Zoom 3030

pretty easy to edit patches. manual boring, but tells what you need to know

I was able to get a desent distortion, and the clean sounds good. the wah effects are terrible. couln't get a good sound

did't break yet have had it for 3 years

havn';t called

sounds like crap wouldn't recomend exept beginner

It was pretty easy once you read the manuel. Although I don't like the fact that there is only one bank button so you can only cycle through the patches one way(it can be a pain going through all the banks just to get to the previous one)

The clean sounds are allright - espicially that 80's chorus/delay. But other than that I think that the sound quality is lacking in major ways. I'm using an 80's Charvel (don't know the model number but its one of the nicer ones, much nicer than the new Jacksons), then straight into my amp - hot rod delux. Then I run the effects loop out into my effects - DOD comp. and an old Small Stone. From that I run the signal into an a/b box and send one signal to an old Fender princeton reverb(that way I can use overdrive on the princeton). Wondering where the ZOOM is...Well I don't use that piece of garbage anymore. Its sitting under my bed in perfect condition collecting dust. Why you ask. Accept for the before mentioned effect everthing else stinks(in my opinion) The 7 or 8 distortions/overdrives it boasts are just the same effect with just different EQs. Whats up with that??? The exact same texture. And they are all pretty lame. Nothing like my tube amp which I love. They are dead and boaring. Oh I almost forgot. That bypass mode that they boast about, its the most colored, tone sucking, signal degrading, gain lowering bypass I've ever heard. If you're thinking well I'll just use the clean effects and use my amp for overdrive. AAAAA wrong. Thats not possible(well, it is possible but I woulden't recomend it).

Its plastic but it would hold up with reasonable care as long as you don't stomp on the buttons or stand on the expression pedal. I never had any problems with it.

I haven't contacted them. I wonder if they give refunds

Like I said before the overdirves are not the best. If you into grunge or metal you might like but for bluse and Rock it stinks. And it would probably be good for country. I've been playing for about 3 years and this was the biggest mistake I made. There is one ok feature and that is with the expression pedal you can adjust some cool parameters like the gain on your dist. and the rate of tremelo and stuff like that. As for me if it were stolen I would pitty the fool who stole it. The on board tuner was nice but I just bought a Boss tu-2 and it blows the onboard tuner out of the water. And with the bypass being an effect in its own category I would steer clear of this. Buy individual effects pedals, much better quality. With price of this you could buy four. If you still want this after reading it I know where you could get a used one in perfect condition. E-mail me for any questions.

This pedal if really good for getting a sound out of, their are many good distortion patches on it that are great when jamming and playing live.
Editing the patches is really easy to do but it is hard to program to get the sounds you want, it is better to buy it if you like the preset sounds (which I do) but if you want to creat your own then getting the perfect sound will take some time.
There is a manual with this but like all manuals it is long and boring and if you are like me you will just want to plug in and play, using the pedal and understanding how to getb the different sounds is easy but if you want to get the best out of editing then it is best to read the manual (which I have not yet done). I personally use the prset sounds which you don't need the manual for.
There is a better version of this, the Zoom 4040 had less effects tham this but it has 2 expression pedals, the Zoom 8080 if the ultimate pedal in this series (look it up on the zoom web site). But how-ever the zoom 3030 has been replced by the Zoom 3000 which I feel isn't as good as I didn't like the preset sounds in it. The Newest modles are the GFX series and the latest addition had been the GFX-8.

The set up I have is a Marshall MG amp and a Encore fat strat, the amp I am using is only 15W so i feel that that limits me a bit - I once tried it through a Peavey live and it sounded much better. The Encore Strat I use has a Humbucker by the bridge and mroe often than not I use that.
It can be a bit noisy but I don't think its bad, I used to usen a Zoom 505 and compared to that it is heaven. I considered the background noise on it (or lack of) to be really good.
I prefer to use the presets and not program my own stuff into it, the cretain effects on it can be limiting especially in programming, getting a sound of a paticualar artist can be a struggle if not impossible, but I feel some of the presets do sound great and ypu can use them ikn songs that were written by some of m,y favourite artists and still make it souind good even though it is not exactly the same.

The relaibility of this scores low, when you use it at gigs it sounds great. But after you have used it a while it can get damaged, when i had had mine of 8 months the expression pedal broke, I took it to the shop and they said it had been cracked by being knocked, I do take it round a lot and it is knocked about a lot in bagsa nd stuff. The connection on the power imput on my brothers one needed fixing as well. As great as I think this pedal is it does not withstand wear and tear as much as I would like.

In the way of customer support, I took the pedal it witht he cracked pedal and the shop said they would send it off to Zoom, the guy in the shop said that he did not think it would be covered by guarentee because the carck was my fault. He was also not sure if they would have the part or not because it is not made anymore.
I am still waiting to hear what has happened, I am expecting a call about it this week so i can't comment on customer support until I get it.

In all I think this is a great pedal, althuogh I find making good programms difficult I fing a few of the presets espeecially excellent and I feel that these are really good easpecially when I am palying live. My Favourite effects are: U0 1, U0 2, U0 4, U5 1. I also like U1 1, U1 3, P1 1-4.
I feel that the amount of wear and tear it can take is quite low so if you get one you will need to look after it if you want it to last.
It is worth gettting for the good effects in it and it is a great pedal but the product has been discontinued and more abanced products have replaced it with new features (drum machines etc) and more advanced effects with a larger memory so if you are thinking or buying a up to date one then find the sites for the following manuafctures ZOOM, KORG PANFDORA, DIGITECH, BOSS.

You really need to read the book, and play with It for awhile, It can be a pain.

The effects sounded weak, and their was only one distortion that I liked. I ran It In a Marshall stack, with a gibson guitar.

I'm not sure what kind of abuse It could take.

Well I played with It for a week to get the best sound that I could out of It. I took It with me to practice with my band, but when I plugged It In and started playing It was all over. Everbody was laughing so hard that I ran out screaming don't look at me. I took It back the next day and got a refund. I only like a couple of effects, so I wouldn't have used most of them. I guess everything jammed In one box Is not for me.

Patches are very pickup dependant. High tones, single coil ickups, get really high. Humbuckers get a little dull. The distortion unit changes with pickup output. make patch adustments to fit your instrument.

I often use it without a backup.

Nice to have additions: more speaker simulations (410), pre-amp simulations in combinations with the distortion module and XLR outs.

It takes some time to learn the ins and outs of the DIY programming, but to get off and running with the pre-sets is a snap. Overall, it could be more efficient in the programability catagory, but once you get what you want, you're just a few stomps away from it.

I play an Epiphone 58' Flying V Korina. 2 hot humbuckers...this ain't no stratocaster! I play through an Epi/Electar Tube 30... nice small tube amp with attitude. I am quite impressed with this little unit, lots of nice sounds for the money...and some really wierd ones too. The presets are all over the place, mean to nice, open to compressed, common to just plain wierd. I've found some I like quite a bit, especially the pitch bending... I really like that "Tape slow-to-stop" effect... really cool, very fun. I never made the effort to try and sound like anyone but myself... I'm one of those home recording wierdos who is happy to play in my home studio and create my own vibe. This unit does an excellent job at making me sound like myself... sometimes better....(better than myself??) Distortions are pretty cool, some minor snarl to a really mean sound. The "valve overdrive" is pretty close to the real thing, just a touch less edge though. The re-verb effects are really cool and spacious, great for recording. Chorus and phaser are cool... this unit has lots of potential if you take some time to get used to it. I've never been a Wah-meister, but that works ok. As far as noise goes, no problem, this unit does just slightly kill the sustain of the guitar when bypassed. At this price level, it wins my seal of approval.

High impact plastic.... It's only AC powered... no dice for batteries, making it a bit of a pain for live situations, then again as a studio geek, this isn't an issue. If you take care of it, and play nice, it'll last you for years. If you get highly intoxicated and jump up and down on it, it'll break.... no surprises here folks.

Havn't had to chat with them yet...

This is a versitle unit, so when I want to play some punk rock, several stomps for mean grind, when I want to play a nice wussy song, a few stomps and it sounds all friendly. If I want to play something tripped out...... you get the idea.

I've been playing drums longer than guitar, but I play lots... almost every day for a few minutes when available. I like to create sounds, so this box is great for that... it makes lots of neat sounds...
If somebody stole it I would drop kick them and then go out and buy another one... or something even more deluxe.

I really like the variety of sounds, and the very recordable nature of the sounds it makes. I wish it were easier to program.

I was looking at similar priced Digitech, Dod, and Boss units... this one has the most toys for the price tag, and that recordable sound.

I wish it had analog dials instead of a rack of buttons, but hey, what can ya do for this price tag.

This unit definitely helps me make music... sometimes a sound will inspire a song idea, or remind me of a song I have heard. Having the large palette of sounds encourages me to play more frequently and explore new sonic adventures.

If you are broke and need a multi-FX unit, check this one out, it's groovy. The zoom 3030 would seem appropriately priced higher than it is.

it is kind of complacated for some people if you are a begginer but once you get the hang of it it is eazy. the only hard part is the equalizer part. it is hard but sounds great

the sound is the best sound i have heard any pedal before. the distortion is the best of all. it is better than the boss metalzone pedal. it has a humming sound with the metal distortion but that may just be the guitar i am useing

it is very reliable. i would use it at a gig and it would not have any problems at all. it is great

I play all kinds of music and it is great for all. i ussualy play metal of rock but it is great for all kinds if music. if it where stolen i would buy a new one. i used it at gigs and it had no problem getting through the hour and a half of guitar playing

Es muy facil de usar, se pueden armar sonidos muy rapidamente. El manual es exelente, no deja una sola duda. Es mas me saco dudas de pedales que tube anteriormente y en los propios manuales no explicaba nada.

Los efectos son fantasticos en cuanto a variedad, realmente por este precio no hay maquina que se le aproxime... las distorciones son muy buenas y los efectos de modulacion muy completos... (el pedal shifter quisas sea el mas flojo, al notarce los pasos)
Algo malo...? Si muchos de los sonidos producen ruido como un siseo digital que en relidad no se oye en vivo pero esta. Si no fuera por eso sin duda llevaria un 10 en este item.

Es plastica pero parece que resiste!!!

Es una exelente compra, buenos efectos a un precio realmente bajo.

When i first got this (2 years ago) i was a little underwhelmed with the factory presets. But then i realized that they are set up so that you can hear all the effects and decide what you want to use with what. You can get great heavy metal sounds and some pretty decent clean sounds, but you are limited when it comes to country or overdriven blues sounds. The effects are decent(stereo chorus is best one), I get a lot of noise out of flange and phase,just like all stomp boxes i ever used, so i guess that is to be expected. tremolo sounds just like the one i had on my old vibrolux. I have found no use for slow attack. pitch shift i use to get a light background hammond organ effect(think house of rising sun)e-mail me if you want patch.pedal pitch,step(an arpeggio patch),metallic,super bender,pitch delay,and hps patches are completely worthless. Whoever came up with the idea to put metallic and HPS in this thing out to be fired, HPS is a great idea in theory, but dont include it in a product if it don't work wort a damn.
Editing is easy enough if you arent on a dark stage and need to do it in the midle of a song. BUT all floor processors i've seen are that way, so what do you expect? if buttons were big enough to edit with feet the unit would be humongus.
The manual is good enough for me plus there are websites that can elaborate on tweaking patches it wont tell you how to program that perfect patch you have been thinking about, but it will guide you to the locations of buttons to push, what patches there are, and what parameter ranges there are. Use your ears for the rest:)
For the price (i think they're around $190 now) it's decent enough for the price

One thing I didn't mention yet is the built in compressor. It may be because of my setup, but this has to be the worst compressor i've ever dealt with. Why doesn't this thing have a level on the compressor?!?! they have a level for the distortion and the EQ. but not the compressor. They got this parameter called mode which makes the guitar sound full or thin. HEY ZOOM! am i missing something or can you just set the mode to full sound constantly and replace the mode button with a LEVEL button? Please? Should'nt the mode button be incorporated in the tone button and just set the range bigger? I'm no electronics expert so maybe this is impossible to do, but it's still frustrating.
Anyway thats enough complaining about compression, just get a comp. stomp box and turn comp. off in processor.
My setup is a rogue PRS copy with alnico II pro on bridge and Jazz on neck, and a squire pro tone strat(try one of these before you knock 'em, they are VERY underrated)I like pro tones so much i bought 2 of 'em, 1 for playin out and one stays home. Also i use a hagstrom swede, 59 reissue lp standard and fender 90's custom tele but these also stay home, except when recording. I have found you never want to play out with an expensive axe (drunks sometimes get too drunk).
our band doesn't use any stage amps, so i'm going from guitar to COMPRESSOR to zoom, stereo out into 2 old boss powered cabinet emulators, into board, and listen through 15" jbl eon monitor powered by a mackie 1400 power amp. Sound exactly like putting on headphones,
and i can be very versatile if not a little processed. In other words i can go from a slow country ballad, into 70's rock, into a rockabilly
plucker,into heavy metal number without having to fiddle with a bunch of amp knobs in between.
some patches get noise regardless if you have noise reduction up or not. effects are always right there in the mix and it really does sound good, even if it is only a $200 processor.
With the external compressor (Carl martin)I get all the sounds i want from eddie cochran to eddie van halen. It's too bad i had to spend another $200 for a compressor that should work right in the processor itself, but if you already got a compressor you don't need to shell out any more money.
Harrmonized pitch shift and metallic are annoying as hell.
I'll give it an 8 because of that compressor.

Its plastic, but it has to be the toughest plastic known to man, I dont even have scratches on this thing! the only bitches i have are that red led does'nt show up when the sun is up, take a toilet paper tube and duct tape to outdoor venues. and when it gets up to about 100 degrees out side and you are stupid enough to leave it in the car trunk it acts kind of wacky, and the clear plastic film over the control panel bubbles up! But you know what? I cooled it off for about 30 minutes before we went on, I plugged everything in and it worked flawlessly the whole show! immpressive!
I shouldn't use it without a backup but i do I know it's gonna sneak up and bite me in the ass one day, but i've abused it for 2 years and it still works great.
I'll probably get an 8080 super player one of these days and gig out with it and use 3030 for backup, but for now if it ain't broke i would have too hard of a time talking wife into getting something else:)

Never dealt with them, but i've read horror stories

If it was stolen i'd get the wife to let me buy an 8080 only because it's a bigger one. I play for a wedding band, so some nights it's all jim reeves and everly brothers,othr nights it's all Van Halen and violent femmes,and other nights it's polka and metal?!?!believe it or not i've been with the same band with original members for 11 years and have been playing for about 26 years, we've gone through all sorts of setups, from marshall stacks to twin reverbs and other combos to our current setup.
It used to take a couple of hours to setup and now(because of our setup)it takes about a half hour to 45 min. and we still sound as good as we did when we had the marshalls and combos.
The bottom line...Is this a good product......YES great value great sound and easy setup and editing. you need that compressor for the ability to get that slight OD. sound but other than that it has paid for itself many,many,many times over, and i would reccommend it.
E-mail me if you don't agree with me or you want some patches
a 9 for that compressor again.

This thing rocks! The only problem is figuring out what does what.
If you read in depth, of the manual, understanding what to do is pretty easy, but getting the right sound may take some time.
There's some sights on the internet that have some good patches, if you search for them.

The sound you get out of the zoom 3030 is spactacular. A lot of good distortion protocals for all the metal heads. You can reach great blues quality and you can even mix in that little extra bit to make it different. HOWEVER, most of the presets on the zoom 3030 are crap. You really need to get in up and up to your knees to get virtually any sound. Works great with all types of guitars, and amps.

Have you ever heard of incognito? This is a great example.
What could someone expect from a plastic pedal? not much!
But some how, the plastic used in the manufacturing of the zoom 3030
is tough as nails. Were talking about titanium steel of plastic!
Definitely reliable, for any situation (in normal situations, were not talking about jumping down on the wah/expression/volume pedal as hard as you can)

Don't ever need to talk to them, they make a great product.

How can you go wrong? 189 bucks for something that is as close to a rack that you can get for about 1/10th of the cost. This is definitely great for any hessians that play guitar. I've played with the zoom 3030 for a few months, and my expressions that are perceived from my guitar, are astounishing, from that of before. I'm telling everyone, I went through (combining and using seperately) a ton of guitar pedals, ranging from boss to dod -distortions, equalizers, and overdrives, and none of the hundreds of setups can compare to the zoom 3030. Highly recommendable. If for some reason I lost it, or it got stolen, I would actually try a dod multi effects board, or buy a rack, just to see whats out there. But if I went down to the local guitar shoppe and they had the zoom 3030, I'd definitly re-purchase it.