glassmoon Posted December 7 Share Posted December 7 Hello everyone I have a question about the Zoom MS-60B and how it potentially might be used to "tame" particularly harsh or overly bright pickups. I have a Sadowsky MetroExpress 5, the basic model without the VTC circuit. I find the pickups way too bright and harsh for my taste, and short of replacing the pickups with a more vintage option, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how I could use the MS-60B to curb that harshness - perhaps, something that might warm up and round out the tone (for want of a better description). I know there are some very handy preamp options available in the Zoom, but I have barely scratched the surface of what this unit can do. As ever, my deepest thanks on advance. Julian aka Glassmoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinB Posted December 7 Share Posted December 7 You could try using the "Ba PEQ" (parametric equaliser) effect to see if there's a specific range of frequencies that sound harsh to you. Set Q1 to maximum and Gain1 to minimum, and then adjust Freq1 while playing. This will be removing a narrow band of frequencies, so when you find a spot that makes the pickups sound, you can try reducing Q1 to make it wider and Gain1 to make it less dramatic. If you're having trouble finding the offending range, try setting Gain1 to maximum instead, and twiddle the frequency until it really emphasises the bad sounds - then you can turn the gain down to knock them out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfrasho Posted December 7 Share Posted December 7 If you are planning on using the ms60b for this specific purpose, then i'd recommend downloading the zoom effects manager. It basically allows you to upload any of the zoom effects to the unit, not just the bass effects. you can load it up with all the EQs and pre's that zoom offer and see what ones work best. Just remove the flanges and delays etc that you wont use. Some of the non-bass EQ's might work better for you. Although could an 8th turn of the tone knob on the bass tame the harsh end? I'm guilty of thinking a pedal is needed when actually a tweak on the bass can make a change! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted December 7 Author Share Posted December 7 Oooh. Thanks for those valuable ideas. I will try everything suggested and see what works and what doesn't. Last question, I use the unit for a cover band, so I have my stock, no FX patch (which goes into an impulse loader). I have a synth bass patch, a keyboard bass patch, one nasty dirt patch and two patches I use with a line selector to turn an effect on or off during the song.... So do I put the eq I end up with at the start of the chain, or the end? I'd say at the start? Many thanks for the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 9 hours ago, glassmoon said: Oooh. Thanks for those valuable ideas. I will try everything suggested and see what works and what doesn't. Last question, I use the unit for a cover band, so I have my stock, no FX patch (which goes into an impulse loader). I have a synth bass patch, a keyboard bass patch, one nasty dirt patch and two patches I use with a line selector to turn an effect on or off during the song.... So do I put the eq I end up with at the start of the chain, or the end? I'd say at the start? Many thanks for the replies The beauty of digital multifx is you can try both… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 If your impulse loader has a low pass pass filter you could use that to take off unwanted brightness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted December 8 Author Share Posted December 8 I need to see if it does. The IRL world is very new to me. I still need to find a cab that I absolutely love.... But that requires money and it can become costly to buy and not like LOL I need to try the parametric EQ on the Zoom (with the ILR switched off) and then fiddle with LPFs Thanks all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Tonelib-Zoom is very useful - edit patches on the MS-60B with a (Windows, Mac, or Ubuntu Linux) computer. https://tonelib.net/tonelib-zoom.html Not available for the MS-60B+. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted December 10 Share Posted December 10 Flatwound strings is where I’d start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted December 10 Author Share Posted December 10 41 minutes ago, paul_5 said: Flatwound strings is where I’d start. I've considered them... maybe half wounds, or ground wounds, or whatever they are called... I play Elixir, which gives me some "softness", but let me look into that... stop me slapping at least 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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