Tech 21 RBI Owner's Manual

Tech 21, the Company

Tech 21 was formed by a guitarist possessing the unusual combination of a trained ear
and electronics expertise. In 1989, B. Andrew Barta incorporated Tech 21 and made his
unique invention commercially available to players and studios around the world. His
highly-acclaimed
applications for recording direct and performing live, and created an entirely new cate­gory of signal processing. While there have since been many entries into this niche,
SansAmp continues to maintain its reputation as the industry standard.

SansAmp™ pioneered Tube Amplifier Emulation in professional

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS.

READ AND SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

HEED ALL WARNINGS.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts the user to the presence of uninsulated dangerous
voltage within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a
risk of electric shock to persons.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts the user to important operating and maintenance
instructions in the accompanying literature. Read the manual.

After developing a full line of SansAmp models, Tech 21 expanded its offerings to
include effect pedals; a compact, battery operable MIDI footcontroller, the
as well as “traditional” style amplifiers. Each product is thoughtfully and respectfully
designed by Andrew himself with the player in mind.

Our goal is to provide you with flexible, versatile tools to cultivate, control, refine and
redefine your own individual sound. Tech 21 takes great pride in delivering consistent
professional quality sound, studio to studio, club to club, arena to arena.

MIDI Mouse

SansAmp RBI, an Overview

Simply put, SansAmp RBI is a rackmount version of our exceptionally popular pedal,
SansAmp Bass Driver DI. This format, too, offers you an entire sound spectrum of the
most coveted traditional and modern bass amp systems, including mega overdriven
tones that usually require a complex mass of gear --most of which weren’t designed for
bass in the first place.

Tech 21’s proprietary,
to SVT®, and from King Crimson to King’s X. The interactive controls give you access
to specific tone shaping characteristics to create your own custom sounds as well. For
studio and live applications, our SansAmp Tube Amplifier Emulation technology gives
you the sound and responsiveness of a miked-up stage rig --direct into the mixer of a
recorder or P.A. system. You can also simultaneously plug straight into a power amp,
powered monitor, or conventional bass amp.

Beyond the obvious difference in housing, SansAmp RBI’s additional features include a
MID control; an individual Level control for the XLR out to optimize your amp’s output
relative to the P.A. system; an Effects Loop with a Mix 50/50 switch to configure the
loop in series or parallel; 1/4” rear input and XLR output with selectable levels; buffered
uneffected XLR output to run a dry signal to a separate channel; Footswitch input to
engage the unit; and Footswitch output to chain and toggle between another SansAmp
RBI or our SansAmp RPM --a multi-instrument pre-amp tone shaper with sweepable,
semi-parametric EQ and variable gain.

100% analog circuitry delivers styles ranging from Fender

®

This unit is powered by potentially hazardous voltage. Therefore, observe

;

the following safety precautions:

1.

Read and follow all instructions before using product.

2. Do not use product near water (such as near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink,
swimming pool, in a wet basement, etc.).

3. Unit should be located so that its location or position does not impede the flow of
air through the ventilation openings.

4. Product should be located away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers,
or other products, including amplifiers, that produce heat.

5. Product should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the
operating instructions or as marked on the product.

6. Protect the power cord from being walked on or
pinched particularly at plugs, convenience recepta­cles, and the point where they exit from the unit.

7. Do not allow objects or liquids to penetrate
the enclosure through openings.

8. During heavy use, chassis may get hot to the
touch. Handle with care.

9. Protect unit from strong impact.

10. Unplug product before cleaning. Never

spray liquid cleaners into the amp: wipe with a
clean, lint-free cloth to remove dirt and film.

11. Only use attachments/accessories speci­fied by the manufacturer.

12. This product should be used

only with a cart or stand that is rec­ommended by the manufacturer. When a cart is used, use caution when
moving the cart/product combination to avoid injury from tipping over.

13. Amplifiers may be capable of producing high volume levels that could cause per­manent hearing loss or damage, if the exposure to such levels is prolonged. Such dam­age is progressive and irreversible! If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the
ears, consult an audiologist.

14. Unplug unit during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.

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15. This unit must be earth grounded. To reduce the risk of electric shock, NEVER

remove or otherwise attempt to defeat the ground pin of the power cord. If the
provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replace-

ment of the obsolete outlet.

WARNING: To avoid the risk of fire, electric shock or injury, do not expose this unit to
rain or moisture. Do not remove the chassis from its cabinet, or remove metal covering
from chassis parts. Removing the chassis from its cabinet exposes extremely dangerous
high voltages. There are no user-serviceable parts inside. Hazardous voltages are pre­sent inside the chassis. Refer all servicing to qualified personnel.

CAUTION: Never modify the power cord. If original power cord becomes damaged,
frayed, or has exposed wires, replace immediately with same rating and gauge, or high­er. Replacements are commercially available or you can contact Tech 21 directly.

Input Jack

Faithful to the original designs of traditional tube amplifiers, this 1/4" Input is high imped­ance 1MOhm. It is factory set at -20dB instrument level. Note: A second input jack (Input

2) is located on the rear panel. Plugging into the front panel Input jack overrides and dis­connects the rear panel jack. This allows you to set up your SansAmp RBI as a permanent
part of a rack or patch-bay system, with its usual input source plugged into the rear panel
jack. Then, if you want to plug straight into the SansAmp RBI, bypassing other gear in the
system, you can use the SansAmp RBI’s front Input.

WARNING: Attempting to repair this unit is not recommended and may void its
warranty. NOTE: In the U.S. and Canada, servicing is performed at factory only. In other
countries, please refer repairs to the local Tech 21 authorized distributor.

FUSE

Fuse holder is located inside A/C cord receptacle. You must remove power
cord to change fuse.

100-120V: use 1A. Units with 220-240V: use 0.5A.

Replace with similar type & same value. Units with

QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS

Get your SansAmp RBI up and running before reading the entire manual. But by not
reading the manual, you’ll miss out on getting the most out of your new investment!

1. Plug your instrument into the front panel Input jack (on the left side).

2. Connect either the 1/4” or XLR SansAmp Output with the input of your mixer, power
amp, powered monitor or amp.

3. Plug the AC cord into a wall socket. Set the Level and XLR controls to minimum,
then turn the SansAmp RBI on and engage the Active Switch.

4. Turn on the mixer or amp and bring up the Level or XLR controls of the SansAmp
RBI. If the signal is too “hot,” resulting in unwanted distortion, or too weak, check the
mixer’s or amp’s input control as well as the Level control of the SansAmp RBI.

5. Play your guitar and you should hear sound coming through your system. If not, check
that your guitar’s volume control is turned up, recheck your connections, and be sure your
cable isn’t faulty. If there is still no sound, refer to factory or qualified technician.

FRONT PANEL

SansAmp RBI is designed with active controls, which cut and boost, rather than
traditional passive controls which only cut. This effectively doubles many of the
control’s capabilities, giving you a much larger range of adjustability and, ultimately,
more variety. It should be noted that you need not necessarily set everything at max to
achieve maximum results. As you experiment and become familiar with the interrelation­ship of the controls, you’ll easily be able to customize your own sounds.

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Drive

Adjusts the overall amount of gain and overdrive, similar to when the output section of
a tube amp is being pushed.

Presence

Brings out the upper harmonic content and attack. For a smoother high end and for
clean settings, decrease to taste.

Blend

Allows you to blend the direct instrument signal with SansAmp Tube Amplifier
Emulation circuitry. In most cases, you will probably have this set at maximum (100%
SansAmp). For certain applications, however, such as an ultra-transparent sound or for
use with piezo pickup-equipped instruments, you may want to blend-in the direct signal
to achieve your desired sound. While the SansAmp Tube Amplifier Emulation circuitry
is bypassed when
remain active.

Blend

is at minimum, the

Bass, Mid, Treble, Level

and

XLR

controls

Bass, Mid and Treble

These active tone controls cut or boost ±12dB from unity gain at 12 o’clock. Bass is 80
Hz. Mid is 1kHz. Treble is 3.2kHz.

XLR

Adjusts the volume level of the SansAmp XLR Output to optimize your amp’s output rel­ative to the P.A. system.

Level

Adjusts the SansAmp 1/4” Output level.

REAR PANEL

Input 2 Jack

Plugging into Input 2 lets you match the SansAmp RBI’s input circuitry to the signal
level being fed into it, thereby assuring the best signal-to-noise ratio and least distor-

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