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Multi-effect / all-in-one pedals for bass?

S

StompyJ

Feb 3, 2006
45
11
Northern NJ
#1
Sorry for the annoying question, but for folks who've experimented with the Line 6 / Kempler / Neural DSP, etc all-in-one boxes.


Is there one that stands out for bass? I play mostly r&b/soul/funk and rock in a band, I don't have many single pedals yet, and I'd like to just buy one thing, configure it with a couple of tones and leave it alone. Not interesting in tweaking out, or doing my own IRs, etc.

Just want solid vanilla effects with some good amps specifically for bass? Any sites or videos or recommendations you all could make?
 
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#6
I love my Zoom B3n. I also have the Helix, which blows it away, as it should, but I still end up using the B3n quite a bit, honestly. All the sounds you need for a gig, perhaps not as hi-fi as you might need, though? Not sure. The Helix is way better, but at 6x the cost, it should be.
 
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#7
bholder said:
I love my Zoom B3n. I also have the Helix, which blows it away, as it should, but I still end up using the B3n quite a bit, honestly. All the sounds you need for a gig, perhaps not as hi-fi as you might need, though? Not sure. The Helix is way better, but at 6x the cost, it should be.
Click to expand...

Why do you use the B3n over the helix?

I'm not worried so much about the hi-fi-ness of the sounds, I just want an all in one box that is intuitive to use so I'm not piecemeal-ing 100 things together, I'll pay whatever I need to, as long as I'm only paying once :D
 
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#8
StompyJ said:
Why do you use the B3n over the helix?

I'm not worried so much about the hi-fi-ness of the sounds, I just want an all in one box that is intuitive to use so I'm not piecemeal-ing 100 things together, I'll pay whatever I need to, as long as I'm only paying once :D
Click to expand...

The B3n is a lot easier to learn and "get around" on - a large percentage of the Helix controls and display are dedicated to things I don't currently use, but you might, things like defining lots of "scenes" and switching between them dynamically. Very powerful but I just don't use any of that for now. But you doing gigs might. The Zoom has some of that same function, but it doesn't quite take over the interface like it does on the Helix.
 
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#10
StompyJ said:
Sorry for the annoying question, but for folks who've experimented with the Line 6 / Kempler / Neural DSP, etc all-in-one boxes.


Is there one that stands out for bass? I play mostly r&b/soul/funk and rock in a band, I don't have many single pedals yet, and I'd like to just buy one thing, configure it with a couple of tones and leave it alone. Not interesting in tweaking out, or doing my own IRs, etc.

Just want solid vanilla effects with some good amps specifically for bass? Any sites or videos or recommendations you all could make?
Click to expand...
I believe the HX stomp would be the greatest value for an all in one solution. Also good to mention that that unit has a balanced 1/4 out (if I remember correctly), so you could easily take that to a gig without any extra di boxes or anything like that either. That thing definitely has anything you could ever want with up to six blocks which can be used for anything (effects, cab sims, amps, effects loop for outside pedals...), but it also makes a great simple very customisable unit that can work for pretty much any situation very easily.

I can't personally talk to any of the other units in terms of tones and such, but generally I feel like Kemper is a little more complicated just in general and maybe more for the enthusiast guitarist. Neural DSP is also great, but I don't think you can justify the extra high pricetag on that one, when the HX stomp is that good already...
 
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#12
I toyed with this for a while. I have a Boss GT-1B and it's great, but I really prefer the HX Stomp. It has way more in it, and the interface is a bit more verbose - With Boss, it seems like everything is an applied value between -128 and +128, but in the HX, the different parameters are named and scaled based on what they're supposed to do.

I've built up some interesting amp/cab combinations, including an IR of a Hartke 410 coupled with their GK800RB amp, and a patch based on the Mesa M9 and the Ampeg 810E cab. It took a while, but I managed to get the M9+810E to sound almost exactly like the real one I have access to in the rehearsal space. The grind, fluffiness, and depth is strikingly similar and all there over headphones.
I also have a bunch of "effects only" patches that I'm currently experimenting with.
I do most of my experimentation using the computer software, though. I find it easier to work with when building patches from scratch than doing everything on the device screen.
 
#14
StompyJ said:
Does it have all the effects one might need for a gig?
Click to expand...
Well that depends on what one needs, but for me more than enough. I probably use 5% of its possibilities, but it ok, what's most important is that each time I'm thinking of a sound I'm able to find a way to make it.

For example, prior to the HX Stomp, I had a crap 1st gen digital effect that was kind of "sucking" my sound so I sold it. But there was one very specific presset with a weird synth sound that I loved and I was afraid losing it. I was able to re-create that sound (or 95% of it) with the HX Stomp easily.
 
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#16
StompyJ said:
, I'll pay whatever I need to, as long as I'm only paying once :D
Click to expand...

This is tricky, because I used a Zoom B3 for like 10 years, but have since sort of evolved/devolved into an all singles board.

I feel like the Helix or Quad Cortex are going to be best suited to growth, but if all you want is a couple set and forget patches that work well and simply a zoom B6 or NuX Mg30 or something similar to those might just work better for you.
 
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#18
+1 on the Stomp XL.
Good software, easy to setup with nice amp models and can do any stomp. It can do 4 cable method just like sending through effects loop as well. For rehearsal I have an Elf on the bottom level of my board so just plug in a cab and then XLR out to the board for recording.
172D19D7-6142-4424-BDF9-948C26786878.jpeg
 
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#19
If you're always going to need something from the multiFX (for example and always on amp sim) then go for it. I started with a zoom B607, the cheapest of those. It had some cool sounds but I haven't been so much of an FX bassist so I had one patch the whole time, in the end I ended up ditching it because it was not that tweakable as individual pedals.
I have individual pedals now and set my board specific to the gig I'm going if I'm going to use pedals. At some point I was carrying 7-8 pedals always but I wasn't using them all in every gig. And recently I got some good headphones and noticed how even putting one pedal in the chain alters the tone a little bit (don't want to use the term "sucks the tone" but I think you get the idea).
If you need a preamp or amp sim always on, there are some really goog Tech21 pedals that can get that and if you need anything more specific then you can a pedal or two for specific gigs. Having individual pedals is easier to update/upgrade/experiment also... you can get a different chorus and keep all the other pedals, or you can get a different delay if you are into that... Sometimes you end up growing from a multi-effect much quicker than you think...
 
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