Patchbay confusion!

[Webb]

Help...I'm trapped in a tangled mess of wires!

I just purchased a Behringer PX3000 patchbay since I was tired of climbing behind my rack everytime I wanted to connect something. The only problem now is I can't figure out how to hook everything up. And the more I read, the more confused I get (ie: normalled, hafl-normal, thru, etc...). My head is spinning.

My rack consists of:
-Lexicon MX200
-TC Helicon VoiceWorks
-Joe Meek ThreeQ
-GT Brick
-Presonus BlueMax compressor
-Behringer Ultragraph EQ
-BBE Soinic Maximizer 422A
-Behinger Bass V-Amp Pro
-Hush II CX

I'm recording to a Tascam 2488 which has 8 inputs and 2 effects send. I simply want to hook everything up to the Tascam and be able to route different signals using the patchbay. But it's far from simple for me.

For example, maybe I want to run my bass through the V-Amp, the BlueMax, and the BBE. Then maybe I want to add some reverb from the Lexicon and compression to a recorded track on the Tascam.

I know this is a lot to read, but I'm hoping someone could explain the best way to accomplish this...and hopefully the easiest. But I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[cusebassman]

http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/patchbays.php

Thats one of the first sites I got from google. You can also search around here for how to set up the patchbay. Ive never used one myself, but as far as I can tell, you can run the inputs and outputs from every item in the rack to separate inputs on the back of the patchbay.

Then, using even more short patch cables, connect the jacks on the front of the patchbay corresponding to those on the back to connect things to one another, and to inputs and outputs on equipment not in the rack.

So, for this example, let's say you set the patchbay to THRU, so each jack on the back of the unit corresponds to the front jack on it.

If you want to simply plug into the V-Amp, let's say the input to the V-Amp is running out to channel 1-A (back), and its output is running to 2-A (back). You would plug your bass into 2-A (front), and then 1-A (front) would run out to whatever you want to run the output from the V-Amp to.

Im assuming the V-Amp is unbalanced I/O, so 1/4" male mono cables would work fine. Now, for something like the Brick, which takes balanced connections, things become more tricky. The Behringer is balanced, but it only has 1/4" connectors. So, if you want to plug a mic into it, I would suggest still plugging into the Brick directly from the mic. Its output, however, I think is 1/4" balanced (TRS), so you could take a short 1/4" male-male TRS cable, and run the Brick's output to, lets say, 3-A (back). Then, if you want to run the output from the Brick to a line-in on the Tascam, you could grab another 1/4" male-male TRS cable, run it from the 3-A (front) jack and out to the recorder.

[Webb]

Thanks for your help. Although I'm reading everything I can, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around this. If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free. If you could suggest a way in simple-ease to hook-up all my gear and eliminate the need to constantly climb behind the rack, I'd be eternally grateful.