Zoom 3030

The manual is helpful. This was the first processor I ever used so, it was tricky at first to try and remember what parameters were involved with the different effects, but it's second nature to me now, some 10 years after I picked it up.

I used my Humbucker modified Strats through this, going into a Fender Stage 112 SE tube emulation amp. I also tried an old Fender Bandmaster combo. I was never completely satisfied with the sound...after years of tweaking. It never sounded full enough for me. I tried the presets that came with it and the distortions were mostly too loud with the wrong frequencies. Major tone issues, I think. Some of the effects I worked into patches caused a reduction in sound when I would manually switch them off within the patch. I tried it live on stage once and my other guitar player was drowning me out no matter how high I cranked my volume. However, with headphones or through small speakers, the preamp gives a more natural distortion sound. I use the unit exclusively for recording purposes.

Always stayed in one piece. The A/C jack has a problem with shutting the unit on and off suddenly. Because of this, I wouldn't use it live.

I never sought customer support. There are sites online that offer user presets for all kinds of different styles of music....that's pretty cool.

I've played heavy metal type music for the last 15 years. I mostly use built-in amp distortions along with Boss pedals for all my FX. I basically own the 3030 for recording...I think it sounds great through a PC. All the effects come through clear and the tone is beefier. I even get cool bass guitar effects out of it from the octave pitch shift effect. In summary, I probably paid too much for this 10 years ago, but it has never fallen apart or never stopped working. I highly recommend the Zoom 3030 to anyone doing home recording who needs a one-piece, compact effects processor with almost limitless effects combinations.

Easy. JUst read the manual to familiarise yourself a little. Othet than that, If you have a nice ear for EQing, you should be able to cover much ground. Experiment a little.
Some little grittys the manual doesn't cover
SO, try to figure out a little. use yuor ears and manual. It helps.

Humbucker Equipped SG. Into MArshall MCD.
It only gets noisy on very high gain distortion. But at the same time the distortions are well balanced. Fuzz is not wild like my stomp box. But rather well modelled to sound like the pros like hendrix.
I'm not very xperienced with pro efffects so i can't tell you if this compares well with others. But it sounds pretty like secular artist.

Well.. this is the previous generation Zoom.. so.. they have soldering difficulties. be careful with the jack. take soft care of it. be smooth. dun get angry with it. Don't force. You should be fine.
But still not too godd if you have to do tt.

I got this third hand. Thankfully the ppl hu owned it had taken care of it well. I'll just use my experience in electronics to fix any problem i haf. If you're gonna buy this anytime soon. Do check it wiring. power it up. Cos it may be close to ten yrs old already.

Good enough for me. The audience dun get sick of me. Its definitely warm in some ways and not twinny even through a crucnchy marshall.
If you're getting htis, do test it out. make sure electronic parts are working fine. Other than tt get it. Cos it could be on the vintage market one day. remember the 57" LP??

It was a pretty simple processor to work with. I've used harder and easier in my day, but in all it was pretty simple.

THe user presets were alright. They lacked tone for my tastes, but that was easily fixed. The amp modules were pretty nice themselves.

Well. I've had had my 303 since '97 and in all. It was a pretty good piece of equiptment until here erecetly when it decided to die. I replaced the jack plug but it still gets no power. Any info on other causes for no power??

My experience with their support was very nice. I emailed and called about my 3030 dieing on me and sof ar, they have been the only company to NOT be friendly and help troubleshoot. Instead they wanted me topay shipping charges to them and then back to me plus tech time. Even Boss and Ibanez were friendly enough to work with me and not charge my life away for one simple fix.

Over all is almost perfect until its death

many of the presets are good sounds, but, I still think that a lot of them need a little tweaking...Of course this is true because it depends what kind of guitar you are using, if you are going through an amp or headphones (BIG difference in the settings). You have a certain amount of flexibility in editing patches,but,the more experienced you are in sound reproduction the better and easier it is. The manual is great for helping you understand the different functions of the unit...Very helpful even though translated by someone who isn't that well versed in the English language!!! But you can get great sounds right out of the box...which can be improved greatly if you tweak some of the parameters..My unit has not been upgraded...I don't know anything about upgrading Zoom 3030 pedals...I would sure like to find out about it though...

I use a 50th aniversary Strat with a Seymore duncan mini humbucker in the lead position, and a 54 or 55 Les Paul..(they didn't put serial numbers on in those yrs.) with DiMarzio dual sound humbuckers. I run my guitar through the Zoom into an old (no effect loop) Peavey Classic 4x10's 50..Noise is not an issue for me as this is easily dealt with if you understand the different gain stages and eq and compression etc...Well NO noise is not a problem for me. I can get almost any sound I like..from the 60 surfing music with a lot oreverb and tremelo IE: pipeline or duane Eddie through the death metal groups of today...Overdriving the classic 50 with the zoom pedal gives unlimited sustain and distortion...I can get Zeppelin, Metalica, Cradle of filth etc...anything...Remember it is a combination of the two.... the Zoom pedal overdriving the all tube Peavey Classic 50...You have to work with the settings, but if you just use the zoom pedal with headphones, or don't use it to overdrive an amp (tube) you still can get great sounds..All the distortions are goo if tweaked correctly, the chorus and reverb wah, etc. alone are worth the price of the Zoom 3030..

here is where the problem is !!!!it is made of plastic and breaks very easily...I must have opened and soldered eithe the input or outputs many times...the pedal is flimsy too...If it was sturdy I couldn't critisize it, but the ins and outs are in constant need of re-soldering...Plastic just dont hold up...If I used it on a gig I would definately be prepared to go direct to the amp, which isn't that bad with the Classic 50, but I wouldn't have all those nise chorus and flanging tones etc...If I could I would positively have a backup !!!!!!

Never dealt with the company...I would love to learn about upgrades..

I've been a guitarist since the pre-Beatle days....I play almost anything from surf music, R&B (heavily stones influenced), Otis Redding ( the most beautiful and simple guitar ever) Chuck Berry, Led Zep, AC DC, Metallica, BLUES, Clapton (Cream), Almost all British Invasion music, Kinks, Aerosmith,and todays music (alternative) but to me its all rock and roll...Also oldies, Doo Wop, Beatles, and STONES STONES STONES...Bowey...well you get the idea!!!I have been playing since I was 15 I am now 57..I would buy it again or an upgrade if it sounded as good or better..My favorite feature is all the pre-sets you have, without using 50 pedals..It definately helps me to make and write music, as I can tweak the paramaters and get some really GREAT sounds....If it didn't break so easily!!!!

Has small buttons and bank navigators that only go in one direction so that you spend lots of time scrolling thru to get the patch you want. live its troublesome because its flimsy, small expression pedal, and THERE IS A SLIGHT PAUSE WHEN SWITCHING BETWEEN PATCHES, which can sound really be a bother if you're in the middle of a live performance. Editing patches on the other hand is fairly straightforward, and fun. Keep in mind that you'll need to find the time to edit/create your own patches, because the presets blow the big one.

Sounds better with humbucker pickups. My Strat sounded pretty dull thru this, but my Ibanez sounds fuller.
Clean sounds are decent except for the chorus which sounds cheap and detuned. Also there is a hiss that is hard to get rid of, w/o using the noise gate, which cuts off squeal/harmonics.
SOme pretty damn usable patches CAN be created though, but remember you have to MAKE EM YOURSELF
THe delay is very good and foot tappable.
The reverbs are pretty dry and lo-fi sounding, but usable.
I have yet to produce a good WAH effect outta this, because the range of frequency cut is too small. When i first bought this, i wanted to sound like JIMI on ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER solo, and was big time disapointed by this WAH
Analog Distortions are OK for the more grungey styles, but not too good for classic rock. Despite what some other reviewers have saida good metal distortions CAN be edited, with some patience and research on the net. i play many metal styles from Judas Priest to modern grind/sludge core, and this blows away my BOSS METAL ZONE pedal. The analog distortions produce harmonics/ that feedback well and warmly at high volumes, and can make youre shitty solid state amp sound like a much more expensive tube variety.

I've had this since 1997 and it still works fine, despite having kicked it around and stepped on/ dropped it quite a bit over the years. THe pedal came loose once but you can tighten it with a Allen wrench. Also, after 6 years the input/output and AC jacks are starting to come loose and cause the signal to go off/on. If it died today i feel i got my money's worth out of it, but it could have been built a little sturdier. you have to unplug it every time you turn it on/off which causes wear and tear to AC jack

they have a web site at least, where i believe you can download old manuals and find some user sent patches.

This was my first and still my only multi-effects processor. I had too high expectations in the beginning and so was a bit disapointed, but that was my youth showing. If you wnt to use this to sound like famous rock stars you're bound to be disapointed. Keep in mind though that it is a highly flexible SOUND CREATOR with almost limitless possibilites for use in conjunction with not only guitars but also home studios and keyboards. Over the years this thing has taught me so much and has been invaluable to me. Now that i'm getting older/better i may want to delve into some of the many high end effects that are on the market, but i don't see myself completely stop using this thing, because it is so versatile, and by now i'm so used to it. This is a very good value in the used market right now also, going anywhere from 50-150 dollars.

Instructions suck. Not well laid out or explained if your not familar with this kind of equipment. It takes a bit to figure out but once you do you'll find its VERY easy to use.

Bad ass all the way around & ZOOM's noise gate is got to be one of the best in the industry.

WHOOOO NELLY heres the down side plastic piece of "S#%T" get your tools out & you MUST own a soldering iron. REPAIR WORK needed about every 20-30 hrs of play.

Wasn't needed.

ZOOM KICKS ASS!!!! but just buy one of their more expensive METAL case ones they DO have good reliability I got a GFX-4 & no problems with about 150 hours of play. Reliability is the ONLY reason for my low overall rating of this product its a real piece of work & a TRUE pain in the tool chest to own.

The Zoom 3030 is a bit complicated if no one explains you all the features it has - it's more like trial and error. but once you read (and understood) the manual, which is pretty good, you get the hang of things and it's pretty much easy to use.

since i only wanted to play guitar for a hobby i started with a low budget and i'm currewntly playing on a Parksons ST-170 (2S 1H) guitar and GRC15 Watt Marshall amp. i think that for what's it worth, the sound quality is the best feature - it's really great if you're not searching for the perfect-but-expensive set of effects, and needless to say it has many effect types, which you can make combos of and everything. in short: great sound

well, i bought mine used not so long ago, and since it's a bit old multi-effect, i'd say it lasted pretty fine. i think that there's too much plastic involved, but that's not an issue if you're not going to hammer it or anything... i'd say it's ok in this category

never had anything to do with the manufacturer...

in conclusion: if you're not a pro, and looking for a stable multi-effect with lots of oprtions and great sound quality, the zoom 3030 is what you should be looking for... ENJOY !

Hi there friends, I think the 3030 is very ease to edit the patches, but it took me some considerable time to create and get a "good" sound of it.

My axe is a 1987 fender stratocaster (Jap), at home I use a 150wrms combo. Anyway I had a GFX-8 , I don't need to say it's far better than 3030 but I primally though I'd never get an interesting distortion, effects are pretty fine but I had just a poor thin distortion (I'd give it a 5 for this category, I was about to throw it away from a 20th floor, but after trying some patches from web I really enjoyed the sound it gives!, my tip is try some rock/metal patches from "www.angelfire.com/tx/wellofsouls/" then you'll see what you can get of it, one more thing....I had a very bad impression right from the moment I turned on because it seemed too noisy, I couldn't believe, but the noise had to do with a bad setup from Compression + Eq1 or/and Eq2 if parallel or serial, said that, keep in mind if you don't set it up properly the unit will inevitably sound incredibly crappy!

hmmm, toooooo much plastic (don't worry nuts and bolts are yet made of steel), be carefull keep the equipment far from heat or it's going to melt down !

hmmm, liked that one "catch us if you can!!" hahahahaha!!

I play Stevie Ray Vaughan, pink floyd, Led Zep, rock blues, I wish it had the "jam play" like the gfx-8.

If you want to have a number of nice effects + wha but it's short of money, the 3030 is perfect.

Marcelo Ferreira (Piracicaba-Brazil)

it's reasonabilly easy to use, untill you start fumbling with the position of different effects , like trying to put the signal through the wah-wah or eq before it goes through the distortion, or vice-versa and defining which one actually sounds better.
but i think if you get that right, you are allready a professional sound-technician,

i used a les paul model, and a sunn mustang with it, over a fender amp, and also recording into my pc.
i'm not sure what caused the buzzing sound, but the zoom introduced a barely audible martian laser-attack sound to it when you touch the strings very lightly, in all modes, active and bypass.
if you're new, distortion, delay, bathroom echo and phaser or stereo-chorus lined up is a 100 mile below the surface cathedral with horny nuns, and you are the high-priest with wings , especially over a dolby-surround five speaker system.

the pitch-shift is digital-like with distortion, you still have to tune drop-b, and there is steps in between when using the expression pedal for pitch.

jimi hendrix' complicated sounds wont work, maybe because of the amp and guitar.
i tried to make my fender amp sound like my friend's marshall on overdrive-channel, and it came pretty close except for the bass.
you could get any artists sound from this, but some only pretty close.
even a church organ!

the feed broke once, a 20 euro repair fixed this so it wont ever happen again, but now, after five years, some pedals wont work.
it's surprising since it was for a long time allready polluted with pet hair, and assorted beverages.
it broke down once on 30 gigs in three years, which was the feed.

i wouldnt know about them
their logo says " catch us if you can"
i hope this is not about the support section

it works for smashing pumpkins, faith no more, any metal.
atleast some blues.
i noise for nine years, with gaps, hell, i DID MAKE YOUNG GIRLS SCREAM AND CRY AND RUN with this.
i have an analog flanger too, and it sounds a little better for the flange part.
i guess that goes for the rest of individual effects too, i never tried
maybe, if cash is sufficient, i would buy an equalizer, chorus, phaser, three wahs, a compressor, harmonizer, delay, echo, tremolo and some distortions, if it was stolen, or just get a new one.
i like almost everything about it, i dont like the mounting of the feed off-factory, and the pitch-shift with distortion.
modulated distortion or overdrive is fat.
its all i know for multi-effects, but i know very much guitarists who also bought one, all except two really.
its alot for little money.
maybe tube-overdrive-emulation should be better, and hammond-rotating-speaker-effect would be better.
nothing on it is the edge, pretty close though.
i dont think any big act uses this, because every bit of it can probably be done better, if you do know someone famous that uses this, please tell me who.

Its pretty easy to learn to work this - making patches is also fairly strait forward.

I don't play guitar. I use the Zoom 3030 with my electric violin so my review will be tailored for violinists. The preset sounds are OK, but some of them come out wierd on the violin and many of them sound too much alike - I only ever use two or three of the presets. Not to say that the presets are bad, its just that they are meant for a guitar. I depend on my custom patches which you have quite a bit of flexibility with. As with any violin, use good strings. I use Thomastik Dominant (all perlon) which I found seems to reproduces a cleaner sound through the amp than all metal strings (in general).

I have only had the Zoom 3030 for about 7 months, but I havent had any problems at all. So from personal experience its reliable.

After modifying the patches this unit suites my playing nicely. I would have given the sound quality a higher rating if I didn't have to depend on my own sounds - but it actually sounds very clean and rich. I recommend the Zoom if you are looking for a mid-quality processor, and I will probably be using this for years to come. For the money, this is a great unit.