Talk me down (HX Stomp)!!

[BrentSimons]

Not new to the bass by any means, but pretty new to effects thereon. Bought myself a Zoom B2Four back in May, and it honestly does more than I need it to do at the moment since I don't currently need a functional octaver or parallel processing. I have really enjoyed playing with the different compressors, effects, and amp sims, and could see myself doing more with it as my current bands get up and running.

But the HX Stomp makes it look like a toy, and it's currently $100 off. Definitely something I'd get into learning and using down the road, but not an immediate need by any means. And that $100 off just gets it back to (IIRC) the MSRP when it was released back in '21, so not that fantastic a deal.

But guessing it's imported and will likely be subject to a 25% tariff, it may be a case of now or never.

Should I jump, or save $599 on Cyber Monday by not buying stuff?

TIA

Hi there
I can't talk you down as I really want one as well! Although I wanted a blue one and it looks like its out of stock at Musicians Friend/ Guitar Center.
It doesn't help that just saw a great band The Pineapple Thief whose bass player, Jon Sykes was using a Stomp as the main part of his rig. It sounded great!


Good luck!
Brent

 

[blmeier7]

I did the opposite of the OP - owned a HX Stomp for about a year and then sold it for the B2 Four. I would say the HX Stomp has much more control over the tones you can get. If you like spending a lot of time dialing in your sounds then the HX is great for that; I’m sure it can do much more than I was capable of putting into it. I found the drives and compressors to be much more useable on the HX over the B24.

FWIW - I own neither now and went back to a simple pedal board. But out of the two the HX Stomp would win it for me.

 

[jbybj]

And in case you ever want/need it, the zoom has synths, which no HX product has.

This is so cool! This proves that there are different dimensions/realities, and our divergent realities intersect here on Talkbass.

 

[chadhargis]

The HX Stomp is actually a money saver. The amount of effects pedals contained in that unit would cost you a fortune to buy. If you just run the stomp standalone, you don't need any other pedals.

It was a gateway drug for me. I ended up selling the HXS and getting a Quad Cortex.

 

[DCErik]

Was researching a bit more last night, and it looks like I could run the Zoom in the effects loop of the Stomp for 13 blocks. Muahahahaha.

 

[el murdoque]

Okay, time for a hot take.
I owned a Stomp for a while and did not like it. For an all-in-one solution I found it lacking mainly in compression and dirt.
It seems other people agree with me in that regard, you see too many pedalboards with a Cali76 and a HX Stomp floating around the internet.

Apart from that, I found that the entire workflow with that unit is counter intuitive and often impractical. It's okay when you fix in your sounds and then only recall presets, but that kind of defeats the purpose. Having a small box with a million sounds is only cool if you can access and tweak them fast and easy.

 

[odarellmc]

Life is short of you want it and you can afford it get it and enjoy, when you no longer want it, sell it, simple.

 

[DCErik]

Okay, time for a hot take.
I owned a Stomp for a while and did not like it. For an all-in-one solution I found it lacking mainly in compression and dirt.
It seems other people agree with me in that regard, you see too many pedalboards with a Cali76 and a HX Stomp floating around the internet.

Apart from that, I found that the entire workflow with that unit is counter intuitive and often impractical. It's okay when you fix in your sounds and then only recall presets, but that kind of defeats the purpose. Having a small box with a million sounds is only cool if you can access and tweak them fast and easy.

Appreciate the first-hand! I've tried most of the Zoom compressors, and have found a couple that I like well enough. Haven't heard other complaints about the Line 6 comps, but they're so subtle and subjective it likely comes down to personal preference. I also don't do a lot of tweaking or switching on the fly on stage. Just swapping between presets at song breaks would likely be all I'll need. Probably end up adding the extra switches down the line.

 

[fivestringgecko]

(Apologies in advance for a lengthy post.)

I'm on the opposite side of the coin from @el murdoque, but I'll also add that this is all 100% a matter of personal taste. What works for one person may not work for another, and vice versa.

@DCErik - it does sound like the Stomp would be more than you need, but this is Talkbass... "Why not" and "Because I can" are the normal sentiments around here, right? May as well at least give it a try if you can, right? Is there a local music shop around you that carries them?

Having owned both Zoom* and Helix multi-fx pedals (among others), my personal experience is that the models in the Helix line are of far higher quality than the Zoom products I've owned. Not saying Zoom models are "bad," but Line 6 puts a serious amount of time into deconstructing whatever they're modeling. Hit up Youtube for real world vs Helix model comparisons, and I think there's also an interview or two with Line 6 where they talk about their process for building models.

While I'm fortunate to have some pretty amazing standalone pedals, some of my all-time fav effects have still been from within the Stomp.

My hybrid board incorporates several standalone pedals with the Stomp, but I'm actually quite happy gigging just the Stomp because I can just throw it in the front pocket of my gig bag. I do have a standalone compressor at the beginning of my board, but that's "because I can" (aka I have the board space), not because the comps in the Helix are bad. And I actually run a second comp within the Stomp. Comp 1 is to go into my synths, but Comp 2 becomes my main when I'm gigging just the Stomp.

Since my Stomp is also my practice rig at home, I bought a second to have as a backup that I can also just leave on my desk, rather than having to pull out the pedalboard every time I want to play, which also then doubles as my "grab-n-go board" when I don't need/want my full board. It's nice having all the toys, but the simplicity of just the Stomp is also great.

There is indeed a learning curve with the Stomp, but I personally didn't think it was a big deal. It only took me maybe a couple hours of just tinkering with the pedal to get a feel for how it works. I do prefer editing via HX Edit, but navigating/editing on the fly isn't a problem on a gig either.

5sg.

*I still have my Zoom B3 around just for kicks

 

[DCErik]

Found a used one on GearExchange for $450. Too good a deal to pass up. Thanks to everyone for the very helpful pearls of knowledge and gems of wisdom!

 

[jbybj]

Apart from that, I found that the entire workflow with that unit is counter intuitive and often impractical. It's okay when you fix in your sounds and then only recall presets, but that kind of defeats the purpose. Having a small box with a million sounds is only cool if you can access and tweak them fast and easy.

This is precisely why I find the HX Effects to be infinitely superior. Fast, easy, complete access on the pedal.

 

[DCErik]

This is precisely why I find the HX Effects to be infinitely superior. Fast, easy, complete access on the pedal.

One person's intuitive is another's counterintuitive!

 

[Barticus]

Not new to the bass by any means, but pretty new to effects thereon. Bought myself a Zoom B2Four back in May, and it honestly does more than I need it to do at the moment since I don't currently need a functional octaver or parallel processing. I have really enjoyed playing with the different compressors, effects, and amp sims, and could see myself doing more with it as my current bands get up and running.

But the HX Stomp makes it look like a toy, and it's currently $100 off. Definitely something I'd get into learning and using down the road, but not an immediate need by any means. And that $100 off just gets it back to (IIRC) the MSRP when it was released back in '21, so not that fantastic a deal.

But guessing it's imported and will likely be subject to a 25% tariff, it may be a case of now or never.

Should I jump, or save $599 on Cyber Monday by not buying stuff?

TIA

Hmm, I dunno, seems like a great deal.
But I already own 2 Stomp XLs, so I might not be the best to advocate NOT diving into the HX Stomp

I’d say go for it! It's a great platform.
They also hold their value quite well, if you’re looking at used.

 

[Wfrance3]

I have the B2 Four and find that at the end of the day, my need for effects covers what Zoom includes on this pedal. I've never owned or played with an HX Stomp, so my commentary will only take you so far. I have had these Zoom Pedals over the years (forgive If I don't get the models right) MS60B, MS60B+, MS70CDR+, B1 Four, B3, B1ON, and of course the B2 Four...
My current signal chain is TUNER - THUMPINATOR - KEELEY BASSIST - B2 FOUR - GENZLER MAGELLAN.
That's a pretty good setup, the Thumpinator high-passes to good efficient signal, The Keeley saves you a compressor slot, so now if you need a patch to include 5 pedals, you can do that. It's true that the B2 Four is a great Bass DI, but I like knobs for visual confirmation. The Magellan has the two pre-shape filters and the additional HPF control. Bonus - The B2 Four has a smartphone app if you need to change anything. I can just plug in tweak using my iPad or iPhone.
I know I have an HX stomp worth of funds tied up in my setup It doesn't feel that way because all I have was acquired over time. It's pretty flexible and Zoom's effects modeling is not terrible by any means!

 

[PNW Tony]

One person's intuitive is another's counterintuitive!

That makes no sense. Wait...it makes perfect sense.