Zoom B2

Read the manual!

It's just a few pages and it explains everything clearly. Once you get how to turn modules on/off and what the different symbols mean (only 2-digit display... every effect is represented by two letters) it's damn easy to use.
Editing and storing is a breeze.

But... read the manual! Really!

It is not the quietest unit out there, but it's reasonable, and the ZNR noise reduction works.

The sounds are pretty decent. I don't really rate the overdrives, I haven't found a single one I liked, but then I don't like most overdriven bass. The amp simulation part gives me enough tonal variation and I get enough warmth (without overdriving) from there. I can't tell how close to the models they simulate they are, but I think that's the wrong approach anyway. I look at modelling as a source for tonal variation. The models they represent should give an indication of the type of sound, but not necessarily reproduce every nuance. In that respect I am satisfied.
I got it mostly for FX. I am a guitarist turned bass player and enjoying it a lot, and playing without FX (at home I use a V-Amp, and for rehearsals I am using an Ampeg that was already there). I knew I wanted some chorus and/or flanger and wanted to investigate other possibilities without spending much money for now, and the Zoom seemed to fit the bill, as it gives me:

A bright floor tuner
Decent EQ capabilities
Passable compressor
Chorus/Flanger

and much more, all in one small package at low price.

As a tuner alone is worth keeping!
The EQ seems good enough to me. I use it mostly as a 6-band graphic, but you also get the parametric if required. A dedicated pedal like a Boss (or Behringer) has the advantage that all teh frequencies are visible and accesible immediately and easily... so this is a compromise, but there's not usually much reason to tweak it once you get the setting you require.
The compressor works, it's nice enough, but I'll probably end up getting a multiband compresor at some point.
Chorus, Phaser and Flanger... they are a little "grey". they work. they're not rubbish, they're not amazing... I'll probably end up getting a dedicated one, once I figure out which effect(s) I *really* want for bass and find out the one that gives me the sound I am looking for. Meanwhile the Zoom does its job well.

This unit has other FX, like delays (I like the echo, vry Pink Floydish), reverb and pitch shifting (including intelligent harmonizer) but I don't need those much for bass. The pitchshifting is bad, there's a noticeable delay in teh effected note, but it can have its uses if using it in a low mix with the uneffected sound.

The wah/envelope section is fun, but not the best... There are so many dedicated pedals out there, I have no idea which one I'll end up with, as it's the sort of effect I really want in a bass (occasionally) for some funk forays... It's good to have this in the Zoom.

The synth I don't like. Not very inspiring.

The build seems reasonable, but get a backup, always have a backup.

I play pop/rock/funk... and I am currently in a black metal band. Eclectic is the operational word. I play a J-type bass.
This Zoom is a good unit, it covers many bases in a copact inexpensive form, but it doesn't really excel at anything. The way I look at it is: I need a floor tuner, for a little extra I get a whole array of FX and it's programmable, so I can use this as a backup in the future. So top marks for that. Also, the amp simulations, they're useful for recording as they provide a nice palette of sounds... all direct to computer or mixing desk. They also make it easy to design patches with a bright sound, a dark sound... so that you can go from one type to another without even touching the controls in your guitar, let alone your amp. That freedom is great.
I have been playing guitar for over 15 years, and owned countless FX pedals... and I think this Zoom is a great introduction for bass FX, or one to keep for somebody who's not too bothered about FX but wants to be able to use them occasionally.
Great value for money.

About as easy if not easier than most mult-effects pedals. Its always hard to cram so many features into a small unit and still make it usable. Zoom did a pretty good job on this pedal.

As far as the comments about it being hard to put the unit in bypass/tune mode by pressing both pedals at the same time... How small are your feet??!! I wear a size 9 and have no problem doing this while playing.

Great sounds, very quiet. The amp sims sound great. I have no way to know how accurate they are, but they sure produce a variety of very usable tones. Effects are top notch. The noise reduction does its job without creating any artifacts or removing any overtones.

Seems solid. I haven't had it for long. Its certainly sturdier than its plastic counterparts (including previous zoom models)

I love it. I want to say it is a great pedal for the money, but the truth is I'd have paid more for this kind of quality.

I was surprised by the drum machine. I actually almost didn't buy it because of this feature. It seems so cheesy and gimmicky, but once I used it, I love it. It sounds good and it is a lot of fun to put on a beat and practice to it. Excellent for working on timing.

This red little beast sounds good from the second you turn it on. Everything is very well thought out. Some things need to be checked in the manual. For instance: who knows that Sb stands for a Marshall superbass amplifier? The manual tells you all you need to know and you learn fast because the B2's so easy to use. I won't give it a 10 because the two-digit display limits it. You have to read the manual at some point.. In a live situation you have two footswitches that takes you through the presets. (I use an external pedal to toggle the tuner/mute-function.) This requiers some planning since you don,t want to stand there toggling through five presets in the middle of your cool solo. It's a matter of cost and size i guess.

My setup is: P-Bass - Wireless system - B2 (with external pedal) - DI-box(direct to mixer) - Peavey TNT 150
The 96hz 32 bit blablabla seems to make a difference. The sounds you get just gives you the feeling that this is a very high-quality item. (The price-tag tells you different.) There is absolutely no niose what so ever. If there where the built-in noisegate would remove it. My main sound is based on either the Marshall SuperBass simulation or the Hartke HA 3500. If you need more effects than you have here you need to see a doctor. It can do anything. I mean.. who uses TWO delays?? Highquality wah, highquality chorus and so on... Everything has the same highquality sound to it. The only thing that troubles my mind is that the distortion simulations lack volume. It makes no sense. It should be the other way around.

One of the things that lead me to buy the B2 was the fact that it's made of metal. Two highquality metal footswitches. I'm taking this baby out on the road. No need for a backup. At this price you won't find a more solid effectunit. I am a touring bassist so I need things that are reliable.

No problemo

I play in a pop/rock group. The bass is a dominant instrument and the B2 lets me have both a really good standard sound AND every wacko-effected sound I could ever want. I am very satisfied with it.
The best thing about it is the quality of the sounds it makes. I compared it to the Boss GT-6B. That would cost me about four times as much and not give me anything that the B2 can't do. GT-8 has 44hz and 24 bit, B2 has 96hz and 32 bit and it's not just numbers. It really seems to make a difference. There's nothing digital about the sound that the B2 makes.
Add to this the low price. Even the plastic Behringer V-amp costs more.

very easy to use. editing patches is a breeze.the manual is good, no jinglish!

basically i am using this for my drum machine ..the effects sound great for my type of music,there are a couple fx that give me pause but they might become usefull with the right amount of tweakage ..i mean for a pedal at this price point it rivals my rack fx,this unit was a good buy on my part.

this little devil is built solid..looks and feels the buisiness.

who needs em!

overall if lost i would buy another..actually i am going to buy another one for my other gear....i own zoom 505II and a zoom 506 ..THIS ONE IS WAY BETTER..Just my opinion!

You get great sounds out of this right away!! Currently, my favorite is the SWR patch. Zoom includes a handy reference sheet (as well as a more detailed booklet that shows all the 'how-to's' of all the effects contained within) of all the preset patches that you can scroll through, but it's almost more fun just hooking it up to your favorite bass and trying them all! It also has a jack for an optional foot controller to adjust the effect parameters on the fly. ANd one nice thing about it is that an AC adaptor is included!!
My favorite effect thus far has been the DEFRET one, which made my bandmates actually think I was playing a fretless bass when they heard it.

Most of the patches are really quiet (except for the distortion ones, naturally) and the sound quality is awesome. But it does contain ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) in case some patches get a bit noisy for you. Right now, I'm only playing it through a PA system at my church, with a small 10w amp used as a monitor, and the sound is amazing for something this inexpensive.

I haven't had this unit long, but I feel I can really depend on it. The housing is made of a nice colored red metal, with rubber sides. The foot switches are made of metal and feel very sturdy underfoot. Even the dials are metal, and the red LEDS are pretty bright, considering the color of the unit. I take really good care of my gear, so I know PHYSICALLY this thing will last a good long time. I definitely would replace it if something happened to it, since it's really affordable. Heck, I'm sure these things will even go down in price after a couple of years.

When I was researching this unit before I purchased it, I found the website with info about it, but no sound clips as to the quality of the product. I happened upon one once at a guitar store, which led me to try it out there, but samples would have been nice on their site.
Other than that, I haven't had a reason to contact them, so I have NO OPINION on this subject.

I've been playing over 20 years, with both studio and stage experience. Currently, I'm playing in a progressive hard rock band and my church band, in which this unit has really shined for me. I own a Line6 Bass POD, which I still use from time to time, but this unit just seems more user friendly and has way more effects in it than the POD. It's kinda like a POD-light!! Definitely more affordable and quite attractive in it's own right.
This little treasure has gotten my creative juices flowing as of late. It's really fun to play with and quite addicting. It's a fantastic value and I highly recommend it's purchase, just for the FUN factor.

It isn't too difficult once you read through the manual. But, it isn't very intuative. I have a Korg PX4B bass pandora which sounds about as good but is much easier to program. This is a pedal though so much more usable live than the Korg.

The amp models are really, really good. And, most are pretty good imitations. The effects are hit and miss. Most are compentent but not very editable. So, if you don't like the basic chorus sound you are out of luck. One exception is delays. Delay is available in two different blocks. So, by combining you can get some great polyrhymic stuff going. Lot's of differnt types of delay too. Ping-pong, tape, etc.

Looks pretty well made. Solid metal with extremely thick rubber sides. Bet you could drop it quite a bit but I won't be testing that out myself.

I think Zoom is distributed by Samson in the U.S. Never delat with them. I don;'t use a lot of Zoom gear, but if this piece is any indication they are moving out of the low cost market into some serious quality gear.

goof piece overall.

Using the Zoom B2 is fairly simple. Scrolling through the presets is done with the footswitches and a couple of buttons. Editing patches is done by using the selector knob to dial in the effects module, then using the buttons to scroll thru the effects within the module, then use the three knobs to tweek the parameters. Although you can dial in several effects at once, you can only select one effect per module. There is a two-digit numeric display, which takes some time to learn what all the abbreviations stand for, as well as what the parameters are for the effects. There is some text printed beside the knobs that will apply to most of the effects, but not all. The manual is simple and to the point. Bypassing the unit requires stepping on both footswitches at the same time, which usually results in a patch change; a dedicated footswitch for bypassing would have been a nice plus.

I mainly use this unit with my bass, but it also has some nice sounding effects for guitar. The amp models are pretty good. They won't make a practice amp sound like a high end tube stack, but between the modeling and the detailed EQing you can do, you can program in a nice variety of tones. I found some of the modulating effects (chorus, vibrato, tremolo) to be a little on the weak side, but they are fine for dialing in generic effect sounds. The flanger and phaser sound better to me. The auto wah and auto resonator are responsive and sound better than anticipated. It has up to 5 seconds of delay (tape echo has a nice warm decay to it). The 3 reverb settings sound ok, but I don't like tons of reverb. It has some overdrive/distortion sounds, but I prefer a clean bass sound so I won't comment on those. Some of the synth effects are pretty cool and track well, while I find that one of them tracks sloppily and can only be used with slow passages. There is also a ring modulator, which most people won't like, but it seems to do what it is supposed to do (although you can't get pulsating sounds like you can on the Moog which costs 3 times as much). There are a few speaker cabinet simulators so you can use this as a direct box or headphone amp. There is also a built in drum machine, which isn't much to speak of, but it is fine for practicing. There is also a tap tempo button which is nice for doing things like syncing up a modulating effect's speed to a delay. For the most part it is quiet, but I have experienced some unwanted noise when dialing several effects at once. I am giving the sound quality a 9, not because I think it's the best sounding precessor on the market, but for the price range, it may be the best. I've been playing for over 20 years and am still impressed with the quantity and quality of effects for $100.

This is my first product I have purchased from Zoom, and haven't owned it for that long. It is housed in metal with rubber on the sides, which is a step up from the plastic, but doesn't feel like the "built like a tank" construction of some pedals. I'm a studio musician, but if you're going to take this to gigs, it would be advised to take care of it and not throw it around.

Never dealt with them.

Overall I rate this product a 10; IMHO it is a hands down winner for it's price.

Believe it or not, some of the presets on this unit are very useable! That's rare, because usually the presets on a multieffects unit are extreme, showing all you can do. There are some classic amp models in there, like the Ampeg SVT, Fender Bassman, Acoustic 360, SWR SM-900, and a great sounding tube amp. Unlike other multieffects processors I've seen they put a good preset for each of these amps. However, if you don't like the presets you can quickly change them.

Editing the patches is easy and done with rotary controls on the front of the unit. The manual explains it very well and it's a snap once you know how. You can quickly change the amp model, the low frequency 3-band eq, the high frequency 3-band eq, and add any effects you want. When you switch back to "play" mode (the far left knob all the way to the left) you can use knob two to adjust the level of cabinet emulation in your sound, knob three to adjust the tone, and knob four to adjust the distortion/overdrive level.

I have patches saved for the tube amp, SVT, SWR, Bassman, and Acoustic 360. Last night I hooked it up to my recently purchased Carvin RC210/115 amp by plugging my bass into the input and the output to my amp. I found that by boosting the cabinet emulation all the way that they all sounded great except the Bassman, which sounded tinny/thin. I quickly adjusted the high/low eq's and found the "Bassman" sound I was looking for. Now I've got it all set up and my amp sounds amazing!

Are the amp models true representations of the modeled amps? I don't know, but they sound pretty good! I'm sure that others will try this and say, "this stupid thing doesn't sound like my SVT! This thing sucks!". An imitation will never sound just like the real thing. I can tell you that right now I have five distinct and great sounding bass tones I can get at the tap of a footswitch! Another cool thing is that the processor chip is so fast that there's no noticeable silence, like there is on older processors.

I give this a 10 in comparison to other multieffects processors.

Check out this website for a detailed look at the B2: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/b2/, or you can download the manual here: http://www.americanmusical.com/brandmanual--d-Zoom_Manuals--br-290.html.

I'm using this with a Carvin LB70P and a Carvin RC210/115 amp. I've never found this to be noisy on any setting since you can control the noise gate function in the unit. I'm really only using this for amp modeling and the models of the actual amps are really good. I don't like them all (some of the amps aren't my sound), but they're all useable sounds. There are some stompbox sims included that aren't so great. They've got a TS5 Tubescreamer sim which is pretty good, but the Boss OD3 sim is just fuzzy sounding. It is possible to adjust the blend of wet/dry sound so you can add more of your real bass sound which should give more bass to the thin fuzz.

If I were to use any of the effects I would probably use the flanger, phaser, choruses, and reverbs which are all pretty good. The defret sim is pretty good as well.

For amp modeling it works really well!

I almost forgot! There's a great sounding and easy to use drum machine included with 40 different patterns and you can easily adjust the tempo etc. It also includes a tuner that you can use with sound or in bypass mode.

I've only had it for a few months, but I do gig with it. If it stops working I'll just go to bypass mode and use my amp. It runs off four AA batteries or with the included AC adapter (which I use).

The unit is made of aluminum with rubber bumpers on the sides, and the switches are metal. They've really built this thing to be used live! I have no worries about stomping on it or dropping it at all.

I haven't dealt with them, but if I have to I'll talk to my friend Mark who's a Zoom rep.

I've been playing bass for six years now. I have owned a Behringer Bass V-amp, and that's what I'm really comparing this to since they're about the same price. I play classic rock and Christian worship music and this fits perfectly. The amp models they chose are classics or modern favorites and they did a great job of giving useable sounds.

The Bass V-Amp was useless for playing live, and the B2 has become a permanent part of my rig!

If this got lost or stolen I would definitely buy a new one. My understanding from what I have read is that the sounds are similar to what a Bass Pod does and they're three times as expensive. This thing is an amazing value!