Hello

This is a bit of a long shot…I am looking out for rack mount effects that are in need of repair, don’t need to be in immaculate condition

I’m based in the UK

Thanks in advance to anyone able to help me out with any

 

From your post it isn't perfectly clear if you want to buy broken rack FX for yourself or just repair them for someone else?

I kinda think you want to buy them, because you said "don't need to be in immaculate condition".

What kind of racks are you looking for? List some.

I've been looking for an Ensoniq DP/4 for about a century. Otherwise, I have Drawmers and some DBX compressors and gates, no need for anything else. I'm just fine.

 

Lol - is someone trying to fill the rack spaces in their newly-built desk on the cheap (or for free? your post wasn't clear) with broken gear?

Assuming that is the case (and I didn't say it was, I'm just guessing) just get some nice-looking blanking panels.

Or heaven forbid actually buy/save up for some gear you actually need / want, rather than filling the racks of a v nice-looking piece of studio furniture with what is, essentially, garbage - that'll be a way less cringe look.

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2022

My dad is into repairing electronics, so thought I’d make a nice little project for me and him, it’ll teach me some new skills

I already have blanking panels for the desk, so that’s sorted.

 

How rude. You assume much while knowing little. There's a word for that, actually...

 

What do you consider a realistic price for one? There is one listed on Reverb for about 1200$. I bet your problem is not lack of "stock", but a question of usual market price vs what one is actually worth.... Someone can ask or pay whatever. That's not the price I mean. If it is worth 500 in usage to me, I'm not going to pay double or triple that no matter what. I am guessing you are just the same way.

 

Ah cool!

Rack stuff may not be the best thing to start with though - given the space restrictions in a 1U (or even 1/2U or 1/3U) device, a lot of stuff - particularly cheaper stuff built to a price point - will use a lot of subminiature and surface-mount components, which makes things really tricky and fiddly to work with.

Stuff like reverbs, delays etc will be using a lot of often-proprietary chips, which can be tricky/impossible to source if they're the problem.

Basically try and find simple stuff - cheap preamps, distortion boxes, that kinda thing. You're more likely to be able to actually work on / fix em. Also, older stuff from the 80's/early 90's will be more likely to use components that actual human hands can work with!

But even if you can't repair everything, learning how to troubleshoot and diagnose stuff is for sure an incredibly valuable skill in the studio.


Something else that can be really fun (and not that expensive) is making your own pedals. There's loads of schematics available online, and even if you don't play guitar, pedals are super useful for running pretty much anything through to get cool tones. A lot of my most-used pedals (particularly fuzzes) are homemade, either by myself or friends.

And if you're building them yourself, you don't have to put them in pedal enclosures - you could fire like 4 of them in one rack unit and come up with some crazy cool custom multieffect box (just don't forget to build yourself a re-amp box too!)

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2022

Lol oh is there?

Cheers for jumping in and getting all bent out of shape on behalf of the OP though, you're doing the lord's work.

 

Your original post was quite rude before the edit and you know it. But that's okay, on with the thread.

 

Haha, well don't I feel suitably scolded.

Thanks, internet offence police, chalk that up as another solid W.

Now, on with the thread

 

Let’s stop this shall we?

@Lube Bag & @mondomorte

I haven’t taken any offence to any of the stuff posted here in response to my original post.

In response to the comment about making my own pedals, I made one years ago.

 

There's lots of really good rack gear kits / schematics too, if pedals aren't really your thing. GroupDIY.com is a great place for finding projects, whatever size/complexity / price point you want. Really cool community too, super helpful folks; on bigger projects you'll sometimes find people doing group buys and stuff to get cool enclosures fabricated, etc.

This one was particularly drool-worthy - it wasn't exactly cheap to build, but compared to the £3.5k for a real Retro 176 (or a lot more for a UA one) it was a bargain!

In the event you don't manage to get any stuff to repair / tinker with, it's worth a look, as you'll learn pretty much all the same kinda troubleshooting when building something as you would with reparing (because builds never go exactly according to plan!)

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2022

if you are going to be doing audio, it is about a 99+% chance you will end up with something electronic to repair. at some point.

the trick to acquiring something already broken, to repair; is basically Triage. figure out who can be saved. and then guessing at what cost. and parts availability. Determining are all parts for repair captive, or can they be replaced using FFF methods ( fit, form, and function).

I will not get involving with fixing something if it is going to cost over a certain % amount of what I can make by selling it. in the worst case scenario.

If something needs one repair, before you can even test the rest of it; be cautious. This is how you end up with more money than planned into a project unit.

If you ever do this in person, there is another trick. You have to mentally do all these calculations, while not being an idiot and explaining it to the person you are buying from. If you open the possibility of it being a 20 dollar repair, there are various levels of bullshit which can ensue. So it is *broken*. Anything else is a dice roll, and not worth discussion. If the seller could fix it, they wouldn't be a seller. Any "in-person diagnosis" must result in "it's probably junk".

A Fluke multimeter will pay for itself tens of times over. but they are expensive. I think there should be one in every toolbox ever made.

have fun, don't lose money and/or burn your house down.

 

Last edited: Apr 15, 2022