Build a mega-14U guitar rack, or split it up into different racks?

So you guys should know that I'm currently building a rack rig for not only my guitar rig, but also for the bass rig and audio interface.

Up until now I've been using the Gator 14U rack to enclose my guitar rig into a self-contained system; however, with inflation and transportation issues becoming a thing, I wanted to try and make my rig portable without having to compromise on any of my elements.

No doubt, I will be going the shockmount rack route regardless because here in Toronto, the music scenes have become hostile to the point where you never know who's going to tamper with your gear. The question is, to keep my guitar rig into a 14U rack, or to split it up into a 6U and 8U rack.

If I keep it into a 14U rack format, then this reduces the amount of work I'll have to do in terms of setup; however, it will make transportation much more difficult as I'll constantly have to rent a U-Haul and hire a few friends to help me load everything in and out.

If I split it into a 6U and 8U rack, then this will make my rig transportable in most types of taxis and/or vans; however, this will make setup much more tedious, and even then there's no guarantee that I'll be able to load a shockmount 8U rack into the trunk of a car.

What do you guys think?

If the music scene is that hostile then a single heavy rack will be more of a theft deterrent than 2 lighter racks. Another guitarist could easily swipe that 6u while they load their own gear out... my experience with bad actors from other bands is that it was always my lighter stuff that got ganked to the point that I started breaking down and locking my small stuff and guitars in the band van right after the set... no one ever attempted to grab my heads, cabs and 10u ATA rack though... too big and noticeable. As far as my gear getting tampered with? ATA flight cases have decent enough locks. Unlock for setup and immediately following the set disconnect the cabling and lock them back up. Always worked for me.

Are you sure that a 12-14U rack will be worth the hassle in transportation? 'Cause since I am going solo I don't have the luxury of other bandmates helping me transport my gear to and from venues... (I think we can thank my former second guitarist and drummer who stirred unwanted drama within the band, sabotaging everything back in 2021 to the point where nobody in Toronto can be trusted anymore...)

How difficult will it be to transport a 14U rack to and from shows? 'Cause here in Toronto, inflation has gotten bad and I don't even know how bad the transportation costs will be if I choose to keep things in one single mega-rack...

I'm totally confused, are you flying?

If money is tight, stop spending on music, it's hard to get a return, particularly playing solo gigs as some kinda program metal guitarist. Tje world economy is not going to be improve. Whatever you have use. Hoarde your income.

No, I'm trying to figure out how I'm gonna be finishing my rack rig. I don't trust my Gator 14U case to stick with me for the long term since these cases aren't exactly roadworthy.

I tend to be all about future-proofing my guitar rig setup, hence why I'm trying to figure out how I'm gonna be finishing my rig.

Still gotta save up for custom cabling, speaker cabs, etc. so hoarding my income is sadly not an option for me right now. Because I am planning to go all-or-nothing on my solo career I want to make sure I'm not left to my own devices should I choose to perform live gigs.

How old are you?

26 years old, turning 27 in just over 2 months. If I'm being honest, I no longer have the time to just "wait for the best opportunity to pop up" any longer. I've already wasted 2 years of my lifetime trying to sort my music gear and career together. It's a "now or never" situation for me now.

Making your living solely from music is probably not going to happen. Anything is possible but in the current environment it's less likely than ever. Especially as you pull up to your 30s. It's lways been a young person's game, now more than ever. Making further investments without knowing you'll recoup is probably not in your best interest. If you dont know when or if you'll see a return on music gear investment, stick with what you have and make it work. I've made some bad investments in my home studio based on paying projects that fell through and I truly regret them. I don't really want to liquidate those pieces because I'm doing work with them but they've barely paid for themselves. The way work was coming in at the time it seemed like a good idea to expand my arsenal... with a rig like yours for a guy without a paying music gig further expansion of any kind is probably a really bad bet.

My 2 cents. Do what you want.

It's a dysfunctional rig that I'll have to work with if I stop my investments here. Not only do I lack the custom cabling to route my front-end effects into my Voodoo Lab HEX switcher at the very least, I also lack a MIDI controller, two 2x12 cabs and a shockmount rack case to protect my investments. This means I'm playing an extremely dangerous gamble should I choose to "work with what I have," where I don't even know when my gear could fail without the critical protection from external vibrations and/or potential sabotage.

2 years gone to waste, I'll have to own up to it. But I can't stop here. If I stop here then I'm on my own. I can't do any live shows with the rig as it is right now, and I'm under pressure from my followers to deliver my first debut album in the coming months. My hands are tied.

If cabling is a problem, make the cables. You'll get precisely what you need for the cost of switchcraft jacks and a spool of low capacitance coaxial wire. I can't imagine what would be so custom in a guitar rig that you can't make it yourself. Literally anyone can make a cable with some solder and electrical flux. And maybe, just maybe, some heat shrink. Even if you hadn't mentioned finances I would have recommend making your interconnects. It's not like you have a balanced signal or weird insert snakes. The core wire goes to tip, the screen goes to sleeve. If you have a ground loop make some cables with the screen detached at one jack and see if breaking the audio ground connection in a few places kills the buzz. You have a lot of gear and it may not all have the same ground potential. As long as your audio shields are all grounded at at least one place, preferably together you're good.

If you have to buy shock proof racks just bite the bullet and buy ATA approved cases. Nothing less will give you peace of mind. Cheaper cases aren't meant for heavy travel and especially not meant to house vacuum tubes on the road. Better to save money on DIY cables. I recommend Calzone cades if they're still in business. I haven't bought road cases in like 20 years.

Then you need to check you gear acquisition syndrome before it breaks the bank. Frankly your rig seems insanely excessive for you to be playing what you're describing as solo gigs in bars. I don't just mean that in a financial sense. A rig like yours is put together for 500+ seat venues.

If you really want a career playing guitar you should consider auditioning as a sideman for any style of music that can pay you and it's not hard to learn to read Nashville notation... your rig can handle more than prog metal. Go where the pay is.

Personally I was getting burned out on the whole thing when I was about your age (and my band was getting pretty successful until a lawsuit really kicked us in the ribs, but I was mainly hanging on for the studio) and I don't recommend pursuing it as a lifestyle but no one listens to middle aged dudes.

I have a behringer FC-whatever#s midi controller in my gear closet I'll sell for 50 bucks. Works fine once you program it... which isn't exactly fine, but that's midi rigs. I barely use it.