robocorpse Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 (edited) Class D amp manufacturers on the whole don't believe anyone would want to rackmount or even flightcase their products because they are "made for portability". They are wrong Most Class D users are limited to either carrying them around in a mimsy little nylon bag that will get smashed to bits in the back of the van on the first speed bump, or putting them in a sturdy box for transit then leaving them perched on top of a cab, ready to be squashed by someone elses amp, pulled off by someone tripping on a cable, or worse still, nicked because they are so compact and easy to smuggle out. I am one of those musicians who need their gear to be flightcased as my stuff gets thrown around in vans and in and out of venues a lot, but is also sick of having to lug a 50 pound Ampeg between vehicles and venues/rehearsal rooms, up stairs and onto 8x10 cabs. Apart from the inconvenience, it is too risky on the wrists, one false move and you're sunk. So I decided to take the plunge and buy a Magellan 800 (a beautiful and great sounding little amp, cheers @bassace !) then work out how to incorporate it into the setup without having to spunk more money on a custom flightcase to hold it and my rack tuner. So I thought I'd just post some photos of what I was dreading having to do, but in reality only took an hour to complete. 1) Removed the rubber feet from the amplifier and very carefully measured then copied the hole locations onto a 2u clamping rack tray. 2) Drilled the holes to match the existing holes in the amplifier baseplate, then deburred the edges. 3) Made up a couple of spacers from scrap 6mm plywood and drill matching holes to suit the existing ones. I decided to do this to give a little airflow under the amp, and also just in case a gig gets rowdy (and a lot of mine do!) so if any beer hit the rack, it would run off under the amp, and not soak the baseplate and potentially get in and cause problems. 4) Removed the screws from the original feet and gave them larger washers to spread the load a little on the rack shelf. Used spirit pen to blacken the front edges of the spacers so they are invisible. 5) Screwed the amp to the rack shelf via the spacers. It sits nicely and has loads of airflow. 6) The amp, screwed into the shelf. I measured it so the front of the controls would be just behind level with the front lip so even if the entire lot came crashing down off an 8x10, there is virtually no risk of the controls getting sheared off. 7) Fitting the clamp bars on the rack shelf. This way, the amp is secure sideways and front to back, but if the case gets tipped or dropped, the clamping bars will hold it in place on the up/down so there is no undue strain put on the bottom screws. This is important if I ever wish to re-rack it and revert to freestanding. Small pieces of hard foam sheeting were placed between the bars and the amps surface to stop it getting scratched by the bars. And here's the finished case. Looks a bit gappy but hey, airflow! So there you have it, I wasn't looking forward to this job as I thought it would just be a bit of a bodge, but needs must, and this thing is absolutely bombproof now in my full flight rack case. My rack is now 13 pounds lighter than before, and I have an arguably better amp for my purposes, with a lot more welly if I need to drive it. Edited September 27, 2019 by robocorpse 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 Just for completeness, can you post a shot of it all racked up with the tuner? This looks like a great solution, btw. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robocorpse Posted September 27, 2019 Author Share Posted September 27, 2019 12 hours ago, Pea Turgh said: Just for completeness, can you post a shot of it all racked up with the tuner? This looks like a great solution, btw. 👍 Added to original post. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Makes a lot of sense to me, small class D amp, rack mount tuner and maybe some form of effects/preamp in a rack. All safe & sound and no need for a pedalboard on stage, less setting up time, what’s not to like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Neatly done. My rig is flightcased too but what would really help is if amp manufacturers would put an input on the back so that you don't meed additional rack space for the cable running in to the amp. Not a problem you have here but it's right annoying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 +1 The reason to rack mount D class amps is the same as for any other type of amp, ie protection. As soon as someone else is loading your gear you have to protect it if you want it to survive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Very tidy job but, for me, the only time I ever use my genzler is when I need something light that packs into a small space. If I'm going to take a rack case then the trade off of class d power is negated somewhat and I'd rather have the sound benefits of an amp with a bit more weight. Obviously we all have different needs though and I completely understand how this works for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 This is my GK in it's house. They make rack ears for it so it was easier for me 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 I did the same to my Superfly shortly after I got it. One reason was to give me a place to put the fan I needed to use to keep it from overheating. It's the same case I previously had my Hartke 3500 mounted in, so I still ended up with a net weight reduction of some 10kg or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attackbass Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 @robocorpse Hi mate, I'm thinking for doing something similar to this, I play such a wide variety of gigs from where I know my gear is safe and respected to where anything could happen to my amp! Where did you get the rack shelf from? Is it the studiospares one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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