Custom rack panel

That is some impressive looking design and construction, but don't you have cooling problems--the rack case looks practically sealed. Have you cut cooling holes or done anything to help cooling?

Darryl

I did consider it, but the AxeFx doesn't really have cooling vents so I am presuming that it can manage without free ambient air flow. Also, I suppose it is designed to operate within enclosed racks amongst other hot units, so this should be fine.

cool!

I like the no-nonsense hitman look! :)

That's my style! lol - not really, I just hate carrying non-essential stuff around. Cheers
 
It looks like you're using a NYC pedalboard. How high does it raise the pedals from floor level? I'm considering one, but I am concerned that the pedals and switches will be too high for my taste.
 
It looks like you're using a NYC pedalboard. How high does it raise the pedals from floor level? I'm considering one, but I am concerned that the pedals and switches will be too high for my taste.

Not more than about an inch. Great pedalboard -haven't had a problem with the height. Bear in mind that you will probably want to remove the rubber feet from the Mfc and pedals as well to attach them which brings them down a bit.
 
Thanks mate. The vocals run into the Axe Input 2 via the combo jacks on the rear panel and are actually incorporated into my live patches using the FX block (and under control of the Mfc). Hence no need for a standalone mixer if I am running vox through the QSC.

If I am using a FOH, I can also just run the vox line straight out of the TC or patched straight through the rear panel combos.

The internal power routing is through a power distro and surge protector unit which I modded to fit inside and also use the Powecon connections. I also made the mains cable and power lines for the QSC. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone not qualified to do so though.

Most of the specialty parts such as the D-series panel connections are from Redco Audio. Things like the 75ohm SPIDF and 7-pin MIDI feedthroughs I had to make myself though.

Thanks for the run down... Can you post a pic of the moded surge protector and how everything is wired up inside the back of the rack rack?
 
The plate you used for mounting the 7-pin midi connector does not appear to have standard hole spacing or the ridge that the bnc plate does. What did you use? Did you have to use a dummy plate and drill the main and screw holes for the midi connector?
 
The plate you used for mounting the 7-pin midi connector does not appear to have standard hole spacing or the ridge that the bnc plate does. What did you use? Did you have to use a dummy plate and drill the main and screw holes for the midi connector?

Yeah, I had to use standard D series blank plates and just screw the connector into that. I also recall having to drill out the threads on two corners of the Neutrik chassis to get it to fit. Shame no one makes a 7-pin feedthrough like the 5-pin one.
 
This is what the upper panel looks like on the inside:
photo32640x406.jpg
I'm building sometinh similar and while browsing for info stumbled upon this thread. So far I've learned already how one could utilise these 'tunnels' (I had no idea what they were for) and that there are D size cover plates with 7 pins midi connections (I already ordered some).
One of the differences between what you built (congrats btw, it looks very practical and tidy!) is that you opted for the 'tunnel' setup where you go from the front of the panel via a tunnel per connection to the back of the panel like this:

front panel
connection|tunnel|connenction|cable|unit

where what I'm currently building is

front panel
connection|cable|unit

So where you solderded female jack to female jack, female midi to female midi, female powercon to female powercon... inside your tunnels, I soldered female jack to cable, female midi to cable, powercon to cable... (the main reason being I did not realize these tunnels were meant for that :))

What would you see as major benefits of your setup vs mine? I guess one of the benefits is that you can just use regular cable on the inside of your rack(from the end of your tunnels to your units), while all cable I used are handsoldered to the various connections (which could be a major PITA if one of those cables would start acting up or would break).

Also you seem to have different sized tunnels. Is there any reasoning behind that? Or just a practical reason?
Could you easily unscrew for example your blue powercon module (connection|tunnel|connection) and replace it with a speakon module(connection|tunnel|connection) or are the screws which hold the module together the same screws which attach the module to the front panel?
The fourth connection from the left (not sure what connection that is) seems quite retracted, any particular reason for that?
Where did you get the cover plates with the large hole in them (as 4,5 and 6 have)? I usually only find blanks or plates with a connection attached, not with a hole.
Would you recommend having those covers-on-a-string things to cover your powercons or is that just 'something fancy but not really necesary'? The same for the plugs in your Mamba bottom rack panel ?
What did you struggle the most with or what are things you would do differently in the future?

Please don't take this post the wrong way, I'm not trying to criticize or question how you built it. I'm merely trying to uncover routes and options I did not think of untill now.
Besides we have different requirements: I'm making two to connect my two flightcases to each other as I'm having my amp in one and my effects, tuner and power in the other.
 
Great work that!

Enjoyed reading that as I do all the custom building for our whole band rig too (from drum triggers to MacBook Pro, DMX, MIDI, audio ins & outs for rack gear to desk through to PA & monitoring, lighting rig - everything!). Cuts set up time right down and is so tidy & simple once designed and built
 
Good stuff man!!! I'm going to be building a similar panel. I'm taking note of several things I've seen here. Thanx!!!


I'm a high gain djent djent meedley meedely meedely type player...

Sent from my iPod.
 
I'm not good enough with an iron to solder those damn 7 pin MIDI connectors. If anyone comes across a 7 pin passthrough, please share!!!
 
What diameter do you think I should buy if I am using a 7 pin MIDI cable and a 1/4" TRS cable? 1/2"? 3/4"? I don't want it to be too big.

Hey mate. You are spot on there. That is exactly what I did.

Check out techflex cable sleeving here: Redco Audio - Custom Audio Cables - Recording Studio Supplies - Custom A/V Panels - Techflex Sleeving Cable Organizer

This is the best stuff to use as it's light and flexible. It also expands so that you can feed
your cables through. There are various widths so make sure you get the right size.

My advice is to feed the cables through together before soldering on the connectors as it can be difficult to jam large plugs through as they get caught on the mesh.

Its easy enough to do yourself but either Redco or Best-tronics can make custom snakes for you if you are prepared to pay accordingly.
 
I'm building sometinh similar and while browsing for info stumbled upon this thread. So far I've learned already how one could utilise these 'tunnels' (I had no idea what they were for) and that there are D size cover plates with 7 pins midi connections (I already ordered some).
One of the differences between what you built (congrats btw, it looks very practical and tidy!) is that you opted for the 'tunnel' setup where you go from the front of the panel via a tunnel per connection to the back of the panel like this:

front panel
connection|tunnel|connenction|cable|unit

where what I'm currently building is

front panel
connection|cable|unit

So where you solderded female jack to female jack, female midi to female midi, female powercon to female powercon... inside your tunnels, I soldered female jack to cable, female midi to cable, powercon to cable... (the main reason being I did not realize these tunnels were meant for that :))

What would you see as major benefits of your setup vs mine? I guess one of the benefits is that you can just use regular cable on the inside of your rack(from the end of your tunnels to your units), while all cable I used are handsoldered to the various connections (which could be a major PITA if one of those cables would start acting up or would break).

Also you seem to have different sized tunnels. Is there any reasoning behind that? Or just a practical reason?
Could you easily unscrew for example your blue powercon module (connection|tunnel|connection) and replace it with a speakon module(connection|tunnel|connection) or are the screws which hold the module together the same screws which attach the module to the front panel?
The fourth connection from the left (not sure what connection that is) seems quite retracted, any particular reason for that?
Where did you get the cover plates with the large hole in them (as 4,5 and 6 have)? I usually only find blanks or plates with a connection attached, not with a hole.
Would you recommend having those covers-on-a-string things to cover your powercons or is that just 'something fancy but not really necesary'? The same for the plugs in your Mamba bottom rack panel ?
What did you struggle the most with or what are things you would do differently in the future?

Please don't take this post the wrong way, I'm not trying to criticize or question how you built it. I'm merely trying to uncover routes and options I did not think of untill now.
Besides we have different requirements: I'm making two to connect my two flightcases to each other as I'm having my amp in one and my effects, tuner and power in the other.

Hi,

Really sorry - I missed your queries because I sort of lost track of this thread.... looks like it has been cast away into the realm of Ultra/Standard 'discussion' rather than rigs & routing for some reason. Maybe it closes the gap too much with the Axe2 in terms of I/O connectivity.

I probably should keep it quiet that I have also since incorporated an internal MIDI router with USB-out port as well!


Anyway, to answer your questions:

I considered soldering raw cables to my panel and I really don't see any problems with it. The reasons I decided against it related to a paranoia of excess noise from unshielded connections so close to my power distro (inside the rack case) and lack of flexibility. The Neutrik boxes that I hacked up are all shielded so no noise and I am able to change internal routing up as needed down the track (although I have not had to - this rig has been perfect for me so far in every circumstance). You are right - they were not manufactured for this purpose but I used a few Neutrik RCA feedthroughs combined with blank plates to make some of these sockets with.

All the Neutrik D-series panels should be interchangeable - so you can swap out a set of powercon plates for speakons and vice versa (provided you re-solder them internally with appropriate materials).

The fourth connection from the left (you can read about this in more detail above in my original post/s) is a 9V outlet for my vocal pedal. The cable has a long rigid connector, so I like to have the socket countersunk to avoid snapping it off. The main snake going to my pedalboard incorporates this power cable to keep a single conduit between the floor rig and the Axefx.

All parts were sourced from Redco - pretty sure I posted the link above. A couple of them are blank D-series plates which I have drilled to suit the various connectors.

The covers and rubber plugs are merely for durability and are not really necessary. I just don't like the idea of dust, rain or spilling booze down the back of my rack. I use similar rubber plugs on most of studio gear as well - they are cheap and keep the nasty stuff out and away from the circuitboards.

I don't think I would change anything about it to be honest - apart from incorporating the MIDI / USB out in the panel the first time around. In terms of I/O this thing is basically like an Axe2 now (apart from the USB-audio track recording of course). I must say that the most time consuming aspect was building the 7-pin MIDI passthrough. I WISH that someone made a prefabricated one!!!

Two matching flight cases is a good idea. If I were to incorporate a power amp into my rig (instead of the powered QSC units), I would definitely have a separate matching case with designated path cables between them. Much easier to handle and you can pack one away in the studio or when not needed, etc.

GOod luck with it!

Cheers, Chris
 
Great work that!

Enjoyed reading that as I do all the custom building for our whole band rig too (from drum triggers to MacBook Pro, DMX, MIDI, audio ins & outs for rack gear to desk through to PA & monitoring, lighting rig - everything!). Cuts set up time right down and is so tidy & simple once designed and built

Thanks mate - cutting down setup time to a minimum and keeping things tidy was the main idea here!


I'm not good enough with an iron to solder those damn 7 pin MIDI connectors. If anyone comes across a 7 pin passthrough, please share!!!

Same here! That thing was a pain to solder together. I prefab 7-pin feedthru would really come in handy for a lot of people.

What diameter do you think I should buy if I am using a 7 pin MIDI cable and a 1/4" TRS cable? 1/2"? 3/4"? I don't want it to be too big.

Not too sure off the top of my head. You would be better going slightly too big rather than too small as it shrinks down and flexes anyway. Measure the combined diameter and assess the correct closed diameter here: Redco Audio - Custom Audio Cables - Recording Studio Supplies - Custom A/V Panels - Techflex Sleeving Cable Organizer

CHeers
 
hypno.gif
Need some pic's of the inside of your rig mate... I would like to see how things are run.

I am not keen on pulling it apart right now, but next time I open it up I'll try and get some shots of it disassembled.


Did you find a long 9V power cable for the TC vocal box? If so, where?

Best-tronics made the 9V cable for me using mini-coax cut to length. Ask for mini-coax - its super durable.
 
I love this setup, looks awesome. What size of case did you get for the ultra, 10", 12", or 14"? I am going to be ordering an SKB rack but I don't want to get one that's too small or even to big.

Btw, with that did you notice a reduction of fan noise coming from the ultra? I am coping with the noise but I wouldn't be upset if his case made things quieter. ;)
 
Great work on the rack work and cable loom. I am currently working on my rack setup and loom. I already made a cable with a 7 PIN XLR and a guitar TS cable loom but I need to have power now. I need to modify it or make a new one. I use a Voice Live and I might put that in my rack space. I am going to put a 1u D panel on my pedal board for probably about 6 connectors. Power, XLR for the Voice Live, guitar in and outs, etc. Should be real cool.

Here is a picture of my rig.

WP_001191.jpgWP_001192.jpg
 
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