Racks & Things

MrBump

I'm thinking about a new amp, not something I've done for a few years, and I'm wondering about the rack mounted route.  It seems these days, modelling is the trend - is rack mounted stuff out of fashion?  If I wanted a decent basic gigging setup, what would I be looking for?

FX_Munkee

Depends what you're playing. I'm using a Laney IRT Studio with a Digitech GSP1101 for home recording but it would be fine as a covers gigging setup IMHO. I can get a hell of a lot of different sounds from it and it's extremely portable.
The GSP1101 is connected using the 4 cable method and I can use either the Laney's preamp or the GSP's sims. I can also put the GSP's overdrives in front of the Laneys preamps etc.
All in all a lot of flexibility for not much cash (bought used).

digitalscream

Depends on the music you're playing. R&R do the SOLO, which is an SLO-inspired two-channel 50W valve amp in a 1U rack space, and sounds ace for heavy stuff. Weighs about 5kg.

Then AMT are soon to be coming out with the Stonehead SH-100R, which is a 100W version of their 4-channel Stonehead amp in a 1U rack space. Again, it's super light.

The problem I've found with rack gear is that it very quickly goes from "Yeah, this is pretty easy to carry" to "ARGH, OMFG MY BACK'S GONE!". A rack preamp (eg ADA MP-1), power amp (eg Marshall 20/20) and a couple of effects units can go well over 20kg even though the individual bits are reasonably lightweight.

professorben

digitalscream said:

Depends on the music you're playing. R&R do the SOLO, which is an SLO-inspired two-channel 50W valve amp in a 1U rack space, and sounds ace for heavy stuff. Weighs about 5kg.

Then AMT are soon to be coming out with the Stonehead SH-100R, which is a 100W version of their 4-channel Stonehead amp in a 1U rack space. Again, it's super light.

The problem I've found with rack gear is that it very quickly goes from "Yeah, this is pretty easy to carry" to "ARGH, OMFG MY BACK'S GONE!". A rack preamp (eg ADA MP-1), power amp (eg Marshall 20/20) and a couple of effects units can go well over 20kg even though the individual bits are reasonably lightweight.

One advantage of modelling gear is it's relatively light weight. 

I have an Eleven Rack which is a 2U flight cased multi fx jobby with a Rocktron power amp (1u) and it's my lightweight back up option.