A good ol' Mark IV rackmount conversion thread

[spawnofthesith]

So I have a Mark IVb short combo that I kind of want to convert. All the rackmount kits are out of stock on Mesa's site, however, talking to support today they are completing a new manual for the kits right now, and when that is finished and printed they will be restocked (estimated late June)

So I am completely new to racks and I was reading some forum threads talking about how you can't put the reverb in the kit. I went back to support and they confirmed this, they said that most people usually mount the reverb tank in the rack itself.

Like I said, I am new to racks and honestly kind of stupid. What would be involved in doing that? Would I have to drill into the rack case? Need any more tools or parts to make it happen?

I was pretty gung ho about doing the rack conversion and sticking with official mesa stuff for a minute there but now I'm getting hesitant again. I had been emailing a fellow who builds headshells too. More expensive than the rack but by the time I bought a 4u case that price gap narrows.

Or maybe I should suck it up and keep it as a combo lol

 

[CoG]

don't do it man. racks are so rarely worth it. I too tried it because it seemed cool, and it was such a waste of time and money.

the only reason you want a tube based rack is if you already have a full studio setup with well ventilated 19" racks and patch bays everywhere, or you're regularly playing 1000+ seaters. And actually putting a worthwhile rack setup together for those two use cases is so much damn work, that's why you pay people large amounts of money to do it.

For any other use case including regular gigging where you have to carry your own gear, racks are just so much ******* hassle. You end up with this thing that's bigger and more awkward than a head, especially once you're talking flight cases. If you have a basement setup you're trying to space shuttle, sturdy shelves for heads and a switching box are so much easier to manage.

 

[spawnofthesith]

don't do it man. racks are so rarely worth it. I too tried it because it seemed cool, and it was such a waste of time and money.

the only reason you want a tube based rack is if you already have a full studio setup with well ventilated 19" racks and patch bays everywhere, or you're regularly playing 1000+ seaters. And actually putting a worthwhile rack setup together for those two use cases is so much **** work, that's why you pay people large amounts of money to do it.

For any other use case including regular gigging where you have to carry your own gear, racks are just so much ******* hassle. You end up with this thing that's bigger and more awkward than a head, especially once you're talking flight cases. If you have a basement setup you're trying to space shuttle, sturdy shelves for heads and a switching box are so much easier to manage.

I already decided I’m just gonna do a full send headshell conversion hahaha