TookItAway

Before christmas, an esteemed colleague  at work offered me a rack-mount flight case, which I gladly accepted and got thinking about exactly what to use it for. I decided to use it for creating a sound rack for my bass amplifier which would also allow me to store and transport all of my cables and effects pedals.

Currently, my bass amplifier is an Ashdown ABM500 EvoIII, which is in a hard wearing wooden case. My idea was to mount the amplifier into the flight case rack, so I don’t have to carry as many boxes (even though the boxes I will be carrying will be both bigger and heavier!).

My setup (October 09)

The first step to rack-mount my amplifier is to convert it into something like this, the rack-mount version of the ABM500. Fortunately, with the rack case, I also received a 1U and a 2U shelf, complete with fittings.

Woo Amplifier porn! My Ashdown ABM500 without the wooden casing

The initial idea was to screw the amplifier to the 2U shelf and use the 1U shelf as a top cover to stop dust and preserve the airflow for cooling. After thinking through the options, my father offered to make me a bespoke top cover, so I could use the shelf for storing my effects pedal case, which coincidentally fits in perfectly.

A quick aside about power: On starting this project, I had a 2U rack-mounting power strip. I have no idea where it came from!

Now with all of the pieces, the assembly could begin. (A-Team montage?)

While I was playing about with the positioning of everything in the rack, I was a little worried the single rail rack system (Rack holes at front only, none at the rear) would not hold up the weight of the amplifier over extended periods of time without bending or being overly stressed. Keeping this in mind, I decide to mount the amplifier at the bottom of the rack, where it would also be supported by the floor of the case. The power would then fit at the top and the pedal case would sit on the small shelf somewhere in between.

Cable management was also a big concern, I didn’t want cables restricting airflow from the amplifier, or generally getting in the way when I wanted to use them. I also didn’t want to buy all new cables of exactly the right length just for cable management. To add to this, there was no obvious way to attach the cables to the sides where they would be out of the way. I eventually decided to tape the amplifier power cable (with some fairly strong tape) to the side of the case, where it wouldn’t get in the way. All of the other cables in the rack will be plugged in when I use the amplifier, at some point I will attach some cable guides to the case, or the shelves to better organise it.

I will post some images of it in it’s full glory soon, although I have currently gone back to using the amp in the wooden case for the time being as my car is just not big enough for all of it!