dannybuoy

MS-60B / MS-70 CDR are the previous generation and just have a ‘Ba Octaver’ https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_MS-60B_FX-list_v2.pdfhttps://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_MS-60B_FX-list_v2.pdf The MS-60B+ has a new ‘Bass Analog Octaver’ model (which might just be my favourite ever Octaver) that sounds like an OC-2: https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_MS-60Bplus_FX-list.pdf There’s another ‘Bass Octaver’ one that sounds more subtle like an EBS Octabass. They’re both in the MS-70CDR+ too! https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_MS-70CDRplus_FX-list.pdf

I was never impressed with the older Zoom units either (the same B1Xon and B3 you mentioned funnily enough), but the one in the MS-60B+ sounds every bit as good as I remember my Octabvre Mini sounding (shame I no longer have it to A/B them) and better than my Markbass octaver (which is pretty dang close to the OC-2).

I have a Mk1 and it has the opposite problem, the FX loop runs extremely hot so most pedals don’t output a level as hot as its own tube preamp. Then again, I’ve never felt the need to use the fx return. Bass Gear mag measured the preamp to be pretty much flat with the bass/treble knobs at minimum and the mids at maximum, so you could just set it like that and use the main input if you wanted a flat power amp. Although I understand the Mk2 preamp differs somewhat so the flat EQ positions may well differ.

Joe Dart without a doubt

Around half the pedals in my collection invert phase, so you could still potentially have an issue if you’d ever be turning a boost pedal on or off for example on one of the boards.

My first bass-specific pedal was a Humphrey-modded Bad Monkey. I later sold it to get an Xotic Bass BB Preamp, which sounded similar, but ultimately not as good. Wish I’d kept it!

If you’re a fan of this circuit you should also check out the Prunes & Custard!

I tried a couple of Fender and Sandberg 5ers and hated the necks. Moved to a BB415 then BB1025X - around 42mm nut width, same as my 4-string Fender P, been a happy camper ever since.

Gotta agree with the earlier recommendations for the TC Spark. Stellar pedal. I find the Beta a bit dark and lifeless until the gain is cranked up significantly, which then puts it into heavy overdrive territory rather than an always-on warmer-upperer.

I think Zoom expression pedals are wired differently - I couldn't get the 2 expression pedals I already had to work with a Zoom B3 I had unless I forked out for a Zoom one.

One of the Origin Effects Bassrigs will get you there. Maybe the Black Panel as that dirt tone is probably just the Fender amp behind him!

Can you name any preamp pedals that don’t behave in the same way though? Everything I’ve owned has worked this way, from Darkglass, Aguilar, Tech21, etc. The only time I expect a volume control to not affect my DI is on my amp, in case I want to change my stage volume without upsetting the levels going to the desk. But with a preamp pedal, the master volume is really there to balance the gain control so you can adjust the pedal to unity gain when it’s on or off; whereas an amp is always on so you can have the DI pre-master volume.

The BDDI v2 sim on the Zoom MS-60B+ is bang-on also. Very hard to tell them apart. Plus there’s a ‘Clear Driver’, Zoom’s own take on the Sansamp, and the SVT sim is pretty decent too (just a shame there’s no blend on it).

It is affected by the master volume, yes.

Cranborne thump settings sounds killer. BTW I just picked up an MS-60B+, and its emulation of the BDDI v2 is bang-on.