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Double Bass Anyone still using zoom A3 , AC2 or?

#2
Yeah I use the AC2 with my EUB to fill out the sound and filter out its prominent mid frequencies. I mainly use the Dreadnought and Upright Bass settings, together with a HPF always on at about 75Hz.
One niggle about this pedal is the very short battery life, even when you turn it off and unplug it it seems to drain the AA batteries.
 
#8
I have a Zoom A3, it gets used on almost every amplified gig I do now.
I have a presets for Remic mic, Dyn B and my SLB200 EUB.
@brianrost - I power it with a mobile phone 'powerbank' into the USB power inlet. It uses about 10% of charge over 2 - 2 1/2hours when making 48V phantom for the Remic. Less for the Dyn B and SLB200.
The headphones chew power a little quicker. They are handy for checking out HPF and EQ settings for the presets.
 
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#12
I have a few questions about the A3:
1) I see there is a phase reversal setting for the mic input, but it looks like there is not one for the pickup input or combined signal. Is that right?
2) @Happy Steve mentioned an HPF, but I don't see an HPF (aka Low EQ as Zoom usually calls it) effect listed in the manual. What are you using for the HPF effect?
3) What other Zoom pedals have effects compatible with the A3? I'm guessing this is the same generation as the MS-60B, MS-50G, MS-70CDR, and B3, so all of those FX are compatible?
4) Can it be powered via the USB port like other Zoom pedals? If so, what style of USB port does it have?

Thanks!

Edit: Regarding #1 above, is there a way to invert the phase when using only a piezo pickup? Could I plug into the mic input (I see it is an XLR 1/4" combi with 1M-Ohm input) and use the mic phase setting in the menu?
 
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#13
I just dug mine out to double check.
1) That appears to be correct. HPF and phase reversal are only available through the mic input/combination jack, as you note in your edited comment.
2) It’s in the mic settings.
3) I don’t know.
4) Yes. It’s USB-B Mini.

bassically_eli said:
I have a few questions about the A3:
1) I see there is a phase reversal setting for the mic input, but it looks like there is not one for the pickup input or combined signal. Is that right?
2) @Happy Steve mentioned an HPF, but I don't see an HPF (aka Low EQ as Zoom usually calls it) effect listed in the manual. What are you using for the HPF effect?
3) What other Zoom pedals have effects compatible with the A3? I'm guessing this is the same generation as the MS-60B, MS-50G, MS-70CDR, and B3, so all of those FX are compatible?
4) Can it be powered via the USB port like other Zoom pedals? If so, what style of USB port does it have?

Thanks!

Edit: Regarding #1 above, is there a way to invert the phase when using only a piezo pickup? Could I plug into the mic input (I see it is an XLR 1/4" combi with 1M-Ohm input) and use the mic phase setting in the menu?
Click to expand...
 
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#14
Drew Tanner said:
I just dug mine out to double check.
1) That appears to be correct. HPF and phase reversal are only available through the mic input/combination jack, as you note in your edited comment.
2) It’s in the mic settings.
3) I don’t know.
4) Yes. It’s USB-B Mini.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's super helpful. Hopefully I can port over the Low EQ or another effect with HPF since my Realist desperately needs an HPF (I would like to pick up one of these to blend one of my piezos with my mic). If not, then the Para EQ could probably be serviceable.
 
#16
The HPF settings on the mic input are at fixed frequencies 40,80,160 from memory. I never tried the anti-feedback on the A3, but I had a Behringer 'Shark' pre once with anti-feedback and it was unusable as it activated with any sustained notes and gradually chewed up all the notes in the key you were playing in.. Maybe the A3 anti-feedback could be tricked into notching some frequencies and then locked in, but I have always relied on the 2 bands of parametric eq which are available.
 
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#17
I recently got a double bass with a Realist pickup. I've successfully used the A3 for my EUB, but was going to try using it for the DB, mainly for the feedback and DI functions.

I tried it yesterday with an amp but was getting some bad ringing overtones. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Where is the HPF in the A3? Is it only attached to the mic sim? I wish it had the controllable depth knob that my ms60b has in one of the Fishman type settings, which really is an hpf. I tried that briefly and it seemed to prevent some initial feedback from happening.

I guess I could use them in conjunction, but really don't want to use more than one pedal.
 
#18
jdh3000 said:
I recently got a double bass with a Realist pickup. I've successfully used the A3 for my EUB, but was going to try using it for the DB, mainly for the feedback and DI functions.

I tried it yesterday with an amp but was getting some bad ringing overtones. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Where is the HPF in the A3? Is it only attached to the mic sim? I wish it had the controllable depth knob that my ms60b has in one of the Fishman type settings, which really is an hpf. I tried that briefly and it seemed to prevent some initial feedback from happening.

I guess I could use them in conjunction, but really don't want to use more than one pedal.
Click to expand...
The HPF as well as the phase reversal are in the settings menu and only apply to the mic input. However, since the mic input is a combi Jack with a 1M-Ohm impedance, you should be able to use that for your Realist if you want. The downside being that you won't be able to using the modeling effect or the piezo/magnetic/flat switch.

I picked one of these up a little over a week ago, and in spite of all the limitations with its software (it's really too bad Zoom isn't making/supporting it anymore), I really, really like it. I've played three gigs with it so far. Here's the one I just played today for anyone interested:

The Blue Plate Special in Knoxville (I haven't even listened to it yet, hopefully it sounds okay)
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We're the second act. We start at minute 30.

So far I've only been using the mic with it with no feedback. It's nice to know that I can always plug in the piezo and use the anti-feedback switch if needed. I've read good things about the anti-feedback, so hopefully it works well with bass too

As for the HPF, I keep it at 40hz and use one band of parametric EQ if I need more. I measured some different setting with my PC to find what works best. I'll try to post more info about that and some pretty graphs when I get back home in a couple of days.
 
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