Axe-Fx III Fly Rigs

C

ccoggins

New Member
I've been touring with the AX8 in a Pelican 1615 Air, and just pulled the trigger on the Axe Fx III. To be honest... touring with the AX8 has spoiled me. I use a Pedaltrain PT2, with 2 mini Dunlop expression pedals, and a Shure GLXD16 wireless all on the board with the AX8. All I have bring to any rehearsal/gig is the Pelican and my dual guitar case, and I've got everything I need.

I pulled the trigger on the Axe Fx III, and have been exploring possibilities to keep everything in 1 case, and am curious to see what other regularly touring musicians have found for efficient solutions. Here are the requirement's I'm trying to meet:
  • Weighs 50lbs or less
  • Fits in 1 case
  • Will survive TSA abuse
  • Ideally spending as little money as possible

I've looked into a lot of variations, and here's what I've come up with at the moment:
  • Pelican 1615 Air
    • Requires me to buy new molded foam to protect the Axe-Fx III, which is cheaper than buying a brand new flight case.
    • 14.06lbs without foam, 17.6lbs with foam. I estimate about 15.5lbs since most foam will be removed.
  • FC6
    • I originally wanted the FC12, but this is more compact, and will fit into cases easier.
    • Realistically, with the AX8, I don't use more than 5 scenes per preset, plus I can add 2 auxiliary switches with a TRS cable using the 1+2 Switch, or 3+4 Switch jack if I want 4 extra switches. This seems like more than enough.
    • Can extend to the FM3, whenever that releases, if I want to keep the Axe Fx III at home, and/or replace the AX8 in the future. Not a necessary feature, but a plus.
    • 6.7lbs
  • Pedaltrain Nano
    • Not the Nano+. The regular Nano is 14" wide, which is exactly the width of the Pelican 1615 with 1" of foam on the sides.
    • This has room for 2 dunlop mini-expression/volumes, the Shure GLXD16, and a compact TRS dual button switcher (like size of a Mesa Lonestar footswitch).
    • Approximately 5.5lbs, loaded with these pedals listed.
  • Axe Fx III
    • 15lbs 2.4oz
  • Light weight 3U Rack Case
    • Optional, but to keep it from getting beat up at venue, and easier to grab and carry out of case
    • Has to be about 8lbs, exterior height about 6", rack width isn't a problem, but exterior length/depth has to be around 14" or less.
      • Axe Fx III is 11.5" from front handles to rear jacks. The front handles are 1.5", so the actual unit behind the rack mount is about 10" deep, plus ~0.25" for the jacks on the back. The shallower the rack unit, the better, for weight relief and so you can plug in/out XLR cables without shoving your hand way into the unit.
    • This is where it can get real expensive, with custom made unit. I also found a company, Procraft/Pro Speaker Parts, that is inexpensive, and willing to cut out additional wood to make it more weight relieved. Sorry for the lack of links to the below rack builders--I'm too new to the forum to post links.
      • Circle Three Designs Hybrid Fly Case
      • OCD Labs LiteFly Fly Rack
      • Gator Cases 3U Lightweight Rack Bag
      • Procraft (aka Pro Speaker Parts)
        • compact, cheap, lightweight (~10lbs, but builder is willing to weight relieve it)
        • Found this guy via Reverb, but you can buy direct through his website.

I like idea of the SKB iSeries fly cases, but they're too heavy to contain everything listed above, and I doubt they have enough vertical space for FC6 or expression pedals.

Looking forward to seeing what other people have come up with!
 
Last edited:
I am looking at many of the same things. But without the flying requirement.

My current plan is to get a 6U rack with in-ears and wireless mounted along with the III. That leaves two units, where I will store FC6, expression pedal, microphone, cables and wireless belt packs. I don't need the FC6 on a real board.

I don't know if that helps you at all, if not, I apologise.
 
Smittefar said:
I am looking at many of the same things. But without the flying requirement.

My current plan is to get a 6U rack with in-ears and wireless mounted along with the III. That leaves two units, where I will store FC6, expression pedal, microphone, cables and wireless belt packs. I don't need the FC6 on a real board.

I don't know if that helps you at all, if not, I apologise.
Click to expand...
Considering something very much along the same lines as you - 6U SKB rolling rack is light, has lots of space and is easy to get in and out of venues with.....
 
Smittefar said:
I am looking at many of the same things. But without the flying requirement.

My current plan is to get a 6U rack with in-ears and wireless mounted along with the III. That leaves two units, where I will store FC6, expression pedal, microphone, cables and wireless belt packs. I don't need the FC6 on a real board.

I don't know if that helps you at all, if not, I apologise.
Click to expand...

I considered a similar solution using the SKB iSeries fly rack cases because they are light and compact, but just the case and rack with the III ends up being ~45lbs. Adding anything else makes it too heavy to fly in one piece. :(

It's seems like there's a lot of solutions out there that are easy to keep in 1 case, but keeping it light enough for flying is the quite a challenge.
 
I hear you...there are a few threads discussing options.

I was exactly like you, spoiled by the ease of AX8 in a pelican case and just bringing my Mono Dual guitar case, the end.

When I upgraded to Axe III, I looked as you have and here's where I came out.
This all may be mute when the FM3 arrives, yet I'm pretty sure I will stick with the Axe III at this point.

I ended up getting the SKB iSeries 4 space fly rack. It ticks many, but not all the boxes. In the end, it's ALL ABOUT WEIGHT.
Bottom line is I couldn't fit everything all-in-one as before...just not a possibility AND keep it under fly weight.

My internal rack is Axe III and a pair of Shure SLX guitar wireless systems (I suppose I should try it with my in-ears and just keep the spare Shure in another bag, but that's what it is at the moment). This comes in at 49.5 lbs, and travels as baggage without issue.
The SKB has TSA locks, a good handle with good wheels. So far, no worries.

The real bummer is having to take another bag with the FC6, foot pedal, and cabling, because leaving anything more in the SKB will put it OVER the weight limit.

How I've been handling this is by using another Mono product, the pedalboard Club case and carrying that on as well as my Mono Dual guitar case. One cary on, one personal item. It works and I've not had any issues.

So, if you find a viable solution that does everything you want at under 50lbs, I'd love to hear about it.
Otherwise, this is where I will live for the foreseeable future.

Best of luck!!
 
GtarLover said:
I hear you...there are a few threads discussing options.

I was exactly like you, spoiled by the ease of AX8 in a pelican case and just bringing my Mono Dual guitar case, the end.

When I upgraded to Axe III, I looked as you have and here's where I came out.
This all may be mute when the FM3 arrives, yet I'm pretty sure I will stick with the Axe III at this point.

I ended up getting the SKB iSeries 4 space fly rack. It ticks many, but not all the boxes. In the end, it's ALL ABOUT WEIGHT.
Bottom line is I couldn't fit everything all-in-one as before...just not a possibility AND keep it under fly weight.

My internal rack is Axe III and a pair of Shure SLX guitar wireless systems (I suppose I should try it with my in-ears and just keep the spare Shure in another bag, but that's what it is at the moment). This comes in at 49.5 lbs, and travels as baggage without issue.
The SKB has TSA locks, a good handle with good wheels. So far, no worries.

The real bummer is having to take another bag with the FC6, foot pedal, and cabling, because leaving anything more in the SKB will put it OVER the weight limit.

How I've been handling this is by using another Mono product, the pedalboard Club case and carrying that on as well as my Mono Dual guitar case. One cary on, one personal item. It works and I've not had any issues.

So, if you find a viable solution that does everything you want at under 50lbs, I'd love to hear about it.
Otherwise, this is where I will live for the foreseeable future.

Best of luck!!
Click to expand...

This seems like a really great solution! The other guitarist I'm touring with has basically the same solution, but for his Kemper.

I haven't tested it, but I think there may be enough vertical space in the Pelican 1615 to stack the FC6 on top of the dunlop mini volumes that'll be on the Nano. That's about 7.5", so I may have to cut a little bit of foam out of the floor to make space. If this works, then all I have to worry about is whether or not I want a rack case to fly the 3 in, and whether or not the rack case will be light enough.

If that doesn't work, then I'll inevitably have to pack the FC6 or Nano in a checked bag or my dual Mono.
 
Update:
I have a few friends that have had rigs made by Savant Playback (out of Nashville), and they utiliize racks/cases designed by Circle Three Designs. They're lightweight, intuitively & functionally designed, good looking, and road worthy (one of guitarists I tour with uses his Kemper in this exact case, and has flown with it several times). I'd leave a link if I could, but I'm too new to the forum to leave links. :cry:

Circle Three Designs Aluminum Fly Racks:
4U Aluminum Rack Case & Pelican Air 1637 (23.2 lbs)
19.25” x 15.625” Pedalboard sits on top, with 3.375" pedal clearance (1.2 lbs)

That pedalboard is big enough for an FC6, 2 Dunlop expression minis, a TRS dual switcher, a Shure GLXD16 wireless.

Everything listed above will come in right about 49.5 lbs, so you'll have to stow your cables in another case if you're flying, or maybe pull off a volume pedal and throw it in a backpack. If you're not flying frequently, and you wanna throw a power conditioner, or your wireless rigs in there, you've got the space. A real win for an all-in-one solution, if you're flying or not.

The good: I haven't found a company offering a solution better than this.
The bad: $655 for the rack, pelican, and pedalboard.

I know that price is steep, but the cost of the Pelican alone will set you back $290-380, and it's getting custom fitted with foam for the rack and a pedalboard.
 
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