Building a rack

I had gotten a free rack mount Reverb Unit, yet I had no rack to put it in. So what to do? I could drop a few hundred and buy a sleek pre-made black metal rack, or purchase some rails and some wood at Lowes/HomeDepot and build one myself. I was feeling particularly *cough* handy *cough* so I figured what the heck - it'll be fun to build something myself!

As I started to think about a design I found myself wanting a few things

1. Casters on the bottom so it'll be easy to move
2. Slanted Top workspace area
3. 'Desk' Height to make it easy to work with
4. Extra Shelf to put manuals, docs misc stuff
5. Mahogany look (hey lets make it look like furniture ! ;) )

After some paper sketches I figured I'd try out the Google Sketchup App to see if I could make something semi-decent looking in 3D.It didn't take very long before I had something I thought would be pretty decent.

Sketch of the Rack Cabinet

Obviously I'd have to put the rails inside still and put the casters on, but it had the shelf, an angled top work area etc. Unlike the sketch though I decide to make the whole sides out of 1 piece of wood each and then simply create 3 shelves that would fit in the middle.

Lowes had some nice sized pieces of wood available that were invidivually sold as for 'craft' work - I forgot whether they were Maple or Pine, but they seemed good quality and just about the right size. I just had a trim a slight angle off the top and I had my 2 sides done. The shelves were easy as well since all three were the exact same size.

I remembered helping my dad build a book case growing up where he used dowel-joints so I decided to go the same route in combination with some wood glue. I marked on the sides where the shelves would go and drilled holes for the dowels in both the side panels and the edges of the shelves. I ended up building the entire unit on it's side. I started with 1 side and put glue all along where the shelves would fit and in the dowel holes. Then I put the dowels in the holes. Next came glue on the shelves and sticking those on the dowels. Last I did the same thing but with the other side as a 'top'. After marking sure everything was square I put it in the clamps and let everything dry for a few days. I used to have some pictures of this 'somewhere'.. but will have to find them..

After the build I started Red Mahogany min-wax stain to give it a nice furniture look. At this point I was getting a little too hasty and just piled on a few coats without enough drying time/sanding etc in between. I was just anxious to get it done so after some clear over it all I figured it was good enough. Looking back I wish I would have taken more time to really smoothen out the wood since now it feels very rough in spots and looks a little amateurish. I also put on some Copper colored metal L-Shaped brackets on the corner to give it a nicer finished look and of course some wheels on the bottom to move it around

Once I got to putting the rail in I noticed that somehow I had miscalculated the internal width by like a 1/4" inch. AARGH! Luckely I had some thin strips of extra wood which I installed inside the cabinet and then mounted my rails on these. Perhaps not the most sturdiest but at long last my cabinet for my rack was done!

At this point I don't have too much in it. I believe I have something like 18-20 U available and I've only used 3 U. Starting at the top I have:

• Furman M-8Lx (15A w/Lights) Power Conditioner  I really dig the dual swivel/pull-out lights so you can see what you're doing down below if it's a dark setting (having a Tri-Amp I love to play with the lights off and just have the blue Amp Glow fill the room ;) ) . It has 8 outlets and even 1 upfront for those last minute plug-ins.

• Behringer PX1000 PatchBay I figured one of the main things I may need is a patchbay since you never know what kind of setup you may run or if you want try out something new. Picked this up super cheap and has plenty of options for someone like me

• ART Multiverb II Alpha Processor - This multiverb unit has plenty of reverb settings. My favorite right now is patch #13 for some reason. Very big sounding

I'd like to get a rack-mounted tuner in there, but I simply can't grasp WHY these things are SO frickin' expensive. You can get a handheld one for 5 bucks, but for a rackmount you're talking hundreds.. so that will probably have to wait for a bit!

On the bottom I've placed some small monitor speakers I used with my Yamaha MO8 Synthesizer and on the top shelf I have the Boss BR-600 Digital Recorder so it's a nice all in one cabinet unit!

Guitar Effects TimeLine

Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive  [Gone]
My first effects Pedal was purchased as a necessity. I was playing bass for a little bit in a tiny school band and we were doing a cover of Echoes by Pink Floyd which required some nicely overdriven bass-guitar sounds. I ended up buying the Boss OD-2 since that was all that was available at the music store I went to. It was an 'ok' effect but I always thought it was a little too tame. Other people seem to love this tone, but for me it was only 'so-so'.

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah
At this time I was getting into Jimi Hendrix a lot and I really wanted a Wah Pedal. You know first time you hear 'Voodoo Chile' or 'Machine Gun' by Hendrix as a kid you're like "I want to have a wah to do that!".
In retrospect I think I probably would've preferred a standard Cry-Baby, or maybe even Vox Wah Instead since it always sounded a little fuzzy to me. Over time I tinkered with different Pots, Red & Yellow Fasal Inductors etc, but I just never got it to sound the way I wanted to.

Big Muff Pi [Gone]
I got this one as a gift from someone. It was interesting to see such a huge stompbox , army green, built like a tank and even came in a wooden crate... Sounds were 'interesting', but since I'm not a huge 'fuzz' fan It started to collect dust rather quickly.

Boss DS-1 Distortion
At this point in time I was heavily into Satriani & Vai and wanted more 'distortion' instead of mild overdrive. I liked Boss Pedals, so after testing a few I picked the DS-1. In your face Orange, and In your face Distortion! This pedal is almost mandatory in my opinion for any guitarist.

Dunlop Zakk Wylde Overdrive
As you can tell I tend to go back & forth a lot on the search for tone. Now that I had good distortion tone I needed better overdrive tones. I figured I'd give the Zakk Wyle Overdrive a try since it was a good deal at the time. It sounded pretty decent - obviously much edgier than my original Boss OD-2 pedal, but it's not super stellar either.

Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
Not being totally satisfied with the Wylde Overdrive I wanted something a bit more 'tube' sounding.. think SRV-like..quick bit of research pointed me to the direction of the Tube Screamer - There's several incarnations of it, but I picked the TS9. This is a GREAT pedal and would also receive a 'Must Have' stamp on it from me because of it's great tone.

ARG MultiVerb Alpha 2.0
My latest acquisition was actually free - someone no longer wanted it and they gave it to me - and this was a Rack-Mounted Reverb Unit. It comes with a bunch of different options and running it in an FX loop is a great way to add a little reverb to the guitar sound. It goes from subtle to lush to ridiculous, so there's always something interesting you can do with this unit.

Since I had no rack to put it in I actually ended up building one, so that if I ever get more rack equipment I can all house it together.

Boss BR-600 Digital Recorder
Whilst not an 'effect pedal' in the common sense of the word, this device does come loaded with all kinds of effects. I had purchased this as a simple Multi-Track recorder and as a way to be able to play anywhere in the house. Just plug in your guitar, Some headphones, and you're ready to rock with a bunch of preset rhythms (or you can make your own). It has 8 tracks and a bunch of virtual tracks so it really lets you do a lot. The effects are actually fairly decent and I was able to put a few decent songs together on this unit, all while sitting on the couch

Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer
I always wanted to get a compressor to drop in my effects chain. It always seemed like a nice must have effect. I finally settled on just a basic Boss model, the CS-3. I haven't used it much yet, but I like the subtle differences it makes.