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jubeas3eyes
Member
Username: jubeas3eyes

Post Number: 60
Registered: 1-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 04, 2007 - 9:59 am:   Edit Post

Ok guys I am once again turning to you for advice. I am looking to improve my rig a bit and I purchased a furman power conditionar and a 6 space rack from a friend. I now have 3 rack spaces to fill up and am not really sure what to put in there. I am bidding on a rack tuner on ebay so that will be one. I am also considering a compressor, but honestly sound wise I don't think I need it. Are there any other racks out there that are inexpensive and just kind of cool? If anyone has anything they want to sell I would be glad to hear it!
Thanks in advance!
Sean
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2065
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, February 04, 2007 - 11:14 am:   Edit Post

I have a two-space rack I use with my Boogie. An SF-2 - admittedly NOT inexpensive, but WELL worth it; and a BBE Sonic Maximizer - inexpensive and WELL worth it. I'm not sure how the BBE works for bass, but it is a wonderfully subtle, yet effective, unit.


Bill, tgo
cozmik_cowboy
Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 92
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 7:41 am:   Edit Post

Hey, Bill, I've seen the BBE unit in the Musician's Friend catalogue - they use words like "presense", "clarity", "control", but they never say exactly what it is. So, exactly what it is? (Sorry for the highjack, Sean, but Bill brought it up, and I'm really curious. To get back on track, what goes in the rack would depend on what the rest of the rig is - whatcha got?)

Peter

(Message edited by cozmik_cowboy on February 05, 2007)
olieoliver
Senior Member
Username: olieoliver

Post Number: 1097
Registered: 2-2006
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 7:56 am:   Edit Post

I use to play through a BBE Sonic Maximizer too. I still have it somewhere.
When I had my "rack" rig I had the BBE, an Alesis 3630 daul cmopressor, a Yamaha SPX-90 a Peavey pre-amp and a QSC power amp.
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2066
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 11:27 am:   Edit Post

The theory of the BBE, as I understand it, is that the treble and bass signals somehow get slightly out of sync on their journey from string to speaker. The BBE puts them back in sync. It seems kind of voodoo-like to me, but I believe there is more and clearer info on this on their site and/or at harmony-central.com's reviews section. Nevertheless, the difference in sound - with vs. without - it is subtle but definitely noticable. "Clear", "presence" "sparkle" are words that come to mind. It is hard to describe, but definitely worth checking out. It's as if the BBE puts all the tone back in that gets sucked out by the pedal chain. I have the 482i which is a dual channel mono model. It is basically two BBE Sonic Maximizers in one rack unit. It could easily be connected to both channels of a stereo setup. I just use one channel in the effects loop of my Boogie 2C+. The other channel is there as a back up if I need it. You have 3 controls: an on/off rocker switch and two pots on each channel - one labelled "Lo Conture" that corrects phase on bass frequencies and one labelled "Process" that corrects phase on high frequencies. IIRC I paid about $180 for it new at GC. They also have a stomp box version and a version built into an acoustic guitar pre-amp stompbox called the "Acoustimax". I have one of these too - I use it for my acoustics and if I want to go through the piezos on my Alembicized Fernandes and have it sound like an acoustic guitar. Both units get a big thumb's up from me.

Bill, tgo
olieoliver
Senior Member
Username: olieoliver

Post Number: 1098
Registered: 2-2006
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 12:17 pm:   Edit Post

Thats the same one I have Bill, 482i.

Think I'll get it out play with it tonight.
eastcoastepic
Intermediate Member
Username: eastcoastepic

Post Number: 195
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 12:47 pm:   Edit Post

Sean, most online sites also sell one and two space 'blanks', that you can affix to the rack unit if you don't have anything to install in that space at the moment. That way, you don't have that ugly open area to see, and it looks much more professional. FWIW, my 6 space has a Furman power conditioner, Sabine tuner, Demeter HBP-1 preamp, Alembic SF-2 preamp, and an Eden WT-330 amp, which takes up 2 spaces. Better to have 1 or 2 spaces too many (to utilize in the future), than to have 1 or 2 too few.........
Chris
chuck
Member
Username: chuck

Post Number: 71
Registered: 3-2005
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 2:51 pm:   Edit Post

I fill the extra rack space with a drawer made by SKB. For music,parts,strings,cords,whatever.And it locks.

Chuck
alembic_doctor
Intermediate Member
Username: alembic_doctor

Post Number: 165
Registered: 8-2002
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 3:23 pm:   Edit Post

These guys make the absolute quitest rack equipment around. And it looks sharp. Every Bass Player and engineer that carrys a rack should have this equipment. Heck, everyone should carry a rack just to have these with them.

http://www.funklogic.com/mainfunk.htm
alembic_doctor
Intermediate Member
Username: alembic_doctor

Post Number: 166
Registered: 8-2002
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 3:27 pm:   Edit Post

This one is my favorite for bass players.

http://www.funklogic.com/palindrometer.htm
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2068
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 5:54 pm:   Edit Post

Doc:

ROTFL! Are these guys for real??!! Wouldn't the Palindrometer work better for someone playing obo? or a friendly dobro, referred to as a "lap pal"?

heh heh heh

Bill, tgo
alembic_doctor
Intermediate Member
Username: alembic_doctor

Post Number: 167
Registered: 8-2002
Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 6:05 pm:   Edit Post

They are for real. They've been around for years. They started out just making fillers for racks. Then they came out with a way to rack mount the RNC compressors
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 687
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 4:06 am:   Edit Post

And you can get blanks in cocbolo.

A great way to get that deep tone in your rack.

Keith
jubeas3eyes
Member
Username: jubeas3eyes

Post Number: 61
Registered: 1-2006
Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 4:13 pm:   Edit Post

Wow, haha an overwhelming reply! I really appreciate it. I ended up getting a sonic maximizer on ebay. I also picked up a crazy awesome (yeah...thats right CRAZY awesome) EQ rack for pretty cheap at a little music shop. The sonic maximizer will be here thursday, the EQ already sounds great. I'll keep everyone updated on how it sounds.
Peace

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