[mgbills]

Oh Yea! Absolutely!
If we could only all be so lucky as JDarks. He's got a funny YouTube video where he refers to his wires growing intolerance to repeated dead riffs...so he goes & build the Darksatorium.

Awesome.

[barefootdave]

Marty,

Congrats on "getting there" !

Just curious, why do you have both the Mesa power amp and the Mac. Is it a backup or was it just a transitional piece?

Big difference in sound between the two?

Thanks,

BFD

[mgbills]

Good Morning Mr. BarefootDave,

I actually sold the Mesa. The first CL find was the MC2100. 65 lbs. $300.00 Then I found the road case. As I kept thinking about putting the whole thing together, I began to see that that 2100 was more than I needed. I bought the Mesa, and loved the tone. With the SMS it could do a broad sweep to Jerry era's. The thing about the McIntosh, is that it can be turned down. That Mesa 20/20 was loud on 1. I love Mesa gear, and I rather wish I'd kept it. I did have a brief thought of backing up the Mc amp with the Mesa.

So I bit the bullet and bought the MC250. It made the rack "almost" managable with one person. I have carried it down stairs, and loaded it in the buggy...but damn...even with the 35lb Mc250 it's heavy.

There is likely another rebuild in the cards. This time, the MC250 & the SMS will go in a small road case. The pedals & GCX will go in a custom wood thingy.

I'm really into the '76-'78 era, so I doubt I've seen my last Mesa power section. To cut to the chase...Mesa is a great power choice (and pre for that matter.) I had a Mark I with a JBL K120. It was very '76 Jerry, but loud...like pet killing loud.

But when I get them Stadium/Festival gigs...watch out...watch out.
Peace
M

[mgbills]

Sorry for resurecting my own thread.

So...I have the personal liability policy through State Farm for my guitar stuff. I've been negiligent on updating it, but it's pretty cheap. I had a couple of fancy acoustics on there Taylor 810. Taylor LKSM 12 String. Ripple OM-1 (now stolen). Cost's about $40/yr, and it covers breakage, theft, loss...perfect for guitar crap.

I decided this weekend that the rack is going to a practice space in town. Tired of setting up pedals every time I practice. Heck...the drummer keeps his kit there. The bass player keeps his road case there. So I says to myself ..."Self...you should make sure your policy is up to date in case this "stuff" gets damaged/stolen/????."

This post is awareness & growth of spousal sanity. My wife is a real sweetheart. She let's me do anything I want (within reason), and is fully behind my silly guitar hobby. Obtaining a spouse like that takes practice. I didn't get it right the first time.

Point being...I bought much of this on EvilBay or Craiglist. Total insured - $4400.

I'm attempting to provide full disclosure you get started. Keep it cool folks. Learn from my insanity!
Peace
M

[Cmnaround]

+1 on the Mesa 20/20 power amp. Single rack space, two channels and plenty loud enough. If you need it louder then you would probably be in a situation where you need to mic your amp anyway - so a good choice if you don't have access to a Mcintosh. By the way, very nice rack set up - thanks for sharing!

[JustinJohn]

Great post!

[mgbills]

Greetings All,
Been mostly away for a bit. Three major expansion projects at work have kept me out of the shop, and an occasional visitor here.

Here is a concept I've been working on for a while. Most of us don't have Roadies. Most of us lug our own crap about, or get our kids to do it for a pittance. After building the rack at the top of the thread I found I could carry it, but it really sucked. Same with a 2x12 JBL cab. So I decided my goal was to build portable pieces. Head units. Power units. Effects. Speakers.

Notes: Knobs are not in playing positions. I had to clean pedals so all adjustments are screwy. For those of you who don't know, the stomp switches are not used. The GCX from Voodoo Labs brings the pedals in or out of the signal chain. Controller (Ground Control) is not shown, but does attach to the lid. The lid completely covers rack units & effects without touching the pedal knobs. I'll try to remember to post a pic of the lid on.

Here is the first piece:
https://goo.gl/photos/i5BHdTVkphTv6t4B7
https://goo.gl/photos/kS5JnbR1BtmRgXsE8

I give up. I can't seem to harvest a jpg from Google Photos. POS.

I started with an SKB-R102. I'm sure you could use the single space horizontal equivalent and further reduce the weight. I used a piece of 1/8" aluminum for the pedal backing plate and some 3M Dual-Lock. There is already a rebuild plan. I need a tuner in there. The Furman unit will be replaced by my own dual cable OBEL/switching hub. It's a nice unit. Not as small and light as the original plan, but far lighter than the original rack.

Just fuel for the brain.
Peace
M

[paulinnc]

No pics.

[mgbills]

Thanks for the heads up. Pete B. informed me yesterday, but it appeared fine with Chrome. Google Picassa is no more. It's photo's now. The copy image address only worked in Chrome. I had to open them in a new window and grab that address. Weirdness.
Let me know if anyone else sees my damn toy box.

Peace. Thanks for your help Pete & Paulinnc!

[Pete B.]

I think it needs to be a .jpg if you are going to use [img] brackets.