Skinnyman

Agreed. I've noticed that there's even a big difference between playing through an amp and cab versus headphones or through the Audio Interface into Sonar. Some effects work in one environment but not others and vice versa. I've got what I think are some reasonable patches but I fully expect to have to fine tune them at rehearsals - but at least I have a start point. I'm also wondering how usable the stereo effects will be live unless I put the unit through FOH so that's something else to try in rehearsal - but again, I have an idea of the ones I want to try out. Really, my point in posting was to share my experiences in the hope that it might give a quick start to those who are thinking of getting one of these and maybe getting put off by the "it's very complicated" discussions. Or those just opening the manual for the first time and facing the hump that we've all had to climb for ourselves! There's a lot of useful discussion on this and several other forums about the unit but I wasn't able to find anything anywhere that would have helped me get the concepts straight in my head before I powered up......

I spent a good afternoon with this today and here's a few thoughts in no particular order which may answer some of jimwin's questions... 1) Like so many pieces of kit these days, the manual is really good - if you know how the unit works and just want it as a reference manual. What's missing (and this isn't just Zoom, I find it with almost everything these days) is the Concepts guide that talks you through the basic principles of operation so you can get your head around the approach they've taken. 2) Once you've sussed the above, it's fantastic! 3) Some of the effects, especially the synth-based "special effects" are stereo and, while they work ok through an amp and cab, they really sound best through a stereo output. Not a criticism, just an observation - don't expect the stereo chorus or synth sounds to be at their best without a two channel output. They work brilliantly for recording though! 4) "Play" mode and "Manual" mode are, at first, quite confusing terms - I think of "Play" mode as "Select" mode in that it allows you to quickly navigate to the bank you want. "Manual" mode I think of as "Performance" mode - once you've found the patch you want, you hit F2 (in most patches anyway) and now you have the relevant effects loaded into the individual footswitches and you're good to go. Once I'd sussed this (and maybe it's obvious to everyone else but it took me a while. I am a bear of little brain...), it became much easier to use! 5) Yes, there are loads of patches and lots of parameters to fiddle with but my view is that each patch represents a "virtual" pedalboard that you can configure for your own performance - and to get you started, they've set up a bunch of them so you can find one close to what you want and then fine tune it for yourself. Once I've set up two or three patches, I have, in essence, two or three different pedalboards that I can swap between during a gig for specific songs. Once I have this set up, I don't really envisage making many more changes unless we add more songs to the setlist of I'm doing something a bit different for a recording project. Again, once I'd got my head round this idea, stopped trying to get to grips with all of the parameters that could be changed and instead picked some patches that I liked, modified them and then set them up close together in a user bank the whole unit became much easier to use. So, in summary, my main criticism is that the manual is missing a "Basic Principles" section but once you've sussed the above, it's a phenomenal piece of kit and I can see myself using it a lot.... Of course, this is only my experience - everyone's different and will have different needs - but if you're as cinfused as I intially was and trying to make sense of it all, I hope the above helps in a small way. Enjoy

Wasn't going to say a word.... There's a rubbery pad under the pedal and I'm wondering if on some units, this gets squished too far in shipping (given that the unit comes from Japan with the pedal in the fully down position) Anyway, I've taken a leaf out of Jaybass' book and stuck a small rubberised washer onto the existing pad and it now works perfectly. The only minor gripe I have is that the function switches 1-3 are assigned differently in different patches - but there's nothing in the reference docs to say what they're assigned to for each patch. Hopefully, that'll become easier to work out when I have the Librarian software working properly. My current thinking is that I'll end up with a few user patches that I've created for specific songs or groups of songs and then just swap between these as needed. So my current occupation is going through each of the songs in our setlist and working out whether they'd benefit from any effects above and beyond the raw sound of the bass and amp and, for those that do, what kind of effects will work best. It's great having a unit like this that will give me loads of effects - but I also think these things are most effective when used sparingly. Just because I can have a stack of overdrive, a ton of delay and a big fat chorus on every song doesn't mean I should, right? Off to play some more now.....

Thanks for that - the main thing is that it seems like it's not me going crazy.....I've emailed Zoom support although I'm not anticpating a speedy reply, if at all - but if they do respond, I'll update here. Got a MIDI interface on order so I'll have a crack at the Librarian software next week and see how that goes - fortunately, I've now got all weekend to play with the board and see properly what it can do. Cheers!

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1358448836' post='1939474'] Mine has just gone back because of a dead PSU, but before it went I also discovered this switch. It won't switch by hand, but if you are standing on the foot pedal and put some body weight on it, it switches just fine. [/quote] Interesting - on mine there is no way that you can press this with the expression pedal - the bump stops prevent it going down. I'm surprised Zoom QC is that variable....I'm wondering if they've deliberately "disarmed" the switch for some reason Jaybass - the rubber stop sounds like a neat idea - I wonder if there's meant to be one in place from factory? Did you use the Editor Librarian software to change the function?

I've just bought myself a Zoom B9 (at the price GAK are offering them, I just couldn't say no....) It's taken me an afternoon of playing with it to get my head round it but I'm getting there - and so far, I'm very impressed. It seems to do everything I wanted an FX unit to do and quite a few other things besides. However, I can't decide if I've missed something in the manual, if I'm going crazy or if this is just a really odd feature.... Underneath the "toe" end of the expression pedal, there's a push-switch, identical to all the other footswitches. From the placement, it looks like it should be activated when the pedal reaches the full extent of its travel - but there's no way that the pedal can ever be pushed down far enough to actually activate the switch owing to the two bump stops on the bottom of the pedal. There's a soft rubber pad on the bottom of the pedal directly over the switch that looks like it's there to cushion the activation - but it's too shallow to actually make any contact. I've tried pressing the switch manually but it doesn't appear to do anything. There's no reference to it in the manual that I can see (although, I could easily have missed it). So it appears that they've gone to the trouble of fitting a switch that can never be pressed and which has no apparent function. Has anyone else noticed this? Have I missed something really obvious? Is there a key piece missing from my unit that would magically allow the button to be activated? Or am I just going crazy? As it stands, I'm not that bothered- the unit seems to work fine - I'm just intrigued as to what this thing is there for and what it might do....

I'm thinking of getting a multi-fx unit and was initially attracted to the Vox Stomplab, largely on the grounds of price. But then I'm also looking at the Zoom B3 and wondering whether it's worth the extra. I have a Zoom R24 recorder/audio interface which I think is brilliant so I'm a fan of Zoom kit....but do I really need to spend the extra on a B3? I've had a Digitech unit which, to be honest, did very little for me - I found it a pain to use and wasn't that enamoured with the sounds I got. I'm not too bothered about the DI or Audio Interface capability or a looper (although they're nice-to-haves). This is primarily something to use when gigging so I'm also not too bothered about cab simulation - I just like the idea of having one box that contains a stack of separate "pedals" from which I can quickly and easily select a couple to use in specific situations. The main fx I can see a use for are chorus, delay, a Big Muff soundalike and possibly something to give a little overdrive/valve tone - but not all at the same time. Ease of use is a big factor for me - once I've played around with parameters and got a sound I like, I want to be able to call it up again quickly and easily without having to tap like Fred Astaire on speed.... right now, I'm leaning towards the B3as I'm pretty sure it will do what I want but it could be overkills so if anyone with experience of the Stomplab can tell me whether the Vox will do the job I'm after, then I'm hapy to go with it and save myself a stack of cash..... I've read good things about the B3 - people who have them seem to love them - not a lot as yet about the Stomplab so I'd like to know if anyone has used both of these units and what were your impressions?

In case anyone's interested, I stuck a pair of LaBella flats on the SG today. Wow. What a difference! I love it - this is just what I've been searching for. Of course, the acid test will be to see how it sounds when I gig with it up against two (loud) guitarists - but first impressions are really good. As thing's stand, I've just saved myself the cost of a precision. Which is not to say I won't get a Precision but that's only because you can't have enough basses - and I really miss the Squier fretless I sold a couple of years ago in a fit of madness.... But for now, I'm loving the LaBellas

[quote name='fender73' timestamp='1357826249' post='1929032'] Squier Classic Vibe P-Bass. #simples [/quote] That suggestion wouldn't have anything to do with the fact your sig says you have one for sale, would it? Actually, it's a good thought - I tried one in a shop yesterday alongside a Mexican FSR and was very impressed - I thought it was every bit as good, if not better, than the FSR. At this stage, I'm just trying to get a shortlist together before I start looking seriously - and let's face it, this is half the fun!! That said, is your CV listed on here?

I'd ruled out Fret King on the grounds of price but the Fret King sounds interesting. I'll do a quick search of the forums and try to find out more.... Thanks!

Thanks all....linteresting how the consensus is for the Japanese P-bass rather than a Mexican. Any other suggestions for a decent P-bass copy? It's not that I don't like the SG - I just don't think it's sonically different enough from the Ric so Paul's suggestion of sticking a set of flats on it to see what they sound like has a lot going for it. So my next question - what flats would you suggest? ~I'm thinking about LaBellas but they seem to be hard to get hold of in short scale.

Sorry if this seems like a dumb topic to raise but I have a bit of a dilemma and I'd like to pick a few brains because mine is over-tired.... I have a Ric 4003 which I love. Perfectly happy with it, don't want to change. However.... Last year I did my shoulder in and just couldn't stretch my left arm properly, to the extent that the weight and size of the Ric pretty much killed me every gig. So I bought a lovely little SG standard bass - light weight, short scale - which was a perfect solution while the cortizone kicked in. But now I have a dilemma. I've gone back to the Ric as my "main" bass and just drag the SG along to gigs as a spare (which seems like a waste of a really good bass in many ways). I'd play it more but it doesn't do anything that the Ric doesn't - this may sound stupid, but it's just not "different" enough. However, there are times when I'd really like to get a nice smooth, mellow kind of a sound so I'm thinking of going with flatwounds and I'm wondering whether to put a set of flats on the SG or whether to sell the SG and get a P-bass (MIM,or one of the VM Squiers - any other suggestions?) and stick a set of flats on that. So my question is - what would you do? Will flats mellow out the SG? Anyone tried that combination? Or what else would you suggest? P-bass? Alternatives? Bearing in mind I should get about 400 - 450 for the SG, I'm looking to get something at the same price - something used for preference. Thanks!!

[quote name='Chris Horton' timestamp='1349905530' post='1832216'] Welcome The Phil jones gear looks great, I have never been able to try any of the range out yet It's on my wish list to play Anyway ........ Hello , and welcome to BC [/quote] Thank you - and I heartily recommend the Phil Jones stuff. The build quality is excellent and the sound is really clean - it doesn't suit everyone but I if you get a chance, you should give it a go!

[quote]not too many Gibson EB1 players around these days. Is yours the late 60s reissue? [/quote] Whoops. Not an EB1 at all. SG Standard. Sorry....I'm easily confused.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1349792054' post='1830592'] A band where you can make the drummer turn down?! Excellent idea Welcome [/quote] Isn't it? Of course, he can only hear what we choose to send to his monitor, so he thinks he's really loud.... The big challenge is the second guitarist who hasn't got the hang of turning knobs anti-clockwise yet and gets progressively more painful through the course of a gig. Problem solved temporarily by the singer threatening to give him a Telecaster enema but I doubt it'll last. thanks to all for the warm welcome!

[quote name='evilLordJuju' timestamp='1349791808' post='1830587'] Hi, not too many Gibson EB1 players around these days. Is yours the late 60s reissue? [/quote] Er,.... I don't know I made the fatal mistake of wandering into Andertons in Guildford and they had it hanging there, calling to me. I just fell in love on the spot - small and light, short-scale a perfect fit for my delicate, ladylike hands and a fantastic range of sounds. Didn't ask any more questions - just had to buy it. The wife was very understanding. Eventually.

I'm new to this forum although I've browsed on numerous occasions and found a huge amount of useful advice - thanks! So now I've joined so that I can contribute a little and, hopefully poll some opinions when I need advice from those who know more than I do (which is practically everyone!). This is just to say "hi" and tell those who might be interested a bit about myself.... I've been playing for a couple of years now and for the last twelve months I've been in a band based in Peterborough - we started gigging earlier this year and so far, all seems to be going well. We've even been asked back to most places. Which is nice. The band consists of drums (electronic), 2 vocalists and two guitars, both playing through 50w Marshall tube amps. We play "classic rock" which, so far as I can tell, is a euphemism for "anything we fancy" and includes Pink Floyd, Queen, Free, Kings of Leon and a whole bunch of similar stuff. I have a 2010 Rickenbacker 4003 and a Gibson EB1 - for gigs I tend to use the Gibson as it's short-scale and light weight suit my puny frame and tiny hands much better than the Ric. I'm currently using a Phil Jones Suitcase with the 4B extension cabinet although that's going to go soon as I need to get some cash quickly. In the short term I'll be borrowing a Peavey rig but hopefully, once the imminent cash flow crisis is past and we're able to eat again, I'll be looking to get something to replace the PJB and I'll be posting on here to solicit opinions on my shortlist. All that's a way off at the moment so for now I'll be doing a bit of window shopping and building up my shortlist.... Er, that's it for now. Hi everyone - looking forward to picking your brains over the coming years and months!!