Just wanted to comment on the expression pedal bit. I know the tech support guy at Zoom told me most expression pedals should work with the B3. I already had a Rocktron Hex expression pedal but could not get it to work. I ended up ordering one of Zooms expression pedals and works great, just not as well built as the Hex.
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New Zoom B3 has arrived!!!!
- Thread starter Askia
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Hi.
I've had B3 for a month now. I find amp sims to be the best thing in this device.
Got a really nice sound from Bassman sim!
Try it out!
bass 3
mid 2
treb 3
mid_f 100hz
gain 85
level 60
deep off
cab 4x12bm
mix 100
I used a squier deluxe jazz IV with flatwounds and sd hot stack neck pickup. preamp set to flat. At least with that bass this is very nice sound with a lot of authority
Played with very stiff pick.
-Antti
I've had B3 for a month now. I find amp sims to be the best thing in this device.
Got a really nice sound from Bassman sim!
Try it out!
bass 3
mid 2
treb 3
mid_f 100hz
gain 85
level 60
deep off
cab 4x12bm
mix 100
I used a squier deluxe jazz IV with flatwounds and sd hot stack neck pickup. preamp set to flat. At least with that bass this is very nice sound with a lot of authority
Played with very stiff pick.
-Antti
There's a seller on Ebay selling these for $199.00 with a Buy It Now option. I offered $169.00 and it was imediately accepted. They have 4 left. It is listed under Item number: 290698529691 .
Just got set up with Edit&Share so I could try these.
When I realised there wasn't a conventional gate available on the zoom I did think for a moment about trying the ZNR but then felt a bit dirty about it! I like what you've done though. Doesn't quite have the smoothness of response of a Mammoth or something - I found myself playing with my nails to keep things even - but good to see it can be done!
I actually slightly modified one of them and use it for Muse's "Uprising". It sounds close enough for what I need. I usually use and OC-2 an IE Oxide and an overdriven tube preamp for this sound. I'm not saying the Zoom sounded nearly as good, I'm just saying that it was passible, and very impressive for the price and size of the unit.
Multi-quote fail!!!
That is a tough one. I've been meaning to spend some serious a/b time with the delays/modualtions. At this point, I like them both about the same with a slight edge to the zoom for a little more variety.
Just got one yesterday. My cheap plastic m-audio expression pedal works well with it. I bought the B3 for use at the end of my fx-chain, so mostly compression/eq/modeling and the loopstation function. But there are a lot of effects that sound good and most have the parameters that you would want to change.
It won't replace my core pedals tho (oc2, ehx basssynth, boss odb3, sourceaudio bef). I'm not that impressed with the real odb-3 but I like the boss one much more than the modelled one. Also I've experienced that some of the B3 synth effects perform differently, some of them seem to track better than others (and that's with just one synth effect solo'd, no compression before or after in the chain).
Anyway, should've read the manual before I bought it, because it states that it will not always run 3 effects at the same time. Some of the effects (mostly modeling) will ask more processing power than others, so it's possible you'll encounter an 'overload' message/warning which prevents you from using all 3 fx-slots at once.
I haven't encountered this but it sure is a bit of a let down. Besides that I think its the most bang-for-your-buck pedal for sure!
It won't replace my core pedals tho (oc2, ehx basssynth, boss odb3, sourceaudio bef). I'm not that impressed with the real odb-3 but I like the boss one much more than the modelled one. Also I've experienced that some of the B3 synth effects perform differently, some of them seem to track better than others (and that's with just one synth effect solo'd, no compression before or after in the chain).
Anyway, should've read the manual before I bought it, because it states that it will not always run 3 effects at the same time. Some of the effects (mostly modeling) will ask more processing power than others, so it's possible you'll encounter an 'overload' message/warning which prevents you from using all 3 fx-slots at once.
I haven't encountered this but it sure is a bit of a let down. Besides that I think its the most bang-for-your-buck pedal for sure!
You say this is a let-down but you can look at it the other way round - it would be a shame if they had artificially limited every effect to only take up 1/3 of the ZFX-4 processor, as that would drag down the quality of the individual effects, when in fact you might be unlikely to want to run 3 of the amp models together.
Anyway I've played with it a bit too and haven't run into this either - if I do I might change my mind but for now it seems a good compromise between quality and flexibility.
Interesting. That's also very good, considering the 3 slots + looper features over the M5. I mean, to get something more you should stick with the M9, and that's twice the price.
Anyway, if I had to compare the M5 just by youtube videos or mp3 audio clips, I'd say its pitch section seems way better than the B3's.. also I like its ''particle verb'' and ''octo'' models.
I tried to get an octo-like patch on the B3 (which is also similar to some old eventide and digitech harmonizers signature sounds), but still not satisfied with the result, 'cause its pitch section seems too weak, not so accurate on polyphony.
dunic said:
That should happen only when using Amp modelling + HD reverb in the same patch. Everything else should be fine.
One thing I can say for sure is that for a guy who's first pedal ever was a 506B this modeling/multi-effects technology has come a long way. And I used the heck out of that little 506. Even my guitar player bought one after hearing mine. I even think he still has and uses his.
I've been pretty much buried in the B3 for about a week now - many hours tweaking, listening, experimenting, making patches (incredibly simplistic to do). WOW is all I have to say - I'm completely enamored with this thing! My eyes see digital, but my ears hear analog. No loss or "blurring" of the low end at all. Digital modeling has come a long, long way! I'm most taken with the amp models, preamps & several of the drives. This is not meaning to imply that the other effects such as autowahs, choruses, etc., don't sound fantastic (because they do), but these are the meat & potatoes reason I bought the B3 & I'm very happy to say that they are very well done, IMO. My gear sounds immensely better with the B3 in my signal path - strong, undeniable improvement of my foundation clean tone via the amp model sims alone. Let alone if I want to blend in some BDDI or MXR DI overdrive/distortion & literally hundreds of other effects combinations in any flavor or whim I want makes this an essential piece of gear for me. My band has bookings through December & I'm glad I have this B3 this early on in the calendar year. I'll be putting it through it's paces where it really counts - on live gigs. 
You can reproduce this by trying to setup THREE amp sims at the same time. You'll get to the third and it will display an error on the screen. I don't recall the error text but it's something like "DSP full". I haven't seen it otherwise.
I encountered that when trying to setup a patch with three different amp sims that I could enagage one at a time to quickly A-B them against each other.
It'll say "DSP-Thru-Full" with what looks like the ends of an instrument cable with the icon of the amp model or effect you've chosen underneath of all that. It's at the 7:05 mark in this Zoom G3 Demo. I tried loading up 3 amp sims in a row too for experimenting, but that's the only time I've seen it.
SO! now y'all have had it a few weeks...
still killer?
collecting dust?
now that the honeymoon is over, is it all that and more?
still killer?
collecting dust?
now that the honeymoon is over, is it all that and more?
I'm personally undecided. I just bought it to give Zoom a try as I've only owned Line6 and BOSS multieffects in the past. I think like other multieffects it has enough usable FX that it's usable. I'm not sure how anyone is really using most of the dirt though, I think it's really poor. Of course there's always pros and cons. 
If you consider it's under $200 factory new it's hard to really complain too much.
If you consider it's under $200 factory new it's hard to really complain too much.
I'm definitely keeping it around, for when the situation calls for an easy, all-in-one effect/tone box. I liked the ease of only using the Zoom, but the next night I used my full board and was notably blown away by the difference. The Zoom holds up respectably well though, considering my pedal board has 5x as much money invested in it.
I am liking it still for sure. I have no use for the dirt from it, or the amp sims really (other than adding more eq to a patch) because I have an awesome amp, and great dirt pedals. I use it for chorus, synths, and to fill in the gaps on effects that I have a use for but don't use them enough to justify dropping $200 on a single pedal for the effect. If I didn't have a TimeLine, it would be satisfied enough with the delay. One of the reverbs sound really good to me. I have a pedal board full of $300+ single pedals, and this has a ton of bang for buck at $200. Probably the best all around deal on a multi that I can see myself using.
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