SkyhighRocks
New member
Long story short...picked up a used fly rig 5 with the hopes of having it as a small backup rig but also hoping it would simplify my board as well. I wanted it to replace my pod xt bean/FBV express backup rig.
First thing, and this is nothing new, but the unit is incredibly small for what it does. And that's a good thing! Easily fits into bags, guitar cases, etc.
I started off running it straight into the input of my Marshall DSL 100. I set the amp to clean and I kept the sansamp section off to try the plexi. It sounded like a plexi as much as a pedal can but it was also noisy if I turned the drive up anywhere past half. I kept the level at unity gain with my amp so that wasn't the issue.
Next, I tried the hot boost. Same thing....gets very noisy when past 12 o'clock. Using both together was a no no.
I then tried just the sansamp section and actually got some nice tones out of my amp...it was very marshall-like (but I already have the marshall). However, if I tried using the plexi, there wasn't enough gain because it got noisy above 12 o'clock and forget about the boost. Same issue.
I then ran it through my Boss NS-2 to see if I could tame the noise. I was able to up to a point but I had to set the threshold so high that it would lose any reverb or delay (next).
The delay is actually not bad and definitely usable...if you're not going for a really hot rodded/cranked HOT overdrive sound...then, as you know with delays through the front of an amp, it starts to get mushy. I was really hoping this would let me take my 2 H9s off my board to simplify things but there's a reason the Eventide stuff costs what it does.
Final check was to run it into my Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 interface and out through a set of M-Audio monitors. The sansamp alone sounded really good with the drive up...think a little less gain than ACDC...really sweet sound. However, I ran into the same issues with the plexi and boost...it got noisy and almost sounded like it was overdriving the speakers too much. Not sure why because the levels were low and I really had to turn up the Scarlett's volume to hear it loud enough.
I'm going to give it more time but I don't think it will make it on to my board. I wish they would have put a loop in it for the delay and verb but I understand to keep the footprint small, it was probably impossible. Still, it's a pretty good little unit for $250. I'm not sure that I would be comfortable with it as a backup either as it didn't have enough gain for me since I couldn't seem to get the drive levels up past noon without the noise being an issue. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I did read the manual and tried a variety of different settings but couldn't find anything that would work for me. For those that don't need as much gain, it's a perfect little setup.
First thing, and this is nothing new, but the unit is incredibly small for what it does. And that's a good thing! Easily fits into bags, guitar cases, etc.
I started off running it straight into the input of my Marshall DSL 100. I set the amp to clean and I kept the sansamp section off to try the plexi. It sounded like a plexi as much as a pedal can but it was also noisy if I turned the drive up anywhere past half. I kept the level at unity gain with my amp so that wasn't the issue.
Next, I tried the hot boost. Same thing....gets very noisy when past 12 o'clock. Using both together was a no no.
I then tried just the sansamp section and actually got some nice tones out of my amp...it was very marshall-like (but I already have the marshall). However, if I tried using the plexi, there wasn't enough gain because it got noisy above 12 o'clock and forget about the boost. Same issue.
I then ran it through my Boss NS-2 to see if I could tame the noise. I was able to up to a point but I had to set the threshold so high that it would lose any reverb or delay (next).
The delay is actually not bad and definitely usable...if you're not going for a really hot rodded/cranked HOT overdrive sound...then, as you know with delays through the front of an amp, it starts to get mushy. I was really hoping this would let me take my 2 H9s off my board to simplify things but there's a reason the Eventide stuff costs what it does.
Final check was to run it into my Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 interface and out through a set of M-Audio monitors. The sansamp alone sounded really good with the drive up...think a little less gain than ACDC...really sweet sound. However, I ran into the same issues with the plexi and boost...it got noisy and almost sounded like it was overdriving the speakers too much. Not sure why because the levels were low and I really had to turn up the Scarlett's volume to hear it loud enough.
I'm going to give it more time but I don't think it will make it on to my board. I wish they would have put a loop in it for the delay and verb but I understand to keep the footprint small, it was probably impossible. Still, it's a pretty good little unit for $250. I'm not sure that I would be comfortable with it as a backup either as it didn't have enough gain for me since I couldn't seem to get the drive levels up past noon without the noise being an issue. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I did read the manual and tried a variety of different settings but couldn't find anything that would work for me. For those that don't need as much gain, it's a perfect little setup.
