They should come up with a SUPER B3, where every slot functions as an MS-60b! Imagine a chain of up to 12 FX at a time! I'd pay more for that.
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Zoom B3 As Preamp
- Thread starter CharlieC
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They should come up with a SUPER B3, where every slot functions as an MS-60b! Imagine a chain of up to 12 FX at a time! I'd pay more for that.
Zoom has us dangling right now with ...
- The fantastic B3 with its 100+ effect types, but it is in need of some simple improvements and 4th effect capability
- The new MS-60B featuring the above improvements and 4th effect capability, but missing half the quantity of effect types
So the B3/60b combo is proving to be everything the Line6 M9 wanted to be! I'm a Funk/R&B guy, and this is everything I've dreamed of, not just in a Multi, but in a pedal board. Filters are amazing, comps are amazing, Octaver does just what I need. THEN throw in the amp sims! This thing(s) is very powerful!
OK, now I'm gushing!
Back to playing!
J!
OK, now I'm gushing!
Back to playing!
J!
Amazing device, at any price. $199 is insane. Only wish it had an aux in and a dedicated balance knob would be nice too
I have been using my B3 live for a few months now and I can never get the same tone to come out of the FOH. I run the XLR direct out ( set to post) to a Mackie pro FX16, QSC12 and Yorkville nx720s 15 subs. I use an Ampeg SVT 3 pro into a BagEnd 1x15 cab for on stage monitoring. The left( mono) output of the B3 is sent to my Amp.
Thanks to this thread, the amp sim cab is set to 100 and I usually choose the 1x15 cab. In theory I should be un happy with my on stage sound , but it's the FOH that still sounds like a fusion jazz bass from the 80's. I would describe it as hi mid, round , fretless with a little chorus.
Rather then going into a rant about DI Bass, I am trying to figure out a way to get my bass sounding better. At home I'll run headphone into the left output jack and it sounds great, so why it the PA taking all my tone away?
As far as my bass , it an Ibanze SG 505 that has an active EQ (usually flat) I'm still not sure whether to set the input to Active or Passive? I keep it on passive because the pick ups are passive but ....
I wondering if the XLR out signal is the same signal as the 1/4 mono out and if so why does the PA color or discolor the sound so much?
Sorry for the book!
Thanks to this thread, the amp sim cab is set to 100 and I usually choose the 1x15 cab. In theory I should be un happy with my on stage sound , but it's the FOH that still sounds like a fusion jazz bass from the 80's. I would describe it as hi mid, round , fretless with a little chorus.
Rather then going into a rant about DI Bass, I am trying to figure out a way to get my bass sounding better. At home I'll run headphone into the left output jack and it sounds great, so why it the PA taking all my tone away?
As far as my bass , it an Ibanze SG 505 that has an active EQ (usually flat) I'm still not sure whether to set the input to Active or Passive? I keep it on passive because the pick ups are passive but ....
I wondering if the XLR out signal is the same signal as the 1/4 mono out and if so why does the PA color or discolor the sound so much?
Sorry for the book!
The B3's XLR out when set to "Post" is essentially the same signal that appears at the 1/4" L/OUT. To test this, one could easily run both the 1/4" L/OUT and XLR outs to separate input channels on the Mackie mixer and "Solo" each until that is proven.
I believe the disparity you are experiencing is the combination of 2 things:
The SVT-3 PRO and 1x15 cab are indeed further coloring your tone despite any effort to keep things flat and neutral there. That combination is not what I would consider full-range reproduction as much as I would the PA equipment. I believe you may simply prefer the darker-colored stage sound to the more truthful and bright FOH sound.
Secondly, depending on venue conditions, you may need to compensate with EQ on FOH and perhaps that (or lack of that) is altering your perception of what is resulting from the PA.
If you have access to all this equipment at home/studio, I would suggest you run both your stage and PA rigs in a small, controlled environment and experiment towards identifying the cause and possible workaround/compromise.
Cheers!
It seems this makes not so big a difference. I often play my active bass with passive on. The B3 is pretty forgiving in this respect and does not distort that quickly. In passive mode you need only to adjust the "gain" of the next amplifying effect accordingly, e.g. say your effect is an amp simulator, then set the actual gain parameter of that effect to a lower level, similar to what you would do on a real amp.
Unless you would hear distortion this is unlikely to be the source of your difficulties, and as CharlieC said, then you would hear the distortion on FOH as well as your amp. I rather suspect a mismatch between the FOH mixer channel's settings such as line level input vs. symmetric mic level? I would check that out.
Using both outputs at the same time is certainly not the cause of your difficulties. Those outputs are made to be used simultaneously.
Last night I had a show and I brought along a set of headphones, I plugged them in the board and it sounded great, it was also sounding great at the FOH. So all was great! After some thinking I realized our last show we were using a house PA and a sound guy. I didn't communicate to him the EQ settings I wanted at the board. Oops !
Thanks for your help guys.
Thanks for your help guys.
Mackie DLM12
I had this puppy to play around with this evening. As much as I could tell in a short period with it, it seems capable of getting pretty loud and kicking out a good amount of bass fatness. Anyone looking for a powered cab for the B3, it's definitely worth checking out. 2000W Class D; 12" and HF; 31 lbs; preset for flat response EQ; and a kickstand. I could see it being a replacement for a 15" combo. It's gotta go back in the morning, but I'm going to see if I can take the 8" model home over the weekend.
I had this puppy to play around with this evening. As much as I could tell in a short period with it, it seems capable of getting pretty loud and kicking out a good amount of bass fatness. Anyone looking for a powered cab for the B3, it's definitely worth checking out. 2000W Class D; 12" and HF; 31 lbs; preset for flat response EQ; and a kickstand. I could see it being a replacement for a 15" combo. It's gotta go back in the morning, but I'm going to see if I can take the 8" model home over the weekend.
Thanks, Doc!
Should you be able to take the DLM8 home, please update us as to how it compares.
Cheers!
Yes! Please?!?
How awesome would it be to show up at a gig with that little Dude?!?
J!
Sure will.
I guess I'd add that in mulling it (from a tighter financial perspective than I'd like to have and as someone with a 35lb 15" combo that I'm otherwise happy with) I couldn't see going for this. It fits too much in that same slot. The DLM8, OTOH, even smaller and lighter, would be able to operate in a different space...or at least I'd be able to rationalize and explain to my wife that it does. I'm looking at (but not yet doing) some acoustic duo work.
For those looking to purchase an extra power supply for their B3 or MS-60B, I highly recommend the Godlyke Power-All PA-9S
It cleanly supplies 9 volts DC at a healthy 2000 milliamps current, enough to power an entire pedal board when paired with an optional available daisy chain.
It cleanly supplies 9 volts DC at a healthy 2000 milliamps current, enough to power an entire pedal board when paired with an optional available daisy chain.
For those looking to purchase an extra power supply for their B3 or MS-60B, I highly recommend the Godlyke Power-All PA-9S
It cleanly supplies 9 volts DC at a healthy 2000 milliamps current, enough to power an entire pedal board when paired with an optional available daisy chain.
I use a USB charger - as it happens, the same one that my camera uses.
Mackie DLM8
All I've got are pics...not much to say. I was hoping to be able to speak to it relative to my BG250, but it sounds like something's wrong with the speaker (torn, blown?). It's an MI distributor demo, and it's been on the road, so I can't say what it's been through.
Speaker problem aside, I can tell it's louder and deeper than you'd expect looking at it, but I can't say much more than that.
All I've got are pics...not much to say. I was hoping to be able to speak to it relative to my BG250, but it sounds like something's wrong with the speaker (torn, blown?). It's an MI distributor demo, and it's been on the road, so I can't say what it's been through.
Speaker problem aside, I can tell it's louder and deeper than you'd expect looking at it, but I can't say much more than that.
Thanks for this great thread CharlieC,my new B3 arrived last week and after wading through this thread taking note of some of your suggested settings I used it as my pre amp last night,with glowing results !
I have never used an outboard pre amp in 20+ years but glad I finally did.
The FOH tone was awesome via the B3's DI.
I was utilising the SVT amp sim and the ZNR with settings as you suggested.What a difference to my tone,real close to what I want to hear,closest in 20 years of tinkering.
I then sent the signal via the B3 left mono output to my GB Shuttle 9 effect loop receive,it's early days but really happy so far.
Cant wait to experiment more.
I have never used an outboard pre amp in 20+ years but glad I finally did.
The FOH tone was awesome via the B3's DI.
I was utilising the SVT amp sim and the ZNR with settings as you suggested.What a difference to my tone,real close to what I want to hear,closest in 20 years of tinkering.
I then sent the signal via the B3 left mono output to my GB Shuttle 9 effect loop receive,it's early days but really happy so far.
Cant wait to experiment more.
Ouch! That's a $700 little box that either someone wrecked or is otherwise failing ...
That BG250 is a sweet amp!
Thanks for this great thread CharlieC,my new B3 arrived last week and after wading through this thread taking note of some of your suggested settings I used it as my pre amp last night,with glowing results !
I have never used an outboard pre amp in 20+ years but glad I finally did.
The FOH tone was awesome via the B3's DI.
I was utilising the SVT amp sim and the ZNR with settings as you suggested.What a difference to my tone,real close to what I want to hear,closest in 20 years of tinkering.
I then sent the signal via the B3 left mono output to my GB Shuttle 9 effect loop receive,it's early days but really happy so far.
Cant wait to experiment more.
The SVT and ZNR are two of my "always on's", with the ZNR placed first, the SVT last, and one other lonely stomp box in the middle for special effect.
Cheers!
So....after much fiddeling and playing and changing and playing and moving and playing, here is what I've come up with as a very usable Pedal Board, which is what I got into this for in the first place. I'm using two paths, one for Fingerstyle, one for slap. For Slap, on my MS-60b (here to refered to as the 60b) I am running Bass>ZNR>BassGraphicEQ>AcBsPre(all always on)>ZTron (this Effect comes up whenever I engagae this patch, and can be switched on/off as needed). Then on the B3 I have AWah/Dist>Comp/AWah>160Comp. The 160Comp is always on and FX are engaged when needed.
For Fingerstyle I run Bass>(60b)ZNR>BassGraphEQ>BassPre>either BassPitch or BassFlanger). Again, the first three are always on and last slot comes up off and can be engaged as needed. On B3 I have BassBB>Comp/AWah>160Comp. Same as before, Comp always on and other two engaged when needed.
The BassBB is set to a nice thickening tube like OD that pairs well with any of the other FX I am using at any time.
I have found that it is easier for me to bend down and switch patches on the B3 by hand. The 60b is set up with the two different FS patches, and two Slap patches so I can alternate between them. FS is A & C, Slap is B & D. I footswitch between these and only bring up the FS patches on screen if I feel I will need either of the alternate FX contained in them.
I am running straight into my PF350 2x210av stack, because I love the tone of this set up so much, and am using the board as an enhancement tool.
This set up seems to take care of all my FX needs, and gives me two distinct tones for the main styles of Bass that I play in my current bands.
For the $280 I spent on these pedals, I would have spent:
$50 for a Tuner
$50? for a Noise Gate
$100 for a Compressor (x2 for different settings)
$100 each for two different Pre's
$65 each for two different Graphic EQ's
$185 for a Source Audio BEF Pro for the different settings
$75 for a Bass BB for OD setting
$50 for a Flanger
All guesses of course, but quite a savings none the less.
Hope all this makes sense. Ask ??'s if it doesn't.
J!
For Fingerstyle I run Bass>(60b)ZNR>BassGraphEQ>BassPre>either BassPitch or BassFlanger). Again, the first three are always on and last slot comes up off and can be engaged as needed. On B3 I have BassBB>Comp/AWah>160Comp. Same as before, Comp always on and other two engaged when needed.
The BassBB is set to a nice thickening tube like OD that pairs well with any of the other FX I am using at any time.
I have found that it is easier for me to bend down and switch patches on the B3 by hand. The 60b is set up with the two different FS patches, and two Slap patches so I can alternate between them. FS is A & C, Slap is B & D. I footswitch between these and only bring up the FS patches on screen if I feel I will need either of the alternate FX contained in them.
I am running straight into my PF350 2x210av stack, because I love the tone of this set up so much, and am using the board as an enhancement tool.
This set up seems to take care of all my FX needs, and gives me two distinct tones for the main styles of Bass that I play in my current bands.
For the $280 I spent on these pedals, I would have spent:
$50 for a Tuner
$50? for a Noise Gate
$100 for a Compressor (x2 for different settings)
$100 each for two different Pre's
$65 each for two different Graphic EQ's
$185 for a Source Audio BEF Pro for the different settings
$75 for a Bass BB for OD setting
$50 for a Flanger
All guesses of course, but quite a savings none the less.
Hope all this makes sense. Ask ??'s if it doesn't.
J!
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