TECH 21, THE COMPANY
Tech 21 was formed by a guitarist possessing the unusual combination
of a trained ear and electronics expertise. In 1989, B. Andrew Barta
made his invention commercially available to players and studios around
the world. His highly-acclaimed
SansAmp
™ pioneered Tube Amplifier
Emulation in professional applications for recording direct and perform-
ing live, and created an entirely new category of signal processing. There
have since been many entries into this niche, yet SansAmp continues to
maintain its reputation as the industry standard.
With a full line of SansAmp models, Tech 21 also offers effect pedals
and MIDI products, as well as “traditional” style amplifiers for guitar and
bass. Each product is thoughtfully and respectfully designed by B. An-
drew Barta himself with the player in mind. Our goal is to provide you
with flexible, versatile tools to cultivate, control, refine and redefine
your own individual sound. Tech 21 takes great pride in delivering con-
sistent quality sound, studio to studio, club to club, arena to arena.
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Each Tech 21 Fly Rig is much more than a pedalboard. In a single pedal.
And no board. Less than 13 inches long and weighing just over 20 oz.,
each sleek, compact unit embodies an entire rig. At the heart, is the all-
analog SansAmp, which makes it possible to go direct to a PA or mixer.
For effects, you have the essentials and the ability to add some fun stuff,
too. What you don’t have are crackling patch cables, dying batteries or
ground loops. No stinkin’ van, heavy flight cases, cable spaghetti, and no
dead weight.
With a Tech 21 Fly Rig, you can relax. For fly gigs across the globe, jam-
ming at the local hang, and last minute sessions, you’ll be the first one
ready to go. You can stop stressing over what to pack and agonizing over
what to leave behind. You can stop dreading cheesy backline loaners and
overheating at the mere thought of your touring rig going down. Just
pop your Fly Rig into your guitar case or backpack and head for the
door. (Be sure to wipe that smile off your face when the rest of the band
shows up sweating and out of breath.)
FLY RIG 5 v2
The original Fly Rig, introduced in 2014, was a true game-changer for
players in all categories, from touring pros to bedroom hobbyists. At a
time when pedalboards were expanding and backs were breaking, the
innovative Fly Rig enabled players to slim down without sacrificing great
tone, and travel without fear of baggage surcharges and dreaded mys-
tery backlines.
Going beyond being just a multi-effects unit, the all-analog SansAmp™
technology enables any Tech 21 Fly Rig to be an actual “rig.” You can run
directly into mixers of recording desks and PA systems, as well as aug-
ment your existing amplifier set-up. Always seeking to improve our
offerings and listening to customer feedback, we’ve incorporated some
new features to follow the same form factor as later Fly Rigs, such as
the Bass, Acoustic, and Paul Landers Signature PL1.
The Fly Rig 5 v2 retains the same SansAmp heart, but adds a few twists
and turns. New features include an independent reverb with choice of
room size, switchable pre/post Boost, an effect loop, a tuner, and an
XLR Output.
APPLICATIONS
As a PRE-AMP or STOMPBOX with a guitar amp.
You can
connect the Fly Rig 5 in-line just as you would a standard distortion
pedal. If the pre-amp of your amplifier is imparting too much of its own
character on the pedal, plug into the low level input and set the pre-
amp as clean and neutral as possible. As most amps tend to be on the
bright side, you may need to start with High in the Blonde SansAmp
section below 12 o’clock and adjust as necessary.
Also, be aware that most tube amps have a tone stack. When every-
thing is on max, they tend to cut the mid-range. So don’t be surprised
to find that the flattest sound is achieved with bass and treble at mini-
mum, and mid at max. Since most tube amp passive tone stacks work in
a similar fashion, we recommend this as a good starting point and ad-
justing to taste.
You can also plug into the effects loop return of your amplifier (if the
amp has one). This will disable the entire pre-amp of the amp for a
truer representation of the pedal’s sound.
For DIRECT RECORDING or DIRECT to PA.
All of the tone
shaping and cabinet emulation needed is already incorporated into the
SansAmp sections of the pedal. It can be plugged into mixers (live and
studio), workstation/recorders, and even directly into the sound card
on a computer.
GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START
SIGNAL FLOWS RIGHT TO LEFT
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