Built a Roadking rig for a buddy... Pix

[madryan]

I posted this over at Harmony Central but I thought you guys might get a kick out of it since it's all Mesa...

I built a buddy a complete MIDI switching rig. It's basically setup so he has total control over everything in his signal chain without any tapdancing. I'm utilizing his Road King II and will be using the Mark V he's got on order when it gets in. Till then I'll most likely patch in my DC-5. There's nearly 200 feet of Mogami cable and about 90 or so connectors of various types.

Basically, there's 8 pedals in front of the amp all in true bypass loops that switch in and out of the signal chain via MIDI. Basically it's a pedalboard on a rack shelf that takes the entire pedal plus the patch cables completely out of the signal chain when you're not using it. I used an RJM Music RG-16 for this. The 8 function switches on the RG-16 will control amp functions.

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.

His entire pedalboard will consist of a MIDI controller with a Fulltone Wah and a Ernie Ball volume pedal to use as an expression pedal.

The whole point of a rig like this is to give you the same sort of flexibility as a standard pedalboard setup but with the added bonus of the cleanest signal chain you can possibly have, plus one touch control that changes everything.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but if anyone has any questions about building a rig such as this I'm always happy to lend a hand.

Here's the pix...

MMMM... Raw materials...

Wiring up the pedal shelf...

More in the next post...

 

[madryan]

Here's the wireless, the Axess switcher and the custom box I built to switch inputs.

Here's what it looks like from behind...

 

[madryan]

All the pedals have a velcro on number denoting where they're at in the RG-16.

The finished product...

The amp...

The pedalboard...

 

[haha]

Wow! :shock:

 

[ned]

**** nice.

Details on the pedal shelves and the wireless/cable switch. That is what annoys me the most about the switchers, they don't really function as a interface. Put a midi in on the front and let me have a wireless and cable connected at the same time so that if the wireless craps out you can justs grab the cable and plug it in to keep the gig going.

 

[madryan]

**** nice.

Details on the pedal shelves and the wireless/cable switch. That is what annoys me the most about the switchers, they don't really function as a interface. Put a midi in on the front and let me have a wireless and cable connected at the same time so that if the wireless craps out you can justs grab the cable and plug it in to keep the gig going.

Pedal shelves are Middle Atlantic. The cheap ones from Redco Audio. In retrospect I'd have gotten the more expensive ones as they're definitely nicer but these will work.

The wireless/cable switch is just a switch in a box that has 3 inputs on the back. One comes in from the wireless, one comes in from the front panel input on the RG-16 and the last one goes back out to the input on the back of the RG-16. It works well and is fairly simple. Just look up a schematic for an A/B switch online and use that.

 

[plan-x]

Whoa! I'd hate to have to troubleshoot that rig. Work of art dude!

 

[Mongo1]

Very nice and clean. I love the labeled connections. Makes troubleshooting much easier. With something this involved, I'd have a pocket in the back of the rack filled with schematics, audio, MIDI and power flow diagrams and preset configurations. Years from now, they will be worth their weight in gold...

Can you address how you have the WAH connected. Are you running a long cable bundle to the front with the MIDI and send/receive for the WAH?
When you switch to cable input, does the guitar plug into the rack or is there a cable connection run in the bundle to the pedal board?
Have you noticed any induced hum from bundling the power with the audio in the rack? I usually see it run on opposite sides for isolation.

Lot's of questions...

Great work, I'm headed in a similar direction myself.
This is very inspiring....

 

[madryan]

Whoa! I'd hate to have to troubleshoot that rig. Work of art dude!

Actually, the fact that it's all in true bypass loops makes troubleshooting really easy. You just locate the loop where your problem is and you're done. Also, there's enough redundancy here that one could get by just taking that loop out of your set of presets for the night then fixing it after the gig.

Very nice and clean. I love the labeled connections. Makes troubleshooting much easier. With something this involved, I'd have a pocket in the back of the rack filled with schematics, audio, MIDI and power flow diagrams and preset configurations. Years from now, they will be worth their weight in gold...

Can you address how you have the WAH connected. Are you running a long cable bundle to the front with the MIDI and send/receive for the WAH?
When you switch to cable input, does the guitar plug into the rack or is there a cable connection run in the bundle to the pedal board?
Have you noticed any induced hum from bundling the power with the audio in the rack? I usually see it run on opposite sides for isolation.

Lot's of questions...

Great work, I'm headed in a similar direction myself.
This is very inspiring....

I'm going to draw the whole thing out in Turbo CAD this weekend.

The Wah is in loop 8. I refrained from using the RG-16's buffer earlier in the signal chain as some boosts and OD pedals don't like buffers. I inserted it into the chain before loop 8 then ran a stereo cable out to the Wah via the custom snake I made for this. I also run DC out as well. You can see that little box I made in back of the rack for hooking up the snake. The Fulltone wah is true bypass and with the buffer there's no tonal change at all when you switch that loop in and out of the chain.

The guitar plugs straight into the RG-16 at this point.

The power is actually getting re-routed this weekend as well. I ended up using a couple of extra wall warts but that'll be fixed this week as he's picking up another regulated power supply. At any rate it's quiet. I'll be adding a BBE Supercharger to the rack shelf with the Eventide that'll power the Wireless and the Eventide. That will be the last of the wall warts and I'll string the power accordingly.

 

[Mongo1]

Very nice.

How long is your snake to the front?
Do you notice any voltage drop on the 9vDC once it arrives at the other end?

Please post some pics of the completed board and cabling.

 

[madryan]

Very nice.

How long is your snake to the front?
Do you notice any voltage drop on the 9vDC once it arrives at the other end?

Please post some pics of the completed board and cabling.

The snake is 25ft. and no, I didn't notice any drop. It's virtually the same as running phantom power to something. People don't think anything of running power down a 50ft. mic cable.

 

[Mongo1]

Great.
Thanks.

 

[Old BF Shred]

Very nice, mr....

I'm sure it sounds as cool as it looks (which is pretty darn cool).

I love rack setups....nothing matches the versatility.

Unfortunately, I had to get away from the whole rack thing for live gigs when my tired and aging back said "you have to get away from the whole rack thing".
:lol:

I had to comply; now I have to go as light as possible and my rack stuff stays at home! 8)

Take care!

 

[tonefreak25]

This is very nicely put together, well thought out, tidy rig!! Nice work..........WOW!!

 

[scottywompas]

That is one clean looking job. I admire your skills. Very cool

Scott

 

[MetalMatt]

That is just Epic! Great job! I can't wait to do something similar to my Road King. :mrgreen:

 

[davidglander]

Oh, Er....... Wow!!!!!!!!!!

I need someone in UK like you who can come and build me something like that, I am guessing it wasn't cheap, right?

Awesome

 

[Mongo1]

I just went and looked back at the pictures and got inspired again...

Very nice work!

 

[CudBucket]

Great looking rig. What kind of rack is that?

Thanks.

Dave

 

[masque]

dang.....everybody needs a buddy like you!!!!!!!!!

extremely clean and professional looking work my friend. awesome job.