Multiple Heads with Multiple Cabs: Permanant Studio Setup

[mrmega]

I am going to begin construction soon of my control room as well as my guitar amp/general tracking room.

Here is a diagram (The ceiling is 6 feet 7 inches)

http://www.perran.com/images/Studio.jpg

Regarding the Guitar amp/tracking room.

I have (9) tube heads, (8) 4x12 cabs and (2) 4x10 cabs. I also have 3 combos.


I have thought about placing the cabs along the long wall(A) and on the opposite long wall(B), making a custom library like shelf that is perpendicular to the other long wall, with custom shelves for the heads and combos, with access to the front and back of the heads & combos from both sides.


I would like to take the speaker cables up through the ceiling and over to the long wall where the heads are, and have enough length so I can run any head or combo into any cabinet. I figure the cable lengths would be between 22' and 25'.

1) How far can I run the speaker cables without loosing tone?
2) What kind of cables should I use for the best possible sound?
3) Do you see any flaws in the design of my recording room or do you have other ideas I might not have thought of?

The big goals are having easy access to the front and rear of the heads, as well as being able to use any head with any cabinet.

Thanks!

[wilder]

I've got a 25 ft speaker cable that I use to test and amp on the workbench (living room coffee table) with my cabs in another room. I've used it in the same room and even tried to a/b it with shorter cables. I can't hear the difference...at least not with the time it takes me to switch them out. I'm curious to see how others respond though as I'm building a studio now as well. I was considering keeping the heads in the control room and cabs in the tracking room.

[mrmega]

I want to put the heads in the control room too, and so far I just haven't been able to find a way to put them there because of space. The other thing that concerned me was heat in the control room. I normally use 2 or 3 heads at the same time to get one tone (especially for hi gain stuff).

Either way, I would love to see what some of the guys who frequent this section think. I have learned a lot by reading what they say, and i have been making money with music for over 20 years :)

Hey wilder, how would you position your heads in the control room?

I also wonder if my goals can be met in another way.

Anyone have suggestions or feedback?

[mrmega]

ttt

Anyone have any ideas or observations? :)

[Randy]

I'm sure you've considered this but why not swap sides and take the larger room for the control room, thereby giving yourself enough space to put the heads in there too?

Also, you may want to reconsider pushing your line of 4-12's all the way into the corner. The cabs on the end may not mike well being right next to a reflective surface (adjacent wall).

If you mainly need access to the back of the heads in order to facilitate swapping cables, you may want to consider a mechanical method instead (switch box or even a patchbay of some kind). You just don't have the space to warrant sticking a huge bookshelf into the middle of a room already consumed by cabs and combos. A shelf flat against the wall will give you more room and still allow you to pull them out for maintenance when needed.

[mrmega]

I'm sure you've considered this but why not swap sides and take the larger room for the control room, thereby giving yourself enough space to put the heads in there too?

Thank you for the ideas Randy!

I have really struggled with all of this. I am trying to make the racking room as big as possible. I am even considering taking the black space on the lower right (its a part of another room that invades this space) and making that part of the tracking room so there ios more room. Problem with that, is it eliminates some office space I wanted in the other room. I am almost ready to do that though. Then I gain a whole lot of space in the tracking room. I would like to be able to track live with my band in there for doing song wring sessions and testing out "live" performances before gigs etc.

If I do eliminate the office space for the other room and make the tracking room bigger, I could lengthen the control room from 10 feet to maybe 12 feet to compensate for the heads being added.




Also, you may want to reconsider pushing your line of 4-12's all the way into the corner. The cabs on the end may not mike well being right next to a reflective surface (adjacent wall).

I have so many cabinets I might have to, BUT my next question is this. Will sound absorbing tiles on the reflective space take care of this? They are some kind of acoustic foam meant to help control the sound in the room.



If you mainly need access to the back of the heads in order to facilitate swapping cables, you may want to consider a mechanical method instead (switch box or even a patchbay of some kind). You just don't have the space to warrant sticking a huge bookshelf into the middle of a room already consumed by cabs and combos. A shelf flat against the wall will give you more room and still allow you to pull them out for maintenance when needed.

I have thought about this a lot. I think you are right, the idea of a protruding book case sucks.

I thought about mounting the heads into a custom shelf area into a wall (control room maybe) and putting each head on a sliding shelf in its own isolated compartment. This way if I need access to the head to change impedance or something I can.

I would ventilate each compartment, use quiet little fans (like a computer fan or something???) and cover the areas of the head that allow air flow, with some kind of sheer screen material that will trap dist and allow air to flow freely, kind of like a little filter. Use sealed glass front doors for each head etc.


The BIG question I have is:
I know how to do a patch bay for line level signals(duh ;) ), but how could I make it so I could switch any head into any cabinet (as long as the power was off of course)?

I looked around for devices that would let me do this, but I haven't found anything for 10 - 15 heads and cabs. I know my amp collection will continue to grow so I am trying to anticipate the growth in the design.

I so so many sessions, and I am looking for the largest variety, hence any cab at any time for the most tones possible with all my gear.

Thank you again for the response!

[1radicalron]

= And Jeff Beck Recorded Blow by Blow with a Fender Princeton!

[Edmundo]

Just make yourself a speaker-level patchbay, which is not brain surgery. Get ahold of a 2 space panel, mount up a shit-load of jacks, get some Horizon 8-conductor/13 gauge cable (Speakon), and get to soldering. Make your own jumpers, too.

[mrmega]

Just make yourself a speaker-level patchbay, which is not brain surgery. Get ahold of a 2 space panel, mount up a shit-load of jacks, get some Horizon 8-conductor/13 gauge cable (Speakon), and get to soldering. Make your own jumpers, too.

Thank you Edmundo!

Cool!

Would I just use standard switchcraft jacks (female and male?) I wouldn't want to do the work, my soldering skills are crap, and I could get my amp tech to do it :)

[Randy]

I have so many cabinets I might have to, BUT my next question is this. Will sound absorbing tiles on the reflective space take care of this? They are some kind of acoustic foam meant to help control the sound in the room.

I thought about mounting the heads into a custom shelf area into a wall (control room maybe) and putting each head on a sliding shelf in its own isolated compartment. This way if I need access to the head to change impedance or something I can.

I would ventilate each compartment, use quiet little fans (like a computer fan or something???) and cover the areas of the head that allow air flow, with some kind of sheer screen material that will trap dist and allow air to flow freely, kind of like a little filter. Use sealed glass front doors for each head etc.


The BIG question I have is:
I know how to do a patch bay for line level signals(duh ;) ), but how could I make it so I could switch any head into any cabinet (as long as the power was off of course)?

I looked around for devices that would let me do this, but I haven't found anything for 10 - 15 heads and cabs. I know my amp collection will continue to grow so I am trying to anticipate the growth in the design.

I so so many sessions, and I am looking for the largest variety, hence any cab at any time for the most tones possible with all my gear.

Thank you again for the response!

I'm sure some sound treatment on the walls will help with the reflections when compared to say a sheetrock wall, but it will still sound different then a cab placed away from the wall. Better or worse... who knows?

You certainly could go all out and build an enclosure for your heads with separate compartments, with screen, glass and fans, but why bother? I would just build an open bookcase style with sliding shelves. No need for ventilation or doors. 2 heads per shelf, 4-5 shelfs, all with heavy duty glides, and that should be all you need.

Edmundo's got the right idea with the patchbays. Just find some empty rack enclosures and straight wire switchcraft jacks back to back. I'd make one for the heads and one for the cabinets. Mount them both in your head bookshelf enclosure, then just run speaker level patch cords between the head and cab jacks you want to connect.

BTW - you would use all female jacks for the patchbays.

[donnyjaguar]

These amplifiers are meant for stadiums, not studios.
Jeff Beck? What does that guy know! ;)
Hey, didn't Billy Gibbons record with one of those Pignoses? :)

[mrmega]

You certainly could go all out and build an enclosure for your heads with separate compartments, with screen, glass and fans, but why bother? I would just build an open bookcase style with sliding shelves. No need for ventilation or doors. 2 heads per shelf, 4-5 shelfs, all with heavy duty glides, and that should be all you need.


I am considering the sealed and ventilated shelves so the heat in the control room doesn't become out of control. In my old setup I kept a few heads in the room with me and after a couple of hours the temperature would rise by as much as 8 degrees!:crazyguy

I am keeping some guitars in the control room with me so I am doing my best to control the temp and humidity :)

If I wasn't so concerned with that part of it I would definitely go the route you suggested. It would definitely be cheaper and fastser :)

Edmundo's got the right idea with the patchbays. Just find some empty rack enclosures and straight wire switchcraft jacks back to back. I'd make one for the heads and one for the cabinets. Mount them both in your head bookshelf enclosure, then just run speaker level patch cords between the head and cab jacks you want to connect.

BTW - you would use all female jacks for the patchbays.

Thank you very much!!! I am gathering the parts and a friend of my amp tech (another amp tech) is going to build it for me.

I cant tell you how much I appreciate the advice everyone! I do well with recording and playing, and electronics and the tech stuff I leave for those who specialize or know more than me (and that is A LOT of people ;) )


Now I just need ot decide what I am doing about the recording room ;)


PS: I do have 2 small combos and after thinking about it, I will look for a couple of different 1x12" and 1x10" cabs too. :)

[cranqued]

Edmundo's got the right idea with the patchbays. Just find some empty rack enclosures and straight wire switchcraft jacks back to back. I'd make one for the heads and one for the cabinets. Mount them both in your head bookshelf enclosure, then just run speaker level patch cords between the head and cab jacks you want to connect.

BTW - you would use all female jacks for the patchbays.

Does anyone sell this kind of thing as an off-the-shelf solution?