Zoom H5 Handy Recorder

130 Guitarist November 2014
QUICK TEST
MISCELLANEOUS
There’s plenty to be said for
travelling light, but sometimes
it’s a necessity – transportation
and travel constraints, or
restrictions at a particular
venue could possibly see you
getting to a gig without your
usual backline or pedalboard
and being faced with unfamiliar,
borrowed and possibly
substandard equipment. So,
how do you get your sound?
New York City’s Tech21 has
the answer in the form of the
Fly Rig5: a small but perfectly
functional pedalboard weighing
just over 18oz (510 grams),
measuring less than a foot long
(300x70mm). It’s powered by
a slim single 12-volt DC adaptor
that is auto-switching, so it can
be used anywhere in the world,
with voltages from 100 volts to
240 volts, adding to its
portability appeal. What you get
is the equivalent of five
stompboxes, or four effects and
an amp simulator, depending on
how you view the SansAmp.
The SansAmp is, in fact, at the
heart of the Fly Rig, taking up
the centre section of the unit.
Stomp on its footswitch and its
six mini control knobs light up
blue. You get level and drive
knobs, three-band EQ and a
spring reverb emulation based
on the Boost RVB pedal. In front
of the SansAmp, you get the
Plexi section, based on Tech21’s
Hot-Rod Plexi pedal.
One footswitch emulates the
natural overdrive and distortion
of a late-60s Marshall, with
sound dialled in with level, tone
and drive controls. A second
‘Hot’ footswitch brings in up to
21dB of boost and can be used
independently of the Plexi
distortion. Last in the signal
chain is the DLA, a delay with
tap tempo.
GUITARIST RATING
Guitarist says: Slip one into your
guitar case and you’ll always be
covered for sound
A pedalboard that will travel anywhere
CONTACT: Rocky Road Distribution PHONE: [phone] WEB: www.tech21nyc.com
Tech21 Fly Rig5 £299
Sounds
Of distinctly robust metal
construction, the Fly Rig has
high-quality footswitches that
are far enough apart to keep the
whole thing uncluttered and
easy to operate. You can plug it
into a guitar amp or straight into
a PA or mixing desk.
With the latter, the amp and
speaker simulation from the
SansAmp section ensure that
you are getting the right sort of
mic’d amp sound, but the
SansAmp still has its use with
your own (or someone else’s)
amp, where it can easily fulfil
the function of an overdrive
pedal. It’s voiced to have a
Fender-ish chiming clean tone
with the drive knob down, but
higher settings of drive dirty
things up nicely. Even if you
choose not to use this section,
you’ve still got boost, distortion
and delay to play with. The
Plexi distortion offers the
flavour of a Marshall cruising on
hot valves, and the delay sounds
really good – it’s voiced to sound
like vintage tape delay, and
besides the standard controls
for level, repeats and delay time,
there’s a drift knob for a touch of
wow and flutter.
Verdict
The Fly Rig5 is an extremely
functional unit that contains
arguably the most essential
effects. It’s also a life-saver
should your equipment go
down at the last minute, as well
as being the answer to the
prayers of guitarists who need
to travel light.
[TC]
http://bit.ly/
guitarist387
VIDEO DEMO
GIT387.rev_quick.indd 130 10/2/14 10:53 AM