Zoom B3

[Funky Dunky]

Has excellent reviews, and initially I just wanted two or three pedals, but this thing is so versatile I think maybe I should get one. Can any owners tell me, how good/usable are the amp sims?

Does it suck your tone?
Can you use it with just a cab, like an amp head?

[uncle psychosis]

The amp sims are very usable.

I haven't noticed any tone suck but I've always used mine direct to desk and I'm no tone snob.

You could use it like an amp head but you would need a power amp too. There's a really useful thread about doing this over at Talk Bass. http://www.talkbass.com/threads/zoom-b3-as-preamp.936505/

[Funky Dunky]

Ah, superb! Cheers uncle!

[Funky Dunky]

You could gig with just a B3 and a bass, then?

[Skybone]

I agree, the amp sims are very usable.

In theory, you should be able to use the DI Out straight to the desk (without the need for the PA DI box), and get a usable sound. Though I would spend some time in rehearsal plugged into the PA, tweaking your sound so it works. That's the whole reason I bought a B3, but I admit that I'm GAS-ing for an amp as well now!

You could also plug it into your computer & install a recording package to see how it sounds "on record" so to speak.

[Machines]

I've had mine about 18 months and gigged it a few times. I generally just use it as a EQ/tuner which is somewhat overkill since it does so much more.

I think it's good to have a few patches setup for specific songs etc and the way you can adapt them is superb. The only thing I wish it had was an AUX in for home practice.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Machines

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1432649234' post='2783565']
I think it's good to have a few patches setup for specific songs etc and the way you can adapt them is superb. The only thing I wish it had was an AUX in for home practice.
[/quote]

It doesn't have a dedicated aux in but if you connect it to your PC via USB then I'm about 99.9% certain you can get the PC to use it as an audio output device and play mp3s or whatever through it.

Edited May 26, 2015 by uncle psychosis

[Funky Dunky]

You can rock out through headphones though, aye? It seems great just for home practice but if it's giggable into the bargain I think I want one! I was just goinf to get two or three pedals but the amp sims in the B3 really swing it for me.

[Machines]

Yes headphones work great, just want to be able to have a track playing in too from my phone.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Machines

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1432640125' post='2783423']
You could gig with just a B3 and a bass, then?
[/quote]

Yep, I have done, worked fine - though you are at the sound engineers mercy for monitor levels of course.

[Sean]

The MXR M80 DI+ sim is very good indeed. I've compared the two and the B3 is very close.
I use my B3 as an interface and for home practise. It's definitely gig-able too. I've even used it as a drum machine for rehearsal when our drummer's been unavailable.

[landwomble]

I've a B2 and whilst it's versatile I struggle with it compared to regular pedals. Getting a mild tubey overdrive from it without losing the bottom end is problematic.
Is the B3 better in this regard? It looks more like 3 virtual pedals....

[nbtone]

I like the tube emulation circuits in the B3. I usually need a tube preamp to find anything that I like from my BOSS pedals, but the B3 has some things that work all by themselves with my active bass. I've found some nice tones with my passive bass when using the tube preamp, but I haven't been able to find anything very useable using just the B3. The only thing that bothers me about the B3 is that it hums if you don't have your fingers on the strings, which means that using a piezo pickup on an acoustic instrument is not so good.