New 2013 (very much DIY) rig

[MartinCliffe]

So 2013 is looking like it could be a fun year. Got two new band projects on the go, a straight-ahead hard rock band called Misaligned and a funk rock jam band called MARZ, as well as continuing to do stuff with Voyager Project. And I've been busy building a new rig to handle all this.

It's a modular setup, so I can just take the pedalboard out without the rest of the setup and still have (albeit more limited) a versatile system.

Board's a bit messy at the moment, but I ran out of Neutrik connectors and patch cable, so improvised a few bits temporarily. It was more important to get the amp / effects trolley right as I can easily tweak the pedalboard. Speaking of which:

Details to follow

 

[MartinCliffe]

OK, so on the right of the trolley is the pre-pedalboard effects, controlled by one of the MEGs. Loop 1 is the Fulltone 69 Mk II fuzz, loop 2 is the Fulltone Catalyst (at 18V), loop 3 is the Fulltone 70 BC108 fuzz (at 18V), loop 4 is a Fulltone OCD overdrive (at 18V) and loop 5 is an Xotic SP Compressor. From there, the signal goes through an MXR Smart Gate and out to the patch panel on the side.

On the pedalboard, we have an Xotic EP Booster (at 18V), Morley Bad Horsie wah, then MEG #2. Loop 1 is the EVH Phase 90, loop 2 is the MXR Custom Badass 78 Distortion, loop 3 is the Custom Badass Modified OD, loop 4 is the TC Electronic Spark Booster and loop 5 is the TC Corona Chorus. The output of the MEG feeds the Little Alligator volume pedal, the TC Nova Repeater and the MXR Carbon Copy. Then back to the trolley:

The patch panel goes straight to the input of MEG #3. Loop 1 is my trusty Sweet Sound MoFaux vibe, loop 2 is a CAE MC401 boost, loop 3 - 5 are my three TC reverb pedals (Hall Of Fame, Arena and Trinity). Then there's a TC Alter Ego delay to finish things off.

It's wired so I can run just the pedalboard, just the trolley without the pedalboard, and I can run the 2nd half of the trolley either before the amp or in the FX loop, just by patching things differently on the right hand side. My amp of choice is my slightly modified (just tube changes really) Egnater Tweaker, which feeds two 1x12 cabs, one containing the stock Celestion G12H30, while the other has a G12M25 Greenback in it. Each cab is mic'd with two Audix I5s on Amp Clamp Pros, and then all four mics are mixed together to either one or two outputs using Palmer Sigma mic merge boxes.

You can watch it in action via my YouTube playlist

 

[rjmmusic]

Cool! That's a clever idea.

 

[MartinCliffe]

Thanks. The one thing I didn't mention is that the lid of the trolley is hinged, so I can easily get to all the wiring and pedals underneath. So much easier than dealing with sliding rack shelves and all that!