Rigs: Let's See 'Em

hicksjd9 · Post by **hicksjd9** » Wednesday Jun 20, 2012

Excerpt from hicksjd9 bylaws: Article 1, Section 9:

Any rig which requires the use of A: tractor trailer or B: forklift is, and will hereby be referred to as, "sufficient."

If, in the instance of said rig falling upon a party, the result is death, said rig naming convention will be upgraded to "killer rig."

End.

MistValkyrie · Post by **MistValkyrie** » Wednesday Jun 20, 2012

lonewolf wrote: I'd like to try it side-by-side with somebody's Marshall half stack.

ha ha...my thoughts exactly...I have a Low Down, it may seem small and ugly, but much like the Millenium Falcon (and my first car, also named the Millenium Falcon), it's got it where it counts, kids.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Thursday Jun 21, 2012

Gear keeps getting smaller and lighter, but performance seems to be just as good or better than the heavy stuff. A skyscraper tall row of backline looks awesome, but it sucks at the end of the night when you're breaking it down and need to invest in a trailer and low-MPG vehicle to haul it.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Thursday Jun 21, 2012

I'm posting this on behalf of Gallowglass. I received all of the pics and info from him in an email, so here goes:

From Top to bottom:
Rack 1
1. Furman
2. T.C. Electronics G Major
3. Marshall 9001 preamp
4. Korg tuner
5. Marshall 8008 power amp (back-up)

Rack 2
1. Furman
2. Mesa Studio preamp
3. Marshall JMP-1 preamp
4. Mesa 50/50 poweramp

The pedalboard (clockwise from upper right):
1. Mesa Boogie V-twin preamp (only used as a substitute when sitting in or my regular amps aren’t available)
2. Ibanez TS9
3. Footswitch for Mesa Studio preamp
4. Morley Fuzz/Wah (Tel-Ray era)
5. Radial Tonebone

Jason, I must say you have some really awesome gear, and I can tell that you appreciate what you have and you take great care of your things. I love all that Vintage Marshall shit. Vintage. Well, it is right?

Gallowglass · Post by **Gallowglass** » Friday Jun 22, 2012

metalchurch wrote:...Jason, I must say you have some really awesome gear, and I can tell that you appreciate what you have and you take great care of your things. I love all that Vintage Marshall shit. Vintage. Well, it is right?

Metalchurch, first off, thanks for posting. I'm a sucker for that era Marshall gear too. As far as this rig goes, I don't think there's any Marshall gear newer than '93. The Furmans are newer, I have no idea what year the G-Major or the 50/50 are (but the 50/50's a blue light model). I know OneGun used to own the 50/50 a few moons ago. I bought it from Terry at Guitars N' Stuff. The Mesa Studio is probably from '84-'85. I'm really in love with this rig. The 9001 especially was a great surprise. It gets little recognition nowadays, but it sounds great in the context of this rig...lots of mids (oh yeah, it's a Marshall!), but voiced with a tighter and deeper low end than usual for a Marshall. You can take it somewhat close to VHT Pittbull land if you want to. The JMP-1 is well, everything you expect it to be. The Korg and the 8008 are actually on loan from Big Jim C. The cab in the picture was bought from hicksjd9. It's a really nice sounding one.

It's not in the picture, but I currently have Undercover Joe's 9004 Marshall preamp here too. It's the solid state model contemporary with the 9001. I'm totally a tube man, but it will really surprise you...it is one great sounding preamp.

Speaking of vintage, I'd really like to happen across an affordable ADA MP1 one of these days. They were on EVERYTHING (bad and good) back in the day...just a total classic. There's even a certain board member locally (lupus solus) who created a cool mod for it

Anyway, thanks again man. J.J.F.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Friday Jun 22, 2012

I just pm'd Lonewolf about an ADA MP-1 problem that a buddy was having. Jeff is well versed in those units thats for sure.
If you are interested in an MP-1, I know of one for around $100 or $150 cant remem exactly, but it's still less than half what you'd spend on ebay.
Lemmy know.

PanzerFaust · Post by **PanzerFaust** » Sunday Jul 15, 2012

Cool pics... I could look at this shit all day !!!!!!

Jasaoke · Post by **Jasaoke** » Sunday Jul 15, 2012

I'm curious about the Firmament units: do they provide an atvantage as far as the performance of the rig, or is it just a convenient way to keep power cables sorted? I'm skeptically of power "conditioning" (what does it actually do?) and surge protection, mostly beacause I've never lost a piece of gear to a spike or surge, and have rarely encountered anyone who claims to.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Sunday Jul 15, 2012

There is a lot of controversey surrounding power conditioning. Most electrical engineering experts I've talked to say that the rack conditioning units offer nothing more than what a good power strip from the dollar store would do, and in order to actually get something that will actually do anything more would require something that costs a few thousand dollars. I don't know enough about electrical engineering to refute or confirm that, but I also never had an issue that was simply resolved with a power conditioner. I haven't used my Furman in years. Knock on wood, though.

There is a TON of snake oil in the pro audio cable industry. I've seen 9v power cables that sell for thousands of dollars.

onegunguitar · Post by **onegunguitar** » Sunday Jul 15, 2012

Now this is a rig...hahaha

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Tuesday Jul 17, 2012

onegunguitar wrote:Now this is a rig...hahaha

I'm sure the PLCE would have a problem with that.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Tuesday Jul 17, 2012

bassist_25 wrote:There is a lot of controversey surrounding power conditioning. Most electrical engineering experts I've talked to say that the rack conditioning units offer nothing more than what a good power strip from the dollar store would do, and in order to actually get something that will actually do anything more would require something that costs a few thousand dollars. I don't know enough about electrical engineering to refute or confirm that, but I also never had an issue that was simply resolved with a power conditioner. I haven't used my Furman in years. Knock on wood, though.

There is a TON of snake oil in the pro audio cable industry. I've seen 9v power cables that sell for thousands of dollars.

It is true that most rack mount power strips are no different than the regular power strips. They are not really "conditioners" at all. Most just use MOVs for protection which wear out quickly. This is why you should NEVER buy a used one unless you know it has very low hours on it.

There are a few multi-stage rack mount conditioners out there that use modest conditioning circuitry, including some high-end Furman equipment and Monster's top of the line PRO 3500. I have an ETA 20 amp that has 3 stage filtration, but I don't think they are in the power business anymore. These aren't as good as the computer server/medical grade regulators that your friends were probably talking about, but they are close enough for rock and roll. The lower cost Monsters are a little better than the rest, but...

If it costs less than $200 new, chances are its not much better than the el-cheapos at the Dollar store.

If you are going to buy an elcheapo rack mount, I suggest that you get one with lights an a voltmeter or low-voltage warning light. If the voltmeter drops below 110V, show the venue manager and shut the damned thing off.

StumbleFingers · Post by **StumbleFingers** » Tuesday Jul 17, 2012

Here's the simple rig I've been using:

A Dr. Z Maz 18 1x12 with a Line 6 M5 (w/expression pedal) and Xotic BB+ preamp. The Xotic provides two flavors of boost and the M5 handles other miscellaneous noises. Most of the night it's just guitar straight into amp.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Wednesday Jul 18, 2012

That's a tastey rig, Greg.