out if it was suitable.

I tended to have a line booster pedal or something at the end of the chain set to unity volume to maintain a constant impedance between the rack's output and the amp's input.

The only line level effect that affected the tone in a negative way was the TC D-two. Just made everything sound flat and sterile no matter what I did.

Guitarnut

Is there a specific rack unit you were thinking of?

dogload

I was thinking 'sharp corners' till I actually read the thread. So I'll keep schtum!