Rack case for Moogerfoogers + Slim Phatty: advice needed

[dvalladt]

Hi all,

I have four Moogerfoogers, one CP-251 and one Slim Phatty and I wanted to put them in some neat rack. Since I wanted to have something that can sometimes be portable, I was checking these 12U rack cases:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/thon_19_koffer_12_he_live.htm

I plan on putting three Moogerfoogers with their rackmount (theoretically 6U) and leaving one behind (I'm probably selling it anyway ), the CP-251 also with its rackmount (3U, plus a little waste of space) and the Slim Phatty with its rack ears (also 3U).

Putting the Moogerfoogers on top would leave extra space for their connections when I'm using them.

That's 6U + 3U + 3U = 12U, but I have some concerns that it may be too crowded for the connections or that the depth of the rack (15cm) might cause problems (fwiw the Slim Phatty is 13,5cm deep).

I don't have a lot of experience "racking" my gear so I wonder if somebody has done something similar and might give me some advice about this idea...

Thanks a lot!

[Stuka]

You'll probably want to plan something that will give you 1-2U of rack space ABOVE the MoogerFoogers so you'll have room to access the jacks for patching. A lot of folks (myself included) mount the Mooger Fooger rack angled, instead of flat against the rack rails, so that the top of the mount sticks out from the rack, giving a bit more access to the MoogerFooger jacks.

FWIW -
Unless you absolutely need an enclosed rack, you might want to give some thought to using an open desktop rack, such as this:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TableRackStd/

They're sturdy but inexpensive, actually look pretty good once everything is installed, and are MUCH easier to work with than enclosed racks.
A added benefit where the Slim Phatty is concerned is there won't be as much heat build-up, plus you'll have MUCH easier access to the Slim's CV jacks.

Also, you might want to check out this thread - might find some good info there:

http://forum.moogmusic.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19306

It will probably take some "tinkering" with the MoogerFooger rack install, regardless of what rack you decide to use.
IMHO, it is DEFINITELY worth it in the end!!

Good luck with your project!

Randy

[dvalladt]

Thanks a lot for your advice...

I didn't settle for a rack stand like the one you suggest because I want to be more or less portable (read: gigable, or at the very least I want to take it to rehearsals).

Since the rack case can have the rails "unfolded":



Do you reckon that might be ok in order to give you access to the Moogerfooger jacks (the Mooferfoogers would be mounted on top)?

You're on the money regarding accessing the Slim CV jacks, that's certainly an issue... And about the heat build up, could you elaborate more about that? What's the potential risk here?

Thanks for your help... I'm sure it will be worth it, to me having the synth and mooferfoogers racked together in a portable set-up is a dream...

[Stuka]

That case you have picked out will probably work fine -pretty cool the way the rails pop out!
With the MoogerFoogers mounted at the top, you should be good to go!

The Slim Phatty's do get a bit warm during operation - there's a lot of analog circuitry & a power supply crammed into a fairly tight space!
I would think too much heat could have an impact on the oscillator tuning, but as long as there is some air circulation there shouldn't be a problem.
I don't think you will have any heat-related issues with the case you picked.

Please post a photo when you have everything racked!

[dvalladt]

Thanks a lot for your input... Will post a pic when it's done.