Zoom GFX-707

Could not be much easier !! just select a user patch,turn the knobs for instant effects variations in real time...
For deep editing,you can select or turn off effects modules(COMP/DIST,ZNR/EQ,MOD,REVERB),many effect styles for each one,then turn knobs for ajusting the way you want the parameters...

Sound quality is at top !! 20 Bit A/D and D/A converters,31 Khz sampling rate ,4 amp sim and 2 variation for each one,many dist,overdrive,time based effects like chorus and delay are just fantastic,frequency modulation ones are also good,you can get all what you want from the beast,from extreme hyper distorted black-metal sound like NIDEN DIV or Burzum to the soft 70' overdrive ,also good vintage chorus tu use with clean parts,...but you must go deeply into editing to get exactly what you want !!!I've created about some fantastic patches since i get it,i sit sometimes for hours with my (very bad!!) guitar in hands,with headphones,and program each parameter separatly (i also love synthesis programming)...
rarely use amp (!!!) 'cause i put it into a mixer for recording,...it stand in every mix i do without extra-optimisation or deep Digital editing...i just normalize the track to get the best S/NR and attenuate the track on final mixing...this unit is not noizzzy at all and you don't need to use ZNR in general,but if you use COM and extreme equalisation with higher level of dist....set it to 4 or + ..

The unit seems to be robust,not as a Digitech one made by steel ,but it's reliable !I never gig with it ,just use it on a home studio environement.never had a problem with it,i just had lately some difficulties turing a knob,it was blocked for a little time...probabely because i do it with my feet !!!

Many features and an exelent quality/price ratio !! I love the pre-programmed drum patterns/metronome that suit all the basic and -relatively- complicated signatures,many styles(see the *.pdf manual on zoom web site),it let me sync my play to the tempo...but you can't control it with the expression pedal !on composing and basic arranging,i note the bmp variation on a piece of paper and this feature help me a lot to do that,...on recording, the bmp and signatures variations are programmed on the sequencer for the concerned measures,the synchro is assumed by a basic drum pattern or metronome played on my midi stuff...

The sampler is also very good to make some good melodies or transpose them in the same time(sorry no intelligent harmoniser but only a basic pitch shifting and a multi mode pedal-shift!!!),the 6second duration is only good to sample a little rithmic arrangement(note that modulation and reverb section effects are temporarely disabled when using sampler)...the bad thing is that you can't get two Modulation effects like flange and pitch ...because they are both in the same effect module(modulation one),but there is although some combination like tremolo+chorus ...30 presets and 30 user fully programmable patches ...manual is good and you can find all what you need to know about the unit (details like output load or independance also present),but to get an idea before getting it ,tak a look to the *.pdf manual online,it's the same as the one bundled with GFX707.




I'll tell you,if you want a multi FX pedal with nice effects and features that will help you to "start" guitar or play it better,make some good compos,...the thing is for you !for the moment it's enought to me and it suit perfectly my needs,i'll probably try to find a used DOD FX86 Death metal and a harmoniser or a whammy to improve my sound palette,...but the GFX707 has really improved a lot my playing in different ways,it's a very flexible and musical piece of electronics ...if someone want to share or get some patches,or if you do some sequencing with a PC,feel free to contact me.

This unit is pretty easy to use. I took it right out of the box, powered it up, and started playing. A quick glimpse at the manual is always a good thing though, so maybe peek before you play.

I'm only gonna give this thing a 5. I use a photo flame strat, with a SD hotrail in the bridge. I run it through a Crate Blue Voodoo half stack. I use a EH Big Muff for my main distortion. I bought this thing to use for messing around and to add some sounds to my setup. Well, it's not that great. The distortions are very weak. I only found 1 setting I could play with. The mod effects are pretty decent. You can get some cool sounds with the auto-wah, talker, and step modes. The drum machine is very basic, and the sample is useless. I'd say if you are a beginner and want to toy around with some different effects, this might be ok. If you've been playin for a while (6yrs for me) you might want to try something else.

It's all plastic. I didn't even step on it, didn't wanna break it before I returned it. It looks like it would be easily broken if used in a live gig.

Didn't deal with em.

I play a variety of music, from Smashing Pumpkins, RATM, Deftones, Foo Fighters, and alot of my own stuff. It woudn't help me in any way to create any new music. I'm thinking about getting a Korg AX1000-G. I'm on a budget and want the effects, but if the Korg doesn't do the trick, back to pedals. If this was lost or stolen, i'd claim insurance on it and buy something better. One thing i wish it had was a way to swith the mod's and distortion on and off, but you need to use the effects in combination of eachother. I'd say if you are a beginner player who wants to learn some tricks, or sounds, this could be a decent starting tool. Learning to play along with a drum machine helps you lean to keep time. Otherwise, don't get it. You'll regret it.

Most of the presets sounded good and possably usable. One thing I've learned over the years that what sounds good over your earphones at home my not sound so good when you run it through your amp playing with a band. I immediatly started editing the user patches while hooked up to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for the line up of songs my band does and in just a couple of hours with the manual gave me good understanding of how it works. Easy to edit. The manual gave me enough info to do anything I needed. The EQ names is new(different) and confusing to me but seems to work OK.

One Problem I have with the unit is the inability to bank up and down with a foot switch. To go between banks you have to bend over and push a button. This is OK when your at the house but when your playing live, not to cool. You can go between banks by continuously pushing the patch buttons and when it reaches the last or first Patch in a bank, it goes to the next bank depending if your going up or down. If you are playing live, only have a few seconds between songs, its a lot of foot tapping to go form A-1 to F-5. Constantly bending over between songs to bank up or down gives the appearance to other people that your having problems with your unit and can't get it adjusted.

The drum machine is nice but I can only see using it for practice. To be usable in recording or live it would require a seperate output and the ability to start and stop by use of the foot switch. I think is great for jamming and working riffs for song compositions.

To take this unit out of the box, power it up, plug in some earphones and hook up your favorite guitar, it sounds awsome. Like I said above, to run it through an amp playing with a live band is a little more tricky. I use an Ibeanez RG-450 into the 707 input with the output going to the power amp in of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. This unit is very quite, impresingly quite. Usually running compression and distortions together is very noisy but this unit handles it very well. The only thing I noticed negative is at the end of some songs where I was sustaining a comp/dist note, the noise gate cut in to quick. Hopefully backing off the gate one notch will correct this without gaining noise. The main effects I use is compression, EQ, Distortion, reverb, delay and chorus. They have all have been sounding very good to me. I was suprised the first time I rehearsed with my group. I editied the patches at home and figured I would have to do a whole lot of tweaking during rehearsal to get them sounding right but they were very close. All I did was a few level adjustments. A lot of the effects on this unit are effects I haven't had available before and may incorperate them into my playing as I get familiar with them. They sound very interesting and I see a lot of potential for future sounds. I have been very impressed with the distortions with lots of gain available, you can make the chorus very transparent which I like, the compressor gives a very even sustain without pumping. As far a sound, the jury is still out on this one. I have had it since Christmas(almost one month) and know myself well enough that I will have to become a little more familiar with this unit to get the very best out of it.

Haven't had it long enough to make a judgement. I always carry a backup because anything made by man is subject to go out at any time.

Haven't needed them yet.

I play contemporary country/rock Gospel with a band called, "The Answered Prayer Band". I have been playing 37 years. My equipment is: AMPS-1998 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, 1990 Bandit 112, Peavy Pacer, Peavy Audition 110, Park PGB 15 GUITARS: Ibanez RG-450, Fender Bullet, Hoyer Les Paul Copy, Hondo Bass(presision copy), Epiphone f-130 Acoustic EFFECTS-Zoom 707, Art ECC, TC Electronis sustainer/EQ, Morley Vol/dist/Wah, Ibanez Classic Metal, Aron Stereo Chorus, Aria compressor, Digitech RP-1000 Delay, Art SGX-LT processor, Morley ABY. See my review on some of these items.

The Zoom 707 seems like a really good unit for the money. The lead singer with the band is really impressed and claims I control my volume better with this pedal. One reason for this is the expression pedal that allows me to control volume, level of effects and even allows you to swith additional(preselected) effects in and out thats controlled by the pedal. Pretty neat. When used as a volume it works pretty well with volume swells. I have had problems getting the Pedal Wah working right. I will keep trying. The three knobs for editing perameters is a great feature allowing you to adjust a patch when playing and storing it immediatly and quickly. I'm not really worried about the plastic housing because I always Baby my equipment. Found a nice carry bag at Wal Marts that fits perfectly for $8.00 with pockets to hold my adapter and manual. I will prbably ubdate this review after a little usage. This unit was a gift and if I had been shopping for myself I would have probably rejecteded it because you can't bank up or down with the foot pedals. Since I already have it, I will put it to work and make the best out of it. I does have some very good advantages over the ECC with the expression pedal and additional effects. I know Boss has a REV/Delay pedal for $150.00. With this pedal you get reverb/delay probably as good plus all the other effects. This is a lot of features and good sound for your money, I'll give it 9 on that.

Something Else. I read a lot of the reviews in my spare time and the majority of them are written youngsters say 14-20 years old. I see a lot of cussing, fussing and many of them carry their units back the next day complaining they couldn't make it sound like so and so. Just want to share a little to help them see how well they have got it. When I got the guitar bug I was 15 and it was 1962. At this time the main effect was reverb. Most amps didn't have it. A Fender Deluxe with reverb and tremolo was a prise posession and none of my friends had one. Distortion was starting to be developed but to the general public unavailable and I didn't even know it existed until the Rollen Stones came out with, "I can't get no Satifaction". I started out with a Arch Top Harmony Acoustic Guitar provided by my parents. An electric guitar and amp was a distant dream. I eventually ordered some cheap pickups and mounted on my acoustic. My best friend had a cheap electric guitar and small amp. I would plug my acoustic into his amp when we would Jam. Most of the guitars on records were clean so you could basicly emulate what you heard with very basic equipment. Now the syk is the limit and new sounds and equipment are comming out every day. So when I read that you have been playing one year and have two electrics, an acoustic, two amps, a multitude of effects and the latest toy you want to throw away, I can't help thinking,"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD YOU'VE GOT IT AND ARE BLESSED OF GOD!!

I bought the thing before I heard a proper sound, but I saw the editing potential.
It took some time but I can manage the patches now. It is pretty straightforward. The manual is clear enough for me. Also the possibility of naming the patches is a good thing (I missed that on Rolands GR-30)

I use a simple Piggy together with my computer sound card plus home stereo (the latter giving the best sound configured for line out).The first sounds I heard in the shop were terrible! But I saw potential after studying the knobs and the manual, so I bought it. One patch I made is like Jan Akkerman. Modulation is the best part of the unit.
Wheb you really want a good sound, you have to eliminate the distortion module in most cases.

Its sturdy enough, but the stage is a battlefield for equipment, it very much depends on your own behaviour I guess.

No experience

I love it. It's great fun to play the box placed on the table with a headphone connected and practise with the rythmbox on.
The presence of a ring modulator took me back many years when I built one myself. It is also good with a mike and the Pitch shifter.
Lots of fun. But very bad distortion module. The pedal is not good, when you want a wah, buy something else.

Easy and user friendly processor...

VERY BAD !...I'm using Ibanez Jem 77,Peavey ProfeX programable multieffects preamp,Peavey Bandit 112 amp,Mackie CR1604 16 channel mixer,Akai S5000 sampler,Roland XP-50 music workstation (yes I'm prof :))...Compressor sustain insufficient if sustain gain to pass over 3-4 sound to cracking...bad !,Distortions and Overdrives too mechanic and insufficient gain..if use comp+dist,comp+od and max gain sound noisy...ZNR normal,EQ insufficient...band parameters bad,Amp simulator not real simulator this effect only like ampsim effect!! and too insufficient if connect mixer very very bad sounds...MOD effects are good delay time and other effects sufficient,Reverb normal and sufficient...RTM modulation pedal settings sufficient but usage bad and too short range...Sampler function good 6 sec record available but if play sample sound cant use effect,foolish !!!..Rhythm sounds normal useful for amateurs...
This effect sounds bad...and too amateur sounds...

Very amateur and bad effect unit...only sfx sounds normal...if you want listen my compositions please visit http://otante.cjb.net

One of the good things about this processor is its ease of use. It only took about an hour of tweaking to figure out how to use the edit function, drum machine, sampler, pedal...

I've been playing acoustic for a while, and just recently started investing in an electric setup, I bought a cheap electric a small Fender 15R, and a GFX-707. When I had this setup, I thought that the zoom sounded great. However, I recently upgraded my amp to a Crate GFX120. This amp sounds awesome using only its onboard FX and distortion. When I add the Zoom it really craps up my sound. It seems to weaken my signal and cut out the tops and bottoms of my highs and lows, making the sound indistinct and boring. I can't believe that some people gave it such great ratings when they have really good set-ups. I think that this pedal is really good for beginners, but unless you plan on being a beginner for a really long time, don't waste your money on it. I plan on selling it ASAP and buying a Bud-Wah for some real sound.

I doubt it could really stand up to any really rigorous use, its made
of plastic.

Never dealt with them...

I like classic rock like Hendrix, Beatles, Zepplin, the Grateful Dead and newer stuff like Phish, Matthews, Bela Fleck... But I doubt it matters what you listen to, except for maybe punk, the sound of this pedal really sucks. You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get....paul

Cake walk ! This thing is very easy to use. got killer sounds out of it in the first ten minutes. editing is a breeze. manual is good.

I have a marshall JTM60 with the matching speaker cab. 4/12's all together. A les paul & ibanez jem for my guitars. This unit is very quiet. The effects are very good. I have had in the past a peavy max100 a digitech rp3 rp7 and a rp5. tried out a boss gt3 and it was way to noisy. boss makes nice stuff butt to much money for not that big of a differance in sound. I even like the zoom distortion better !! run a 7 band EQ. stomp box with this unit and you will have to tape down all the dishes in the kitchen !! the sustain was even better than the boss. butt like every thing else no two things sound the same. If you find a good marriage bettween your guitar your amp and a processer keep it !! this is a nice little unit and dont let the size fool you, it rocks

Its plastic but durable. I also have a zoom processer for my acoustic guitar and never had any trouble with it.

Never had to deal with the company. I got a manual from peavy for the max 100 i had, nice people. tried to get a manual for a boss me 8 one time and they wanted to charge me $11.00 for a copy of a manual...by by boss...

I play metel/rock music. played for about 15 years now. had alot of musical gear in the past and after a while the less you have to cart around the better. If this were stolen or lost i would get another one the next day !! the only thing that might bother you is the display. It is not super bright. But most of the time if you play in a band your inside at night and its fine then. I usually get something and then sell it in a couple of months. But this i think I'll keep............for now.

Fairly easy to use. The fact that some settings reset to factory defaults after the console is turned off is somewhat annoying, but that's being picky, I guess.

I love the sound of it. Of course, this is my first real effects pedal, so I guess any effects at all would sound good to me. But I have compared its sound to some other pedals that friends of mine own, and it's pretty darn good.

I've only had it for a week or so, so I can't really answer this one....

Never had to use it.

I really love it. It's been a very fun and useful tool for me so far.

If you've played around with multi-FX units before, you'll find this
quite easy to use. I find it anoying though, the way the values of
the parameters jump back and forth when you change a previous value.
Why can't they use rotating digital knobs without a fixed start and
end position.

I was really excited when I got mine, which quickly turned to great disappointment. The modulation effects and reverb is OK, but the distortion is a joke. Where's the guitar-tone? I swear, if I connected this effect to my old D-5 Roland Synth, it would sound the
same as my guitar. With distorted patches that is. Considering that
my most important tone is the distorted one, the rating sufffers.

Don't know. I only kept it for a couple of days, before I returned
it to the store.

Don't know. I've heard rumors that it is terrible.

Sucks BIG time! I'm at this moment checking out some good PreAmps,
which can distort plenty, and still retain my guitar tone, like
POD, Rocktron or SansAmp, combined with some effect unit.

After using a ZOOM Fire I found the GFX-707 took a little time to edit patches. This is only my 2nd effects processor and I think it is pretty stright forward. The manual is good but needed to set up patches. I also really like the knobs for tweaking things. On the down side, I don't see any easy way to start and stop the rhythms without pushing a small button. It would of been great to be able to assign the pedel to rhythm volume.

I must say that I have only had the GFX-707 a few days.I got this to use with a Washburn acoustic guitar only. I plug it into a Peavey acoustic 100watt amp. I like the chorus and reverb effects very much. Been playing with the pitch shifter and I have found the the GFX-707 to be a lot of fun. Because I play only an acoustic I can't comment on distortion and some of the 'electric' effects others might like. I have found the rhythm patterns (PCM not sampled) to be a lot of fun also. (my family is getting tired of them) I play at a coffee house and will use drums next time I play. Switching from patch to patch is VERY quiet and the pedel works well with patches also.

Well it has worked for the week if've had it BUT it is plastic and I wouldn't want to get it wet.

So far I haven't needed it but I see the manual is on the ZOOM web page. http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/multiconsoles.html

I play mostly in a worship band and for fun and have been playing over 20 years. I am not a professional and bought the Zoom for fun and it has been so far. If I lost it I would get another one. For the price it was a great deal! I see already a web site for patches http://venus.spaceports.com/~gfx707/ and hope others will join the fun.