andruca

Nevermind the gadget, effects sound the same and have exactly the same parameters in all 3 of my units. For bass I mostly use BassDRV (varying EQ, but close to flat, nothing extreme, gain at 75, blend at 75) and 160Comp (threshold at -20, ratio 10, gain 15 and soft knee). This produces a nice fat crunchy sound with my old ceramic Stingray5s. I turn on the AcBsPre before that to boost the input signal before the BassDRV when using my Star Bass (the bass used in that clip). Occassionally replace the AcBsPre in the beginning of the chain with either the DI Plus (MXR Bass DI emulation) or even the BaMetal (a bass oriented version of the Metal Zone) for a couple different more DJENT'ish crunch flavors. Still all around the same idea of fat consistent crunch.

Was totallly unaware of this TC booster. As per YouTube demos I'd say it's one of the few overdrive pedals without a blend control that I'd use on bass. This sorta' respects the bass' timbre, I like that kind of OD that allows you bass to still "blend thru" the saturation at a nice ratio. I've got a Guma Drive kit coming my way (Xmas project with my brother -domotics circuitry designer and occasional drummer-), but if I have to be honest I have much more day to day use for this kind of overdrive tone (even this particular pedal with no blend control) than the CMOS style really. NICE usable bass OD, and at that price, a no brainer. Too bad I'm mostly a multiFX guy (altho' single "my tone in a box" kinda' use), these days you can get all sorts of great single pedals for CHEAP. Since I'm using multiFX mostly as preamps (fat compressed crunchy style, either picked or plucked) I know I could get away with this Spark Booster and a DI box for gigging or even recording (I've used a SansAmp RBI since forever, don't fear the pedal + DI layout at all). Thanx 4 sharing! 👍👍👍

I've had some trouble trying some updates to my G1Xon. Thing is I couldn't get some bass effects in there (Bass OD, DI Plus and a couple others). They wouldn't show up and it'd hang when changing models with the up key (not the down key, it'd scroll and just show "bypass" as many times as missing bass models + 1). After 2 days of failure I realized I was using ZDL files from the MS-60B, not the B1Xon. As much as parameters are the same and the effects sound the same the ZDL files are not the same (i.e., the MS-60B's DI Plus model takes up 5 blocks space in the MS-60B while the B1Xon's takes 6). As soon as I took those effects from the B1Xon firmware everything went back to working like a charm. BTW, I'm toying with some "Royal Blood on the cheap" kinda' schemes with my Zooms. Not bad at all. Just ignore the PitchSHFT or any other and use the BA Pitch, others won't work remotely as good on bass. All details in the video. Most efficient setup (also the most effect slots available) is the MS-60B doing bass duties and the G1Xon doing the fake guitar part. But I still can use any of the 3 for any task. Just can't have guitar amps on the B3, but still, many of the included distortions/overdrives can do a decent job at that too.

A bigger body bass might be a solution. But then those come with no contours, so there's another problem, they carve a groove into your forearm. I got away with "children head saver" rubber cornering in my Star Bass. Not the best aesthetically tho'.

The firmware update shouldn't knock your existing patches down,. BUT, I've already had an "incident" with my MS-60B, after a succession of firmware updates, where it'd show the bypass sign over some pedal models (and they're turned off, as if unavailable or something). I had to factory reset my MS-60B, install the original firmware (Zoom's latest for the device) and only then update with my custom firmware, which is now working OK (version 2 in my folder, was missing the acoustic sim for guitar in my first edit with all the added guitar amps, made necessary room by "sacrificing" the MarkMid amp sim -far from my thing-). The main con of this factory reset is I had to dial in my patches from scratch (fortunately only 10 of them). I don't use no ToneLib or anything, I'm faster dialing it all in the pedal, copying from my B3 (also had to do the same to have my bass patches in the G1Xon). The caveman way of copying patches, I know, I'll eventually install the librarian and learn how to use it. Zoom's firmware updaters are mostly self-explanatory. You power on your G1on with up and down buttons pressed so that it boots in firmware update mode, then run the EXE inside Zoom's firmware update zip file. This is a video for the G1on/Xon, but applies to B1on/Xon exactly the same.

No worries man 😉 Yep, most probable case.

Unfortunately this hack is not compatible with B3/G3. That's why I was asking if I could simply convert, if needed, my whole B3 into a G3 just by installing the G3 firmware. AFAIK the hardware is identical.

Over the weekend a deal I couldn’t let pass showed up and just hours ago I picked up a G1Xon for 30€, like new, in its box and including a power supply. There was plenty of space in the firmware edition to add the basic effects I need for bass (Bass PEQ, SansAmp, AcBsPre and a handful others, less than a dozen overall). So now it's a G1Xon with the basic stuff I need there for bass, analog to my MS-60B that now has some added guitar amps in it. Love having the AUX IN so this will travel with me in a gigbag a lot. I copied a couple patches from my B3 and, besides initial need to set global/patch volumes I cannot tell a difference in tone between neither of them (B3, MS-60B, G1Xon). Because I'm working in a couple different computers I've set up a folder to have all my Zoom FX firmware tweaking resources in one place. You'll see some G3/B3 stuff I stored there too, just ignore it, it's there for my use. Totally related to this, has anyone ever tried to install G3 firmware to a B3 or viceversa? Thanks in advance.

As a software guy myself I love this kind of projects. All my respect for these wise and generous people. I can't find a way to donate to the guys behind it, is there any?

Hey everybody! I've just done the "personalized" firmware installation into my MS-60B and I love how easy you can do this. I've basically removed some useless effects (the kind of filler stuff I hate in multieffects, who in this world needs 20 flavors of choruses, reverbs, delays, the bomber or the ring modulator?) and added some guitar amps (Rectifier, JCM800&2000, Bogner, Diezel, Twin Reverb, AC30, Hiwatt) so I can have a nice array for home recording or eventual "Royal Blood on the cheap", a trick where I'd use both the B3 and MS-60B together, with the MS-60B handling the guitar part (input from B3's right output, chain of 2 pitch shifters -fixed octave up and on/off 5th above that- plus some distortion, I was using the Metal Zone emulation, now I use the Rectifier I just loaded). The information in this thread has been HIGHLY VALUABLE to me, a BIG THANK YOU guys for sharing.

New "soundclouder" here. https://soundcloud.com/andres-de-mordecai Just uploaded my latest 2 home demos (my "current generation", this is the best I've produced at home so far, detailed enough for it to be learned by the rest of the band then recorded in a real studio). Drums made in Hydrogen using a kit I've built thru' the years (anyone else still using Hydrogen?, might be out of fashion, but I've been to Addictive Drums and still prefer Hydrogen). Then imported it as layers (kick, snare, HH, stereo toms, stere OHs) into a Zoom R24 and recorded everything else in there. For bass I used either a Musicman Stingray 5 (demo 2) or a Schecter CV-5 (demo 1) thru' the R24's own multieffects (on input, SansAmp emulation and heavy compression). Used a cheapo' Tele copy for guitar (carelessly played really, pretty rough), also thru' a Boogie emulation inside the R24. Vocals (in Spanish) were recorded using my Shure SM7B. Then it all went out of the R24 and into Reaper for some editing, final mixing and "mastering" (loudness mostly).

I got it from a guy in Mallorca IIRC, back in late 2017. If you're looking for a 4 string there's a 400 in Torrevieja, Alicante, right now (gorgeous BTW, includes a case, great price). https://www.milanuncios.com/bajos/bajo-electrico-4-cuerdas-ibanez-atk-400-348637486.htm

I've owned what is the lightest and skinniest necked ATK I've ever put my hands on, a 2001 MIK ATK-405 (5 string, with extra jazz style pickup in the neck position). Body was mahogany and weight was under 4kg. Neck thickness (front to back) was slightly over 20mm at fret 1, and that's almost SDGR thin (also, I'm a Stingray5 guy and those are 20mm@fret 1). Had owned a MII ATK-305 years before that and it was heavy and neck was not bad, but chunkier as all other ATKs I've played (MANY). The tone variety is also interesting in this one. These can be had for less than 400€ 'round here (Spain), if and when one appears in the used market (haven't seen any show up for the last couple of years here).

I've been thru' some basses in that range and IME a used Stingray is hard to beat. Having been to modern era alnico flavors too, my faves are ceramic era (only EBMMs I own these days). Also been to Maruszczyks, Sandbergs, several Yamaha BBs, even an American Deluxe P 5. None is anywhere remotely close to a Stingray 5 bass. Also, I personally despise Delano big pole pickups, some of the worst pickups I've played and owned (PMVC5 + MC5 in a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+). Not only they don't carry the balls (my maruszczyk also happened to perform poorly in a mix), they sound several flavors of DEAD compared to the real thing.

I agree, that's why I was severely attenuating 180hz (with a narrow Q). I moved the frequency around testing to get to those 180hz (all of this while A/Bing with the MS-60B, same bass, same amp).

No direct comparison, sorry (and I don't own the Four anymore). Still, just for reference, this is another bass, different bass lines, but the mood is the same (crunchy fat SansAmp, either aggressively plucked or picked). This is the MS-60B, brighter, punchier, bassier. Not only that, the Star Bass in my previous post is a Jazz Bass of doom (sounds pretty much like a Jazz, a hotter and warmer/fatter version, has way more gain and way more bass than almost any Jazz Bass). The ghetto Jazz in this sample is made of parts (all totalling 89€) and it absolutely kills on the MS-60B, it blows the Stingray5 in my first B1X Four sample out of the water, with just the SansAmp and 160comp emulations. Also the SansAmp overdrive reacts differently, for a starter it doesn't mess my lo-mids with unnecessary distortion (what really screws up the emulation on the Four, but that still might be the overall built-in 180hz peak ruining it).

And here's another sample, made some months into owning it. I particularly remember it being a PITA to EQ, this has 180hz severely cut (narrow band), plus some 80hz boost (wider), plus the ZNR I don't need to use on neither my MS-60B or B3 (where I only need the SansAmp and 160 comp emulations to sound like this). Also gain definitely works in a weird manner in the B1X Four. I kept trying to bring noise down (and also to push preamp and compressor emulations harder) by upping any previous pedals' output volumes, which most of the times did NOTHING (neither push further compression/OD harder nor bring effective volume up so I could lower overall volume -and noise with it-). IDK much about gain structures or whatever, thus can't explain what's different from the B3/MS-60B (they're both just emulations, chained), but you can tell if you do a serious A/B trying to reproduce on the Four a tone you like from the B3/MS-60B. Not even talking same parameters as those simply don't work. If you use the same parameters for (i.e.) SansAmp in the Four it doesn't sound anything like the same parameters on the B3/MS-60B (which obviously sound exactly the same as each other).

OK, I might have not been precise with my claims. The noise happens even on batteries, but it's probably more a result of having to deal with excess EQ stages to combat plain boxy/dead tone. This is a sample of the B1X Four I've had. Nothing wrong with it, no lemon, no power supply problems. I could have gotten away with it, just not after how miserably sounding it resulted when tested side by side with the MS-60B/B3, they sound more full, punchier and brighter with SansAmp emulation EQ controls almost flat and the 160comp behind it. The 180hz boxy peak only worsens the lack of lowend, particularly ruins things as the SansAmp crunch past a certain gain point. I might be a bit of a nitpicker here. My impression of the B1X Four was excellent, and I didn't care much until I started A/Bing them and trying to get it to sound as fat, defined, bright and punchy. Once I did the Four got old fast.

You're telling me I could have the Darkglass emulation (available only since B3n/B1 Four) in my MS-60B or B3?

A personal experience warning about the B1 Four/X Four (from someone who also knows the MS-60B/B3 inside out) . I've had an MS-60B since 2015 and it's served me extremely well. Not into a lot of effects, but more of a base tone kinda' guy (fat crunchy SansAmp + compression). I own a real SansAmp (an RBI) which has been my main recording tool since 2004, but it has rarely left my studio since I've got the MS-60B. I usually carry the pedal as my "tone in a box" and use whatever amp, even one of my own. Now, 6 months ago I got a B1X Four. Not that I needed it, but just wanted to have the Darkglass emulations (set on and happy with my SansAmp tone, can't really justify buying a B7K) and also something more state of the art with an expression pedal (after selling a Zoom 708II I had for a long time), even tho' I rarely use that. First thing I did when I got it was try to replicate the patches in my MS-60B (basically one crunchy and one -sorta'- clean patch for each bass I use). Right away I became aware of 2 serious issues with the Four: 1) it's damm BOXY and 2) it's noisy. Spent months trying to make it sound remotely as good as my MS-60B. No luck, to a point where it's even useless for it to have 5 slots instead of 4 if I need to add ZNR and additional EQ to tame a horrible 180hz peak (BOXY zone) and add both lowend and highs in every patch (only to get sorta' close, not quite there at all). Also the ParaEQ model changed, for very worse, now it's only one band, while it was 2 band in the MS-60B/B3. Side by side the Four sounds several levels of DEAD, doesn't carry the punch, the balls nor the liveliness. Also the params for the same effect (say SansAmp emulation) don't work the same on both units. Doesn't Zoom use a previous version of an emulation as reference or starting point to develop the next generation? Dont they plug in a bass and test the same emulation in the old model vs. the new one? The differences I'm talking about are TOO NOTORIOUS to obviate. I don't know what it is (only remarkable electronic difference is input impedance is 1Mohm on the B3/MS-60B vs. 470Kohm on the Fours, could that justify higher noise?). Still, it's not the first time I experience this kind of mishap with Zoom (which I adore and have got MANY great devices from), I got rid of a B2.1u 10 years ago because it didn't sound as good as the 708II I previously had. But it was not like this, this is different, it's like the Four's response is narrowed, BOXY, that's definitely the exact word, very annoyingly so. Sold the B1X Four and got a B3 which sounds exactly as great as my MS-60B and altho' having one less effect slot (still enough for me) it's also a GREAT audio interface and has a DI and even has a CTL in for an expression pedal I found around. Also dealt with faking a sorta' Darkglass, blending in some CMOS distortion/OD in for that middy crunch (there's several models available, the Squeak -RAT- works decently, also do the DS-1 and ODB-3). I've recorded several stuff with this B3 (both from the DI and using it as an interface) and as of today I don't feel like using the SansAmp RBI for recording anymore, I way prefer the recorded tone coming out of the B3 TBH. Haven't tried a B3n but I'm kinda' guessing it has the same problem (I know, not instantly obvious until you A/B one with a B3). Guess I'll have to wait for a future generation to do any upgrades, the Fours don't cut it for me.

I must make clear that the StarBass is the least hollow feeling and sounding of all semi-hollows I've played. It's just the best semi-hollow for those who don't get along too well with the microphonics, the honkiness and lack of articulation. Also it beats all others I've played (the Jack Cassady, some AGB/AFBs, some Eastwood, also played several Hofners and owned an Epiphone Viola) in the bass, punch and sustain dept, if you owned some Star Basses you're probably aware. I'd for sure use the Star Bass for situations where I'd use a semi-hollow, but also for anything else. In fact it's my #1 two pickup 5er these days (my main axes are Stingray5s). This is an example of how my Star Bass records for punk stuff, both in a J mood and in a P mood. Also, for comparison, here's the same track recorded on a Stingray5.

Update! L to R: 2003 Stingray5, 1997 Stingray5, 2011 WPS Star Bass 5, DIY fretless reverse P+J 5er, DIY Jazz Bass

For me it's skinny all the way (not over 20mm front to back @ fret 1). Also I prefer a narrow nut and not over 18mm of spacing at bridge (I own mostly 5ers). Only concession I've made lately is my WPS Star Bass 5, which isn't something outrageous either (21mm @ fret 1) but more D shaped than C. My ideal are my Stingray 5ers' necks, some of the sharpest Cs around, almost Ibby SR thin, narrow nut, 17.5mm spacing. That's my home.

I've only had one "regular" P bass (plus a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+ and a couple Yamaha BBs), and 4 Jazzes (my first bass, a cheap Argentinean Jazz copy, a couple '90s MIJ Fenders and my current cheap parts Jazz). I'm really into the Jazz neck pickup tone, prefer it to a P in fact, the mood is similar but there's some extra twang. I'm into the neck PU full + bridge PU slightly dimmed bunch too, so sweet. I did the series-parallel push-pull mod on my current parts Jazz, makes for some de facto boost/bass boost, very useful for making a thin amp thump, "Motowns down" the all open Jazz tone.

Haven't played the Epi Rivoli. On the Ibby Artcores, well, let's say I WAY PREFER the Jack Casady, or the Epi Viola for the case. Didn't like those Artcores much, thin and nasal sounding. I think many of those are completely hollow body, not even semi hollow, sounded both dead and thin to me in comparison. Beware, I even ditched any acoustic from my life because of how they feel (even the uke-bass, most useless bass related thing I've ever bought), so YMMV.