Zoom B1on Bass Multi-Effects Pedal

Now, with the release of the B1on and B1Xon, Zoom are taking bass effects to new heights—and at an astonishingly affordable prices. Whatever your level of expertise, whatever your style of music, the B1on/B1Xon is sure to become an instant favorite in your pedalboard.

The B1on offers 75 bass effects, including a variety of distortion, compression, modulation, delay, reverb and amp models. The B1Xon offers 5 additional pedal-controlled effects.

Up to 5 effects can be used simultaneously, chained together any way you like. In addition, there are 68 built-in rhythm accompaniment patterns, and you can connect headphones to the output jack (as well as portable music players to the auxiliary input jack) for silent practice sessions. An onboard chromatic tuner supports all standard bass tunings, and a Looper feature enables you to record up to 30 seconds of CD-quality audio. Loop length can be set either manually or to a preset number of quarter notes, and you can loop to any rhythm pattern, with automatic quantization that ensures seamless start and end times.

Programming is simple and straightforward, thanks to a streamlined user interface and the large backlit LCD screen. Advanced editing features such as Swap, Auto-Save and Pre-Select make it easy to organize your patches for live performance and allow you to scroll through patches silently while keeping the current patch operational. In addition, the B1Xon's built-in expression pedal enables you to control input level, output level, or any selected effect parameter in real time.

Both the B1on and the B1Xon allow you to choose from 75 different onboard DSP effects. (The B1Xon offers 5 additional pedal-controlled effects.)

These include compressors, noise gates, filters, equalizers and octave dividers, as well as boosters, overdrives, fuzzes, phasers and flangers, plus chorus, pitch shift, tremolo, vibrato, a sub-octave generator and an intelligent bass synthesizer that plays along in key—even a DeFret effect that changes the tone of a fretted bass into that of a fretless. There are simulations of both classic and modern pedals such as the Aphex Punch Factory, MXR DynaComp, dbx 160A, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Moog MF-101 and Z. Vex Seek-Wah, as well as the Xotic EP Booster and Bass BB Preamp, Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff, SansAmp Bass Driver DI, MXR Bass D.I.+, Avalon Design U5, plus the ADA Flanger, tc Electronic Corona Tri-Chorus and BOSS ODB-3, DS-1 and Metal Zone. Original effects include Zoom's Noise Reduction (ZNR) algorithm, a bass frequency-specific Auto-Wah and a "talking" modulator. You'll also find more than a dozen delays and natural-sounding reverbs here, including rooms, halls, plates and an emulation of the Line6 M9 Particle Verb.

The dozen amp models include emulations of classic tube amplifiers like the Ampeg SVT, Ampeg B-15, Fender Bassman, Marshall Super Bass, Polytone Mini-Brute III and acoustic 360, as well as the contemporary sounds of the Hartke HA3500, SWR SM-900, Aguilar DB750, Gallien-Krueger 800RB, Eden WT-800 and Italian Markbass Little Mark III, each with its own distinct cabinet modeling that can be used to further alter the tonal quality. What's more, you can pair any amp model to any cabinet model for unusual, and often striking, effects.

Click here for a full list of all the B1on/B1Xon effects, along with a list of their editable parameters.

NOTE: Manufacturer names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The names are used only to illustrate sonic characteristics and do not indicate any affiliation with the Zoom Corporation or Zoom North America.

The B1on/B1Xon offers a wealth of features that make it easy to dial in the exact sound you want.

Stompbox chains typically start with dynamics effects such as compression, before routing the signal to wah, EQ, distortion and/or overdrive effects. Modulation and spatial effects such as chorus, delay and reverb are usually placed at the end of the chain.

However, there are no hard and fast rules on how to chain effects. Exciting new sounds can easily be discovered with a little experimentation and some imaginative effect chaining. The B1on/B1Xon gives you the ability to get creative with your effects chaining.

You can also easily edit chains you’ve previously created. Simple changes in the order of effects can sometimes alter sounds dramatically. For example, an EQ set before an amp model can result in a radically different sound than having the EQ set after the amp model. That's because putting the EQ before the amp model serves not only to alter the tonal characteristic of the sound but to act as a signal booster as well. All this can be done internally with the B1on/B1Xon—much easier than physically changing the order of stompboxes.