I wanted to get started with a pedal board. I watched all kinds of YouTube videos and blog posts about which pedals to get first and what pedals EVERY BASS PLAYER NEEDS to the point that I had overloaded myself with information and wound up just buying a tuning pedal and later a compressor pedal.
Then I saw the announcement video for the Zoom B2 Four. I figured “hey, if I can’t get every pedal there is, I can at least get a simulation for every pedal type there is.” The day it came in stock at Sweetwater it was ordered and on the way to my house.
When it finally showed up, I was completely overwhelmed by it. The documentation was extensive, the factory presets were vastly numerous and I still found myself not really knowing where to start.
Eventually, after connecting the iOS app to it, I was able start getting a better idea of how it’s put together. I eventually found a few presets where I really liked the sound and, with the app, moved them to the beginning of the list for easier access.
And I was happy.
Then, as mentioned in another thread, I was having some sound issues with one of my basses. Be it the bass itself or the location of the speaker or Tzeench toying with my destiny, whatever the root cause I eventually created my own presets for each of my guitars to correct the issue while making each one sound as good as I can make it sound on my setup in my space.
No more fiddling with knobs each time I swap between my Fender and Spector. Just a click of the button and everything is optimized.
So my thoughts:
Pros:
Lots of simulated pedals to play with. Saves a bunch of money, especially when you’re as indecisive as I am.
Not just pedals but amps as well. Want a vintage ampeg? Just add it to your chain.
Looks nice. Simulated carbon fiber. I love carbon fiber to an almost unhealthy degree.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s very easy to create new pedal effect chains on the fly.
Built in looper. Loads of fun there.
The bypass switch is great for when I need to tweak the raw sound coming out of the bass or when I want to just use the dedicated compressor pedal.
The sounds are good. The pedal sims work exactly like you’d expect them to work and they sound fantastic.
Cons:
If your pedal chain has more than three options and you will be activating and deactivating various pedals throughout the performance, I can see it being a pain. Easier to swap between presets than to activate and deactivate stuff. Haven’t really run into that myself but as I’ve been messing around it’s been on my mind.
The built in tuner is ok but the screen doesn’t feel responsive enough for me. I much prefer my polytune for that side of things.
It needs to be powered on for bypass to work. Otherwise it’s a brick wall in your audio signal.
The app needs to be directly plugged in to manage it. Would be nice to be able to manage disconnected then just sync the settings. Nitpicky but it still annoys me.
The power inlet is heavily recessed. Wasn’t able to use the right angle power cable to connect it to my power supply. Again, nitpick but aesthetics are important to me.
Some of the presets that are obviously trying to recreate certain sounds are…wishful thinking at best. For example: the “GoodTimes1979” preset sounds like like Chic and more like “booming muddy mess”.
The companion app is another $0.99 after paying $250 for the pedal and that bugs me a bit on principle.
Final thoughts: I don’t see myself going beyond bedroom bass player hobbyist. As such, this multi-effect pedal is perfect for me. Doesn’t take up much space and allows me to instantly try new sounds and tones without having to fork over any more cash. Even if I wound up playing some small shows, this pedal would work just fine. Heck, I could see it working with with some medium sized performances as well.
I haven’t played with my zoom as much as I could.
I use the tuner every time I plug in and I only use a few presets at present.
Mainly I use the noise gate and compressor and occasionally a bit of chorus.
Having said that I really don’t know what I am doing with pedals and haven’t sat down for an hour or two to really learn.
To be fair, it’s not a bad tuner. I’m just extremely spoiled by my PolyTune pedal and it’s ability to let me tune everything at once. Frankly, every tuner I’ve seen since getting it pales in comparison. If I didn’t have that pedal with me for whatever reason, the one in the Zoom would be more than adequate.
I’m with you, my friend. It’s a great tuner, and some of the pre-sets are great, and the built-in rhythms are great when I just want to noodle in time. Other than that, it’s a mystery to me.
The Zoom pedals are by far the best money you can spend, if you are interested in effects; not because they will last you forever, but because of how much they can teach you about effects chains and building your own pedalboards. It’s so easy to throw together different combinations of effects to try out. They are fantastic learning tools, you just have to put the time in.
They are also great for their canned rhythms and tuner.
Did they finally add the audio interface back in to the B2four? It’s been missing since the B3. The B6 has it.
It has one and I’ve heard good things about it. Especially with the DI modeling feature that can simulate various amp types (tube, etc) on the way out to the computer. I haven’t used it, personally, as I have a Scarlett2i2 in my computer/synth rig. If I want to record my guitar with computer, I run it through my MatrixBrute or just mic my amp.
The lack of an audio interface on the B1four is a big bummer. The B3 had it, but then they dropped it for the next generation and neither the B3n nor the B1four had it.
It makes little sense since it is already doing the ADC and DAC work needed regardless, and it had USB.
Glad to see they brought it back with the B2four and B6.
Sure thing. The pedalboard itself is a Guitto pedalboard. The chain starts with a Polytune tuner, then the Zoom for the bulk of it and then I have the MXR bass compressor that I use if I’m bypassing the Zoom for whatever reason. All of this goes to a Fender Rumble 40 amp.
I’ve been playing with mine a fair bit.
I like the download patches on the Tonelib site, some great ones there.
Also playing around and making my own chains- made a good surf one for the Bass VI
I still don’t really understand pedals and effects (ie where you would use one rather than another) and some of my adjustments are hit n miss.
In short, I’m still loving it.
Hi!
I have read many times that the effects on the Zoom B2 Four are still the same as in the B1 and a few times that they are better. I have also read that the Boss GT 1B still has better sound than Zoom’s but I have not been able to find a direct comparison.
@franx Search for GT-1B vs Zoom you’ll get some results. Look at the ones going to talkbass.com. The stuff I read comes down to personal preference. Each one is better as some things than the other.
