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Zoom B1 Four


Woodinblack

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On 30/04/2019 at 12:35, Al Krow said:

If we put a B1 Four with an expression pedal at the end of the signal chain, am I correct in assuming that the expression pedal will modulate all the preceding effects before the B1 Four and not just the B1 Four's own effects? 

If so, that's going to add another fun dimension in getting the X version, and for the additional £15 or so it's a lot cheaper than getting a standalone expression pedal. 

The expression pedal is just an assignable knob for any of the FX in the B1Four. Those effects will of course affect the tone of any pedals prior to it in the chain, but that would happen with or without an expression pedal.

If you were thinking that the expression pedal might be able to control a random parameter of another separate pedal via telepathy or quantum tunelling then I have to ask, what have you been smoking, and have you got any left?

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1 minute ago, dannybuoy said:

The expression pedal is just an assignable knob for any of the FX in the B1Four. Those effects will of course affect the tone of any pedals prior to it in the chain, but that would happen with or without an expression pedal.

If you were thinking that the expression pedal might be able to control a random parameter of another separate pedal via telepathy or quantum tunelling then I have to ask, what have you been smoking, and have you got any left?

Hah! You're over thinking this: I'm a simple guy who uses his Stomp as a pretty, if slightly bulky, tuner. 

Let me put the Q another way: will the expression pedal on the B1/4 have the same impact on the signal from preceding pedals that a standalone expression pedal at the end of the chain does? 

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4 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

 

If you were thinking that the expression pedal might be able to control a random parameter of another separate pedal via telepathy or quantum tunelling then I have to ask, what have you been smoking, and have you got any left?

Although it doesnt mention the above in the manual, its also doesn't say it cant do this  😂

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1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

You're welcome guys. Just dont blame me if its a scam lol.

Bas, have you started the new thread yet 🙂

I'm outta new threads for today. What had you got in mind? Something on quantum tunnelling? 😄 

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1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Hah! You're over thinking this: I'm a simple guy who uses his Stomp as a pretty, if slightly bulky, tuner. 

Let me put the Q another way: will the expression pedal on the B1/4 have the same impact on the signal from preceding pedals that a standalone expression pedal at the end of the chain does? 

You are under thinking this!

A standalone expression does not go in the chain, no signal passes through it. It just controls one or more parameters of whatever pedal it's connected to.

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6 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I'm outta new threads for today. What had you got in mind? Something on quantum tunnelling? 😄 

Yeah, or maybe something more technical like 'Why use a single pick when you have multiple fingers' 🙂

 

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11 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

You are under thinking this!

A standalone expression does not go in the chain, no signal passes through it. It just controls one or more parameters of whatever pedal it's connected to.

Except that the signal arriving at a particular pedal attached to an expression pedal may well have been modulated by previous pedals, so it will have an indirect effect on everything preceding. But maybe I am simplifying things too much as you say.

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10 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Yeah, or maybe something more technical like 'Why use a single pick when you have multiple fingers' 🙂

 

Good question. But not one that is a burning issue for me; I'm good with using both 😂

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4 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just ordered one from eBay. Should be here this week. £69 inc free postage. The seller is Zoom Uk.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zoom-B1-Four-UK-Bass-Multi-Effects-Pedal/264303958550?hash=item3d89be5a16:g:ZvAAAOSwV4xcyBNL

That's a bit Naff, Zoom UK under cutting their loyal retailers. GAK charge £4.99 for shipping and Thomann charge £8.60 for shipping.

I'm struggling to understand why would Zoom UK want to sell products before they are available through their normal retails routes to market? Could they be "Pre production Units"?

When I had a "proper " job we used to sell off all our pre-production units to staff at a big discount because the manufacturing processes were not finalized during the pre-production run. 

Where products were produced by " Contract Manufacturers" initial quantities were built in-house to verify quality standards, manufacturing systems and Test systems and then mass production commenced at the Sub-Contractor. Initial mass production samples would be shipped by the Contract Manufacturer to us for approval before large shipments were dispatched. These few units maybe early mass pro samples. 

I wonder what serial numbers will be on the units sold via eBay? That's always a good clue to the type of production batch.

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No complaints from me!

And hardly naff. 

If Zoom UK want to avoid online "retailers" taking a big cut of their profits (I get that a physical store gives you the benefit of seeing and hearing a bit of kit before buying but what added value are online retailers providing to us?) and pass some of the savings on to us, their loyal customers, where is the harm to me as the end user?

No different to Amazon Prime offering free postage in my books. 

Edited by Al Krow
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26 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

No complaints from me!

And hardly naff. 

If Zoom UK want to avoid online "retailers" taking a big cut of their profits (I get that a physical store gives you the benefit of seeing and hearing a bit of kit before buying but what added value are online retailers providing to us?) and pass some of the savings on to us, their loyal customers, where is the harm to me as the end user?

No different to Amazon Prime offering free postage in my books. 

Agreed. A lot of the big companies also have eBay outlets. Ive never used one before but at £69 it was worth a shot. Just got an email to say its been posted so we shall see. 

 I noticed GAK have the guitar version in stock already. 

 

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Can you do a picture of that next to your B3N, Dave (and maybe also your MXR M82 for good measure!) , so we can get an idea on size please?

How does it feel in terms of construction and being plastic rather than metal?

Edited by Al Krow
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Sure, ill do it tonight. Ill line it up with the B3n and B1on.

Its a bit smaller than i imagined, which could make it tricky for live use. Thats fine for me as i didnt buy it for that, even though i had been thinking of using it live.

The overall feel is nice, it seems a bit more robust than the B1on. the plastic feels very sturdy. its got a slight roughness ot it which makes it feel less plastic that the B1on.

This is my size 11 foot.

IMG_2473.thumb.jpg.e40047064636cc887e50b5e4a2cc904f.jpg

 

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It's actually pretty small / neat, which is very cool and will make putting it into a gig bag a doddle.

But given its compact size, it seems to me that two stomp switches might have been better than flappy pedals for live use?

Edited by Al Krow
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4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I'ts actually pretty small / neat. But given its size it seems to me that two stomp switches might have been better than flappy pedals for live use?

Yup you maybe right about the "positive " feel of footswitches for a live situation. 

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I agree about the foot switches as well, and it would also help spread them out. I hated my B3 because of the closeness of the switches, although the B3n was a bit better.

Ive still not played through the 4 yet, but i have played with the switches and settings etc. im very impressed at what Zoom have accomplished.

The main knobs on the front adjust overall  Bass/Mid/treble/Master Volume, and are active all the time. This is very handy and not something any of the previous Zoom boxes have (AFAIK).

When you go in to patch mode each of the 5 buttons correspond to one of the 5 effects, so you can turn each effect on and off using just the button (or foot switch) without going in to any menu or selection routine like on the B1-on. It all just seems more intuitive and less button pushing and scrolling around menus.

Very happy so far.

Edited by dave_bass5
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