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Zoom MS-100BT pedal for bass

OzzyGreg

OzzyGreg

Jun 7, 2008
1,488
471
Illawarra, NSW, Australia
www.tz350.com
#1
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Rather than dig up the old MS-100BT thread and annoy those who, for some reason, get annoyed when that happens, here's a new thread about these pedals! :D

I've been a long time fan of both the Zoom B3 and MS-60B. They are quite simply the best bang for your buck in the field of bass effects IMO.

Yesterday I bought myself a new MS-100BT and so far I'm very impressed with it.
It does everything the MS-60B does and more!
There are a bunch of free bass effects available for download, including the Ampeg Flip-top amp sim, which is missing from the '60B. There are others you can download for $2.49 each through Zoom Stompshare online.
The '100BT can store 100 different effects and run up to six in a single patch.

I've copied my favourite bass patches over from my '60B onto the '100B and tweaked a couple a little by replacing the SVT effect with the Flip-top one.

Yes, the '100B is more expensive than the '60B, but it does a hell of a lot more too!

I'm thinking that I might sell my '60B now, loaded with all of my patches for the next guy to enjoy of course! It'll be kind of hard to part with though!

Link Removed

zoom-ms100-bt.jpg

stompshare-software.jpg
 
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#7
Jazz Ad said:
I'm not ready to trade that for a pedal that runs on a tablet.
Click to expand...

I get somewhat where you're going with the hyperbole, but technically you only use the app to download additional effects models. It ships with 100 or so models already, so you could buy the 100bt and never use the bluetooth functionality. Granted, it would then just be a more expensive version of the MS-50g, so it would be rather pointless unless you just favor the color blue. I just wanted to note that you don't need a device to program it out-of-the-box. You control the settings exactly the same way as the MS-60b and 50g, which isn't too far removed from how you tweak settings on the B3.
 
#8
jumblemind said:
I get somewhat where you're going with the hyperbole, but technically you only use the app to download additional effects models. It ships with 100 or so models already, so you could buy the 100bt and never use the bluetooth functionality. Granted, it would then just be a more expensive version of the MS-50g, so it would be rather pointless unless you just favor the color blue. I just wanted to note that you don't need a device to program it out-of-the-box. You control the settings exactly the same way as the MS-60b and 50g, which isn't too far removed from how you tweak settings on the B3.
Click to expand...
But you need the iOS device to download the Bass Category. It doesn't come preloaded from what I can see. To me it seems completely pointless to spend the extra $50 vs the ME-60B.
 
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#10
GMC said:
I don't know why it isn't more popular for bass.
Click to expand...

a) I am not primarily an iOS user. I can use iOS through my wife's iPad but the tools I would most naturally use to interface with this device are Android or a USB cable to a PC, and it won't do either one. Bluetooth has a huge potential for real time control but my only iOS device is tied up as a music reader and so the lack of Android compatibility makes the Bluetooth interface useless to me during a performance.

b) I am an MS-60B user who has waited in vain for a few years now for Zoom to issue a software update for that device to bring it up to where every other bass pedal they have is after software updates. They have pedals they sell for half the price that got software updates and which have more features. Same for all their guitar pedals. Zoom leaves us holding the bag, with a bad taste in our mouths. They have done nothing to endear themselves to us and I have kinda given up on Zoom as far as future purchases go as a result.

c) If I wanted to see a list of these fine bass features it supposedly has there is no information about this outside of the Apple store which I am not going to join just so I can get information that Zoom needs to put on their website. When I look at their website and evaluate it as a bass pedal I am mostly unimpressed. If they want me to get excited about it then they need to actively market it to bass players by giving us the list of the bass specific effects it can download. Would that be so hard??? The fact that they don't do this just tells me that as a bass player they won't treat me any better as an MS-100BT owner than they do as an MS-60B owner, see b) above.

d) I like to power these things from USB. No USB port also means no USB power option.

e) After the initial euphoria and honeymoon period with Zooom products my love has gone cold due to their negect of me and the next time I want a pedal like this I am going to go elsewhere. Zoom is not an option unless they start to show some interest in bass players and Android users similar to what they show others. I like the MS-60B as far as it goes and I use it all the time. I even have a G1X-ON that I bought to compliment it and use with my Squier VI. But I constantly see Zoom doing neat things for all their other users except me. I mean they had a software update and feature expansion for the G1X out even before I bought it! The moral is that if you want Zoom's attention you must play guitar and own an iPhone. They serve bass players only if they have any free time available and Android owners not at all.
 
#11
jwilson67 said:
But you need the iOS device to download the Bass Category. It doesn't come preloaded from what I can see. To me it seems completely pointless to spend the extra $50 vs the ME-60B.
Click to expand...

I was more responding to the comment that you need a separate device to use it. The fact that you get the same effects as the 50g (which is also $50 less) and no bass-specific effects without an iOS device is a different reason to not get it. And I mostly agree; even though I have an iPhone I opted for a second 60b instead of the 100bt. Out of the box there are a lot of effects you can't get on the 60b. There are a ton more available on top, but when I started pricing the ones I wanted a la carte, it got to be at least a $200 pedal. And I still would be missing some useful effects that the 60b has that don't exist in the 100bt library. Still a cool pedal that I may eventually buy.
 
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#12
khutch said:
Bluetooth has a huge potential for real time control but my only iOS device is tied up as a music reader and so the lack of Android compatibility makes the Bluetooth interface useless to me during a performance.
Click to expand...

Except their use of Bluetooth has zero potential for real time control during a performance, even if you haven an iOS device. It's strictly a means of buying and/or downloading extra effects models to your pedal. No settings control, no patch changing. Just purchasing. It's an interesting answer to the problem of offering updates to existing pedals...instead of the cost of putting together a download package that may or may not satisfy people, give a platform that lets people customize with the models they want. I'm not saying it couldn't be better executed, but I think it's an interesting idea.

You listed plenty other reasons to not buy this or any future Zoom product, and they make sense. Personally, I'm a fan of the Zoom products I own (3 pedals and a camera). They have taken care of me as a bass player by being consistent and solid performers and excelling at what they do. Zoom is a giant multi-national electronics corporation making a lot more than pedals, so I guess I have lower customer love expectations than I have for small outfits like Darkglass, Wren and Cuff, or Fuzzrocious.
 
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#14
OzzyGreg said:
.
I own a B3, an MS60-B and an MS100-BT now.

All three are amazing multi-effect pedals.
The extra features and abilities of the 100 outweigh those of the other pair hands down IMO.
If I was told I was only allowed to keep one pedal it would be a no brainer, the MS100-BT would be staying.
Click to expand...
Other than the extra sounds available what else separates the 100B from the 60B? Processing power? Sound quality?
 
#15
jumblemind said:
Except their use of Bluetooth has zero potential for real time control during a performance, even if you haven an iOS device. It's strictly a means of buying and/or downloading extra effects models to your pedal. No settings control, no patch changing. Just purchasing. It's an interesting answer to the problem of offering updates to existing pedals...instead of the cost of putting together a download package that may or may not satisfy people, give a platform that lets people customize with the models they want. I'm not saying it couldn't be better executed, but I think it's an interesting idea.
Click to expand...

Obviously I have not dug into the documentation enough to have noticed this. Yeah, if I cannot do at least some simple real time control tasks from my phone then Bluetooth is of less interest to me than the USB application that manages patches on the B3. But not, GRRRRRRR, on the MS-60B....

I am not horribly disgruntled with Zoom. As you say the products perform well and they have been perfectly reliable in field use. They have done everything I was promised they would do when I bought them and they have done them well. But if you are going to hand out freebies to all your other owners, as they have, then you need to throw me a bone now and then too, or I am going to explore the market to see what else is out there. I am not asking for anything from Zoom except equal treatment with other owners. That USB port that so many of their products have only for software updates and power could be used to download paid effects to the unit and enhance Zoom's revenue stream. It is peculiar that they do not take advantage of this.
 
#16
I owned a 100BT for a short time last year and while I liked its possibilities (which could be argued are endless), I simply felt it was way too much for my needs and at the time, there weren't all that many bass dedicated stuff. I also had a 60B at the time and ended up selling both, because I felt they would affect the tone too much. I went back to a 60B last summer, all I need is in there. But I admit, shopping for 3.99 $ effects pretty much every day was certainly a lot of fun :-).
 
#18
Yeah, I have both the BT-100 and MS60-B. I would use my BT-100 for Bass if they would allow Android devices or PC or even my Mac Laptop to download the models. But I don't have the proper I-Device neither. I emailed them, and they gave me a big fat "Not Ever" would they allow any other options to download with other devices than they currently support. :( I still have mine for Guitar effects. I even was able to coax some similar settings to my MS60-B, but still not as good. It still baffles me that they refuse to see the benefit of selling their wares via Android. It can't cost that much to develop something that would support that.
 
#19
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Other than the extra sounds available what else separates the 100B from the 60B? Processing power? Sound quality?
Click to expand...
Sound quality between the B3, MS60-B and MS100-BT is identical through my ears.

Springing to mind straight away:

6 effects in a patch vs 4
100 effects vs 58 or so (ok, so the 60-B's are all bass focused)
One of my favourite B3 effects, the Fliptop sim, is missing from the 60-B. I've downloaded it into the 100-BT.
I like the fact that I can set my 100-BT up to suit both guitar and bass.

I've still got both the B3 and MS60-B, but it's the 100BT that's doing waaaaay more work these days. ;-)


Edit: Added links to the specs for each:
MS60-B
MS100-BT
 
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#20
I have a MS100-BT coming in next week! Got a really good deal on one. Not too worried about the ios thing as I have an Ipad. I'm gonna make a mini-pedal board out of this and the MS60-B, a VT Bass DI and a Boss LS-2. The MS100-BT is gonna live in one of the loops of the LS-2. That way I can scroll through the MS100-BT without effecting my sigal path until I need it too.
 
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