Proper Racking Ettiquette

When putting gear into a rack, always use plastic "through-hole" washers. This will not only protect your rack ears from scratches and other damage, but will prevent your gear from being "grounded together" through the rack rails. If you find yourself short on rack screws, NEVER only put screws in the TOP holes!!! This will cause your equipment to "sag" under gravity and put a strain on the rack ears as the unfastened bottoms move away from the rails. Also, DO NOT put one screw in an upper hole, and one in the opposite bottom hole. This under gravity causes a twisting of the ears and the entire chassis of the piece. This is greatly increased with the vibration and bumps of transport! If you only have two screws per rack item, ALWAYS put them in the two BOTTOM holes. That way gravity will keep the unsecured tops of the ears flush to the rail, as opposed to pulling unscrewed bottom holes away from the rails. About the Author Patrick Smolinksi is a recording industry veteran with over 15 years of pro audio retail sales experience, over 11 years of running his own recording studio in central Wisconsin, and is a multi-instrumentalist playing all of the instruments on songwriter demos. Pat is a musician at heart and has also found himself playing gigs with several bands over the past 30 years. He loves his twins, the Packers, music, and pro audio gear.