Wiring your rack, how to tricks?

[allroadtoad]

At the risk of making myself a total and utter fool here the following.

A little history, please skip if you`re easily bored, but I think it might be handy to know a bit about me: I used to play in a couple of bands in the eighties and nineties (some soundclips from the past) but due to a right hand injury (CRPS) I stopped playing guitar 12 years ago. Always played with a simple guitar rig (Rocktron Progap Ultra, Replifex, midi mate and Peavey Classic 120/120 Amp into 4 412 cabs) and kept the Rocktron/Peavey stuff all those years, somewhere in the attic. The hand stabilised, I lost function in all fingers but thumb and index finger, it remained painful but eventually I regained pleasure in playing my guitars again (not sure if others have the same experience hearing it). Although I`m not sure about my health (I also got CRPS in my left foot since december last year), I want to continue playing as long as possible but with no gigging aspirations and trying to keep future costs as low as possible as there`s no way to foresee how my health will develop. I wont die of it, so don`t feel sorry Just being realistic about it.
I bought myself some cheap goodies last year (Engl E530, Voodu Valve, Korg rack tuner, just GAS-attacks, boy did it made me feel good) but never really installed them in a rack without spaghetti wiring and without even using the midi stuff as I just noodled along playing some covers and songs of the past, using one component at a time I was planning on doing so but stumbled onto different problems (hum, ground loops etc.) and my own in-efficiency, I had help of both Yoeri and A-C from Belgium and to relieve them both of the necessity to help me again (I`m a difficult student I guess) I call upon the great collective wisdom of this forum

What I want to install in my 8-unit rack are the following items:
- Rocktron Progap Ultra OR Rocktron Voodu Valve
- Rocktron Replifex
- Rocktron Patchmate
- Engl E530 (non midi ofcourse, that`s why I bought the patchmate)
- MarkL or Rocktron Powerstation
- Korg DTR-1
- rackdrawer with 4 pedals, ( Barber LTD, Z-cat Triverb, EHX small clone and for now an Emma discumBOBulator), have to buy a suitable 9VDC power unit in case I don`t buy the MarkL.

My Peavey amp will be sitting under the desk, with a power attenuator installed in the chain. I could sell it as it`s way overkill for use at home but I figure it`s a bad ass amp with great tone and there`s no way I`ll be getting a decent price for it here in Europe because it`s not well known and %**&^%*I& heavy....

The million dollar questions

Even after searching through the tremendous amounts of wisdom here on Rig-talk I find myself stuck with the following questions, before I start ordering matching cables (soldering is not my forte, so to speak

- what is the best way to hook it al up? All 4 pedals, the 2 preamps and the Replifex and the Korg in different loops? I`d like it to be stereo, I use 2 FAD V120 cabs.
- what`s the best midi path? I know there`s a limit of Midi devices that can be linked together, according to the Rocktron manual 3. I figured Midimate out - patchmate in - patchmate thru - voodu valve/Progap in - VV/progap thru - Replifex in. Yet there are 4 devices. Am I in trouble hooking it up like this or do I need a sort of midi splitter somewhere in between?
- How do you go about measuring the cable lengths you need, for instance from rack drawer to Patchmate? When I look at all those magnificently built racks I really am puzzled with how you people did this without having to use a lot of cables at once. I will be ordering the cables at a firm where they`ll tailor-made, therefore I need to be spot on.

My dream is something like Mr. friedman`s work, or Skrydstrup or Paul Lenders but since I ain`t no pro (not even in a band but just wanting to clean up the desk) that would be immense overkill. I want it trouble-free though.

I`m aware of this for wiring the rack, thanks to Zachman!
Thanks for your patience and help in advance.

 

[again with this]

I try to route signal to one side and power to the other and use cable ties to keep it tidy. If you do it right, you can bend the cables into place so that you barely need anchors. My rack is very small (6 spaces) so it's easier to go without anchors, but still, get a big enough wad of cable, bend it how you want it, make sure there is nothing tugging at the bundle and it will stay in place... mostly...

Good luck

edit: oh yeah... I recently switched to the velcro type ties. Re-usable and don't pinch/crush the cables like the plastic ones. This is also becoming the standard in server rooms, where I first saw it. Last thing you want is a compression short especially if you are using UTP/Cat5 for connections to your pedal controller. As usual... I digress...

 

[allroadtoad]

Very useful! Thanks!!!

 

[again with this]

Very useful! Thanks!!!

Most welcome dude.

Also, you can get rolls of "hook and whatever" Velcro-type stuff at Home Depot or Lowe's. Custom cut to needed length at a fraction of the cost of the ones they sell at Guitar Center, Radio Shack, Fry's or other "tech retailer"

 

[Drkorey]

thanks for posting the CAE letter - it will help me set my new rack in a few weeks

 

[allroadtoad]

Does somebody have a suggestion here?

- what is the best way to hook it al up? All 4 pedals, the 2 preamps and the Replifex and the Korg in different loops? I`d like it to be stereo, I use 2 FAD V120 cabs. The patchmate manual doen`t really help me out here.
- what`s the best midi path? I know there`s a limit of Midi devices that can be linked together, according to the Rocktron manual 3. I figured Midimate out - patchmate in - patchmate thru - voodu valve/Progap in - VV/progap thru - Replifex in. Yet there are 4 devices. Am I in trouble hooking it up like this or do I need a sort of midi splitter somewhere in between?
- How do you go about measuring the cable lengths you need, for instance from rack drawer to Patchmate? When I look at all those magnificently built racks I really am puzzled with how you people did this without having to use a lot of cables at once. I will be ordering the cables at a firm where they`ll tailor-made, therefore I need to be spot on.

 

[Zachman]

Does somebody have a suggestion here?

- what is the best way to hook it al up? All 4 pedals, the 2 preamps and the Replifex and the Korg in different loops? I`d like it to be stereo, I use 2 FAD V120 cabs. The patchmate manual doen`t really help me out here.
- what`s the best midi path? I know there`s a limit of Midi devices that can be linked together, according to the Rocktron manual 3. I figured Midimate out - patchmate in - patchmate thru - voodu valve/Progap in - VV/progap thru - Replifex in. Yet there are 4 devices. Am I in trouble hooking it up like this or do I need a sort of midi splitter somewhere in between?
- How do you go about measuring the cable lengths you need, for instance from rack drawer to Patchmate? When I look at all those magnificently built racks I really am puzzled with how you people did this without having to use a lot of cables at once. I will be ordering the cables at a firm where they`ll tailor-made, therefore I need to be spot on.

That looks like my document from CAE, though I'm sure I'm not the only one who's gotten one-- though I don't recall seeing it posted by anyone other than me- until now.


Suggestions:

Get a MIDI Solution MIDI thru box (See left side of rack) for linking several MIDI devices together, and put each device on it's own MIDI channel.

Measuring cable lengths-- use a piece of string to follow your chosen route, measure twice, then cut your cable length.

Leave room for future growth.

Use quality cases, and the best cables you can afford

As far as step by step how to instructions-- it can be done several different ways depending, but the guys who do those sort of consulting workups charge for the time it takes to work it all out.

 

[allroadtoad]

Hi Zachman,

Quite frankly, it is your document I once stored as being helpful in the future. I just forgot that it was yours but your signature reminded me it was. I`ll add the source with the document. Anyway thanks for helping out than and now. Very helpful is the "string" for measuring the cable length. I was planning on ordering a Quadra thru from Midi Solutions but your reply made it a certainty. Thanks! Awesome rack you have!

 

[Zachman]

Hi Zachman,

Quite frankly, it is your document I once stored as being helpful in the future. I just forgot that it was yours but your signature reminded me it was. I`ll add the source with the document. Anyway thanks for helping out than and now. Very helpful is the "string" for measuring the cable length. I was planning on ordering a Quadra thru from Midi Solutions but your reply made it a certainty. Thanks! Awesome rack you have!

Thanks... Don't worry about adding the source. Technically the source is CAE.

My current rig was a long time coming. Years ago, I had to sell nearly everything to pay for a child custody battle (which we won), but it took a LONG time to get back to where I left off. I managed to surpass where I left off, and build what was a dream for 20 years. It WAS worth the wait.

That (Quadra thru box) is the same one I use. It works great!

I am very glad that you were able to make use of that. (That's why I shared the stuff)

I can't emphasize enough, how much time, money and frustration you can save yourself by designing your "ULTIMATE" rig, and strategically put it together piece by piece, little by little-- if need be.


EDIT:

Put power amps in a separate rack. Less heat, and WAY easier on the back, when lifting. There's way more gravity (it seems) at the end of the night, when the gig is over.

 

[allroadtoad]

Quadra thru has been ordered, along with Velcro cable ties. If anyone has a sort of similar set-up (looper/switcher, a couple of pre-amps, tuner and some pedals) who knows what`s the best possible way to set this up I`d be much obliged.

Poweramp will not be enclosed with the rest due to weight and size (mainly weight though).