Zoom B1X help

[bAssGrabber]

i'm a beginner of sorts. i'm playing a schecter custom 4 (active pickups) thru a fender rumble 100. i bought this Zoom B1X because i was intrigued by multieffects, getting some different sounds..... but this thing is so friggin' complicated it seems. has anyone used one? there's so many ridiculously useless preset effects built in....is it not as simple as finding the sound i want and being able to turn it on & off when i want?

the built in drum loops are nice when i wanna mess around tho.

...or am i wasting my time with this thing and need to start looking at seperate pedals? all i really want at this point is good chorus sound and a good overdrive.

i'll take any advice i can get.

[champbassist]

I own one. I agree the presets are useless.

The chorus sounds are pretty good, IMO. But the distortions are passable at best. I use a Bass Big Muff for the distortion (I'm not really into overdrives).

Apart from that, I think the pitch shifter is a hidden gem on this one. Has saved me from detuning in a band scenario. Tracking is surprisingly good, from what I gauge.

I do admit that I have no idea how it'll respond to active pickups though.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by champbassist

I own one. I agree the presets are useless.

The chorus sounds are pretty good, IMO. But the distortions are passable at best. I use a Bass Big Muff for the distortion (I'm not really into overdrives).

Apart from that, I think the pitch shifter is a hidden gem on this one. Has saved me from detuning in a band scenario. Tracking is surprisingly good, from what I gauge.

I do admit that I have no idea how it'll respond to active pickups though.

yeah, i should have mentioned that. i was playing a fender (mexicano) P bass when i bought the Zoom. the active Pups in the Schecter do not sound so great going through the Zoom. but, i REALLY love the way the Schecter plays & feels....so, i'm sticking with it...i just need to add some cool sounds.

[Atomik Rooster]

Zoom includes a very handy modules diagram under the Effect Types and Parameters section of the manual. It lays out the signal flow of the modules and explains the individual effects and your options for modifying and saving them. Pick a preset patch that gets you closest to the sound you're looking for and then play with the parameters of the effects in use. That should get you acquainted with the structure of the patches, and help you explore other effects when you're inclined

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by Atomik Rooster

Zoom includes a very handy modules diagram under the Effect Types and Parameters section of the manual. It lays out the signal flow of the modules and explains the individual effects and your options for modifying and saving them. Pick a preset patch that gets you closest to the sound you're looking for and then play with the parameters of the effects in use. That should get you acquainted with the structure of the patches, and help you explore other effects when you're inclined

That's pretty basic, innit?

But that's a good point: have you been through the manual thoroughly? It really helps. At least here it does.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by champbassist

That's pretty basic, innit?

But that's a good point: have you been through the manual thoroughly? It really helps. At least here it does.

'thoroughly'? define 'thoroughly'.

i've gone through it. but even still, if i FIND what i'm looking for....can i easily switch from my natural bass sound to that dialed in effect on the Zoom?

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by bAssGrabber

'thoroughly'? define 'thoroughly'.

i've gone through it. but even still, if i FIND what i'm looking for....can i easily switch from my natural bass sound to that dialed in effect on the Zoom?

I say 'thoroughly' as in you know what fx the unit serves up, where what fx are and what they do

You can bypass the unit by tapping both the "big" switches at the bottom together. There will be a fair volume drop in the bypassed mode though. That's unless your 'on' mode is running at a really low volume.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by champbassist

I say 'thoroughly' as in you know what fx the unit serves up, where what fx are and what they do

You can bypass the unit by tapping both the "big" switches at the bottom together. There will be a fair volume drop in the bypassed mode though. That's unless your 'on' mode is running at a really low volume.

yeah, i tried that. i'm hardly coordinated enough to hit one foot switch while playing (you should see me chewing gum and playing) let alone trying to hit two switches simultaneously! aside from that, in bypass mode, it sounds like digital s--t, imo.

...i'm starting to think this pedal aint for me.

crap

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by bAssGrabber

aside from that, in bypass mode, it sounds like digital s--t, imo.

...i'm starting to think this pedal aint for me.

crap

I actually did not notice any significant problems in the bypass mode apart from the volume drop. And I always keep a "dry" patch at A0 to revert to if need be: it has no effects.

Again, the thing is though I find this unit useful, I have not a clue as to how it works with active pickups. If you say so, maybe it does sound crappy. It'd have been much better had you tried it with an active bass first.

This is really the point of cheap multifx like this one: they're kinda hit and miss, and if it's miss for you, it's not a big monetary loss. Personally, on this, I like the choruses, the pitch shifter and the delays (primarily because you can easily dial in the specific delay time). The ZNR also does an OK job to clean up a bit.

What I particularly dislike includes the comp/limiter, distortion models and onboard eq.

Try these out to see if anything works. As you're primarily looking for chorus and overdrive, you could look at individual pedals. There are tons of good, fairly cheap options for chorus and OD in the market. If you were thinking that the B1X would be the one solution for all your effects needs, that is definitely not going to happen, I'm afraid to say.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by champbassist

It'd have been much better had you tried it with an active bass first.

i didnt get get the active bass until after i had the Zoom. i just love the way it feels and havent looked back at my Fender in a while.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by bAssGrabber

i didnt get get the active bass until after i had the Zoom. i just love the way it feels and havent looked back at my Fender in a while.

Oh that's unfortunate. But, as I said, if it's not working out you can now look at something better and be content that it's not like a huge investment's gone down the drain.

And honestly, of you're looking at only a good chorus and OD (something that just came to my mind while writing the previous post ) you're much better off just looking for individual pedals.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by champbassist

Oh that's unfortunate. But, as I said, if it's not working out you can now look at something better and be content that it's not like a huge investment's gone down the drain.

And honestly, of you're looking at only a good chorus and OD (something that just came to my mind while writing the previous post ) you're much better off just looking for individual pedals.

where do you recommend i start? best bang for the buck? with a wife & kids i cant spend like i used to i've looked at behringer, but it just felt (and even sounded) cheap.

[bAssGrabber]

btw, i watched some demos of the big muff, i dig that sound.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by bAssGrabber

where do you recommend i start? best bang for the buck? with a wife & kids i cant spend like i used to i've looked at behringer, but it just felt (and even sounded) cheap.

As I said, I'm not really into OD all that much. Regarding chorus, I personally use a Boss CE-5. There are tons and tons of chorus/OD threads on TB, actually. Use the search tool and see what you find. You'll find extensive and really informative discussions upon most good, popular, cheap pedals out there.

Behringers are basically cheaply constructed clones of costlier pedals. Thus the doubts regarding them.

[bassbrad]

Instead of trying to bypass the unit I set mine up to have clean or neutral patches between effects patches and then set it all up in a logical performance order:
C0 Neutral room
C1 Pop Bassman
C2 Bassman Chorus
C3 Bassman Octave Up
C4 Pop Bassman
C5 BassBradBootZillaTron
this way I no more than 1 or 2 steps away to clean or freaky tones. FWIW the presets are completely useless, imo it's best to start with a clean patch and build from there. I have one band that are just simple chorus, flange sounds because I also use other efx with my Zoom.

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Instead of trying to bypass the unit I set mine up to have clean or neutral patches between effects patches and then set it all up in a logical performance order:
C0 Neutral room
C1 Pop Bassman
C2 Bassman Chorus
C3 Bassman Octave Up
C4 Pop Bassman
C5 BassBradBootZillaTron
this way I no more than 1 or 2 steps away to clean or freaky tones. FWIW the presets are completely useless, imo it's best to start with a clean patch and build from there. I have one band that are just simple chorus, flange sounds because I also use other efx with my Zoom.

interesting. maybe i should look into this. thx

[Lumpy_Bass]

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Instead of trying to bypass the unit I set mine up to have clean or neutral patches between effects patches and then set it all up in a logical performance order:
C0 Neutral room
C1 Pop Bassman
C2 Bassman Chorus
C3 Bassman Octave Up
C4 Pop Bassman
C5 BassBradBootZillaTron
this way I no more than 1 or 2 steps away to clean or freaky tones. FWIW the presets are completely useless, imo it's best to start with a clean patch and build from there. I have one band that are just simple chorus, flange sounds because I also use other efx with my Zoom.

I've got the the B1 and it's a great headphone amp, cool drum machine, and great tuner. The effects processing just simply didn't cut it in a live Full band scenario for me.

However, it is great for experimenting with different effects to find what you like . I did two of the same things mentioned in this thread. I set A0 to completely unaffected. i run my pedalboard into it and use it as head phone amp, or even with out the pedals just to jam late night. Then for the for the first 7 or so patches after that I set up single effects in alphabetical order. A1 = Chorus A2 = Defret A3 = Emsemble etc. Leaves me with about 10 or so combined effects pre sets, I haven't even touched them.

A great entry level for effects IMHO but if you are going to be using effects in a live scenarios I would suggest stomp boxes. Digitech makes some decent stuff that is a little more expensive than behringer but A LOT more durable. Good luck and BEWARE buying pedals can become addictive fast!

[bAssGrabber]

Originally Posted by Lumpy_Bass

I've got the the B1 and it's a great headphone amp, cool drum machine, and great tuner. The effects processing just simply didn't cut it in a live Full band scenario for me.

However, it is great for experimenting with different effects to find what you like . I did two of the same things mentioned in this thread. I set A0 to completely unaffected. i run my pedalboard into it and use it as head phone amp, or even with out the pedals just to jam late night. Then for the for the first 7 or so patches after that I set up single effects in alphabetical order. A1 = Chorus A2 = Defret A3 = Emsemble etc. Leaves me with about 10 or so combined effects pre sets, I haven't even touched them.

A great entry level for effects IMHO but if you are going to be using effects in a live scenarios I would suggest stomp boxes. Digitech makes some decent stuff that is a little more expensive than behringer but A LOT more durable. Good luck and BEWARE buying pedals can become addictive fast!

thanks for the reply. i guess, without thinking (which is how i pretty much go thru life) i took this route. i've played with the Zoom, and found things i like (and dislike) and directions i wanna take....and now i'm looking at stomp boxes.

.....and i'm already addiced just looking on line and listening to demos.