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!

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!)

Kudos to Zoom, because it seems they know what a player needs. It's very simple, smart and fast to be programmed, the expression pedal is very useful (I got the G1X) and the wah is good. The patch change is ultra fast (Yamaha, please, listen to it!). And for a cheap price, it includes some good delays, reverbs and even a decent harmonizer (but you can't chose the interval). But the basic tone..... it's bad. Period. Nothing to compare with POD or the Yamaha Magic Stomp. I always mean with a direct connection to a keyboard amp, or to a PA. It seems to me that the tones and simulations are still the ones from the Zoom 505 or even older pedals. Maybe now the circuits are lighter and cheaper, but the algorithms are still the same. I'll try to make some usable tones from it, but I'm afraid it will not be easy. The Guv'nor amp model seems to be not too bad and very flexible, and the Lead is the one I'm using for lead tone.
It's a pity, because the the features of this little thing are ideal, but first I need a good tone... The major mistake for me is the equalizer. It's fixed for certain frequencies, like a mixer or a hi-fi, and it's not useful to shape the tone (specially the high freq.). The range you can really use is very very small. The rest (of the eq range) gives bad and harsh tones. They should learn from POD, using a specific EQ for each amp model, with all the range giving a different but usable sound. I'll try to build the Condor Cab Sim (from the schematics you can find on the web); I hope it can help to take care of the harsh sound of this G1, because I'd like to use it live. I'll tell you later.

This pedal has a brillant sound. Once you get use to its operation which requires sometime then it will open a whole new world of sounds. The editing of patches is also very easy and interesting as well which gives you total and comprehensive control over sound variety. The operation manual is very well described and contain all the fundamental information.

This is one the best top sounding quality effect pedal I ever used. It has equal rather better sound quality than some of the best highly priced pedals in the market. It has amazing sounds variations and it is a great fun to play like some of the famous guitar players in the world and you will never get bored with it. I have found almost all distortions very impressive and the modulation effects like chorus, phaser, flanger, delay and reverb are simply a pleasure to play. I have not yet found anything bad about it as far as sound quality is concerned. Oh I just forgot to tell you that the Harmonist inside it is a classic and it sounds so cool and sweet that I immediately fell in love with it. The Harmonist works equally great with and without overdrive but personally I like to play it with distortion/overdrive with some analog delay, hall reverb and finally compressor flavours added with it and for that you have to edit the patch for your self and it is very easy to do. This pedal is very queit and I have not yet noticed any noise even at high volumes. May be some very high gain distortions get noisey at very high volumes but I found it very impressive in this sense. I use it with Yamaha G50 112 III, JX50 and Fender FM212R amps. I found all the effects strong enough to use in all situations and of course these are extremely great.

Though I have just purchased it last month but I am pretty sure that it will work without any problem. Oh yes sure I will definitely gig with it without a backup.

I have no experience with these guys as this pedal is my very first one which I have purchased from zoom. You see I live in Pakistan and here we have 220 main voltage but when I bought it from United States it had a AC adapter which only operate at 120 volts. So I contacted the international technical/sales team twice to replace me the AC adapter according to 220 main voltage requiement in Pakistan but I am surprised that they still did not reply to my request. I rather wonder didn't I ask anything free of cost from them.

This is a very versatile effect pedal. I feel very lucky that I choose it rightly. I have been playing guitar for the last 27 years. I have a lot of guitars and Boss effect pedals. If this is being stolen I would definitely buy this one again. I love everything about it but I love the Harmonist even more. I choose this one because it was not very expensive and got so much sound variety. I do not find anything yet to hate about it and my favorite feature is the drum machine which allows me to jam alone and let me improve my timming. I wish it would had some of the Harmonist Minor keys as all the key are available in Major keys. I like to share that it should have a separate stereo output jacks for true stereo chorus sounds.

I found it fairly easy to use and edit patches once I read the manual - at first I was surprised by the 1-10 incremental parameter adjustment but eventually agreed with how it was designed. It's a well thought out compromise set.

I'm not into getting the sound of a favorite artist - that's a bunch of bunk to me. I'm used to getting great tones with Tube amps and my custom made analogue pedals. Since I bought the G1 I've been experimenting with a lighter rig which consists of a Roland Bolt60 and the G1 alone. I play a variety of customized axes - they all sound fine on this thing.

I don't really use the distortions much or at all, nor the chorus or flange. Nor the noise gate and modelling crap. What got me was the quality of the verbs (nice tail, no grain)and the intelligent harmonizer. The auto-wah is not too bad also. I could put down some of the other effects, but I prefer analogue boxes for those variants anyway.

I think one of the reasons I like it is the 24bit/96k front end, this thing has good dynamics too - the front-end limiter is hardly perceptible. Basically, the response is very musical - you guys did a great job. And I generally stay away from digital processing - so there !

Don't see why not - treat it nice should last a while. At the price I bought it for it's practically disposable. I can see resoldering the jacks one day - big deal!

nope ... first time buying Zoom

I own a ton of vintage gear, honest. Been an analogue freak all along - always avoided DSP until this thing came along. It does sophisticated verb/delay combos I've been hoping to have one day and this is it. It's very simple - no great setup headaches - I spent a couple of hours one day tweaking it with my amp and I get very good unmodified tones. I set up the harmonizer to cycle-of-fifths in the user patch area so I can switch keys in a convenient manner.

I use it mainly for verbs and harmonizer and it's paid for itself with just these two effects for me - and it fits in my gig bag. I wouldn't bother typing this all in if I didn't think it was good - take it from a true skeptic. It's an excellent worktool if you're careful what to expect from it - I turned heads with it on the first gig.

Very Easy once you read the manual (No excuses - Read It!!!!!!)

Ok................ This is a follow up to my original review. I have really dug into the programming ability of this thing. I have dicovered some very interesting things:

1st... Just let me say....I was mistaken in my earlier statement that the amp models were "cold and digital" sounding. In fact, they are NOT cold sounding. Zoom was simply very "accurate" in what guitar rigs were sampled and how they were sampled.

2nd... The G1 is very quiet (even without engaging the very useful ZNR-Zoom Noise Reduction).

3rd... Most of the included modulation effects are what I call: "weak" in so much as they lack the depth of progammability that newer stop boxes or Pro outboard units like Eventide, Lexicon, etc. have. Don't get me wrong, I can see some built-in effects being usful when playing LIVE but in the studio, much more tweakability is needed.

4th... If you have high output pickups on your axe like I have on my Les Paul(EMGs), the G1's "clean" amp models will distort/peak very nastily when you dig into the strings. To fix this problem? Either run your guitar into a compressor/limitor before the G1 or use the G1's built in Compressor set to 5 or higher. The G1's compressor "pumps and breaths" a little too much for my liking so I have been using a Barber Tone Press (great transpearant compressor!) before the G1.

5th... The G1's Speaker Cabinet Simulator is right on!!! I especially love the Marshall Stack simulation. When I crank it up, my guitar tone literally "thumps" me in the chest just like a cranked-up real Marshall Stack would! Kudos!!!! This feature makes recording a realistic gutar tone to digital E_A_S_Y!

These inexpensive devices (G1s) can be used in many different ways. I use them as one would any typical guitar amp head. What is really important to remember about the G1 is its amp models are what is brilliant, NOT its buit-in effects. That's just my perspective now.

I am currently using a Voodoo Labs 1x4 signal splitter so I can create massive "blended" stereo guitar tones by mixing different "dry" amp models from (3) G1 units and (1) A2 unit straight into my mixing console. All the effects I use are not coming from the G1.

So Far So Good. I haven't gigged with it, but I doubt it would break (I tend to baby my equipment, anyways.)

..........Uhhhhhh, the poster before me obviously has a defective G1 or something. If he was hearing what I'm hearing he'd be gushing too! :)

N/A

I give this unit a 10 because for $50 dollars you get something that was previously unattainable just a few years ago.

Factory presets are pretty useless but that goes for every multi fx I've tried so far.

The unit I purchased had a noise gate with psychological problems. It was trying to refuse its exsistance as a noise gate and it was acting as a volume pedal! It would give a volume swell effect even when it was set at 1!!! Never experienced anything like that with any other noise gate and believe me I have tried a few.

Can I depend on it? Sure, for as long as I don't get picky about the fact by plugging into this crapola my playing lost all the attack and dynamics it had before. Needless to say that the G1 went back to the shop.
I also want to say that before I bough the G1 I had a G2. That one had one of the two switches going bad within two days of LIGHT STUDIO USE ONLY. Very reliable!!!

If they can't build something half descent (and I gave them two chances with two different products) why should I bother with costumer support?
Life is too short

How long I've been playing? Long enough to know better and not purchase any Zoom products again. What do I love about it? The noise gate!!! What is my favorite feature? That's a tough one...let me think...Hmmm...I think it's the noise gate!!! Anything else I'd like to share? Yes, stay well away from anything that reads Zoom on it!!! You've been warned...

I have the new G1X model.It is the same pedal only w/ the added expression pedal. The manual is good and is a must to get the sound you want. Ease of use ,, It is not so easy until you get the hang of all the abbreviated perameters and dials,then just tweak and tweak and tweak.......

The sound quality is too trebely out of the box,it will take a few hours of dedication but a good tone can be attained. The distortions are all there to be had , even your favorite nasally metal.It is not noisey at all.I hoped the chorus would be a little better but I am only running mono , THE HARMONIZER IS WHAT IVE ALWAYS WANTED!!!. I use a FENDER 212R 100 WATT COMBO . CAUTION this pedal will turn a 15 watt amp into a 100 watt or blow the speakers as it is packed w/ volume. It has a vol, control but WOW it is loud.

I wanted something for church that is small , I will be using it weekly w/o backup as I take care of my equip. I think it is dependable the plastic shell is really hard,

I play rock,jazz,metal praise and worship, some hymns . Playing for 32 yrs. I WOULD BUY ANOTHER if stolen. I own the A2.1 ACOUSTIC ZOOM PEDAL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, Although this is a step down from the G2.1 it uses the same chips for processing and is the best Ive seen for 69.00, G1X that is. My only complaint is the clean sounds take a lot of hours to get a good deep sound ,they are too high pitched out of the box as is most of the settings, You will have to work for what you want but I think they are attainable. I have only put four hrs into the pedal all spent tweaking as I was already familiar w/ the controls,I hear good things about the wah, havent tried it yet. Great tuner overall i am very pleased.

Very Easy to use, just read the manual etc etc.. but lacks footswitch, either you have to press it w/ hands or w/ your toe if you want to change banks.. well i think because its that cheap...

1st i play a wide variety of music, metal, prog, blues, etc etc.. this unit is great for a digital unit, it sounds great and fuck yeah it sounds great... hahaha
and its a pretty quiet unit..

be carefull w/ it, its more hard than the 606, but... it is still plastic.. >_< bring a backup..

dont care..

i play variety of genres, mostly metal.. ive been playing for 6 years, i have a Boss OD-1, Boss Mega Distortion and a Digitech Deathmetal Pedal and i must say, this unit can sound (if not almost) like these babies.. i would pretty much buy it again or a G2 (cause it has a greater specs).. the ugly side of this unit is its case (plastic).. so be gentle...

It takes a bit of reading to understand how to edit the patches, but once you get it down the set up is really easy to use. You just turn one knob to select (in order):

* Compression Type
* Drive (i.e. amp model)
* Gain,
* EQ Low, EQ Mid, EQ High
* Noise Red/Cabinet Model
* Modulation Effect (i.e. Chorus, Phaser, etc...)
* Modulation Rate
* Delay (Type)
* Delay Time
* Reverb (Type),
* Reverb Decay

Each of the above has a marker on the left knob, when you turn the dial, the two digit LED display in the middle of the unit changes to represent the current selected value for that parameter.

The values that show up on the display aren't so intuitive, for example, for the Drive parameter: "Fd" is the 65 Fender Twin Reverb model, "Ns" is the 1959 Marshall, "Pv" the Peavy 5150 and so on. (In features I will list all the models available as stated in the owners manual, since the Zoom website does not). For Modulation it's even more tricky, you have to remember: C is chorus, F is Flanger, P is Pitch Shift, etc... there is a number after the letter to represent the type C1-C9 are your chorus selections and then you can change the Modulation rate to get exactly what you want. So the two digit LED display takes some getting use to, you'll have to memorize the values.

To help ZOOM provides a excellent printed owners manual as well as a wallet size reference card that list what each parameter code means.

I can get the sound of some of my favorite artist. ZOOM and BOSS seem to be the only companies putting any effort into that later era Van Halen sound (OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Balance era) with their Peavy 5150 models. The G1's 5150 model is great.

The G1 is XOOM's replacement for the 505II, which was an upgrade to the original 505, which is quite dated at this point. I've owned a 505II as well as a DigiTech RP100 and a Line6 POD, in terms of quality of models, ZOOM has always been ahead of DigiTech, but the DigiTech units have been less noisy in the past. However, the G1 is an extremely quite unit, you get very little noise.

The 96kHz/24-bit sampling does make difference. While some of the models themselves don't sound so different, the 24-bit clarity shines through and is noticable improvement. On some of the models it sounds better than my six year old $400 POD.

My favorite models here are the Fender Twin, the Peavy 5150, Vox AC30 and the Marshall JCM. If you want a smooth tube-driven bluey sound the G1 can deliver where the 505II fell short. So Clapton and SRV sounds can be had.

The Marshall stack sound was my favorite on the 505II and it's back here in two variations and sounds even a bit better than before. The 5150 amp sound is close. If you've ever played through a real 5150 you know it's a bit difficult to get on the money with it, but once you're nailed the right settings, it's hard to stop playing.

The Vox AC30 model sounds great, when I first plugged in the G1. I dialed up a simple 4/4 rock beat and got a clean AC30 sound and ran through some Beatles classics. Then I added some delay and used the AC30 model to go for that clean U2 tone the Edge gets with his vintage Vox collection, it's in there.

The factory default patches aren't bad either, they are broken down into banks, each with its own purpose. Bank A is labeled as Demo sounds, it appears combinations Zoom came up with to show off the box. Bank B is labeled Model, these ten patches offer up sounds well suited for recording application, at first they may sound a bit dry and for live performance they would need to be tweaked a bit, however as-is they are perfect for direct recording applications. The next block of patches, C bank contains artist sound recreations, again the sound here is a bit dry at first, the artist patches also appear to be setup for direct recording.

Artist patches provided (artist and sound sound quoted is from the manual, not necessarily my opinion):

* Jimmy Page "Bad Time Blues" sound
* Jeff Beck "Led Boots" sound
* Eric Clapton "Crossroads" sound
* Pink Floyd's David Gilmore "Breathe" sound
* Eddie Van Halen, later era signature sound
* Adrian Belew "Big Electric Cat" sound
* Kirk Hammett "one" sound
* Carlos Santana signature sound
* Kurt Cobain "Come as you are" sound
* ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons signature sound

The delay effects are good, the pitch shifter is interesting, but limited.

I have tried going from the G1's stereo 1/4" output into a pair of studio monitors and the G1 sounded great, I've also tried it through a Roland MicroCube 10-watt amp and it sounded horrible.

The G1 outputs stereo sound and makes use of the left and right channels to produce some of it's tone character, so if you only have mono inputs on your amp it will probably sound very good. Having said that, the G1 is idea to go right into the PA. Just get a 1/4" to dual mono (patch cable) and this would make a great direct box suitable for many stage applications (I'm thinking church worship services or coffee house gigs). As with a POD or any direct box, you can get really big sound without having people in the front row holding their ears.

It's durable enough to play live with, unlike the Zoom 505 and 505II the casing seems a bit harder. It's not metal, but it seems to be very durable plastic.

The ZOOM G1 is a solid update to the now legacy ZOOM 505II box. It adds 24-bit sample quality, more amp models, more effects, a good collection of high quality rhythm/drum patterns which really helps when songwritting or just trying to practice in time.

Zoom products have a sound all their own. The DigiTech RP line is probably the leading competitor in this area. While the DigiTech products are easier to find at retailers, the Zoom G1 sounds better than the comparable DigiTech products and it's worth pointing out many of the models available in the G1 and G2 Zoom products aren't even offered in the DigiTech line.

With the technology updates and the lower cost of digital chips, you can buy a G1 and get sound quality that exceeds the first generation, very expensive Line6 POD from years past.

I almost forgot to menton, the G1 has a built in tuner (just like the 505II) and you can add a $20 volume pedal (any generic brand) and unlock a collection of additional effects. Dunlop Crybaby and Vox wah pedals are modeled in this unit, the Pitch Shifter can also be controlled with a volume pedal.

Great for headphone jamming or gigging. Not sure I would record with it, because although it's not very noisy, 1/4" analog outputs aren't as good as digital. The higher end models offer USB out to rectify this and if you want to record with it you may do better to get the G2 for that reason.

Considering what all you get here for about $60 USD street, I have to give the ZOOM G1 a perfect 10.