Many things in the music industry are cyclical, as evidenced by the resurging popularity of music influenced by Eighties artists. In rock and metal, there are more new AOR, glam, shred, and prog rock bands worldwide than we’ve seen in the past decade. And, with an interest in more technical, polished music performance comes an interest in guitar rigs that provide extreme flexibility to the discerning guitar player.
Rack gear has long been the serious shredder’s path to ultimate flexibility. Why settle for three or four amp channels when you can store a seemingly infinite number of amp tones and crazy effects (from pedals or rack gear), all accessible at the touch of a single button on a foot controller?
Although there have been many people lamenting the death of rack gear over the past ten years, we’re happy to report that they’ve been dead wrong. Rack gear may not be in the spotlight, but the list of pro players with at least some rack gear in their rigs is endless.
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Today there are more new rack products for guitar players than ever before! Back in the ‘80s, most guitarists were taking signal processing gear from recording studios and putting it in their guitar rigs with varying degrees of success (and complexity) as they sought effects with better audio quality than most pedals offered, but these days, almost everything you’d like to put in your rack has been designed expressly with guitar players in mind. Plus, you can even rack your pedals and have instant access control over the whole collection with single-button simplicity.
From tube preamps and power amps to modelers to pro tuners to wireless systems to analog pedal loopers and (of course) multi-effects processors, there’s a huge assortment of rack gear designed to take your guitar inspiration (and tone) to a higher level.
Rack gear isn’t just for players who like a ton of effects. As we mentioned, virtually every touring pro has at least some rack gear in his rig — effects or not. Rack gear provides supreme flexibility for any style of guitar player looking to simplify his or her use of multiple amp tones and effects. This might include making use of specialized studio effects or it might just be a way to simplify the madness of tap dancing across a pedalboard stocked with your favorite boutique pedals.
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Is a broad category of products that can either work with your existing amp or replace it entirely, providing a wide range of options. It includes amps, effects processors, power conditioners, wireless systems, and much more.
Most guitar players only use a single amp and a few pedals, so getting started with rack gear can seem like a daunting ordeal. Where do you start if you haven’t made the leap yet? You may have been discouraged by crazy stories from friends and things you’ve read in online forums such as: the complexity of programming rack gear, tube gear in a rack doesn’t sound as good as a head, you have to learn MIDI, and more.
We’ll separate the urban myths from reality as we explore rack gear from the ground up and help you to understand the various ways in which it can either expand your current guitar rig or maybe even replace it. Plus, we'll show you photos of various racks from pros and amateurs alike.
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Simply put, rack gear is any piece of music equipment or accessory that is built within a 19” wide chassis that can be screwed into an equipment rack. But even that simple description doesn’t tell the whole story.
For players using rack gear to control effects pedals (stomp boxes), those pedals can easily be placed on standard 19” wide shelves and installed along with more traditional rack gear.
Players who love their amp heads can have those full-sized giants loaded into custom-built rack cases that hold the heads along with standard 19”-sized rack gear. Most pros on major tours have rigs build like this, but even the weekend club player can benefit from the same kind of setup.
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Some of the benefits of rack gear can be experienced immediately by anyone playing live shows on a regular basis, whether it’s a pro tour or you’re just hitting the local bars and clubs on weekends. Your pricey gear can be extremely well protected inside of equipment racks, many of which are rated to meet airline transportation or military specs, and if your entire rig is contained within a single rack, setup time at a gig can take less than one minute — just plug in your speaker cabinet, instrument cable, and foot controller. Three or four cables, and you’re all set!
Guitar players have been sticking our heads in racks for decades (heck, we’ve put our heads up our… well, you know. Just ask our wives/girlfriends). In fact, one of the first options came from Mesa/Boogie, whose classic Mark II and IV heads were available in 19” wide enclosures that could be rack mounted without special modification.
But when we discuss rack amps today, we’re typically referring to modular gear. Rack-mounted guitar amps provide the ultimate flexibility when it comes to tone. The preamps and power amps (which collectively make up your traditional head or combo amp) are each contained in separate, rack-mountable chassis.
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The advantage of this design is that it provides very flexible tone options — more than you’ll find with virtually any traditional tube amp or head. You can mix a preamp from one company with a power amp from another to create a truly one-of-a-kind tone, or select from among multiple power amp options within a single company to get just the right kind of tone you desire.
For example, Mesa/Boogie has multiple power amps with 6L6 power tubes as well as one with EL-84 tubes. Within the 6L6 tube family, Mesa/Boogie’s power amps offer vastly different power ratings as well as other differences in design (Simul-class, dual rectifier, etc.) that each contribute to a significantly different guitar tone.
It’s not just about 6L6 vs. EL-34 power amps, either. Many rackable tube preamps contain memory for storing multiple presets. Rather than just choosing between a couple of channels like with a typical two- or three-channel head, imagine a head that lets you dial in your amp tone and then save a hundred different presets! Using any popular MIDI foot controller, you can have direct access to multiple different sounds within a single preamp.
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Just because there may be digital technology at work for selecting your sounds, there’s no need to worry about your tone. The sound from racked preamp and power amps can still be one hundred percent tube, and the most popular preamps all feature multiple 12AX7 or ECC83 tubes just like your favorite traditional amp. Likewise, power amps feature the usual assortment of power amp tubes (6L6, EL-34, EL-84, etc.).
Not all guitar preamps feature tubes, however. There are numerous solid-state guitar preamps on the market, not to mention a wide variety of modeling products that can all be paired with tube power amps to combine tonal variety with tube warmth.
For extreme flexibility and tube goodness, you can’t beat preamps such as the ENGL e580, Mesa/Boogie Triaxis, Egnator M4 and Randall RM4, or the recently discontinued Marshall JMP-1. Analog purists who don’t need the whole kitchen sink but want at least a few traditional amp channels can find bliss in the ENGL e530 Modern or Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp, which have simple two/three channel interfaces just like you’d find on a head or combo.
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If you’re a modeling fan, it’s hard to beat the flexibility of preamps like the Fractal Audio Axe-FX, Line 6 POD X3 Pro, BOSS GT-Pro, or Avid’s new Digidesign Eleven Rack. Besides modeling classic tube amps, these products also include multi-effects processors built in for added flexibility (not to mention a host of other special features).
For players seeking non-modeled, solid-state preamp tone, options abound for you, too. Check out the Rocktron Prophesy II or Voodoo Lab Guitar Preamp to hear what you can do without tubes in the preamp section.
The used gear market is another source of popular rackable preamps. The Marshall JMP-1 MIDI Tube Preamp was only recently discontinued but enjoys a huge following from pro players and amateurs alike, and we know more than a few players who still love the classic ADA MP-1, not to mention a variety of preamps that were made by Peavey.
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In almost all cases, dialing in your sound on rack preamps is the same process as you go through with your traditional heads and combos. You turn knobs for gain and EQ, loop levels, etc., hit a few buttons or flip a few switches for different preamp voicing options, and then you may have a few button pushes to save your settings in the preamp’s memory.
In the case of simple two-channel preamps like the Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp, you just dial and play. The intimidating looking Triaxis has soft membrane buttons for changing your “virtual” knob values, but don’t be scared: inside it’s all analog.
It should come as no surprise that many of
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