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Ruined an EQ in the rack - anybody know what I did wrong??


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Pulled the cover off my rack tonight, only to find that I ruined an EQ since the last show. The sliders immediately below the DriveRack are not only broken, some of them are ripped out of the potentiometer.

 

The foam fits snugly, but I didn't think this was an issue. I can't see how it's relevant, but this is the first time I've had the Driverack there.

 

Should I be changing the foam profile? Should I move the rack rails inward? Did I miss some best practice?

 

I'm super-bummed because I really liked this EQ. The FLS lights are nice. Thank God for the "bypass" button. That monitor sounded like a 1940s telephone until I spotted the issue.

You know, I don't like breaking stuff, but it's not so bad when you know what you did wrong. This is really quite upsetting.

 

Thanks for any input - especially if anybody knows where to source Peavey parts.

 

Wes

 

PS: I can't seem to get the attachments ordered the way I want to show the 3 most relevant photos first. Please click on the "5 pictures" link to see the damage if you're curious.

 

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I'm about 95% sure it was okay when the cover went on the rack. That EQ was in use for the entire show, and we would have noticed immediately if the sound had changed like that.

 

I guess the open time interval was during teardown. The last show was on a narrow stage (8x25 trailer). Maybe I should prioritize getting the lid on the rack sooner rather than later during teardown. It would have been done after guitars were off-stage, but before speakers were loaded. I remember we moved the rack to the center of the stage, put the lid on, and pushed it down the ramp, into the van.

 

Re EQ - I'm interested, modulo shipping cost to Canada. Need to sort my $$ situation out at the moment, kid just decided she wants to go back to school so I have to find nine grand this week. Maybe the wife will let me play more gigs now. :D

 

Now that I think about this, I'm thinking more and more you are right. Normally the EQ sliders don't even move!

 

Wes

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Now that I think about this, I'm thinking more and more you are right. Normally the EQ sliders don't even move!

 

Wes

If the EQ or any of your other equipment hasn't been previously or this trip damaged "in a buttoned up case" during transport, and nothing is different this time around vs. others concerning transport and the damage is specific/unique to this one equipment rack... I'd strongly suspect the obvious, being that the damage more than likely occurred while the case was open to the elements. Just logic. Unless something like a large horse shoe or a few bricks was included loose in the case cover and the transport method involved rolling the case around some or numerous times.

 

To quote Homer (when confronted with something way wrong that surfaced during his shift): "I dunno boss... it was like that when I got here." ... might be applicable in this instance.

 

 

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Rob - Yep, Kingston ON - We just got a Long & McQuade!!!! Tried PS12Ps last gig. Love 'em.

 

Mark - Your logic is flawless. The rack is new to me, only 4-5 gigs, but I have never had so much as an EQ slider move....the possibility that the equipment was damaged during teardown never even occurred to me until I asked you guys. But it does seem to be the logical answer. Which makes me feel a lot better, actually. Thanks.

 

Wes

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Always try to cover up the gear as others have said. I pull all the XLr's on my rack mixer then pop the cover on. Same

With my power amps. Get the covers on as soon as I can to protect them after the gig

 

I rented a pair of PS12P's for a gig and never ended up using them.

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Rob - if you ever get the chance, let me know what you think with the Unity 15 vs. PS12P. I was seriously impressed and suspect the PS12Ps are all the top I'll ever need, including for outdoor gigs. Curious if the Unitys sound better, though.

 

Telecruiser - no hired help, just my band. I put the lid on myself. Best scenario I can think of is that somebody hit the EQ in a driveby and didn't notice. With something heavy, like a mic stand.

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Best scenario I can think of is that somebody hit the EQ in a driveby and didn't notice. With something heavy' date=' like a mic stand.[/quote']

 

This was going to be my guess except it' doesn't look like there is any real damage to the EQ chassis itself, or at least none that I can see from the pictures. A mic stand hit would have had to be extremely precise to do such damage to the sliders yet not the chassis. I bent a mixer slider once when putting on a rack lid. I wasn't paying attention and the lid wasn't lined up right. In that case though it was a slider on the very end of the mixer near where the lid attaches versus almost dead center.

 

Ironically I had a very similar, if not the same model, Peavey FLS EQ several years ago that I bought on ebay for like $40 because it had 3-4 broken sliders. They were still usable but they were chipped, one barely having enough left to it to adjust. So maybe they are fairly easily damaged. Still, odd that it looks like a surgical stike of just a few right in the middle of the EQ.

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Telecruiser - no hired help, just my band. I put the lid on myself. Best scenario I can think of is that somebody hit the EQ in a driveby and didn't notice. With something heavy, like a mic stand.

 

IF it was damaged before the cover was put on then whoever put the cover on saw it. If somebody hit it then they also saw it. and didn't say anything. I seriously doubt that the damaged occurred while it was buttoned up in the case. Somebody other than you knows it is damaged. JMHO

 

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Were there bits and pieces of the sliders in the rack? It seems odd that just that EQ and just that area got damaged in the rack, although anything is possible.

 

Is that a re-purposed rack/gear case? Like Pro Sound Guy, I'm also wondering if your rack is sliding around in the case. If it is, and the foam is the main thing stopping movement, that's not a good thing, even if it wasn't your issue with that EQ. If the rack is "bolted down" then I am also of the opinion that the front foam serves no purpose, except to possible snag something.

 

PS12P's... I've tried them several times and really liked them. I've also used the PS15P's and really liked them as well. I've never done an A/B test with my Unity U15's but on my July boat cruise, I used the PS15P's and they worked better for me than the U15's YMMV. I also had nothing but compliments on the sound, from several musicians that were on the boat. I briefly owned a pair of the PS12P's but I already had two sets of speakers that could cover the largest gigs I do, so back they went. The Parasource two 12" sub is killer as well.

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PSG and Shaster may be on to something here.

 

There were little bits of sliders in the rack case - in fact, still in the EQ slots. One looked like it wasn't even broken, just popped out of the slider by sideways torque. As I type this.. I am really starting to think they are on to something.

 

I'm not sure if this case started life as a rack case. It was a used purchase, and clearly well-used albeit still in good condition. The case is well made. It was sold as a rack case.

 

The rack sits in the bottom of the case. It is removable. It is not bolted down.

 

Hypothesis: rack moved inside case. Foam snagged EQ sliders (foam is indeed snug on all four sides.

Proposed remedy: Cut out foam on front face of cover where equipment goes. Bolt rack to case bottom with four quarter-inch bolts, fender washers, and nylocks.

 

What think ye?

 

Wes

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Proposed remedy: Cut out foam on front face of cover where equipment goes. Bolt rack to case bottom with four quarter-inch bolts, fender washers, and nylocks.

 

What think ye?

 

Wes

 

I think your rails look like they're really close to the front of the case. The rails on most pullover racks I see are recessed about 2" from the front and back.

 

The main advantage of a pullover case is that you can tilt the rack in the base so you can see it better, or remove it entirely so you can set it on the case lid or stack it on something else to get it up to eye level. If you bolt it down you'll lose this functionality, plus essentially eliminate all or most of the shock mounting benefits of the foam.

 

I think the "right" solution is to move the rails and recess them deeper inside the case.

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Thanks for the feedback, all. I think my task for next weekend is to pull all that crap of out of the rack, and move the rails back so that the knob of the DriveRack is slightly behind the metal extrusion at the edge of the rack box. I'm curious how the rails are installed, if it's with wood screws I will have an easy job. If it's with T-nuts, I will have a nice challenge on my hands to keep with OEM appearance.

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