Al Krow

Some fantastic kit you've got on there! Do you have any clips of the sounds you are creating with your boards?

Completely relate to the muscle memory point! We can usually twist our guitarists arm to use a capo, other than when they "need" to be using open strings for particular songs; it's switching the same song between male and female vox with different bands that tends to be the bigger issue for me. I really was pleasantly surprised at how well the B1-4 pitch shift matches up to the Drop - I don't generally expect a multi fx patch to stand up to a dedicated pedal. The B1-4 isn't amazing at pitch shift, don't get me wrong, but for me the Drop isn't sufficiently better to warrant keeping and is going back to the store and the B1-4 pitch-shift sim being gigged tomorrow night; with an extra space now available for something else on my board!

Pitch-shift on the B1-4 I recently bought a Digitech Drop to more easily change song key for a new project. But it only goes down 7 semis and not up, so it's pretty useless for going up a semi-tone or tone; I also found it a little bit warbly, which echoed a comment from @NoirBass when I met up with him recently to watch his duo playing in central London, and there's a volume drop on it when you kick it in. So all in all... Although for the sake of balance, I should mention @bassfan has not had any similar issues with his and prefers his to the pitch-shift on his Stomp. I previously thought the pitch shift on the B1-4 was just only "ok" hence getting the Drop, but given my disappointment with the Drop I thought I'd try the B1-4 out at full band rehearsal and it did the job fine on both -1 semi and +1 semi. There is a very slight latency on the B1-4 and it doesn't cope with slap too well, but nevertheless provides a decent and very usable pitch-shifted bass line in a band mix.

@scannermanwhat a tasty bass!

Just checked and this thing is 18" x 8" in size. Considerably wider than an HX Effects, so it's not exactly pedal board friendly. I personally would be wanting something this size to be a standalone multifx that I could grab and go. Zoom have paid very careful attention to how their multi fx might actually be used by gigging bass players with their B6 and have provided some excellent DI out options. The Line 6 Pod Go, which this seems to be being pitched at, also has a balanced out. I agree with the comment that it was a very obvious missed opportunity for players who want to go directly into their PA or FOH. For me the biggest omission, however, is Boss leaving out some of their most attractive fx from this and the GT 1000 Core e.g. OC5, SY-1 etc.

Well yes, obviously. But then you no longer have a standalone multi fx if you need a DI box. Zoom B6 and most of Helix multis have balanced out. Heck, even the Hotone Ampero has one...

Because it might not be going to an amp.

I can live without a dedicated XLR, provided the 1/4" out is balanced. Maybe the manual will give us clarity on that? But if it doesn't have any form of balanced out that's a pretty glaring omission for a standalone multi fx.

Had the pleasure of hearing @Paul S's blues band in action last night through their RCF Evox 8 PA system. Was a really good night out! Bass, vox and kick-drum were through the PA. Loved the way it can be set up as backline with no need for monitors or IEMs, relatively tiny stage footprint, and ZERO feedback with mics in front of it. It's got me completely re-thinking the plans we were about to embark on. Paul told me today that the PA was just ticking over last night, and has plenty of headroom. Here's a bit of classic Jimi H from last night, so you can hear the set-up for yourselves:

Sadly, no.

Our drummer had a Ford Focus Estate previously before it conked out. It was bloody marvellous for loading up a ton of gear.

This^^ I think comb filtering tends to be more of an issue with digital fx in parallel and less so with analogue, which typically have lower latency, so that might assist in identifying the culprit.

Sweet!

^^This. Still loving my VTDI - particularly having discovered the additional fuller low-end sound with the cab sim engaged. It can also deliver a whole range of tone shaping in particular both SVT and warm valve grit; must admit I've not heard anything on the Origin YT clips so far that would make me want to jump ship - particularly given the price jump from a readily available used VTDI to the new Origin alternative. Nice first impressions review, thanks! Wanted to pick up on one of your comments on your A/B - when making the comparison was the cab-sim engaged on the VTDI? Be quite interested in whether having a "lot more bottom end" will actually be a good thing or not in a band-mix?

Zoom multi-fx, Ashdown rig, Yammy BB 5 string. What's not to like?!

That's very interesting - the current series Yamaha passive PJs have gone for a volume blend knob rather than the 3 way switch which is on older models. How does having a switch deal with this "insertion loss" that a blend knob doesn't? It's not really a term I've seen used much on BC before - I guess I've always thought of it as being more simply as a phase cancellation.

Ah ok, gotcha.

Does that combination of pups and preamp get close to Wal sound? If so, that's definitely worth clocking!

Cheers. It's an interesting one as many of the Yammy BB owners on the mega-thread also swear by the P+J in combination. I guess the other way of thinking about fretmeister's point, that I have heard expressed very neatly, is that whenever you blend the neck and bridge pups it can lead to a mid-scoop, which can sound great solo'd but will likely cut through less in a band mix. However, I've not particularly noticed that with my blended Yamaha PJ settings, but that's maybe because they have such kick-ass bridge Js!! (Well certainly the BB 424/5 and BB 1024/5s).

Yamaha BB basses IMO have cracked the PJ bass format and their basses stack up really well against other basses costing several times as much. You'll find a LOT of love for them on one of the bass threads...

I've managed to use this in anger at a couple of full band rehearsals too now, and this thing is ACE!! Band were really liking it. too. For just playing actual notes + octave down to thicken out the sound: Vintage mode is rich and full and less "sterile" than Poly mode. But Poly mode works well if you want to include octave up, as the cleaner sound and better tracking in this mode prevents it becoming a sonic mush. Amazing value for such a well featured octave pedal! I think my personal octave journey is definitely hitting a pause and I'm looking forward to integrating my OC-5 into several set numbers.

Looking good! And if it's hitting the mark for you and the band then it's just the ticket: real life experience trumps pretty much everything else in my books! I presume you had to manually copy the B1-4 patches or could you transfer them electronically?

Aha, so it was working and all lit up but you didn't inhale. Now where did I hear a similar tale?

Ah that makes good sense. I only took up using a plectrum a few years back and it did take a little while getting used to it vs playing with fingers. Was kinda surprised to hear that none of the more experienced bass players in other bands that my bandmates play with, were using picks. I love the crispness of the attack a pic provides and it also combines really well with palm muting. Certainly wouldn't want it on every track though, but it's definitely nice to be able to include it in the mix.

It's a very good question! The fundamental of the octave below open E is around 20Hz which is not only below pretty much all cabs' stated frequency response ranges but also at the boundary of what we can actually hear. Interestingly the human ear is most sensitive to 2kHz to 5kHz frequencies and explains why guitarists only need a fraction of the wattage in their amps we bass players do. I think the key point is that what when we hear "a note" it's significantly more the first, second & higher harmonics we are hearing, rather than the fundamental. Applying an octave-down pedal emphasises these first, second & higher harmonics an octave below, but these are still within most cabs' frequency range capacity.