Rack is back?

[libertarian]

Well, I was, and Liberterian obviously was, so that's at least two of us!

I used Distortion, Chorus, Echo, Reverb, Flanging and WAH for years infront of my old 2203!

And was I in tonal heaven? NO! because most of those effects sound better in the loop (Wah excepted, and I no longer need a distortion or OD Pedal...). My G-major rack effects sound far clearer, fuller and better. Want a long delay? easy - store a preset and recall it, along with JVM amp channel using a MIDI controller. Want a shorter delay? Tape Echo? Chorus? Flanging - same!

My analogue pedals sounded flat and mushy infront of an over-driven marshall, with no options!

Quite honestly I am baffled by the popularity of analoge effects infront of single channel amps in this day and age - but, I suppose evryone makes their own choices!.....

And that's exactly the point I was trying to make. I used to run a very similar setup back in the 80s: JCM800 2204 (an old one so no loop), distortion pedal, OD pedal, chorus, digital delay (which was a great step forward over the old analog ones that are now so hip again). And yes, this had to go in front of the amp and it sucked.

And somebody before mentioned that now all they do is throw it all in the loop and how easy that is. Only there are still effects you do not want in a loop. And sometimes you want a parallel loop and sometimes things in series. So it ends up being a nightmare depending on what you do.

 

[libertarian]

Oh, I thought this was another thread about Dolly Parton.

Excuse me.

HA!!

 

[spacerocker]

And that's exactly the point I was trying to make. I used to run a very similar setup back in the 80s: JCM800 2204 (an old one so no loop), distortion pedal, OD pedal, chorus, digital delay (which was a great step forward over the old analog ones that are now so hip again). And yes, this had to go in front of the amp and it sucked.

And somebody before mentioned that now all they do is throw it all in the loop and how is that is. Only there are still effects you do not want in a loop. And sometimes you want a parallel loop and sometimes things in series. So it ends up being a nightmare depending on what you do.

Yes, and the other thing I was keen to get away from, was all the tap-dancing! - Lead-break: OD/Distortion on, Echo on, Reverb on, Back to the verse, OD off, Echo off, Reverb off.......

With the JVM and G-major MIDI controlled, I just press ONE pedal for Lead, and ONE pedal for Rhythm! Also people can now actually HEAR my lead!

 

[mickeydg5]

I like one button operations.

 

[Wendigo]

I dunno....I have a board with like 6 effects...two are distortion types and one is a '69 Jen Crybaby. So that leaves 3: Delay (in the loop) and Phaser and Chorus which sound better in front of the amp IMO. Pretty easy to set up and make sure it's running fine. Racks just never sounded real to me, despite the clean and fancy sounds.

 

[bigbadorange]

Sounds to me like you might be happy with a jvm410 or Jvm210 (or there 50watt brothers) and a bossgt100 hooked up with 4cm.

I have been running this way for about 4 years and love it. Only thing that changed was that it used to be bossgt8 (4cm) and now its a bossgt100 (4cm).

long story short, more or less infinate routing posibilities and single touch to change into any of them.

Btw I recently picked up a ceriatone 50watt chupacabra (single channel amp) , love it, and discovered that I could get a multi channel amp using the gt100 and 4cm. I basically bypass the chupa preamp for the clean and use the gt100 to boost volume for leads. (and add or detract echo, chorus, comp, flange, reverb etc at the same time).

 

[dave999z]

So I'm comparing the benefits of JVM + G-Force to the combination I always had in the back of my mind:

Mesa Triaxis (or Marshall JPM-1) -> G-Force -> Marshall EL34 50/50 -> 2x12 cab (or 4x12 depending on venue, or even both).

I have a similar rig. ADA MP-2, TC G Major 2, marshall 50/50, 1960A cab, controlled by a Ground Control and two expression pedals and a tap tempo pedal. It sounds truly awesome. And the programmability of the MP-2 and G Major 2 (which is like a Swiss Army knife and can switch voicings on the power amp and store that setting with each patch) are great. Like you say, step on one button and instantly switch the preamp, effects unit, and power amp to a very specific stored setting. Not to mention the real time expression pedal control over any parameter you want, like... Lean into the pedal and have the gain sweep from 35% up to 95%, while the master volume goes from 60% down to 40%, and the wet/dry effects mix backs off smoothly. (Think about how awesome that is just to even have a pedal control gain. The MP-2 is a remarkable piece of gear.) You cannot accomplish that with anything but midi gear. Maybe a JVM? Not sure how much midi control you have in that amp, but its range of preamp + power amp tones doesn't in my opinion cover the spectrum like an MP-2. A triaxis is basically Boogie's (far more expensive) version if an MP-2. I only played one once -- sounded like a Boogie.

All that said, it takes time to program patches, the Marshall power amp weighs a million pounds, the fan is noisy, and a 412 is just not practical or desirable these days. So I'm planning to liquidate this rig this year. I love it and used to play out with it, but I don't play out anymore and it's beyond ridiculous to use this rig alone at home. I got a DSL40c last year and am happy plugging straight into it and not even use reverb.

It will make me sad though, because it sounds so un****ingbelievably good. I can't imagine being able to get better tones (and I mean the entire spectrum of tones) out of any other rig. When you get the 50/50 singing it's like surfing on lava. Er, something like that.

 

[mickeydg5]

And after you sell you will wish.

Unless you seriously need the money to eat. I can understand it in that situation.

 

[dave999z]

I don't need it to eat. It's just that, as much as I love it, reality is I don't play out anymore and even if I did wouldn't use that rig for it. It's a killer rig, but I barely turn it on now, so I think I want to take the money and put it toward a modular synth, which I WILL use. (I know, blasphemy around here.)

 

[mickeydg5]

I was just kidding.

Gear for gear is cool.

 

[libertarian]

I have a similar rig. ADA MP-2, TC G Major 2, marshall 50/50, 1960A cab, controlled by a Ground Control and two expression pedals and a tap tempo pedal. It sounds truly awesome. And the programmability of the MP-2 and G Major 2 (which is like a Swiss Army knife and can switch voicings on the power amp and store that setting with each patch) are great. Like you say, step on one button and instantly switch the preamp, effects unit, and power amp to a very specific stored setting. Not to mention the real time expression pedal control over any parameter you want, like... Lean into the pedal and have the gain sweep from 35% up to 95%, while the master volume goes from 60% down to 40%, and the wet/dry effects mix backs off smoothly. (Think about how awesome that is just to even have a pedal control gain. The MP-2 is a remarkable piece of gear.) You cannot accomplish that with anything but midi gear. Maybe a JVM? Not sure how much midi control you have in that amp, but its range of preamp + power amp tones doesn't in my opinion cover the spectrum like an MP-2. A triaxis is basically Boogie's (far more expensive) version if an MP-2. I only played one once -- sounded like a Boogie.

All that said, it takes time to program patches, the Marshall power amp weighs a million pounds, the fan is noisy, and a 412 is just not practical or desirable these days. So I'm planning to liquidate this rig this year. I love it and used to play out with it, but I don't play out anymore and it's beyond ridiculous to use this rig alone at home. I got a DSL40c last year and am happy plugging straight into it and not even use reverb.

It will make me sad though, because it sounds so un****ingbelievably good. I can't imagine being able to get better tones (and I mean the entire spectrum of tones) out of any other rig. When you get the 50/50 singing it's like surfing on lava. Er, something like that.

Don't. Keep the stuff and save up for some small little thing that you like but keep the big rig around. I'm glad I never sold any of the original stuff - despite the fact that in 98% all I use these days is a Fender Cyber Twin that I got for dirt cheap. Which by the way is a very usable amp despite the fact that it never really took off. The JCM sounds that I get out of that one are pretty convincing. And it has a few other rather unusual circuits that are pretty neat. Their version of a Sun amp circuit actually remind me of the crunch channel on the Engl Savage 120 (which is excellent also by the way but prices on these are out of whack these days).

 

[blues_n_cues]

Don't. Keep the stuff and save up for some small little thing that you like but keep the big rig around. I'm glad I never sold any of the original stuff - despite the fact that in 98% all I use these days is a Fender Cyber Twin that I got for dirt cheap. Which by the way is a very usable amp despite the fact that it never really took off. The JCM sounds that I get out of that one are pretty convincing. And it has a few other rather unusual circuits that are pretty neat. Their version of a Sun amp circuit actually remind me of the crunch channel on the Engl Savage 120 (which is excellent also by the way but prices on these are out of whack these days).

I always liked the Cyber Twin myself. too bad the prices are still crazy on those.

 

[Mosher Zone]

I find mixing pedals & rack gear is the best of both worlds, I have my Wah, Tuner, my Distortion pedal & trusty Boss HF-2 at my feet with the footcontroller for the rack unit which is an old Digitech Legend II, I've used rack stuff on & off over the years & went back to it a year ago & I'm loving it. The rack unit handles my lead boost, solo delays, chorus & Whammy, I love the lack off tap dancing which is something I was starting to do far to frequent.

 

[Cadblaster]

I say forget the rack,,,
And just get a Marshall JMD