Owning all of your dream equipment is one thing, having it all packaged into a useful system is another…
“Wet” Combo Amps, Pedal Cart and Rack
We recently installed this system in a client’s music room. The system is designed to allow the user to have all of his favourite tone tools organized in a system that give the player instant access to any combination of effects, amps and cabinets. We organized the system in 5 “zones”.
Pedal Cart
Rack
Controller Board
Dry Amps
Wet Amps
Pedal Cart and Rack
This roomful of awesome is based around 2x KHE Audio Electronics amplifier and cabinet switchers housed in the rack. Each switcher has 4 amps and 4 cabs connected to it, with the ability for the user to activate 1 amp and 1 cabinet at a time. The amps and cabinets are organized into the “Dry” 100 watt heads with 4x12’s, and the “Wet” combo amps, all using external 1x12” cabinets.
The effects on the “pedal cart” are divided between the “Dry” and “Wet” halves of the system. There are 22 audio loops on the Dry side distributed over two RJM Music MEG X Audio Switchers and 26 loops on the Wet side distributed over three MEG X’s.
The system can be operated a Dry/Wet parallel system after the Wah pedal, or the rig’s input stage can be switched via MIDI to accommodate two players using the rig as two separate systems.
Pedal Cart Front View
When you’ve got G.A.S. and need to connect your new purchase to your rig having an easy connection point is a good thing. We created a location, power and MIDI connectivity for up six devices to be added “on the fly” to the system.
The pedal cart has a pull out pedalboard with three audio connection points to the Dry system and three audio connection points to the Wet System. We installed DC power for pedals, with Current and Voltage doubling circuits available for use as necessary.
The audio points have assignments in the MIDI controller for Instant Access, and the Insert Interface boxes also have connectivity for MIDI devices if necessary. The connections for the audio points are normalized so that if the controller switch for the insert loop is actuated while no pedal is connected, audio will continue to pass.
Pedal cart insert tray
The system is wired with 383m / 1256’ of Evidence Audio cable stock including;
181m / 594’ of Monorail Audio Cable in the Pedal Cart and Rack
102m / 336’ of Blackrock Audio Cable for Amp Inputs and Rack to Cart to Controller Board Audio
85m / 282’ of Siren Speaker Cable in the Rack and Amp Output / Speaker Input Connections
15m / 50’ of Reveal Audio Cable for 2x Instrument Input Cables
We designed a number of custom components and connectivity solutions for this system. The pedal cart’s Dry and Wet Interface boxes include Power Distribution, MIDI Buffers, Audio Input Buffers, MIDI controlled Fuzz Buffers and Transformers for Fuzz/OD pedal treatments and a MIDI Controlled Clean Boost on the output to rack stage.
Pedal Cart Rear View
For this build we 3D printed rigid “gaskets” for pedals that had secondary switching functions, such as a boost.
The gasket contains a relay wired in parallel with the pedal’s switch. The local relay is actuated by a remote MIDI controlled switcher. This allows the user to exert MIDI control over pedal functions that are not normally MIDI controlled while preserving the resale value of the pedal by the modification being non-invasive and easily removed with a trace.
Outside View of Remote Switching Modification
Inside View of Remote Switching Modification
The rack portion of the system is a “hub” for power and amplifier connections. Power is regulated and distributed by the Furman P-1800 AR to the pedal cart, and the AmpRx PowerStation 2400 “BrownBox” which regulates voltages specific to the Dry and Wet Amps
The KHE Audio Electronics switchers each have an attenuator loop that is inserted between the Amplifier Output and Speaker connections. In each KHE switcher’s attenuator loop we’ve installed a Suhr Reactive Load box to lower the Amplifier’s Speaker Level to Instrument level.
We’ve routed the post amplifier instrument level signal through EQ, Modulation Effects, Delays and Reverbs then in to the power amp in the rack. The power amp’s outputs are sent respectively to the Dry and Wet KHE’s Attenuator Returns.
The power amp uses one potentiometer to control both channels output level. To work around this we built a passive inline volume control placed in the signal path directly before the power amp’s A and B Channel Inputs.
The use of the attenuator loop also allows for the “levelling” of the Dry and Wet rigs. The Dry system is comprised of 100 watt heads and the Wet rig mostly 40 watt combos. We were able to use a combination of the Suhr Reactive Load’s Send Level, our rackmount passive inline volume control and the power amp’s output level to create a balance where the Dry and Wet systems operate at the same volume.
Rack Front Side
The rack also houses some of the Wet Effects that are pre and post amplifier. The pedal cart’s Wet Send to the Wet Amp Switcher Input is routed via the Fractal Audio Axe FX III’s Input 1 and Output 1. The effects blocks in use are virtual pedals that are not represented on the pedal cart, such as Whammy and Big Muff.
The pedal cart’s Wet Output is routed to a Nice Rack Canada Buffer and Parallel Mixer. The buffer stage sends a signal to the output mixer stage as well as into the PCM70 and the Axe FX III’s Input 2.
The Axe FX “Post” signal is parallel split in the Axe FX into a Pitch (Detune) block, Delay block and Reverb Block. Each block is routed to Output 2, 3 and 4 respectively. These signals are parallel mixed with the PCM70 and the Buffer’s “dry” feed. This sum mix is then routed to the passive inline volume control and the Power Amp’s B Channel Input.
KHE Audio Electronics Amp and Cabinet Switches, Nice Rack Canada Amplifier Function Controller and Nice Rack Canada Parallel Wet Effects Mixer
Rack Rear View
The player wanted to be able to use the system’s controller board while seated (mostly), or standing (occasionally). To compensate for the different ergonomics of use, we designed a triangular plinth to be used in the seated position. The plinth can be quickly removed for use when standing.
Controller Board with RJM Music MasterMind GT-22
For this system there is only one MIDI controller that is capable of the task, the RJM Music MasterMind GT-22. This controller is the standard setter that the rest of the industry follows a great distance behind.
Controller Board Overhead View
The MasterMind GT-22 is complemented by 4x External Switches and 1x Mission Engineering / Nice Rack Canada Expression Pedal. These external control devices can be mapped globally or on a per preset basis to any MIDI controllable parameter in the system. The default settings for the External Switches are Tap Tempo, System Mute, Clean Boost and a Per Preset assignment. The Expression Pedal defaults to Whammy control.
Also present on the controller board is a Joe Gagan Wah pedal, 2x Lehle VCA (volume) pedals for the Dry and Wet path respectively, the foot controller for the Argenziano Effetti Gypsy Vibe, and a Mission Engineering Expression Pedal connected to the Electro Harmonix Memory Man’s Feedback parameter.
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Nice Rack Canada is capable of making all of your guitar rig goals come true, so let your imagination run wild!
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