Zoom B1Xon Bass Multi-Effects Pedal

I realize this product is intended for bass guitar, but I purchased the B1xon pedal because I was looking for an effects unit for vocals and could not find one as inexpensive as this unit. Alternatives such as the TC Helion Mic Mechanic looked good but this thing is less than half the cost. Also the B1xon works for bass or guitar, has drum patterns, and a looper, and a tuner, and a bunch of other goodies. The downside of using the Zoom B1Xon for vocals is that it lacks XLR inputs and outputs, so i had to plug it in the effects loop of my PA system to get my mics flowing through. (One could also buy XLR to mono cables to connect a mic directly). I created some clean-ish patches with reverb, and added some amp modeling and compression, and my singing sounded deep and powerful. This unit has some very nice arena cathedral and hall reverb settings, delays, reverse delays, dynamic filters, synths, and you can easily save presets for each song if you wish. all of the amp models and stomp box patches have a blend option which is nice for vocals and bass which can lose all definition pretty fast with gain. There is a whole series of compressors, which mimic famous stomp boxes and can be dialed in pretty well with vocals. The noise floor is not the greatest if you use a lot of effects, but i was able to put a pretty loud signal into the pedal without clipping to keep the noise less noticeable, it also has a noise gate effect. I also used this pedal with my P-bass, although I play mostly country stuff so I'm not the type to use a phase shifter or a modulation filter on bass, but the settings are fun to play with. I did really like the Rat stomp box model (Bass Squeak), which holds up pretty well with my vintage Rat pedal, and the Dynacomp effect is spot on with my newer block logo MXR Dynacomp pedal. There's tons of stuff to play with on this thing, but I found its most surprising use was for my singing. Try it out on vocals for yourself! I think that if Zoom released a vocal friendly version of this pedal with XLR inputs and outputs and its own dedicated patches they would really be onto something! color it green maybe?

Original Review - 1 Star Defective out of the box. Powering on, I get a faint, fuzzy static for all features. Disappointed. Troubleshooting and a reset produced no results. June 19 Update - 4 Stars An update. Amazon return/replacement is fast and convenient. As soon as I contacted Amazon Returns, they provided a link that allowed the printing of a return slip. This was during a weekend, but on Monday UPS picked up the defective item. The very next day UPS delivered the new, replacement Zoom. Amazon has been great, to say the least. About the Zoom ... I don't typically have need for an effects pedal, but I bought the Zoom because I specifically wanted two effects: polyphonic octaving and delay. The various amps and distortions are great, as well as the overdrive and chorus, and I will use them, but I really wanted polyphonic octaving to give the bass an 8 string effect (octave up, not down) for some songs. Happily, Zoom can do this (up or down). While not a perfect emulation, it certainly sounds good, which is good enough for my purposes not wanting to spend $1000 or more on an 8 string guitar. The delays aren't exactly what I'd hoped for (even the lowest settings are too long for what I wanted), but happily the Zoom has a fretless effect which turned out to be almost exactly the sound that I was looking for. So, well done to Zoom, especially for less than $75. The musicians who developed the patches obviously put a lot of thought into them. Many of the clean and distortion patches (along with the amp effects by themselves) are so similar that one has to have a discriminating ear to favor one over another, especially when heard through a combo amp or cabinet (like my Peavey and Behringers). Listening through headphones is a good idea here because naturally the effect becomes more attenuated when heard through a sound system. That's not Zoom's problem; it's just a fact of life when dealing with sound equipment. Several of the patches do sound goofy and unnecessary, like some of the cheesey 70's disco effects, or the Space Martian-ey sounds, but I assume they were created to demonstrate the versatility of the pedal itself. The ability to use 5 effects at once, and to put them in whatever order you want, adds another order of magnitude of sounds that might be produced. It will be some time before I've had a chance to explore just some of the thousands of permutations this little pedal offers. In fact, between bass, Zoom pedal, and sound system, there is no reason why anybody couldn't create their own sound thumbprint that nobody could ever duplicate. Another plus is that your changes to a particular patch can be saved automatically, or the unit can prompt you whether you want to save it or not. I don't auto save. I'm glad for the option to discard a patch, because my initial impulse is to experiment with every patch I play, and not every experiment goes as planned or needs to be saved. Now, one negative I will mention is that there is no On/Off switch with the Zoom. Why I don't know, but it adds an unnecessary set up step (plugging in somewhere, depending on how you decide to power it) each time it is used. It's not a huge deal but it would be nice just to flip a switch with a foot and play. Another negative is the lack of blank memory space for patches. If you want to save a patch you've created, then you have to overwrite a patch that somebody at Zoom put thought into creating. Losing any patch is a pity. Even if I don't plan to use a patch, like the goofy disco sounding patches, someday I might want to reference them for some reason just to see how the experts created it. A reset would get those patches back, true, so I'll have to save my created patches to a notebook for that possibility. Now, if this had cost $150 or 200, I would be inclined to give Zoom a lower rating because of the negatives mentioned above. The original I received was defective, too. But I didn't pay $150 or 200 for this box, not even close. There are lots of effects, and they sound good. The only limitation to this pedal in the near future is my own imagination. And Amazon got a replacement into my hands within two business days of my reporting a problem. Taking everything into consideration, I can give the Zoom 4 Stars. It's well worth the money.

It’s a good basic beginner pedal, lots of very similar modes but meh, just look at it.. what would you expect?

For the money you cant beat a ZOOM pedal. I had an old version for YEARS and even used it to play small shows but to see the leap they have gone from there to here is awesome! All my pedal were destroyed in a flood last year and since I dont play out any more I wasnt buying anything expensive but let me tell you this is big price in an affordable package. The UI is super simple, the effects sound AMAZING.... the fuzz effect is spot on for an electric guitar sub if you fiddle with chords and the fine tuning of each patch is flawless. I love how they now turn themselves on by sensing the cord being plugged in and could see myself using this to once again play a small show since it was super simple setting up the patch orders you like. I have to see if there are any new firmware updates but it works so nice what more could I want. One thing I Would LOVE to see implemented is a way to program 3 effects into the up/down pedals and use them like 3 separate pedals. I mainly use wah, fuzz and flanger(or chorus) and to use the pedals themselves as a storage bank would be nice!!!!!

Pros: A great loop station and a drum machine. The timing on effects is in sync with the drum machine BPM. Great choice of effects and preset patches. I used it in a couple of shows and at rehearsals. Amp models are good, if you don't like the amp sound at the rehearsal space you can adjust it. This processor lets you decide what pedals you need to buy. ----------- Cons: Perhaps my active bass is too hot, but sound quality degrades in some of the effects and I can hear digital artifacts, particularly with the compression effects. The foot switches are unpredictable and there's no click. Sometimes it does not switch at all. When you engage the tuner it may switch to a different patch. Effect/volume pedal does not have a spring and it's really hard to position it precisely. It's pretty useless. Tuner is not precise, which is a shame. I don't use it anymore. Headphone amp needs more power. Summary: good for solo practicing with a looper and a drum machine and a backing track. Will work on rehearsals when you need some effects. Not a reliable workhorse, particularly the footswitches. for the shows and some effects may have artifacts depending on your signal chain.

This thing is great, it's fairly solid, not flimsy. I haven't used a zoom since the 90's and gone are the days of hitting the pedal and 2 seconds later the patch kicks in. Had it for a couple of weeks and the simulations are spot on. For example I have the EHX Big Muff pedal and I was sceptical that the zoom simulation would sound the same, but actually it sounds EXACTLY the same when the dials are set the same...well I can't tell the difference anyway. The array of popular compressors are cool, you can really play around and see which one suits you best. Looper and drums are awesome fun and easy to use. The default patches are mostly over the top...I deleted most of them to create space for my own. The only reason it loses one star is that I would like a PC interface, and I would like to be able to tweak effects easier on the fly...which is actually what you get with the B3, and it won't be long before I upgrade (but possibly something new is coming out?). I think every fledgling bass player should buy this given it's price - if even just figure out what individual effects you want to purchase. But if you have a bit more cash just go directly to the B3.

This is a killer device for the money. While it may not be certain as to whether or not this unit would stand up to the rigors of repeated live use, it is great for the home enthusiast or local jam player. The included headphone out, aux in, looper, and drum patterns also make it a great practice tool. About the only thing I would have liked to have would be the inclusion of computer software to edit patches and to upload/download completed patches for safe-keeping and to share with other users, but I realize that this would have increased the price. All in all I am very happy with the unit and would recommend it, especially for anyone looking for their first multi-effects unit.

This thing is awesome. It does so much for such a low priced, little pedal. The looper is great! Presets are great! Synth sounds and tracking are pretty good. For the price you can't go wrong, even if you want to just mess around with it.

Through your B3 or MS60B away. Digitizing has many drawbacks in contrast to real electronic signal processing, when it is all the same across the products line-up and the differences maybe the price and the build. Some will argue the controlability and which I affirm this one comes way better than MS60B, and may be short to B3 but with the pedal it is a steal. For sound? Do you think a TOO GOOD digitization is necessary? :) Enjoy it. It's a good piece when you know what you are doing.

el producto es un muy buen pedal de bajo ya que por su precio es muy accesible y puedes hacer muchas cosas con el, para principiantes es ideal para conseguir el sonido que requieras sin gastar mucho

Not bad for the price. Actually use some good heavy wattage amp with this device. A mere 40 or 80 watt amp won't help.. use a 120 watt amp and you get the full potential of the processor. I have been using this since 4 months and it sounds decent for the price. The only con is you have to buy the specified adapter for 2000 bucks extra. Coz. Any other adapter will create hum.

Its just reach to me in 3 days & packing is safe. The processor is just osum! Tunning afficency for 5 to 6 string bass is accurate. Many effect, stomp box effect, many pedals are working well and just feel free to play any thing. And drum and rhytham pattern gives me the great exercise time to play with it. Lopper gives me the the great beauty of playing. Overall happy with it !!!

Awesome pedal for the price, no issues so far but I've only been using it about a month.