By which I mean, for live playing, studio recording and bedroom practice.

I have been looking at putting the Sansamp PSA1.1, a TC Electronics G-Major and an American Audio VLP-300 poweramp into a rack case to have a kickass rack setup.

My problem is that I know nothing about that American Audio poweramp and would rather have something like the Peavey CS1400 but that thing pumps way too much power for the Genz Benz 212 G-Flex I intended to have for my bedroom practicing.

As I wouldnt be cranking the Peavey in my bedroom would it be safe to buy the Genz Benz or would I have to buy the American Audio poweramp which has much less power? Could I use a Weber MASS or something to contain the amount of power from the CS1400?

Basically, can I have a good, professional equipment for live playing that is relatively(sp?)mobile and can be used in quiet situations?

__________________

yes you can.

I heard a guy's setup on sunday. It was...

furman power cond
modded ada mp-1
rocktron effect unit
vht poweramp thinger
splawn cab

sounded great quiet and loud. But that might have been in part of the ADA mod... the dude shipped it to belgium to get er done.

__________________

i think with a solid state poweramp, the volume won't really effect the tone. if you had a tube poweramp or all tube head you might need an attenuator to get it sounding the same for low volume.

as for speakers, they'll probably sound different and you'll have to eq or add effects to make it sound similar.

having a tube preamp for recording is really great. you can go direct with it and model the cabs. i think it sounds better than a pod etc. you could also use it that way for home practice, run it into modeling software and leave your cab at your rehearsal space, as long as your computer is set up for it.

What about the watt differance between the Peavey and the Genz Benz?

Obviously, cranking the Peavey to 11 would blow the 150w GB to bits right?
And as long as i keep the volume at survivable levels it wont be a problem?

__________________

Have you played the Sansamp to see if you like it? They have a lot of good tones. But they can be pretty tricky to dial in since the EQ isn't like most amps.

The Peavey poweramp will only blow your cab if you turn it up a lot. It's solid state so you don't need an attenuator like the Weber MASS. Just turn the volume down.

__________________

No, I havent tried it yet. But I know where I can, so if I wont end up liking it i'll probably go for the E530 or something similar.

But yeah, I should be ok unless I want to murder people in korea with soundwaves \o/ I mean 550w @ 4ohms is a shitload even for a solid state, no?

Thanks alot for clearing that up

__________________

One more thing.

I know the PSA has enough gain and tone but what about thightness? Judging from the soundsamples(which, I know I shouldnt do) on the Tech21 site the gain is quite mushy and loose.

Can I nail Dissection's Reinkaos or Meshuggah's Contradictions Collapse in "chugga-chugga!#"$&"-ness with the PSA ?

__________________

I owned a TC Electronic G Major. It had amazing quality effects and sounded great, but I experienced a lot of technical problems with it. I had to get it repaired a few times, so I ended up just selling it. It was good when it actually worked though.

__________________

It's a solid state preamp and capable of extreme tightness. I think the concern should mostly be if you can get a thicker looser tone with more tube characteristics out of a 100% solid state setup. Which it can. But the EQ is tricky so expect to spend time with it.

__________________

Cool, that was pretty much my only concern.

Time isnt a problem when it comes to playing around with the settings on my gear, I would probably be Jason Becker if I had actually used my guitar instead of reading about guitars and amps.

__________________

I went the rack route for a while, with an MP-1, Marshall Lead 100 head (solid -state used as a power amp), and marshall cab. I was a bit underwhelmed. It did sound more "marshall" than I remember my JCM 900 as, but there was never enough gain for me. I thought about playing the rack game, maybe getting a newer preamp, but I realized there really hasn't been a new midi-controlled tube preamp designed in the last 10 years (TRIAXIS? Rocktron Pirahana?) - I thought about the ENGL e530 which seems to get mixed reviews around here, but why get a rack if its not totally programmable? It seemed to me that if I was going to have a rack but not be able to hold more than a handful of settings, I might as well have a head, and more modern heads were more likely to have the kind of gain and bass I was after - I just dont think there are many modern-voice preamps, especially under $1000 (the Engl whatever it is probably is good, but like $4000).

In the end I went for a Crate Shockwave and have been much happier with the tone - and am saving to get a peavey or other tube head (XXX, 5150).