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Zoom B3 As Preamp Part 2

#101
jimfist said:
ticol07, I should add that I also put a D-Comp in front of the SVT, Sensitivity on 1 or 2, Tone on 7 or 8. The basses I use are Schecter Stiletto Studio Elites, all tone controls at "neutral" center-detent position, and with mild adjustments to the pickup blend centered around 50/50, though leaning toward more of the Neck pickup blend for this specific preset.

My other bass (drop tuned to E flat) is a Sterling Ray34 CA (classic active), one pickup, one volume, bass and treble tone controls. Bass control usually up around 70%, Treble at about 20% (tons of high end in this pickup). For hard rock pick playing, these sound really, really good IMO. When you dig in, the D-comp keeps things in line and allows the "grind" from playing hard to really surface. I LOVE IT, especially with the Sterling bass (great little bass for the $$$).

[edit: the Wal bass in my avatar was purchased for the TOOL tribute I was in, and generally doesn't get used live but for special occasions, recording sessions, etc.]

My preferred bass tone for metal pick playing is based on a sound similar to Paul D'Amore (original bassist from TOOL) and also somewhat Justin Chancellor. I also use fingers with this same preset and it sounds really good with no adjustment other than tweaks on the tone knobs of the bass guitar, depending on whether it's a more "pop" rock tune, or if it's a classic metal (Iron Maiden, etc.) tune.

Using my B-3 into full range cabinets this past weekend was a real eye-opener for me. I didn't expect it to perform as well as it did....which is a very good development for me. Life just got easier, and my rig got much lighter!
Click to expand...

So I tried your B3 settings and even on a P Bass I had to turn down the tone knob a bit : trebly as hell :)
I'll give it a try in band setting. I'm always shy on the highs (hey, we play bass, no?), so it's not a tone I would have set by myself, but I imagine that it could work well.

I too use a compressor but, today, before the B3 (a multicomp) as I like to put a dirt box as a previous effect before the svt sim (needed for some tunes). And I set a para eq just after the svt because I sometime need to cut a bit in the lows to reduce boom. So my 3 slots are already used.

And I noticed too that this 1.2 kHZ magic frequency gave fingerstyle a very punchy and clear sound. I was always dealing with too much or muddy low end when playing with fingers. Now the sound is as I like it. I would qualify it by "strong and precise".

I too like a lot Paul d'Amour sound. Maybe one day I'll have a Ric. I'd like to but they're not common to find in France and expensive. So, later, I hope...
And for the Wal basses, it's simple, I never saw one in real. It's just a myth for me :)

As you mention the Ray 34 : it's a good deal ? I'm tempted too.

Today I have a jazz and a P bass. For what I do they fit well my needs. Classical but efficient.

So, now I have to buy some new basses, a power amp and a big fullrange speaker... Can somebody there explain to my wife that it's more vital than buying food for our children ?
 
#102
Yes, that preset has a lot of treble top end. I don't like to add high frequencies on my bass tone, but would rather start at neutral and cut, but retain enough high end to still cut through the mix....then, of course, I'm half deaf from playing loud live for 30 years! LOL. So, don't hesitate to pull the treble setting in the amp model back as far as you need. But yes, admittedly, it is pretty bright.

As for the Sterling Ray bass.... I literally auditioned about 20 authentic Music Man Stingray basses - the expensive ones that start around $1200US, and found that either the bass didn't play or feel very good, or it just didn't sound all that great. It doesn't help that many of the guitar shops don't take the time to keep these top shelf basses in good playing conditions (setup/intonation/pickup height, etc.), but even so, I can usually tell if a bass is going to tickle my funny bone. In fact, I purchased a MM Stingray, re-strung it and gave it a thorough cleaning, etc., and proceeded to play it for 8 hours straight. No dice. It went back the very next day.

Fast forward a couple months, and this same music store had the Sterling Ray34 sitting there marked at $599 or something. I played it, put it through some serious scrutiny, and bought it. It outperformed the other real MM Stingray basses I had tried, including ones that were tagged at about $2000+. It has a very distinct tone that just seems to work perfectly for grindy, pick-played bass, but it is a very bright bass, so treble tone is way down on it. Cuts through like crazy, though. I like it for its simplicity of design. However, just like the Musica Man stingray basses, the Sterlings had a similar variance in quality of tone and playability. Really, I think you just need to get lucky, and when you recognize you've found a good one, snap it up ASAP.
 
#103
The indispensable ZNR, always first in my signal chain! (and for good reason)

I posted about this great effect a few times in Part I of this thread, but I am resurrecting the topic again now for an upcoming power-user tip that I will soon share.

To be continued ...

b3_znr.gif
 
#104
Ground Zero

For those of us fortunate enough to have more than one electric bass, it is safe to say that we well know of the output level disparity between them all. Even among passive instruments, some pickups are simply louder than those in other passives.

To help set up the tip I am about to share, let's say that we have two traditional, passive P-Basses. One has a much hotter output than the other. We use the lower output bass most of the time. We work hard tweaking our favorite SVT patch (e.g. "CharlieC's Rock Monster"), getting things to grind just right with that bass. Now we switch basses and that glorious grind is now fizzy mess. We could even reverse the scenario, configure the patch to work for the hot P-Bass, switch basses, and then we have Wimp Tone.

To combat this quickly and easily, I use "makeup gain" via the LEVEL parameter that is found in the first effect in my chain, which for me is the ZNR. My ZNR base LEVEL value is 100 for most basses, I then back it down accordingly for the hot ones. Alternatively, I can even boost LEVEL for weak pickups if needed.

This technique accomplishes a few things in one stroke. Much like a TRIM knob on an audio mixer's channel strip, setting the initial LEVEL there will help us level the playing field for our bass signal so that all other effects down-stream will work in the way and in the range one expects them to.

I would absolutely love for Zoom to someday create a GLOBAL level "Master Input Gain" value so that the "unity gain" bass signal would then automatically cascade down to every patch below. Since we can't even get B3 v2.0 firmware from them, I guess the best we can do is improvise with what we have! :D

Cheers!
 
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#106
On the subject of the 1.2kHz 'magic frequency': I tried it on my P pickup and it sounded good but familiar. Sure enough, it's pretty much identical to my P and J in series with the mids set flat. So I agree it's a great sound, but one that's built in to my bass already!
 
#107
NEW ZOOM B3 OWNER

I pulled the trigger on one of these this morning, then had some buyer's remorse. I have a Digitech BP90 and use it only for the amp modeling. Realistically, I will use the B3 as an amp modeler and pre-amp (ie clean sounds, no effects). I've been happy with the BP90. My buyer's remorse is not knowing whether this was a wise use of $199.

Someone convince me I made a good purchase. Thanks
 
#108
jimfist said:
As for the Sterling Ray bass.... I literally auditioned about 20 authentic Music Man Stingray basses - the expensive ones that start around $1200US, and found that either the bass didn't play or feel very good, or it just didn't sound all that great. It doesn't help that many of the guitar shops don't take the time to keep these top shelf basses in good playing conditions (setup/intonation/pickup height, etc.), but even so, I can usually tell if a bass is going to tickle my funny bone. In fact, I purchased a MM Stingray, re-strung it and gave it a thorough cleaning, etc., and proceeded to play it for 8 hours straight. No dice. It went back the very next day.

Fast forward a couple months, and this same music store had the Sterling Ray34 sitting there marked at $599 or something. I played it, put it through some serious scrutiny, and bought it. It outperformed the other real MM Stingray basses I had tried, including ones that were tagged at about $2000+. It has a very distinct tone that just seems to work perfectly for grindy, pick-played bass, but it is a very bright bass, so treble tone is way down on it. Cuts through like crazy, though. I like it for its simplicity of design. However, just like the Musica Man stingray basses, the Sterlings had a similar variance in quality of tone and playability. Really, I think you just need to get lucky, and when you recognize you've found a good one, snap it up ASAP.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your experience sharing. My only issue today is the Price :)
In France a Ray 34 is 1300$, a StingRay more than 2100$ and a Ric 2600$ !! And they're not easy ones to find so doing many tries is a hard option. It's possible in some stores but usually very far from my place. But I'm a patient man :)

CharlieC said:
Ground Zero

To combat this quickly and easily, I use "makeup gain" via the LEVEL parameter that is found in the first effect in my chain, which for me is the ZNR. My ZNR base LEVEL value is 100 for most basses, I then back it down accordingly for the hot ones. Alternatively, I can even boost LEVEL for weak pickups if needed.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Yeah, good idea ! Unfortunately I never have the place for the ZNR... maybe with 2 B3 !!

SoVeryTired said:
On the subject of the 1.2kHz 'magic frequency': I tried it on my P pickup and it sounded good but familiar. Sure enough, it's pretty much identical to my P and J in series with the mids set flat. So I agree it's a great sound, but one that's built in to my bass already!
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. Don't have this configuration on my basses.

tubatodd said:
NEW ZOOM B3 OWNER

I pulled the trigger on one of these this morning, then had some buyer's remorse. I have a Digitech BP90 and use it only for the amp modeling. Realistically, I will use the B3 as an amp modeler and pre-amp (ie clean sounds, no effects). I've been happy with the BP90. My buyer's remorse is not knowing whether this was a wise use of $199.

Someone convince me I made a good purchase. Thanks
Click to expand...

Just install one amp sim + an eq after it, and now imagine you're on sound check and do your tone adjustment on the B3 : you'll see how easy. As easy that if you had classical stombox with just knobs to turn. And it's immediatly memorised. Plus you can put a good comp in your chain super easily + if you want to try effects, you set one effect in your chain and simply push with your feet to engage only this effect that you can adjust just by turning knobs.
Am I good ? Do you feel more confortable now by watching the not so intuitive interface of your BP90 ? B3 is goooood !!!
 
#109
tubatodd said:
NEW ZOOM B3 OWNER

I pulled the trigger on one of these this morning, then had some buyer's remorse. I have a Digitech BP90 and use it only for the amp modeling. Realistically, I will use the B3 as an amp modeler and pre-amp (ie clean sounds, no effects). I've been happy with the BP90. My buyer's remorse is not knowing whether this was a wise use of $199.

Someone convince me I made a good purchase. Thanks
Click to expand...

Congrats on the B3!

With 1000+ posts focusing on amp/cab simulations, I think you made a great purchase.

You may have a lot of catch-up reading to do in Part I of this thread, but here is a good place to start.

Cheers!
 
#112
I've done some reading in this thread to get acclimated with the B3. I guess I won't truly know what I've "stepped" into until it arrives. I anticipate that the box won't actually end up on the floor as a pedal, but resting on the top of my TC Electronic BG250-210.

My end goal is to build out some custom patches for each of my basses and make it clear which bass the patch was designed to go with.

As far as tone shaping controls, is there a rather extensive EQ available in the B3? I'm hoping for more than a typical bass/mid/treble.
 
#114
tubatodd said:
I've done some reading in this thread to get acclimated with the B3. I guess I won't truly know what I've "stepped" into until it arrives. I anticipate that the box won't actually end up on the floor as a pedal, but resting on the top of my TC Electronic BG250-210.

My end goal is to build out some custom patches for each of my basses and make it clear which bass the patch was designed to go with.

As far as tone shaping controls, is there a rather extensive EQ available in the B3? I'm hoping for more than a typical bass/mid/treble.
Click to expand...

Yes you have 7 band eq (tuned as the Boss), the 2 band para Eq which I like a lot, and the AcBsPre which is a copy of the Fisherman Preamp ( with an adjustable high pass filter, a semi-parametric mid and 4 other fixed bands) -> so, yes, some good stuffs in there :) + you have a semi parametric mid in each of the amp sims + you can apply the percentage you want of the cab sim you want for each amp sim -> another adjustable tone shaper.
Really, you can do a lot (too much ? I mean, you can try so many settings that you have to focuse on some if you don't want to spend all your time turning knobs instead of playing bass :)) things to your tone in a very simple way.
 
#115
tubatodd said:
I've done some reading in this thread to get acclimated with the B3. I guess I won't truly know what I've "stepped" into until it arrives. I anticipate that the box won't actually end up on the floor as a pedal, but resting on the top of my TC Electronic BG250-210.

My end goal is to build out some custom patches for each of my basses and make it clear which bass the patch was designed to go with.

As far as tone shaping controls, is there a rather extensive EQ available in the B3? I'm hoping for more than a typical bass/mid/treble.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. There's a graphic eq pedal, a few "parametric" eq pedals (a clone of the BBE Sonic Stomp) and each amp is laid out almost exactly like the modeled head is. Most have bass, low-mid, hi-mid, treble and one or 2 extra knobs for things like contour or shape,etc...
 
#118
The zoom is "out for delivery." I doubt I'll have enough time to get a couple presets done before tonight's rehearsal.

The reason I asked about the battery is because the less wires I have on a small stage, the better. Sounds like I can make it through a 3 hr set list on batteries.
 
#119
tubatodd said:
...The reason I asked about the battery is because the less wires I have on a small stage, the better. Sounds like I can make it through a 3 hr set list on batteries.
Click to expand...

Alkaline batteries average $5 a set, are troublesome, and ultimately end up in a land fill

You may want to consider rechargeables or better yet, make a snake and use the intended power supply without extra wires on stage.
 

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