I’ve been using Avid’s Eleven Rack for the last couple of weeks and have been enjoying my time with the unit. I’ll have a full review in the next week, but something happened last night that I just had to share.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]I always tell people that I don’t baby my gear. Whether it’s computers or music equipment, I use it like it’s meant to be used. I don’t abuse anything, but if I plug my guitar into it, there’s going to be some punishment coming.

Little did I know just how much.

So far, my time with the Eleven Rack has been spent in the studio at fairly low volume. However, last night the drummer came over and we spent a couple of hours jamming. It’s one of those jams where you just play whatever comes into your head — some Ozzy, Sabbath, or stuff we make up.

About an hour into playing my Eleven Rack fell off of its perch and fell three feet or so onto the hardwood floor. With the guitar feedback blaring out of the PA, I just stood looking at it in total shock.

When the Eleven Rack fell, it landed on one of the XLR cables going from the rig to the PA — it sliced it in two. This cut would make the Ginsu Knife proud. It wasn’t hacked, it was a perfectly clean slice.

It hit hard enough that after slicing through the XLR cable, it also made a sizable slice in the floor too.

My concern all along was for the Eleven Rack. I can get a new cable and I guess I can hide the hole in the floor, but please don’t let the rack be broken.

I picked it up, brushed off the wood chunks and you would never even know that it hit the ground. There isn’t a dent, scratch or any other indication that it just took a three foot tumble.

The real test — does it still work. I turned the volume up on my guitar, strummed a chord and there was Eleven Rack goodness coming from the PA speakers.

We didn’t even stop playing. The drummer got back behind the kit and we played for another hour.

This is what gear should be like. If you’re playing, stuff is going to happen, it always does. You can’t worry that things are going to break all time.

Having said that, I’ll find a new perch for my Eleven Rack.