GremlinAndy Posted February 9, 2022 Posted February 9, 2022 I’ve noticed that it’s very seldom 19” rack pre’s come up for sale in the classifieds. Are they generally unliked by the community? I love the versatility of being able to get the Pre sound I want, then to amplify it with whatever I want. ok… currently I’m favouring my Thunderfunk TF750 but I have a decent selection of rack pre’s to choose from coupled with a Powersoft 3002. I’m always on the lookout, but they don’t seem to come up very often at all. it makes me wonder if there aren’t many out there, or if people hold on to them more… just musing over it. 2 Quote
Downunderwonder Posted February 9, 2022 Posted February 9, 2022 At some point rack stuff becomes too painful to let go for the fraction of what you paid for it. I thinks it's getting to where really good low noise stuff stays in service and lesser stuff stays as backups with a very few buyers snaffling the occasional offering. 2 Quote
Waddycall Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 It’s a shame there’ isn’t more rack stuff available. I really don’t understand why everyone wants their gear cluttering up the floor. Much easier to twiddle knobs if they’re not on the floor too. 2 Quote
LeftyJ Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 I use an EBS HD350 head with an EBS ProLine 410 as my main amp for rehearsals, but I gig with a 19" preamp straight to the desk. In my rack are an Ampeg SVP-CL and an SVP-Pro, both brilliant tube preamps with the classic Ampeg tone. The CL is the preamp section of the SVT Classic in a 1HE housing, and the Pro is the preamp section of the SVT2 Pro in a 1HE space with the graphic EQ and a drive section. I also have an SWR Grand Prix (Prix / Pre, get it? ) which is very nice but which has some slight issues. I have barely used it since getting it, it needs some love and needs to get used more! 2 Quote
Rich Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) On 09/02/2022 at 23:12, GremlinAndy said: I’ve noticed that it’s very seldom 19” rack pre’s come up for sale in the classifieds. Are they generally unliked by the community? I love the versatility of being able to get the Pre sound I want, then to amplify it with whatever I want. Expand I did the separate pre/power thing before and would happily do it again. I had a Trace GP12SMX pre (my favourite preamp ever) and a Soundtech class D power amp, gave me the basic Trace sound at a much lighter weight. It'd be fun to have two very different pre's in the rack and make up a foot-switching system between them. Mmmm... got me thinking now... Edited February 10, 2022 by Rich 2 Quote
three Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 I prefer rack pres to stomp/floor units (though I do sometimes use the latter, notably an Agi Tonehammer). After some really exhaustive testing (genuinely, a lot of money lost!), I worked out that I tend to prefer SS rack pres. My favourite is the Warwick Hellborg, for me it's a stellar, ultra-clean and forensic pre. I also use an Alembic SF2 - a strange but brilliant device indeed and one for which there's quite a learning process. Another favourite - somewhere between a floor-box and rack device is the Millennia TD-1. Superb in every respect and mastering quality EQ. It also has a valve path should one wish to use it. An honourable mention also to the Warm Audio Pultec clone - the only all valve rack pre that I really got on with. I've had a Noble and that was lovely but not really what I wanted (as with the DB680). As I said, quite a journey, and an expensive one. 1 Quote
Rich Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 10:20, three said: Warwick Hellborg... Alembic SF2... Millennia TD-1... quite a journey, and an expensive one. Expand No kidding! 1 1 Quote
Rich Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) I also had a Focusrite Platinum Trakmaster Pro for a while. Beautifully pure-sounding, lovely EQ and still the best compressor I've ever used. Channel strips are brilliant if you want an uncoloured sound. Edited February 11, 2022 by Rich NOT the Pro 1 Quote
three Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 10:39, Rich said: I also had a Focusrite Platinum Trakmaster Pro for a while. Beautifully pure-sounding, lovely EQ and still the best compressor I've ever used. Channel strips are brilliant if you want an uncoloured sound. Expand Oooh, those look nice and not a ridiculous price second hand. I agree entirely on channel strips for pure and uncoloured - I like a nice compressor too! 1 Quote
three Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) On 10/02/2022 at 10:36, Rich said: No kidding! Expand Yes, things got quite badly out of hand for a while. I sort of went stereo. A bit of order restored now, though the sight of a lovely rack pre makes me go a bit weak. Edited February 10, 2022 by three 5 1 Quote
BigRedX Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 Having been a user of rack gear since the late 80s, I ditched all of mine a couple of years ago for a Helix Floor. Rack gear sounds like a good idea until you have lift it all. Even with lightweight stuff in it my 6U rack case was only just a one person lift. 1 Quote
nekomatic Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 Being particularly averse to noisy fans, I picked up a rackmount fanless class-AB power amp with the intention of pairing it up with a rackmount preamp, as I also don't like the idea of fiddly little boxes on the floor. Eventually I realised that I wasn't going to find the time to build the preamp myself and there weren't any affordable commercial ones around with all the functions I wanted, and then a fanless Laney Class-D head came up in the for sale forum, so I ditched the rack idea (and need at some point to get round to ditching the class-AB power amp, which someone else might as well get the benefit of… possibly for anchoring their boat). 1 Quote
Lozz196 Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 One of the best bass sounds I`ve heard was the bassist from Spunge, he has a rackmount Tech21 RBI (basically Sansamp Bass Driver) into a Marshall VBA400 into two of the Marshall VBC412 cabs. He said he uses the RBI for the eq, the VBA just as the power amp. Truly awesome tone. 3 Quote
GremlinAndy Posted February 10, 2022 Author Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) On 10/02/2022 at 12:43, BigRedX said: Having been a user of rack gear since the late 80s, I ditched all of mine a couple of years ago for a Helix Floor. Rack gear sounds like a good idea until you have lift it all. Even with lightweight stuff in it my 6U rack case was only just a one person lift. Expand Agreed. It’s lightweight until 3u then starts getting unwieldy! My rule is always to get my rack gear down to 3u. Edited February 10, 2022 by GremlinAndy 1 Quote
franzbassist Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 I had this many moons ago. It was pretty damn amazing! 3 Quote
Rich Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 15:28, GremlinAndy said: Agreed. It’s lightweight until 3u then starts getting unwieldy! My rule is always to get my rack gear down to 3u. Expand My current one is 4U... I could probably get away with 3, but the amp is a Shuttle so this means the case is still pretty light. I had a well-loaded 6U at one time, now that sucker was heavy! 1 Quote
BigRedX Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 15:28, GremlinAndy said: Agreed. It’s lightweight until 3u then starts getting unwieldy! My rule is always to get my rack gear down to 3u. Expand Before the 6U, I had 8U of stuff in one of those metal-covered plywood rack cases. Not only was it unfeasibly heavy but all the weight was distributed towards the front of the rack making it even more unwieldy. 1 Quote
three Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 15:37, franzbassist said: I had this many moons ago. It was pretty damn amazing! Expand I had a Quest years ago - sublime. Even the knobs were a thing of beauty (turned aluminium if memory serves) Quote
Owen Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 11:44, three said: Yes, things got quite badly out of hand for a while. I sort of went stereo. A bit of order restored now, though the sight of a lovely rack pre makes me go a bit weak. Expand Hubba hubba! 1 Quote
WinterMute Posted February 10, 2022 Posted February 10, 2022 When I was gigging, rack kit was simply more useful and easy to transport, I used the Bass Pod XT Pro for a few years, then the GED2112 Tech21 preamp with a Crown power amp and a Barefaced Big Twin, but after I stopped playing live they took up valuable space and slots in my small studio, so I swapped them out for an HX Stomp and a QSC K12.2. I think I sold the GED2112 for pretty much what I paid for it, same with the Big Twin but for a few quid, the Line 6 not so much... My Packhorse 4U rack case is now a cable and connectors box in the loft. 2 Quote
Waddycall Posted February 11, 2022 Posted February 11, 2022 (edited) On 10/02/2022 at 10:39, Rich said: I also had a Focusrite Platinum Trakmaster Pro for a while. Beautifully pure-sounding, lovely EQ and still the best compressor I've ever used. Channel strips are brilliant if you want an uncoloured sound. Expand How does the eq work on those? All i can see is the mid scoop function? Edited February 11, 2022 by Waddycall Quote
Rich Posted February 11, 2022 Posted February 11, 2022 On 11/02/2022 at 09:34, Waddycall said: How does the eq work on those? All i can see is the mid scoop function? Expand Apologies, it turns out the one I had was the plain Trakmaster, not the Pro. This is a screen grab of the manual section of the Trakmaster. Apologies for the poor quality. 1 1 Quote
Bankai Posted February 12, 2022 Posted February 12, 2022 Does this count as a rackmount rig? If yes, then I still use one 1 Quote
GremlinAndy Posted February 12, 2022 Author Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) Yeah, it counts as a rack mount rig, …but my original question was about rack mount preamps. Still, I’ll never object to seeing images of peoples rigs! It’s always a pleasure! I bet that sounds pretty amazeballs too! 🤘 Edited February 12, 2022 by GremlinAndy Quote
BassBod Posted February 12, 2022 Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) This is my current selection…all good stuff. It’s great to have these different flavours, although once set up I have to admit it all just sounds like me 🤷🏻♂️ Edited February 12, 2022 by BassBod 3 1 Quote
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