Seriously, John Bohlinger could talk about the features of a Walmart toaster for 15 minutes and it would be fascinating. These review demos are awesome and super-informative. Thanks!
chrisuede chrisuede i wish they had the same for bass equipment. the guy who does them is super nice but always gives the worst reviews and manages to cop the worst possible sound from whatever it is he is demoing. on top of that his playing is .. well hes a great guy. bollinger is definitely the man. he finds the good in any piece and can tactfully tell you what sucks about it without stepping on toes
Great presentation . Run directly to PA the Fly Rig sounds amazing. You get Amp simulation, reverb, echo and Marshall Plexi crunch in one pedal with numerous ways to shape your tone. I run this unit to a Fishman SA220 PA. I sounds much better than listening to the effects on a computer speaker. Great packet of sounds. A great value too! Cheers.
This is a great demo for the Stetsbar also. That thing sounds great on that Gibson. And I kinda have to agree with Jamie Tyson that the distortions do seem a bit fizzy.
It's in the name: SANS amp, "Sans" in French meaning "Without" amp. While it can be plugged into an amp, it is really meant to be plugged ino a PA or directly to a soundcard, or effects loop of an amp. If you plug into an amp, leave the Sans amp off because it can "clash" with the character of the amp (like it does in this video IMHO) Or, you can also plug it into the effects return of the amp if you are going to use the sansamp.
rodney scott I've done that as well, it works very well, just make sure that the speakers can actually reproduce the frequencies for the guitar, but I'm pretty sure it would work well.
Je suis Canadienne... je comprends tres bien le francais!! I ALSO understand this unit, as I've owned one since they came out. Yes, it is designed so that you can utilize it without an amp, but it works perfectly well WITH an amp when properly EQ'd. Even Tech 21 themselves say this in their literature. If you disregard this unit because you are still going to be using a guitar amp, you are missing out on an amazing unit that sounds fantastic in MANY circumstances, amp, no amp, or bass/keyboard amp!
My understanding is that the delay and reverb are digital, but they are in parallel to everything else (sansamp and plexi) so that the analog guitar signal always stays analog. Great sounding regardless (except when both sansamp and plexi drive are maxed like at 12:46)
Great demo, the only problem is that he ran the "Plexi" way too hot and loud to the sansamp which created this bad-saggy-overloaded distortion tone. Also, don't use whammy when trying to demo modulation ;)
Good demo.....BUT.... Really a bad choice of settings for demoing the plexi side of this pedal. It's all mud. That's not at all how I use mine.....I 've never pushed the plexi side's drive past 12pm. Below noon, the plexi side sounds very authentic.
This demo is verifying everything I feel about the FR5- it's a muddy fizzy mess in plexi mode. I'm about to rip out the character module and replace it with a jfet circuit. Thanks for the demo, John. I love what Tech 21 does- I just feel strongly that this would be a way more usable box with a jfet based plexi section.
Replying to my own post- the issues with the plexi section have less to do with the type of distortion (op-amp based) and more to do with the EQ before distortion. It'll be interesting to see how the new versions sound by comparison.
Jamie Tyson another reply but years later! I was looking for a way to mod the Plexi side, as I cannot seem to find a good setting... It’s either too thin, hi-endy and chemical at the same time, or muddy/gainy. How did you do your mod? And did you keep it?!
@@flaneursong78 Still have it, hardly use it. Is there a way to message privately on youtube? There are some fixes, but I don't wanna share publically.
i would just like to know,How he keeps that stetsbar in tune .I have that same one and its unuseable. witha high action action ,Ands its set all the way doun.
Thanks John ,How does this compare to TC Electronics Nova system for rigs on fly for live performance or studio recording ,I think they're both pretty cool 🤔
Thanks for the demo. To me, with the pre amp and the plexi it sounds really muddy. Prefer the Plexi sound without the pre amp - just my presonal taste.
ahh, thanks. Yes he does say that sorry must have skipped over. That's sort of disappointing. Tech21 should have made it like their other sansamp para where it's built in DI. One less cable, one less piece of gear. Oh well...
Well, completely flat is wrong on the mesa eq. Sounds good though. All controls in the middle is usually a scoop setting. If you want to hear how it drives by the tonestack you have to dime the middle and put treble and bass to zero. Still this should be used with the clean channel of the amp, or into the board with sansamp activated in that occasation. The instance which you have the amp "flat" (all in the middle) can be manipulated with the sansamp eq or the tone control of the plexi obviously. Also 23 db of gain is hazy? 23 of "preamp" boost? (means more gain like a small triode stage) or 23 db more volume? (which is TOO much for any band setting vs the normal playing levels, usually 4-6 db make your solos jump out). Still the unit sounds good, I wish tech21 just had a switchable master for that defined extra solo boost.
Mean video, however (just a personal opinion 🙄), maybe a guitar with descent humbuckers, could emphasize on how much the unit "actually" wakes an amp up?... Will also get rid of that single coil squeal.... That's my 5 cents
Or you can take your iPad/Amplitube etc... and Line 6/iRig connector Somebody needs to create a pedal board that does what the Line 6/iRig DA converters connectors do for iPad modelling apps, so you can directly plug into that and plug the board into the PA or an amp!!! You could have the iPad sit behind it and display your pedal settings on the floor!!! That would be amazing! OK, I am patenting it!
David Tromp I am back in the hunt. "This was one of the best multi-effects units out there. Until it was abandoned by Digitech. Communications problems between the IPB-10 and iPad render this useless as you need the iPad to edit settings."
My RP 500 sounds great with a tube amp as does this Fly Rig 5. The RP 500 sounds terrible on a solid state amp. So I'm wondering how the Fly Rig 5 sounds on a solid state amp.
Quattro is a totally different product. It is a multieffect (very good), but costs the double and cannot be connected directly to a PA. The purpose of Fly Rig is to replace entirely a "conventional" guitar rig. Whithout complex digital devices.
If your backline is a tube amp or solid state, might make a huge difference. I have a little "modeler" practice amp and the Fly Rig Cali sounds like crap through any of the models, but great through the "Flat" setting. Premier Guitar "reviews" are always infomercials. Shameless conflict of interest, since they sell advertising to these manufacturers. Despite the biased review, the Fly Rig is pretty cool, and the demo is good, if incomplete.
I have a real issue with a device that has built in amp and speaker simulation being plugged into, well, a guitar amp and speaker.. At a minimum, tonestack aside, (which you can argue you can adjust to taste, or bypass with fx loop), most definitely the speaker sim needs to be able to be bypassed..
If tone is in the fingers I dare you to play a death metal gig with just a guitar and a Roland Jazz Chorus... Point is, if you're playing a fly date you might not have a Mesa with multiple channels and great overdrive. You might show up to the gig to find a ratted out 70s Twin Reverb or a Peavey Bandit or an AC30. The whole point of this pedal is to have a compact board with the essentials for fly dates and situations where you are using an amp provided to you (which may or may not have any overdrive on tap). The Sansamp either lets you set up some corrective EQ to get things sounding closer to how you like or you can plug straight into a DI box and go direct with cabinet simulation.
I think its aimed at giging musos as in "Shit ! five minutes to showtime and my amps blown" quick get the sans amp out of my bag" totally pointlesss putting it before an amp, its not an effect unit its a £200 get out of jail card. I don't own one but I've heard it sounding a lot better than on this vid
Wow, I was interested in this until I heard the plexi setting. That channel should be renamed 'JCM900', as it sounds like horrible imitation of a plexi.
This sounds like a crummy Zoom plugged into an amp. The dirty sounds seem unusable in front of amp. Perhaps better direct into PA?! That sound with the sans amp plus plexi was awful.
Seriously, John Bohlinger could talk about the features of a Walmart toaster for 15 minutes and it would be fascinating. These review demos are awesome and super-informative. Thanks!
+FUNERAL RECORDINGS He's a great player, but my god he doesn't do this pedal justice. He's frankly not much of a sound technician.
chrisuede chrisuede i wish they had the same for bass equipment. the guy who does them is super nice but always gives the worst reviews and manages to cop the worst possible sound from whatever it is he is demoing. on top of that his playing is .. well hes a great guy. bollinger is definitely the man. he finds the good in any piece and can tactfully tell you what sucks about it without stepping on toes
Great presentation . Run directly to PA the Fly Rig sounds amazing. You get Amp simulation, reverb, echo and Marshall Plexi crunch in one pedal with numerous ways to shape your tone. I run this unit to a Fishman SA220 PA. I sounds much better than listening to the effects on a computer speaker. Great packet of sounds. A great value too! Cheers.
This is a great demo for the Stetsbar also. That thing sounds great on that Gibson. And I kinda have to agree with Jamie Tyson that the distortions do seem a bit fizzy.
It's in the name: SANS amp, "Sans" in French meaning "Without" amp.
While it can be plugged into an amp, it is really meant to be plugged ino a PA or directly to a soundcard, or effects loop of an amp.
If you plug into an amp, leave the Sans amp off because it can "clash" with the character of the amp (like it does in this video IMHO)
Or, you can also plug it into the effects return of the amp if you are going to use the sansamp.
It doesn't "clash" with my amp... you just have to know to EQ it differently in front of an amp than you do when running direct.
Gary Stackhouse Hmmm... interesting, I've never tried that one before. Thanks Gary, gonna give it a try.
I'm planning on using this along with a solid state bass rig, because I'm having to play guitar and keys for a tour in a few months.
rodney scott I've done that as well, it works very well, just make sure that the speakers can actually reproduce the frequencies for the guitar, but I'm pretty sure it would work well.
Je suis Canadienne... je comprends tres bien le francais!! I ALSO understand this unit, as I've owned one since they came out. Yes, it is designed so that you can utilize it without an amp, but it works perfectly well WITH an amp when properly EQ'd. Even Tech 21 themselves say this in their literature. If you disregard this unit because you are still going to be using a guitar amp, you are missing out on an amazing unit that sounds fantastic in MANY circumstances, amp, no amp, or bass/keyboard amp!
John is such a wonderfully tasteful player. Bravo sir!
My understanding is that the delay and reverb are digital, but they are in parallel to everything else (sansamp and plexi) so that the analog guitar signal always stays analog. Great sounding regardless (except when both sansamp and plexi drive are maxed like at 12:46)
Great demo, the only problem is that he ran the "Plexi" way too hot and loud to the sansamp which created this bad-saggy-overloaded distortion tone.
Also, don't use whammy when trying to demo modulation ;)
"23dB of boost is enough to punch through for any kind of solo" must be the understatement of the year....
Mystic38 Keep in mind, it's BEFORE the drive sections, so it actually doesn't affect the volume by 23dB... only the gain.
Yeah, they should really add a pre/post switch for the boost. I think they even have that on their bass fly rig model.
should have sent it to the effects return (power amp) of the Mesa.
What kind of trem is that on John's guitar? Never seen anything like that before. It seems really stable.
Its called a Stetsbar.
Great vid John - I have one of these and I love it - you have given me some extra ideas for which I thank you - greetings from England!
I usually add other drive pedals with the plexi or just the plexi with IR
A very weird question, but anyone with experience of the FR5 with bass? I know there's a separate bass fly rig but I'm curious about this one.
Good demo.....BUT....
Really a bad choice of settings for demoing the plexi side of this pedal. It's all mud. That's not at all how I use mine.....I 've never pushed the plexi side's drive past 12pm. Below noon, the plexi side sounds very authentic.
Lance Holland Agreed. It’s best below 12 o clock, (around 10, actually). The Hot Boost was too high too. I love mine, works great for studio too.
This demo is verifying everything I feel about the FR5- it's a muddy fizzy mess in plexi mode. I'm about to rip out the character module and replace it with a jfet circuit. Thanks for the demo, John.
I love what Tech 21 does- I just feel strongly that this would be a way more usable box with a jfet based plexi section.
Bohlinger has no clue how to get a sound out of this pedal... if you use the plexi section properly, I doesn't sound like crap like it does here.
Replying to my own post- the issues with the plexi section have less to do with the type of distortion (op-amp based) and more to do with the EQ before distortion. It'll be interesting to see how the new versions sound by comparison.
ANOTHER reply to my own post. I modded mine and it sounds good. The Flyrig Brit is more or less the mods I did to mine.
Jamie Tyson another reply but years later! I was looking for a way to mod the Plexi side, as I cannot seem to find a good setting... It’s either too thin, hi-endy and chemical at the same time, or muddy/gainy. How did you do your mod? And did you keep it?!
@@flaneursong78 Still have it, hardly use it. Is there a way to message privately on youtube? There are some fixes, but I don't wanna share publically.
i would just like to know,How he keeps that stetsbar in tune .I have that same one and its unuseable. witha high action action ,Ands its set all the way doun.
Has anyone noticed whether the knobs jiggle in the housing?
Thanks John ,How does this compare to TC Electronics Nova system for rigs on fly for live performance or studio recording ,I think they're both pretty cool 🤔
is there a way i can get a discount on a new one? i want this rig but don't wish to spend 240 dollars on it. do i have options here?
Thanks for the demo. To me, with the pre amp and the plexi it sounds really muddy. Prefer the Plexi sound without the pre amp - just my presonal taste.
Does this not have a balanced DI output for PA? I found that strange since I though going direct into PA was the point.
No, it doesn't. He stated at the beginning of the video that one must use a DI to go direct.
ahh, thanks. Yes he does say that sorry must have skipped over. That's sort of disappointing. Tech21 should have made it like their other sansamp para where it's built in DI. One less cable, one less piece of gear. Oh well...
It has a Lo Z 1/4" out according to the owners manual. Should be fine without a DI
Well, completely flat is wrong on the mesa eq. Sounds good though. All controls in the middle is usually a scoop setting. If you want to hear how it drives by the tonestack you have to dime the middle and put treble and bass to zero.
Still this should be used with the clean channel of the amp, or into the board with sansamp activated in that occasation. The instance which you have the amp "flat" (all in the middle) can be manipulated with the sansamp eq or the tone control of the plexi obviously.
Also 23 db of gain is hazy?
23 of "preamp" boost? (means more gain like a small triode stage)
or 23 db more volume? (which is TOO much for any band setting vs the normal playing levels, usually 4-6 db make your solos jump out).
Still the unit sounds good, I wish tech21 just had a switchable master for that defined extra solo boost.
Love mine! I can dirty it up or play a hollow jazzer through it on clean & it sounds great.
Great damn demo of what it can do. Whammy was just right on!
The Kotzen one looks to be interesting too. I hope you review it as well sometime down the road.
Please make a review of the Rk5 Fly Rig!
Mean video, however (just a personal opinion 🙄), maybe a guitar with descent humbuckers, could emphasize on how much the unit "actually" wakes an amp up?... Will also get rid of that single coil squeal.... That's my 5 cents
Like the demo but not the plexi setting
Or you can take your iPad/Amplitube etc... and Line 6/iRig connector
Somebody needs to create a pedal board that does what the Line 6/iRig DA converters connectors do for iPad modelling apps, so you can directly plug into that and plug the board into the PA or an amp!!! You could have the iPad sit behind it and display your pedal settings on the floor!!!
That would be amazing!
OK, I am patenting it!
Digitech iPB-10
David Tromp Damn, I thought I was going to be riche! Haha
Hefty price tag!
Thanks for the reply!
David Tromp I am back in the hunt.
"This was one of the best multi-effects units out there.
Until it was abandoned by Digitech. Communications problems between the IPB-10 and iPad render this useless as you need the iPad to edit settings."
Great video!
Nice review! Thanks!
Great player, always good info
good review
My RP 500 sounds great with a tube amp as does this Fly Rig 5. The RP 500 sounds terrible on a solid state amp. So I'm wondering how the Fly Rig 5 sounds on a solid state amp.
Great review as always!
Does anyone know if it would be ok to plug a bass guitar to a guitar flyrig 5? Would it damage the device?
A bit too fizzy for my taste. I think the Carl Martin Quattro is a better choice.
Quattro is a totally different product. It is a multieffect (very good), but costs the double and cannot be connected directly to a PA.
The purpose of Fly Rig is to replace entirely a "conventional" guitar rig. Whithout complex digital devices.
All analog??? Is there a spring tank in there....?
***** Nano springs. The wonder of modern technology.
TVGrec
It's a very advanced Plate Reverb actually. Super tiny plates vibrating with an even tinier microphone capturing the sound. Very advanced!
No, but the main signal chain is analog. Reverb and delay are in parallel to the signal.
Is that a Gibson 339 ?
If your backline is a tube amp or solid state, might make a huge difference. I have a little "modeler" practice amp and the Fly Rig Cali sounds like crap through any of the models, but great through the "Flat" setting.
Premier Guitar "reviews" are always infomercials. Shameless conflict of interest, since they sell advertising to these manufacturers.
Despite the biased review, the Fly Rig is pretty cool, and the demo is good, if incomplete.
I bet it would crank up an ADA Amplitube very nicely.
I dont understand why it sound so bad. must be the guitar pickups ? extreme mud.
Interesting pedal, although if I had the Jack to buy a Lonestar I would use nothing but my guitar and a cable.
I also have this gear! I love it. You can hear the sound on my channel, too!
what kind of guitar is that ?
John Wade it's a Gibson 339 with an aftermarket trem.
John Wade. 2mins 53 secs in........336........
this guy's awesome
In my opinion when he say "i love it" that the sound which needs to be fixed.Tech 21 is better and have better sound.
why is the truss rod cover crooked? is that the new cool? :>)
theguitarczar I lost the bottom screw the last time adjusted my trust rod. Gravity took over.
DiMarzio AirJohnson? Might that be AirNorton?
Missing a tuner on it.
I have a real issue with a device that has built in amp and speaker simulation being plugged into, well, a guitar amp and speaker.. At a minimum, tonestack aside, (which you can argue you can adjust to taste, or bypass with fx loop), most definitely the speaker sim needs to be able to be bypassed..
I don't want to hear what it sounds like through a mesa.. I want to know how it sounds going through a di
I feel just the opposite. There are many other TH-cam review demos going DI and much fewer going through amps.
lol man you are just a really good guitarist. cool pedalboard pedal thing!!
Cleans are good, gain tones are horrible
I would just go straight into the Mesa...tone is all in your fingers
+deathlesshorsie If tone is all in your fingers why would one need to go straight in to a Mesa? jus saying.
If tone is in the fingers I dare you to play a death metal gig with just a guitar and a Roland Jazz Chorus... Point is, if you're playing a fly date you might not have a Mesa with multiple channels and great overdrive. You might show up to the gig to find a ratted out 70s Twin Reverb or a Peavey Bandit or an AC30.
The whole point of this pedal is to have a compact board with the essentials for fly dates and situations where you are using an amp provided to you (which may or may not have any overdrive on tap). The Sansamp either lets you set up some corrective EQ to get things sounding closer to how you like or you can plug straight into a DI box and go direct with cabinet simulation.
Jake Stewart Music - Agreed. And the entire point of the video is to demo the pedal, not the amp!
God, I would do some nasty things to that 336. Very lucky.
preAmp+Plexi sounds awful......
I think its aimed at giging musos as in "Shit ! five minutes to showtime and my amps blown" quick get the sans amp out of my bag" totally pointlesss putting it before an amp, its not an effect unit its a £200 get out of jail card. I don't own one but I've heard it sounding a lot better than on this vid
Wow too muddy for me
Wow, I was interested in this until I heard the plexi setting. That channel should be renamed 'JCM900', as it sounds like horrible imitation of a plexi.
I wish he would stop using the whammy bar
Um, don't listen then? I like his use of it. But then, the whammy is an integral part of my playing style so I guess I'm biased.
too late, I already listened. Don't get me wrong, I use a whammy though not as much as this, I just wanted to hear the FlyRig's sounds
This sounds like a crummy Zoom plugged into an amp. The dirty sounds seem unusable in front of amp. Perhaps better direct into PA?! That sound with the sans amp plus plexi was awful.
I want to hear it into a board not an amp, please.
first!
Dude, you're first by TWO weeks. Congrats.
To much gain!!!! I've NEVER heard a Real Plexi Sound like that unless it needed worked on!!! Gain low less is more ALWAYS!!!!!
Less is more? How can less be more? More is more. Always. It's simple logic.
херня какая то
looks like a waste of money to me. amps have all that already.