Zoom 3030

It's not easy to get any really good sound out of it because it removes the attack of the original sound. Therefore I always put it in my effects loop, leaving the bypassed sound in parallel with the effected.

Editing the patches is OK, pretty logical, but it would be nice if there was an overall default setup for EQ as well as for volume and amp simulator, because the default EQ is pretty dull and always needs changing on every patch I set up.

All the sounds in this pedal are pretty much what you'd expect considering it was far cheaper than seven top-class stomp boxes, i.e. they sound cheap. However, the reverb is good enough for me and the 3030's general ability to act as a buffered freshen-up of my sound is really useful. Without it I'd be stuck with the powerful but rather primitive and brutal sounds of my Marshall 6101 (30th Anniversary).

I've never tried to get the sound of anyone else with it and don't think I'd bother because of the general cheapniz of its sounds.

My main guitar is a 2008 custom Eccleshall Scimitar, a single-coil Frankenstein which is a cross between a Les Paul Junior and a Telecaster.

I don't use the 3030 for recording, only for gigging. For recording I prefer software processors which are much more accurate. The noise level isn't bad.

It has NEVER failed me in any way in many years of exposure to dust and being banged around in a gig bag. The fact that I can't back the settings up doesn't bother me because the day I lose the settings will be the day the thing dies and I honestly believe it'll putlive me.

Nope!

I play varied rock/pop styles, and bass, and have been playing for 40 years. I also have an Analog Man Beano Boost (which is TONE GOD:-), and these are my only 2 effects.

My guitars are the Scimitar, a 1987 Eccleshall Barracuda (single super-humbucker superstrat with Kahler), a 1963 Burns Sonic Model, an Epiphone Firebird Studio WC, a Ridgewood Strat and a Guyzer bass (handmade by a friend, Guy Rogers). I bought it because it was offered to me at ??75, hard to resist.

Don't know if I would try to find another one, I might get the modern Boss equivalent or something, but another one would do fine.

I wish it had a wah that sounded more like a real wah! It's a bit small-range as others have said.

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.

O.K. ---First of all these things have been out of production for who knows how long....???? if they were not worth a damn this listing would not even exist. I bought mine on sale in 1996 for $200.00. After using a $ 900.00 ART unit ( we all remember those !!!) ADA MP1 Queensryche phase ( noisiest $500.00 I have ever spent) Peavy Rockmaster/ stereo 50/50.....This thing is the quietest most versatile unit to date. I don't see a Digitech Twintube gravesite here ......because they were @#$%#$% by anyone who got burned buying 1. I was a drunken retard and had this thing singing before I plugged it in.

I dont care what you sound like when your playing ...if you stop playing metal chops and there is nothing but noise ...you sound as good as Jimmy page with the violin bow." Were not as high as you it sounds like sh#$%t." This thing delivers great tones , harsh distortion and sums the chop evenly without premature theft. I run mine through a Hartke 2000 bass head and a Alesis Equilizer. I Use ESP and Jackson Guitars with EMG pickups. You cant wear a gold chain and have holes in your jeans. This thing is not a miracle cure ..for some of the listings here you should have stayed with your Metal master pedal ..it went better with the SERIES 10 GUITAR YOU PLAY. Funny how all you guys with Pauls and strats ...smile with the tail hanging out of your mouth....

I have had mine since buying it new....in 96. The jacks havn't went yet. Believe it or not the transformer just went out and that is why I am here. If your Touring with Alice Cooper stop buying room service and buy the gear you can afford ...stop complaining.

This thing is kool . The only thing out there right now that can compare will be the LINE 6 gear. I am replacing it this year , but after 8 years of getting kicked, spilled beer , fights with the ex ...I think it deserves a rest. This piece is a classic. Goodnight.

Simple enough to use, I didnt get the instuctions with it, but 30 seconds of looking at the panel on the front and its obvious.

I`m using this plugged in to a Marshall MG15CD practice amp, sounds usable once you play around with the settings.
The distortions are not very good, but the overdrives are nice.
The delay, chorus and wah are very good.
Does its job well enough

Nope, flimsy plastic, I would never gig with this, the expression pedel is tiny.

No idea

I have been playing the guitar for around 8 years, did have a Marshall 6100LM, a MIJ Jackson Pro and a rack mounted EFX that I had to sell about 5 years ago do to various problems surrounding an ex girlfriend, stopped playing for a year or so.
I bought it as it was cheap to have a play around with, I cannot argue with the price I paid.

Industry standard set of banks, effects and pedal but the editing buttons are very small and very hard to get many of the sounds in sync with each other. If I had about ten hours to spare, I could probably get a dozen or so decent settings.

I play a Les Paul Custom through either a Fender Princeton (live) or Peavey Bandit (home). Also, a Martin w/ a thinline directly into a P.A. At best, the Zoom enhances the versatility. At worst, it hisses and sounds too digital. Very little warmth. Very tough to define an acceptable tone on many of the effects.

Pretty dependable for a plastic rig. The pedal may loosen up a bit, but it's easy to cure with an Allen wrench.

Bought it used w/o manual, but Zoom did send me one for free. It can also be downloaded.

My first processor. It has taught me a thing or two but I look forward to getting something better.

I think it's very easy to work with the zoom 3030. But is't very hard to get a very good metal distortion.

I play with a Lefthanded Fender Stratocaster and I use a Laney amp.
The effects always sound great.
I can't get the sound of my favourite artists!! Pantera, Cannibal corpse, nightwish.

I play metal and death metal, it's not a good match because I cant get the effect's of the bands. I'm now playing 6 years. I would buy the tonyworks 30xg.

Can somebody help me to get the distortions I need, PLEASE !!!!!!!!

Its very easy to use you do not need a manual to figure how to use and make the most out of this baby. You just need previous experiences and familiarity on handling and manipulating pedals and multieffects processor. :)

It sounds good but not all. Things to look for are the distortions, wah, reverb, and chorus.

You can depend on it as long as you are not one fat dirty bastard with a feet as big as Shaq. the wah ped is quite small and the casing is made of plastis so a little care on handling it would not hurt.

No experience with their CS yet.

I play senseless music, some sort of music for the drunken on drugs priests. And i play for the free beer!

I got it used so there's no manual. I looked at the panel and scratched my head for a few minutes then it all made sense. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out and it really is quite simple to program. I still downloaded the manual though (I mean, THEY prolly know more about this than me and its free!)

I use a knockoff Les Paul custom and a really cheap practice amp. This thing makes cheap gear sound like a million bucks. The distortions are awesome and with a little tinkering you can really find a nice sustaining lead tone with it. Some distortions (like the Blues OD) can get a little noisy, but I blame my cheap amp for that. I tested this on a Marshall when I bought it and it was damn quiet. The chorus is nice and I use it a lot to put some gloss into my leads (and just a teensy bit for my rhythms). The expression pedal stinks though (I have a little asian foot and mine is still too big to fit!), but then again I dont wah so it dont matter. The compressor is a little inefficient, I wish it had more parameters. The reverb rules. Another problem, there's a slight silence when changing patches but I only notice this when playing alone. Since I arrange most of my tone changes in song breaks with drum rolls and cymbal slams, it hides the shift well so no real problem.

Hmm, I haven't had it long, but it looks pretty solid. I've always been particular about taking care of my gear so Im not expecting it to break down before my day job can actually afford me another FX box. Dont gig much, but Ill be sure to bring my BOSS stompbox along just in case Murphy's Law decides to make itself felt.

Prolly will never deal with them. This is quite an old machine. If it breaks down you go to your backyard and bury it.

Our band plays nothing but compositions (old school melodic to hard rock with dashes of metal). Im trying to forge my own tone and this baby is definitely a boon. Since Im not looking to copy tones from others Im basically just left to my devices. The range of effects in this thing is wide enough and I can't imagine wanting any more. Its light, its fairly easy to use and it can give a really cheap amp a million-dollar sustaining lead tone. I want nothing more. Cheap as it is, this one does the job nicely.

Simple to use - most of the pre-set patches are cack, but you can tweak to your hearts delight. As with most multi-effects, you may occasionally need the manual to work out which parameter you're actually altering, and the manual is well laid out and easy to understand.

My set up is usually an Epiphone Les Paul thru a Peavey Bandit 112. The quality varies depending on effect / feature. The Compression, EQ, delay, reverb and the majority of SFX are all excellent - you get really good results. I dislike the pitch shifter and am not too keen on the harmonized pitch shifter. I found the wah to be weak - it's taken me ages to find a sound that I liked, and it still doesn't sound that punchy despite having four wah-types available. Probably the most disappointing feature for me is the overdrive - you can only get the extremes of distortion and it's impossible to get a warm overdriven sound. I find the distortion generally cold and too much. Final gripe is the level - it's hard to get a solid sound out of the box and begin to play around with feedback. Also the clean sound isn't particularly strong, even with the output level maxed. It feels like the 3030 was solely made for 80's stadium lead ROCK! bands, which is fine if you want that, but really frustrating if you're trying to get a more subtle sound.

Bottom line for me on the 3030 is: Clean SFX sounds = good, Overdrive = Poo.

I gig a couple of times a month and rehearse with my band once a week. I've had my 3030 for 3 years now and it's lasted longer than I thought. The expression pedal doesn't feel great, but it has lasted and is still working perfectly even though I use it a lot.

I agree with some of the comments about the jacks - they are the main point of weakness - they are soldered directly onto the microchip board and mine are dying on me. It's a bugger to find people who can fix it. More worrying is jacks I haven't used - the right stereo output - are suffering from the same problem which may suggest something about flexibility between the board and the case.

Never had to deal with them - bit gutted that the website doesn't support older models. In fact the website is a bit naff.

I'm in band best described as alternative-indie/rock - I sometimes play lead, but I'm more left to try and create the sound behind the song. I wanted something with loads of effects and I had little money, so this has fit the bill well. I was a complete FX newbie when I got this, and it's been a good education for me. Over the past couple of years, I've grown more frustrated with my 3030, particularly on the lack of expression with its OD/distortion and the signal strength. It's happened to break (again!) just when I was looking at alternatives - I think I'm gonna get it fixed, but I'm gonna get a decent OD stompbox and probably an EQ too(I'm already using a crybaby in place of the 3030). I'd like to use it's delay and some of the SFX functions still, but I'm concerned about what it does to the signal.

I love the fact that it's got loads of modules and they are fairly easily adjustable. I hate the OD/distortion. Fave feature is probably the delay and the amp sim when I use it late at night!

I think it's a great product for amateur guitarists who have got into effects and want a cheap alternative to buying individual effects. Unfortunately the more you get to know it and the more you strive for different sounds, the more limiting it'll become to you.

It is very easy to use this, you only have to work with it for a day or 2 and you know everything about it. The schedule on the panel shows everything very well, what each little function is doing with the wanted effect. Editing is very simple even if you want to chance a already excisting effect. just edit it and put it in a bank you prefer.

My telecaster likes it, and my strat too. And my friend hates it, because I have a much better 'soundmixer' than he has(he owns a zoom506Bass) and he also uses it for his guitar(bad Idea)I think that the sound is good, I'm not very good at listening at that. 'Cause,when I don't like a effect: I simple chance it till I like it. That's why this category isn't THAT important. Also it depends on what You want to do with the sound, and what kind of equipment you('d like to)use>My opinion now is standard(so don't attach much value at it. It is standard a 7 with me...

First I though, well this is THE INCREDIBLE ZOOM3030. But I had to make a little fix. just make an extra bypass from your feeding(=electricity)to your main board(=with all the chips on it). My dad did it,because my power was on and off and on and off(during a stageact!!!!!)Still with this bypass, everthing is good

Never dealt with them, my repair: look at reliability

I only bought it because it was very cheap in comparation with other multi-effects. But when I really started to use it... I don't want something else. Only a Marshall amp. And maybe more memory space in this multi-effect. Now I only can store 28 effects and 28 other effects are pre-set(and pretty useless, I mean, not what I want to use)

The Zoom 3030 is very easy to use when you visualize the unit as seven stomp boxes. Editing is very easy and straight forward. Just take your time and make sure you write out your changes on a Patch form. The manual is simple to understand. Just like any other device...Read the manual a few times before digging in. Firmware Version? Who cares, it sounds just fine to me.

I run a Strat with H/S/S pickups through my 3030 and to my Tube Works 100W Half-Stack. The only noise I can detect is the same as with any fx unit when recording on PC...just turn your monitor off while recording. The effects are very solid and this is by far the best all-in-one box I've ever owned (FX7, AX100G, RP-5). I prefer to Not sound like anybody but me. The distortions and the clean tones in this thing are it's strong point.

I've had to fix the Exp/Vol pedal once. It's plastic, so it's gonna be a liability. If you take care of it, like anything else, it will last. I would use it and have used it on gigs without a backup. If it were to fail, I'd just use my amp and go find another 3030.

I play Metal and Hard Rock and the 3030 is very versatile and fits my percussive style of playing. I've been playing since 1984 and I taught myself how to play. If my 3030 were lost or stolen I would hunt down another one. The Zoom 3030 blows away units that are priced twice as much. I wish it had a Jam Along feature. The 3030 will inspire you to write new stuff. Alot of the presets are corny and worthless but that's what editing is for.

Very easy to get a good sound out of it. Editing patches is easy. Manual is good. Firmware revision not necessary IMHO because it sounds and works very good as is. I've used similar Digitech and DOD MultiFX units (RP-7 and VGS-50 resepectively) and the 3030 by far was the easiest to get good compression, distortion, chorus, wah, delay and reverb sounds out of. Has 28 user patches which is enough for me, but it's always nice to have more. Has four patches per bank which is perfect for me. Uses buttons to program, but I got the hang of it very quickly. I have the optional expression pedal which controls master volume to free up the built in expression pedal for use with other effects (wah, chorus level, etc). This feature makes for easy quick setup and teardown with the minimum of connections.

I use a Les Paul and Strat with a 30 Watt Class A Tube amp running through two Eminence Beta 10 inch guitar speakers. The 3030 is on the front end. I run a cable from my wireless receiver to the 3030 back to the amp. The external expression pedal (also a Zoom product) connects to the 3030 with one stereo TRS cable.

This unit is the most quiet unit of any effects pedal I've used. I only have to set the Zoom Noise Reduction (ZNR) on 1 (the lowest setting) for all patches, including the heaviest distortion patches!

The effects I use are compression, two of the distortions (I didn't get past the first two, I liked them so much), ZNR, Wah, EQ, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb. All of these are excellent. The Phaser sound is useless so I opted to use chorus only. I don't use the pitch shifter, step, or any of the unusual effects. The wah is the best I've used in a multifx unit. This was a top of the line pedal in 1996, but there isn't an acoustic simulator (no big deal)

Runs fine despite voltage fluctuations. Both digitech pedals I've used failed at a particular club because of the voltage flux there. This one ran without a glitch. Seems very reliable, but also seems a bit fragile (all plastic construction) so I treat it carefully.

N/A, never had to use it

This pedal listed for around $300 in 1996. I got it brand new on a closeout from ZZounds for $139 plus $4.95 to ship. They are all gone from ZZounds, so if you want one, you'll probably have to go the E-Bay route. Best $139 I've ever invested on an extremely useful, lightweight, good sounding, and versatile multifx pedal. Not perfect, but better sounding than most. The only complaint I have is that the patch pedal next to the expression pedal is too close, and I hit the patch pedal with my foot sometimes when I'm trying to use the expression pedal. Guess I need to wear stilletos or find some old pointed Beatle boots at a garage sale!

It takes a little time to find out what this thing has eaten, but after a short while its pretty simple.

I'm using 3030 mostly with my ibanez(g.) but now and then I've used it with bass too, works pretty fine with both of them. I've noticed that when cranking main volume over 2-something-(max 50) it starts squealing, not so good... I mostly use Wah sounds and it works with them, not JUST like I'd wanna but anyway -> I can easily manage with it...

So far so good. I've done quite a few gigs with it, without a backup. Plastic outside worries me a little, though. If it would be metal, I wouldn't have to worry at all.

No reason -atleast YET- to take such actions...

For such a cheap-ass machine I'm very pleased what I got. It's just one of those low-budget multifx's that gives a tiny piece of everything right there under your foot/thumb/whatever.

Its a good little Pedal for what I do, editing patches is complicated but not impossible. The manual can be annoying, I never read them, but the one I finally did read sounded like a telemarketer. I dont know the firmware revision number becuase I don't care I just play guitar. It hasn't been upgraded because there hasn't been a need. A full year and still goin....outlasted my Crybaby Wah that I bought the same day brand new. I'm happy.

I use this with a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Peavey Bandit 112S. It can be too noisy, too quiet, and just right, annoying but when you get it set to fit you, you don't want to turn it off. The effects usually sound good unless your reverb on the amp is too high...trust me! I can pull off Angus Young licks with ease but I also have a Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion Humbucker and a Gibson '57 Classic Humbucker. New Stuff is easy too, just crank it up and its there.
Presets blow though....but screw them, you only have to hear them once if you memorize what you like. Its easy if your a true guitar player.

It's been durable for me...Haven't had a single problem yet.
I have used it on soooooo many gigs without a backup its not even funny.

Havent had a problem

Look, I've already told you its awesome for me, I play AC/DC to Disturbed and Staind....IT WORKS!!
AND FOR ALL YOU FAGGOTS COMPLAINING ABOUT IT!!! YOU COULD HAVE A ROUGE DST-5 DISTORTION PEDAL, SO BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU GOT!!!

as with all zoom stuff, if its too dificult for you to use, try taking up the kazoo!

useless factory presets. they should make it possible to wipe those out to make room for more user programs. good effects. ive used this thing on two albums so far. I have traded in my marshall for a clean power amp. just pump it straight into a cabinet.It still sounds better if i use the stack simulater though. Some of the effests like pitch shift are still kinda hoaky. I use them but they dont sound smooth at all.

Its tempermental. Jacks need continual tlc and repairs, plastic chassis is tender to say the least. Some how i managed to poke a hole in the face, but it wasnt fatal.It still beats a chain of pedals.

what a joke

I took this thing on a european tour. (Am i crazy?) Its small and light weight,which is of paramount concern when flying. It pulls off a variety of tones, boosts solos, gives intelligent harmonies, has a marginably usable drop pitch feature. Ive played with it through a power amp and cabinet, direct into a board, both live and in the studio and though it had plenty of room for improvement, it got the job done. I wish it was built to last.I also wish the drop pitch didnt sound so digital and growly. I guess I should upgrade to one of their professional processers and quit faking it, but thats what this thing is good for. It sounds like you spent a lot of money and it can do anything you set your mind on, when in reality it takes the very limits of its capabilities to sound good. I think zoom knows exactly what it is doing marketing this stuff to cheap bastards like me who cant say no to saving a buck.

I didnt have ant trouble at all. Being able to back up to the previous patch set would be very nice, why wasnt this done??? JEEZ!

I like a lot of the distortions, although I use an external EQ, thats your best bet with this one. I like the delay as well, but zoom could do a lot better, and lay off the stupid-ass presets if all you can put on here is china-town sounding shit,who plays that? NOBODY...you play with for five minutes when you get the unit, then never touch it again...maybe they planned to force us to hear it by making sure we have to pass it(perhaps accidentally enabling it,onstage,LIVE)every time we need to go back to the first set of four patches....

Already had to solder the legs on the damn input. Workmanship like a mcdonalds toy.

The only thing I've done is complain, so as everybody knows, they dont like to respond to those....

Overall, its ok for home. I dont trust it, unfortunatly. I like the effects, anybody with any imagination can get what they want from it,(with decent equipment) and all these guys saying " ....Ive got a MEMPHIS guitar and a fender 15" need to shut up,NOTHING sounds good plugged up to a turd.Go buy something decent, then judge.