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Zoom MS-60B Umm... what am I missing here?

MarkM13

MarkM13

Mar 29, 2015
472
574
60
CT - USA
www.m13productions.com
#1
The MS-60 does offer an incredible amount of options in a small box. But, it seems to have one major flaw (I hope I'm wrong here). As far as I can tell you can only step forward through the patches. Am I missing something? Because if there is no way to go back its a royal PITA. What I've been having to do is make a huge patch chain with duplicate patches so I'm not that far from my most often used patches. For example:
1. Light Comp.
2. Slap
3. Big n Beefy
4. Light comp
5. xxx
6. xxx
7. Light Comp
8. xxx
9. xxx
10 Big n Beefy.

This is a royal pain seeing we use different setlists each gig and I play with more than one band. I have 4-5 patches I use often, the rest are song specific. I'd like to move forward and back within the often used patches and just step up or down to the others. Is this possible?

Thanks,
Mark
 
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#2
I don't know exactly how to do it, but with the MS series there is a way to select specific patches that you step through.
 
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#3
MarkM13 said:
The MS-60 does offer an incredible amount of options in a small box. But, it seems to have one major flaw (I hope I'm wrong here). As far as I can tell you can only step forward through the patches. Am I missing something? Because if there is no way to go back its a royal PITA. What I've been having to do is make a huge patch chain with duplicate patches so I'm not that far from my most often used patches. For example:
1. Light Comp.
2. Slap
3. Big n Beefy
4. Light comp
5. xxx
6. xxx
7. Light Comp
8. xxx
9. xxx
10 Big n Beefy.

This is a royal pain seeing we use different setlists each gig and I play with more than one band. I have 4-5 patches I use often, the rest are song specific. I'd like to move forward and back within the often used patches and just step up or down to the others. Is this possible?

Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
Hi there my friend,
I think Dan explains the patch selection process in this demo video.
Hope this helps,
Brent

 
#6
Thanks for your responses which confirmed you've had to come up with a workaround for this. The demo above carefully slips around this short coming by only demoing the step through sequence with two patches. It gets awkward with you have more than three. Bummer.... May check out a Boss multi fx unit and shelve or sell this one.
 
#7
You can set it up to where you can cycle around three patches (A, B and C). You just step on the switch to go from A to B to C and back to A.

You can have all your patches set, however many you need, then before a set or gig just select which three you want to use.

My main theee patches are clean, chorus, and octave. If I want to change one out I would assign the new patch a letter then it would be in the rotation.

Is that what you are talking about?
 
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#8
Matty,

Lets say I have 7 patches for a gig.
1. Compression
2. Big n Beefy
3. Slap
4. OD
5. Classic P
6. Fretless
7. Octave

If the first three songs use "Compression" and the 4th song uses "Big n Beefy" But, tunes 5 &6 need the "Compression patch. I have to step through patches 4-7 to get back to patch 1. Compression. This gets really complex when you have to change patches in a tune. My only work around would be, in the above example, to put a copy of "Compression" in slot three so I can go to it after slot 2. While this sounds like no big deal, it becomes a huge deal when dealing with 40 that use a combination of 10 patches.
 
#10
MarkM13 said:
Matty,

Lets say I have 7 patches for a gig.
1. Compression
2. Big n Beefy
3. Slap
4. OD
5. Classic P
6. Fretless
7. Octave

If the first three songs use "Compression" and the 4th song uses "Big n Beefy" But, tunes 5 &6 need the "Compression patch. I have to step through patches 4-7 to get back to patch 1. Compression. This gets really complex when you have to change patches in a tune. My only work around would be, in the above example, to put a copy of "Compression" in slot three so I can go to it after slot 2. While this sounds like no big deal, it becomes a huge deal when dealing with 40 that use a combination of 10 patches.
Click to expand...

From my understanding, I've only had it a few months, is there are two ways to use it.

1: as a single stomp box on/off (either alone or an individual effect in a larger chain. Like turning one effect on/off in a patch with other effects.)

You've got a patch with compression, amp, OD, and octave. You could turn any one of those on or off.

2: cycle through three preset patches. So you could set A as Compeession, B as Big and Beefy and C as Slap. Each time you click the switch it will take you to A B then C and back around.

Between sets or for a different band you could set A as OD, B as Classic P and C as Fretless. And again, it will take you through those three patches. Whoever you need those three to be.
 
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#12
matty1039 said:
From my understanding, I've only had it a few months, is there are two ways to use it.

1: as a single stomp box on/off (either alone or an individual effect in a larger chain. Like turning one effect on/off in a patch with other effects.)

You've got a patch with compression, amp, OD, and octave. You could turn any one of those on or off.

2: cycle through three preset patches. So you could set A as Compeession, B as Big and Beefy and C as Slap. Each time you click the switch it will take you to A B then C and back around.

Between sets or for a different band you could set A as OD, B as Classic P and C as Fretless. And again, it will take you through those three patches. Whoever you need those three to be.
Click to expand...
Matty - the step-through patch assignment isn't limited to three. You can set A, B, C, D, E, F and so on....

Mark's concern about only being able to go one direction is a valid one when dealing with more than 3 or 4 patches. Mine, right now, is set to cycle through 4 of them: Clean(ish), Chorus, Filter, and Muff. All identical with ZNR, Orange Limiter, and the barest hint of tubescreamer at the end for liveliness, but each with the one additional effect that makes it do the thing I want in the moment. I have separate pedals before it to do other things in combo with it, tho.
 
#13
DDXdesign said:
Matty - the step-through patch assignment isn't limited to three. You can set A, B, C, D, E, F and so on....

Mark's concern about only being able to go one direction is a valid one when dealing with more than 3 or 4 patches. Mine, right now, is set to cycle through 4 of them: Clean(ish), Chorus, Filter, and Muff. All identical with ZNR, Orange Limiter, and the barest hint of tubescreamer at the end for liveliness, but each with the one additional effect that makes it do the thing I want in the moment. I have separate pedals before it to do other things in combo with it, tho.
Click to expand...

I guess I need to play with it more but that is a valid complaint. Maybe I self imposed the three for the same reason. I'm never more than two clicks away from where I want to be.
 
#14
Hopefully not too much of a thread derail, but am I correct in my understanding that the MS60B does not have the Marshall Superbass emulation that the B2 had? I have a B2 as an always-on, one-sound preamp sitting on top of my power amp. I love the Marshall model with my P-bass. The B2's other models are other interesting flavors, but the Marshall is definitely my fave. I have considered getting an MS60B at some point because it would be even smaller and it's a current-production unit, but I'd miss that Superbass.
 
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#15
mexicanyella said:
Hopefully not too much of a thread derail, but am I correct in my understanding that the MS60B does not have the Marshall Superbass emulation that the B2 had? I have a B2 as an always-on, one-sound preamp sitting on top of my power amp. I love the Marshall model with my P-bass. The B2's other models are other interesting flavors, but the Marshall is definitely my fave. I have considered getting an MS60B at some point because it would be even smaller and it's a current-production unit, but I'd miss that Superbass.
Click to expand...
SuperB is part of the update added sounds for the MS60B.
 
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#16
IMG_0676.JPG

You could solve your problem this way
 
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#17
You can only do so much with a single switch. I have my MS-60B in a single bypass loop (Loop Master) which lets me pull up an effect or effects patch (several effects) and bring that in and out of the chain at will. I think this is the best work around and it makes the 60B much more useful in a live setting. It sounds like you want an always on, core sound (perhaps an amp sim and compressor for example), and the ability to add in an effect like a chorus, filter and/or EQ here and there. You are going to need two MS-60Bs with one (the additional effect) in a looper to make that work. That would be an incredibly versatile setup for live use.
 
Last edited:
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#18
mexicanyella said:
Hopefully not too much of a thread derail, but am I correct in my understanding that the MS60B does not have the Marshall Superbass emulation that the B2 had? I have a B2 as an always-on, one-sound preamp sitting on top of my power amp. I love the Marshall model with my P-bass. The B2's other models are other interesting flavors, but the Marshall is definitely my fave. I have considered getting an MS60B at some point because it would be even smaller and it's a current-production unit, but I'd miss that Superbass.
Click to expand...
I do similar, but mainly with a B15 flip top emulation that someone posted in a zoom thread.
 
#20
I don't want to say you're going about it the wrong way, but although the MS series can be used as a standalone pedal (and I have done) IMO (and I think zoom's main intention) I feel it works better as an augmentation to your existing pedal collection, by replacing a few little-used ones to reduce the size of your pedal board or give you access to effects you don't already have.

If you have almost always on or frequently used effects such as compression, eq or drive, use separate (and better performing) pedals. The lesser used effect (for me, things like synths, octaver, phaser) use the zoom.

If you want a standalone multi-effects unit, TBH, I think you need to look elsewhere.
 
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