Zoom 2100 Player

This unit is beyond easy to use. I originally intended to use it live to recreate studio effects created by an Eventide UltraHarmonizer, and it works for the two key ingredients: a. it is much easier to edit the patches, and b. it is much easier to change patches live.

As with any digital device, the distortions are crap....except the occasional lo-fi sound, it works wonders for that. I rely on my amp for distortion. If you leave the eq, distortion, and reverb off, and only use it for modulation and delay, it is great. My signal chain is one of several Strats or an LP Standard--Snarling Dawgs Fire Bawl--(then it gets complicated)--there is a Loopmaster Box with two effects loops, the first one contains the first Zoom 2100 (which is used only for delays, tremelo, or the slow attack)--the second contains the second Zoom 2100 (used for a fuzz effect, phaser, the autowah, or the ring modulator) and a Boss EQ (set for scooped mid). The output of the Loopmaster goes to a Deluxe Reverb. With this setup I can activate one, both, or neither loop, that way, I can eliminate all pedals in the chain to go straight into the amp. I'll give it an 8 since the effects that I actually use are great, but the once I don't are not.

Well, I've been using one of them for two years, and the other for almost a year, and I've never had a problem with either. I guess since I have two of them, one is a backup, but I don't really worry about it. They're plastic, but they held up better than a Roland MIDI rig, which did what I wanted, but was much more complicated.

Only dealt with them to try and get an expression pedal, but found that the M-Audio Universal Xpression works with it and is much cheaper. So, they were helpful, but I chose another route.

I play in a dance rock band similar to The Killers, Garbage, or The Cardigans. The delays, sampler function, and jam play are my best friends. The only thing I would change is maybe the inclusion of a tap tempo function, but you can adjust delay time with the expression pedal, so that's no biggie. If you want to create ambient, layered sounds live (like The Edge or Garbage) this thing is the way to go. I use two since I'm usually trying to recreate three guitars by myself live. Again, the distortions just aren't there, but this is a much more affordable alternative to a Boomerang or Loop Station that's also easier to use and includes some cool phasing and ring modulator effects. If you have some crazy sounds to reproduce live, I'd definitely recommend it, but don't steal mine, since they are kind of hard to find and I'd be lost without it.

Once you get used to the general pattern for settings, you can manipulate fairly easily.
But if you are used to the steadiness of volume when engaged and not engaged, you lose this with the 2100.
The previous Zoom pedals seemed to posses a passive circuit that did not effect volume when not in use, my 2100 has a definate effect.

I find the distortion settings offered for the most part useless, it "dirties" up your sound but the distortion effects are not as warm and natural as they were in the 2020 series.
The digital effects fair, but do lend to a prgrammed sound and do not posses the warmth of the earlier Zoom products.
The mainstay I use with the Zoom 2100 is a 57 Strat. thru Peavy Duce / Carvin XS100 amps. Also use a mix of assorted digital and analog stomp boxes, BOSS and IBENEZ.
Earnie Ball volume pedel.

It has proven to be roadworthy but can be prone to stage damage due to the plasic constuction. These Zoom pedals are not rugged by any means. The added expression pedel does not hold up at all, a real piece of C$@P.

Went to their site, they really offer none.
I contacted the company to get some input on volume fluctuations when pedel is engaged versus not, you could hear the crickets, if you know what I mean.

I liked my Zoom 2020, and when that got damaged I learned the 2100 was the replacement.
The 2100 seem to have an active circuit, which in turn affects volume when, engaged versus not engaged; the 2020 could be engaged with no affect to actual volume.
The digital effects are good, distortions are marginal at best and amp emulation is very limited.
I play alot of Rock, Country and Blues, it does have some usefull settings, but you have to work on them "live" to get them set right.
Especially the echo / reverb effects. The ZOOM 2100 does demand considerable time before it becomes useful. Not as friendly as it's predecessors.
I will be more particular in my future choices. Just because you enjoyed success with one model of a product does not mean you will enjoy continued success with others.

not bad unit for very little money.. but it's a tad bit hard to program especially if you're experienced with some of these new devices which have scrolling menu's.. this is a 90's gadget and it don't have anything that scrolls.. two big red LED numbers that look like they came from a digital clock is all you get.. plus some led's light up to show you where you're at when you're editing patches.. it don't bother me none.. because I grew up in the 90's with all this kind of gear.. if you're a teenager you may scratch your head and wondering what they were thinking back then..

The distortions sound like those Digitech distortions from the 90's.. total digital rubbish.. I can't see how to ever use it.. but on the other hand, the clean sounds in this thing are actually very nice. the chorus is excellent and this is the only flange I've ever heard that I like.. these are tiny little plastic units about 3 inches narrower than an ordiary laptop.. you need to be a bit of nerd to program this thing.. it looks weird at first.. but it makes sense in a few minutes.. no one makes interfaces like this anymore because they just suck.. but if you're willing to sit in front of it for an hour and figure it all out.. it's well worth exploring.. and then you realize it's all very simple. I've plugged this into my Behringer GM110 30 watt amp, which is currently Behringers first modeling amp which uses only analog circuits.. it's a cheap $99 unit but has really great fat tube like tone..(check the reviews here on harmony-central.. it almost always gets 10's) The only problem with this amp is that it doesn't come with any effects, not even reverb.. so this little Zoom Player 2100 works really well in the effects loop. Really amazing sound quality.. brings the amp to life! mixing the milder distorions on the zoom player with the overdrive on the amp allow me to get everything from a creamy Davig Gilmour bright strat blues sound to the darkest and grungiest tones of Nirvana.. the amp itself has 3 amp's to select from and 3 speaker/cabinets to select from.. so when you combine that with the large range of tonal varieties from the zoom, the sound options are endless. thats one area the zoom is really good at.. lots of different but good sounds.. not just endless variations on the exact same sound.. (i.e., digitech products)..

and the zoom never seems to suffer from bit depth anti-alias sound problems like I've heard with Digitech products from the same period. (i keep picking on digitech because they were supposed to be the leader in this whole field.. and like I fool I bought their products .. and so they would let you believe they were on the cutting edge and people always review their products and say how great they were.. those people were retarded idiots of course, and it turns out that most everythig digitech made in the 90's under $500 was
total rubish). The 90's were this horrible period of technology development.. we had to suffer with lots of shit sold to us as being a "revolution is sound development" they were so full of it.. I think I've paid my dues in this regard.. so when I say thiz zoom unit has good sound quality, you can trust me..

The zoom also has a couple of built in amp emulations itself and they just give the tone real warmth and depth.. the reverbs are good.. the chorus and the flanger sound really nice.. lots of programming abilities which seem to give a wide variety of sounds and textures.. you just won't get any useful heavy distortions from it.. they sound digital and harsh.. but when you cut down the level of gain.. and then use the one on the amp, the sound again becomes very organic and nice. i don't feel the digital vibe from this thing.. maybe I'm getting old an senile or something.. who knows.. I paid $15 for my zoom player 2100. it's cheap plastic and would probably break if used during a live show... but who cares.. I have no regrets!

it's el'cheapo plastic.. but seems mostly sturdy.. just don't put you big fat 200 lb. foot on the bugger and forget to remove it and it will be fine. this unit is not really useful for live playing unless you are a punk or something and have it on one settng all the time..

i have no idea.. the only person who ever supported me was my daddy.. who kicked me out of the house when i was 16 for womanizing, drinking and taking drugs.. oh yes, I took the lords name in vain every other sentence.. god damn it.. see.. give zoom a call.. tell the opperator that you love her.. tell her that you're watching her through the office window right now..

it's good if your amp has no effects or reverb.. the sound quality is high resolution and warm.. built in amp emulations that sound really good and they each sound different and are useful. overall the sound has a good analog quality to it.. no real digital vibe.. bright solo's have sparkle and warmth.. the heavy distortions sound dgital and may give you a headache.. just avoid them.. it's also a little daunting to program at first.. mine came with a printed out manual.. it helped a lot.. without a manual you might be confused. I see this unit as useful for reverb, chorus and and flanger.. thats all I've ever wanted anyway.. if you can get more out of it, all the better for you.. if this unit were any cheaper it would be free.

i bought this for 4 reasons: backup for my stompboxes, as a chromatic tuner, for delay, and as a cheap intro to the world of looping. i was strapped for cash and saw this for cheap on ebay. anyhow, have this in mind when reading my little review. my "6" rating reflects 2 problems. first, real time control is problematic, as everything is based on patches. this is common with multi-fx units so i'm just stating the obvious. i think the digitech and the zoom gfx series are better for this; they have stompbox-style knobs. it's possible to set up the 2100 so that real time control is possible. you can choose it with the function switch but then you can't use jam play or bank down. that's the second problem in terms of ease of use--there are a lot of functions like jam play, sound-on-sound, real time modulations, etc., but most cannnot be used in combination. plus the unit is tiny so finding the right button for the right job requires good eyesight and a good memory. on the other hand patches are easy to edit with a lot of flexibility. the manual helps if you've never used a multi-fx unit before. i persoanlly think units like this should be totally versatile so you can pre-program patches but then easily tweak on the fly with stompbox knobs. maybe it's just me.

i think we can all agree that you don't buy multi-fx units for distortion and esp. not overdrive. zoom is known for really processed-sounding distortion, which might be ueful to some in some situations, but in general you'll want to splurge on a separate analog unit for that. (come on, a boss sd-1 is about $25 on ebay.) however the fuzz ain't half bad. i'll give 'em that. the modulation effects (flanger, phaser, chorus, etc.) are usually nice. digital but good. keep in mind a digital unit emulates an effect rather than actually being an effect, if you know what i mean. there is a pedal pitchshifter which would never replace a real wang bar but sounds surprisingly good if you just set it up for a whole step shift down. you can stomp on the footswitch (in lieu of a separate expression pedal) and the shift happens auto-style. i'll never use it, but you might. other nice features: slow attack, which is a swell effect that can be pre-programmed for a certain attack speed or controlled in real time. my main complaint in terms of sound quality is the noise. maybe it's not made for use in combination with stomp boxes but if you have other pedals in your chain you'll definitely need the zoom noise reduction that everyone knows and loves. otherwise it's hiss city u.s.a. (i've used it with humbuckers and single coils.) so the main reason effects-wise i got it is for delay and sampling. the delay is quite versatile and thoroughly usable--good clean digidelay. the bad news is that the sampler cannot be used in combination with the modulation effects (i.e., flanger, phaser, delay, etc.) --which i found out after i got the pedal. so basically my boss ps-2 pitch shifter/delay pedal is already on its way. when i get the cash i'll be in the market for a full-fledged sampler (dl4 or loop station). in the meantime the sampler on the 2100is usable. 32 seconds is a long time--the longest for a sampler on board a multi-fx unit. i believe there is some warrble if set for 32 seconds. if you set it for 16 seconds the sound is better. (i'm not sure about how many bits for the different lengths of sample time--can't find it in the maunual.) you can also set the volume playback, etc. tempo/pitch change is possible only if you record the sample via the auxillary jack. it's little things like that that make the 2100 a bit frustrating. like i said--a lot of functions but only with limitations. my setup (if you must know): 70's electra outlaw and yamaha sgv-800 (a reissue of a 60's model)?70's morley wah/volume?dod 250 o.d.?dod chorus?70's morley pvo phaser (with rocker pedal--talk about rtm!)?zoom2100. (the electra has effect modules that can be plugged into the back--the ones i use are phaser and flanger, but i won't go into electra mpcs just now. for now, let's just say they rock.)

well, a lot of people make a big deal about units like this being crap because they're made of plastic but you rarely read reviews where someone stomped one to death. i've heard of broken switches but i've heard about broken switches on boss and dod pedals so there you go. "would you use it on a gig without a backup?" well, as soon as my boss delay arrives and i can get a loop sampler this will be my backup. i think it would be okay on stage but be prepared to get funny looks cuz it does look cheap. but don't judge a digital multi-effects floor unit by its cover.

i had problems with another zoom unit, wrote an email and got a swift response.

"what style of music do you play?" spacey, experimental post-rock with a hint of sad-core, if you must know. multi-units like this usually try to be all things in all styles to all people, and this one succeeds fairly well in offering a range. i think zoom has learned from some mistakes on this unit and made the gfx-8 a bit more versatile. don't be fooled by the plastic facade--it is a professional digi-unit. i think overall it is a very useful unit for modulation effects, delay, and sampling--assuming you know the limitations.

This little pedal is pretty much easy to use.If my dog were a musician, they could use it. The only thing I lkike about it is the ease of use of the editing of the patches. Not much variety in editing, but there are really no complications. The manual will tell you what you already know if you just mess with it yourself, instead of reading the manual.

Currently I am using a B.C. Rich Warlock with an Ampeg G212. The noise level on this thing is low. This is another thing I like about it. The filter does a decent job. The effects aren't very strong. They can do the job if you're not looking for extreme effects. If you want great sounds quality and strong effects, get a Digitech GNX 3! The crunch on the distortions are horrible. I play in a metal/industrial band and I can't get the crunch I need. If you want a decent crunch you have to use the Stack amp modeler and mess with the compressor a bit. I do like some of the heaviness of a few of the distortions. YThe auto-wah is ok if you don't feel like taking up extra space with and actual wah. But I suggest taking the extra space with a real wah. The rest of the effects are alright. This pedal is decent enough to use during practice.

You CANNOT depend on this thing. It's made of plastic!!! Whats that all about??? Stepping on the pedals to change effect might even break it! The construction is what I hate about it the most. Many problems with the jack for the power supply. I had to re-solder it several time. The input seems to be acting up also. I'd only use it on a gig if I had no other effects. Currently money is not accessable, so I have to use this since my Digitech RP100 was stolen.

I've never tried to contact Zoom. I do not want to either. Waste of time.

For my style of music, it's alright when you have nothing else. I've been playing around six years. This little toy is very embarrassing, but it's something. If it were stolen, I feel bad for whoever stole it. They do not know what the hell they are doing! I would not buy this ever again. The only thing I love about it is that it does what it needs to for now. I hate the dam thing because it's so shitty. But I can't complain too much because I still use it. I wish effects could be combined on it, and I also wish there were more effects/options. The Zoom doesn't really get in the way becuase I would die without effects. So I guess it helps out a little. I suggest to anyone considering buying this product, save your money for a good processor. Digitech is my favorite. They do the job well. I have no complaints with Digitech. If there's not a lot of money, just pick up the RP100, it's only around $100 at Guitar Center. A used one probably runs around $45-$70.

It's not easy to get good sound out of this unit, but it isn't impossible either. Editing patches is as easy as it can be with only buttons, no knobs. Took me about 15 minutes to learn it. Manual was clear enough for me, no long stories, quite handy.

I play a Vester Stage Series thru my HiFi-system, computer or headphones. Considering the price, it's not that noisy. Unit has quite impressive NR system.

Clear guitar, acoustic simulation and heavy distortion are very easy to get to sound good. Subtle distortion is much harder, if possible at all. Amp sim has no use. Neither does compressor. Reverb is very thin and hard to master. Other effects are plain average. But again, if you take your time, you can get good sound out of this. This is not a unit for the impatient.

No sane person would even think about gigging with a plastic thing like this. This unit has not been done for that, it's just for practising. It stays together if you treat it like an effects pedal. But you can't expect anything else for the price.

Never needed any support.

I've been playing for four years now. I play hard rock, ballads, funk and some spacey stuff. This suits anything with either clean sound or hard distortion, but anything in between is out of this unit's range.
This FX is good considering the price. I need mostly the effects this unit can deliver, so it suits me well.
If you have patience and are after an affordable home practise effects, then this is a good choice.

Its pretty easy to use if you're half-good with technical things. Read the manual. The presets are all shit though. Sound like tinny processed cheese. Read the manual and set off on your sonic voyage of discovery. I you're reading this on the internet, you can work this pedal you lazy bastard.

I bought this when I was still a poor student in '99. Now I have a Strat and a Les Paul. I would only ever use this with my cheap Roland practise amp for bedroom usage. The sounds can be OK if you use the Phaser on a low-phase setting (A9) to fatten the distortion up. The clean sound is alright. Effects are just about acceptable for the money. The compressor sounds very grainy if you overdo it. You can get some OK sounds out of this but it certainly couldn't be used for anything remotely serious. Let's face it though... you're not going to get pro quality sound for this money. If you want that, go contribute at least $5000 to your local economy.

Is it reliable. Hmmm... its still going in 2003 but the pedals stopped working correctly a month after I got it. You could fart on this thing and have it bug out.

Haven't had a problem with the adaptor jack though. No way could you use this live in any sense. Unless it was a comedy number - in which case its perferct.

Don't know. I should have taken it back to the shop when the pedals started working intermittently. I didn't and now its too late... boo-hoo. Since they're made from ultra-low quality plastic I doubt changing it would have made much difference though.

Its a cheap, plastic, unreliable toy. It is very useful to have around though as it sounds better through headphones and is small enough to slot into a travel bag for hotel practise sessions. When I got sent to Japan with my job it was my constant companion and gave me hours of pleasure. I can't say the same about my girlfriend, and she's cost me a hell of a lot more. All in all I don't regret getting it. I use it every day and am only tempted to throw it out the window when I've stepped on the pedal for the 10th time and the fucking patch won't change.

Over the years I've gradually collected individual pedals (Boss, Ibanez, Electronharmonix)... that's where the REAL DEAL is at folks. I'd be interested to know if any serious guitar pro uses a mutli-fx processor. I can't think of one which is pretty conclusive.

There again... judging by the spelling in some of these reviews... I'm not surprised other ZOOM owners have had problems successfully operating anything more complicated than their zit-cream dispenser.

5's all this thing is worth... but its easy to carry around.

pretty easy and good way to use

no other noises in back thanks to zmr in this thing.
lead and metal distrotions are good and wah is too good but the pedal is too small...
and this pedal dives to you very many different sounds
sabbath sound is great and you can get it easy.
oh, by the way i use jackson rr1 with marshall mg........

this is very good multi effect to a pro or amateur

First things first. I spent about an year using the 1010 model. So messing with the effects and editing was no big deal for me.

I bought it from a friend, but he gave me the manual, which is pretty clear.

I only had some trouble with the sampler thing, but no big deal too.

It's really easy going. Takes no longer than an hour to learn how it works, without looking at the manual.

> Clean stuff - regular, with the Combo Simulation.
> OD - completely toneless
> distortion - completely unsustained
> fuzz - the less worse of the distortions, but only when the Combo simul. is on.
> Lead - toneless. weak. high hissing level. with combo simul. on or off. doesn't matter.
> metal - feedback! feedback!
> chorus - too artificial.
> phaser - only if you crank it up all the way to get noise. only noise, undefined.
> flanger - ditto.
> ring mode - total joke.
> wah - don't even get me started on it
> compressor - i never understood compressors at all. this one appears to work poorly.
> reverb - sounds ok.
> delay - no complain.
> Global parameters - totally useless. dead-end.
> sampler - good for studying

and i keep my opinion, for i tried it with a Washburn Lyon / marshall valvestate 65, then a Jackson JRR94 and a marshall/meteoro combo., then a cort G255 and fender automatic SE or a meteoro 100w.

Sounded like ass in each and every one of those set ups!

I had to fix the AC input about 6 times, and the jacks are starting to give in.

and it's plastic. definetly not gig proof

man, i avoid to talk to the zoom people so i don't get aggresive with them. i assume that people who have the nerve to release shit like this are terrible workers.

I used to play in a industrial metal band. it only matched when i got busy with the totally undefined synth noise i edited.

I've been playing for 7 years and that's all i own. the 2100, a Cort g255 and a meteoro.

i'd never buy it again. never! i'm trying to sell to get a SansAmp GT2 pedal.

i love the fact that i actually know people perfectly capable of buying it without noticing how shitty it is. just like they did to me

i compare it to a bag full of booger. i chose this one because 2 years ago i had no idea that i would get this worried about getting a good guitar sound. now i'm in an eternal research for a warm tone like Faith No More's "king for a day".

i wish i had more money and more knowledge about gear

sometimes helps, sometimes gets in the way of making music

DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP, FOR GOD'S SAKE! Better have only a good distortion and bypass sound than spend more on a processor that has nothing worthy!

what have i done to deserve the ignorance of buying it?

Very simple, flip through the manual for a moment and theres not much else to it.

Ok, I run a GMT 1,000 watt head through 4 fender 4 x 12. I run this and 2 dedicated delay stomp boxes through the effect loop. I have never run into any problems with noise, simple rule is keep the volume at 25, below full. All pedals make horrid noises at full volume. As far as the distortion sounds, I have never bothered with them, I either use my Boss SD-2 dual overdrive or my electro-harmonix big muff. Too get the effects right, set them to ear then go play something from the other side of the room, it helps alot.

so far so good, 3 years of touring and the only problem I have ever ran into was a broken connection cable, those always need replacing.

Never delt with them, if it broke down I would probably just go back to my ancient stomp box collection.

i only would say 7 or 8, nothing ever gets a ten. They always have something better coming out.

Plug n play..this unit isnt too bad on the variety of sound. Had to go over the manual a few times to get things sussed.

Played my Gibson SG and Epiphone LP standard thru it into my jcm 900. I found that i only really used two main distortion sounds on the fx board and not much else besides an acoustic setting that would have been better off being run direct into my amp anyway. The built in tuner with indicator LED is handy, i don't like the position of the bank up/bank down switch above the fourth pedal switch; its a bit inconvenient to get to at times without hitting anything else. The biggest sore point of all for me with the 2100 is the delay when switching between effects, something that renders it almost totally useless for any live work, or even straight through attempts at recording. This pretty much sealed its fate, along with one other huge flaw...

The reliability of this unit is at best, minimal. During the time I had this unit i repaired FIVE dry solder joints (and no this unit wasnt knocked around or even left the house). One dry joint i can accept but FIVE??? Extremely poor manufacturing and quality control are obviously to blame here. Being an electronics tech i had no problem finding and resoldering the dry joints but others might no be so fortunate. Surprisingly, this unit produced very little noise. One other problem I had was the switch beneath one of the pedals went a bit dodgy, again i had to open the unit up and get to the problem.

never used any customer support.

I am addicted to individual pedals over fx boards these days for ease of use, no delay time and instant acces to tone shaping via control knobs...might be old fashioned but it works..KISS - keep it simple, stupid.

Read the manual and you'll be ok. but it's hard to get a good sound from it.

Ugh. I'm playing out of a '79 aria les paul copy and this thing sounds like ass. It's very noisy, the effects are toneless and weak and all the distortions blow.

i would/could never depend on this pedal. The plug where the a/c adapter connects started breaking after 2 months. While the the line for the adapter is in, the power won't turn on. I have to rest my amp on top of the cord near the plug in order to restore power. it's pathetic.

I got ripped off. The only reason i use it still is because i lack a distortion pedal(here i come boss) and i sometimes use the jamplay effect(which is ridiculous because you only get 5 secs of recording time). When i was in 9th grade this pedal looked so promising. Now that I'm almost in college I realized how bad this pedal is(in a addition to zoom products in general).

it's pretty easy to used, really easy to edit the patch. the manual is good but pretty confusing at first. u have to read it twice or more. the bad thing is if the effect are in the same program, like delay & chorus. anyways it's still have delay on the last program but u can't used reverb then.

i used an Ibanez Jem 777. with marshall 15W it's sound pretty good but it's too much high gain even i cut it from an EQ. the global parameter is not as good as they said. i have to reset my patch every time i gig.

it's made of some kind of plastic but it's strong enough. i don't have any problem with it yet.

i mail them how to get the sound i want but they haven't reply.

i play Rock,Metal,Jazz,Blues and i seems to used well with any type of music but it's just a basic sound. i'd like it to be more then that. i won't buy it again if they were stolen or lost. this thing is good for starting using the Multi effect. but u'd like to move on the better thing anyways!

Quite a simple little box of tricks,after about half an hour fiddling (that's without even looking at the manual!) The manual is written in a very simple format even for the newest of guitarists!

Going through the effects loop in my Fender Stage 112se, using either my Epiphone SG junior with P90 pick-up or my Fender Roadhouse Strat with custom shop Texas Specials the box sounds great.Distortion, overdrive etc are so easy to customise that you can't go wrong! (I have to admit though noise occurs at higer levels, but hey don't all distortion and overdrive units?!) Modulation effects are fantastic the chorus comes joint first to my Danelectro Cool Cat! excellent

Very reliable, but like everything guitar wise we all carry spares right!?

Never dealt with them- NO NEED!

Having owned a ZOOM 505 in my earlier guitarist years i sold it and moved to single stomp boxes- they look cooler you have to agree, but realising I needed a lot more sounds to add more texture and that I looked a bit stupid tap dancing on stage around the boxes, so i bought the ZOOM. If it were stolen I would probabily replace it with a multi-fx with a built in expression pedal. Oh the sampler is really cool too if you feel the need to play with yourself!

DON'T WAIST YOUR MONEY!!! It's ok for a child to play around at home with. That is giving ZOOM a lot of credit. I baught it from SWEETWATER. Sales Rep's name was Gary Goldblume. He said this thing sounded good and that he had used it before and that it would be good for recording. I play acoustic in a church band. Irecently bought an electric and wanted some mild distortions and effects. Bottom line is that I will never buy anything from zoom or sweetwater ever agian.

Very ugly

It's made out of Random Repro. I did once at church and it was a disaster. Imbarasssing!!!!

If it were stolen I would feel sorry for whomever stole it cause they wouldn't get much out of it. Actually I already sold it. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Hey, this is JAF with an updated review of this pedal. I bought this pedal as a beginning guitarist who wanted to get some cool sounds. That's also when I wrote the review. Now thatI'm a little more experienced, I realize that this pedal is really crappy. I can't a high quality distortion out of it, and it's very noisy. Most of the sounds are very "mushy" in that it's hard to play good sounding solos or lines without a lot of extra noise. No I'm annoyed that I had spent the $100 on this instead of waiting and saving up for something with some good sounds. I don't think I could get much money if I sold it. So take my advice--don't buy it. It's not worth it.

That's about it.

Great sounds right out of the box. Editing is pretty easy. In the shop I wanted to know the maximum delay time and it took the guy and me 10 minutes to find it in the manual! It ain't that clear, but it's still fairly readable.

I use a Squier Strat and two custom built guitars with Kent Armstrong pickups, into a Cry Baby, then the 2100, and then into a Lexicon Vortex and the main board, or a little Squier 10 watt amp. Noise levels are fine - there ain't any!
The clean sounds are great, the dirty sounds are great, the pitch shifting is great, the delays are looooong, the expression pedal is great.
I can sound like Tom Morello, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Diamond Darrell, Mark Knopfler (but not if anyone's listening!), EVH, The Edge, Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp quite easily with this unit.

I'd gig with this unit - it's pretty robust and looks like it'd take a bit of a bashing. I think I'd have my Marshall Guvnor and my 505 as a backup, though - not cos the 2100 is not up to it, just cos I'm not daft!

Not dealt with em ;-)

I play a little bit of everything - see the guitarists list above. I've been playing nearly 20 years now and have a wide selection of gear. This unit fits right in with my other equipment, the expression pedal and PSU were free. I like that it's stompable, but still powerful for creating your own patches. I also like the expression pedal between my Lexicon Vortex expression pedal and my Cry Baby :>

This board is very easy to use considering it is a cheap piece of shit. It only costs $150 and has no features.

I bought this thing when i first started and didn't know much about EQ and effects, but after playing for a bit of time and going to guitar center, I realized that this board is the biggest waste of money. The guy at the local music store told me it was good. But of course he was incorrect. I have played this disgraceful picece of material with an American Strat, and was greatly dissapointed. The distortions all sound like shit, they are weak, hollow, and toneless. The MODS are alright but could be a bit better. The wah, pitch shifter, and compression are meaningless wastes of space and don't do a damn thing. I am not even going to speak about the ring modulator.

You will get so angered by this board you will end up breaking it.

Don't care.

The poorest excuse for an effect board. Don't even consider it. The rest of the reviewers on here who give it good reviews are completely ignorant, if you you have anything good to say about this board you should be shot.

It's real easy. The manual is clear. You won't have any problems. Editing patches is fun and once again, real easy. Just take your time to setup a patch and then save it in your units memory. Not that hard at all...

I use a custom made Fender Strat with DiMarzio's Super Distortion (bridge) and PAF (neck) Humbucker pu's along with a Marshall Valvestate 265R. I have to say that my setup sounded really bad before obtaining the Zoom Player 2100. Now it sounds better but it still isn't that good. The Distortions are not so good. Only the Lead distortion is usefull and maybe the Metal Distortion. ALl the other Distortion effects are crap. The chorus, delay, reverb, Phaser and flanger effects are nice and clean. However, there are many effects which are simply no good (Pitch shifter, Ring modulator, auto-wah).
The noise level was good too. The Zoom Noise-reduction (ZNR) really helps.
I didn't like the Acoustic simulator though. Although it doesn't sound bad, it's very noisy and the ZNR doesn't help. With the unit you can get Iron Maiden sounds and other Hard Rock artist sounds, however you can forget about Metallica sounds etc.

You can depend on it. No problem!

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

Overall, it's not a bad unit. However, I wouldn't recommend it if yoou're looking for something serious. It's a good unit for beginners.
However, if you're looking for direct recordings, this unit really sucks. The Amp simulator works well with your amp but not when plugged directly into a console.
For the price, it's not bad at all.

Took about a half-an hour at most to understand how to use all the settings. Otherwise its a breeze after that. Must have your manual!

I'm running it throught a Strat with Carvin and EMG Pickups, or a Washburn SB-5 with stocks. I have acouple wahs that I run before it and then I usually send the signal to the P.A.

The distortions are great,and the acoustic simulator is also really nice. The delay is also great. But the wahs suck! Just get yourself a nice CryBaby and you'll be set. Otherwise I think its a good deal for the money.

Hard plastic, but no problems yet. Just don't put all your weight on it.

Not yet,a nd hopefully never

I play some heavy stuff as well as blues and acoustic settings. This pedal preforms nicly in all of them. I would buy it again if someone stole it, yet I think someone would steal my Snarling Dogs wah over it, and believe me I would hunt that person down.

But anyways...get yourself a different wah and don't use the one build into this pedal.

After ten minutes of playing about you'll have worked out all the basics, some of the more advanced features, such as the jam play function may take a little more effort. But it is well worth it.

I use a U.S. Strat plus, into a Huges and Kettner ATX100 combo. I used to play an Ibanez S270, and I have to say that the pedal does both instruments justice. The distortions are meaty, to say the least. There is no problem achieving heavy metal sounds, if you are a humble funk player then you will have to look a little harder for a laid back crunch, but it is there. Though good, the heavier sound (which we all truly crave!) is pretty rough around the edges, but if you get enough compression on it, it cleans up beautifully, so I can only complain about the constant background hiss.
The rest of the effects on the pedal are superb, especially the delays. Once you are familiar with the parameters, augmenting the distortions, and achieving some spot-on clean sounds can be done with just a few tweaks.

I've used mine at every gig since I got it.
Never had a problem so I cant complain.

Never had any probs. with the pedal.

This is a superb pedal, which is suitable for a wide range of players in a wide range of styles. The jam play and sampler functions are lots of fun and often very useful.

I mastered it's usage in the store when I tried it for a half hour. The manual makes sense, and it was so easy that I even edited a patch in the store. Never had a problem trying to use it.

I use it with an Ibanez RG170 guitar and a Vox Pathfinder amp. The effects always sound good even on the crappiest amps. No effects really shine more than others, but you can often use it to imitate songs you here.

I've never had a problem with it.

Never dealt with them

I love using the Zoom 2100. The salesperson tried to sell me one of the 300$ models. But I'm a teenager on a budget so I wanted to try this one. I tell the truth that it was just as good sound quality as the expensive pedals. It has 2 weaknesses . . . the tuner is kind of weird--it doesn't work too well, and there is no expression pedal. I have a keyboard pedal hooked up to it, though, so I can do all the wahs and pitch bends and other effects. It gives me a lot of versatility in my playing and I'm very happy with it.

This thing is very easy to get great sounds out of. You'll probably have to fumble around with it when you get it to learn how to use it for all that it's worth. The directions are not that easy to understand, but you get the hang of it after a while.

I use 2 guitars through this processor. A Peavey Predator with dual EMG-81's, and a Rogue RX200 with stock pick-ups. On any setting they both sound great. Some of effects could be taken off simple because they serve no purpose. Then there are some that can get you very close to professionals. The #1 patch on the user block is very awesome smooth distortion with nice delay added, sweet! The "Steve Vai" patch sounds a little werid, but you get used to it. Some other greats are a nice clean sound with delay added (great for playing Metallica's "One"). And some other clean's with delay and pitch droping added. The "Splash" metal patch sounds really cool, although you should be careful because it's a very "bassy" metal sound and might break an amp at a high setting.

This piece of equipment is very well made. The bottom piece is metal and the rest of thing is very hard plastic. It has good weight to it. I would think twice about actuallt "stomping" on the pedals because they look like they wouldn't take continous stomping. I think I would use it for a gig without a backup.

Never delt with them.

I play mostly Metallica, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. This thing does wonders for all three. I've been playing for 1 year now, and this thing is great for any type of musician. Basically I bought it because of the sampler, the price, and because it had so many effects that you could mess around with. Of course, there are those die-hard 20-pedal-hooked-together guys that won't even look at this thing, but everybody has their own thing. If I had this stolen I would buy another because they are fun, and not that expensive. The sampler thing is EXTREMELY useful in learning solos and really fast parts. Terrific piece of hardware.

First day out of the box, took an hour or so to get to grips with the unit. Documentation is a little poor.
once mastered, it's not bad at all. Though I wouldn't like to use it on stage, the change from user to preset settings is a little fiddly to do.

Good, haven't mastered the tweeks to pitch etc. yet - but I know it can be done (looked in the manual!) So potential is there.

Not the greatest Build quality but for this money you can't really complain.

No problems yet with the unit

Price was good, as included Expression Pedal and 2 Leads.

Unit is impressive as a first time buyer of pedals.

when i took this thing out of the box i had no clue how to use it. After playing with it for 45 mins, it's very easy to use. The manual isn't that clear unless you know what your doing and then it's a big help. If your buy it, play with the buttons or ask someone how to use it, then read the manual. It will help you with patch writing (very easy the second day) the sampler and other stuff like that.

I am playing with a Standard Strat and it sounds great. I have never really used effects before so i can't give you some solid advice on that. To me the pedal wah, overdrive, phaser, flanger, and some distortions sound great. I don't much care for hard crunchy distortions and this unit has a lot of them, about 5 of 'em sound the same to me. You can get a wide range of sounds from this, from sparkling clean to bad ass distortions. One dissapointment for me is the acoustic simulator, it hardly sounds like an acoustic so don't buy it for that.

This pedal seems pretty well built and i don't think it will break if you drop it or anything so i would gig with it. I don't know any pedals to compaire it to so i don't want to give a false rating so i'll leave it blank. It's plastic not metal but its strong plastic.

A few days ago i asked for some info about it from ZOOM and i got a first class letter in the mail from them so i would they would stand behind their product. but i haven't had any dealing with them.

I like to play clean music like Dave Matthews, Santriani, Phish, and Clapton amongst other clasics. I think this pedal is great for it and very helpfull for the style. One thing thats cool about it compaired to other ZOOM models is the built in Function switch. You can use it to contral you volume, pedal wah and pitch shifting. With some other models you have to buy an seperate $70 expression pedal for that. I think they wasted space on the thing with all the present patches and the distortions. They could have used the space for more user patches or a better acoustic effect. If it was ever stolen i would buy it again. This unit has a lot of distortions, something like 14 which is overkill. I don't hate distortions as long as they aren't hard and crunchy, so i have to turn the distortion level down to get the sound i like from it, a nice creamy overdrive kinda like Slash instead of Korn like sounds that are all over this thing. But the main point is its good for all kinds of music, so seriously consider this unit.

It was a Little difficult to understand, especially if your new to the whole effects processor/patch editing thing like Myself, But once you start playing with it , it is really easy to customize. The factory presets weren't all that great , but it was good enough use a base to start editing my own sounds.

I am currently using a pro-tone squier strat, through a big ass crate bass amp and 2 15 inch bass speakers. some of the heavier distortions sounded awesome through the bass speakers!! the feature I liked best was the phrase sampler , so I could record chord progressions and go crazy and solo over them!! I had a hard time getting really nice clean sounds, but the delays were awesome, A+.

The peddle itself is built pretty damn tough. It's plastic though, but super tough plastic. I do drag it around, but the only thing that sucks is that you can't use batterys or anything and the adapter it comes with is really that long. that sucked.I've had it for a while and I don't think It's going anywhere. I've had my dog pick it up and run with it, an amp dropped on it, and it's probably goin to be played by my kids!(I'm only 17).

I haven't dealt with the company, but i don't think there will be a need to.

overall I give it an "A". It's a fun , fun , pedal and if your just getting into effects it's awesome.

It took about 30 min to really get started then I was all set The preset patches SUCK! But there really easy to edit The manual is easy to understand. And unless your a total moron you shouldnt having any problems getting it to work.

Heres where I start to complain. The distortion sucks........ badly. The acoustic simulator is a joke. i wont even mention my dissapointment with how bad the wah is. The chorus, flanger,phaser, can sound good if take enough time tinkering. The delay is really good though. And The pitch shifter is also fun. All in all the effects on this board arent as great as I hope. BUT the memory is plenty big for what I need. Im playing with a ibanez iceman & a squier strat. Playing through either a crate blue voodoo or a 30 watt peavey. I play usally industrial, gothic, sometimes blues. I did a live show with this recently - It went ok. My main problem is that most of the effects really just suck. I went back to using my pedals.

Its is dependable - ITS JUST NOT VERY GOOD i would gig with it again - If I didnt want to pack 7 or more pedals.

N/a

Bottom line. THIS THING IS good only if your new to guitar effects. The quality is not so hot. Plenty of effects though. The sampler thing is fun too. If you want to have a jam buddy and thats it. Then this is for you! If you want something that sounds great and gives your killer tone - your outta luck. If it was stolen or lost, I really wouldnt feel that bad. There is no way id get a new one. The only real thing about this pedal thats that good for the price paid would be the sampler function. 3 5 sec. samples to jam with you really helps your playing. However if your looking for a better pedal. Id probably get a korg ax300. My friend has one and the sounds are a lot better. but it is about $80 more.......

There's a lot of stuff you can do with this thing, and not everything is incredibly easy to figure out without the manual, but most stuff is pretty intuitive. I played with it for about an hour without reading the manual and figured out probably 80% it. Very easy to get cool sounds out right away with the preset patches. Editing patches is pretty easy. The manual is really good and explains everything pretty thoroughly.

I use a strat copy w/ humbucker and a Fender Princeton 112+. All the effects sound really good, although being digital the reverbs and distortions are a little cold and metallic. The distortions are very strong though, especially the lead, metal, and fuzz. The chorus is kind of weak, it doesn't "sparkle" as much as I'd like it to. Overall you can get a huge variety of sounds out of this thing. The preset "Neptune" patch pretty much nails STP's "Plush" which was something I really wanted to be able to do. Also has a cab-simulator for direct-recording or listening through headphones. That is also really cool. Probably my biggest complaint is that it doesn't switch from distorted to clean very well. There's a slight delay where the volume drops out for a fraction of a second during the switch. That's something that a good old stompbox wouldn't do. Also, this thing has a sampler on it which I thought would help me with my solo licks, but I found that it's kind of difficult to get a loop of a riff that is completely on-beat because you really have to time your switching well when you make the sample.

This thing is in a plastic case, but it looks like damn strong plastic. When I first pulled it out of the box I had to examine it for a bit to make sure it wasn't metal! I've only used it for about a week, but it seems sturdy enough. I'm just a little concerned about the foot switches, but they seem okay.

Haven't needed it yet.

I've been playing for almost 3 years now. I play mostly rock, hard rock, metal, punk and such. The distortions are great for that kind of music and the mod effects add some really cool dimensions to that kind of music. I think in general this would make a good practice piece or toy to fool around with, but if you're into serious gigging, you might want to break out a few hundred bucks for some stomp boxes or at least a higher quality setup. If I lost it, I would be very upset because this thing is just really fun to play with. If it had a built-in mod pedal, that would be awesome, but you can buy it separately for $60. All-in-all, if you want some cool new distortions and effects to experiment with, this is a great tool for you and well worth your money. If you want a professional setup, this isn't it.

Changing patches is simple, it has 10 preset and 10 custom banks, the three footswitches allow you to select the patch. Editing patches quickly becomes intuitive within about an hour of using it. The custom banks would be useful at a gig, you could assign certain banks to certain songs and switch between them. The only problem is that I find setting patch volumes difficult, it's easy to have a loud clean tone and then a silent distortion or a bairly audible clean one with ear splitting distortion. There is also a sampler that is fairly easy to use and useful for learning solo's and riffs. There is a good quick start guide and a manual which is a little hard to get into.

I use a Squier Deluxe Telecaster through a Marshall VS65 amp, and I can get some really cool sounds out of it, my unit came with an expression pedal and I can use it to create a good wah wah effect. I can also use the pedal to do some wierd pitch shifting sounds. There is a distortion module with 13 effects, including a really good grunge type fuzz, perfect for Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins as well as a large number of distortion effects and an acoustic simulator. There is a modulaion module which allows you to use wierd phaser and flanger effects for a wierd Radiohead type soind as well as a realy nice chorus and a Pitchshifter. There is also a good delay module that allows up to 10 seconds delay going up in 100ms steps, below 1 second the delay is controlledin 10ms steps. The unit produced no annoying hum and even cancelledbackground hum with noise reduction. Ithas loads of sounds and they're really good,

I would have no problems using this for a gig without a backup, it has very little to go wrong with it.

I've never dealt with Zoom customer support

I really like this unit, apart from a few little niggles it is perfect, lots of good effects, easy to use. Although I've only been playing a year this lets me produce sounds that allow me to sound really good. If Ilost it I would buy another one. I compared i with the Zoom 3030 and Korg AX1G but I decided on this one because it is newer than 3030 and so has better effects and has better control over effects than the Korg.

Pretty decent ease-of-use, though I have only used a ZOOM 505 prior to this one, so I don't know how tohers fare in comparison. The sound is good, and unlike the ZOOM 505, the unit is silent (none of that annoying hiss in bypass mode). Editing patches is pretty simple, though there are plenty of decisions to make and options to try. The manual explains things well, though I wish it had a better explanation of exactly what ZOOM Noise Reduction is supposed to do. I can't tell any difference.

I am using an Ibanez RG570 and a Squier Strat with the unit, going into a little Fender Bullet Amp. The effects sound great, with PLENTY of options to choose from and a large degree of control over equalization settings and such.

It appears to be well built and rather sturdy, though I am always careful with any electronic gear and don't abuse it. It is largely plastic, but I don't have the same prejudice against plastic that many seem to have.

No experience in this area, though the unit was drop-shipped from the factory immediately since the dealer didn't have any in stock at the time.

I am mostly learning and need some good clean rock distortion. This works great for that, and would no doubt be a good fit for many other styles as well. It can do some pretty impressive things, including long delays and echoes, and the sound sampling and playback is great for learning solos and such. It seems to record the sound with plenty good qaulity as well, which is something I was suspicious about before I got it. I am quite pleased. The ability to slow down the playback while retaining proper pitch is a godsend, and this makes it much easier to do than using a computer and sound card setup for the same purpose.

I have the Zoom 2020 and these two are very similar, so ease of use is an unfair category for me. However, it has a "quick start-up" guide with the patch list on the back that explains the major functions well. Zoom added a "function" pedal that can be used to go down banks as well as up which is something I wanted in the 2020. If you are wanting to make your own patch(their are 30 user), it is fairly straigth forward. It has many functions that would make it useful on stage. Mute for tuning, RTM pedal, and global parameters for all patches.

I mainly use a Les Paul Studio with either Line6 or Peavey Blues Classic. I never have used this processor on stage. And wouldn't. I will stick with the Line6 or my collection of pedals. However, the sound is good. It is just not as good. However, much more convienient. I use the 2100 mainly for practicing with headphones due to the sampler function that allows up to 32 seconds of data that can be slowed down without altering the picth.

I am replacing a Zoom 2020, it's broke. I used to use the 2020 on stage and it couldn't take it. I am rough though.

I have been playing 70's metal for over 3 years, and this is a great practice tool. It has a auto-tuner, all the effects to emulate the sound, and a phrase sampler for those Glen Tipton licks. If it was stolen or lost, I would purchase another one. I looked at the RP-3 and the ME-30. They seem to have a better sound, but I was really looking for an all-in-one practice tool. And this is a great one. I wish someone would make a Zoom 2100 with a built in metronome and a simple drum machine.