Looking for a small yet versatile setup for church

[Gtrjunior]

As the title implies, I’m looking for something that doesn’t necessarily require an amp.
I was think a fly rig and an onstage monitor just for myself.
I don’t know much about the fly rig so any educational info is appreciated....pros/cons which version is best and why?

Ideally I’d like something that can get fendery edge of breakup tones as well as tones approaching plexi sounds. And of course, delay, modulation etc. Also, a unit that I could add pedals to if necessary.

How are the clean tones with the fly rig? I’m not exactly sure how it works....is there a built in power amp?

 

[Aceman]

HD500 and a few Strymon pedals.

 

[ErikH]

The Fly Rig requires an amp. It's simply a unit with amp emulation (Sansamp Blonde), some dirt (Plexi/Cali mode on the Plexi section), reverb, delay and some modulation with "Drift" on the delay enabled. If you want a full on chorus, you can supply your own with a pedal and put it in the effects loop.

The one I have is the 5 v2. There is an XLR out to feed FOH and has the cabinet emulation on all the time. The 1/4" out has the option to have it on or off with a button in the Sansamp section. If you're going to a guitar amp, turn it off. Going to a powered floor monitor, turn it on.

There's also the Richie Kotzen model and one or two other signature models. All pretty similar with some tweaks here and there for the artist. Richie uses his a lot as part of his main rig. The whole point of it is to be able to take it to a jam or gig where you're not sure what the supplied amplification is like and retain your sound. There's a Fender Twin or Bassman there? No problem, drop the FR in front and go. It's pretty sturdy too.

I find it very useful for my needs and it takes extra pedals well, which I had hoped. Our church has no stage monitors, not even amps. Everyone uses in-ears. Guitarists, bassist and keyboardist run direct.

The Headrush stuff is good too. If you want more flexibility, but don't need everything in the big board there is the smaller Gigboard.

 

[devastone]

I mostly use a Boss GT-1000 but I have a RK5 v2 that I like and use it some too, it sounds great and fits in the guitar gig bag. I also have some AMT pedals (P2 and B2 on the way), thinking about building a pedalboard around one of those. Hoping the B2 sounds better at lower gain levels than the P2, it's a little too heavy sounding for the church thing.

Back to the Fly Rigs, I've tried the FR5 and the RK5 and IMHO the RK5 sounds better than the FR for distorted sounds, but YMMV. The RK5 does not have an fx loop, so you would need to run extra modulation in front of it if you are using the XLR out.

The FRs clean channels are similar, but I think the RK5 may be a little warmer, kind of like a Twin in the FR5 vs a Deluxe or something in the RK. They also will do the Fender break up thing well, in fact, it's hard to get pristine clean I have unless you keep the gain really low (at least that's my experience).

The only thing I would mention is that apparently stupid amounts of reverb is a thing in church, and I can't get anywhere near the amount I have on my GT church patches with the Fly Rigs. And, no, it wasn't my choice, our worship leader asked me to add a lot of reverb to my sound, that's the only place I use that much. Of course, you can throw a TC HoF or something in the loop of the FR5, for the RK5 you would need to put it after the 1/4" out and then go through a DI box.

At my church we use IEMs too, so no need for a monitor at all. But no, the FRs do not have a built in power amps, for a monitor you will need to use a powered speaker as Erik mentioned.

Haven't tried the Headrush or Helix, if I was shopping again I might look at them harder, but I was coming from a GT-100 so the GT-1000 was familiar.

 

[NegativeEase]

Iridium Pedal will do the trick just fine.

But if you want an incredible amp that has a Classic Tweed Deluxe Channel and a Plexi channel in one light and super loud combo (30 Watts) and only 31 pounds.

(warning it's pricey -1500+ new ) https://www.vintagesoundamps.com/product/black-tweed-30/

It's a nice last amp you ever want to own type of amp.

 

[LesStrat]

The Line 6 Helix series just added a Fender Princeton model.

I’ve been playing the Helix Floor in church for 3 1/2 years. I play direct to FOH. We use IEMs.

I use a floor wedge with my band.

 

[Mincer]

The FlyRig v2 does not need an amp. It has an XLR direct to the PA. The clean sound is a replica of their Blonde pedal, with a Plexi distortion pedal. It is a great clean sound, too. Another great rig is the Line 6 HX Stomp, which is the Helix in a smaller package. It is harder to edit (you need a computer for it), but it has some great sounds, and it is tiny.

 

[beaubrummels]

'Dis wat I use. iPad for the music, tapping the DUO with my foot flips the pages while I play. I've actually removed the AMT volume pedal now. I only used it for slide.

 

[Bogner]

Line 6 HX Stomp

 

[Gtrjunior]

So if I’m understanding correctly,
I could use the fly rig running the xlr to foh, and then send a the 1/4” out to my powered Mackie floor wedge to use as an amp....
I would literally be carrying a monitor, a guitar and a fly rig to the service...?

There are IEM’s in use by other members of the worship team...I just don’t own a good set presently but that’s an option too.
And with a set of IEM’s I wouldn’t need the floor monitor at all....?

 

[Gtrjunior]

The Line 6 Helix series just added a Fender Princeton model.

I’ve been playing the Helix Floor in church for 3 1/2 years. I play direct to FOH. We use IEMs.

I use a floor wedge with my band.

Looks nice but it’s way more than I can spend.

 

[NegativeEase]

All you guys playing Line 6 need to go to church often and repent. I kid I kid. Line 6 jokes..



GuitarJr, What about a Boss Katana 50 with multi channel, interface and modeling? You'd get live sound, simplicity and great sounding amp.

With the new Nextones and Katanas out now -the older ones are CHEAP -used for sub 150.00 -new for 230.00

 

[ErikH]

So if I’m understanding correctly,
I could use the fly rig running the xlr to foh, and then send a the 1/4” out to my powered Mackie floor wedge to use as an amp....
I would literally be carrying a monitor, a guitar and a fly rig to the service...?

There are IEM’s in use by other members of the worship team...I just don’t own a good set presently but that’s an option too.
And with a set of IEM’s I wouldn’t need the floor monitor at all....?

Correct on all points.

When I go to band rehearsal, all I take with me is the Fly Rig and an overdrive. Toss them in a gig bag pocket and go. The only thing I have to carry in is my guitar in the gig bag with everything in it. I run it XLR out to the mixer and come out the mains and my floor monitor. It took some time to get dialed in how I like but glad I took the time with it, and the 5150 Overdrive too.

 

[devastone]

So if I’m understanding correctly,
I could use the fly rig running the xlr to foh, and then send a the 1/4” out to my powered Mackie floor wedge to use as an amp....
I would literally be carrying a monitor, a guitar and a fly rig to the service...?

There are IEM’s in use by other members of the worship team...I just don’t own a good set presently but that’s an option too.
And with a set of IEM’s I wouldn’t need the floor monitor at all....?

As Erik said, yes. For good IEMs, check these out - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X2R6GQ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use them and like them better than my Westones that I paid a lot more for. If you've never used IEMs, it does take some getting used to but if everyone else is using them, they are probably using a PreSonus Earmix system or similar, so you probably will need to use them because the mix is thru that. We don't have any monitor sound on stage and we are behind the mains, so If I take my ears out, I can hear the mains but it's bouncing off the back wall so it's not very accurate.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Correct on all points.

When I go to band rehearsal, all I take with me is the Fly Rig and an overdrive. Toss them in a gig bag pocket and go. The only thing I have to carry in is my guitar in the gig bag with everything in it. I run it XLR out to the mixer and come out the mains and my floor monitor. It took some time to get dialed in how I like but glad I took the time with it, and the 5150 Overdrive too.

A few years ago I went to see a buddy’s band play and he asked me to come up and sit in on a song. He had a small Blackstar amp that he ran direct to the board.
There was a very noticeable latency happening. Is there any thing like that happening with the fly rig?

 

[Gtrjunior]

All you guys playing Line 6 need to go to church often and repent. I kid I kid. Line 6 jokes..



GuitarJr, What about a Boss Katana 50 with multi channel, interface and modeling? You'd get live sound, simplicity and great sounding amp.

With the new Nextones and Katanas out now -the older ones are CHEAP -used for sub 150.00 -new for 230.00

I hadn’t thought of that. They are probably a good option but I’d like to try to go the amp less route (I know a floor wedge isn’t exactly amp-less).
All of the other players are amp less but have IEM.

 

[Gtrjunior]

As Erik said, yes. For good IEMs, check these out - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X2R6GQ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use them and like them better than my Westones that I paid a lot more for. If you've never used IEMs, it does take some getting used to but if everyone else is using them, they are probably using a PreSonus Earmix system or similar, so you probably will need to use them because the mix is thru that. We don't have any monitor sound on stage and we are behind the mains, so If I take my ears out, I can hear the mains but it's bouncing off the back wall so it's not very accurate.

Those IEM look great...thanks for that link.
I had a pair of Shure SM215(?) a few years back, and the vocals sounded pretty good but the guitar and bass etc sounded like they had a tin can for an amp. Lol
How does your guitar tone sound through these?

 

[GuitarStv]

Ibanez Weeping Demon -> Death by Audio Evil Filter -> Pepers Pedals Satanist Distortion . . .

. . . straight into the church mixing board should get you there.

 

[ErikH]

A few years ago I went to see a buddy’s band play and he asked me to come up and sit in on a song. He had a small Blackstar amp that he ran direct to the board.
There was a very noticeable latency happening. Is there any thing like that happening with the fly rig?

Nothing that I notice.

 

[devastone]

Latency will depend on how they are routing the signals, ours goes pre-fader from the board to the monitor system and I don't notice any latency.

Those IEMs sound good, your guitar is not going to sound like playing through a great amp in a great room. Mine sounds great (for direct) through my Kali monitors on my desk at home, when playing through the IEMs I just need to make sure I can hear myself enough to play the songs, it's not going to be like playing through real amps live in a room. Again, it does take some getting used to.