jimfist

I agree. If you want to dip your big toe into the water, the Zoom multi-effects are a great way to start. They'll get you some reasonable representations of various effects to dabble with, and it's an easy learning curve as far as multi-effects go. Even if a multi-effect is just a gateway to getting "real" individual stomp pedals, it's a very practical way of finding out what tickles your funny bone. Individual stomps are the real deal and tend to do their sole purpose better than what is represented in a lower-cost multi-effect, but there's the downside of additional wiring and power supply. You may find that a multi-effect suits you well (I do) if your needs are not critical. I'd also suggest the Zoom B3n, which is a little more cash than the B1 Four, but in Stompbox mode, behaves just like having (3 at one time) pedals, with dedicated switches and knobs for parameter control. The now discontinued Zoom B3 was quite a popular pedal, and may be had for low cost IF you can find one on the used market.

Did this ever happen?

Yes, apparently they're only showing the $100USD discount for getting on the "reserve" list. I'm pretty sure that the price is $399.99 retail, minus the $100 reserve discount...USD, of course. I'm in the USA. Atomic Amps owner Tom King mentioned on a forum the other day that they've run out the initial batch and stocking up again in a couple of weeks. Atomic is a small operation, so I'd guess they need to be careful about how much they've got wrapped up in inventory, especially during these dicey times.

https://youtu.be/-OTfpM7vNqU Video link for Atomic Bass Box.

I don't know if any of you had caught wind of this pedal, the Atomic Amps Bass Box, when it was introduced over a year ago at winter NAMM 2019. This is a pedal I was hoping Atomic Amps/Studio Devil would produce for bassists. Atomic does a great job with the Amplifire pedals for amp modeling/multi-fx, targeted at guitarists. The Bass Box is just an incredible device that packs so many great bass-targeted features in a small pedal, described here in an Anderton's interview with the guys from Studio Devil & Atomic Amps: Atomic Bass Box Winter NAMM 2019 Also, happy to say that this pedal is now shipping, and I was one of the first to get one! Here are some comparative clips from my soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-svt-ampcab-model https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-processed-tone-track-2 https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-processed-tone-track-3 https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-angry-fet-svt https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-ged-slo https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-clean-5-fingers https://soundcloud.com/jimfist/atomic-amps-bass-box-clean-5-pick

from the Quad Cortex website Q * A: Do Neural DSP plugins come with QC? Not by default as of now, but we will send a free plugin update in a Cortex compatible format to everyone who owns our plugins so they can be loaded onto the device.

This for certain. Previous rig: 2013 Wal bass (custom 4 string) - Fractal Audio AxeFxII - Behringer FCB1010 MIDI pedal - Crown xti Current Low budget rig: Ibanez Mikro bass (short scale 4 string) - ZOOM B3 (retired in 2016) or ZOOM B3 (grab-n-go/rehearsal) or ZOOM G5n (most gigs) My choice of stage speakers hasn't change (won't compromise there) but instead of powering them with a Crown xti4002 power amp, I picked up a GK 1001RBII second-hand on a sweet deal (less than half the cost of the Crown amp new). When available, I'll just DI into the provided PA system w/stage monitoring sans stage rig. For those gigs, my entire setup fits in a gig duffel bag + 2 basses. The bulkiest bag item is the ZOOM G5n. [Many of my gigs are with majority full-time pro musicians who don't tolerate anything that makes them look or sound bad, though I hung up my full-time status in favor of a regular day job (w/full benefits package). I've heard not a peep from them about a downgrade of tone or sound. Ditto for audience comments.] Regarding the Quad Cortex, the combination of size, features, user interface, and price - though not inexpensive - is dead on the money for my needs. That QC is backed by Doug Castro from Darkglass is icing on the cake for bassists. I'm a Fractal Audio fan, but as a bassist, their optional products (FX8/AX8/FM3,pedals) are excellent, but all sort of miss the mark for what I prefer in a footprint, price, and UI workflow. I'm not going in on the QC at ground floor, though. As thing progress next year and with positive feedback, I'll be doing a gear sell-off to majority fund a Quad Cortex. Likely I'll keep only the G5n.

I've been using my G5n for bass for quite some time with no complaints. Depending on what sort of tone you're looking for, you can be well-served by a Marshall or Hi-Watt rig, especially for vintage bass tones. Having IR loading on the G11 can help close that gap somewhat with some good-quality bass IRs. I do miss some of the bass specific stuff on the B3n. Not going to lie. I'm concerned about the G11 price, though. The Line 6 Pod Go seems like an incredible package with loads of bass stuff already there for the taking, and at a nice price. The G11 may be coming in at twice the price of the G5n, and there's a bit of stiff competition in that middle price point right now. I guess we'll see how this shakes out.

different strokes for certain. I had both the B3 and B3n and wound up selling the B3 in favor of the extra switches and IMO improved drive, amp, and cab sim models on the B3n. I did enjoy the B3 and gigged with it for a few years, but there were certain things about it that I couldn't get past. Operationally, the 3 button format drove me crazy for navigating sounds on the fly. And I couldn't for the life of me find a drive/distortion that I liked on the B3. The B3n allows me to navigate pretty easily across (up to) 7 individual effect blocks to switch on/off in Stompbox mode. No can do on the B3. That's just me, though....

Same for me. I do exactly this, but different modeler(s) and usually via Atomic CLR cabinets (12" coaxial).

As a point of reference, the B3n amps and cabs are much improved over the B3 in my opinion. This also goes for the Drive/Dirt pedal models. I can nail the SVT + 8x10 sound I prefer, and I really like the Acoustic 370+ 1x18" cab sim for old school sounds. The amps are solid. I wish there were more of them. B3n is a solid performer in that price range.

I believe it is a way to balance the levels between two patches that implement the volume/exp pedal, so that you don't have a wild jump in volume up or down. I've not tried this yet myself to confirm how it works, but I believe that is the thinking behind it. A lot of G3n/G5n/B3n users complained about this problem, so it looks like Zoom agreed and did something about it. Too bad, though, that it eats up a slot in the signal chain.

Probably because none of these units are purported by ZOOM to be MIDI capable units, and the only way you can access MIDI is by doing home-brew hacks and programming which are not publicly supported/condoned by ZOOM? Just a guess.

I can happily get along with either editor. I say to try both and use the one you like. The only thing with ToneLib is that it has to keep in step with any developments from Zoom in the future, but that doesn't seem to happen very often.

ToneLib has been updated now to work with the B3n.

Current ToneLib is not yet compatible with the new 2.0 firmware, but I've read that the creator is working on a re-write to make them compatible, if you prefer ToneLib over GuitarLab 3.0

Well, the long-awaited update to the most recent Zoom multi-effects (G5n, G3n, B3n) has finally happened in conjunction with a total overhaul of their companion editor/librarian, GuitarLab. The original GuitarLab software editor was so feature poor that it was almost embarrassing, and Zoom users have been waiting for them to produce a REAL editor for these effects pedals. Well, it's here now, and it's a solid offering. https://www.zoom.co.jp/news/GuitarLab_v3 Zoom also used the opportunity to add some new items to the B3n in addition to an entirely new firmware release (2.0):

The Zoom comps are good-to-go IMO. Two things where Zoom has missed the boat (For a long time) are: WET/DRY blend, and LEVEL meters for viewing gain reduction. That said, though the comps are a bit touchy an tricky to dial in, I find them to be satisfactory vs. many garden-variety dedicated comps, but with a few exceptions. For example, the TC SpectraComp (and other comps with computer interface that also implement the TONE PRINT feature) allows you to use a computer for extremely deep editing, since it is a true 3-band multi-comp, with each band having a full complement of parameters. It is really, REALLY deep in terms of features. This is hard to beat at this price point, but you really need a thorough understanding of multi-band compression or it's very easy to get lost.

GuitarLab software is the only thing I'm aware of offered by ZOOM for the B3n, G3n and G5n. Honestly, it is a pretty poor effort in terms of editing features. In fact, it's not really an editor in the sense you can create patches within GuitarLab. You can do individual and bulk preset backups, re-order and re-name presets, but primarily GuitarLab is for downloading new amps/cabs/effects onto your pedal, and also updating firmware. Again, weak by today's standards. Personally, I find all aspects of the Zoom B3n and G5n so simple to use on the pedal itself, I find myself only ever using the GuitarLab software to do occasional backups and upload new items when Zoom makes them available. But that's just me. An interesting aspect of the software is that it also allows you to completely REMOVE modeled items (amps/cabs/fx) if you so desire. (You can always retrieve them if you want to add them back to your pedal.) This is an interesting feature in the event that ZOOM eventually offers more amps/cabs/fx for the B3n than the physical memory of the pedal can handle. You can pick and choose what to keep and/or load onto your pedal. That's actually pretty unique in the amp/effects modeling world.

Hmmm. Here is the description of the Line Selector from the MS60B manual: This is different that what you describe. Is there something in this description that is missing/incomplete that allows for what you've described, which is PARALLEL wet & dry signal paths? Does the Line Selector in the pedal itself have parameters to indicate this type of parallel routing? can you provide a picture? If this PARALLEL routing feature were available as you describe, I think this is actually a pretty big deal that many bassists, myself included, aren't aware of it.

No. It doesn't have an "output 1" or "output 2". It has a Left and Right output (i.e. stereo). I agree with the notion that it would be great to do what you've described for certain applications, but I don't think we'll see this feature (purely speculation).

Zoom B1on multi-effect pedal is what I'd suggest in that price range. Just set it up so that only a Comp (a few to choose from) is in the signal path. Of course, it gives you a lot more than that if you choose to use it, the least of which are tuner, looper, rhythm box, and headphone output. https://www.thomann.de/gb/zoom_b1on.htm

[quote name='XoSo' timestamp='1507732649' post='3387583'] That's a real shame. From looking at the YouTube vids the boss unit looks better than the zoom. What puts me off the zoom is I had a zoom guitar multi-fx a few years back and it was a pile of junk, but like i said yhat was a few years back. Just throwing a curve ball in, if you wanted multi-fx and drums would you just get he zoom unit or the boss unit and add something like a mooer micro drummer? [/quote] These new ZOOM pedals are far from junk. As far as modeling multi-fx go, these are on the inexpensive side but they sound really good and are plenty roadworthy. I've been gigging with Zoom multi-fx pedals (B3, G5n, B3n) for about 5 years now, and they're solid, and an excellent value that perform far beyond their price point IMHO.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1508580875' post='3393048'] Hey Jimfist - have you had a chance to try out the Zoom MS-60B with the updated Gen 2.0 firmware which now provides 142 (up from 58) effect sims? If so, be interested in getting your thoughts on how that now compares to the B3n in terms of effects modelling (I appreciate it's not going to be in the same league for live performance with just on stomp button vs six (stomp / pedals) on the B3n)? [/quote] I had the MS-60B years ago, which was a gateway to the B3 that I used for a few years, then the G5n, and finally the B3n. Problem I had with the MS-60B was that I couldn't get my active basses to play nice at the front end input, and it would distort badly no matter how clean I would set the pedal. That, combined with the live switching limitations had me flipping the MS-60B and getting the B3 at my first opportunity, and the B3 never gave me this same problem. My impressions overall of the B3n (and G3n/G5n) is that overall, across the board, the provided amp models, cab sims, and effects have all benefited (to whatever extent ranging from a little to a LOT) from the new algorithms. I think the "n" series, from a sound standpoint, is quite a step up from the MS60B and B3.

The best thing about the B1on is the price. There's nothing that can touch it for the money. It is using ZOOM's last - NOT most recent - generation of modeling algorithms. Though it is very compact and a tremendous value for the money (I've got the B1Xon), the newer B3n sounds a whole lot better in general, but especially in the amp modeling and drive categories. Compressors are fine, but I agree that if you have a fave dedicated hardware compressor, the Zoom comp models might take a bit of tweaking to get close...or you may not like them at all. For the cheap price, the B1on is worth a try and if you don't like it, it's still great to have lying around as a backup or practice unit (it can be powered via USB brick)...built in rhythm machine, looper, tuner, etc.