Author Topic: Racks (for live bass rig) (Read 255 times)

jubeas3eyes · « **on:** February 04, 2007, 09:59:46 AM »

Ok guys I am once again turning to you for advice. I am looking to improve my rig a bit and I purchased a furman power conditionar and a 6 space rack from a friend. I now have 3 rack spaces to fill up and am not really sure what to put in there. I am bidding on a rack tuner on ebay so that will be one. I am also considering a compressor, but honestly sound wise I don't think I need it. Are there any other racks out there that are inexpensive and just kind of cool? If anyone has anything they want to sell I would be glad to hear it!
Thanks in advance!
Sean

lbpesq · « **Reply #1 on:** February 04, 2007, 11:14:14 AM »

I have a two-space rack I use with my Boogie. An SF-2 - admittedly NOT inexpensive, but WELL worth it; and a BBE Sonic Maximizer - inexpensive and WELL worth it. I'm not sure how the BBE works for bass, but it is a wonderfully subtle, yet effective, unit.

Bill, tgo

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:41:07 AM »

Hey, Bill, I've seen the BBE unit in the Musician's Friend catalogue - they use words like presense, clarity, control, but they never say exactly what it is. So, exactly what it is? (Sorry for the highjack, Sean, but Bill brought it up, and I'm really curious. To get back on track, what goes in the rack would depend on what the rest of the rig is - whatcha got?)

Peter

(Message edited by cozmik_cowboy on February 05, 2007)

olieoliver · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:56:12 AM »

I use to play through a BBE Sonic Maximizer too. I still have it somewhere.
When I had my rack rig I had the BBE, an Alesis 3630 daul cmopressor, a Yamaha SPX-90 a Peavey pre-amp and a QSC power amp.

lbpesq · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2007, 11:27:35 AM »

The theory of the BBE, as I understand it, is that the treble and bass signals somehow get slightly out of sync on their journey from string to speaker. The BBE puts them back in sync. It seems kind of voodoo-like to me, but I believe there is more and clearer info on this on their site and/or at harmony-central.com's reviews section. Nevertheless, the difference in sound - with vs. without - it is subtle but definitely noticable. Clear, presence sparkle are words that come to mind. It is hard to describe, but definitely worth checking out. It's as if the BBE puts all the tone back in that gets sucked out by the pedal chain. I have the 482i which is a dual channel mono model. It is basically two BBE Sonic Maximizers in one rack unit. It could easily be connected to both channels of a stereo setup. I just use one channel in the effects loop of my Boogie 2C+. The other channel is there as a back up if I need it. You have 3 controls: an on/off rocker switch and two pots on each channel - one labelled Lo Conture that corrects phase on bass frequencies and one labelled Process that corrects phase on high frequencies. IIRC I paid about $180 for it new at GC. They also have a stomp box version and a version built into an acoustic guitar pre-amp stompbox called the Acoustimax. I have one of these too - I use it for my acoustics and if I want to go through the piezos on my Alembicized Fernandes and have it sound like an acoustic guitar. Both units get a big thumb's up from me.

Bill, tgo

olieoliver · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2007, 12:17:48 PM »

Thats the same one I have Bill, 482i.

Think I'll get it out play with it tonight.

eastcoastepic · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2007, 12:47:37 PM »

Sean, most online sites also sell one and two space 'blanks', that you can affix to the rack unit if you don't have anything to install in that space at the moment. That way, you don't have that ugly open area to see, and it looks much more professional. FWIW, my 6 space has a Furman power conditioner, Sabine tuner, Demeter HBP-1 preamp, Alembic SF-2 preamp, and an Eden WT-330 amp, which takes up 2 spaces. Better to have 1 or 2 spaces too many (to utilize in the future), than to have 1 or 2 too few.........
Chris

chuck · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2007, 02:51:05 PM »

I fill the extra rack space with a drawer made by SKB. For music,parts,strings,cords,whatever.And it locks.

Chuck

alembic_doctor · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2007, 03:23:39 PM »

These guys make the absolute quitest rack equipment around. And it looks sharp. Every Bass Player and engineer that carrys a rack should have this equipment. Heck, everyone should carry a rack just to have these with them.

http://www.funklogic.com/mainfunk.htm

alembic_doctor · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2007, 03:27:55 PM »

This one is my favorite for bass players.

http://www.funklogic.com/palindrometer.htm

lbpesq · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2007, 05:54:21 PM »

Doc:

ROTFL! Are these guys for real??!! Wouldn't the Palindrometer work better for someone playing obo? or a friendly dobro, referred to as a lap pal?

heh heh heh

Bill, tgo

alembic_doctor · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2007, 06:05:32 PM »

They are for real. They've been around for years. They started out just making fillers for racks. Then they came out with a way to rack mount the RNC compressors

keith_h · « **Reply #12 on:** February 06, 2007, 04:06:50 AM »

And you can get blanks in cocbolo.

A great way to get that deep tone in your rack.

Keith

jubeas3eyes · « **Reply #13 on:** February 06, 2007, 04:13:07 PM »

Wow, haha an overwhelming reply! I really appreciate it. I ended up getting a sonic maximizer on ebay. I also picked up a crazy awesome (yeah...thats right CRAZY awesome) EQ rack for pretty cheap at a little music shop. The sonic maximizer will be here thursday, the EQ already sounds great. I'll keep everyone updated on how it sounds.
Peace