Zoom G1

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!

Fairly easy to use if your using presets, however can be a bit messy if your setting up your own sounds. As well as the list of presets however there is a card that gives you the "codes" for the display and what each 2 digit code means.
Also you would have to plan ahead a set if you use a variety of sounds (ie a clean sound, dirty sound and then a lead sound) so that they are next to each other as you can only scroll through each sound.

Im using an Epiphone SG through an Ashdown amp, there isnt any additional noise to the amp. I wasnt expecting Line 6 quality reproduction of artists sounds, but the ones that are there are pretty close - which for the price of one DOD or Boss pedal is not bad at all. Even if you are only adding a bit of effect to your clean channel, or adding to your dirty channel then this should provide you with some difference to your normal sound

I used a zoom 3030 for years no problem - similar construction to this except the pedals seem a bit stronger. For me I use my amp for my main sounds and this for some additional effect - so I could probably gig still if it went down - but if I start to rely on it I would probably get a backup

N/A

For me it is a good match to my styles - and means I can start experimenting with older material put to the side.
I paid ??35 new with PSU in a managers special - compared to the 3030 which I paid nearer ??200 10 years ago which sounds the same but is minus the epxression pedal this is a BARGAIN. Even if you used this on one song I think you would get value from it!

Extremely easy if you just read the manual first. Simple.

I've heard many put the G1 down for poor quality modeling and I just don't get it! These people must not be very patient. They must want instant gradification no matter how they have the G1 set up. No $50 modeling pedal could ever live up to this standard.

Yet, with a litlle patience and willingness to do some "trial and error" testing with your personal rig, the G1 shines like a diamond! Has anyone ever heard of terms like "pre eq" and "post eq"?

Look! Here are some Do's and Don'ts to help you get killer tones from your G1 immediately.

DO: Use humbucker equipped guitars so the digital modeling sounds fatter and quieter. [Ok, use Lace Sensors or the equivalent noisless pick-ups, if you absolutely must use single coils.]

DO: Run your guitar a good compressor [such as a Aya R-comp or a Barber Tone Press] then into a good graphic eq [such as a Rockman 10 band GEQ, a Maxon GE601, or even a Danelectro Fish & Chips GEQ] then into the G1. Now you've just HUGELY expanded your tonal palette with the G1!!!

DO: Run the G1's output into a "post-eq" and then into a BBE Sonic Maximiser and then into an Ebtech Line Level Shifter.

DO: Run the Ebtech Line Level Shifter's output into either:

A: Your guitar amp's effects return imput.

B: Your power amp's imput. [also- make sure cabinet modeling is OFF as your guitar cabinet's speakers are definitely NOT "Full Range".]

DON'T: run the G1 straight into your guitar amp's imput. This will degrade and overly "color" the tone.

DON'T: use the G1's cabinet models unless you run the G1 directly into a "Full Range" PA System - - - NOT your guitar amp!

These are just a few ideas that will enable you to get the most KILLER tones from your G1.

If you just want to keep things relatively simple just run a stereo rig like this:

Guitar into G1 [use cabinet models] into BBE Sonic Maximser into an Ebtech Line Level Shifter into power amp [Carvin DCM-150 is great] into "full Range" speaker cabs [Carvin 1584 is great]. That's only seven items including your guitar - not bad!!!

I've had zero problems so far.

Never needed it.

I've been playing guitar 28 years [10 years professionally] and have learned many things along the way that I wish I had known years earlier. In fact, it is only since the Internet came along that I learned enough to have climbed out of the guitar "stone age". With all this new digital, analog, hybrid, modeling, whatever - technology, we guitarists need to really start thinking about our tone like a studio/live sound engineer would. That's the only way we are going to consistently have great tone with every new digital modeling box that comes along.

The G1 is 21st century technology. A Marshall stack is 20th century technology. Is it any wonder why some people say their G1 doesn't sound good through their rig? Duhhhhhh. :)

To hear the G1 in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVm8A0aibVk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUR3HTYI9xQ

Very simple to use. I plugged it in and started playing. Then I read the manual to clarify one or two points. Like the two patch banks are copies by default. First 40 can be written over and the second 40 keep a store of the factory default.
The drum machine is nice for practice, I wish it could be stopped and started with a pedal, but hey ho.

I have been playing off and on for more years than I care to remember. I will have a stab at anything. Influences are Led Zep, Clapton, Cream, Eagles. So I guess you have my era now.
The G1 gives all of the sounds I wish that I had 20 years ago. You can plug into any crappy amp, with a cheap copy guitar and a very acceptable sound comes out. I am just an ordinary Joe guitarist, but this makes me sound several times better than without it, so it is okay in my book.
So far I have used it with a LP copy and a very cheap practice amp as I am away from home. I look forward to hearing through my Fender amp with my Strat.

Cannot comment. But my last Zoom pedal was a 505, and it is still going after many years, and it still looks like new.

Never needed any support. But it is simple to use and cheap enough to throw away, so what the hell

Well I love this little box. With it I realize that I am not that bad after all... If it was lost would I get another? you bet I would, in fact I am thinking of getting a backup.
I plug in the headphones, get the drum box feature going, and play un til my hearts content. I have also plugged it into my Alesis 8 channel mixer where it also sounds sweet.
At the money everyone should have one.

Not too bad, few tweaks and 30 minutes and your are in complete control.

I must have messed around with this little plastic box for 35 minutes before finally telling the salesman that I would take it. I had found two sounds I liked??? out of the 40 or so options, but they were pretty decent renditions of my fender tube amps and that is all I really cared about anyhow. He laughed and told me that most people buy these gadgets for less then 30% of the sounds. To be honest if I was a metal head or played stoner rock I would have been very pleased with most of the preset patches. However, I am a singer songwriter who plays indie pop, bluesy rock, and alt country on occasion, so the large and in charge fuzzed out wash of distortion does very little for my tastes. After getting the unit home and messing with it through the home stereo I found the zoom clean patch with a nice delay can be EQ???d to sound very similar to something Jeff Buckley would have played solo through. I also tweaked the ???wannabe Vox AC-30??? patch into something semi worthy, and then explored the fender bluesman patch to a place that could be creative as well. This is exactly what the doctor ordered.

very plastic, we shall see...only have had it about 24 hours now. I would say its just fine if you are not using it for gigs.

yet to use...

Lets put it this way, until line 6 makes a fifty dollar pedal that is basically ONE fender twin amp modeler with a simple verb/delay/tremolo switch???this is your ticket for a great little coffee table songwriter tool. I would never use it live, and I would never record anything more then a scratch demo for my band to hear an idea. However, when one day I found that all of my recording gear and tube amps where in the studio space for a few months of writing and recording I realized I needed something better then my home stereo to amplify my guitar with. I would sometimes use the home computer (garageband) guitar patches until my wife or daughter came along and begged me to let them check email or whatever. I knew at this point I needed a tiny little solution that didn???t cost me $200 to have a semi decent tone for my tele in the living room. I will take it on vacation in place of an amp, I will sit in the living room and turn my stereo into a cheap twin reverb copy, and I will probably never get another little practice amp again???I mean, why would you want one? It sounds better then a 15 watt little tweed twerp, and it weighs about a pound so taking it up and down the stairs is a cake walk. This is something the market has needed for a long time??? a cheap amp modeler that has a couple of good sounds and a decent amount of tonal control. Good on you Zoom, the G1 is all I need to plug my guitar into to write a decent tune.

Not too bad, few tweaks and 30 minutes and your are in complete control.

I must have messed around with this little plastic box for 35 minutes before finally telling the salesman that I would take it. I had found two sounds I liked??? out of the 40 or so options, but they were pretty decent renditions of my fender tube amps and that is all I really cared about anyhow. He laughed and told me that most people buy these gadgets for less then 30% of the sounds. To be honest if I was a metal head or played stoner rock I would have been very pleased with most of the preset patches. However, I am a singer songwriter who plays indie pop, bluesy rock, and alt country on occasion, so the large and in charge fuzzed out wash of distortion does very little for my tastes. After getting the unit home and messing with it through the home stereo I found the zoom clean patch with a nice delay can be EQ???d to sound very similar to something Jeff Buckley would have played solo through. I also tweaked the ???wannabe Vox AC-30??? patch into something semi worthy, and then explored the fender bluesman patch to a place that could be creative as well. This is exactly what the doctor ordered.

very plastic, we shall see...only have had it about 24 hours now. I would say its just fine if you are not using it for gigs.

yet to use...

Lets put it this way, until line 6 makes a fifty dollar pedal that is basically ONE fender twin amp modeler with a simple verb/delay/tremolo switch???this is your ticket for a great little coffee table songwriter tool. I would never use it live, and I would never record anything more then a scratch demo for my band to hear an idea. However, when one day I found that all of my recording gear and tube amps where in the studio space for a few months of writing and recording I realized I needed something better then my home stereo to amplify my guitar with. I would sometimes use the home computer (garageband) guitar patches until my wife or daughter came along and begged me to let them check email or whatever. I knew at this point I needed a tiny little solution that didn???t cost me $200 to have a semi decent tone for my tele in the living room. I will take it on vacation in place of an amp, I will sit in the living room and turn my stereo into a cheap twin reverb copy, and I will probably never get another little practice amp again???I mean, why would you want one? It sounds better then a 15 watt little tweed twerp, and it weighs about a pound so taking it up and down the stairs is a cake walk. This is something the market has needed for a long time??? a cheap amp modeler that has a couple of good sounds and a decent amount of tonal control. Good on you Zoom, the G1 is all I need to plug my guitar into to write a decent tune.

I'm totally new to guitar effects, so I had to consult the manual to understand what I was doing. The manual was clear, the G1 is actually very easy to use.

I can't compare to any other products as this is my first ever effect module. I looked at a lot of reviews before choosing it, and I am amazed by the sound it produces. Fantastic product!

I have only owned it for 24 hours so far!

As a novice player looking for an inexpensive effect module, this is a dream come true. It gives me the ability to explore different sounds and greatly enhances my playing experience and fun.

I'm not planning to go on stage anytime soon, and I feel that the G1 is more than enough for gigs and home practices. For that price, it is a dream.

I also bought this so that I could plug my headphones into something and play in the evenings when my young kids are sleeping in the next room. I do not own an amp yet and do not feel in a hurry to buy one since I have the G1 with a built-in preamp.

One thing I would have appreciated: clear info on the zoom site about the differences between the G1 and G2. I wondered why I should spend more for the G2, and decided the G1 was enough for me. I can't really say what I'm missing, but I don't care! I'm extremely happy with my G1.

Pretty simple to obtain good sound out of it,
patches can be edited /stored / copyed in terms of second,
the manual is small but complete and can also be downloaded
for free and without registration from ZOOM website

My favourite artist are AC/DC, Metallica, and all the classical
rock/metal bands of '80s and early '90s
Factory patches list one setting for Angus sound and another for Kirk,
so... here they are and those patch sound good too!
It's not noisy at all and in my opinion all effect sound pretty good,
as good as in the big brother G2 even if with less tweakability.
Modelled ampli/pedal sound good, with good dynamic.
I own just an used SG alike guitar which i modified with used Duncan Designed Distortion pickup
100 euros (guitar) and 40 euro(pickup).
Just the guitar and the headphone. I also own the big brother G2 (used, 60 euros)
and a Digitech Distortion Factory DF-7 (used, 70euros)
I purchased the G1 for its incredible low price as a backup
for the marvellous G2, -same electronic- and i've been shocked for some characteristic
which make the G1 even better then the G2
All the modelled ampli in G2 are in G1 too, roland jc excepeted.
But the G1 also has Diezel, Hiwatt, and Mxr+ and ProcoRat too!
Less parameter settable, just the gain, but it's enough
Other characteristic that make G1 an improvement versus G2:
-3 speaker simulation selectable for each of ampli/ stombox selected
(combo, bright combo and stack) While in G2 for each ampli the choice
is only between cabinet(generic) and extended eq.
-overall volume stored for each patch in memory (with G2 the overall volume is the same
for all stored patches)
-Preset patch feature. A big critic to G2 in fact was that for reaching
a certain patch from another, you have to walk on each of them between
and listen to your sound changing on and on till you find the patch desired.
With G1 you can use a preset patch mode, which let you scroll with footswitch
all the patch you need to reach the desired one, with sound still on starting patch.
Then pushing both footswitch you confirm the new selected patch changing sound to
new patch selected. Feature present in old zoom generation but not in G2!

And, with G1 is also given a small paper card with all the display symbols explained.
Don't have to check always the manual while beginning with G1!

It's all plastic, so not bullet proof..

No idea

I "would like" to play rock/metal music but i'm an absolute beginner
and i'm that from just ten years, lol. But i'm also a willing self made guitarist
so i take my time, and my time for guitar is just nightime when
free from work and family duty (i've also a daughter of 14 months, so..
small time for myself and even less time for sleeping)
I would definitely buy it again, for such small price and such big quality.
I love dynamic, responsiveness and choices of modelled ampli/stompbox.
Even modulation reverb and filter are pretty good too.
It's really a good choice for a beginner and maybe it's sound
good in an absolute way, but consider that multifx with modelled
sound must be used with monitors speaker, headphone, or mixer (not guitar ampli!)