Zoom GFX-707

You can flip through the presets on this out of the box, but you really do need to read the manual to get anywhere with it. There are easy edit knobs to turn 'general' parameters up and down, but you need to sit down with this pedal to work through the settings and tailor your sound

I'm using a Tanglewood Corsa strat shape thing, and whatever amp I can borrow at the time. I've never known a multi-effects to be so 50/50. Half of the distortions suck (metal/distortion/fuzz), the other half are very nice (wildfuzz/power/overdrive). Some of the compressions settings suck, but the amp sims are good. The noise reduction is superb, the flanger sucks. The autowah is superb, the pitch shifter sucks. The whole pedal has good and bad sides to it, and after five years im still finding nice tones.

I've had this now for 5 years. I've gigged with it, the batteries last a fair while and all the buttons, pedals are working on it.

Pedal hasn't let me down yet

I wouldn't recommend this pedal nowadays because so many more have come about since. I did learn a lot about what kind of sound i like from it though. Unfortunately the sounds sound best when soft and clean, or hard and thrashy, but it's near impossible to get a nice medium sound.

This is one of the easiest, most intuitive processors out. It has lots of great sounds which are simple to program.

Ican't believe some of the reviews on this product. I just use mine for jamming, I have a huge pedalboard stuffed with some boutique, and a few Boss pedals which weighs a ton, so i use this for jamming with buddies, or small venues. This unit has the best overdrives I have ever heard in a processor. They're very usable, and sound great if you tweak them. I think some reviewers are judging this box on the presets whic are not great, but that's always the case, presets suck in just about every multieffect unis. That said, this pedal also has some amazing Distortion and Fuzz sounds which really cut through without ever sounding harsh, you just have to tweak a little, and with all analog knobs, this is a very easy unit to tweak.

Here's the fun stuff: all of the modulation (Phase, Flange, Chorus, Etc.) sound great, not wimpy. I think the Modulation effects in the 707 sound much better than their equivalent Boss stompboxes, they just have more personality. The Delays, and Reverbs are awesome, never poppy or harsh sounding. Also, this unit has some whacked out Zoom-only effects such as Step, Pedal Pitch Shifter,Ring Modulator, Time Trip and Ring-Vibrato which are very cool, and useful if you're into trippy experimental stuff.

I've had mine for 3 years and have never had a problem. It's plastic, so I'm careful not to drop, or slam it around. I have never had any problem with a Zoom product, I also have a Zoom 9030, and a Fuzz pedal, never had a problem with any of them.

I've never needed it!!!

I'm mostly into mt boutique effects, I have a Blackstone overdrive, and a NVN Dino Fuzz, but I do like the Zoom 707 for jamming, I've programmed about 30 great patches into it, and I always get compliments on my tone with it. also, this pedal is not tone-sucking as some other reviewers have noted, you just have to read the manual, and set the Output knob correctly, it bypasses great.

I have always loved Zoom's effects, their units are always better-sounding than the Boss processors which always sound lifeless in comparison to me. The Zoom 707 is a 2 thumbs up effect in every aspect!

Pretty straightforward, I guess....built to last 2 years before falling out of the skies, kind of a Virgin Airlines 707. They now have a 707 2 that is the same garbage box, different name. Hell, if you crashed in a 707, would you go out and enter a 747 in the same airline? Of course not, you would either be crazy or dead! SO DONT BUY ONE! (Hope Zoom reads this. I want my money back.)

Most sounds great, (especially blues), some crap (like company).
Use(d) with my lone star strat.

Why would anyone in their right mind buy the 707 "2" after reading all the bad press about the original 707 (which I have). Since they are essentially the same unit, I can only say that after 2 years (sound familiar?) mine quit, only the input jack (jackoff) is not repairable as far as I can see with the back off (backoff). Very dissapointed indeed, no abuse, it just stops working, sort of like a windup pillsbury doughboy...looks cute, sounds great, not a marathon finisher. The balls of the company to make a new one as if it were some kind of technological improvement development issue. They just dont pony up to take responsibility for bad products and cheap plastic input jacks better suited for battery operated sex toys. Why not just make better 707s and offer to fix all the broken ones out there? And to top it off, SAM TRASH cant even fix this piece of garbage...but they will sell me a new 707 2!!! They suffer from flea market corporation confusion.

Warranty expires before you can say "honey, now where did I put that old warranty card?" Or how about "Warranty will hold up until your next scheduled dental cleaning."

Nice sounds, used mine instead of an amp by using headphones staight through fro quiet enjoyable playing, loved it but its a sick puppy, made poorly with great effects. Should be called ZoomZOOM - "Zoom...works now...ZOOM...broke REAL fast! Can you spell "Ineffective Warranty?" How about B-U-Y-E-R B-E-W-A-R-E? I would give it a 5 for overall rating, but think that their numbers need to take a dive here. A 10 rating for "Disposable Items".

I posted my original review of this unit in 06/2000 (under name of "Greg", so I won't recount that review here.

I am planning on using the (original) GFX707 live. I have several other units, Zoom 505-II and Digitech GNX3 that I have used up until now.

The 505-II just doesn't sound good with a flattop/piezo. The GNX3 is big, heavy, and expensive - I've left it home in recent months, though I can not argue with the sounds I get from it with an electric or a flattop guitar.

The GFX707 is something I put away in deference to newer pedals, since which time I have owned, used, and/or sold Zoom's 505-II, GFX-4 and GFX-8 as well as several other maker's pedals.

Now, I'm pulling it back out of mothballs since it is portable, lightweight, runs on batteries or a 9V adapter, and gives up equally good cleans and overdrive sounds.

The cleans are a little better than the Zoom 505-II and the overdrives are at least as good *and* the GFX707 sounds good with my Ovation flattop - something the 505-II didn't do well.

Quite easy to use, the users manual is pretty clear and you can manage to get good effects very quickly. The sampling feature is well easy to use too, negative point: can only sample 6 seconds max, a tiny bit too short, feature updated on the GFX707-II, as the length of the jam along sample feature is now defined by a memory card, that you can change. The rythmn feature is quite easy to use and very useful as we don't always play in a band, and therefore, it is quite convinient to practice on one's own.

Alright, here comes the dark bit... How to be accurate and gentle to that pedal at the same time...? I play on a Washburn WI-66 pro with Seymour Duncan pickups and a Fender Strat, played through a Marshall MG100DFX with a 4x12 extension cab. When the GFX-707 is not part of the line-up, the sound is AWESOME !!! BUT... when you add the GFX-707 in, the sound is really bad... To begin with, as soon as you use any kind of distortion, the sound is crap. The Metal distortion is terrible, all you can hear is a noise, very low, and while listening to it, or at least bearing it, you actually forget that you are playing guitar because your guitar is the only thing you can't hear in that fuzzy shitty noise. The overdrive is either too wick or too strong, you can't get a warm bluesy sound, which is really annoying. It sounds like you're playing with a loose lead, which is not really the kinda thing you want... unless you play some kind of experimental music. However, when you use the pedal without any distortion and just effects such as chorus, delay, it is pretty good, sharp and clear.. It suffers from the lack of settings though.. You can't really customize the delay for example. There are proper weird effects, which sound briliant, very conceptual, such as "drill" or "talk". The possibilty of assigning diferent functions to the expression pedal is quite cool.
As a conclusion i would say this pedal is not a big deal for friends of metal, rock or blues.

As most of reviewers underlined it, it is just a plastic box, I would be surprised whether it could survive if someone stepped on it... However, I used it in gigs, it was treated badly, and it's still alive. The expression pedal is solidly anchored in the basis, and is not loose at all, even if it has been stepped on a coupla times. Still a plastic box...

Never had to deal with them... Which means the reliability of the pedal is ok!

I played every kind of music, and as I just said, when you want it loud with a fat overdrive or distortion of any kind, well, don't play through this pedal. It's not worth it, you'll be disapointed. When you want something clear, with mental effects, then go for it.
Would not buy it again to be honest, I was really happy with it when I first got it, but it was probably a beginner's enthusiasm. Now, I own a digitech RP300, and God, it rocks!
The only reason why I use it now is the built-in rythmn machine, as I can practice on my own, waiting for the next band practice.

Face it, with so manny possabilities you're going to have to read the owners manuel. It did take me a while to learn how to use the presets though.

It's not exceptional. But in terms of bang for your buck, it's great. Some of the preset effects are mediocre, but some realy kick ass.

Would you ever do anything pro without a backup? If I did a show with this. I would prbably spend 30 sec cycling through effects to find what I'm looking for, but as far as reliability and sound quality I wouldn't be shaky at all.
I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS PEDAL IN 2 YEARS. No jack, or electronix problems at all. Period. People complain about reliability and in the same breath say try not to drop it allot. Hey einstin, do you drop your guitar allot? If you did might you have problems? just something to think about...

Can't say. I've never needed any... Hmmm...

Perfect for beginners. Not made of steel, but not a problem unless you're throwing it against brick walls. Sounds sweet, but the owners manuel is a MUST. I've shoped around and you would have to fork out a boatload of cash to get all these capabilities.

Rudimentary tweaking skills will make it easy to find your tones once you've had a few minutes practice. Straight forward Matrix type layout with (generally) 3 variable parametres controlled by the 3 white knobs. Or alternatley, tweak main effects (dist/mod/reverb/master) on the fly with the rotary knobs any time! Too easy!

Used this out the front of a silverface twin for a few years. Later in the loop of a Fender stage 160 and again in the loop of a mesa nomad 100. With both Humbucking and single coil equipped guitars. Many effects here the best of which are chorus and reverbs and I think the "lead" distortion should earn a special mention because although its a little..err..."processed" sounding for some reason I like the damn thing! As for other distortion/modulation effects...most sound pretty cheap and cheesy. I guess you get what you pay for. I wouldnt mind using this just for the chorus or reverb but the damn thing does not have a true bypass. This means that when it's in "bypass" mode, its still actually sucking my tone away! Not good! A great buy for the beginning guitarist without an amp/money for separate boxes but not really for anyone searching for good tone!

I encountered the same problem another guy described below where I was getting this crackling from the input jack. At first I thought it was leads/the jack but after opening it up I found that the 3 pins soldered to the board had basically become cracked all around in such a way to force an unreliable connection. No worries - 10 minutes and a bit of solder later she was as good as new. While the problem was pretty minor it was still a bit of a piss off. Cheap cheap cheap.

Never dealt

Again, broad variety of almost-there tones with the odd rough diamond. Strictly for beginners or people who can tolerate inferior tone! Good value for the price if you're a beginner but ultimately a piece of plastic shit.

This is a very easy editing unit... But it could be better... I think ZOOM improved it on the 707 II series

I've been using it with a Ibanez rg 507 and a marshall vs 100. This is not a noisy unit at all, when using the ZNR...
Some modulation effects are not bad, but others are useless like the Vibe...
The distortions really suck...
I'm sorry they really SUCK, the only reasonable is the LEAD distortion...
I cannot sound good with this unit, i can take much better sounding with the ZOOM 505II although it is noisier but it has better distortions, i mean much better and notice that the 505II is so much smaller!!

It is made of plastic, it is not made to last years... But if you take good care of it... maybe
I wouldn't use this in a gig without a backup at all, unless i wanted to give people the idea that i was the worst sounding guitarist ever!!

No opinion....

Acording to my musical influences, this unit is not a good choice...
I don't think that a smart thief would try to rob this unit, unless he was a real Jackass... I would run and buy something better...
Don't love it, oh the drum machine is not bad at all, but the new units from ZOOM have even improved drum machines so...
It just wanna say... IF YOU ARE SANE DON'T EVEN THINK OF BUYING THIS...
IT SUCKS SO BAD THAT EVEN ELECTRICITY BEGS NOT TO BE CONSUMED BY THIS UNIT...

This pedal is as versatile as you like! You will find editing patches really easy if you are familiar with Zoom units, and although this is my first, I find the setup really easy to use. The swell pedal is great too, and I actually find it easier to use during play than most Morleys I've tried. I use mine to emulate as close as possible the tone of Hank Marvin (I'm saving up for a dedicated echo unit even as I write this!), and some echo settings of his too. The tone I get through my Fender Deluxe 90 amp is nigh on as close as you can get without paying the earth on Meazzi effects units and Vox AC30s. When I use other effects, the sound stays the same quality, and the versatility really comes through. The manual is straight forward (if you dont find this to be the case you need help), and once you can change patches you can just about do it all.

I use my 707 with a Hank Marvin Signature Fender Strat and a Fender Deluxe 90, and you can't really fault the sound, as long as your amp is off the floor, on a table o5r stand etc. Vibration then kicks in on some notes and it all gets very ugly! It's not really noisy but you may get some odd sound changes if you put the Zoom Noise Reduction up much higher than 3. There is one chorus sound that is totall gorgeous, (called "L-LEAD") and when playing atmospheric stuf this really comes into its own. The Hank sounds that I get (as I said) are pretty surprising too.

I have regularly gigged with my 707 and found it so reliable. I have found that the jack outputcome loose sometimes, but a quick soldering ob sorts that out for months afterwards so no worries there, cos all units like this are subject to this sort of hiccup.

Haven't dealt with Zoom, so I wouldn't really know.

I something happened to my 707 I would immediateley but another, but probably the 707 II, simply to get a newer model (sad innit?!). The only thing I will say is that it is generalised, and so the echo effecs that I want for a good Marvin sound have to be provided by another echo unit. Overall, I highly reccommend this effects unit, and it is great as a first (as mine was for me). I would definitely go for Zoom again, probably rack mounts, ut that's beside the point. This little box is wonderful to use, has great sounds and I love t. Nuff said!!

Quite an awkward pedal, and no matter what combination of patches used it still sounds awful. I suppose it's good for a beginer who wants to start dabbling with guitar effects.

This will make your guitar sound like a cheap piece of plastic. Over prossesed, scratchy, fake. Tried through transistor and valve amps - will seriously destroy even the best valve tones. It basically seems to take the sound of the guitar, strip it down to a horrible thin tone, then prosses this with various artificial patches. No true bypass, which means in bypass mode, you only have the thin stripped down guitar tone. Your better off saving up for a half decent valve amp with one or two good stomp boxes or effect units that you will actually use, rather than 50+(?) unusable effects. I was bought one for roughly #100 about 5 years ago; there's around 50 or so sounds on there I think, so that's about #2.00 per effect. You get what you pay for.

Would never take one near a stage. Owned it for years and it didn't break but that's because I didn't actually play it; then sold it on Ebay. I doubt it's plastic casing could take very much kicking about though. I suppose it will do what you tell it to do if you understand how it works exactly.

Never dealt with the company.

I generally play rock music of some description and wouldn't wish this pedal upon anyone for any style. I've been playing for 6 years and have grade 8 guitar. If I lost one of these I wouldn't be too heart broken. Hate these things, the best thing about it was the box it came in could fit A4 paper folded in half perfectly. Got the pedal when I was a beginer; it seemed pretty cool to a 13 year old. Wouldn't recomend it to anyone to gig or record with.
Oh yeh, did I mention that this isn't a very good pedal?