Power Amps - How Does It All Fit Together?

[MrBump]

I've never really got in to the whole power amp/rack mount thingy, but I've been browsing them recently.  The thing is, I don't really know how they all fit together.

Are most MIDI controlable?  What kind of preamp would you use in that sort of thing?  Presumably some sort of 1U MIDI controller and MIDI footswitch would be needed...

[Denim n Leather]

Generally speaking ...

Preamp = source selection, EQ, and volume

Amp = takes the tiny signal from the preamp and amplifies it many times so you can hear it from your loudspeakers

Preamp out goes to Amp in which goes Speaker out to your cabs. You might have a multi-fx unit, as well, in the fx loop of the preamp.

Most new rackmount preamps are MIDI controllable, or MIDI control can be retrofitted with products by Rocktron (Patchmate), MIDI Solutions (insane amount of technology), Custom Audio (Bob Bradshaw), or Lehle (genius of switching and MIDI control).

I'm in the process of MIDI'ing my entire rig, even though I'm using a head/cabs and discrete analog effects. The only thing I have stage front is a MIDI controller and a wah.



Why use a MIDI controlled preamp? Theoretically, because it gives you 128 'channels' or degree of tonal flexability. (You can have up to 128 MIDI presets) This is especially useful if you are in a cover band and need lots of variety.

Hope this helps.

[Jonny]

And a chapter of my life is now complete.

[MrBump]

Makes sense.

So the MIDI aspect - you buy a rack mounted controller with an attached footswitch, then all of the MIDI devices input into that? 

[Oli]

Well, you buy a MIDI floorboard, such as the Behringer FCB1010 (one of their best made products- can't fault it at all, really solidly built, good functionality, and reasonably priced; about £100 or so i think), and then if you've got a MIDI-capable unit, you run a cable from the floorboard to that unit, and then any other units can be daisy-chained from there. As Denim n Leather said, you can have some non-MIDI functioning units in there too, you just need other devices (for instance, i can control the channel switching and reverb of my JCM900, using the switches on the FCB1010).

You can buy a unit which will split a MIDI input into many outputs (and I prefer this system, as it's a little more robust and easier to deal with MIDI-related problems), but that's an additional cost which, at the start, you won't really need or want :)

And the coolest thing you can do, is connect your computer to the rig via MIDI, get a GuitarPro tab, and create a MIDI track so you can control the patch changes with the computer; so as you play along to the track, all the patch changes are done automatically without you having to do anything .... really fun to do! :)

[Denim n Leather]

The footswitch is the controller. You run a MIDI cable out of that into whatever it is you are controlling. MIDI, as far as a machine or control program is concerned, is V E R Y simple, which means it is beyond the ken of most musicians lol. PDT_008

[Denim n Leather]

What Oli is referring to is called latency, which you get from daisy chaining too many MIDI devices together. I'm also an advocate of running MIDI in parallel.

[gwEm]

I'm in the process of MIDI'ing my entire rig, even though I'm using a head/cabs and discrete analog effects. The only thing I have stage front is a MIDI controller and a wah.

funny... i had you down as a guitar straight into the amp man.

[hunter]

Yuppie, I just scored a Nobels MS-4 on the bay for 60 quid, now I can switch channels on my Shiva with simultanous FX changes on the Axe FX with just one push of a button.

I was thinking about something more advanced with Audio loops, so I could integrate some pedals. But who needs pedals with such an amp and such an FX unit?

 :D