Zoom G1

I recently purchased a Washburn guitar from SamAsh.com and they included a Zoom G1 as a bonus along with the guitar. I was going to give it to my daughter's b/f until I started messing around with it. Very cool unit for a very cheap price. I just joined a Doors cover band after 15 yrs of being in blues bands (and never using anything between my guitar and amp except for a tuner and occasional OD/boost pedal). Robbie K used effects somewhat sparingly compared to modern day guitarist, but when he did use them they were essential to the song. OK... answering the questions: I found this unit easy to set up and get a good sound out of. The presets don't do anything for me, but it's fun to go through them. Once you get used to setting up and editing the patches, it's a breeze. The manual is clear and concise. I didn't get the unit that has a USB port, so I doubt it's upgradeable.. not that mine needs anything for my use for it. On the downside, I wish it had a single button or an option to defeat the pedal. To defeat the pedal you have to hit both buttons at the same time. This isn't practical mid song, so I set up every other patch to be dry so I don't kick in anything I dno't want.

In the Doors cover band I play either a Washburn WI-64 (their SG humbucker model) or a 335 copy with P-90s through either a Fender Deluxe reverb or an Allen Old Flame (basically a 40w AB763 circuit). My pdeal board has a Korg Pitchblack tuner, the zoom g1 and a Rocktron Austin Gold that I use for light dirt and volume boost.
->The G1 doesn't add any noticeable noise at giging volumes with the effects off. At home when everythings quiet I can hear a slight buzz. Some of the higher gain distortions add a lot of buzz, but that can be eliminated with the built in noise gate. Overall the G1 doesn't mess up the tone to my ears.
-> I only use a few of the effects, so I'll speak mainly about them. Spring Reverb: very cool. I like it better than my Digitech pedal. Vibrato/leslie: rotating speaker sim: Dead on Strange Days tone. Auto wah: works and sounds good, but it's not the samething as manipulating a pedal. Fuzz: dead on Hello I Love You. Tremolo: Sounds just like my fender amps, very good.. riders on the storm city. I use a couple of the higher gain sims and they work and sound well/good, but I can see/hear how they might not be outstanding for someone who wants to make them the basis of their sound. The acoustic guitar sims work very well as well! All in all the G1 is a very usable effects pedal tool box. It's worth the $50 for the acoustic sim.. or the reverb/delay effects.. or the variety of od/distortions..

It's plastic with way to easy to turn plastic knobs.. plastic jacks.. I wouldn't let it bounce around loose in a gig bag. Nor would I jump on or kick it. However, I don't anticipate any issues because I keep it velcro'd down on a pedal board that stays in a padded gig bag.. It's between my tuner and OD, so the plugs stay plugged in (i.e. no hooking/unhooking @ every gig or rehearsal) It should last just fine... And I figure I'll endup getting the G2 (metal box, knobs & jacks I think) in a few months if the Doors cover band looks like it's going to last.

N/A

All in all, the G1 has saved me a lot of hassles over having to string up 5..6...7 pedals and a tuner to cover this Doors material. My bandmates applaud the guitar tones and lack of hassles due to my stripped down pedal board. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another ASAP.
->What do I love about it: every effect I will ever use and tons I won't ever use in one easy to use box. It doesn't dork with my straight guitar <> amp tone. Tuner comes on when the effects are bypassed.
->What don't I like: Having to hit both buttons at the same time to bypass the pedal and no option to setup a single bypass button. It can be difficult to get the volume of the patches right for live performances.. i.e. the loudness of the effects that works at practice amp volumes doesn't translate to playing a big amp at performance volumes.
-> All in all, if effects aren't the basis of your sound and you only need an effect here and there, the G1 is the **** and will save you some $$$ from having to buy several seperate boxes!

This unit is very easy to get familiar with, the only problem being some of the odd characters used in the LED display which must be translated with the manual. Some of the symbols are logical and some look like they are from the I-ching.

I have many guitars and amps (30+ guitars and 7 amps)but this unit is ment to be used through battery amps and portable PA systems direct using the cabinate simulator. I found that with carfull auditioning of the sounds I was able to dial in very usable gig patches- surprisingly good for such a low end unit. It sound great on batteries which is why I purchased it. The cab sims are limited but effective enough to be used with the eq for a good direct sound through a small pa with tolerable noise.

Yes, I would use this box without a backup. It is plastic put solid. Treated respectfully it should be just fine.

Never dealt with them.

I am a session player, been playing over 40 years and I play all styles very well. I use this box for doing ocasional live gigs at country clubs, on boats, weddings outside, locations where I need to run on battery. I found that after one hour I had tweaked a bank of sounds that I could gig with. The presets are ghastly sounding so don't let that frighten you. The distortion sounds need carfull tweaking but can be massaged to sound soaring, warm and fat. You can also get a punchy clean sound to cover almost anything from Jazz to country to R&B and Funk. All in all, it is a bare bones unit that can be set up to sound anyway you want it to. The gate is not the greatest and does mess with the attack if you set it to where it is effective. For a live situation, the noise is acceptable. It would not be great in a studio situation. The tweaking of various paramaters is limited but the compromises were made in a wise and musical way. For the price, it can't be beat- not even close.

Not to hard to figure out after reading the instructions. Play around with for a while and it becomes second nature.

I did a review for this pedal last year. I liked it so much I decided to try something unique. I have had such bad luck finding single effects pedals that have a decent sound, especially Boss pedals, and they cost between $100 & $150 or more for a good one. I got tired of throwing away money and reselling bad pedals for a loss.

So, I figured this Zoom G1 sounds way better than many pedals out there, even the higher priced ones, and this G1 cost only $50.00. I bought 5 of them, put them in a pedal board. I use 1 for Reverb, 2 for Delay, 3 for Chorus, 4 for Flanger, 5 for miscellaneous. I made a couple of small white labels with large black numbers 1-5 to put on each one to be able to determine which one I need in the dark on a stage, and I've got one of the most most versatile and good sounding pedals boards I've ever encountered. The possible combinations are limited only by the imagination.

For $50.00 each, a total of $250.00, you get a lot of better sounding pedal than you would by wasting 3 times the money buying Boss or Digitech.

It may sound strange, but it works real good. You get a real wired effect with all 5 on Ring Modulator, or combinations of pitch shift; cascading degrees of delay; multiple chorus ensembles, flangers,... And they sound killer through a good set of headphones when you want to pratice thru phones !!!! Oh, those ping pong delays, delays, delays, delays....

All the zoom pedals I have are well built and still working. But you have to take care of your equipment. Moving parts are not meant to be abused.

Haven't had to use them. Zoom pedals last a long time.

For $50.00, you will have more than a lot of trouble finding a better sounding pedal. And, for $50.00, you can buy multiple G1's and connect them together on a pedal board (see my comments in sound quality above) and discover a whole new dimension of layers of effects at different settings.

I could have saved a lot of money had I discovered Zoom pedals, especially the G1 and G1X, before shelling out mucho denero on Boss and other crap pedals.

Try one of these. It will be among the best $50.00 you spend on effects pedals.

Not too hard to figure out if you take a few minutes to read the manual, especially if you have some experience with other multi-effect pedals.

Take time to experiment with different settings. Read the manual to make sure you're using all the available tweeks. You can get some really good sounds if you take your time, but remember, if you own crappy stuff, the G1 isn't going to turn it into gold--you'll still have a crappy sound. Too many people expect a pedal to turn their First Act guitar and practice amp with a 6 inch speaker into a Les Paul and a Marshall. If you have good gear, the G1 will compliment it nicely.

I use the G1 for delay, compression, chorus, flanger, octave and distortion. I use a separate pedal for bluesy overdrive (Digitech Bad Monkey) and a separate wah-wah (Crybaby). I don't like any of the overdrive models and only like 1 of the distortions, but I like that one a lot.

My main guitars are a '99 G&L Comanche (Strat style) and a 1980 Ibanez PF350 (Les Paul style). My amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Had it for a few years now. It's a regular part of my setup. Haven't had any problems, but I think it's getting old enough now that I might need a backup.

no opinion

I play professionally, make my living with guitar in hand. Been playing for 34 years in whatever style puts food on the table, but mostly rock. I like the G1 because it does a respectable job of providing a lot of usable sounds without breaking the bank or having to carry a bunch of stompboxes around.

Like I said in the other section, if you have good gear and if you know what you're doing, the G1 is great for icing on the cake. If you have crappy gear and not much in the skills department, don't blame the G1 when you still sound bad.

I got this a couple days ago and it is a pretty good little machine for what it cost. I wouldn't say it's "easy" to get good sound out of it. You just have to look at the manual and see what dist/od's/flangers and the arrange of other effects it has. But once you get used to setting it up and whatnot. Quite easy to get tone/sounds from. I have yet to get into it extensivelym but with editing... whatever setting you have it on. You can turn the effects down (making them more subtle) or turn the knob up to make it more pronounced. Did come with a manual. Quite simple to read.

My set up is a Laney GH100TI with Randall RS125CX 4x12 cabinet, epiphone sg, PRS SE, ESP EC 256 LP and a Valveking 1x12 combo. More or less it is just the Distortion/OD settings would be noisy... but thats why you have a volume/gain control knob :). Effects are good. Like I said above.. you just have to turn the effects volume or presence up or down to make it as subtle or pronounced you want. Using it with my valveking right now. I can't really say that I got the sound of my favorite artist, since I really just bought it for the Flanger, Chorus, Delay, Reverb effects since, neither of my amps have them. I can't really say that any of the effects are bad.. except for the weird one that sounds like... weird outer space noises. Sounds may sound digital or simulated... But it's all up to your ears.

Seems dependable. It has a plastic casing... so you just have to be a little more gentle with it compared to an effect pedal/processor with a metal one.

I would take it gigging.. But I personally wouldn't put it on the floor (plastic case reason). I just sit it on top of my amps.

Haven't delt with them yet, and I hope I don't have to.

Mostly rock, hard rock and metal. I didn't buy it to match either of them really. I just like the sound of the Flanger and delay effect, also chorus. Been playing for almost 5 years. All my gear is listed above. I would probably buy it just for the bang for the buck reason. Good little pedal for not alot of money. No real complaints. Fav feature is Flanger :) Wish it had a metal case. Helps me make music yeah.

Just a good pedal for the money

I brought my Zoom at christmas with the money I was given by my aunt. My first effects unit, it only cost ??28. It conatins a drum machine, artist sound and amp modeller.

Very easy to use, only had to use the manual once. Its easy to switch on, plug in your guitar and it automatically turns itself on. The presets are easily customised by using the pedals and knobs. Their is a preselect mode which is activated when you turn the pedal on if you press on of the pedals when you plug the guitar in. I use this setting for giging as it means I can have more than one patch in in a non-consecutive order. You select the patch by using the pedals in the normal way then when you want you sound to change you hit both pedals at the same time.

The manual is easy to read with diagrams

I use it with my Ovation Applause and two Squires (a 1980s Bullet and a 1990s Strat) I get an okay sound but with the ovation the sound of the pedal isn't strong enough so you hear the ovation over the top of the patches.

It sound great through my 10 watt practice amp (a Rocket 10) although i have blown the speaker in 2 different places. Through my mates bass amp it manages to keep the high pitch clean sounds that i like, without too much bass.

The effects are fairly good but you can't control parameters while playing unless you spend extra money on the external expression pedal. I have tweaked a few effects to make them sound how I want. i can get the sound of my favourite artists Dave Gilmour and Pete Townshend and the sound are pretty close to the originals.

The acoustic simulation is very bassy and bot that clean and the reverbs are very strong.

I had my G1 for a year now and have only a few problems (usually the battery runs out). The only main problem was it used to cut out when I hit the pedals hard, all it needed was the back and battery compartment taken out a bit of cleaning and it was working again.

I gig without a backup, primarily because I haven't got one as yet, but you don't need one. The pedal works what ever you do to it. I've dropped it a few times and it even performs well at below zero degrees cellsius.

The Zoom is the most reliable device i have ever owned.

Never had to deal with them.

I play in a band and we mostly play rock covers. At home I play all sorts from blues to jazz to rock to reggae it can do all of those.
I've been playing for seven years and am now 13, I primarily use my ovation for practicing but my electrics for most things.
I went for the G1 because i've read that Zoom are a good company for multi-effects pedals. Most of the other pedals were either too expensive or not what I wanted. I like the zoom for it simlicity and ease of use aswell as its sound.

The only thing i want from it that it hasn't got is an octaver and loop pedal.

This unit has four banks of presets that are customizable, and four banks of presets that are not. The manual is well written, you'll be editing patches and storing them in no time. For playing live I have several presets that I stored in patches A0 through A7. These 8 presets cover most everything I care to call up quickly as I play.

I play this through various amps, but primarily live I use a Peavey Royal 8. It's got tons of sounds, I probably only use 10 percent of them. That's not a slam, there are lots of tones in this unit I don't care for, not because they're bad, but because they're not what I'm looking for when I play.

I like the rotary effects, the choruses, and the different reverbs. It has a master volume knob. It does affect the tone of the amp, but in a positive way. I like the different amps, and the three band EQ.

I am disappointed in the harmonization modulation. You can get good sounds playing a third or fifth higher or lower, and the octave lower option sounds pretty tough. The octave higher setting has some weird overtones to it, especially when strumming chords, otherwise it'd be a good setting to imitate a 12 string.

I've been using it about a year without a problem. If it failed, I'd just finish the gig without it.

N/A.

I've been playing for 30 years, I play various types of music, and I find this pedal very versatile. If it were stolen, I might buy something else, but only after demoing it carefully in a music store.

I think it's easy to use, and I also love the built in tuner.

It's VERY easy to use. The variable parameters are presets for example you choose the flange effect, there is flange 0-9. As you escalate numerically, the depth and speed of the flange increases.

All the effects and their range of parameter adjustments work this way. It was pretty much the standard for the processors this compact of yesteryear. It's basically a much higher bit rate and bandwidth Zoom 505.

A great starter unit that doesn't require much learning at all. It sets the foundation for what will generally be the understanding of processors, how to use them and prepares the novice for what is to come as they upgrade.
Oh and it also has a drum machine with the basic preset patterns and tempo controls. Very useful no matter what the skill level but, it's really just a sophisticated metronome as opposed to a drum machine.

The sound quality is good to very good for being a basic starter unit. This of course is subjective to what amp you use it with and how you connect it. The pre-distortion boost is a bit lacking when compared to the G2's boost function.

The effects sound good to decent. Not spectacular but of course it's due to the lack of parameter adjustment. Their quality will be mostly subjective to how you tailor the EQ on the unit as well as your amp. It's also subjective to how much distortion you use and of course, which distortion you use. If you're simply slapping the unit on your effects loop for the modulation/time based effects and not using the distortion, you'll get the best results that way.

The fact of the matter is, on some amps these kid units for some reason sound amazing, some they're just decent to good. Usually it's the itty bitty practice amps they perform amazingly on since the smaller speakers have a broader frequency range.

The distortions combined with the EQ and amp simulations are good to very good. Overall the best modules of the unit though the reverb/delays are quite good but that's a given with basically any multi-effects processor these days. They're fairly responsive but the pre boost function could stand to have more gain.

Overall, for a starter unit it performs well enough to get you to where you are between an intermediate and advanced player which then will mean it's definitely time for an upgrade. Ultimately, the unit is a high performance toy so nowhere near 10 stars here due to the lack of versatility.

Mine was killed when there was a power source issue. While I'm sure I could repair it, the micro passives on these boards are so damn small it wouldn't be easy. Since the part also exploded, I have no real way of knowing what to replace it with, schematics aren't available and I very seriously doubt the boys at Zoom will tell me the part I need but I suppose it's worth a shot.

The cost to have it repaired would be a complete waste of time, effort and money. I bought the unit used for about 35 bucks.

This is the type of unit that suits a kid or beginner.

Blah

Overall it's a high performance toy. I have some very advanced processors including a couple G2's so I wouldn't bother getting another one of these. I already owned the G2, read a very manipulative ad for the G1 and snagged one used off Ebay. I was really disappointed when I found it was nothing but an updated version of the old 505 HOWEVER, I bought it primarily because it had a true harmonizer effect so I could get the dual guitar sound which is the only effect the G2 lacks.
The quality of the harmonizer is decent for guitar but not perfect. It would probably work great for vocals though.

For the cost of it new, I say absolutely spend the extra money and get the G2. Out of the entire line, the G2 is the best of the models. It's better than the G9 which seems like it needed more beta testing and fine tuning before they put it on the market. The G2 has excellent parameter options, TONS of effects and is a professional grade unit you'll find very useful for the studio, stage, bedroom etc.
Everyone swears by POD but the G2 absolutely blows it away regardless of who has more effects. The G2 lacks the "digital shell" the POD's glaze your tone with-it sounds analog.

If it's going to be owned by a 14-15 year old kid, then this is probably the best way to go. They'll learn a lot about processors while not suffering brain strain from operating the unit. I remember my 505 which I ran on my Crate half stack's effects loop, the tone sounded a bit digitally encapsulated but overall it performed well and sounded pretty good for such a basic starter rig.
If you're more of an adult, just avoid the unit and go for the G2, even if it's your first multi effects processor. It's a very straight forward design with everything you will ever need or want regardless of your skill level or playing style. The G1 would probably seem cool to a beginning adult for the first few months but after the experience if you were to sit down with a G2, you'd be pissed you wasted the money on the G1.

Good for beginners but most suited for kids.

The sound is great straight out of the shop, but after 2 years of playing around with it i have pulled it to it's full potential.
Editing the patches is so easy its not funny. Click the pedals to turn on or of and turn the dials. Never read the manual...it's that easy to use.

have had it for about 2 years...it's never broken down on me i use it basically for my distortions and a couple of effects love the ZNR it means for the moment while im using this i don't need a noise suppresor. The distortion patch i use is custom so it's to my liking i change it probably around once every 2 months just depending on what i feel like.
I use it through the Aux In of a Roland Cube 30. Everything is great.

Have gigged it many a time with no real problems just some volume tweaks were needed but that was my fault. Very dependable and sturdy have dropped it several times...

Never even had to...

I'm a hard rock, alternative metal rythmn guitarist who sings and it compliments my lead guitarists sound so well. I've been playing for nearly 6 years and at 15 i have improved in the last year so i am looking to start pedal collecting.
I would get something else if it got stolen (if i had the money...if not well this thing rocks)
I really love the wide range of distortions for the different kind of stuff i play (metallica, foo fighters, Alter bridge etc.)

Overall kickarse pedal for beginners but intermediates look for a G2 or G7 if wishing to stick with Zoom Multi's

This unit is relativley easy to start up. Plug it into your axe and amp, put batteries in and choose your effect and away you go! the pedal is quite complicated, but you get used to it once you start using it for a while. The manual is also easy to use. Switching through the effects is a bit annoying but you can set your own order of effects.

There are different effects for different artists as well as other settings. Some of the artists are: Led Zep, Jeff Buck, Cream, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Adrian Belew, Metallica, Santana, Nirvana, ZZ top, Rage against the machine, ACDC, El Rayo-X, Pearl Jam, The Who, TOTO and Joe Walsh. The efects are: Drive, Clean, Blues, Phaser, Auto Wah, Vibrato, Guv'nor, Lead, Flanger, Acoustic Sim., Hot Box, Xtreme distortion, RAT, Fuzz Face, Overdrive, BG crunch MS #1959, Mono pitch, Ensemble, Slow Attack, Chorus, Pitch Shift, Step. The complex effects are; Comp/EFX, Drive, EQ, ZNR/Amp, Delay, Modulation and reverb. To me most of them sound good.

I can trust it, though i may not gig it, but if i do gig it, i'm sure it will be trustworthy. If you run it on batteries it will last up to 12 hours and on mains, for ever!

Haven't had any problems so far.

I play music like Metallica, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd, etc., and this is a good pedal for what style of music i play. If it was lost or stolen i would buy this again. I compared it with overdrive pedals that were $80 NZL and this pedal was the best because it has so much more options than a normal pedal, but you can't adjust the amount of distortion, chorus ... on the Zoom G1. But overall the pedal is an awsome thing!