New Zoom Multi FX: the MS-60B+

[mcnach]

On 07/09/2024 at 13:33, Osiris said:

A question for those that own, or have owned, one of these...

 

What is the case made from? From what I can gather online it suggests the new + series pedals have metal cases but the recently dropped bass the world video for the pedal says it's a plastic case. So which is it? 

 

Ignore my previous post... they are right, mostly. The black sides and bottom is metal, the red top is indeed some kind of tough plastic. I have had one for a couple of weeks and I hadn't realised! It doesn't feel plastic, apart from it being slightly warmer to the touch than the metal parts. Seems very well built. 

[Osiris]

9 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

Ignore my previous post... they are right, mostly. The black sides and bottom is metal, the red top is indeed some kind of tough plastic. I have had one for a couple of weeks and I hadn't realised! It doesn't feel plastic, apart from it being slightly warmer to the touch than the metal parts. Seems very well built. 

 

Thanks for the update. Do you think it feels sturdy enough to survive regular gigging on a pedal board? Not that I stamp hard on my pedals but things occasionally get knocked over and just wondered if it's likely to be tough enough to survive such an encounter? I'd guess it would be considering the other features, switches, screen huge make up a lot of the top face of the unit. 

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, Osiris said:

 

Thanks for the update. Do you think it feels sturdy enough to survive regular gigging on a pedal board? Not that I stamp hard on my pedals but things occasionally get knocked over and just wondered if it's likely to be tough enough to survive such an encounter? I'd guess it would be considering the other features, switches, screen huge make up a lot of the top face of the unit. 

 

I think so. I think it could get scuffed but it doesn't seem fragile at all. I imagine the screen is the weakest point, although the screen itself is quite a bit under the protective window so you probably could crack the window but not damage the screen itself. The 4 rotary knobs are installed at an angle within a recess so they also seem reasonably protected. 

 

Nothing is damage proof, of course, but this thing seems sturdier than the B6 (which I also have) and especially the previous generation B1Four by some margin.

Installed on a pedal board? I would not worry about it. 

 

 

 

 

[Osiris]

9 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

I think so. I think it could get scuffed but it doesn't seem fragile at all. I imagine the screen is the weakest point, although the screen itself is quite a bit under the protective window so you probably could crack the window but not damage the screen itself. The 4 rotary knobs are installed at an angle within a recess so they also seem reasonably protected. 

 

Nothing is damage proof, of course, but this thing seems sturdier than the B6 (which I also have) and especially the previous generation B1Four by some margin.

Installed on a pedal board? I would not worry about it. 

 

 

 

 

 

That's great, I appreciate it 👍

[Jackopie1]

On 10/09/2024 at 13:26, Osiris said:

 

Thanks for the update. Do you think it feels sturdy enough to survive regular gigging on a pedal board? Not that I stamp hard on my pedals but things occasionally get knocked over and just wondered if it's likely to be tough enough to survive such an encounter? I'd guess it would be considering the other features, switches, screen huge make up a lot of the top face of the unit. 

Hi mate.

 

Having just finished a run of functions and wedding gigs using nothing but a bass, Multistomp and di, I think it feels really sturdy.

 

It has already survived being knocked off an 18" sub onto a hard stage (thanks sound engineer) and picked up and dropped onto a tiled floor (thanks toddler).

 

I've never gigged with a multi-fx, and was a little worried about reliability and sturdiness too, but it seems solid so far. Time will tell, though!

 

 

[Jackopie1]

A few thoughts on the new multistep for live use after some gigs with it - 

 

It's so easy to scroll through the different fx within a patch. I never felt like it was too tricky to hit the scroll buttons on stage, or to see what effect I was scrolling to.

 

The tuner is great.

 

Very low noise.

 

I only really use the following effects live:

 

The ztron filter is great - I actually prefer it to the analog filters I've been using live.

 

The analog octaver is also good, especially after having low expectations reading some comments. Maybe it misses the last 5%  mid-warmth of an actual analog pedal, but I really didn't miss that, especially when playing live. I don't think I'd have really noticed a difference if I hadn't done side-by-side comparisons with a couple of octavers when I received the Multistomp.

 

Compressors seem OK - haven't played much with p compressors before, but on low settings these seem to add a nice bit of thump in an IEM mix. 

 

And as a bonus, load in now entirely fits in one hard-case, which has been weirdly satisfying.

 

What a fantastic bit of kit. Given the the eq, reverb and mod available, it's amazing it's so cheap. HPF and LPF alone often cost as much, let alone a versatile eq pedal.

 

My only nagging worry is the long-term reliability, but that's based purely on unearned cynicism towards digital fx - it seems more than rugged enough.

 

[youkoulou]

Have any of you tested the ms-70cdr+ in combination with the ms-60b+?

[Me987345]

On 17/03/2024 at 10:02, Al Krow said:

 

Is there any difference in the pitch they are centred on for tracking purposes?

I know with the Boss OC-5 octaver and Boss SY-1 synth (but interestingly not the Boss SY-200) pedals have a bass/guitar selector switch to optimise the pedal for whichever you're playing.

Uh RTFriggenM...the sy-200 has bass input mode also.....Of course.

Edited December 9, 2024 by Me987345

[Elfrasho]

On 17/04/2024 at 21:33, Al Krow said:

"The MS-60B+ allows you to split output signals. This allows you to output with Amps/IR’s to a PA, while simultaneously outputting without Amps/IR’s to your amplifier."

 

That's very neat!

 

This is an excellent feature. 

 

My ms60b probably suits my needs more than my stomp set up does, but having to use the same amp sim signal to foh and to a backline was a limitation. This fixes that!

 

I have a feeling this will be one of those "Friday night after half a bottle of red wine" online purchases over the next few weeks!

[SumOne]

I got the MS-60B+ yesterday (ruining any chance of a 2025 gear abstinence!) and am quite liking it. Considering the size and price it seems a bit unfair to compare it to bigger and more expensive multi-fx but can compare to the MS-60B.

 

The MS-60B+ has more practical/useable presets, 6x effects per block (v 4), better buttons, more knobs (but I find them a bit too small and fiddly) the colour screen is good for some stuff like the tuner (although can sometimes make things hard to read). It is simpler to turn individual effects on/off via footswitches. I think the amp/cab sims have been improved, other things sound similar (but that's just from memory, it has been a few years since I owned a MS-60B).

 

The older MS-60B is better in some ways though: Some of the effects on the MS-60B have more parameters to control e.g. Dual Comp has 'tone' control on the older version, but isn't available on the '+'. Also, the old MS-60B seems better for use with presets as on the MS-60B+ you can't permanently display the patch (preset), that seems a big oversight and surely is just a simple software thing.  On the MS-60 you could also scroll through a small list of presets with the footswitch, that isn't an option on the '+'...it seems a step back to take away that functionality.

 

For me, this will cover a few 'always on' type things, and be a tuner, and can get it ready to stomp on/off one particular effect within a patch, I wouldn't want to be trying to scroll through patches or effects live though. 

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 15:55 by SumOne

[tayste_2000]

I’ll be buying one as soon as one is for sale on this forum for less than new 😂😇

[SumOne]

For me, at band practice I was a bit disappointed with some practicalities.

 

I found changing patches or scrolling effects something that needs to be done by hand - not ideal for a pedal on the floor. It's not quickly obvious which effects are engaged in a patch - need to scroll through them all. 

 

Even just using the footswitch to turn one effect on/off (or tuner) seems a bit risky live - too easy to potentially stomp one of the other buttons and change patch with my size 12 boots. 

 

Changing overall volume is a bit of a menu click through (e.g. started a song and volume seemed a bit low - most pedals or amp it's a very quick action to turn up, not quick enough to do mid song with the MS 60B+ though).

 

The old MS 60B system of footswitch scrolling through a few selected presets would solve a lot of my issues.

 

So it's not for me. Sorry @tayste_2000 but it was from Amazon so will get returned rather than sold here!

[Al Krow]

On 15/07/2024 at 12:01, Al Krow said:

Agreed on what you say about the B1-4: the slightly muffled and the need to use the Zoom Noise Reduction on pretty much all the patches I've set up, are the things I can and have lived with, but if there's an overall better multifx at a decent price with PC editing (which the B2-4 doesn't have) then that would be ideal. I've personally never bonded with the Helix Stomp and I know quite a few of us have had a mixed experience with that one in terms of holding onto it, but I've seen how quickly/easily guitarists who I work seem with get a good sound from their GT1000 Core, so when one of those pops up used, I'm going to be very tempted to pick one up. 

 

I did have high hopes for the MS-60B+ but as I mentioned earlier, its limitations in terms of lack of PC editing and inability to display name of the patch you are on other than very temporarily have ruled it out for me. Shame - I feel those are both things that Zoom could easily fix and, if they do, I'll have another look at the 60B+ down the line.

 

5 hours ago, SumOne said:

For me, at band practice I was a bit disappointed with some practicalities.

I found changing patches or scrolling effects something that needs to be done by hand - not ideal for a pedal on the floor. It's not quickly obvious which effects are engaged in a patch - need to scroll through them all. 

Even just using the footswitch to turn one effect on/off (or tuner) seems a bit risky live - too easy to potentially stomp one of the other buttons and change patch with my size 12 boots. 

Changing overall volume is a bit of a menu click through (e.g. started a song and volume seemed a bit low - most pedals or amp it's a very quick action to turn up, not quick enough to do mid song with the MS 60B+ though).

The old MS 60B system of footswitch scrolling through a few selected presets would solve a lot of my issues.

 

You and I seem to have landed on the exact same conclusion re. the Zoom MS60B+ 

Shame.

Fortunately a GT 1000 Core did show up, as you know! 😃

 

Edited Thursday at 14:58 by Al Krow
Zoom not Boss!

[SumOne]

59 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

 

You and I seem to have landed on the exact same conclusion re. the Boss MS60B+ 

Shame.

Fortunately a GT 1000 Core did show up, as you know! 😃

 

I'll end up buying it back!

[tayste_2000]

2 hours ago, SumOne said:

For me, at band practice I was a bit disappointed with some practicalities.

 

I found changing patches or scrolling effects something that needs to be done by hand - not ideal for a pedal on the floor. It's not quickly obvious which effects are engaged in a patch - need to scroll through them all. 

 

Even just using the footswitch to turn one effect on/off (or tuner) seems a bit risky live - too easy to potentially stomp one of the other buttons and change patch with my size 12 boots. 

 

Changing overall volume is a bit of a menu click through (e.g. started a song and volume seemed a bit low - most pedals or amp it's a very quick action to turn up, not quick enough to do mid song with the MS 60B+ though).

 

The old MS 60B system of footswitch scrolling through a few selected presets would solve a lot of my issues.

 

So it's not for me. Sorry @tayste_2000 but it was from Amazon so will get returned rather than sold here!

 

No worries, I’m conflicted on getting one currently, I never use my 60b (it’s just nice to have).

 

I assumed I’d use it like I use the older one, line selector as the first effect and I just turn that on which is turning on the whole chain. Which is either a bunch of fx or one for a set song and then in between songs I’d switch patch. But this is in theory as generally I take the 60b running on batteries, have a synth patch ready to go and just turn it on and off in a jam, or I’ve got an ambient patch ready to go and I just turn it on at the end of song to fill space before going into the next one.

 

I’ll likely just get one in the states when I pass through, people on TB selling them for $99 and since I’m not in a rush I’ll just grab one when the opportunity arises. Unless in the meantime something else magically quells my gas.

[Rich]

5 hours ago, SumOne said:

For me, at band practice I was a bit disappointed with some practicalities.

I found changing patches or scrolling effects something that needs to be done by hand - not ideal for a pedal on the floor. It's not quickly obvious which effects are engaged in a patch - need to scroll through them all. 

Even just using the footswitch to turn one effect on/off (or tuner) seems a bit risky live - too easy to potentially stomp one of the other buttons and change patch with my size 12 boots. 

Changing overall volume is a bit of a menu click through (e.g. started a song and volume seemed a bit low - most pedals or amp it's a very quick action to turn up, not quick enough to do mid song with the MS 60B+ though).

The old MS 60B system of footswitch scrolling through a few selected presets would solve a lot of my issues.

So it's not for me. Sorry @tayste_2000 but it was from Amazon so will get returned rather than sold here!

 

On 15/07/2024 at 12:01, Al Krow said:

I did have high hopes for the MS-60B+ but as I mentioned earlier, it's limitations in terms of lack of PC editing and inability to display name of the patch you are on other than very temporarily have ruled it out for me. Shame - I feel those are both things that Zoom could easily fix and, if they do, I'll have another look at the 60B+ down the line.

 

Well, that's disappointing. I was hoping the 60B+ would be a more effective live tool than the 60B, not a more fiddly one. So it looks like I'll be sticking with my 60B in its dedicated FX loop. What a massive let-down.  

[tauzero]

Zoom's response when I asked them about including the MS-+ series in Windows Guitar Lab or an Android version of Handy Guitar Lab was to pass the suggestion on to Zoom HQ, where it was presumably ignored. I got a similar result when I asked about Android support for the now defunct MS-100BT (maybe if they had also supported Android, it wouldn't have died the death).

 

I've also asked on Tonelib about support for later pedals and there's been absolutely no response. I appreciate that it's free software and they have other software which is revenue-generating so they won't have it as a priority, but some acknowledgement would be nice.

[tayste_2000]

10 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I got a similar result when I asked about Android support for the now defunct MS-100BT (maybe if they had also supported Android, it wouldn't have died the death).

 

 

It wouldn’t have helped, it was a horrendously flawed product/app.

[SumOne]

Yeah, it's a shame there aren't just a couple of software changes: Allow the Patch name to be constantly displayed, and allow the footswitch to scroll through a list of patches. Bring back PC editing, and perhaps I'm imagining things, but I seem to remember the older MS-60 having more parameter control on certain effects.  After all the effort of a hardware re-design and certain software improvements it seems an own goal to get rid of those useful things that the older model has.

Edited Thursday at 15:47 by SumOne

[Al Krow]

4 hours ago, SumOne said:

 

I'll end up buying it back!

 

We just know that's going to happen. But hopefully not from me this time around!

[JohnDaBass]

Well, having had and sold a MS-60 I am glad I have stuck with my B-1-Four for live work.😇

( Mind you I also have a B-2-Four & B6 to mess with at home )😂

Zoom FanBoy R Us

[Al Krow]

23 minutes ago, JohnDaBass said:

Well, having had and sold a MS-60 I am glad I have stuck with my B-1-Four for live work.😇

( Mind you I also have a B-2-Four & B6 to mess with at home )😂

Zoom FanBoy R Us

 

You and me both John! You prefer the B1-4 over the B2-4 & B6 for live work?! VERY reassuring to hear, but please spill the beans as to why?

[JohnDaBass]

23 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

You and me both John! You prefer the B1-4 over the B2-4 & B6 for live work?! VERY reassuring to hear, but please spill the beans as to why?

B-1-Four on batteries, Simples

[andruca]

I'm still confused as per Zooms' guts. I own several G/MS/on generation devices. All have the same effects and sound the same. I own a B1Xfour too (following generation AFAIK). Are the newer B6/B2four/MS+ the same generation processor as the B1four/B3n? Effect parameters look like so (just don't get me started about the para-EQ going from 2-band to 1, I don't get such loss of functionality).

 

I've been forever struggling to make my B1Xfour sound as "full" as my old Multistomps/on/B3. It both sounds more "lo-fi" and also "genericizes" the tone of my basses, meaning their character gets diluted in comparison with, i.e., my old MS-60B. That's why I want to know if tone is the same on newer models. I'm really interested in an MS-60B+, but if tone is similar to that of the B1four/Xfour I would pass, and patiently wait for the next gen (my duty as a decades long Zoom fanboy).

Edited Friday at 07:16 by andruca

[tauzero]

7 hours ago, andruca said:

I'm still confused as per Zooms' guts. I own several G/MS/on generation devices. All have the same effects and sound the same. I own a B1Xfour too (following generation AFAIK). Are the newer B6/B2four/MS+ the same generation processor as the B1four/B3n? Effect parameters look like so (just don't get me started about the para-EQ going from 2-band to 1, I don't get such loss of functionality).

 

I've been forever struggling to make my B1Xfour sound as "full" as my old Multistomps/on/B3. It both sounds more "lo-fi" and also "genericizes" the tone of my basses, meaning their character gets diluted in comparison with, i.e., my old MS-60B. That's why I want to know if tone is the same on newer models. I'm really interested in an MS-60B+, but if tone is similar to that of the B1four/Xfour I would pass, and patiently wait for the next gen (my duty as a decades long Zoom fanboy).

 

I think the processor is a couple of generations on, although the specs look the same and I can't find the reference to it that I had seen before. All Zoom refer to is an improved analogue circuit.

 

If Zoom come up with an editor for the PC and/or Android, I'll be interested.