Product Overview; Applications; The Ins And Outs; Good To Know Before You Start - Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 Owner's Manual

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 per-
forming live, and created an entirely new category of signal processing.
There have since been many entries into this niche, yet SansAmp contin-
ues 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.
Andrew 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

The Fly Rig 5 is more than a pedalboard. In a single pedal. And no board.
Less than 12 inches long and weighing just over 18 oz., this sleek, com-
pact unit embodies an entire rig. At its heart, is the all-analog SansAmp,
which makes it possible to go direct to a PA or mixer. For effects, you
have the essentials: a reverb, a delay with tap tempo, a powerful boost,
and a muscular distortion. No crackling patch cables, dying batteries or
ground loops. No stinkin' van, heavy flight cases, cable spaghetti, and no
dead weight.
With the Fly Rig 5, you can relax. For fly gigs across the globe, jamming 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 over-
heating at the mere thought of your touring rig going down. Just pop
your Fly Rig 5 into your guitar case and head for the door. (Be sure to
wipe that smile off your face when the rest of the band shows up sweat-
ing and out of breath.)

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 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 (if the amp has one).This
will disable the entire pre-amp of the amp for a truer representation of
the sound.
For DIRECT RECORDING or DIRECT to PA. All of the tone
shaping and cabinet emulation needed is already incorporated into the
SansAmp section of the pedal. The Fly Rig 5 automatically converts
your guitar signal to Low Z allowing you to plug into a variety of inputs
that would normally load down your guitar's signal. It can be plugged
into mixers (live and studio), workstation/recorders, and even directly
into the sound card on a computer.
1

THE INS AND OUTS

1/4" INPUT: 1megOhm instrument level. For normal operation, sig-
nal level to nput should be close to that of a standard electric guitar
(approx -10dBm / 250mV).The input is designed with the same sensi-
tivity and loading characteristic as a tube amp.
!! WARNING !! DO NOT RUN THE SPEAKER OUT-
PUT OF NY AMP directly into a SansAmp input.
Severe damage to the amp and the SansAmp will result.
1/4" UNIVERSAL OUTPUT: Unbalanced 1kOhm Low Z instru-
ment level output.This output can be connected to High Z guitar ampli-
fiers (or effects) as well as Low Z mixer and computer inputs.Output level
is unity gain when pedal is in bypass mode. It also drives long cables without
loss of signal integrity, even in bypass.

GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START

RELATIONSHIP OF THE LEVEL CONTROLS
Signal flow is right to left, from the input to the output.Therefore, the
Level controls follow in the same order, from Hot to Plexi Level to
SansAmp Level.
Be aware that the "last" level in the signal path will determine the over-
all output level. For instance, when the Plexi and SansAmp sections are
engaged, the SansAmp Level determines the overall output level of the
unit. If only the Hot and Plexi are engaged, the Plexi Level determines
the overall output level of the unit.
The DLA Level control only affects the mix level of the delay, not the
overall output level.
SET LEVEL CONTROLS FOR UNITY GAIN
Set the level controls so you have the same volume coming from your
speaker/monitor whether the pedal is active or in bypass. This ensures
the next device in the signal chain won't get slammed by a much hotter
signal than what would normally come from the instrument. Similarly,
you wouldn't want a drop in volume, either which would force the next
device to struggle for enough signal.
CLIP WARNING
The Level control in the DLA section has a built-in clip warning. Like a
VU meter, the DLA's Level control will flash red to warn you if the cir-
cuit is being over loaded.
You can then trim the corresponding control accordingly: Hot, Plexi
Level or SansAmp Level. Bear in mind that occasional blinks (peaks) are
okay and can be expected when you dig into your strings, but it should
not be continuously lit.
SET CONTROLS AT NOON, exceptTone in the Plexi section at max,
just to get started. Then begin experimenting and checking out the Sample
Settings.
2