Pedalboard
Morley Bad Horsie wah - yes, I'm one of those strange people who uses my left foot for the wah pedal most of the time - RJM Mastermind foot controller, Morley Little Alligator volume. The board's made by Spider and connects to the rack via a Pedalsnake - only one cable which carries MIDI, power (15VDC to the Mastermind, 9VDC to the Morleys), and audio to and from both the wah and the volume. This shot is of it in gig-ready mode in its live-in Spider flightcase with my microphone stand and TC Helicon VoiceSolo 200XT and 300XT monitors - 150 watts per side of stereo hi-fi quality monitoring in an 11lb unit (each).
The Rig
The two Peavey heads are run in stereo (JSX is left, XXX is right) for 120w per side of valve goodness, into the Laney GS212IE cabs loaded with Celestion Seventy-Eighty speakers. The Y cable coming out of the Effect Gizmo's front socket feeds both heads thanks to the stereo pass through (there's another Y cable in the back of the rack connected to sends 3 and 4 on the RG-16). Having the two heads gives me 6 channels - the JSX gives me my standard clean, medium gain crunch and main lead sounds, while the XXX gives a brighter, less middly clean, a scooped metal rhythm and a lower-gain lead sound.
The Rack
From the top: Digitech GSP1101 and TC Electronic G-Major effects processors; Samson S-Com 2 channel compressor / gate; shelf containing Marshall ED-1 compressor, Keeley modded Boss DS-1 distortion, Burkey Flatliner Pro power supply (with Tonebone mod which gives an extra 15V output which I use for the Mastermind), RJM Music Mini Line Mixer and Line 6 Relay G30 wireless (there are now two of these); RJM Music RG-16 audio / function switcher; RJM Music Effect Gizmo audio loop switcher; Samson PS10 power distribution.
The RG-16 controls channel switching on the two amps, as well as all the loops for the effects and for switching between the two preamps (both power stages are used simultaneously). It also has a very musical sounding buffer to prevent signal loading. The Effect Gizmo is used primarily as an input selector between the cable and the wireless receivers; it also features a click-stopper which helps keep switching silent.
The rack from the rear. All cabling is custom made to length using Neutrik connectors and Van Damme cable. Where possible, audio and power cables are kept apart to prevent noise. There are no wall-wart PSUs in the rig - all low voltage AC and DC power is supplied by the Burkey Flatliner Pro. Stereo signals from the G-Major and GSP1101 are mixed with a dry signal from the amp using the RJM Mini Line Mixer and outputted in stereo to the effect returns on the two heads. Cable-ties are used to ensure cables stay in place and don't come out of the jack sockets. Wiring is carefully labelled and routed to enable easy fault-finding, should a problem develop.
As of Jan 1st this year, I'm freelancing as a musician, engineer and instrument tutor (as well as doing some video editing etc on the side) and I'd really like to get into doing more rig-building stuff, so if anyone is interested, PM me (I'm based in the UK).
