Zoom 4040

Warning!!My english is very bad!This FX processor is very easy to use!Even without the manual...I don't have it and I only needed a few times with the 4040 to understand it!

I use a Yamaha Pacifica(Telecaster kind)with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup(powerfull!!) and sometimes an Hohner Baron with the two original humbuckers plugged in the ZOOM and I use a rack with a Rocktron Velocity 120 amp and a Marshall 9000 series Pre-amp(I only use the clean chanel)that's plugged in an Hughes&Kettner Attax cabinet(400w)..The 4040 is preety noisy in lead and metal effects and the ZOOM noise reduction sucks.The wah is very bad!!The best of the 4040 are the clean sounds that you can make with the excelent chorus,reverbs,delays effects.
The EQ is fair and I don't like the AMP simulator..Gennerally the modulation effects are good but the pitch is a joke..Power distortions are very,very noisy...I need to be very carefull in the solos because the feedbacks and stupid noises will appear for shure..but as I said,a guy can do beautifull clean sounds with chorus!

I never had any problem with it...it's not as weack as it seems!!My backup on a gig is the distortion channel of my Marshall 9004 pre-amp and a foot-switch...never needed it!

I play some latin and popular covers(crapp!!) and I also play some covers from Creed,Papa Roach,Nickelback,The Calling,Gene Loves Jezebel,etc..here in Portugal there are places where you can get some money by playing some latin and popular songs but I what love is nu-metal,some hevy metal and some rock'n roll!!the 4040 is a good match but I'll buy an ART SGX Nitro rack processor..It's much better but it's expensive!!I wouldn't buy a Zoom 4040 again!!I hate it's poor distortions that sound really bad but I love it's Clean+Chorus+Reverb+EQ effects!!they're lovely!!I like the Volume and Expression pedals!!very usefull!I've choose this one because it sounded great at the first contact..and it was cheap!!
My conclusion:the ZOOM 4040 is excelent for those who are already reazonable guitarists and need some decent clean effects!if you want to play songs with powerfull and brilliant distortion solos forget it!!Perhaps you can buy the ZOOM 8080 or the BOSS GT-6!!Sorry about my horrible English!!BYE

Hey, i'll try to write correctly, ok? I'm not very good in english. It's very simple in function. Choose an effect, adjust the level, mix it up with other effects an listen the results. If you like it, store in the zoom; if not... start again. I think really nobody must have problems. Whowever, it's not perfect.

It use it with an amp Peavey Rage 158 in studio-home and with a Marshall head and a 4x12 in live performances. I use a Peaver Raptor Plus guitar (3 single coils), a Yamaha RGX (1 single coil central and 2-humbuckers), a Fender Squier and a Les Paul Standard). Of all it, only the Peavey Raptor is a little bit noisy, except in position 2 and 4 of pick up selector. The Squier sounds really good and the Les Paul is Excelent. Of course there are some noise, the noise reduction parameter in not great, but what you expect from a mid-quality digital processor!!! Everyone complain of it, then i recomend use the volume control of the guitar. I play classic rock, blues, progressive and rythm & blues and always find a good effect for my intentions. In fact, i'd achieved effects sintetizer-like in Pink Floyd songs, Jethro-Tull, Zeppelin and others. The chorus-delay effect is great, and a clean-delay-chorus-EQ patch is simply gorgeus. If you combine it with the use of volume and tone controls of your guitar, you can get really professional sounds. Nevertheless the metal effects are really bad, and the wah is awfull. The expression pedal is usefull only with chorus, dist and flanger effects. You must learn to use ALL the controls of guitar-processor couple.

The 4040 have limits, like you. To know the limits you must use it, care it and experiment with it. I never had troubles in 2 years of use.

The 4040 works good, i never need help.

It's great for classic rock, blues, jazz, progressive and experimental rock, and bad for metal. it's my first sound processor and i'm really satisfied with the 4040. However, if it were stolen, i think buy a Boss, Roland or something with more tradition/quality. In general terms, i love the experimental sounds, clean-chorus-delay mixed up are the best of this machine. Soft distortion is good too but metal are really bad. Volume pedal are usefull but expression not always. The best part of it is you can emule other rare-effects. In a MIDI the horizont is larger. Nevertheless, i rather prefer more quality effects than other horrible ones like metal and the 'aliens voice'; they are a waste software. Another dark side of 4040 is that for a perfect perfomance, you need the perfect amp, the perfect EQ, perfect PA and a very good guitar. I give for 4040 the 'studio class' or the 'recording class' processor. Is not an expensive precessor, in fact the price-quality rate is ok for the 4040.

Actual operation is quite simple. I found the manual decent enough, and have had many hours of fun editing patches, which once you're used to it is intuitive enough.

This is where this unit really lets itself down. I don't use it anymore because of how it sounds. I have tried various guitars and amps with it over some years, but have never got anything better than OK sounds.

Most of the "modulation" effects are decent, and a couple are quite good (I like the slow attack, and the flange and chorus are nice enough). The pitch shifting, aside from the detuning, is pretty bad though... especially using the expression pedal. The reverbs and delays are decently configurable and sound OK; ping pong delay is fun if you can be bothered setting up in stereo, while the ability to tap in the delay length is neat.

The trouble is with the modules where you actually get your tone - the pre-amp and EQ sections. The "Zoom noise reduction" cuts out the sound when you're not playing, sure, but you can hear plenty of hiss if you play at anything less than full volume (irrespective of the input gain switch). The compression is a dud, and the 'dynamics' setting makes very little difference. All of the distortions sound cheap and nasty: you can't get anything resembling a heavy chugga-chug, a nice fat fuzz or a sweet warm overdrive, let alone a killer tone. You can, however, get mud, or something that sounds like a tin can being dragged across concrete. The EQ is noisy and unmusical, and if you use the amp sim instead(!) it is even noisier.

Finally, the wah is particularly woeful. Seeing how wah is the main use for an expression pedal, this is a worry - they really could have allowed more control over the wah sound, let alone a decent one.

I've had it for more than 5 years, and it has never had any problems. That said, I haven't used it nearly as much as most gear I've had that long. I don't use it at gigs because I sound better without it.

Never had to deal with them.

I play fairly straight rock with influences from many different artists and other genres. If this unit sounded better, its features and usability would have been great for me. I especially like the ability to change amp channels for each patch, but mainly because I would never use the distortion channels on this if I wasn't being forced to.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd get something newer and better.

I have been playing for 9 years, and the best piece of advice I ever got about gear was from some wise old guy who overheard me in a music shop, when I was talking with a friend about distortion pedals. This master of guitar lore told me that everyone whose records I listened to used the distortion/tone in their amp, and external boxes were at best window dressing. He could have been talking about this unit in particular: I spit on its tone (ghwoughghgh-tu!).

On the other hand, it has some neato effects, and is good fun to just play around with. Unfortunately, that makes it more of a toy than an essential piece of gear.

Pretty simple to use, self explanatory buttons & so on, editing patches very simple, also has easy to use guide printed right on the box

I use this mostly with a DeArmond Starfire II and a Ibanez 50W combo. This thing makes so much noise that it can (and does) cause feedback all on it's own. The pitch shift sounds like a childs toy. The distortions are too digital sounding and dont allow for much in the way of those "happy accidents". For a unit that makes as much hiss as this one without you actually doing anything yet, you'd think you would be able to get a decent sounding pick scrape or harmonic squeal out of it. Wah? Hah.

I had this through one summer gig season. I stomped on it on stage, and pushed a pedal THROUGH a board inside. Fortunately I had my good 'ol DOD american metal(that's the model name, but yes, it is made of metal) box to see me through the show. See the next catagory for how Zoom "resolved" this

When confronted with a disasterous failure of their product onstage, I called ZOOM for a replacement, thinking that there was no way they could repair the box. They asked for $35 american for shipping and handling. The box was sent back to me after a 2 month long stay at zoom, and when I opened the box, I got a surprise. They GLUED IT BACK TOGETHER. I obviously could have done this myself, but I got to pay them 35 more dollars to have them do it for me. They didnt even replace the external box (the portion that absorbs all of the weight when you step on it- the part that failed disasterously) Yep, they just glued it back together. That fix lasted all of ONE USE. Consequently, ZOOM has gotten all of the money from me that they are ever going to get

Overall, I feel I am partly to blame for not figuring out that it was plastic from the ad, but, if you are considering this as a low cost way to get into a high quality effects solution, forget it. youre better off poking holes in your speakers with a pencil.

takes a while getting used to editing the effects but after a day or so i've mastered it.
sound..................................meh!
manual helps a little but just play around with the settings and find out 4 your self

im running a gibson epiphone les paul special thru a peavey rage 108 with my gain channel on 4 that xtra edge. the unit hisses when u dont hit any strings.WAH sux.... CHORUS n FLANGE n PHASE n PITCH WORK awesome but a lil hard to get perfect sweep mind boggling tones when u use a delay with reverb and step ......!@#@*#$%^ NUTZ
distortion capacities are pretty much useless except for the lead and metal settings

this is a solid unit i got it used and it sound just as good as when i got it
id do a gig wit it and it ALONE!!!!!!

perfect processor for a first multi effects

Programming is not hard

I use a PRS custom 22 and a Laney 120W combo amp and i have the guitar tone and volumes cranked up fully with the amp volumes about 50% with reasonably even low,mid & treble eq's. Some effects are fine as factory presets or with slight modification but for the majority (especially the distortion) i have spent a lot of time trying to get reasonable sounds (and still looking). The wah? it is probably the worst i have ever encountered. If there is anyone out there that can tell me how to adjust it so that i get smooth transitions through the range PLEASE e-mail me. It is either so trebly that it hurts your ears or so muddy that it sounds like you've got ear muffs on. the moment you move the pedal a micro-millimeter it passes from the high to low ranges. The pedal wah Sux with a capital 'S'.

I purchased this effect 2nd hand from an internet auction site 6 months ago and have had no trouble.

none

I play in a band that mainly plays covers so I spend a lot of time trying to emulate the sound of the original artists i have had limited success with this Fx unit. I thought that the 4040 would be the next generation of sounds after the 3030 (which was my old Fx.) How mistaken can one be, I am able to get better sounds from the 3030. If my 3030 could bank both up and down and had an external master volume control, I would ditch the 4040 and go back to the 3030.
I will continue however to search for those elusive sounds.I would been really pissed if i had payed a full retail price for this product... On the positive? It has a separate volume and effect level pedals, external volume control and plenty of different factory patches.

This unit is very easy to use, within a few hours of owning this box i had some pretty tasty sounds comming out of it. You're best off editing the preset sounds as they are mostly garbage and unusable!

Im using an RG7420 goin straight into a Hughes & Kettner Triamp with the Zoom thru the FX loop, altho when originlly bought i was connecting to the Zoom then out to a Marshall 8280 on the clean channel. After alot of messing about i finally got a desent overdrive patch which worked great for the kinna stuff i do (Deftones/Glassjaw/Will Haven) but it did take a long time to get that patch! The delays are great, you can get a good distortion but only after ALOT of messing about! My main problem with this unit is that no matter how hard you try you cant bypass the unit! Ive tried making a blank patch with absolutly no FX goin thru but it doesnt matter, the unit will ALWAYS colour your signal, which is a complete pain in the ass, specially since gettin the Triamp as i now use the amps gain channels so having to switch between a patch and channel at the same time is a nightmare!

Ive been giging with this unit for about 3 years and have never had a problem with it, its been thrown around, kicked about and still works and intend using it ( just for its delay and chorus sounds) for a long time yet. For such a cheap looking unit it sure does hold up to the stresses of giging!

never used!

As ive said before i play Heavy "Nu" Metal, and before i got the Triamp this unit gave me my distortion, and have been praised for my sound a few times by sound guys at many gigs, so yes u can get a desent distorted sound, but you have to work at it! THe delays are good, the chorus is good, and some of the other modulations are intresting.
Would i buy another if it was stolen? No, only because there are much better units around nowadays, as a first multi FX box and for a cheap price i would say it was worth it. I wish the bypass and tuner would work properly (the tuners a joke!)but all in all a nice cheap box!

very easy to use, to edit patches and the like......

Wire it up straight from the box and it's ready to go, as for creating new patches......a doddle, don't really even need the manual if you're familiar with multi-fx.

I use this with a jackson ps2 (the original ps2, released in 1995, not the new ones.......) and an old strat copy. It's plugged through a roland jc160 purely for the clean sound. The sounds are good, but not great. As a first attempt at multi fx i was impressed, but that was nearly 6 years ago and things get better. Now it still sounds good with the patches i have programmed, but overally it sounds a bit dated. Good for getting various sounds, not necessarily useable ones. The hall reverb sounds incredibly noisy, especially when used with distortion and delay, but the sound of that particular patch is nice so i put up with it. The gain is good, but overall lacks in sustain, even on the high gain setting on the switch. It sounds good whilst playing, but once you stop it soon follows. Another problem is that it sounds almost too 'generic' in that most guiatrs tend to sound the same when played through, from my own jackson and strat to a les paul, the only way you can tell that it is a different guitar going in is that the input may be overloaded if you don't change the gain setting. Overall this unit does have some good sounds, but you really have to spend time editing them, even then what is a good sound initially may end up lacking some (especially if you like sustain!). The wah is terrible, whether you use it clean or dirty it ends up distorting for some reason. If you want good wah (or anything better than unusable wah) buy a separate pedal! I really like the fact that it has a volume pedal, great for those soft violin type sounds when things get mellow.......nice!!!!!

I've owned this unit for well over six years and it still looks fairly new. I've had to use some contact cleaner in some of the switches since dust seems to get in easily, but whilst it may not look sturdy it will last as long as you don't literally stomp on it!

never had to call zoom, hopefully never will.......

I got this thing not long after i started playing and have owned it since. I play anything from rock/metal to blues and acoustic stuff. I can find useable sounds for each style in the zoom, but tend to stick to the one or two clean/ distorted sounds that i like. The factory presets should only be used as a guide to what's on offer, since it's easy to create sounds that are so much better. I couldn't imagine that brian may and richie sambora actually use the sounds that are in the unit and in the manual with their names on, they sound far too weak! I don't really use the expression pedal much, but i love the volume pedal for softer moments. This unit is great as a first buy for getting into multi fx, but will sooner or later be put in the shade. I've tried a couple of boss multi fx things that sounded so much better, but i will eventually get back to basics with a nice guitar and amp and none of these flashy box things (well, maybe a volume pedal!). I've had a lot of use from this thing, from recording and gigging, and it does sound good. If i were rating it a few years back it would be 10's all round, but my tastes ahve changed and there are better units out there. Zoom did a great job on this, and i love some of the sounds, but it needs more that distortion and chorus to justify spending money on this.

I'm a computer guy, so I have no problem with it. Anyway you can't control many thing at the same time. Sometimes you should mess with the rear panel to fit your amp.

The overall sound of this unit is crap!. You can get some good tones, but only sometimes. I will make a list of what I think about the effects:

1) distortions: Dynamics option is a joke, all distortions are awful except for the 'lead distortion'. Zoom Noise Reduction is ok, but the unit has too much hiss.

2) EQ: all these simulations sucks. They are simulations of a digital unit not a real amp. Wha-Wha is horrible, but really horrible. Perhaps the only thing isn't as bad is the equalization itself.

3) Modulation: Pitch is far the worst effect of this thing. Anyway I made a patch it sounds like Godzilla (a very digital one)... you plug anything and it sounds like Godzilla, is funny. Flanger is bad, Phaser...mmm.. not as bad as Flanger, tremolo: does his job, step: stupid, slow attack: like a violin, chorus: This is the best of the modulation panel, when you plug it in a stereo amp it sounds better, but I'm not saying is a good sound.

If this thing sounds bad at home, live is another thing... is the worst sound I'v ever heard. Once I was making a stage test and the guy placing thie mic's said: "Why does your guitar sounds like a Fly ?". It realy makes your sound thin, digital and like a fly.
Delay: Is a delay... isn't bad, does his job. Is there a way for a delay to sound bad ? (not counting the overall sound of the unit).

Reverb: it's Ok.

If the sound is bad, here is the worst part.

I had to open it twice to fix a cable, The plastic pedals works sometimes and some doesn't work. The volume pedal doesn't work anymore.

Is a toy!

Why to repair this piece of shit ?

I play mostly rock, metal, some blues, etc.
As my firs multi-effect is ok, I've learned a lot about effects. I've been playing for about 7 years.

If it were stolen I would have reason to buy a decent distortion and perhaps a reverb/delay.

If I said too much bad thing about this unit, simply take in count it was made a lot of time ago, when the digital effects where starting. And perhaps I'm bored with it. I should admit when I first used it I though it was an excellent buy.

This is my first attempt at multi-fx after owning several stomp boxes. I got this one second hand without the manual and it looked a bit complicated at first. However after downloading the manual from Zoom's website (in which everything is clearly explained) I edited my own patches in no time. I usually edit patches before a show and this thing can edit patches like a breeze. I'm not into all the specs but it works as follow: there are 10 preset banks and 10 user banks. Each bank has 4 patches that you can edit. Giving you 40 storable patches which I think is more than enough if you have previously owned seperate stomp boxes. The best part about this pedal (I can't compare it to other multi-fx) is that it also acts as a footswitch for your amp's own drive channel. So one (or more) of your patches can contain your amps drive combined with some reverb, delay etc. It also has an external control for your other stomb boxes (you put say a tubescreamer here on "on" and this can be programmed into a patch with your amps own drive. I.e. this thing is very, very versatile and worth every penny as a controller by itself.

I use my first patch for cleans like U0 - Rock (user bank1)
p1 = clean p2 = crunch p3 = clean wah p4= Amp distortion w.reverb
U1 - Blues (user bank 2)
p1 = Clean w.rvb p2 = blues lead p3= fuzz wah p4 - amp distortion
U2 (U2 like rock)
p1= clean w. delay p2= clean w. delay (plus tubescreamer and external Boss delay) p3= wah with delay

I think you get the picture

I use this pedal with 2 strats (single Dimarzio) and an Ibanez 79' artist with original humbuckers. The unit has an input selector (H-M-L)for guitars with different output levels. I use it with my TRAYNOR (120W) SS PA and a 4x12 cab / Laney HCM 60R SS amp. It sounds basically the same through both units except for the drive channels that are a bit to trebly for my taste through a PA.
It has the following outs: L/mono - Laney HCM 60R
R - Peavey 60 W
phones - To PA system

The pedal is a bit noisy on the drive settings but it has the ZNR which helps but eliminates some tone. It has a few distortions (analogue cicuitry fortunately) but only 2 of the eight are useful. Its ok for punk & hard rock but it wont do nu-metal etc. as it has a differently voiced gain. Almost like a mesa combined with a vox lacking in gain and voiced too crisp. I like it for my style of 80's punk rock. The delay and reverb are great. The wah is also cool and its not a crybaby but it sounds cleaner in my opinion it does need some tweeking. A crybaby is analogue and this is digital with the same sound response everytime and it doesn't have pots that scratch which is really cool. I still use my old wah but for rock solos. A crybaby cant do the digital trippy things this one can do. Its stereo and it sounds great through two amps. It does a good:
Bad Religion, NOFX, U2, Pink Floyd, Jimmy, Spin doctors, Pearl Jam etc. It can not do Limp Bizkit or Korn as this unit was designed in the days before rappers became rockers (I love Rage a.g the machine though). The FX are not weak but put it in front of your amp and not in the FX loop cause FX loops suck up my tone and makes FX sound thin. It records nicely too a PC for personal use (cool stereo) but I think it would be best too mic up that cab for studio use.

Ok I know its made of plastic but this thing is built really well and plastic does not succomb to metal fatigue. I look after it and try not to drop it too often. Its now three years old and everything still works.

I like the fact that I bought it second hand and still got the manual for it not like other companies. I downloaded some good patches and although I haven't dealt with Zoom I'm really surprised after owning several Boss, Marshall and Ibanez pedals. It also sounds better.

I use it for all my gigs and its never let me down I have some back-up drive pedals but this thing is a must have from its volume pedal too its switching capabilities. It makes my amp sound less noisy but more digital and clean fortunately its already a SS Amp. I'd rather buy a good amp with this again than buy a modelling amp because these things are more reliable, you don't need a foot controller and its not that overpriced. I'd definately buy another Zoom pedal but not the 505 cause its live use is too limited. This one is more like a few loose stomp units with programmed settings. If you see one at a good price get it because its worth the money as an pedal/amp/midi controller by itself not too mention the delays and tremolo etc wich are far better than some loose fx units.