Built a Roadking rig for a buddy... Pix

[madryan]

Thanks for the comments folks...

The rack is a Road Ready from GC. I'd have gone with a 20in deep shockrack were it me, but he wanted to get something locally so we could build the thing. It'll work fine as this is primarily a studio/recording rig at this point.

Here's a pic of it setup that I took last night.

Here's the pedalboard with the snake I made...

 

[Mongo1]

The EB VP Jr is plugged in as an expression pedal?
Does it do well?

I was planning on doing the same with mine.
Which one is it (25K or 250K)?
Does it matter?

 

[madryan]

The EB VP Jr is plugged in as an expression pedal?
Does it do well?

I was planning on doing the same with mine.
Which one is it (25K or 250K)?
Does it matter?

I haven't set that up but I'd imagine it's fine. I used to use a Boss FV500H which is a nicer pedal by far and it worked fine.

 

[73h Nils]

Words cannot decribe. :shock:

 

[insideout]

Man, that is just sweet!! I think I'd have bars on my windows too if I had that rig sitting in my room :wink:

I know you can obviously change between amps and add the G Major and pedals where you want. Can you change channels on the amps as well? This is the one thing I can't wrap my brain around when i start contemplating an amp router for my 2 amps.

 

[madryan]

Man, that is just sweet!! I think I'd have bars on my windows too if I had that rig sitting in my room :wink:

I know you can obviously change between amps and add the G Major and pedals where you want. Can you change channels on the amps as well? This is the one thing I can't wrap my brain around when i start contemplating an amp router for my 2 amps.

The RG-16 switches everything. Channels, loops, solo, reverb, etc. It's all done by MIDI.

Basically the take home point here is that I built it so that everything in the rack including the amp can be completely operated via the Foot Controller. Once you program it you never have to fiddle with it again unless you want to change something like your core tone.

 

[GIG4FUN]

I commend you on an excellent brain and hands my firend.
YOU do fantastic work.

errrr.. well ugh, now that we are friends... I got a little project for ya!

 

[jdurso]

That is one of the cleanest racks I've scene.... very impressive. I'm embarrassed that i'm not utilizing my rg-16 to that extent. I'm hoping to get my rig that clean (and am definitely not posting one pic until its that clean). BTW, what kind of connectors are you using? I'm assuming those are soldered connectors not the solderless like the george l's.

Kudos to you man... i hope this is something your doing/intending on doing for a living, because thats an art.

 

[madryan]

That is one of the cleanest racks I've scene.... very impressive. I'm embarrassed that i'm not utilizing my rg-16 to that extent. I'm hoping to get my rig that clean (and am definitely not posting one pic until its that clean). BTW, what kind of connectors are you using? I'm assuming those are soldered connectors not the solderless like the george l's.

Kudos to you man... i hope this is something your doing/intending on doing for a living, because thats an art.

Thanks...

The connectors are the Redco Audio house brand ones. They're essentially a Switchcraft knockoff. Very nice for the money but not as nice as Switchcraft. I believe the straight ones are like $.80 and the RA ones are roughly $2.50. If I were building my own rack for gigging I'd probably use Switchcraft but for as much road work as this rig will see it'll be fine. They're a whole bunch better than any solderless connector.

Maybe I'll do a video showing how I make cables. It's really not hard, just time consuming, but the end result is worth it.

I might end up doing this as a part time job. To me it's really more of a creative outlet like art or music than a technical exercise.

 

[Mongo1]

I took a look at the Redco site.
Do you have any experience with these?
They seem very inexpensive ($1.00 ea.) for a RA Neutrik.
Cheap?

http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1312

 

[madryan]

I took a look at the Redco site.
Do you have any experience with these?
They seem very inexpensive ($1.00 ea.) for a RA Neutrik.
Cheap?

http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1312

I tried the NY series neutrik stuff and they weren't very well made. Kinda clunky and spotty quality. IMO, I've tried all the cheap ones Redco has and the Redco house brand stuff is the best.

The NY series Neutrik MIDI connectors and their oversized speaker ends are fine.

 

[kk]

Rg 16 is sweet right?

Just built a similar rig to get all analog signal path and one step functionality with stomp box and amp channel configurations. I've got it stuffed into 6U shallow rack - RG16, furman and 2 unit pedal drawer. still need to find a deal on a rack tuner.

My biggest challenge was getting enough slack for pedal drawer to cleanly open / close while keeping cabling neat. Every pedal has two cables. You got jumpers on the rg 16, plus the midi cable to ground control, plus cable to amp, plus front of amp, and send / returns. It adds up fast!

I'll try and post pics soon.

 

[madryan]

Rg 16 is sweet right?

Just built a similar rig to get all analog signal path and one step functionality with stomp box and amp channel configurations. I've got it stuffed into 6U shallow rack - RG16, furman and 2 unit pedal drawer. still need to find a deal on a rack tuner.

My biggest challenge was getting enough slack for pedal drawer to cleanly open / close while keeping cabling neat. Every pedal has two cables. You got jumpers on the rg 16, plus the midi cable to ground control, plus cable to amp, plus front of amp, and send / returns. It adds up fast!

I'll try and post pics soon.

Definitely do that. I want to see it for sure.

 

[wizardy]

why do you use an Axess GRX-4
if you have a RG-16 ?
I might get a GRX-4 but I'm not sure it will be enough for my future pedals.

 

[Strategy500]

Excellent job!! Where did you get the plastic cable clips? I looked for some of those the other day, but didn't have any luck.

 

[madryan]

why do you use an Axess GRX-4
if you have a RG-16 ?
I might get a GRX-4 but I'm not sure it will be enough for my future pedals.

The GRX4 is doing all the amp switching.

 

[madryan]

Excellent job!! Where did you get the plastic cable clips? I looked for some of those the other day, but didn't have any luck.

Any good electronics place. Frys or similar. Or, Lowes usually carries them.

 

[wizardy]

actually, the GRX4 can't switch amp channels
you need a CFX4 to do that
according to axess website

so again, why is he using both GRX4 AND RG-16 device??
thanks.

 

[MetalMatt]

...Once the signal leaves the looper it goes into another looper. This one is an Axess GRX4. The way I'm setting it up is loop one will have his Mesa roadking preamp in it. Loop 2 will have his Mesa Mark V preamp in it. Loop 3 will have the G-Major for time based effects and loop 4 will act as an A/B switch allowing him to route his signal to either the Road King power section or the Mark V power section...

The GRX4 is to mix preamps with the power sections of the amps. The RG16 is to switch amp channels and engage loops for the various pedals.

 

[Coker]

planning a similar rig and have some questions #1. g major or g major 2 do you have a preference. g major 2 has the uivibe and a few others the g major doesn't. #2 that custom box has 2 midi cables, Why? #3. are you using a stereo cable for send/return for wah #4. where does the power for the wah come from. love that custom box was planning on similar box #5. where did you get midi sockets #6. does the internal wires need to be shielded or could I just use hook up wire. any help you could give me would be great