Rack Pre-amps. Unpopular?

[Owen]

20 minutes ago, BassBod said:

Non SWR 1U?

[Bankai]

1 hour ago, GremlinAndy said:

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!  🤘

I mean, technically the pre-amp is rackmounted

[Acebassmusic]

Had several flavours of racked gear over the years (currently using racked amps with built in eq so they don't count 🙂 ) Here's some of the earlier versions where I've used a seperate pre into other power amp stages.

 

[BassBod]

7 hours ago, Owen said:

Non SWR 1U?

It’s a 70’s Alembic F2B.  

[Owen]

I figured it was Alembic-ish. Ta. 

[Bunion]

Don’t start whipping up interest in rack mount pre’s you’ll let the secret out and the price will rise 🤣😂

[Rich]

Well thanks a bunch you lot. Now you've got me fleaBay-searching for 'light weight power amplifier'

[BreadBin]

I have an LA Audio MPX10 rack mount preamp. It's a great unit with a really nice sounding EQ. You can patch in and out of each section independently which opens up many more options than I'm capable of using!

[Bunion]

Tube goodness 

 

[jazzyvee]

I quite like rack units so i can mix and match as i please. The first picture was my old rack until i started downsizing to lighter gear which is when the QSC got replaced with a crown.

 

This is my current rack with a new F2-B and vintage alembic In-2 switching unit with bass power supply and two DI outs. Only got those two bits last year so not had a chance to use it live yet.

Overall i think the QSC sounds more hifi to my ears and more punchy, but the overall weight of the rack made it a chore to drag to gigs, hence the Crown replacement.

I do have a Walkabout head which i think is a great head that i use when travelling light with out my cabs.

Edited February 13, 2022 by jazzyvee
adding more items

[Waddycall]

3 hours ago, Rich said:

Well thanks a bunch you lot. Now you've got me fleaBay-searching for 'light weight power amplifier'

Yeah, and me but ended up buying a class ab power amp last night. This thread and the one about the sansamp into a QSC power amp coincided with me spending some time playing with the bass pod xt I’ve had for years but only really use as a headphone amp! With lots of tweaking you can get some great tones so plan is to go from the pod to the power amp and do all the shaping on the pod. If that works out I I might look into some other possibilities as I’d prefer a rack mounted pre/effects over the floor unit.

[Marvin]

Unless you've had a rack full of flashing lights and all looking very complex, then quite frankly you're not serious about being a bass player. I got rid of mine because I didn't understand any of it, all I was interested in was having lots of lights and lights flashing.

Edited February 13, 2022 by Marvin

[NancyJohnson]

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.

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.

 

Just because it doesn't come up for sale shouldn't be an indicator that rack kit generally is unliked.  I'd probably say that selecting two different components (pre and power) that delivers precisely what you want is a country mile ahead of a one box solution.

 

For many years I ran a 4U rack with a Sansamp RBI, a Korg tuner and a Matrix 2U poweramp.  It was joy.  

[Owen]

I used to run a 3Kw Chevin power amp with different preamps. Headroom is where the tone is at.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Owen

[Happy Jack]

On 13/02/2022 at 09:57, Rich said:

Well thanks a bunch you lot. Now you've got me fleaBay-searching for 'light weight power amplifier'

https://www.djdeals.co.uk/products/Powersoft-T302?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmKiQBhClARIsAKtSj-lvv-Qv9N9PfssxcWvhPgnS38lSqyyATZ5lch2lOSXZ_ngRgnt_Y6EaAscJEALw_wcB

 

No need to thank me ...

 

[Acebassmusic]

On 13/02/2022 at 09:57, Rich said:

Well thanks a bunch you lot. Now you've got me fleaBay-searching for 'light weight power amplifier'

 

1 minute ago, Happy Jack said:

https://www.djdeals.co.uk/products/Powersoft-T302?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmKiQBhClARIsAKtSj-lvv-Qv9N9PfssxcWvhPgnS38lSqyyATZ5lch2lOSXZ_ngRgnt_Y6EaAscJEALw_wcB

 

No need to thank me ...

 

 

Ah Powersoft! Absolutley solid peices of kit. I have a couple which will be finding their way to the for sale section as soon as I get my act together (and at a fraction of that new price 😉🙂 )

[Happy Jack]

I bought my very first one from @Dood well over 10 years ago, and I've had a few since then. When you list yours, please drop me a PM to make sure that I see them!

 

[Acebassmusic]

4 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

I bought my very first one from @Dood well over 10 years ago, and I've had a few since then. When you list yours, please drop me a PM to make sure that I see them!

 

Will do 🙂

[Dood]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

I bought my very first one from @Dood well over 10 years ago, and I've had a few since then. When you list yours, please drop me a PM to make sure that I see them!

 

 

Oh Lordy that was an AMAZING power amplifier!  

[Dood]

I have a whole bunch or rack gear here still, but not back in it's rack case yet! I still have a soft spot for it despite having not needed much actual back line for a while! 

[Jack]

My very first attempt at frfr, before it was cool. 

 

I've had a couple of rack preamps and I really do like the rack form factor. I've still got a rack amp, rack mixer and even a rack computer (for stage I mean, I also have a server rack at home).

 

However the truth is that digital means that everything can be smaller.

 

My last rack rig was a 4u with a wireless and a Helix (preamp! we're back on topic!) but that got replaced with a tiny pedaltrain nano with a hx stomp. Progress? The jury's still out. 

[JPJ]

I may be a fan of rack mount pre’s too

[KingBollock]

I just think a nice rack is cool…

 

Sorry about the guitar stuff in there. None of it ever leaves the house, so it all lives together.

 

This is the only photo I can find. It’s all currently still at the old house.

Edited February 17, 2022 by KingBollock

[Waddycall]

On 13/02/2022 at 13:09, Waddycall said:

Yeah, and me but ended up buying a class ab power amp last night. This thread and the one about the sansamp into a QSC power amp coincided with me spending some time playing with the bass pod xt I’ve had for years but only really use as a headphone amp! With lots of tweaking you can get some great tones so plan is to go from the pod to the power amp and do all the shaping on the pod. If that works out I I might look into some other possibilities as I’d prefer a rack mounted pre/effects over the floor unit.

It’s arrived but only had a brief chance to try it out in the living room. Hopefully it’ll have enough wallop with the band. I’ve since read the bass pods can have a low output. I’ve got the amp in bridge mono to give 600 ish watts into the 8ohm cab. Sounds ace so far. Feel quite positive about this set up.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Rich

[GremlinAndy]

congrats on the new system!
 

The low output (bod) shouldn’t be a problem with the power amp. With 600 watt you’ll be ok, The limiting factor will be how much you can push the speakers.  A 2x10 isn’t moving *that* much air, and you might be pushing them hard to keep up, depending how loud the band is.