• Videos • • The Richie Kotzen Signature RK5 Fly Rig is not simply another version of the Fly Rig 5 with his name screened on it. The RK5 was developed in close collaboration with Richie, whose input was invaluable. Meticulous about every facet of his playing, singing, songwriting and tone, Richies attention to the details of this pedal was nothing less. For the bulk of his 2014 tour with the Winery Dogs, Richie used the final prototype while we were busy getting everything lined up for production. Richie is also using the prototype for his 2015 solo tour. While Richie primarily uses his RK5 live in conjunction with his standard amp rig, this sleek, compact unit embodies an entire rig on its own. 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 Richies Signature OMG overdrive. For fly gigs across the globe, jamming at the local hang, and last minute sessions, youll 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 RK5 into your guitar case and head for the door. It sounds good but it has limited usage It sounds good in certain applications.
Very responsive. Lots of depth and warmth.
Better than any multi effects pedal board I've ever owned (and I've tried them all it seems). It sounds good in certain applications. Very responsive. Lots of depth and warmth. Better than any multi effects pedal board I've ever owned (and I've tried them all it seems). If you are buying this to use direct into the PA or powered speaker for jams it's absolutely perfect.
If you are buying it to go direct for a live show. Worms 2 Armageddon Crack Chomikuj Apk. I'm guessing it will work well if you are a one guitar band but would probably get lost in the mix if there are two guitars. The OMG overdrive sounds really nice.
However, not a lot of mids there. Pretty dark sounding. Almost too much gain all around. So it feels a little compressed and squishy. I boost the mids with a Boss overdrive to cut through. Which sort of defeats the purpose. And the gain isn't really metal (80s or otherwise).
It's not really hair metal 80s sounding at all. It's more like a dark Fender solid state distortion tone but with more feel and dynamics. Overall it feels more tube than Solid State.
Oct 12, 2011. Hi In January this year i used a coupon i got when i bought the AudioKontrol 1 to get a free Guitar Rig 4 PRO. But i never got a CD or anything, i just.
I've found the unit sounds the absolute best through the Effects return on a solid state amp I own. Don't like it through effects return on my tube amp. The effects are great when using it direct or through the effects loop.
Very nice reverb and great delay. However, they are useless in front of an amp with any gain coming from the amp. Also, the unit is noisy no matter how you use it so putting it in front of an already gritty amp like a marshall exaggerates it. Finally, the boost is pretty much useless. It's only going to actually 'boost' if you aren't using a lot of gain before you hit it and like I said earlier there's almost too much gain from the OMG regardless of where you set the dial. If you are looking for a simple direct unit that can pass for tube sounding and you enjoy the Fender overdrive and distortion sounds, this pedal is for you. If you need a back up that will sound really sweet if you're tube amp goes down mid show.
If you are looking for a marshall sound in a tiny pedal. Look elsewhere. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: It sounds good in certain applications. Very responsive. Lots of depth and warmth. Better than any multi effects pedal board I've ever owned (and I've tried them all it seems). If you are buying this to use direct into the PA or powered speaker for jams it's absolutely perfect.
If you are buying it to go direct for a live show. I'm guessing it will work well if you are a one guitar band but would probably get lost in the mix if there are two guitars.
The OMG overdrive sounds really nice. However, not a lot of mids there. Pretty dark sounding. Almost too much gain all around. So it feels a little compressed and squishy. I boost the mids with a Boss overdrive to cut through. Which sort of defeats the purpose.
And the gain isn't really metal (80s or otherwise). It's not really hair metal 80s sounding at all. It's more like a dark Fender solid state distortion tone but with more feel and dynamics. Overall it feels more tube than Solid State. I've found the unit sounds the absolute best through the Effects return on a solid state amp I own. Don't like it through effects return on my tube amp.
The effects are great when using it direct or through the effects loop. Very nice reverb and great delay. However, they are useless in front of an amp with any gain coming from the amp. Also, the unit is noisy no matter how you use it so putting it in front of an already gritty amp like a marshall exaggerates it. Finally, the boost is pretty much useless. It's only going to actually 'boost' if you aren't using a lot of gain before you hit it and like I said earlier there's almost too much gain from the OMG regardless of where you set the dial.
If you are looking for a simple direct unit that can pass for tube sounding and you enjoy the Fender overdrive and distortion sounds, this pedal is for you. If you need a back up that will sound really sweet if you're tube amp goes down mid show. If you are looking for a marshall sound in a tiny pedal.
Look elsewhere. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: Why on Earth did I JUST discover this. About a month ago, my amp cratered just before a show and I borrowed one of these from our engineer who keeps one all the time as a backline backup.
Wasn't expecting anything special. Was I ever surprised. I will never do a show without this with me ever again and. Last weekend I did a show with no amp and this direct to PA and it worked great. Added a Keeley Modded Boss TR-2 Trem to the output prior to the PA, added a Ernie Ball volume pedal and a TU-2 tuner in front and voila.
Rock and roll show. Rig-up took about 5 minutes after unpacking. Tech 21 really has captured a totally organic tone here and to add in RK's OMG drive pedal makes this just about perfect. Given it's physical size (really small, yet plenty big for adjustments and foot switch access), I'd give it 6 stars if that was an option. Couldn't be happier.
Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: I have lots of pedals and boards. Large and small. This amazing RK5 Makes late night gig life Kick (insert profanity). It has all the basics anyone would ever need. Pro or beginner.
Can't believe the low price for all this packs. My band loves it. I don't use anything but this now. I run it through a clean fender hot rod deluxe III My fenders,G&L and Les Paul sound great with this set up. Don't be the guy bending over adjusting the large pedal board all night trying to dial it in.
Keep it simple and enjoy playing guitar again. It cost less than some single pedals I purchased. Oh well, live and learn. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: It's a great unit without a doubt. For a grab and go rig to rehearsals or last minute gigs/jams you can be can be confident that you have a fighting chance at good tone no matter what type of gear you plug into. I mostly focus on country/twang Gtr and I can get some good sounds out of this.
A compressor would have been awesome but not needed. I do wish there was a headphone output though as this would be great for private practice.
I chose the RK5 over the others because I could get a little more beef out of the sansamp. It's a little 'fuller' sounding than the plexi. The OMG can get really heavy so I use it very sparingly. Great device! Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: After recommendations from friends, and many hours of research, I decided to buy the RK5 for an upcoming trip and for my solo act.
The unit works equally well running through a guitar amplifier or a mixing board. Although I've only had it for a short time, the all steel case and rugged design makes me feel confident that it will stand up to the rigors of the road. Some people have states that it's noisy, but I haven't experienced that problem. I'm Totally sold on the RK5!! Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: I got this to use for band practice, restaurant work, recording, open mics.
It does what I want and saves lugging a guitar amp. I just go straight into the PA. For a full band playing live, I may have to go with back-line amp, but that's not the immediate work I have coming up. However, I would still plan to take the RK5 as a backup. All I am adding to it is a tuner pedal, and sometimes a compressor. It has a choice of gain stages, reverb and delay - just about all I need. I like the boost button.
Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: The mobility is insane! Lots of tones without having to carry a board or amp around. The delay is fantastic. Heavy distortion that rivals my MESA. I had hard time choosing between the RK5 and the Plexi FR.
I give it 5 stars for sound, convenience, and quality; however, I am returning it for the FR5 Plexi tones to add some versatility to my full rig (vs. The redundancy of the Mesa and RK5. It's an excellent backup, though). Also, the OMG distortion sounded better through my old Drive practice amp than my Blues Deluxe Reissue. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: There are lots of videos on this pedal some good some bad. There is a lot of talk about the noise of this pedal.
If you know how to set it up and do not dime out everything then it is not a problem. I set the sans section up for a mild crunch with reverb. The great thing this pedal does is that you can hit the boost and get more crunch or set it for a lead. OR you can hit the OMG and go into a 2nd channel effect and still have boost. LOTS of possibilities in a very small footprint. I run this into a ZT lunchbox with the ext cabinet and I don't have any problem playing over a drummer. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: This 3 in 1 pedal is great.
I have bought at least 15 to 18 pedals for all different prices and resold almost all of them because they were not for me. I did not know who Ritchie Kotzen was before I bought this pedal. I did set this pedal to his particular settings as a starting point, and then tweeked them.
From Rockabilly to Floyd is what I have found. If it had a tremelo setting. Well that would be nice. The hidden chorus is good. The simplicity of this unit is what I believe makes it great.
It does have a little noise but I can live with that, some pedals I've owned were to noisey to use for any recording. I plug this directly into garageband and get a great sound.
Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: Sounds great paired with my Fender Pro Jr which is a class A amp with Volume and Tone control. The OMG distortion gives great over drive. The boost switch works fairly well after you get your output volume set.
Download Gta San Andreas Pc Full Version Blogspot there. Reverb on the Sans amp portion gives just enough slap back and the amp simulator you can dial in the cool Marshall compressed sound. Delay works well. Add a Wampler compressor to the front to get that extra sparkle from the clean settings and more harmonics with the drive channel.
I play venues with a full band and barely crank the amp over 3-4. Light weight and easy to move. Comments about Tech 21 Richie Kotzen RK5 Signature Fly Rig Guitar Effects Pedal: Despite published (private) reviews, the clean channels do not sound the same. In one spot they match up, but that spot isn't ideal for either IMO.
Per Tech 21, RK5 is in Deluxe terrority; the FR5 in Twin territory. Also the OD channel of the RK5 was too saturated for my tastes. I returned the RK5 with no hassle and an FR5 is on its way. I had borrowed my friend's and ran them side-by-side. FR5 is fantastic and more to my tastes. Also, both units play very well other pedals.
My FullDrive 3 is amazing with both and makes live gigging even better.
Native Instruments' guitar amp simulation software has sprouted a bunch of new amps and effects, along with more realistic cabinet and miking options, and is easier to use than ever before. There are three new amp models in Guitar Rig 4, all based on Marshall originals. NI's Guitar Rig software has one of the best drag‑and‑drop interfaces around, and offers perhaps the most flexible routing options of any amp simulator, but some felt that the authenticity and feel of the amp/speaker models in earlier versions didn't always convince. With that in mind, version 4 focuses squarely on the sound, thanks to a new feature called Control Room. When it comes to updates, manufacturers also like to entice us with 'more' as well as 'better', so this version adds three new amp models, making a total of 15 guitar and bass amp models, and four more effect modules, which brings the overall number of included effects to 48. NI also claim to have improved their pitch‑manipulation algorithms. Guitar Rig 4 is available separately, as part of NI's Komplete 7, or in bundles with NI's hardware options.
Authorisation is via NI's web site. As before, Guitar Rig works as a stand‑alone program or as as a plug‑in within any DAW that supports the common plug‑in formats. In creating the Control Room module, which appears as an alternative to the existing Matched Cab and Cabinets & Mics modules, NI's designers took advantage of a specialist recording studio owned by German guitarist Peter Weihe. His room has multiple guitar cabinets and multiple microphones permanently set up, so that clients can try any cab and mic combination without having to move gear around or repatch, and mix the outputs from the various mics to create blended sounds. What NI have done is take impulse responses of several mic and cabinet combinations and build them into a simple, mixer‑like interface that allows the Guitar Rig 4 user to explore the same tonal possibilities in a very straightforward way. The optional Rig Kontrol 3 has not changed for version 4: it's still a 192kHz/24‑bit USB 2.0 stereo floor controller and interface that turns Guitar Rig into an effective live performance system, with line outputs that can be plugged directly into a PA system, full‑range amplifier or the power stage of a guitar amplifier. Two inputs may be utilised by different instruments for the simultaneous processing of two guitars, two basses or one of each.
Headphone monitoring is also built in, and there's a four‑digit display for showing the patch number and other information. Eight buttons and one pedal, with an under‑pedal switch, access patch changes and allow effects to be switched in and out or modified during performance. Within Guitar Rig 4, you can assign the Rig Kontrol 3's switches and pedal to the desired software parameters via an intuitive drag‑and‑drop system, and these assignments are stored within each patch. A modulation matrix allows control of multiple parameters from a single button or pedal, and a 'snapshot' function can be used to store different control settings of the same rack.
For more details, see our review of Guitar Rig 3 back in SOS December 2007 (). Rig Kontrol 3, and its RK2 predecessor, now also work as MIDI controllers via the new Controller Editor application, downloadable from the NI web site. Guitar Rig 4 also works with the NI Audio Kontrol 1 interface hardware, which is ideal for desktop studio use. This incorporates assignable buttons and a control dial, and supports MIDI key commands for controlling software. A new master effects section has also been added, for the benefit of those using Guitar Rig 4 live.
This is includes global EQ as well as the ability to set up overlapping delays and reverbs when changing patches. There's also now true‑stereo processing throughout the whole signal chain. All the old favourites from earlier versions of Guitar Rig are still there, including virtual tape decks for recording and playback, a metronome and an accurate tuner. There are around 250 presets, arranged into categories within a significantly updated and user‑friendly browser system that's compatible with NI's KoreSound Kore 2 format. You can search via a choice of attributes, including musical styles or amp type, and you can also rate the patches, by giving them one to five stars as you browse. Guitar Rig 4 features some interesting new effects, further expanding its creative potential.
All three new amp models mentioned in the promotional literature have a British feel to them, being based on popular Marshall amplifiers. Jump is an alternative, smoother version of the existing Classic Lead 800, presumably with the two inputs linked or 'jumped', while a model called Cool Plex is designed to excel at cleaner sounds. I was expecting a fairly bland clean sound, but it's actually really lively, and nails those springy country tones and pop chords that I felt were missing from previous versions. Hot Plex is another variation on a theme, but with more gain for those of a more metallic disposition. The two hotter models exhibit the expected scoop and snarl, especially when used dirty, though many users forget that Marshall amps and their virtual clones can also sound pretty sweet when played clean, a fact underlined by the most excellent sound of Cool Plex. Given the popularity of Marshall's amplifiers, the inclusion of more choices was probably long overdue.
The effects section has gained a Grain Delay, which allows chunks of audio from 10ms to 2s long to be used to create echo effects and grungy modulation‑like effects at shorter times. Delays may be modulated, or even reversed, to stir things up further, and there's a pitch‑shifter for the delayed effect, with coarse and fine controls. There's also a Drive control, which I found less impressive, but for shimmery textures, Grain Delay is a great addition. Octaverb is a stereo reverb designed to capture the early-reflection character of eight different rooms, but although they are very different, they don't sound quite like real rooms to me, at least not in the way something like a Lexicon reverb does. However, they add new ambience‑like flavours that work well with guitars, and that's the main thing. By contrast, Iceverb has a cold, shimmery sound with a filter that offers some creative alternatives to conventional reverb, and if you automate the filter settings, you can produce a kind of wah‑verb. The name sums it up pretty well: the reverbs sound as though they belong in an ice cavern, though the two coloration controls can change them from glittery and bright to a damped 'metal tank' kind of sound.
Finally, Twin Delay houses two parallel and identical delay modules that may be adjusted independently to create a range of musical stereo delay effects where the echo bounces from one speaker to the other. It's hardly revolutionary, but sometimes these simple effects are the most artistically pleasing. The Control Room module uses impulse responses from multiple mics and speakers to create fuller and more authentic miked cabinet sounds.
As with earlier versions, when you insert a new amp module into the Guitar Rig rack, it loads up with the appropriate Matched Cabinet, with a couple of virtual mics that can be blended. You can also call up the original, more flexible Cabinets & Mics module, where you can choose any combination of cabinets and mics and adjust the mic position, as well as applying EQ and pan. Control Room is the new 'third way', and gives you access to the impulse responses taken from that rather special studio room mentioned earlier.
There's a choice of five different speaker cabinets, and once you've chosen, you can blend and pan the outputs from between six and eight different microphones (the number and type vary depending on the cabinet you choose), using a simple, mixer‑like interface that also includes an Air control to add a bit of room space to the sound. The mic signals have been arranged to remain in phase, so you can use any combination without messing up the tone. To my ears, these speaker IRs, which are used in what is described by NI as a latency‑free, convolution‑based process, give the sound a touch more depth and authority than the standard cabinet models. Guitar Rig was never my go‑to solution for conventional guitar sounds, not because it didn't stack up well alongside the competition (which it did), but rather because I tend to prefer the experience of miking an amp. Of course, guitar tone is a very personal thing, and many of the dirtier sounds on offer were already quite impressive — but with the addition of Cool Plex, I'm now much more likely to use Guitar Rig for recording classic guitar tones than I was. By contrast, Guitar Rig has always been one of the first plug‑ins I think of when I need to create a more abstract guitar sound, and in this respect I think its ability to create parallel split routings or divide the signal chain by frequency makes it as powerful as anything out there. The results can be almost synth‑like in their textural complexity, so now it covers all bases (and some basses), delivering both traditional and experimental guitar sounds and effects.
To this end, the new effects modules are very worthwhile additions. The new amp models are very welcome too, especially Cool Plex, which nails those clean sounds that I felt were lacking before, and though the other two new amps don't offer anything too radical, they provide some welcome variations on familiar flavours. Control Room is more of a big deal, really, as it lets you take on the role of recording engineer in more depth when it comes to blending your choice of mics and speaker cabinets. It includes a ribbon mic as well as several familiar dynamic and capacitor models, so you can get a lot of different tonalities out of each of its five cabinets.
If you're prepared to work at the controls, you can get very close to the sound you'd expect to hear in the control room if you were miking a real amp. The enhanced MIDI and floor‑controller side of the program will appeal to those who wish to use Guitar Rig on stage, but the improved browser should be welcomed by all users. It should also be remembered that when it's used as a plug‑in, you can miss out the amp and speaker models if you like, and simply apply Guitar Rig 4's effects to other sounds in your mix, so it is more flexible than it might at first appear. In all, this is a significant upgrade to a well‑established plug‑in that remains surprisingly affordable. Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 399/179 Euros $449/$199 pros • A worthwhile upgrade with more effects, more amp models and the extra speaker options that Control Room provides. • Improved integration with NI hardware.
Cons • No cons, although if you're one of those guitarists who simply doesn't get on with modelling, this is unlikely to change your mind. Summary This update to Guitar Rig makes it better equipped to produce conventional guitar sounds, while its outstanding effects section means that you can get as weird and textural as you like, all in glorious stereo and with very little effort. All contents copyright © SOS Publications Group and/or its licensors, 1985-2017. All rights reserved. The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, whether mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents.
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