Most bass multis have been fairly low-priced or fairly high-priced, but the quartet of new bass multi-effects I reviewed here defines an emerging mid-priced class of full-featured tone gadgets. Each sells for about 200 bucks, and each has an expression pedal, but from there they differ widely in their use, capabilities, and strengths. Armed with a few basses, including my trusty Fender Jazz, and equipped with a pair of freshly shined shoes, I got to stomping. Then I spent an afternoon at a soundstage showing them to fellow BP staffers Jonathan Herrera, Brian Fox, and Greg Olwell.
Déjà Shoe
- While testing each of these multi-effects, I got the sneaking suspicion I was stomping familiar ground. Turns out I was right: Each one is a direct descendent of some other gadget I’ve reviewed in the past.
- The Boss ME-20B is a chip off the older, bigger Boss ME-50B, which I tested in June ’04.
- Despite its “beany” branding, the Line 6 Bass Floor POD owes little to the Bass POD, PODxt, or PODxt Live; rather, it’s based around the Lowdown series of bass combo amps. Senior Editor Jonathan Herrera reviewed the three big Lowdowns in August ’06, and I wrote about the little Studio 110 in March ’07.
- The Rocktron Utopia B-100 shares much of the interface and editing experience of Rocktron’s Blue Thunder preamp, which I reviewed in October ’04.
- The Zoom B2.1u has the fullest family tree, with the 506, 506II, BFX-708, and BFX-708II all getting the Soundroom treatment (though somehow we missed the 607). Most recently, I reviewed the Zoom 506II in January ’01, and Jonathan reviewed the 708II in March ’03.
Check your personal BP library for these older reviews, and you’ll get more perspective on these newer pedals.