Any reason you went with Speakon connections instead of quarter inch? My instinct would be quarter inch so if a cable fails you could easily borrow another from somebody at the venue (another band or something)

Love the patch panel idea, i always color coded things so I could just match up colors with as little thinking as possible when I got to the gig.

The reason i went with Speakon was reliability. They are bomb proof, and to be honest in all my years of playing (too many to mention) I've never had a speaker cable fail.

To be honest it's probably my job that makes me like this..... I always think ahead " what can go wrong"?... I then think of what I can do to prevent it or minimalise it from going wrong. Hence the Speakon and Powercon connectors. They're industry standard, and are used on pro rigs for one reason..... They don't go wrong. Jacks can be pulled out if they're not in a locking socket, and the strain relief isn't as robust as a Speakon connector. When I wired the Speakon connectors I also terminated the wires with ferrules, like this:



These ensure that the wiring is properly terminated before being wired into the Speakon connectors. I did the same for the Power cables.

Saying that i'm thinking about changing the powercon connectors over to Powercon True1 connectors. The reason? The standard Powercon connectors can't be disconnected under load, in other words you have to ensure the mains is turned off at the wall before you unplug them. Thinking ahead, it's only a matter of time before I forget, or someone helps me tear down at a gig and doesn't know the implications, I can end up in all sorts of trouble. The Powercon True1 connectors can be unplugged under load with no issues.

Regarding if a speaker cable does fail..... You should carry spares, I do. I actually have 2 spare speaker cables terminated with 1/4" jacks at each end.

I also have speakon jack adapters so that they can be used in my rig,



Therefore i can loan the cables out to somebody who doesn't have a spare speaker cable when theirs has failed....... maybe you

I always carry about 20 foot of instrument cable, and 3 or 4 straight and right angled jacks in my gig case, along with a multi-meter, basic soldering iron, spare amp fuses, spare speaker cables, adaptors (as above), so if something does go wrong i'm covered... Also It's pretty good when you can bail out someone else at the gig who isn't prepared.... You normally get a free beer

The patch panel was another "thinking ahead" thing.

Once the rack is all wired up, you don't really want to disturb it once all the cables are zip tied up etc. The patch panel ensures you have easy access, without disturbing the inside of the rack. I've seen lots of racks with the patch panel on the front, which is ok.... But my thought was, if it's on the front i may tread on a cable and damage it. If the panel is round the back you can't tread on it accidentally and pull the cables in their sockets. I probably sound like I have OCD

I haven't received it yet...... although it's been shipped and is winging its way to the UK.... I've bought one of these

http://www.pedalpython.com/


https://youtu.be/PhJtJHCTcg8


Looks really good.... And cheaper than having one made by my wiring supplier who quoted me £65 for the same thing. Has anyone here used this system, and if so what are your thoughts?

WOW that looks terrific. I was thinking of trying to make my own via shrink wrap and velcro, this looks like a much better solution.


Seperate question, do you have any more detail on how you made the patch panel? I'm thinking of doing the same to I can integrate things to/from the FX loop and the guitar in. Not sure about panels, shielding, etc Any thoughts?

What I'll do is take some photos for you of my patch panel. I got the idea from this You Tube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiNAjZxfhhY&t=66s

It's not really difficult, but you must ensure you use some kind of system for strain relief.

I bought a few of these off EBay cheap, you need to count how many holes you'll need... nd again add a couple on top for contingency.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1U-RACK-PANEL-DP28778-Punched-6-x-D-Type-holes-XLR-Neutrik-penn-/321653870688?hash=item4ae4109060:g:V9UAAOSw0e9UyPp3

And also some of these to zip tie the cables to for strain relief
http://amzn.eu/cxr2UHn

I didn't shield anything as such, just ensure you make sure there are no possibilities of shorts... I used heat shrink where I could, especially on the powercon connectors. Also, on the powercon connectors the terminals are big enough to take non-insulated spade connectors. Just remember to protect them afterwards with heat shrink once you've crimped on the terminal to the wire. (I don't think there's enough room for insulated spade connectors, hence why I bought non-insulated and heat shrunk them)

For the jack plug socket wiring... i didn't used heat shrink at all. but once it's all wired up and zip tied to the rail it's not going anywhere, and also you're not going to be putting your hand in the back.

When you're making your patch panel make sure you route the cabling correctly to avoid ground loops. If you look at my rack from the back all the power cables are routed to the left, and all signal cables are routed to the right of the rack case, put some thought into grouping the connectors according to whether they're signal or power. Make sure you secure all cables to the inside of the rack case using these



And try to place them every 2 to 3 inches. And never cable tie power and signal cables together...... Keep them separate. The only time I've tied signal and power together was a power cable and a midi cable. The midi cable doesn't carry audio signal so you can get away with that.

Awesome thanks for that. After watching the video and checking out his site it doesn't seem that hard. That will be phase two. Sliding rack shelves, power conditioner, pedal power supply, second gcx and cable should all be here by Friday!

Great! Keep us up to date with progress

Sorry for the delay... Been busy. Anyhoo, here's the close ups of the back of the rack including the rear of the patch panel



The back of the rack showing the power conditioner, and the upper cable management rail




Picture of the upper cable rail and the Triaxis, also the patch panel




Patch panel




Patch panel close up




Rear of the patch panel showing 2 of the jack plug inputs




Rear of patch panel showing the powercon input and outputs




Rear of patch panel showing the midi socket which includes phantom power to the ground control pro.

Wow that looks AWESOME!!!

This is super helpful, thanks for posting. I'll study and ask quesitons after I digest.

My rack shelves arrived today for my rig and they didn't fit. Arg

I have to agree... that looks great!