This thread is for anyone who is new to bass effects and is either not sure where to start or has maybe bought a few pedals here and there and not really been able to find one that they find themselves using for more than a few weeks. If you've looked at video reviews of the Zoom B-3 and been turned off at the crappy pre sets, please read on. This pedal will not only show you a vast array of effects (albeit some of the effects are pretty useless, and not all of the greatest quality) but will really give you an idea of what effects you will use practically. For example, a heavy distortion I've found pretty useless in a standard rock band setting, but an overdrive tweaked just right with some nice compression can really make you sound better in the mix.
But that's not the true beauty of this pedal. The Zoom B-3 has a 40 second built in looper, as well as a drum machine. I've owned a Boss loop station for practicing with, I'd play a few chords high on the neck and solo over them. It was a lot of fun, but the straight bass tone got a little boring after awhile. Well, with that said, those extra effects that seemed really useless earlier? When your using the looper you can find a use for almost all of them. The auto-wah setting really kills the low end, making it pretty useless in a live group setting, but when used on the looper it's great for replicating a funk guitar riff. Or maybe you want to work on phrasing higher up on the neck, you can loop your bass line using a synth FX, or a slight distortion. You can essentially make a back up band that sounds like a different array of instruments, so you always have a group to practice with at any time.
This pedal not only taught me about building effects and tones, but accelerated my playing by an insane amount. It helped me learn how to compose, it helped me understand what notes work over what chords, all the while helping me develop a natural rhythm because it's being backed by a looping drum machine in perfect timing. No more running through scales to a metronome or looking for a backing track online to jam to. You can create that backing track, and not only does it sound good, you can do it all on your bass! It made practice fun again, and I still try to find new inventive ways to play around with my practice routines to bust through plateaus. This pedal helped me finally transition out of the intermediate playing level, and made it so fun. But that's not the best part...
It's $200.... I don't think I could have paid any amount of money to progress as fast as I did with this pedal, but if I could take a guess at what that amount would cost, it sure as hell wouldn't be two hundred dollars. I probably should have posted this in the gear review forum, but this is less of a review and more of a word of advice. Get this pedal. Nowadays I try and challenge myself to do song renditions using nothing but a bass and this pedal (which led to me buying a six string) and it keeps me practicing for sometimes hours a day. I'm gonna add a link to my youtube channel below of a loop I did of the Alice in Chains song "Nutshell" using the Zoom B-3. Gives you an idea of the variety you can get out of it. Peace!
But that's not the true beauty of this pedal. The Zoom B-3 has a 40 second built in looper, as well as a drum machine. I've owned a Boss loop station for practicing with, I'd play a few chords high on the neck and solo over them. It was a lot of fun, but the straight bass tone got a little boring after awhile. Well, with that said, those extra effects that seemed really useless earlier? When your using the looper you can find a use for almost all of them. The auto-wah setting really kills the low end, making it pretty useless in a live group setting, but when used on the looper it's great for replicating a funk guitar riff. Or maybe you want to work on phrasing higher up on the neck, you can loop your bass line using a synth FX, or a slight distortion. You can essentially make a back up band that sounds like a different array of instruments, so you always have a group to practice with at any time.
This pedal not only taught me about building effects and tones, but accelerated my playing by an insane amount. It helped me learn how to compose, it helped me understand what notes work over what chords, all the while helping me develop a natural rhythm because it's being backed by a looping drum machine in perfect timing. No more running through scales to a metronome or looking for a backing track online to jam to. You can create that backing track, and not only does it sound good, you can do it all on your bass! It made practice fun again, and I still try to find new inventive ways to play around with my practice routines to bust through plateaus. This pedal helped me finally transition out of the intermediate playing level, and made it so fun. But that's not the best part...
It's $200.... I don't think I could have paid any amount of money to progress as fast as I did with this pedal, but if I could take a guess at what that amount would cost, it sure as hell wouldn't be two hundred dollars. I probably should have posted this in the gear review forum, but this is less of a review and more of a word of advice. Get this pedal. Nowadays I try and challenge myself to do song renditions using nothing but a bass and this pedal (which led to me buying a six string) and it keeps me practicing for sometimes hours a day. I'm gonna add a link to my youtube channel below of a loop I did of the Alice in Chains song "Nutshell" using the Zoom B-3. Gives you an idea of the variety you can get out of it. Peace!
... R.I.P. functioning looper. This was my last creation with it until I can get around to buying a new one :/
