Osiris

Cigarettes and alcohol - Oasis

King of Mars - Monster Magnet

Very good point. I've mentioned this elsewhere but it's worth repeating to highlight this very issue. Around 3 or 4 years ago I bought a VT Bass pedal, I was seriously impressed by the sounds available from it going by the YouTube videos. Plugged it in at home and was really pleased with how it sounded when I'd dialled in the sound I'd got in my head. Took it to the next gig a few days later, set it up, checked the volume between on and off, and was ready to go. But when I kicked it in with the band, the bass vanished from the mix. I remember the guitarist looking over to see what was going on. I kicked the pedal off and the bass was back. I checked the pedal volume at the end of the song and it was fine. It was EQ'd to give a push in the mids while keeping the low end fat and enough highs to define the tone without making it top heavy. But it just didn't work, it sounded great on its own but it was an unusable tone suck in the mix, alongside a guitar and keys playing rock and pop stuff.

Who are you - Black Sabbath

Hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing - Discharge

But why not use your effects with the band? I don't think there's anything elitist about that point of view, to say it is, is in itself tosh. You're in a couple of gigging bands, you have god knows how many effects, so why not use them? Isn't that the point of effects?

Head down - Soundgarden

Monkey wrench - Foo Fighters

Play it again - Atomic Rooster

Turning Japanese - The Vapours

Still hurts - Therapy?

South of heaven - Slayer (to continue the Slayer theme)

Repeater - Fugazi

Would? - Alice in Chains

Sweet soul sister - The Cult

If I remember correctly there's a couple of different pitch shifter models as well as an Octaver on the MS-60B. One of the pitch shifters is less wobbly than the other and, as you say, tracks better and lower than the Octaver. I was initially using it to drop a tone which still has a touch of that chorus like edge, but set to the full octave below it really it's far less noticeable. As I said, you don't notice any detriment to the bass tone with the rest of the band blasting out.

@Al Krow I think we're at crossed purposes here. I am taking about using the Zoom pitch shift in a gigging situation. Having gigged it and the Stomp pitch shifters many times each, they both work in the mix. Yes, the Zoom has a more pronounced chorus like effect, I don't disagree. But in the mix you cannot tell. I understand that you're coming at it from the perspective of analysing the nuances at home with nothing else going on. In which case the Helix will clearly sound more authentic. But then again I just want some drop tuning rather than trying to sound like Royal Blood 😉

But have you compared them in the mix?

Same here, it's still a great album that has stood the test of time, IMO. But back to it.

John the fisherman - Primus

You've got both the newest Zoom with it's latest chip set and the HX FX. Try them side by side - with the band. Obviously you can tell them apart when it's just using them at home, but in the mix they both work well in my experience. I don't have the tech for home recording, unfortunately, but you have both models so give it a go and see what you think. Indeed, it was @Dood's review of the MS-60B in which he said that the pedal was worth the price alone just for the pitch shifter that was one of the reasons for me picking one up in the first place.

While the Helix unquestionably delivers more convincing models than the Zoom, I've gigged using both the pitch shift on the Zoom MS-60B and the Helix Stomp. While playing them in an isolated context the Helix is more refined and has less of a chorus like edge but the Zoom is still perfectly usable and is indistinguishable from the Stomp in the mix, IME.

*Pedant alert - 💩 Town was by the band 'Live' on the album 'Throwing Copper'. Great album that, but the band name is a bit daft . Pedant alert over* Anyway, In the heat of the night - Diamond Head

2 minutes to midnight - Iron Maiden

The middle - Jimmy Eat World