Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig v2

[scottfeldstein]

Follow up to my post 115 above. Dang my BTB sounds great through this unit. I'm doing char IN, bite IN (I figure these are the heart of "that sound" so why fight them?) and drive at about 9. The EQ is bass boost, treb cut, mid noon. Comp on about 40%. It sounds like a blend between Geezer and Geddy. And if I need a slap tone I can either flick on the graphic EQ on my Carvin amp head or just dial back the mid on the bass if I'm using a different amp (or no amp). Loving it.

Also, i am running it on battery power now. I have a 10k mAh phone charger battery pack that I used to carry when I traveled (when that was a thing). Now it's going through a Vooster to convert it to 9v and straight in (center neg) into the pedal. Works great. I might just velcro the whole mess to the "bass bone" pedal board I have and call it done.

 

[tarp21]

I noodled around with my BFR2 some more last night. It sounds better on my active Ibanez BTB than it does on my passive Warwick Corvette $$. The Warwick is already kind of scooped. I am not digging the SansAmp drive knob. I don't like it past 9, which is weird because I like it just fine on other SansAmp products. What I do like is the fuzz for that distorted sound. It's a lot, but I do like it blended about 50%. I also find myself engaging the brite switch and then turning the treble down to about 9. My BTB needs a little bass boost, so I bump that a little. The mids I leave at noon. The compressor is ok. I run it at about 11 and I basically don't hear it, which is what I want. I'm after transparent note-to-note volume control and it seems to do that set like that.

Very similar how I run mine!
I’ve used it on 5 gigs, some with amp and some without. Playing a Fender American Ultra Jazz V on active, bass eq NOON unless song specific. Used with IEM’s obviously and every aspect set to unity gain as much as possible. The mixer can compensate where needed for FOH tones. Pad is engaged. Char. IN, Bite IN, Tr. 9-10, Mid NOON, Bass NOON. Comp at about 10 and match level to unity gain with sansamp. I don’t care for the 2nd channel as distortion I use it as a slight clean boost. I use a light fuzz on some songs as I think it sounds better than Ch. 2. Use chorus at 10 on ballads. I never used the Octiver or filter, no need in my music. I can’t hardly tell any difference as well when select between speaker simulation and none as others have said. I leave it engaged. I’ve gone between the 1/4” amp out being on and off when playing through my ampeg ba210v2. That is more noticeable. I use no pedals in effects loop as I’m more meat and potatoes bassist. I do use a Broughton Audio HPF/LPF on battery power, in front of the fly rig set at 30 and 12k with level again at unity gain. I have never had the FR clip once! Great tones FOH and have had several comment positive as well. IEM’s eq always at noon, never had to adjust thus far, sounds fantastic in my ears! I use the power supply it came with as I plug in other things I need ie. fan, iPad etc. I’ll probably buy a 2nd as a backup and remove my pedalboard from the band trailer! This new FR v2 is perfect for my needs! Super lightweight and built solid. Stores easy in my backpack gig bag.

 

[David Brandt]

Just got mine and I noticed the noise level is really high even without a bass plugged in. I just tested side by side with my EBS MicroBass 3 and that device is silent. I am running the XLR out to my M-Audio DAW and just can't kill the low level white noise in the background. Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks

 

[tech21nyc]

Just got mine and I noticed the noise level is really high even without a bass plugged in. I just tested side by side with my EBS MicroBass 3 and that device is silent. I am running the XLR out to my M-Audio DAW and just can't kill the low level white noise in the background. Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks

To start you should gain stage your interface for the Bass Fly Rig. With your bass plugged into the Bass Fly Rig (with all sections bypassed) play your bass at the maximum level and adjust your interface's trim for the interface. (The XLR out on the Fly Rig is close to line level not mic level.) Once you set your interface for the proper input level you should engage the SansAmp section and adjust the Level to match your signal in bypass mode. This will give you the best signal to noise ratio when using the unit. Keep in mind that high levels of Drive and Compression will add a certain amount of noise. This is normal in any analog device.

 

[David Brandt]

To start you should gain stage your interface for the Bass Fly Rig. With your bass plugged into the Bass Fly Rig (with all sections bypassed) play your bass at the maximum level and adjust your interface's trim for the interface. (The XLR out on the Fly Rig is close to line level not mic level.) Once you set your interface for the proper input level you should engage the SansAmp section and adjust the Level to match your signal in bypass mode. This will give you the best signal to noise ratio when using the unit. Keep in mind that high levels of Drive and Compression will add a certain amount of noise. This is normal in any analog device.

Thank you. I will give that a try. I appreciate the response.

 

[Zarcsby]

When engaged I got immediate feedback from too high an output when using either my Bongo or passive Jazz. I had to back the level down a bit. When switching on the fuzz, if the mix was up there was instant overload and excessive gain. Same with the octave. It seemed like the signal was being amplified too much. When switching in the pad it was more usable, but difference in volume between pad in/out was more than it should have been. When engaging the tuner, the unit muted but the display for the tuner did not work. I just seemed to have gotten a bum unit. I have the original version and it works flawlessly with passive and 9v and 18v preamps. I can't imagine the underlying structure of the pedal was changed that much from v1 to v2. I will update when I get my replacement unit.

Received and played mine today for 2 or 3 hours through my amps (effect loops/inputs) in different outlets around my house before sending it back. The bolded is similar to my experience plus more. Passive Yamaha BB434, Yamaha TRBX604 in passive mode, passive Fender modern player Dimension bass. Fly rig A/B'd/bypassed with other pedals to ensure I wasn't overdoing the volume level settings.

The compressor section Level/Comp knobs set any higher than 9-10 o'clock would produce massive hiss in headphones or through my speakers no matter what I did. If I added the 'bite', the hiss became extreme, even audible with the High knob dialed back to 7 o'clock. Setting the octafilter section as a high-cut filter somewhat tamed this. I already own and love the VT bass DI, so I was well aware about being cautious with the High, Mid/Character, Level, and Drive knobs while engaging the 'bite', but this was really something else and had to be defective.

I tried the VHT Vooster powerbank-power method like on post#37 in this thread, but the filter section sure didn't like it, as it ended up producing a wooshy/faint-ringing noise no matter what setting I used on the filter section. Vooster still works fine powering my Zoom B3n.

I may give this unit another shot when it's available on the store floor to test at L&M as I love the small form factor, but I'm just not interested in potentially returning gear to online vendors again. One day, I'll accomplish my lazy-man-gigging goal of having my 9V battery-powered MXR M80 bass di+ for shelving EQ-cut on top of the colour-switch EQ curve, my 9V battery-powered YYZ pedal for dirt, and a small fly rig unit powered by a powerbank for everything else while the guitarists battle each other for outlets and extension cords haha.

 

[tarp21]

Received and played mine today for 2 or 3 hours through my amps (effect loops/inputs) in different outlets around my house before sending it back. The bolded is similar to my experience plus more. Passive Yamaha BB434, Yamaha TRBX604 in passive mode, passive Fender modern player Dimension bass. Fly rig A/B'd/bypassed with other pedals to ensure I wasn't overdoing the volume level settings.

The compressor section Level/Comp knobs set any higher than 9-10 o'clock would produce massive hiss in headphones or through my speakers no matter what I did. If I added the 'bite', the hiss became extreme, even audible with the High knob dialed back to 7 o'clock. Setting the octafilter section as a high-cut filter somewhat tamed this. I already own and love the VT bass DI, so I was well aware about being cautious with the High, Mid/Character, Level, and Drive knobs while engaging the 'bite', but this was really something else and had to be defective.

I tried the VHT Vooster powerbank-power method like on post#37 in this thread, but the filter section sure didn't like it, as it ended up producing a wooshy/faint-ringing noise no matter what setting I used on the filter section. Vooster still works fine powering my Zoom B3n.

I may give this unit another shot when it's available on the store floor to test at L&M as I love the small form factor, but I'm just not interested in potentially returning gear to online vendors again. One day, I'll accomplish my lazy-man-gigging goal of having my 9V battery-powered MXR M80 bass di+ for shelving EQ-cut on top of the colour-switch EQ curve, my 9V battery-powered YYZ pedal for dirt, and a small fly rig unit powered by a powerbank for everything else while the guitarists battle each other for outlets and extension cords haha.

You got a defective one

 

[tech21nyc]

When the Bite is engaged it adds a presence boost which will add some high end hiss as does higher levels of Drive. This is normal. The compressor when engaged raises the quietest signal and brings down the loudest signal thus reducing the dynamic range. It will also increase the noise floor of your instrument as well as any other low level noise in the chain. You have to evaluate the noise in relation to your playing volume. See my previous post. Any hiss or added noise should not be audible when playing.

 

[Jeremy Jones]

I had the same issue when I was in my practice space but not when I played out. I noticed the hiss and noise but it did not effect anything when I was practicing . I found out that the outlet in my practice space one not giving me very clean power. Once I replaced that the hiss and noise went away.

 

[Zarcsby]

You got a defective one

Update, new second unit sounds totally fine. Vooster/powerbank powers it fine too without any strange noises. Solid little unit.

 

[fffreddy]

I’m having the same buzzing experience as Jeremy Jones and Zarcsby at home. I’ll be checking it out at a sound check on stage in a couple weeks to determine if stays or goes back.

 

[Zooberwerx]

One thing I see missing from the v2 is the compressor's "Tone" control which added otherwise lost definition to the compressed signal...it actually worked. May be a moot point for those using external or no compression, though.

Hope everybody got the quirks worked-out. I'm not seeing a glut of v2's on the secondhand market so that's a good sign!

@KPJ Did you get yours up 'n running?

Riis

 

[Zarcsby]

One thing I see missing from the v2 is the compressor's "Tone" control which added otherwise lost definition to the compressed signal...it actually worked. May be a moot point for those using external or no compression, though.

Hope everybody got the quirks worked-out. I'm not seeing a glut of v2's on the secondhand market so that's a good sign!

@KPJ Did you get yours up 'n running?

Riis

I can't really answer your question regarding the missing tone knob on the compressor as I don't own the V1, I will say that the compressor is still quite aggressive and perhaps the tone knob would indeed alleviate some of the limitations.

It seems to me that the V2 is more of a 'side-grade' device to the V1, rather than an 'upgrade' or so to speak. Both have their various pros and cons. I get that there is only so much space and only so many knobs/buttons that can be implemented into the device, and this FR-BASS-V2 has precisely the same button/knob/effects loop layout footprint as their guitar model, the Fly Rig 5 V2 (FL5-V2), so it seems like a sound economical business decision to re-use this footprint for bass without greatly impacting functionality.

Having said that, the character knob on the VT channel would be nice to have back on the V2 compared to the V1 for tone sculpting. The BDDIv2 channel could really use more control over the presence/mids like the stand-alone pedal as the bite button is rather harsh when you're not using it on the VT channel, and I can't dial back some of the inherent scoop on the BDDI channel at approx 800hz as the MID knob boosts at 2khz, but again I get it, I can't have it all and I appreciate having the choice between the two sims.

The acoustic fly rig and the Ritchie Kotzen RK5 v2 fly rig both have moved away from the Sansamp portion being on a footswitch, and they are buttons instead as it's unlikely that I would switch the Sansamp portion on/off with my feet while playing. I wish that were the case on this device as well.

I think what I'm saying for all potential buyers asking various functionally questions is that I'm happy I have this, and that you need to acknowledge that this device doesn't fully replace a stand-alone VT bass DI, BDDIv2, chorus pedal, compressor etc., as it is impossible to have enough buttons/knobs/switches to cover all of the finer details of each effect in one device at a reasonable price point. I have this thing either in my gigbag at home with a powerbank/vooster to power it as a "holy crap I gotta get going" thing when I don't have time to pack an amp/various cords, or I will leave it at rehearsal space with my brother's guitar gear so he can play around with it alongside the cheapo squier bass and amp I leave there as well as for the times when I can't get home first to grab my main gear.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Having said that, the character knob on the VT channel would be nice to have back on the V2 compared to the V1 for tone sculpting. The BDDIv2 channel could really use more control over the presence/mids like the stand-alone pedal as the bite button is rather harsh when you're not using it on the VT channel, and I can't dial back some of the inherent scoop on the BDDI channel at approx 800hz as the MID knob boosts at 2khz, but again I get it, I can't have it all and I appreciate having the choice between the two sims.

The acoustic fly rig and the Ritchie Kotzen RK5 v2 fly rig both have moved away from the Sansamp portion being on a footswitch, and they are buttons instead as it's unlikely that I would switch the Sansamp portion on/off with my feet while playing. I wish that were the case on this device as well.

I think what I'm saying for all potential buyers asking various functionally questions is that I'm happy I have this, and that you need to acknowledge that this device doesn't fully replace a stand-alone VT bass DI, BDDIv2, chorus pedal, compressor etc., as it is impossible to have enough buttons/knobs/switches to cover all of the finer details of each effect in one device at a reasonable price point. I have this thing either in my gigbag at home with a powerbank/vooster to power it as a "holy crap I gotta get going" thing when I don't have time to pack an amp/various cords, or I will leave it at rehearsal space with my brother's guitar gear so he can play around with it alongside the cheapo squier bass and amp I leave there as well as for the times when I can't get home first to grab my main gear.

Durn...I missed that, too. The Character knob is a must-have IME.

Riis

 

[Zarcsby]

Durn...I missed that, too. The Character knob is a must-have IME.

Riis

Yea I hear you. I love my VT bass DI pedal at the end of my main pedalboard. The character knob isn't a huge huge loss though on the bass fly rig v2 because I can still set the second set of level and drive knobs to kinda replicate the tone I would get on my VT bass DI pedal with the character knob set to 3 o'clock and the MID knob dialed back a bit below 11 o'clock. Then the channel footswitch on the fly rig v2 lets me easily change between clean/crunchy Level1/Drive1-to-Level2/Drive2 which is great, but then I lose the clean volume boost option with the channel footswitch. So it's all-in-all what you need for your specific applications personally. I can definitely see people getting more usage out of the V1 versus the V2 and vice-versa.

I think instead of the Sansamp footswitch as an on/off function, I'd rather change on/off functionality to a button, then have the footswitch become a pre/post sansamp section volume boost so I can still have the channel footswitch swap between clean/crunchy level/drive settings. I've heard people say that this sansamp on/off footswitch should swap between the VT and BDDI sims, but my EQ knob settings are wildly different between those two sims, especially if I'm using the 'bite' button, and I would never need to switch between sims with my feet on the fly while playing anyways.

 

[Double-A]

That's my wish for v3. I keep my BDDI alongside the BFRv1 on my board in case I need THAT tone. A v2 may allow me leave the BDDI in the studio, but I’d still have to fiddle between songs to swap tones.

Speaking of fiddling, I get a decent MuTron-style filter sound from the OctaFilter section, and just leave it set there. I can’t easily change settings mid-gig (or mid-song in some cases), so I still use separate pedals for octave (OC-2) and fuzz (Big Muff “green Russian”). Not that the OctaFilter was an equal substitute for those pedals, but for a live scenario the best expectation is for the OctaFilter is to do one thing, not three.

So a year after this post, I got a BFR v2. I’m happy to get the BDDI tone as my main sound, but prefer the pronounced mids of the VT tone for fretless, so I am fiddling as I previously predicted (hitting the CHAR button in addition to switching channels when I switch instruments). But at least I can now remove the separate BDDI from my board.

Sadly, the BDDI tone doesn’t play as well with the Octa section when using it as an envelope filter (also because Octa is after compression in the chain, it’s that much harder for dynamics to open the filter up). I’ve resorted to using a separate MXR Bass Envelope Filter (which I dig), so in the end, the number of pedals on my board has stayed the same. Maybe someday I’ll find a new use for the Octa section, but for now I’ve fallen to the larger group who skip it. I wish it was a phaser or Squire-style tremolo in that spot.

Also, I put my Freeze pedal in the effects loop, which makes it more useful than before (after SansAmp, before chorus and XLR out). So for me, v2 is a few steps forwards and a couple steps back.

 

[scottfeldstein]

Maybe someday I’ll find a new use for the Octa section, but for now I’ve fallen to the larger group who skip it. I wish it was a phaser or Squire-style tremolo in that spot.

Or maybe just a decent fuzz. Or just a decent octaver.

 

[Isaac_James]

Or maybe just a decent fuzz. Or just a decent octaver.

I don't have much use for an envelope filter or octaver for the music I play but I was lamenting the rather inadequate fuzz on the BFRv2 so I finally treated myself to a Bass Big Muff, which is leaps and bounds better. I know a lot of folks here don't care for it but for the stuff I'm playing it's perfect (I also sculpt the tone a bit with my low/high pass filter, it makes a significant difference with the fuzz on).

 

[Zarcsby]

Or maybe just a decent fuzz. Or just a decent octaver.

Yea, you guys are all correct. I'm personally happy with just using it as an envelope filter most of the time on my Bass Fly Rig Version 1, but if Version 2 had a regular octaver or a decent fuzz in that section instead, I would likely still have Version 2 of this pedal to use in conjunction with my Version 1.

Version 2 is too similar to Version 1 to be considered an 'upgrade' to me, and it some ways it's a step back. Below are my current findings between the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig Version 1, the Version 2, and the Valeton Dapper Bass posted from another thread as I feel that my previous posts in this thread needed updating:

---
I previously owned the V2, then bought the V1 used for cheap and traded-in the V2 for other pedals. I currently use a Valeton Dapper Bass into the Tech21 Bass Fly Rig V1 which is then sent to my MXR M80 DI as a clean EQ tool before it splits to my stage amp and xlr out to the mixer. Not a bad little rig with plenty available at my feet for the times when I don't want to bring an extensive multi-fx or my main pedalboard somewhere.

I have the Valeton set up as always-on compression first in the chain, and the always-on Bass Amp section is set with everything at noon or close to it for my clean sound. I use the Valeton Dirty Q as on-demand EHX bassballs wild tones (RHCP - Sir Psycho Sexy), the Octave section as a normal dry / -1 octave sound, and IF I use the Chorus on the Valeton, it is set to very-very-low depth. This then feeds the V1 fly rig described below:

The Bass Fly Rig V1 compressor section is set to basically-off compression, with the Tone knob set at 2 or 3 o'clock which gives me a big high-mids/low-highs boost as needed with a footswitch press when needed. I have the Sansamp section set with the character knob at 3-4 o'clock with the bite engaged and the high at 8-9 o'clock, mid set to 10-11 o'clock, and the drive full-up at 5 o'clock. I then have the V1 boost section set quite high pre-sansamp. This way, I have the Valeton bass amp as my neutral clean tone always-on, I stomp on the V1 sansamp for my driven tone as-needed, I can make it even more filthy by engaging the pre-sansamp boost as well, and I can kick on the compression section with the tone knob set to 2-3 o'clock for some extra attack.

The V1 octafilter section is either used as a straight envelope filter (which is way more useful as a filter in general than the Valeton Dirty Q section), or rarely as a synth for stuff like 'Mogwai - Wizard Motor'. I never use this section as an Octave, Fuzz, or Octave+Fuzz. If I'm using the Chorus section on the V1 it's set to super-wet depth, unlike the very mild settings I leave available for me to use on the Valeton before the signal hits my V1 fly rig.

I don't feel that either the V1 or the V2 of the bass fly rig on their own can get me the exact on-demand OD/dist tones I'm looking for without also having a second unit for clean tones. Using the same EQ settings for both the channel 1 and channel 2 on the V2 didn't really cut it, and I found my best driven-tone results by setting the V1 sansamp section as an extra switch to hit in conjunction with the already-on Valeton Bass Amp section in front of it. Having the Boost section available on the V1 set to pre-sansamp is really just a bonus second distortion effect tone to me, which would be missing from the V2, as well as that added-attack-on-a-footswitch I can get with using the tone knob alone on the V1 compressor section.

All of this is meaningless without having the Valeton Dapper compression and Bass Amp sections always-on of course though. Ideally, having both the Tech21 V1 and V2 Bass Fly Rigs to use together would probably be best, but neither have a regular clean octave effect like the Valeton Dapper Bass does. So I kept the V1 to use with the Valeton.
---

 

[Joseph Lavallo]

I was thinking about trading my GK plex for a fly rig v2. The main reason is I want a better compressor. When I run my own sound I use the compressors in my ui24r and they are great. Tonight we have sound support so hopefully our engineer will add a little extra to the signal. I'm playing a p bass tonight. That sucker likes to bark and grunt. How do you like the fly rigs compressor?