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Topic: Sarno Rack Rig |
Jim Hollingsworth
From:
Way out West
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Posted 13 Jul 2015 9:57 am |
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Being a multi instrumentalist in a busy band means that I have spent way too much time hauling & setting up gear! I used to carry a separate rig for lead guitar - Dr Z or modded BF Deluxe Reverb, a pedal board and guitar PLUS a steel, pak a seat, and amp for steel. It took me forever to setup! The other guys were relaxing & having a beer while I was spinning & sweating with my set up! So…
I concocted this rig and had discussed it with Brad Sarno and here it is!
The signal path for steel: guitar - VP - effects board (on top of rack) - Sarno V8 - Sarno built switcher - Quilter Tone Block.
Lead guitar goes thru a separate pedal board - Sarno Classic SMS pre - Switcher - Quilter amp.
Both "channels" share the Quilter for power & a single 15" JBL cabinet.
After a bit of adjustment I have the levels of both pre's matched & the sound is KILLER. I really like the V8 for steel - if is fat & warm and yet still very articulate for each note. The Classic is pure Twin Reverb twang. The only thing I lose is the tube compression of running the guitar amp at 4 or 5. And the speaker "smear" of an old Jensen or Celestion. The JBL speaker makes it a bit more like Don Rich during the Bakersfield days - noticeably clean. But not in a bad way! I get crunch from various stomp boxes on my pedal board. If I was doing only a rock gig I'd likely bring a different amp - or at least change speakers! But for country & country rock this things is beyond my expectations!
I now show up to the gig & have the amp part of my rig setup in 3 minutes. And because the Quilter is capable of parting your hair volume-wise I never have to worry will I be loud enough.
Final assessment - this rig is light, loud, convenient, and above all - VERY TONE-FUL! My special thanks to Brad for all his help in getting the dream off the ground.
Jim Hollingsworth
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Charley Paul
From:
California, USA
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Posted 13 Jul 2015 3:41 pm
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Awesome!
My rig will probably be similar....but a bit scaled down. I'm thinking most likely a Sarno SMS into a Tone Block. The cab will be a 1x12 with a Telonics TSNEO12. I'm going to experiment running 2 QSC K8's alongside of the amp, most likely connected via the Tone Block DI.
I got my Telonics 12 the other day, went to pop it into the cab this morning, but need longer screws to mount the speaker. Doh! |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 10:39 am
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This is what I've been using. Because I have to deliver clean then complex sound, I have the Eventide. For my amp I use the Matrix which can deliver 500watts a side or 1000watts mono....did someone say turn up the steel guitar?
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Charley Paul
From:
California, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 11:11 am
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I am so glad you posted this!
I just ordered a Matrix GT1000FX to A/B against my Quilter Tone Block. I really like the 1RU form factor, but also really like the DI built into the Quilter.
How do you like the Matrix with a tube pre? Do you run direct at all? How?
Here's the rig I am building, awaiting installation of my new Telonics TSNEO12 (once I get some longer screws!)... As you can see, because I also run my guitar through 2 powered monitors and not just a guitar amp, a good DI is a must. I am considering running either the GT1000fx or 2 Tone Blocks. I am attracted to the 2 Tone Blocks in order to have 2 DI's with decent speaker sims (one to my powered monitors, the other to FOH) and a built in backup.
Last edited by Charley Paul on 14 Jul 2015 11:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Hollingsworth
From:
Way out West
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 11:38 am
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Chas,
Do I see some tubes in the Matrix??
Jim |
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Charley Paul
From:
California, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 12:26 pm
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Jim, the Matrix is ss. It is an extremely lightweight, powerful, transparent class ab power amp.
500w per side at 16 ohms, 320w @ 8 ohms, and 120w @ 4 ohms. 8.2 lbs, 1RU.
Very popular with the modelling crowd, and I imagine it would be quite popular here too if it caught on. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 4:56 pm
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Charley,
You have a couple of numbers switched around ...
500 watts per channel at 4 ohms
320 watts per channel at 8 ohms
120 watts per channel at 16 ohms
I had wanted to go to a more simple setup, and contacted Quilter about maybe building a dual channel stereo setup tone block ....They said that there did not anticipate making one , and told me to buy 2 tone blocks ....
Long story short , I ended up with a Matrix 1000 which gave me plenty of power that I needed for my stereo rig and a really sweet tube like tone from a solid state amp... My eq and DI responsibilities are handled by my preamp(s)
I can get as clean , or as down right nasty as I want to be in stereo .... For my use , the Matrix worked better for me ... Sometimes when you can't get what you are looking for, you will find something that will work even better for you !!.... You can't go wrong with a Tone Block if you are dealing with a mono setup and you need a DI and don't really intend on needing much of an EQ setup ... I sculpt a lot of my tones , and have nice swept EQ sections in all my pre's .....YMMV ...Jim |
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Charley Paul
From:
California, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 6:22 pm
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Thanks for the correction, James!
I am quickly coming to the conclusion that the Quilter products pack the most punch in the smallest units. Even the Steelaire has a full EQ, fx, a DI with speaker sim, and packs it all in to 2RU while still being very lightweight.
I can't seem to find a way to build a decent rack setup that does everything the Quilters do without a much bigger rack! |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 15 Jul 2015 5:07 am
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Charlie,
I have come to the conclusion that the old addage "one size fits all " does not really apply much when it comes to musical instrument amps....I think the saying " jack of all trades , master of none " applies more often than not ..... I guess that's why I have more gear than some music stores !!...  .....Jim |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 15 Jul 2015 9:23 pm
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| Quote: |
| How do you like the Matrix with a tube pre? Do you run direct at all? How? |
Charley, it works really good for me. I have a bunch of vintage tube amps as well as a VHT Sig:X that was voiced for steel guitar by Stephen Fryette himself. Turns out he loves steel guitars.
I also have an Evans FET 500 from around 1991 and it sounds great throughout it's range which made me appreciate SS. I needed to replace my Mosvalve 500 with something much lighter and the Matrix was highly recommended. I have the Real Reverb in the Fx of the Preamp which feeds the Eventide. When I want clean, I just push bypass on the Eventide. I have 2 closed back speaker cabs that I modified for Electrovoice EVM15L speakers, crossovers and tweeters. It sounds pretty good. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2015 12:05 pm
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Chas,
I'm not electronically swave by any means , but I DO know what I hear and what I like ......For whatever reason , when it comes to Solid State amps , the wording "FET" seems to always be included when I hear about a Solid State amp that sounds tube like .... Webb, Mosvalve , older Evans , and now Matrix , comes to mind ..... and they all fit the bill .....Same goes for FET mic's .....
I'm a tube amp guy from way back , but I am slowly getting swayed in the SS direction with the newer technology mixing with the older FET technology making for some nice sounding amps ...... I couldn't agree with you more with your findings concerning the Matrix .... Even without additional EQ the Matrix just sounds so much more open, fuller, and cleaner than a lot of amps out there today .....Jim |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2015 5:03 pm
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Jim, me too. I have tube amps going back to a Gibson from around 1939 and my experience is, they all have "sweet spots" where they sound great. A little too low and they're really good. I ordered the Evans from Darrel Stephens back in 1991 and I wanted it with a tweed cover because I played in a traditional western swing band and we had to have vintage everything. Even my shirts were from the 40s.
The folks at Evans thought I was nuts and when they found out I was from California, it confirmed it. I had to send them the tweed. Back in LA, the consensus was the Evans sounded like a tube amp. On those rare occasions when I get a plug in and play gig, I take the Evans. |
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Charley Paul
From:
California, USA
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Posted 17 Jul 2015 8:47 am
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My Matrix GT1000fx arrived yesterday. If anybody is interested, I would be happy to A/B the Matrix amp with the Quilter Tone Block and post my findings.
FYI, in order to make it a reasonable comparison, I am going to use my Ethos Clean preamp with either the Tone Block set flat, or the Matrix. I'll perform my test through a Telonics TSNEO12 loaded 1x12. If anybody has suggestions for a "truer" comparison, please let me know. |
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Dave Stroud
From:
Texas
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Posted 25 May 2016 11:52 am
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| This is an old post, but was the Matrix ever A/B'd with the tone block? |
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Darrell Grigsby
From:
Jonesburg, Missouri
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Posted 27 May 2016 12:56 pm Sarno Rack Rig
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I'm glad for this repost.
Interesting read.
Thanks
Darrell Grigsby |
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Peter Harris
From:
South Australia, Australia
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Posted 29 May 2016 3:37 am
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I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read this thread again and soak up more of the details this time... It would be particularly interesting to hear from some of the original posters to see how they're getting on with these combinations of gear, a year later, and whether any of them have changed any opinions along the way..
I too have musical situations where I have to come up with varying audio solutions for differing instruments that I may be playing on the one gig, and more feedback (of the 'poster' sort !! ) would be invaluable.. 
Regards to All !
Peter
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If my wife is reading this, I don't have much stuff....really! |
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