This is the first and only effects pedal I have purchased. I bought this in 2015, shortly after joining a band where I needed an all-purpose pedal for gigs. Specific effects were needed for certain tunes, a tuner and mute were needed at the mic, and this fit the bill.
The overall build quality is good, but some of the small push-buttons don't engage very well and you have to be careful how you push them in order for them to work. The dials and stomp buttons are solid, though.
The effects are, for the most part, good. I have been able to find an effect for all the songs we do, but some effects are better than others.
The Octave effect is one that falls a bit short. It is a bit synth sounding, and depending on string volume, may cut in and out, which is quite annoying.
Compression effects seem to work well.
The paraeq effect is ok, but is too clunky to adjust, so I ended up getting a rack-mounted unit to work with my amp.
BassMuff works well. I use this in conjunction with Mono Pitch to create a pretty good bass sound for Muse's "Uprising" and alone for a Green Day tone.
Reverb is good. I use Arena Reverb.
Flanger is good. I use that with Mono Pitch for a good approximation of the bass tone in U2's "Elevation"
There are a ton of other effects available that I don't use, and they probably really shouldn't be used unless you have a specific song that really calls for it.
Having to press and hold the middle stomp button to go into mute or tuner mode is annoying. Would rather have one button that you can quickly press to go into tuning mode that also mutes. Adds an extra layer of frustration that is not needed when you are trying to get ready for the next song during a gig.
The user interface is pretty unintuitive. From what I have read, the B3n, Zoom's newer version of this unit, has improved the interface. But, the B3n doesn't have a built-in DI, so that should be a consideration if you need that. I have never used the DI in the B3, since my amp has one. If I were in the market for one today, I'd probably go for the B3n.
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