to Zoom B3 owners: can it to drop tuning?

[joao2013]

Hi!

I play in a band that plays in D# (all strings 1 halftone lower), and I'd like to avoid messing with my bass tuning.

Can the zoom B3 pitch shifter do a good drop tuning simulation? (to D# for example)

I really like the unit, and I'm tempted to get one.
Please help me on this as it's the thing that might get me to buy one

Thanks!

 

[Swift713]

It can certainly do it but I think you'll get much better results just tuning your bass the 1/2 step lower.

 

[Dave W]

I think you'll get much better results just tuning your bass the 1/2 step lower.

+1

Why "emulate" a tuning?

 

[gregmon79]

+1

Why "emulate" a tuning?

+1 to his +1

Do you have 2 basses? Maybe keep one tuned at a half step down at all times and one in standard? Five string geko got a B3 not too long ago, hopefully he'll chime in here. Me, I'd rather just have a bass tuned for real to flats, sounds real. Because it is

 

[johnbegone]

+3. Just tune your bass down. You don't want to rely on a pitch shifter. There is no harm in tuning down a half step, except that you'll probably want to re-intonate once you do. I've played a half step down for my entire band life. My current band plays in drop D tuned down a half step.... so more like drop C#.

 

[joao2013]

I've got only one bass. And I always use it in standard tuning except when I play with this band.

One of the guitarrists as a floyd-rose guitar (can't easily detune 1 halftone) and the uses a Morpheus drop tune pedal. It works really well, and you can't really tell that the sound is being changed by the pedal.

He also has a line6 M13 but it's pitch shifter can do this right, se I was wondering if the B3 could

 

[Lync]

I am waiting for a pedal that can emulate a lead singer!

 

[Nephilymbass]

In not sure about that pedal. For pitch shifting I tend to use the whammy IV or the line 6 pod hd. I do use pitch shifting but I never use it throughout a whole song. i use it just to hit a note that's below my range here and there.

Best solution in my opinion is if your band is using both standard and half step down a lot I would tune half step down with slightly heavier strings and use a capo on the first fret for the standard tuning.

If you don't want to spend any money I would only retune the lowest string so EbADG/D#adg. It'll change fingerings some but you'll be able to hit the Eb

 

[gregmon79]

I am waiting for a pedal that can emulate a lead singer!

Hahaha nice.

Neph brings some good solutions to the table indeed. Jo, have you ever thought about getting the Morpheus pedal your guitar player has? I've heard it's pretty good for what you're trying to accomplish. Again, if it was me, I'd just get a tad thicker gauge of string and tune down a half step for the one band. Especially if its just for the one band, and they play in half down all the time. What's the big deal, it'll only take you a min literally to tune the way you need it before practice or a performance starts. Just have to watch out for action and intonation changes. Hence, the thicker gauge string.

 

[Dave W]

I've got only one bass. And I always use it in standard tuning except when I play with this band.

One of the guitarrists as a floyd-rose guitar (can't easily detune 1 halftone) and the uses a Morpheus drop tune pedal. It works really well, and you can't really tell that the sound is being changed by the pedal.

If nobody can/wants to downtune, why don't you just play in standard tuning?

For you, or anybody that doesn't have a locking trem tuning down a half step should be a piece of cake. You're tuning before you play each time, right? Dropping a half step isn't going to make it more difficult or screw up your action.

 

[gregmon79]

If nobody can/wants to downtune, why don't you just play in standard tuning?

For you, or anybody that doesn't have a locking trem tuning down a half step should be a piece of cake. You're tuning before you play each time, right? Dropping a half step isn't going to make it more difficult or screw up your action.

Exactly. I used to tune to flats in my old band at all times. Just got a thicker string. I didn't mean it will def screw up your action and intonation, I just thought it'd be a good idea to keep an eye on it.

 

[OzzyGreg]

.
To answer the OP's original question....

Yes it does do pitch shifting, but not perfectly.
The resulting sound has, what I would call, a funny sort of chorus/delay effect over it. I guess what is commonly termed a "tracking issue".

Our band is covering a couple of old punk tunes in a lower key than the CD versions.

I've been using the B3's Pitch Shifter to learn/practice the songs along with the CD at home in a lower key, so I can just walk into rehearsal and play away with standard tuning.
The B3's Pitch Shifter is certainly good enough for that.

It's not good enough to use in a band environment IMO.

 

[joao2013]

Thanks ozzy!
Also, thanks to all the other tip from you all

 

[sm49341]

I own a B2, and a G3 (guitar model). The pitch shifting effects on both units are nowhere near usable for a gig situation. They are a little slow to track, and there is a sort of "stepping" when there is slight bending. If I just play a normal bass groove walk it picks up a slight bend if you dont push down 100% straight on the string which you probably never do. And you sound becomes very digital sounding. I'd say No, it won't work.

 

[HailCorduroy]

I have a patch on mine to pitch down a half step, but I only use it for practice by myself. Some of the songs my band covers are recorded a half step down and we do them in standard. When I'm practicing at home, I don't want to tune down while I'm running through a set list in order to play along with the original, so I use a pitch shifter. But, I would never use it live. It just is not that reliable.

 

[morgansterne]

the morpheus pitch shifter sounded ok on elec guitar. Our guitarist used one on many gigs for about a year.

I tried it and it sounds like @#$% on a bass.

I have a B3 pedal and wasn't aware that it could do this, but it's probably not better than the morpheus which is a dedicated drop tune pedal.

 

[Adamixoye]

The Morpheus is the best polyphonic, as-latency-free-as-possible pitchshifting solution for guitar out there. The worst thing is that the more you drop tune, the more it sucks tone. It is fine for clean downshifting for only the first half-step or two. With enough distortion behind it, the next several half-steps are useable---it goes down 7 half-steps (a perfect 5th down), and also an octave and octaver (octave + dry). For playing distorted guitar in different tunings, it is excellent.

It does the job on bass, but the tone suck is bad, even for only a half-step.

For bass, there are a lot of solutions out that there that work, at the expense of tone, polyphony, and/or introducing latency. Almost any multi (Boss, Zoom, Line6, etc.) will do the job if you can live with one or more of these. I think the best solution I've found for bass is the Eventide Pitchfactor. It's overkill, but for only a half-step or three, the tone, polyphony, and latency are acceptable. And it has a lot of other sweet effects you can use.

I am not in the camp of everyone who is telling you to just retune, including potentially getting a second bass. To me, that's overkill if you're only using it for one band of many, or for just a few songs. There are many workable solutions, you just have to understand that they involve compromises.

 

[subdubba]

Can someone explain exactly how he or she used the Zoom B3 to detune a half-step? I used to use the Zoom BFX-708 all the time to play along with detuned recordings like Bulls on Parade, but I don't remember which settings I used and I don't know if the same method translates on the B3. Thanks!

 

[HunterBurgan4Me]

So if you and the guitarist find it easier to be in standard have you considered just playing in standard? The Zoom b3 also has a regular tuner on it and it's not that difficult to just tune up and tune down.

 

[khutch]

Can someone explain exactly how he or she used the Zoom B3 to detune a half-step? I used to use the Zoom BFX-708 all the time to play along with detuned recordings like Bulls on Parade, but I don't remember which settings I used and I don't know if the same method translates on the B3. Thanks!

The B3 has two pitch shifters: PitchSHFT and MonoPitch. You dial in the shift you want from -12 to +12 half steps or +24 half steps. You can also set the Tone, wet/dry Balance, and output Level and there is a fine tuning on the pitch that allows a +/- 25 cent shift on top of the coarse pitch shift setting if you need to match an out of tune instrument or recording. It is all pretty straightforward.

In my opinion it is quite usable in a live situation. I play in a church band and if I need to make a last minute key change to accommodate a replacement vocalist I think it will work fine. But I am not a tone junkie. I have not spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours to make the tone of my bass and amp just so (I play through the church's PA actually). If you are that guy then, yeah, you are not going to be happy with this or any digital pitch shifter. I think these things work well enough that many people will find them quite useful for occasional use but not nearly so well that everyone will want to use them all the time. The Zoom B3 and its little brother, the MS-60B (the one I actually own), both have a lot of nice features. I would not buy either one for the pitch shifter alone. If you have other reasons to want one then the pitch shifters work well enough that you certainly would consider using them.

Ken