The Rack Thread

[OrganicZed]

That's great stuff. Do you use the axe in to the 2/90/2?

I mostly play the Axe through studio monitors or IEMs. When I use it with a stereo pair of cabinets I have them powered with a QSC PLX3102 (550W @ 8 Ohms per side, class H topology, switch mode power supply). I do intend to try the Axe through the 2/90/2 one of these days, but I very rarely have the house to myself and the wife doesn't tolerate much volume so it is low on the priority list.

 

[Blix]

Ok tried the Gigrig wetter box as an option for analog dry through in my X88ir loop.
It's going back.
In is clearly designed for blending stomp boxes in parallel and has the FX loop capability as an afterthought.
I don't like the sound of the buffer in the dry side when turned on. I don't know but even when in true bypass operation this only applies to the overall bypass and still puts the buffer on when you turn on the pedal (causing a change in the dry side signal in operation ? Sounds like it to me anyway). Also the sweep of the mix control is not very useful blending to the dry signal (great to blend A+B but not B and dry). You also have to leave the A side empty to actually do this you can't make use of the connections (and a switch) to avoid the need of Y leads for stereo operation even though the pedal has a mono in stereo out set of mono jacks.
The configuration of the pedal is also all about putting it on a pedalboard and blending FX boxes not putting it in the back of a rack system.
You really wouldn't think a box that had mono send stereo return (three jacks) unitary gain ( to the FX loop ) and a mixable loop also stereo/mono send stereo return ( four jacks ) was that difficult to do.
The truth is if I put an analog dry though pedal in the series loop it sounds different to the same unit set kill dry through the Wetter box, and by different I mean worse. So for the £249 I am just getting a different shade of different to the overall sound compared to just putting the Axe in series. Neither manage the dry to sound and feel the same as the actual dry.
Years ago I used a Peavey (yes not a typo) Valvex rack mount tube mixer and it was totally transparent. It could do this perfectly but this had multiple channels and only switchable by manually pressing buttons on the front panel is 1u and total overkill for this application (and long discontinued).
The Lehle Parallel 2 may actually be the only compact solution of sufficient quality but this is still F###ing Y leads to do stereo.
A friend of mine uses a PSplit and two mini mix 2s for his rack but there is no loop at all on his preamp. This seems to be transparent but all mixing is on the units themselves and costs about £700.

I suspected the Gigirig box wouldn't be ideal. You still have the RJM and Red Seven mini mixers as options.

Back in the day I had the Triaxis/2:90 and finding effects transparent enough was a major PITA as I was broke after getting the preamp/poweramp lol. The good old Rocktron Intellifex was the economy solution that actually worked.

 

[Diary Of An Axeman]

What is the signal path and how are you controlling it?

An old Digitech RP-12 as the main controller an with the Ensoniq 2 input x 8 output KMX MIDI Merger, I am using an RP-1 as a second controller.

 

[Diary Of An Axeman]

Some stuff from this afternoon.
View attachment 33914

WOW !!!!

 

[Diary Of An Axeman]

WOW !!!!

How many watts / dB do you crank that monster ?

 

[Eagle]

How many watts / dB do you crank that monster ?

It's a mesa 290 so pretty loud if you want it . It is set up to two mesa EV 1x12 cabs at the moment or miked up 4x12 in the basement blast room.

 

[EOengineer]

Simul Satellite got trashed and is on its way back to GC. Total bummer, it was basically loose in the box with 1 piece of bubble wrap.

I hate to say it but I think I’m in the market for a 2:90. Dammit.

Let me know if you see any good deals.

 

[Desertdweller]

How many watts / dB do you crank that monster ?

The great thing about 2:90s is they sound amazing even at whisper quiet volumes. Just because you can go loud does not mean you have to.

 

[Eagle]

The great thing about 2:90s is they sound amazing even at whisper quiet volumes. Just because you can go loud does not mean you have to.

Quality over volume but as long as Boogie is your tone it’s both.

 

[EOengineer]

Well I’ve got a Simul-Class 2:90 power amp on the way to complete the Studio Preamp rig. Things are about to get real ractacular around this household.

There’s a near zero chance this doesn’t expand into a triaxis later this year.

This is the dumbest purchase I’ve ever made but maybe I won’t hate rack gear if I don’t have to gig it.

 

[Desertdweller]

Well I’ve got a Simul-Class 2:90 power amp on the way to complete the Studio Preamp rig. Things are about to get real ractacular around this household.

There’s a near zero chance this doesn’t expand into a triaxis later this year.

This is the dumbest purchase I’ve ever made but maybe I won’t hate rack gear if I don’t have to gig it.

Grab two of these as well.

D'Addario Pedalboard Cable Kit Connector - Right Angle with Latching Switch, Single

Single Solderless Right Angle Plug with Circuit Breaker

www.sweetwater.com

Since you're not running it with a Triaxis, you'll need relays to switch on the Deep and Modern modes. Half drive is nowhere near as useful, but having two of these plugged in gives you a button on the back of the amp to turn the modes on or off.

I run mine like Petrucci did back in the 90s, Deep and Modern are always on.

Also the Triaxis is awesome, but they're getting long in the tooth, are very complex inside with multiple fail points, and the front panel is easy to damage. I'd recommend a Syn2 and a mix of the IICP and the T-DLX or B-man, 2 IICPs, or a IICP and a DRECT, depending on what sounds you're looking for. I prefer the IICP and DRECT to the Triaxis and it's simpler, smaller, and a more modern setup. Sounds amazing with the 2:90 as well.

 

[EOengineer]

Grab two of these as well.

D'Addario Pedalboard Cable Kit Connector - Right Angle with Latching Switch, Single

Single Solderless Right Angle Plug with Circuit Breaker

www.sweetwater.com

View attachment 36164

Since you're not running it with a Triaxis, you'll need relays to switch on the Deep and Modern modes. Half drive is nowhere near as useful, but having two of these plugged in gives you a button on the back of the amp to turn the modes on or off.

I run mine like Petrucci did back in the 90s, Deep and Modern are always on.

Also the Triaxis is awesome, but they're getting long in the tooth, are very complex inside with multiple fail points, and the front panel is easy to damage. I'd recommend a Syn2 and a mix of the IICP and the T-DLX or B-man, 2 IICPs, or a IICP and a DRECT, depending on what sounds you're looking for. I prefer the IICP and DRECT to the Triaxis and it's simpler, smaller, and a more modern setup. Sounds amazing with the 2:90 as well.

Big thanks for this! I was gonna make my own but these are hard to beat! Good looking out!

And yeah, well versed on the perils of Triaxis ownership. My first one had to go in twice for switching failures. I’ll likely still end up rolling the dice if I can find a TX4 non phat. I’ve got a good Mesa repair tech here who, at least for the parts you can still get, I know will fix it correctly.

 

[Whizzinby]

Have almost everything wired up with the interface.

Depth of the power conditioner vs interface has made me need to switch them around at least for the time being. Need to replace the drawer with a pullout shelf for a pedal board. (Largely just ODs, fuzz and mod pedals that I want to run into the front of the preamps, all AxeFX for post fx)

 

[EOengineer]

Have almost everything wired up with the interface.

View attachment 36182

Depth of the power conditioner vs interface has made me need to switch them around at least for the time being. Need to replace the drawer with a pullout shelf for a pedal board. (Largely just ODs, fuzz and mod pedals that I want to run into the front of the preamps, all AxeFX for post fx)

Any concerns about heat with the LXII so close to the AxeFx? Awesome looking rack!

 

[Eagle]

Any concerns about heat with the LXII so close to the AxeFx? Awesome looking rack!

The Syn2 is getting the heat.

 

[EOengineer]

The Syn2 is getting the heat.

Yeah I was just thinking the combination of those three might get hot. I know the LXII runs pretty hot.

 

[Whizzinby]

Any concerns about heat with the LXII so close to the AxeFx? Awesome looking rack!

I had the AxeFx and LXII racked up in a 4u for a good while with no issues. Originally I had the LXII on top but I found that the flow works better with the LXII on the bottom. The depth of the AxeFX is much shorter than the LXII and the LX’s top vents are entirely open beneath it.

But another added benefit of going shelf over drawer will be to also open up that airflow beneath the LX too.

 

[EOengineer]

I had the AxeFx and LXII racked up in a 4u for a good while with no issues. Originally I had the LXII on top but I found that the flow works better with the LXII on the bottom. The depth of the AxeFX is much shorter than the LXII and the LX’s top vents are entirely open beneath it.

But another added benefit of going shelf over drawer will be to also open up that airflow beneath the LX too.

Yeah I noticed the extra room, thought that might have been intentional. Heat is really the only thing that stresses me out with rack gear. Everything just looks so cool smooshed into those racks.

 

[Whizzinby]

Yeah I was just thinking the combination of those three might get hot. I know the LXII runs pretty hot.

I rarely have all of them running at once. Usually a combo, but rarely 3+.

It’s funny because when I bought that rack I thought it was ridiculously too much space and now I’ve almost outgrown it.

If I add second next to it, call for help.

 

[Desertdweller]

The Syn2 is getting the heat.

When I ran a Syn5050, Syn2, and Axe FX 2 together that close together, the Axe FX 2 would get very hot. YMMV, but you might want to put 1U space between the amp and processor.