isteen Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I can spend hours looking at various bass gear. At the moment I'm looking at the Zoom B2, and I might just spring for the B1 instead. I like the fact that they have a small percussion mode - so home practice might be more fun. Anyone with hands on experience with these small gadgets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTaff Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I've got a zoom b2, obviously it doesn't sound as good as single pedals but I mainly use it for effects where I can't justify buying a pedal just for part of a song like the chorus and flanger effects. Drum machine work fine for practising but make sure you turn it on and turn down the volume before you turn on the amp, it's default volume is LOUD and you can't change the default volume, I blew a tweeter by forgetting. With my P basses the drum machine at volume 1 or 2 is about the same level as the bass and the default volume is around 25 so you can imagine how easy it would be to damage a speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I'm sure there are better multi-effects units out there, but for what I paid for mine (bought used from here) and what it aims to be, I reckon it's a pretty good bit of kit. (I've the B2 which AFAICS is almost the same as the B1, but in a more sturdy metal box, rather than the plastic B1). The drum machine I find very handy for practicing (for which I use it mainly with headphones) but, as MrTaff says, the volume is WAAAAY louder than everything else, so beware ! The preset patches, I feel, are best thought of as some examples of the various effects available, rather than sounds I'd actually want to use - but they're handy as a starting point from which to tweak. Likewise the amp/cab modeling - I've no idea what an Ampeg SVT through an 810e cab is supposed to sound like when it's going through my Hartke amp into my Ashdown cab...again, try it, and tweak it until you find something you like. I only bought it because I'd never really played with effects on bass before and wanted something to give me, at the flick of a switch, 20-odd seconds of insanity during one particular song in our current set, and it seemed like a cost effective way of trying out lots of different effects. But now I've had it a while, and played around getting familiar with the settings and how the various effects all work together, I use it all the time. I use it as my only stage tuner too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isteen Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Thanks for the advice on the volume guys, I'll make sure to remember that, if I get one. Thanks, I'm glad we have this friendly forum where we can help each other out, rather than shout and put each other down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 [quote name='isteen' timestamp='1337005783' post='1653832']Thanks, I'm glad we have this friendly forum where we can help each other out, rather than shout and put each other down [/quote] Another TB convert then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isteen Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1337007935' post='1653870'] Another TB convert then? [/quote] I have been to TB actually, but never that much to be call a regular TB'er I feel more at home here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) I LOVE my B2! They crop up here from time to time for pennies (well, I've seen 'em for £35-£45) and they are worth their weight in gold. I've tried out a stack of multifx, including high end Boss and Korg units and have got rid of them all in favour of stomp boxes. I could never get them to sound how I wanted them to or lost patience with the overcomplicated programming options. The B2 is really easy to program and sounds fantastic. Mine is on my rather modest board, as I was really only looking for a Flanger/Phaser, but this came up, I pulled the trigger and I'm delighted with it. I have the more compact B2 unit, as I'm not really a Wah/Expression pedal kinda guy, but I do have a little momentary latch pedal so I can modify tremelo and delay settings on the fly. Like most of these units, the presets are a mixed bag - the good thing about the Zoom is that there are two sets of identical presets - one you can modify to your heart’s content and one that you cant. What I have done (along with a lot of users, it seems) is to alternate 'effected' patches with 'bypass' ones, so I can swap from clean to effected patches quickly and cleanly without risking the 'step on two pedals at once to put it into bypass mode' option. The minuses - distortions are a wee bit fizzy and you can't scroll through patches 'silently'. The drum machine could be a bit more user friendly - a separate volume control would have been useful, but I guess you don't buy an effects pedal for a drumbox... The pluses - easypeasy to program, great range of sounds, robust construction, quite a few patches available on the net, cheaper than one Boss pedal and it's a loverlee red colour. I'd advise you to grab one and give it a try...it's a great entry to the wonderful and frightening world of FX and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Here's my Zoom on my toyshelf: Edited March 24, 2013 by rushbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.I. Joe Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 What is your signal chain rushbo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I've got one that I've messed about with but to be honest I 've probably not used much of it's potential as it seems quite complicated to me - I'm rubbish at stuff like this - settings, patches, banks, patterns- doh! I've been signed off work with manflu - so messing about with it might help my recuperation!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I've had a B2.1U (the one with the built in expression pedal) for about 5 years now and thinks it's very good for the money. It's a pretty robust unit and if you spend time playing around with it you can get some great sounds. Negatives; Some of the amp modelling sounds aren't great, although I do use one or two here and there. The compressor is pretty rubbish (I ended up buying an EBS one). The expression pedal frequently need recalibrating - not hard, but a bit of a pain. Positives; Some great squelchy wah, phaser and resonance filter type effects, some of which can be programmed for use with said expression pedal. Excellent for funky, groovy, psychedelic stuff. A reasonably useful eq section, helpful when trying to balance out your patches. Nice reverb sounds, especially good with a fretless. Chorus/flanger is quite good too, although it's something I rarely use. Echo I like too. Never use the drum machine tbh as I'm usual hooked up to my PC, but it's pretty basic I think. Ok for practice if you don't have anything else I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) [quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1337339544' post='1658379'] What is your signal chain rushbo? [/quote] Tuner-Q/Tron-O/Drive-Comp-Octave-Chorus-EQ-B2 (Planet Waves patch leads) It's a slightly eccentric path, but it's a nice clean signal. As I rarely use more than one or two FX at once I wasn't quite so precious as most people are to do it 'the right way' but this works for me. The Behringer EQ works a treat! JellyKnees mentioned the compressor...it's true, it ain't great, but it ain't bad either. What I did was knock the compression off all the patches and I use the Joyo, which does a good, solid job. Edited May 18, 2012 by rushbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 [quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1337341063' post='1658416'] I've got one that I've messed about with but to be honest I 've probably not used much of it's potential as it seems quite complicated to me - I'm rubbish at stuff like this - settings, patches, banks, patterns- doh! I've been signed off work with manflu - so messing about with it might help my recuperation!! [/quote] Persevere with it! Like most of these FX units, there's a knack and if you 'get it' it suddenly becomes almost second nature. I can remember yelling at my Boss Gt6B and wanting to throw it across the room...the B2 is nowhere near as bad. [url="http://guitarpatches.com/patches.php?unit=B2"]HERE'S[/url] a link to a site with a bunch of patches you can try - I've used a few and they're pretty good. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/zoom-b2-1u-cheat-sheets-406678/"]HERE'S[/url] a useful link to help you make sense of some of the patches and write down your own (1st post) Get well soon - Manflu is serious stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Thanks I'll check out the tips. Manflu it's the worst , thanks for GWS. Love your Let the Bass Serve the Song tag- always true, I'd say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderpaws Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Hello. I have had my B2 for about 3 years now...I think. I love it for home practise and coming up with new ideas. Had a song with working title "CZero" named after the stock distortion effect under CZero (C0). Anyway, I thought it sounded briliant, and so did the guitarist....then I bought a Boss stompbox and that blows the Zoom out of the water. Then there's the Flange. It's good to mess about with, but the quality (tuneability or bigness of sound) is nowhere near a proper pedal, so I've bought a second hand box for that too. The Amp modelling and sheer variety of sounds available is amazing for the money, and having a few drum patches in there, as others have said, is great for practicing or even getting jams going. My biggest gripe is that when it is in bypass mode it doesn't appear to fully bypass, leaving a residual effect on the clean sound. Hope this helps...off to watch some Van Halen on Youtube....feel like I'm 15 again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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