Zoom G2.1u

This unit is fairly easy to use, except that it has a two-digit display, which is a little confusing at times. Getting my own sound out of it is fairly easy, after reading the manual and always tweaking it everyday that is.

I use Ibanez SAS 32EX with it thru Roland Cube 20x, and I have some compact pedals chained to it sometimes and it just does good.

In terms of its noises, I rarely use the noise reduction feature at all and it is almost noiseless, well almost.
But sometimes it is noisy, too noisy.

The effects, sometimes they are just too strong, never been weak. But they are always great for me.

In terms of its dependability, this thing never lets me down.
I just keep wiping it clean, dusting it off and plainly cleaning it.
And I never drop it at all.

But if I have a chance to back it up, I'd certainly back it up.

I don't know anything about its customer support.
Never had problems with it.

I play almost anything I want to play, and this thing fairly copes up with all the needs.

I have been playing for like, 4 years and I have some other pedals with me chained to it sometimes.

If it got stolen or lost, I just wish I have the money to buy a new one.

What I love about it is its appearance.
What I hate about it is its two-digit display.
My favorite feature is its Drive feature and the built-in equalizer.

The other products I have used are Zoom 505, the Zoom with the memory card slot in it (don't know the name), and a Korg multi-effects pedals.
This thing matches fairly against all of them.

I wish it had more digits of display.
I wish it had a card-slot and software feature, so I can store all the patches into my computer.

This thing helps me a lot in making music or at least achieving the sounds I wanted.

Careful with the power supply though, my friends got all their units blown-up because of the over voltage and ampere output.

Overall, it performs great and never lets me down.

This machine is pretty easy to use. I used to have a Digitech RP350, which is a great unit, but its got so many different models, that its a pain to go through all them effects to find what your looking for. The Zoom doesn't have alot of patches or effects, but what it does have is very useful. I'll admit I hate the small screen, but I'll eventually memorize what all them numbers mean. The manual seems to be good

I have alot of guitars, Epiphone G400 with EMGS, an old Les Paul from the 70's, Squier Jagmaster with the duncan designed pups which are excellent, Peavey Predator EXP with DiMarzio Evolution pups, and a Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster with duncan designed pups.
I'm using a Peavey Valve King 212. The sound quality is awesome, the distortions are authentic sounding. I play alot of Van Halen and Metallica, but I also do Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns n Roses stuff too. I haven't had the pedal long, but I can get some great Van Halen sounds, as well as the other groups although I'm still working to get a good metallica tone. The effects on the unit are great, the delays are some of the best I've ever heard from an effects pedal

Reliability seems good

As I previously said I play alot of Van Halen, Metallica, as well as other bands, so I'd say my style would be 80's rock, heavy metal, 70's rock. I've been playing guitar for over 3 years now. I've used alot of effects pedals, The first Zoom I had was the 505II, and I didn't like it, then I went to using a Boss DR-880 drum machine with built in guitar fx, I also did not like that either, then I started using a Digitech RP350 which was great until I bought a tube amp and realized the sound quality of my amp was much better. I still preferred the RP350 for effects. Then I bought the Zoom, and its got a really good sound to it, as I said earlier the digitech had 3 times the sounds as the Zoom does, but what the Zoom does, is great, its an issue of quality vs. quantity. Digitech is really about quantity in their pedals because they model every amp and effect on the face of the earth, and Zoom is about Quality, and they have made significant improvements from the 505 series. Its really gonna help me make music

It only took me about a week to start getting good sounds out of this thing. The manual explains pretty much everything. This is my first effects pedal so I dont really have anything to compare it to but it seems easy, my only complaint is that without looking at the manual at all times, you dont always know what your adjusting on the effects.

Ive been able to get to get any sound I want out of this and Ive been using a crappy 130 dollar ibanez mikro with a fender 15g frontman amp. This pedal definitly has a great sound and has a large range of different sounds. The clean sound is awesome, and the noise reduction is great. Ive slept all night with this thing on and my amp on and never noticed it and it was on a heavy distortion channel. I have nothing to compare this too but ive been extremely happy with the sound.

I would definitly depend on it without a backup but i was playing a gig in the day once outside and i couldnt see the light where it shows what your changing . I didnt know what patch I was on and I wasnt able to change anything.

I got this off ebay, So i dont know.

I play alot of metal music and mostly hair metal which uses a variety of tones and I can get anything I want. If This was stolen, I would probaly save up and but the bigger zoom footpedal because I Have been so happy with this one. I dont really use alot of the effects, i mainly just use the distortion and eq so I can't say a whole lot about them, but overall, great pedal with great sounds.

I've been using the Zoom G2.1u for nearly 2 years+ and i'm not much of a reviewer. But i just came across a couple of bad reviews that did complete injustice to what this baby is capable of

How easy is it to get a good sound? If some of you bother reading the manual (which can also be downloaded from the website, go get it if u dnt hav it yet), then gettin the sound in ur head across to the processor becomes second nature. I used to carry the manual with me at most times to tweak settings depending on the venue and since its a small handy manual, editing patches nw comes easily to me.

The only gripe i have against Zoom is their two digit display, it used to kinda confusing at times but yes, but with most things, once u live with it, u dont really think of it as an issue. I don't.

I'm a musician who still lives on limited resources. My amps consist of a Roland Boss MG80 Guitar amplifier & i recently got a Yamaha Gigmaker 15W amplifier (not nice). I've often practiced through stereo computer speakers & gone to venues with crowds with more than 5000 people. Let me tell you one thing. This unit has NEVER let me down. I'm not talking reliability, its the beauty of its Sound. I play with the Fender Clean, Roland JC Amp & CA amp settings with a lot of delay, chorus & reverb effects in tow. I DO NOT use the Noise Gates avalaible on the unit when using clean sounds and there is absolutely no noise when played through mixers & amps available at the venue.

Now when it comes to overdrive & metal, this thing impresses too! here though, using a noise gate is inevitable but the good news is that it does not eat into the sound & the clarity through various amplification routes is amazing! i use the lightly overdriven Boss OD1 mod & the Peavey 5150 & Marshall Guvnor effects the most. My personal favorite though being the Digital Fuzz cos the sound decay emulation is nothin short of unique & amazing.

Please note that to attain any of the above sounds, You SHOULD tweak around with the EQ settings depending on venue & amp to get the perfect sound. I would definitely have loved to get an ENGL amp mod into this but alas, for the price & size, i'm already gettin WAY more than what i expected. :)

It would be a failing on my part too if i dint mention the number of fans i've got for this unit. Friends with high end Korgs, Digitechs & PODs have all called my unit 'AMAZING'. Some have commented on how this sounds much better than theirs.

The tracking on the Octave effect is perfect as long as ur playing single notes but strike a chord and umm... u get to hear one of Zoom's biggest booboos... oh well, will probably get a MicroPOG to make up for that.

2 years down the road, no protection or covers, roughest EVER possible use. Falls, dings, electrical shortcircuits!

I've used this unit how ur NOT supposed to be using it and its still solid as a rock. It IS solidly built as i now know & the knobs and switches have all endured hard usage.

When i first saw this unit, i knew it wud last and it hasnt proved me wrong. I do gig with this unit without a backup and even tho my colleagues are initially skeptical about its reliability, they've all been silenced since.

Never had to deal with them. This unit is reliable like mad people. I dont think u need Customer Support. Giving it a 10 anyhow cos they did a gud job building this wonderful device! :P

I play evrything, from Eric Clapton-esque stuff to Christian worship, Hard Rock to Heavy Metal. anythin thats heavy and melodic basicaly gets me and the zoom has been the perfect companion for that journey.

I've been playing for more than 10 years and my only other gear i'd possessed before this were the Korg 1500AX & the Zoom 505. not mch i know but what else do u expect frm one with limited resources huh? If i lost this i would definitely buy this again or probably the g9.2tt.

I've used the unit for recording too and its been gud.. VERY gud to be honest. Well this review might come as way too praisy and stuff but i speak only cos its been worth the time and effort and touring i've done with this baby. Trust me, its worth much more than the money. I somehow feel sad for ppl with big rigs cos i alwys get similar or smtimes better sounding tones using jus this!

At first the rating should be low, but once you get use to controls, it is very easy and simple. Look at it this way- few nob's mean that you can change on the fly, and trust me, once you get to know it, it is very easy indeed. It is best to set patches beforehand, but it is quick to change tones if need be in equipment thats not yours at gigs... Study the manual wisely.. The computer recording is easy!

Firstly, your guitar should be fair to start rating a sound... I've got a strat and that is a fair guitar... secondly I started of with a tiny Laney amp (I think it was a 10 or 15 watt...) The Zoom changed the sound quality amazingly, but the size of the amp could take strain often once the volume knob was increased. But the improvement was fantastic and impressive! Then I got a Yamaha VX-65d, which is a monster and I could start customizing as suppose to improve the sound. After changing the patches again... For the ridiculously low price, it sounds expensive!For those that says it sounds bad, spend a little time customizing the tones and depths, it is really good. Some effects are not so good (all popular pedals sounds sound great), but maybe I'm using them wrong.. And do mic it from your amp as PA amplifiers sound different to each other and different to guitar amp's. You will get great sound if you set it up, just like you have to set up your Les Paul, Tele or Strat.. Lastly my guitar partner plays through a Boss ME-50, and even he likes my pedal and the sound it produces!

It's Japanese, the makers of unbreakable Toyota's... As long as the power chord does not snap, this unit should survive Armageddon.. And those that have managed to break it, nope, I just cannot grasp how you managed to do that... I would be way to scared to shake your hands...

The manual should have the option to file for a masters degree at the end as this is a simple but confusing at first manual to work with... Unless your gig routine does not involve pro wrestling, you should be able to avoid customer support for many years...

I play all sorts from Christian live alternative, blues to extreme metal and this pedal covers all great and is great for solo. I've been playing for 13 years and done sound engineering for many years. It is important to have a decent source and decent amp, and to use pedals in between, although this unit can module a bad amp to sound better. One fantastic feature is that you can create many different features over one another in one patch as this unit has a strong processor. Compared to a very nice Boss Me-50, I'm not jealous at all!. I'll buy one again if it is stolen! And I love the USB interface and sounds!

well just like my old Zoom 505 i feel the menus are a bit suspect. once u have got used to the way it works its not too bad. the ONE thing that makes it harder than most i think is the stupid NUMBER display .. 2-digit !! .. come on Zoom ... its a MUCH better build than the 505 .. looks better in the real world than any pics i saw .. and yet why,s it not got a decent display?
i had to double check everything using the manual.
not sure what version it is ????
a lower score 6/10

please note i exchanged a Digitech RP350 for this unit .. hence the references.
i bought this yesterday .. so its a bit soon .. but for me it has a warmer tone than the RP350 i bought and exchanged. i guess we all have our opinion on what sounds right. if u are trying to emulate a certain guitarist i guess it really matters how the box sounds ...
consider if u are playing live and someone wants u to play .. i dunno .. Clapton .. then your FX box will need to replicate this sound. its that simple. in the blurb it quotes tones and the groups it trys to emulate .. but personally i feel the zoom has its own sound.
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but im happy to get my own fat sound .. and this G2.1u for me is close. my 1st impressions were that it sounded very similar to the 505 .. in fact i could hear several FX that were in the 505 .. almost exactly as if they had been copied staright in. not a fan of a sound thats like a wasp trying to get out of a bean can .. ha .. so those FX i will never use. .. OH the Octave Fx is amazing ... its like the BIGGEST dive bomb ever .. and if u damp the strings when it hits the bottom .. i swear it sounds like its emulating a record player thats been unplugged. pretty amazing fx.
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my only questioning would be the Wah in this box. unlike the Digitech the default setting on my unit was harsh and sharp using the pedal .. it all happened about 2/3 of the way .. and then nothing at each end.
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Then i thought id try to program it. it was a tad slow .. but eventually got a patch right .. but then the wah had to be set. this again wasnt easy to understand .. and i blame the stupid 2-digit display. but while in the editing setting i did notice there are lots
of adjustment for the pedal. by accident i stumbled across a AUTO wah setting .. and got a very pleasant tone .. not what i was after. it was similar to a setting on the RP350 .. but again NOT the same tone. one good thing to come out of this ... i know we are all trying to get ALL the sounds in ONE unit .. rather than loads of boxes .. but then with just a couple of these units by differing manufactures .. would really give u a lot of scope .. and unlike a chain of FX .. u could at least have them pre-programmed.
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my final verdict on the sound .. its similar to the old 505 .. although not exactly the same in my opinion. the audio EQ module i think is better because its endlessly tweakable. the 505 it wasnt.
9/10

no idea

no idea

the good bits ...
compared to the 505 .. which is fine for indoor stuff .. this looks very smart. i like the feel of it. the end caps are like rubber bumpers .. and the chrome just sets it off.
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the downside ..
the only let down is the 2-digit display that really tells u little. ive no idea where my patches are .. i have to guess. i dislike the way it has a Clean tone .. then a Distorted tone .. then a clean / distorted / etc etc .. whats that all about?. why didnt they bank all the clean sounds in order .. and then the distorted. it would at least make it easier to find the tone u are after .. instead of having to flick right round the box.

for my style .. iwas looking for a good fat sustain tone .. a good wah and some bright clean sounds. i think this Zoom is almost right for me.
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im now thinking maybee a Zoom unit in a higher price range that has better editing .. is what i need.
ive given the G2.1u a 8/10 overall as its nearer the tone i want.
i would only give it a 6-7 because of the dissmall editing especially 10years on from the 505 .. and i think this has more editing as well .. please sort this out Zoom !

eh...it takes a while to learn. There's a lot of variables to tweak

ok...I've had this thing a while and I'd like to try to help people who are struggling with it like I did, because there are a lot of settings and it completely sounds like ***** out of the box. I can't believe the presets! Believe me it can sound really impressive (relatively c'mon keep in mind it's a $100 stompbox)when it's tweaked just right. I play a les paul and plug it straight into a stereo or computer speakers or PA, which I highly recomend as a starting point in finding your tone before introducing an amp's tone into the equation.

The recipe:

use BOTH EQs! (EQ AND EE) and offset your lows and mids a little. They make ALL the difference. I have both highs around 12, and scoop out the middle almost all the way -12, lows around 0.

Then keep both outputs cranked by switching your first knob to 'play' then you'll see you have a pre and post output level. Experiment here, but higher the better I've found.

Hall reverb is the best. 22, 8, 70

The only amp models I've found to be any good are:

Distortion: BC (Mesa)is the only decent one in my opinion. The balls come out when you put the amp output past 96. around 60 gain for AC/DC and 90 for metallica. Tone should always be 5 (that goes for every amp). I use CP (compression) set to 4, F5, 76.

NC (Marshall JCM2000) is okay for AC/DC tone but you have to add B5 (booster) which can really add a nice retro tube skrank. put a tiny bit of mid eq to help

Clean:
AC (acoustic) it's pretty sweet. little trebly/twangy but overall best. CP (compression) really affects tone

CA and JC - nice knopfler esque tones possible. Low gain on both of these. mid really affects tone, offsetting using both eqs is a must on these.

Again, this is just what I've found for my taste. I'm a tweaker, and it took me a a long time to stop screwing with knobs and feel satisfied that this was as good as it was gonna get

I've dropped this thing A LOT. still ticking like new

no experience

hey once you get the formula right it can sound really really good for a cheap *** answering machine gas pedal

It's very easy to use. It's difficult to patch a bad sound. It's a surprise because the demo from ZOOM page sounds horrible. Editing patches becomes a second nature after two days of using it. The manual is great - I found every single information I wanted to find in it. I don't know the firmware version, it hasn't been upgraded.

I wish I could change the patches via PC and store them in files. That would make life a bit easier. It uses USB, however only for audio and that is why it's not getting 10.

One more thing - this unit can be supplied via the USB cable. Great job. It consumes 300 mA and sounds great. POD 2.0 needs 1200 mA and is definately not 4x better sounding. Read on...

I use it primarily for homerecording and practicing.

It has an absolutely pristine quality sound. Forget the noise. Sounds amazing.

Compared to Line6 products line this thing is far far better. It's ten times less fizzy and harsh. The simulations are not as far realistic however being much nicer to ears they win.

A/D/A are 24 bit/96 kHz. Recording is limited to 16 bit/44 kHz or 48 kHz. Still sounds far better than TonePort GX, UX1, UX2, POD XT Pro. I tried them all - they all suck, unless you are deaf and cannot hear the highs.

Really cool wah sounds. The audo-wah is useful, too.

Fanstastic booster!

The simulation of MESA - not so close to the real thing, but very decent.

5150 - this thing has balls in G2.1u!

Extreme Distortion - ZOOM's original. This is the most tight, dynamic, sharp and clear distortion ever.

Fantastic low range.

Effects - fairly tweakable. Sound pleasant. I like the pitch shifter and harmonizer in this unit. You are able to set the key.

Delays and reverbs - very nice.

Cab simulations - cabinets are automatically matched with amp simulations. They are fine. What you can change is the mic type between dynamic and condenser. Mic placement is also adjustable. Each setting is satisfactory.

Noise reduction algorithms are great. I've been always a noise freak - this thing is more than satisfactory.

It's a decent piece of hardware. Seem able to last a lifetime. I would use it without a backup, yeah.

I *really* like the form factor of this unit. It's small enough to put in your jacket pocket (only about twice as big as a standard stomp pedal), but has two solid-feeling metal footswitches and a nice little expression pedal which you can easily assign to whatever function you want. (Some people find the pedal too small too be useful, and yes it's not a $99 Ernie Ball volume pedal, but I thought it was pretty well-made). It even has a battery option, which is HUGELY cool if you are busking or just want to jump onstage in a hurry (without looking around for a power outlet).

I found it pretty easy to use-- once you get used to the quirks, you can pretty much dial in what you need in matter of a few seconds. (Way easier to use than the POD 2.0, which has the worst user interface I've ever seen).

Cons: 1) you have to get used to the weird abbreviations that show up on the display (PU for wah pedal, etc); 2) it would have been better if they had used a chicken-head knob so you could see at a glance what effect you were selecting (a lot of reviewers have pointed that out).

Comments about tone don't mean anything unless you're making a comparison with similar products, so... for most of what follows, I A/B'd this unit with a Pod 2.0, which is a similar unit (amp modeler + multi effects) in the same price range.

* Amp modeling-- Really bad. Worst thing about the unit. The POD (which, once again, costs about the same) immediately blows it away. On the Zoom, distortion tones were flat, unmusical and full of digital "fizz"; clean tones lacked warmth. I rarely use the amp-modeler part of the Zoom.

* Reverb-- OK. The Pod sounded a little better, but it took careful listening to hear the difference.

* Phase, chorus, flange, delay, ring modulator-- OK. Usable. (I admit I don't really know what a "good" ring modulator is supposed to sound like).

* Pitch shifter-- Usable, and not the worst I've ever heard, but definitely cheap sounding-- "watery" tone, tendency towards artifacts and mis-tracking especially in polyphonic mode. Put it this way: I A/B'd it with the Digitech Whammy Wah, which is a widely used pitch shifter (and a VERY overrated one by the way-- the Electoharmonix POG blows it out of the water). The Zoom sounded somewhat worse than the Whammy, which is itself mediocre. But hey- it's still usable, it's a nice feature to throw in there (the low-end PODS don't have it), and the auto-harmonizer is fun.

* The good news: This thing is quiet as a mouse. No hum or hiss at all, even with the noise filters off.

No problems yet. It feels very solidly built.

Never found out.

I REALLY wanted to like this unit. On paper, it offers a combination of features that nobody else has: small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, BUT with stomp switches and a useful expression pedal; easy real-time control over parameters; option of battery power; generous array of effects INCLUDING a pitch shifter. Nobody else makes a unit like that!

Unfortunately, although it does a lot of things, it doesn't do any of them really well (and does some of them really badly).

With that said... I've found it useful as a sort of "beater" unit, like if I am going to play on the beach or at an open mike and can't be bothered to carry around a lot of equipment.

(Oh yeah, one more thing. How come there are no good review sites for guitar equipment anywhere on the Web?)

The features of the zoom are numerous but limited, such as there are alot of effects but tweaking them can be tiresome.

The sound of the acoustic settings are great , some of the best I've heard for digital,but the distortions are just bland and poppy, not much clarity. some ppl will like it especially beginers.

the expression pedal is cool,but thats about it

here is what got me i have had it a little over a year b4 it messed up, can't click down anymore so I have to bank up , from clean to dirty,clean,dirty,clean very frustrating because the warranty has expired , so I took it apart to look at the switches very cheaply made with not much ability to take abuse, hence you buy cheap you get cheap!!

as I said above, the warranty is out so talking with them is not really an option. dont think I'll be buying anymore zoom products!!!!!!

I've been playing for over 20 years and I was dissapointed,the guy that sold it 2 me said it was the shiznit, how true,literally

It's complex, not complicated. Being new to multi-FX units it took me a few minutes to get my head around the idea, but it's simple enough. The preset patches are not good, and the sooner you get inside this thing and start fiddling around with it the more fun you can have.

I am not a huge fan of digital effects, specially when they claim to reproduce analog sounds. Digital always sounds to me like digital. However, it helps if you think of this thing not so much like something that is going to replace (or stand in for) your collection of beautiful analog stompboxes, but as a sort of small synthesiser that you can use to make interesting noises. Some of the effects here were new to me, like auto wah and auto resonator, which change the tone of your sound depending on how hard you pick - not yet sure what it's good for from a musical point of view, but nice idea. The 'ring modulator' patch is fabulously ugly-sounding, as is the 'digital fuzz'. The more you ask this thing to do things that old school effects can't do, the more fun it is.

The manual is clear enough. It took me about half an hour to find my way around this thing, and there are a lot of things you can do.

What can I say? Digital is digital. I love the sound of my hollowbody Ibanez AF-75 played through my Marshall combo, and nothing is going to beat that. The trick, as I see it, is to tame this device so that it messes with your clean sound as little as possible but enables you to make the most unguitary noises imaginable when you want it to. And that, it can do.

I use it with a Roland MicroCube (a second level of amp modelling, right there, which is irritating) and a Marshall AVT 20. I agree with Nels Cline that you can never have too many fuzzboxes, but most of the distortion options on this are not very interesting. I'll stick with my OD-3 and Rat for those purposes. The digital fuzz, as mentioned above, is one of the sickest sounds I've ever heard, though.

I bought this mainly because I wanted a volume pedal, a pitchshifter and a USB interface and was too poor to buy them all separately. This includes each of them, although you can only use the built-in pedal to shift one parameter at a time. The pitchshifter isn't quite as glorious as a Digitech Whammy, but it shifts pitches all right.

Hasn't gone wrong yet, but I haven't had it for very long (only a few weeks).

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

This was a bargain. It does a lot of things that I wanted to be able to do plus a lot else besides, and for a player like me who isn't wealthy that means a lot. I play mostly jazz and improvised music, and for the latter I like to be able to treat the sound a lot - this is perfect at that. If it were stolen or lost, I think I would probably save up and get a Boss volume, a Whammy pedal, some sort of loop station and a more portable USB interface.

Having said that, as a pitchshifter I compared this to a Digitech Whammy 4, and this does nearly everything that does, but at half the price. It also functions as a USB interface and as a lot of other things besides. My main concern is about the extent to which it sucks up my tone. I like a good clean tone which I can then modify at will, and this is not about that. This is about remaking the sound of your guitar into something else entirely. That's cool, but I would like the option of maintaining my basic tone without having to tweak a lot of knobs in order to reproduce something like it.

This unit is fairly easy to use but you MUST read the manual. The pre-sets on here sound ok but they are only meant for demo purposes to show what this unit can do. You need to tweak these settings to get your desired sound. The maunal is pretty straightforward and after reading it once I have just reffered to it a few times for minor things. The patches are pretty much fully configurable. The only drawback initally is the small two digit LED display. It would be much better with a display whereby you could name each patch descriptively rather than having to remember numbers and letters.

This is where this unit really shines. The amp modelling is very good indeed. I own a Peavey 5150 amp which is one of the modelled amps on this unit and It nails the sound of it perfectly. The Marshall and Mesa Boogie also sound very similar but I mostly use the Peavey. I play mostly punk and metal and the distortion on this thing is great. You can get anything from an overdriven blues distortion to a high gain, scooped nu-metal sound. Clean sounds are great too, especially the acoustic simulater which adds some meat to a clean sound.
The reverbs and delays are fully configurable as are the chorus and flanger settings - in fact it would be very very difficult for you not to get your desired sound. Ignore the reviews from people who say the sounds are awful, they probably haven't read the manual.
I only really use this for recording direct into my MAC and am very happy with the sounds it provides. Not tried it live but assume it would be ok.
One downside is the pedal. Its a waste of time in my opinion. The wah, although the sweep is configurable is not nice at all. Perhaps I have been spoilt as I'm using a Morley Mark Tremonti Wah which is the dogs nuts. Other effects can be assigned to this pedal such as volume, harmoniser etc but again i don't find them really useful at all. Anyway, this is a minor gripe.
The real highlight for this effect is the distortion and amp modelling. They are great and worth the price alone. Sound quality for these effects is top drawer too.

Seems reliable enough, I haven't abused this pedal at all but its well built, sturdy with a tough metal casing and rubber feet.

Never used them.

I'm giving this unit a 10 simply because,for the money you get a hell of a lot. Distortion and map mods are great, almost identical to the original and the other effects are all fully configurable and usable. Sound quality for recording is very good although I haven't used this in a live environment.
The downsides to this unit, are the display only having to a digit delay and the pedal. These are relatively minor and are far outweighed by the positives on this unit.

I've been playing bass since I was 13 (i'm 38 now) and guitar for just over a year. Guitars I use are Gibson SG Standard, Gibson SG Faded, Gibson Flying V, Burny Les Paul, LTD EX-400 BD and LTD VB-300 Baritone Guitar.

simple for me at home to use, once I practiced with it for a couple of days. I would not use it to play out.

It sounds fine to me. I use it to record guitar onto my PC in the included Cubase 1.08 software

Looks solid enough and have had no problems with it. Again I wouldn't gig with it because it would be too difficult to control down on the floor

have not dealt with them

For at home use, it is really nice.

You pretty much need to have the manual in front of you, due to the large amount of functions assigned to the same buttons, but it is manageable.

What is worse is that the notch on each know is barely visible so very often unless I look at the unit really close it's hard to figure out on which setting each know is. Not very helpful.

Also, the out is pretty crappy: just a single stereo out. Not even two mono outs (I had to buy an extra stereo-to-2-mono Hosa cable in order to record to my sound card).

Let's start with the good stuff: the acoustic simulator on this unit is VERY nice, I really liked the patches with it. This is about the only thing that is any good on this unit soundwise.

As soon as you start getting into distortion this thing starts blowing chunks. The tone is digital, lifeless and requires endless tweaking to get anywhere close to usable. The EQ options are somewhat limited and in a stroke of idiotic thinking Zoom forces you to choose between cabinet emulation or extra EQ...so basically you cannot use extra EQ if you are going direct.

The effects are OK, not bad...but if you play with the drum machine it automatically switches off the reverb, which really kills all your nice clean sounds.

Summary: nice for clean sound, very weak for distortion (especially metal...just mud, lots of weird bassy buzzing if you're using thick strings or low tunings, etc)

Seems to be built very well, no issues here.

Not dealt with them.

I am grateful I bought this unit (the last of many digital modellers that I owned). it finally made me realize (after spending 100s of $$$ on various PODs, VAMPs, etc) that for distortion (especially hi-gain) digital should be avoided at all costs.

I bought a tube Damage Control Demonizer and it kicks the crap out of any digital unit I ever owner.

So, thank you Zoom for this tonally uninspiring product that finally forced me to discover tube-based pedals sounds for direct recording.

Initially when I got it I was a little confused the inbuilt patches put me off and i left it on the bench for a couple of weeks but i was determined to get the thing working. Now i really love getting into creating my own sounds. I really like recording my sounds and assigning the expression pedal to volume, wah, drive etc it allows you to really create individual preferences.

I do find mine to be really noisy on some patches and when in rehearsal can annoy both me and my band if i leave it on an amp module (which by the way I really don't like!) I really like the subtlety of sounds that you can produce and use wah and phaser in minimal settings which give a really nice effect. I do get over the digital sound and have been known to grab my lead out of the zoom and jam it straight back into my amp in desperation to get some nice analogue tones.

I am gigging with it next week and I am apprehensive of this. Take away the portability aspect I would prefer to have stomp boxes with a true bypass any day. There is so many things that can go wrong and despite the fact they are not badly made they are still made out of plastic.

N/A

I use the zoom in an alternative/independent band and with some unusual sounds that I need to lift the song in some cases it does it well. In other cases I would use stomp boxes or directly into my amp. I don't love it but I love the amount of possibilities it does offer. I really don't think I would replace it if it got lost or stolen.

As has been noted by others, the interface takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it you're good to go. I've gotten to where I'll even tweak settings right on stage. The manual isn't bad and the USB is plug and play so I think this is a pretty user-friendly pedal.

This is why I'm still using this thing after a year. Honestly when I bought it, I didn't think I would have it long. I got into a financial bind and needed something cheap to tide me over until I good afford something "good" again. However I have been very happy with this little pedal.

I was drawn to it after reading about it -- the 24-bit 96K sampling rate and 32-bit Motorola chip inside are impressive in this price range. It's competitors mostly offer the CD standard 44.1K sampling. I think you can hear it in the delays and modulation effects. Nice clear highs. I'm also reasonably happy with the compressor. I'm a compression freak, I like to play clean, clean, clean with lots of compression and I can do that with this pedal going into either my Peavey Classic 30 (very nice rich clean channel) or direct to the PA (thinner sound obviously, but still nice).

I have not been happy with the overdrive sounds and I really need to get in there and tweak it some more. As others have said just delete the presets, you won't be missing anything. Learn how to build sounds up from scratch and you'll fall in love with this thing. It's also easier to make adjustments on stage when you've created the patches yourself.

My sound quality rating is relative to other similar products in this price range -- what's out there that's any better?

I've had mine for about a year now and have used it in about a dozen gigs, numerous rehearsals and dozens of church services without a backup and haven't had any problems. Sometimes I run batteries, mostly I use the wall wart. It worries me that others have had problems with theirs, but I certainly have got my money's worth out of this little guy and would probably just buy another one if this one died or started to get flaky on me.

Never contacted.

I'm a versatile player (rock, blues, jazz, worship, even a little country) so I need gear that provides a lot of bang for the buck and I really found it in this little Zoom pedal. I've never owned anything Zoom before, always assumed they were junk, but when I read the specs on this I had to try it and now I'm hooked. I also really appreciate how small, portable and light this thing is. I've been playing over 30 years and I don't have the stomach for hauling lots of equipment around plus all that setting up and tearing down. I've owned a lot of modelers (DG-Stomp, Line6 Pods, Tonelabs, Pandoras, etc.) Each has their strengths and I've always been able to get usable tones out of pretty much whatever I use (unless it's just a piece of junk, and even then I can sometimes make junk sound better than it is :-)

I'm not going to say this is the greatest product since sliced bread, but I like it, it works for me, I like the form factor, the sound, the interface. There are always compromises in equipment, I've not yet found every feature I always wanted in any piece of gear, but this one offers some pretty reasonable trade-offs for the money. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

easy to figure out, editing is ok, manual is well done really hard to decide if setting eq's first and then adding effects is a good idea as sound is affected rather than complimented by each effect

hard to get a nice metal sounding type distortion sustained lead, chorus is a little weak and the standard chorus is far better than the so called stereo chorus, wah pedal does not have really good range cause the pedal has a limited radius from up to down. I have a noise problem when playing next to the computer on distortion settings. i run an aria w/ sngl coils into headphones and I don't get a real spacious reverb sound. another major complaint is that the reverb is cancelled when using the drum machine. Can get muddy. Too many vol controls. I use headphones and found that thru a fender champ type small practice amp all of my setting have to be redone. Does have some organic tones

The scroll up and down buttons are on the fritz i have pushed them one too many times but am going to send it back to them to get this fixed when i get a roundtuit hopefully

emailed them and have to send for repairs

I had a yamaha magicstomp and that was way too much editing so i like this somewhat. Probably best in it's price range, better than the Tone Works Pandora Cubase included i have had little patience

I bought my unit over a year ago at the local music shop to put in front of the Behringer amp I was using at the time. Since then I've upgraded my amplifier to a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and no longer use the Zoom in a band situation, though I still use it for direct recording and silent practice through headphones. The instruction manual is adequate, but not fantastic, and there are some tricks to getting the best sounds out of it. (I recommend signing up to one of the user forums to get the most out of this unit.) This is a multi effects unit trying to do lots of things, so if you expect to just turn it on and use it without looking at the instructions you will be disappointed. The presets are pretty useless, you will need to create your own patches. Also, you will need to organise your patches sequentially if you require a number of different sounds when playing live.

As mentioned before, I no longer use this in front of an amp in a band setting. The main reason is that it does kill the sound/tone and now that I've got an amp with a decent sound, it is really noticable. If it had a true bypass I could live with it for certain effects, but I'm unable to produce any combination of settings that allow the guitar/amp combination to shine through. I also find that the ouput level is boosted to a level that the Fender doesn't agree with. This may not as much a problem with other (solid state) amps though. Try it through your amp before you buy!

Having said all that, I'm happy enough using it for the USB interface for direct recording or practising through headphones.

I wouldn't gig with this unit due to what it does to my sound. I've not had any hardware issues with it, but hear of others on the forums. Don't use batteries, get a decent charger for it.

Not had to use any.

I play mainly rock/blues style with both an American Fender Strat and Gibson Les Paul Standard. For the amount of time I've been playing, I should be much better than I am!! If stolen, I would probably wouldn't replace this unit, I'd get something that does less to my tone and is useable onstage. Wishlist??...A true bypass switch and the ability to limit output power. (Maybe it's high so that it can drive headphones, so maybe a seperate headphone socket would be the way to go???)

I thought it was very good especially when running in front of a good pre-amp. Excellent harmonics ! Wish the reliability was there.

This is one of the only reasons I'm posting this . In april I bought one and loved the clarity and harmonics (thought it surpassed many more expensive pedals in its tonal harmonics) I left for a week in May and got home and it would not power up at all . Took it back to Bananas and brought home another one, same model . Within ten days , I could scroll in only one direction thrugh parameters(useless). Today i have a G2 and I'll let you know how things turn out but those of you who are gigging with this without a backup are playing with fire. By the way this was in a home studio setting (never went out ) and mostly pressed the buttons by hand.

I should'nt need to call them after a month of light use.

Fairly easy to use, but you still need the manual. As compared with the Zoom 606II, that I also have, it's easier, thanks to the rotary controls.
Manual is OK.

I play 60s rock and instrumentals, and some country. I run the G2.1u through a an all tube Laney VC30, using a Squier Std Tele, Epi LP Std and a Fender Mex Strat Std.

Since the VC30 sounds very good in itself (Vox territory, but with a flavour of its own), I have the amp sims turned off and only use the effects.

I have primarily used the tape echo and tremolo, and occasionally wah, chorus and pitch shifter. I have managed to get some good sounds in the studio as well as live.

As for the amp sims/distorsions, I get the impression that they are not better than those of the 606II. However, I used the 606II with another amp.

It seems sturdy enough and I have used it on gigs without backup.
When running on batteries, the low battery warning is given far too late.

I have been playing for more than 40 years. I have managed to get good sounds for 60s rock, instrumentals and surf music.
If it were stolen, I probably would get some other multieffect seeing that technical development is rather fast.

didnt take long to figure out how to use it, the 2 digit dispay is pretty sufficient to my surprise.

this thing has great Marshall amp emulators, the ones i like best is MC (marshall clean) used with gain all the way up and a strat with bridge/middle pickups for rhythm. Also MD (marshall drive?) with gain down almost all the way and the NECK strat pickup sounds great for solos also . That's all I use as far as guitar effects, and i just add a bit mid spring reverb, and sometimes delay..Works perfect and sounds great!

Micked cabinet simulators dont work too well with MC and MD though, but i was able to dial in a good sound for recording no problem.. Worked great - use a standard printer cable, no need for drivers, works great with cooledit.(you have to plug your computer speakers or headphones into the back of the Zoom instead of sound card)

used it for about a year, rehearsals , gigs , no problems

Update from previous review. While editing on this unit is easy (once you read the manual), and control is precise, the precision eans you have to tweak a LOT to get the sounds you want. You get what you put into this box -- you won't just turn it on and get the sound you want in half a minute. For computer recording it's a plug and play interface, love it.

I use inexpensive modellers like this for travel play and recording, and live through a Kustom Tube 12A (GREAT small amp) and Crate Powerblock. I don't try to sound like anyone else; I do love the sounds of Cooder, Fred McDowell, Steve Cropper, Muddy Waters. I need a good overdriven single coil slide sound, a HB slide sound, a Rockabilly sound, and heavy slide rock sounds, all with clear separation of bass, mids and leads, so the crowd can hear bass lines, partials and slide separately. I can get that from the G2.1u, but it took time. It sounds MUCH better with my Reverend JS390, a P90 axe, than with a Curlee equipped with Dimarzio super distortions.

The unit is noiseless. Reverbs are OK but choice is limited to room, Hall or spring; latter can get muddy fast. Delays are nice -- The clean slapback sound on this unit is delicious. Tremolo sounds like a more expensive unit. Octave effect is excellent, clean and punchy, and lets top end come through on chords. Chorus not as rich as I'd like.

Distortions require some thinking ony our part. You can't get an overdriven Fender or AC30 sound out of this box, the models stay clean however you set onboard gain. You could input a OD stompbox to the G2.1u model... Instead, I set up the G2.1u as I want, then use gain on my amps to get overdrive, and it sounds very, very good. Like reverbs, the distortion settings are limited, especially for blues -- the Boss OD setting, my favorite, sounds very dark. I find the Marshall Clean setting (MC) most useable -- a slight overdrive with a clear high end.

Wonderfully reliable, light and sturdy. I DO use it without a backup. Battery operation is a huge plus (7 hrs on 4 AAs).

Never contacted them. The manual is great.

Play Delta modern, fitting stuff from Handy to the Police into a Delta slide style. Played 40+ years, own or have owned Gibson LP standard, Reverend USA and import, Fender guitars and basses and tube amps, yada yada. Compared to Digitech RP pedals, I own a few. In its class, this is the best. I've put aside my Digitechs to concentrate on this box, because the battery operation and USB out make it so flexible. I like inexpensive light and sturdy gear, and this qualifies. I'd buy it again in a shot. I may also buy the G2, which has no footpedal and so is even lighter. It ain't a rack of high end effects, but it's a powerful device that has good sounds in it, at a very decent price.

I had 505 in the past, this thing is similar, a little easier to tweak, but it keeps only 2 digits on a display which may confuse new users. Basicly you have to hit the strings to hear what effect you're tweaking.

This is a part where I'm dissapointed. I wanted a device for home practicing/recording, playing with backing tracks and jam along with my favourite songs. I don't care much about all that weird sounds with modulations. What I need is good clean sound, good rock sound for riffs (like Guano Apes), good metal sound for making slaughterhouse(like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil) and modern solo sound with high saturation and delay. Unfortunately G2.1 didn't deliver. Sound is weak, canned, with narrow EQ and not enough punch. It also kills character of my pickups - Evolution and PAF Pro form DiMarzio. And yeah, Wah is crap. Sorry, but Line6 is far better (not perfect though).

Good sides? It's not noisy and changes patches immediately.

It's made far better than its descendant 505, however I wouldn't use it live, because I don't wanna be associated with sound that comes out of it.

No experience with ZOOM support. They can work better with their website.

I've been playing for more then 10 years, mostly on Ibanez guitars, hybrid Marshalls, different digital MultiFX, some analog stompboxes. I'm not a tube purist, but I like good sound. My ears can't find one in ZOOM G2.1. It's time to test POD XT and get rid of ZOOM product without regret.

It's set up like this:

Guitar
\/
{Compression} -> {Wah/EFX} -> {Zoom noise reduction/Gate} -> {Amp sim} ->
{EQ} -> {Extra EQ/Cabinet sim} -> {Mod/SFX} -> {Delay} -> {Reverb/Rhythm Machine}
\/
Amp/Headphones/Mixer/USB-out


Pretty intuitive interface, though fans of signal chain tweaking will be disappointed that you can't rearrange the modules like you can on a Boss GT-8/GT-Pro. However, Boss is the exception; the norm is more in Zoom's area. You CAN put the {Wah/EFX} module before or after the EQ module, so you can get pre-gain or post-gain filtration. That's a useful feature.

Editing patches reminds me of Kantian ethics: easy to learn, complex to master. You'll get the hang of it quickly, but getting really good sounds takes a bit of deeper tweaking. Still, won't take you more than a few days of playing around if you're technically apt, and the rewards of mastery are quite tangible in the form of great sounds!

A brief breakdown:

{Compression module} has a variable level from very little compression to big time compression, and can either be set to fast compression to even out the attack of notes or slow compression to kick in for sustain while leaving notes' attack relatively untouched. I don't use a lot of compression with any kind of distortion because the Zoom pedal models a tube amp's natural compression really well in my opinion. The old pedals didn't really do this at all, and it's a huge step in the right direction.

{Wah/EFX} has quite a few things, all of which have multiple settings and parameters controllable by the built in expression pedal (or pedals, in the case of the more expensive units). Included are Auto-wah, auto-resonance, booster, tremolo, phaser, ring modulator, slow attack, Vox wah, and Crybaby wah. As mentioned, the Wahs can go in front of everything or after the EQ. I don't like the phaser very much (MXR for me, thanks), but the others are useful in some way or another.

{Zoom Noise Reduction/Gate} is awesome and beats the hell out of my Boss noise suppressor. It has a variable reduction level, and does a very good job if you're going to be using roughly the same guitar volume level on a patch. Even harmonics come through with their natural note trails, and no hum is to be found. On the gate side of things, there is a clean gate and a dirty gate. The clean gate is just what you usually think of in a noise gate, while the dirty gate couples well with Fuzz pedals.

{Amp sims} is actually labeled "Drive," probably because not everything emulated is an amplifier, but that sounds pretty dumb. The amp models here are Fender Clean, Vox AC 30 Clean, Roland Jazz Chorus clean, Marshall Crunch (between clean and crunch, think 1970s rock), Fender Tweed Deluxe '53 crunch (blues machine), Mesa Boogie MkIII combo, Marshall JCM2000 Stack, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier on Vintage voicing, Peavey 5150, Boss OD-1 pedal, Marshall Guv'nor pedal, Hot Box, Fuzz Face pedal, MT-1 Metalzone pedal (I have a physical MT-1 and the emulation is uncannily accurate, though the adjustment settings don't have the same ease of use - digital versus potentiometers), Zoom Extreme Distortion (not a bad sound if you're looking for enough gain to destroy a house), Zoom Digifuzz (a high gain fuzz, also not bad). Without going into exhaustive detail, suffice it to say that all of the amps are at least close, and all are useful. This also has the first stage of EQ, as each amp model has a tone knob to let you start getting the general shape of your sound. I can't believe how well the amps respond to picking dynamics and guitar volume changes - I didn't think modelers could do that.

{EQ} gives you three more frequency bands to dial in the sound you're looking for, and is very handy.

{Extra EQ} does two things. It either gives you three more EQ knobs (bringing the total up to seven), or it houses the cabinet and mic simulation. What kind of cabinet is modeled depends on the amp sim you've chosen. Some use a 1X12, some use a 2X12, some use a 4X12. The cabinet sim has a simulation of a dynamic mic and a compressor mic, both quite useful depending on which amp model you're using (I like how a dynamic mic sounds with cleans, personally), and three placement options, specifically dead center pointed at a speaker cone, pointed halfway between edge and center, and pointed at the speaker edge.

{Mod/SFX} is a big one, and I'm not going to go into what individual effects do, but suffice it to say they're all remarkably more useful than in previous versions where some effects are just plain stinkers. Here's a list: Chorus, Stereo Chorus, Flanger [unremarkable], Pitch Shifter, Pedal Pitch, Vibrato, Step filter, Harmonized Pitch Shifter (key-specific intelligent shifting to various intervals), and a few more.

(More to follow in Reliability section)

I feel that it is very reliable. The construction quality is solid, mostly made of metal. The input jacks are fully metal as well, not plastic like some other units. That said, gigging without some kind of backup is never a good idea, especially with only one point of failure like a multieffects unit. What if the power at the venue is so dirty that your unit doesn't want to work, and your batteries die? What if your unit gets broken somehow, or something is spilled on it, disabling it?

These are things to keep in mind. Don't gig without a backup.

Now, for more Sound Quality information on the remaining modules:

{Delay} is the dedicated module for delay which allows up to 5 seconds of delay and has a hold function. This is feature and sound competitive with the Boss DD-6 and the whole Zoom G2.1u unit costs about as much, so if you're looking for a long digital delay and a stage tuner you can get them both here and save money. You can use this in conjunction with the Delay and Tape Echo in the previous bank to get some really cool multiple delay sounds. The specific delay modules here are Delay, Pingpong Delay, and Echo (for a more analog delay sound).

{Reverb} is exactly what it says it is, and has Hall, Room, and Spring reverb with adjustable duration. It also gives you a tone knob for the reverb, so you can get some cool sounds out of it (and, if you want to count this in, it would be the 8th EQ option you get in the signal chain). The reverbs on this unit are way better than previous ones and are all quite useful. Apart from the traditional reverbs listed, you also get Early Reflection which gives you only the early reflection components of the reverb with an adjustable decay and envelope shape. Finally, you get a cool multi-tap delay in this module as well, with adjustable times of 10-990ms and 1000-3000ms respectively, with 8 different patterns. Oh, and it houses the rhythm unit as well, which means when you turn the drum machine off you get none of this. That is a gripe, for me, but it hasn't been a problem - I just record the drum track first if I am using it to lay down a basic track, and then I can go back and rerecord my own drums later (drummer first, guitarist second), and when I'm just practice jamming it's not a big deal at all.

Never had to deal with them. I have a 505II (which has horrid sound quality, but was fun to practice with) that has been working perfectly since it came out.

Overall, this is an excellent unit for any type of music. Compared to other units of the same type in the pricerange, here are my observations:

It is far better than the Pod 2.0 in every way except time-based effects. The Pod's time effects are great.

The Tonelab (not Tonelab SE) has better low gain models, but the high gain models on the Zoom unit are superior.
Price:performance is great!

I found the pedal to be pretty easy to edit once I scanned the manual. The "canned sounds" are horrible. This is MY opinion. You may like them but I found them to be unusable.

KNow where I am coming from first....... I normally use pedals in front of old Fender Tube amps (boss, keeley, mxr). I usually use a strats, parker, gretsch guitars...mostly strats. I have owned many zoom multifx pedals only long enough to return them before the money back guarantee expired! Owned boss gt3, gt5, gt6. Digitech early and recent RP stuff. Sorry, they don't work for me.

As of late, my gigs have had me cramped into a tiny space where my pedal board takes up just about all the room I have to stand. So, I decided to buy one of these to reclaim some standing room for myself.

Here's what I have used so far: Parker, Gretsch, Strat->Zoom->Bandmaster, Deluxe Reverb, Pro jr, and Epiphone Valve Jr -> Behringer Ultra G DI box to the PA. All usable...the Gretsch requires the most tweaking as it does with my regualr setup.

As I said earlier, the canned sounds are not good. After a week of evenings, I have been able to create 3 clean patches and 2 overdriven lead patches that I consider more than usuable with one of my Strats. This in itself is enough to make me happy with the unit and keep it. I haven't made an attempt to put a distortion pedal in front of it to see if that will work, I doubt it will.

As others have said, it is harsh sounding, but, diligent tweaking of all of the EQ options will get some very pleasing sounds out of it. You may even find that the cab settings work better going into the amp than the live settings.

I have been able to program a usable reverb, delay, and compression. I didn't find the unit noisy...I normally use analog pedals so I am used to a bit of HISSS. I really haven't heard any noise that is worth mentioning.

I will try to depend on it but I will always have a backup pedal board since I cannot take chances at any gigs.

I play blues/classic rock/female pop rock. The pedal works okay, my analog stuff is better but I can use it in order to save some space and setup time on stage. Been playing for over 40 years. I own a tone of gear..mostly old Fender Tube amps...boogie Z etc.

I wouldn't replace it if it was stolen. I would laugh knowing that whoever wound up with it will likely have a hell of a time getting a good sound out it LOL! It takes some work if you ask me.

I chose this one because I have had all the others and I wanted to mess around with an intelligent harmonizer (haven't played with it yet though). I also wanted to play with Cubase LE (haven't tried it yet though).

Very easy to use.

Here you have to choose: if you want a good multifx to use in front of your amp, look elsewhere.
This thing sound quite good if you plug it into a mixer(or into a stereo amplifier), or you listen it through headphones. If used in fornt of an amp it tends to sound harsh, digital and artificial: only a few distortions sound decent, the clean sound is quite good, instead. Plugged into a mixer it is more usable because most of the distortions are quite warm and balanced; the clean sound is better, too. You can also use it to make some records with your pc: if you don???t have a professional soundcard, miced amps etc it is a good starting point, fast, easy and really not bad. It???s also very good to practice: it has a useful drum machine (that,on the other hand, sounds almost terrible and, misteriously, turns off the reverb).
In any case, don???t expect studio-grade quality! For its price it sounds good (even better than other more expensive devices) but don???t forget it???s only a cheap digital multifx.

Very well built. Only the pedal looks a bit weak.

I've been playing for 7 years,classick rock and hard rock.I'm using a stratocaster with duncans and a good solid state amp: Peavey Bandit 112.

The Zoom is worth the money, but it has some limits. Good for practice, for making some small records, for reharsals(if you don???t have anything better), and for beginners.

It's not idiot proof, like, let's say, Boss pedals.
BUT, the day I bought it, I thought "Oh God, I'll spend one year tweaking this thing so I can learn it all". Sweet mistake.

The day after I figured everything out!
It is a bit complicated, but for the complexity and versatility of this unit, it's really worth it.

Many delicious simulations that sound very real. The ones that are not close, can express a very carachteristic sound, wich is good.

If I say that every single sound this pedal makes is good, it'll be a damn lie. But the possibilities are so immense, that you can pretty much overcome it.

If you're looking for a completely silent pedal, you're in the wrong century. Altough, it's got a couple of very good noise gates wich makes it the most silent pedal I've ever played.

Just have in mind that the factory presets SUCK. I really mean they suck. They try to emulate carachteristic sounds of this or that artist, by mixing a giant amount of effects hence simulating a whole pedalboard of effects set to the edge.
You can simply use a clean Wah and play Hendrix or use a down and dirty tone to suit your Metal needs (Instead of adding delay, reverb, compressor, and wah to the same patch. It is just so ridiculous!).

I'm not a big guy, but I have projected my whole weight to the expression pedal and it remains as solid as before. So as the rest.

It has rubber protections on the sides and it's built like a tank.

(I'd definetely use it on a gig)

I play heavy rock, blues, and m??sica popular brasileira (brazilian popular music). If your only concern is that if this pedal can really suit your style, buy it. It's like it's been made by Victorinox.

The guy whom I bought this said he sells five of these everyday. I can also add that I'm very happy with it (when I say happy, I mean that I stopped worrying about building a gear out of analog pedals and started just using this - It just gets the job done).


PS: FORGET THE ZOOM 505II. This unit is a completely different deal.

Very easy to use as long as you read the manual. I Think a patch edit software through USB will be useful if we want to share patches to other. The effect tweak cheatsheet is necessary and can be found in the G2 user group at yahoo.

Very good! I compared this unit to RP250 which I also own, and this one is better than that new Digitech unit! It might not be as versatile but the sound is warmer, thicker, and the harmonics complexity is there! The only complaint that I have on this unit is the volume USB playback after recording is much lower and almost unheard (I tried using Cakewalk Guitar Track Pro, Sonar LE, Cubase LE). If Zoom want to consider this unit as recording tools, they need to fix this flaw!

Good design and I think it's pretty reliable.

Never used them. I hope they read this review on the USB playback volume.

If you just started playing guitar or want to switch from other modeller, choose this one. Don't buy the Digitech RP series as the sound is thin and lifeless. This is what I need to plug into clean amp. It delivers the sound. I have other effects like BOSS GT-8, POD XT, Yamaha Magicstomp, VOX Tonelab, Amplitube, Guitar Rig. This unit has it's own distinct character I cannot find in my other units so I'm gonna keep this.

A little daunting at first as others have said but once you have got your head around the unit it is ok. Actually much easier to use than my old Korg AX1G. The presets are actually OK - quite a lot of fun to be had - some really weird sounds. The manual is really good - they have gone into lots of detail even giving you background information on the amps that they have modelled. Screen is only 2 digits - hence the lower score - if it had a full backlit LCD would give it 10.

I love this unit! It kills Korg, Line 6 and Boss! Line 6 really sounds pants compared to this ( I tried out the HD147 qnd I cannot believe a unit costing 8 times less can sound betterthan their flagship amp!!!). THE DISTORTIONS ARE AMAZING. The effects are great - can do whammy very well, love the reverbs and delays, chorus is fine, the special effcts make me laugh! Quiet as a mouse. I can nail anything from Satch to Iron Maiden to Pantera and Metallica. I have funky wahs, ballsy Blues, Full on death metal, Dimebag Metal, Classic rock, Beatles - you name it, it can do it. The only small quirk (apart from display) is the fact the reverbs go off when you use the drum machine - but thats ok - I only use drum machine sometimes for practice.

I'm using this with a Crate Powerblock (which I got for an increadable ??50) running into a 4x12 ashdown cab. Sounds great.

I have only used it for about a week, but the construction is very good - metal and rubber - nice. I would think it could withstand a lot of abuse. Nice pedal action, nice switches - can't fault it so far.

Can't comment.

I play rock / Metal / Blues / acoustic - suits all these styles very well. I have played for about 6 years - this is the best multifx I have used and tried - forget Korg / Boss / Digitech - try one you'll be very surprised. I used to think zoom were not very good - all that has now changed. Might even get their flagship model - the G9 in the future with x2 tubes! Would definately buy again if it got stolen or maybe try the next one up, the G7. I use it with a Schecter C-1, Crate powerblock..also use a Black 13 Digitech pedal - can cover anything with this kit. Total nails any metal / hard rock sounds.

Since I have bought the Zoom G2 I have been really inspired and have played every day till my fingers hurt - Buy one you won't regret it!

As has been mentioned, the UI is a little quirky at first.

It's second biggest limitation is the 2 digit interface. It forced them to use cryptic acronyms for each paramater.

The manual should have a key that lists ALL the acronyms in alphabetical order. (Which I would've done had I kept it) But you're forced to sift through the manual and supplements to find the one you happen to be looking for.

This was my first experience with Zoom. I had stayed away because of the stigma of the name and their poor reputation when they started.

I was extremely pleasantly surprised.

The sound quality is amazingly good. Especially for a unit in this price range. It is very quiet.

Like the previous reviewer, I too missed the AC30 Top but I figured I could overdrive the Clean AC30. Nope. But I don't think this ME is trying to be a tube modeler.

The delays and mods are excellent. High gain is also quite good (Although that's not really my "thing") The overdrive is so-so. Somewhat hollow and lacks depth/character. Maybe more tweaking was required.

The sweep of the expression pedal is (predictably due to it's size) very short.

I don't really think this unit is built for live use but since it's built like a brick sh!thouse, I guess you could.

Anything with a drum machine built leads me to believe it's more of a "practice-at-home unit."

Outstanding. Flat out. I have received prompt, informed and professional replies to all my questions. YMMV but mine has been excellent.

*Anything you wish it had?

Ok, here's the kicker and biggest limitation:

When you start the drum machine, the Reverb automatically shuts off!

So, you go from a nice, lush ambient patch - then hit the drums and it's dry and flat.

Why bother putting a drum machine in the unit?

Frankly this was a "deal killer" for me.

That said, I was so impressed with this unit otherwise, I am now eagerly searching for a different Zoom model that does not have this "issue."

I've been playing semi-serious 25 years. Blues, Surf, Psychobilly and have lately been getting back into Ambient. Mostly Strats/Jags (Single Coil) guitars. Current amp; Vox AC120.

As much as I like the pedal, the reverb thing is enough of a turn-off, I have to ding my score here.

Frankly, I'm very surprised it hasn't been mentioned.

This is not an intuitive interface type of box, but the logic of it is really very simple --much easier than a ZoomPS04, which I also own -- and once you get it down you can do easy patch correction on the fly using the knobs -- also much easier than with Digitechs (I own three RPs in different sizes). Just bought it two months ago, haven't upgraded yet.

Is it a classic tube amp? No. (I got one.) Does it sound good? Yeah. There's a limited palette--no AC30 crunch, one of my faves, and distortions can get messy (though the Boss stompbox sounds fine to me and the Marshall stack is very good.) The noise reduction is incredible, so you can use it LIVE. Reverbs are again a limited choice but they sound rich and not messy, even the spring (a genre that is hard to get right on multis for reasons I don't know). The clean sounds, Fender and AC30, really shine; use one with amp gain and you get a very nice blues tone, and what I do is based in the blues. I don't try to sound like anyone but myself these days, and this does what I want.

I bought this partly for the power setup-- four AA's that the manufacturer says will last 7.5 hours, and mine are holdiing up well. Its place is on stage beside my amp or into the PA, and it's good in either slot. I like the fact that it's metal. Very sturdy, but light (a little over 2 pounds).

Never contacted them. I will say the packaging and manuals are tops. It's a product that does what it promises, my fave customer support.

Juke modern, Delta style adapted to contemporary R&B, with slide in straight, drop D and open tunings. Playing 40 years and have very sweet gear, starting with three Reverend 390 axes. I'm a small amp freak and with boxes like a Kustom Tube 12A or Fender Champion 110 you need a good front end, and this is the best I've found in its class. It sure beats a pedalboard if you like to travel light. It has capabilities I haven't touched yet -- USB interface, wah, harmonizer, etc. -- but everything I've touched works like I hoped. I would buy it again in a shot. I can't believe how much better this is than the Zoom 505 I tried years ago --it lets the instrument shine, and it goes where you go without an external power source. Nice work, Zoom.

I can't stand difficult equipment and this can be a bit fiddley, so I wasn't pleased at first. The 2 digit screen leaves you guessing unless you memorise all the option sybols from the manuel. Don't let this put you off though, it's the same with any unit and few are as good value as this. In other words, you need to read the manual (DOH!), then it's o.k!

Some of the fancy sounds are crazy (although I couldn't resist some Tom Morello impressions - some sounds really are far out!) but the simple typical sounds are cool. There isn't any noticable hiss noise to be complaining about and the pedal is excellent and works perfectly with the step on/off, just like a normal wah. I plug this straight into my laptop (with usb) for recording with a standard strat or s.g. I often have a bluesy/funky sound but like a really strong distortion sometimes too. I love the wah (9/10 in its self!), it's so convenient not needing to chain pedals.

Looks like zoom have started using stealth technology. I reckon it's sturdier than an f-117a though!

Website has a driver update (wowee!!!). The unit seems so well put together though, I doubt you'd really need to contact them but I'm gonna leave this blank. I wouldnt like to comment on something I don't know about.

I play bluesy, sometimes jazzy funk. I also play metal too for fun and this unit has never dissapointed me yet.
If this was stolen I'd find the person who did it and remove their head. Then I'd probably buy a new one (if not, I'd save up for the more advanced zoom thing).

The out of the box sounds will not suit everyone so be prepared to tune it to your setup. Editing is quick and simple. I use a maximum of 10 patches and control the volume with the pedal (exception wahwah). I have my 10 patches set up in bank A for Direct/Pa (with cab sims) and in bank B for combo amp setup.
I haven't tried the USB/PC thing yet but it sure looks interesting for recording.

There is bang for your buck here. Very quiet and the overtones come through due to the good sampling rate I guess. I use this direct into PA as the best option, but also sometimes with a Roland Cube amp set pretty neutral.

Just bought it 4 weeks ago. Looks tough enough with a metal housing and rubber protectors.

I've had no problems so far.

I like this as a backup for my Boss GT5 which is too big to travel internationally. This pedal does a lot for the price. You may miss the ability to preorder up the next sound patch before you switch to it (I haven't figured how to do that anyway) so you may need to consider which patches should be close together.

"A good sound out of it" is a very relative term. Compared to an analog wah with an analog chorus this thing is different and less dynamic or organic. It is easy to make it sound "like" many different effects.

It is not noisy for one thing. I have owned a ZOOM 2020 and it was hissy, this is not hissy.

The whole unit in terms of sound quality is good however some effects are just mush. For example the Ring modulator, auto resonance, auto wah are terible effects that really don't seem to work properly. The flanger is acceptable whereas the chorus is bad however the stereo chorus is good.

Overall a good quality of sound due to lots of processing power and sampling rate I suppose.

Was using it and it is meant to have a low battery warning. It started making a click click sound and no guitar was coming through it. In other words no battery warning appeared, it basically just died. If used live this behaviour would suck.

One thing I like a lot and nobody seems to have mentioned is that it has it's effects split into two sections, efx and sfx. This means you can run a slow attack into the harmonizer or phaser into the tape echo or whatever you want to use that is available within the two modules. If looking at the ZOOM GFX5 for example, all effects are in one module, so you could not do this sort of thing. I like that the module selection control simply has drive as one setting. I HATE all the drive sounds as they are crap compared to any of my valve amps. Simply plug in some decent headphones to hear the drive sounds and they are a joke. I choose not to use the drive, compression or noise reduction modules. I would like an effect unit that is JUST effects but unlike some units that have a dedicated control for selecting drive type and another for gain this just has one position on the control which I can ignore easily - I like that. Convenient to have a new tuner to, my old one i got in 1985 and it has past it's prime. This unit is a neat little thing to. Looks like some sort of alien technology from Roswell. Powerful yet simple to use like all great technology should be. The jury is out on this pedal. The sound quality and effects quality are proably reasonably good for this sort of thing, but I find the stomp box equvalents to be much more open sounding with a fuller dynamically more organic tone.

Very easy to use after you read the maunal. You will have to revamp all of the presets but this is common on just about every mulit I have tried. There was a USB driver update that I downloaded from ZOOM.

As I said earlier, you have to reprogram the presets to your liking. Unit is very quiet. Switching between presets is very fast almost unnoticeable. All of the modulation effects are very good. It does have some of those weird effects that nobody uses but hey that's OK, maybe someone will have fun with them. The noise suppressor and gates are excellent. Amp models are very good for the clean sounds but you're going to have to play with the high gain stuff a bit. Allows alot of patch and amp model tweaking so if you take the time your sound is probably in there. USB is great for recording. I was able to get it up and running in ten minutes. Drum machine is very good. 40 or so presets with tempo and level controls.

Seems to be built very well. Metal core with hard rubber sides. Expression pedal is smooth with a normal throw for volume and wah functions.

The ASIO driver update downloaded easily.

A very flexable and good sounding unit. Sturdy build quality. Instantanious patch switching and some very handy features (Noise Supressor and gates, USB recording, switchable function expression pedal and drum maching). It doesn't have some of the line patching ability of the higher priced units but for a throw in the bag and gig unit it really shines.

After you read the maunal and play around with it a little this unit is very easy to use. Much easier and less complicated that some other multi's I have looked at. I did download a ASIO driver update for the USB from Zoom soon after I purchased it.

Reverbs, delays, phaser, flanger, chorus, noise reduction/gate's and Echo are very good. Clean amp models are very good (Fender, Vox, and JC120). Gain and high gain amp models need some tweaking. Presets all need tweaking and editing. For myself, I cleared five presets and started from scratch on all of them. All five sound great now. Preset switching is almost instant. No lag at all so it's great for giging. Expression pedal gives you wah and volumne functions and other user defined options. The USB function and bundled software work very well. I use Audition instead of the Cubase LE and it works well with both programs. All in all a great sounding pedal. No, it's not an Eventide but for speed, flexability and good sounds it's hard to beat for the price.

Excellent build quality. Small footprint. Have used it without a backup. No problems at all.

Received an ASIO driver upgrade from them. Worked fine.

I use this unit for recording but have gigged with it and have had no problems with it at all. Very good sounds for the price.
Easy to use and very flexable. Would buy it again if stolen or lost.

This is my first experience with this type of effect and overall once you get used to it you can edit patches fairly quickly. But how much more would it have been to add a more comprehensive screen with better feedback on what you were working with. The two digit ?digital clock? display pretty tough to decipher with out memorizing lot of seemingly arbitrary codes or putting together a cheat-sheet. It also does a poor job of displaying alpha characters (M?s become N?s and V?s become U?s). I grabbed all the digital readout pictures from the on-line manual and dumped them into an easy to read quick reference sheet and that helps a lot. But over all it did not seem like any of the other devices in this price range had a better interface so still a decent mark.

Once again I don?t have a lot of experience with this type of device, but I have to say that I have gotten some pretty good sounds out of this little box. My main rig is a MIJ Franken-Strat with Fender custom shop 69? pickups and a few other upgrades, playing though a Fender Pro Junior. My primary reason for getting the device was to be able to play with headphones, do some recording, and to have a few effects for playing thought the no-frills Pro Jr (which I love by the way). It took a bit of time fooling with the device before I really starting to get some good sounds out of it. Like others have stated in reviews, ignore the presets. Only one or two are worth bothering with, it?s when you take the time to start from scratch that this baby starts to shine. Using headphones I was able to get a nice Fender amp sound using the Signal Boost, Fender Clean, some reverb, and tweaking of the fairly flexible EQ. It was also surprisingly dynamic, rolling off the Signal Boost, my volume, or just playing softer the tone would become cleaner. It?s is not as dynamic as playing strait though my Pro Jr. but the effect is there. I?ve also played with the Vox AC30 and a bit with the JCM800. I?ll have to update on those amp models later when I have time to really tweak the settings. Most of the other amps are not much more than novelties for me but they don?t seem to sound bad. Some of the amp models are actually distortion pedals like the Boss OD1 or the Matchless Hotbox, but I am not familiar enough with the real devices to say how well they work here.
Turning off the amp modeling allows me to simply add effects to my existing amp. The primary ones I have used are the signal boost, chorus, reverbs, vibrato, and the delays. The delays include a Tape Echo simulator that simulates the bottom end decay fairly well. Never having owed a vintage piece these all seem to do a fine job of at least producing pleasant sounds. The pedal allows the natural voicing of the guitar to come though so my Strat sounds like a Strat and my single humbucker guitar sounds like a single humbucker guitar, even though the amp models. I find the signal boost quite useful and flexible. You can adjust the frequency range so you can go from a treble boost to a mid-range boost to push your amp just so. I am not sure how I can test it but it does seem that is actually does push your preamp tubes and not just a simulation.
I was not too sure about the expression pedal at first but I do find it to be useful adjusting effect parameters and levels. It sounded sill to me at first but after thinking about it and using the device I can see where the ability to add another expression pedal or switch could be handy for the performing musician.
Recording to my PC with the device so far has been very easy, just plug it in, hit record and go. The bundled CubaseLE seems quite powerful for a pack-in but I have only used Audacity so far for its ease of use. But the few things I have recorded sound very good. Powering the device from the USB port is a welcome addition.
Some of the complaints I have besides the somewhat kluncky interface are ?
Keeping a consistent volume level can be a chore, gain and levels act as they would on an amp so going from a crunchy fender sound to a clean on involves some dramatic volume loss with out some serious tweaking. I know this is how it works in the real world but I already had that. An over all volume knob would have been nice.
Not much a user community seems to exist for sharing settings, or at least I have not found one yet. For that matter they don?t give you any printed info on the presets that exist.
You can only use one effect at a time per module. There are nine modules with a group of effects in each. Now your are not likely to use two amp models at the same time in your chain but you can?t have the signal boost and phaser on at the same time because they both exist in the same module. This isn?t a huge deal and I think all the other manufactures have the same limitations.
Lack of an auxiliary input. This one feature almost had me sold on a Korg. It would be nice to plug in my mp3 player so I can practice and learn songs though headphones. As of now I have an older set of computer speakers with 2 inputs I can mix the Zoom output with a mp3 player.
The G7.1u has the ability to edit patches on your computer in real time, that would have been really nice but is probably asking too much.

nice metal case and over all feels solid

Web site seems to be updated, but not too much to the support section. Have nto needed to call.

Into blues and rock, playing for about since 1985 but a big gap not being very active.
Over all I am happy with my purchase. Will a $170 digital device sound just like a 65? Twin (or any of the other models). Well, of course not. Will it get you close without waking up the neighbors? Yes, it does that quite nicely. And it will give you a nice rack of effects to play with without spending thousands of dollars.

This pedal is reasonably easy to use, but in order to get full benefit of the tweakability ,the manual is essential. Editing patches is easy provided you read the manual. The display has some cryptic characters which are not easily deciphered until you...READ THE MANUAL! Switches patches instantaneously, which is nice. Manual is informative and easily navigated.

Overall the sound quality is on par or better than anything else comparable. I have tried many different modeling devices including :the Johnson J-Station,Pod, POD XT, Digitech GNX4,Vox Tonelab. The J-Station has probably the best modeled distortion sounds, but this unit comes in a close second. Clean sounds are great(but these sounds are normally easy to attain). The distorted sounds are where this box excells. I have, through the years, owned 70's Marshalls,Blackface Fenders, Currently own a Peavey Classic 30. I own and have owned a multitude of vintage effects (MXR Dist.+,MXR phase 90,Crybaby wah,Echoplex, Matrix Mini-Boogie distortion, Tube Screamer,to name only a few.) The presets are pedestrian. The true value is in the effect programability. You can get some killer sounds with this box. The tape echo effect sounds a lot like an Echoplex, with its fizzy tail. Through a P.A. this thing is great! Very little hassle for the sounds you can get. Distortions pretty much can nail the amp sound you are trying to emulate. Pitch shifting(except for the Intelligent Pitch Shifter)is gimmicky and lame. Intelligent Pitch Shifter is very useable and is able to be set according to key you are in. Nice.

Looks sturdy with rubber bumpers on the side. Expression pedal seems substantial and sturdy. I would never gig any equipment without some sort of back-up. Years of experience indicate that no equipment is 100% reliable.Seems dependable- So far,so good.

Have not dealt with the company, so can't judge.

I play Classic Rock, classic Metal, Blues. This unit can satisfy all requirements of these types of music. I have been playing for 28yrs.;Pro for five, the rest semi-pro, and as an avocation. I currently own an 80's Fender strat, 80's Kramer Focus, 90's Les Paul,'03 Alvarez accoustic,(6 and 12 string),Yamaha classical,60's Harmony Rocket, a kit Bass,various stomp box effects such as:MXR,Crybaby,Boss,etc. I use a Peavey Classic 30, and Peavey 112 Special amps,currently. I have a DAW with Sonar3 and Cubase recording software and a selection of condenser and dynamic mics. If it were stolen I would hunt the perpetrator down like a DOG! As mentioned earlier, I compared it to various other similar modelers and found that it has very natural and organic distortion/amp sounds which have the tactile feel of an amp, which to me is the most important aspect of a modeler. I don't really hate anything about it, except the pitch effects(octaves and de-tune) are mostly lame. Accoustic simulation is lame, as they all are.It does have very nice Fender and Vox clean simulations.

First off, I read some of the other reviews on this product and although I do agree that it takes time to control any effects unit, I have never heard such unadulterated crap in my life. The presets are presett-y and are quite thin as far as I am concerned. Editing patches takes a bit of time but you can get a pretty standard sound out of it when played with a little.

I am using this unit with my Peavey Valveking 1x12 combo (this thing is noisy)and peavey Jack Daniels EX guitar (and I hated Peavey). Sometimes I plug it into my wifes Bassman 10 and it sounds less noisy and more "creamy" I suppose. I believe most of the effects are pretty weak. Some just cry out "don't use this one." The unit puts out an adequite Reverb but most do. Kinda hard to mess up with Reverb. Some of the distortions are nice but they end up sounding kind of tin-can like. As a matter of fact, most of the effects leave me feeling that Aluminum effect. Unless I use the eq to kick the Low up to 12 and the mid somewhere around 3 with High set to -3. It just doesn't seem right. The real clincher here is the joke of a USB interface on this unit. This would suggest that it actually pays to use it through your computer since you could possibly multi-track with it. Well, you can...sort of...if you use to separate pairs of head-phones or speakers. See, unless your computer soundcard has aUSB bus connected to it, there is no way that when you plug this thing in, you can get it resonate out of your computer speakers. There goes multi-tracking if I want to use USB on it. Who was the brain-surgeon at ZOOM that thought this gem up?

It looks pretty sturdy. That was the first selling point of this "edsel" for me. I would probably gig with it if I were certain I could get a sound I liked enough out of it.

Nada

I play Punk music and some loungy Jazzy stuff. I dunno, whatever moves me that day, I play. I have been playing for 18 years now (wow, time flies)and own very little gear since I do this binge-purge thing every so often. If this were to be stolen, I would laugh at the idiot that took it. Wish the thief luck and go buy something that works. There are some reasonable effects here but gettingn them right for recordign as opposed to playing live through amp, pa, etc. is just too daunting a task for the likes of me. The whole USB thing with this just makes this thing the dumbest effects unit I have ever owned. I love the looks of it and would buy it on the merits of that soley if sound were based on looks alone. Nuf Said!!! Move on folks. This thing cries LEMON!!!!!

Hmmmmm
well there are a CRAPLOAD of different effects on this thing
you can literally spend hours sorting through not only the many effects, but the diferent settings for each effect, and the eq which can totally change the sound. the knobs certainly make things easier, but its still alot to sort through with only a 2-digit display. i guess thats what u get with so many damn effects!

ONE THING I DID NOT KNO
-if you stomp down on the expression pedal, it turns the given effect on or off: GREAT for live playing. man this thing is packed.

my setup:
Gibson SG special faded
(stock pups)
g2.1u
ibanez 25r combo

--not too serious equipment, i just like to play in my room and jam with my friends

OK this is the category that really matters
this pedal has very good sound quality IF you are smart enough to tweak the many paramaters for each effect. the presets are very weak and do not showcase the power of this thing. but say, for example you put it on the peavey stack amp, frown the eq on the G2 and smile it on your amp, throw in a little boost..hey why not a deisil flanger and WHOA this thing rips!.

sound may be a little digital sounding but like i said, most sonic flaws can be tweaked

DOnt buy a digitech this thing destroys them! seriously they have basically the same exact effects but the g2's are clearer, warmer and stronger and fuller. or... scratchier and mettalic or chunky and heavy and meaty.......whatever you want its here

VERY sturdy...solid metal casing with rubber caps
just trust me this thing is a tank

dont go buying one of those digitech plastic things and expect it to last more than 6 months

if u want a reliable multi-effects pedal go with this thing or the the boss ME-whatever

none, but musicians friend was awesome
it came in like 48 hours
wich is unbeleivable to me

I play mostly:
Heavy rock
....
yeah its awesome for heavy rock cus you ha ve a bunche of great amps right in front of you..
haha actually their not THAT accurate
BOTTOM LINE
this pedal is sturdy, sounds AWESOME if you know what ur doin and has so many effects that it is a must - buy

if you are looking at pedals like i was and was reading reviews like a madman, just trust me...its worth ur money:plus it comes with great recoding software and fjldsjfldsajfksladj f jeez this thing is just unbeleivable

trust me


buy it

:0

This is a great unit, my first ever multi effect (some home electronic projects aside). Preset patches range from superb to interesting to -do not select me-. Editing patches is where it really gets going, it takes some time but allows you to create unique sounds. Manual is ok, a little more information would not do any harm.

Fender Strat, modified pickup. No noise. Great for practising with headphone. Recording also great, software does take some getting used to.

Still searching for more of the specific sounds of my favourite artists (Vai, Satriani) but have found some already.

Yep, reliable. Would use it on a gig.

Great first buy in my opinion. Would buy the g7.1u is this one was stolen. Very inspiring sounds, composing new songs and phrases is so easy.

Is there any user group that shares settings for edited patches?

Very easy to use. The manual is very well written and explains all that you need to know. To edit is a breeze.

I bought this unit to go with my Tech 21 60 watt amp. I was really surprized how well it made the amp sound. To tell the truth I'm not a big fan of these digital all in-one boxes, but the price was right and there were many good reviews so I took a chance. Most of the presets are over done but if you tweek a little bit it really begins to kick ass. One thing for sure it puts the Line 6 Pod to shame. The effects are some of the best I've heard from this type of unit. All and all the sound is very good

Just dont shoot it with a 357 and it will last.

Hope not to.

Been playing to long to remember but I'll tell you this nothing beats the real sound of a tube amp it's simply a matter of physics. Zoom has done a real nice job but lets face it people it's just another little toy for us to play with. It seems that so many young players today are brain washed into believeing that a $169 unit could replace a $1200 dollar tube amp. Sorry guys but it's nothing more then a illusion created by the manufactures who sell these products. I like the zoom it has alot going for it and compared to Line 6 or Roland it's the toy to have. This rateing is based on simular products.

Pretty easy to use once you know it. It is like a row of virtual stomp boxes: there is a rotary switch to select each box and three knobs to set the parameters for the currently selected box (or some key parameters in PLAY mode). The manual is good for explain how to get to all the less-obvious bits (like where they hid the global output level setting!) but if you are a newbie who doesn?t understand amps and effects you?ll just have to try stuff out.
Where the G2s fall down is that they have a two-digit numeric LED display ? fine for selecting patch ?C3? or ?D6? but a bit of a pain for parameter editing. You kinda get used to it when you do your first bit of editing, then you go back a few days later and you?ve forgotten some of the obscure stuff - like an upside-down A is a W. One of the bits that confuses me is the hieroglyphics for the various amp/distortion models ? ?FC? is Fender Clean, ?JC? is JC Clean and they are both clean (makes sense so far) but then what looks like ?NC? is Marshall Crunch, which is obviously not clean. Then you?ve got ?Pu? which is either a Peavey 5150 model or a Vox Wah, depending on which part of the processing chain you?re in. Takes a bit of getting used to.
Another annoyance is that you can?t just turn cabinet modelling on and off overall ? you have to create separate patches! And to set the overall output level you have to select ?Control? and then set the volume ? and then it goes and resets it next time you power up! Annoying little quirks but overall not bad, and like I said ? look at the price!

I?ve used this with my Washburn MG40, my Steinberger Spirit GT Pro and my brother?s 1985 PRS (only briefly ? not often I get my hands on it!). Pretty impressed with the sound overall, especially considering the price - you?d pay this much for a wah and a cheap distortion box. The sound is kinda clean and bright and detailed, even with the messiest distortion patches. In some ways it?s a bit too toppy even with the speaker cab modelling - easily tamed with a bit of EQ.
The presets are a matter of personal preference ? I wasn?t too keen on them to start with but I can see the use of most of them. It did seem at first to be either all clean or all distortion, but when I realised that every time you change the amp model it changes the parameters to some default values I finally started to sort it out. Making sure the compressor isn?t on you can get progressive (touch-sensitive) overdrive no problem, either by turning down the drive on ?crunch? models or by using the ?Boost? before the ?clean? amp models. The only thing is that the onset of distortion (the way the sound breaks up) seems to be pretty much the same on most models. It sounds as though the distortion model is the same and the individual character comes only from EQ before & after.
The drum sounds are surprisingly good and the patterns pretty good too (allowing for the fact that, as usual, they tend to be a bit ?busy?). The lack of bass line sequencing and patern chaining makes the drum section just an overgrown metronome ? and the fact that it cuts out the reverb section when you switch it on kinda seals its fate. Playing in time is a bloody good thing to practice, though.
As for features it?s easy to look up what it has, so I?ll look at bit more at the less obvious things. There are a lot of areas where it could be improved, but you have to admit that for the price there?s little to complain about.
The whole processing ? modelling ? effects chain is pretty standard. It?s good that the pre-effects section can be placed before or after the amp/distortion modelling ? you can often make a lot more of the wah by putting it after the distortion. The wah has been criticised quite a bit by other reviewers but I think it?s pretty good if you think about what you?re doing with it ? just like in real life.
There are some effects missing that I?d like to see. There?s no voice-box filtering, no synth filtering and no rotary speaker simulation (though considering how bad most rotary sims are you?re probably not missing much ? PLEASE somebody come up with a simulator as good as a Korg G4 in a multieffects pedal). The acoustic siimulation I haven?t made up my mind about yet ? I prefer Korg?s, but this one is still useful.
I've only used it briefly for recording so far (with a laptop). It was immediately recognised as a USB audio interface. It would have been nice if you could record the clean signal while listening to the effected signal but Zoom have decided it is not to be (not on this unit, anyway). You need to reduce the buffers from 5512 samples down to 768 (input) and 512 (output) to stop it feeling sluggish through latency.
I wish the pedal could be used to control a wider range of parameters. Why do they think you want to control modulation speed rather than modulation depth or effect mix? The G7.1ut can patch the pedal to a wider selection of parameters, but for nearly twice the price. At least you get to control effect mix for the stereo chorus.

Seems really well built. It?s sometimes hard to tell whether it is metal with rubber added on or rubber with metal added on ? especially as it stinks of rubber when new! It is the former, of course. Even the battery compartment door is reasonably sturdy (well, compared to most). The controls are nice and positive and the pedal feels good too. It needs to be on a solid floor for you to be able to ?kick down? on the pedal to turn pedal control on and off ? takes quite a heavy press but it is up to pressure. Of course, whether it actually is reliable only time will tell.

No idea, except that they do allow you to download the manual from the website - which might help you make up your mind, if the price doesn't do that.

Some bad points (hasn?t everything) but no killers and all at an excellent price. I play a variety of styles ? blues, jazz, ambient and ?weird sh*t?. It sounds good ? you may have to EQ off some of the top end for more vintage sounds but it is better than trying to add top end that isn?t there. The only drawback after quite a bit of playing is that the distortion models seem a bit ?samey? in the way they kick in ? which is where I?m normally playing. This seems to be a common problem with amp modelling: clean is fine, distorted is fine but it?s the bit in between where quality shows. Have to keep reminding myself about the low price!
It?s a nice size for the job: just big enough to use but small enough to carry around in my laptop case ? *with* my laptop! Overall I?m very happy with it, in the absence of the money, space and road crew I?d need to have all the amps, mics and effects it models. A big step up in quality for Zoom.

Great right out of the box. Intuitive interface, clean layout,and decent manual.

Great, for what it is. I bought it to bring to rehearsals so as not to have to lug around my massive padalboard. It really does the job nicely. I am impressed with the low noise factor and the quality of the effects. Much more than I expected for $149.

Seems sturdy enough. Zoom seemed to focus on build quality with this unit. Feels very solid.

Never dealt with the company.

I play classic rock. My guitar of the moment is a Fernandes Ravelle Elite (I just love that sustainer!) I play through a Rivera Fandango 2-12 and my pedalboard is (over)loaded with a bunch of high-quality, hand made pedals, the mainstays being a Guyatone Flip tube delay, a Chicago Iron Parachute wah, a very vintage MXR Dyna Comp and a Morley volume pedal. I rely on my amp for drive when needed. I like this pedal for the intended use. It doesn't take the place of my pedalboard, but as mentioned, is a big bang for the buck, and even plugs into the computer to provide a recording/editing interface for beginners wishing to explore that venue. This is about as good as it gets for the money.

First of all i should mention I bought this because i loved my Zoom 505 so much, and wanted something to record on PC, and play live. I've never used this pedal with an amp, only straight into my headphones and my PC (for practise), or straight into a PA (live). In both situations i always have the cabnet simulation turned on.

As people have already mentioned before, it's like having 9 stomp boxes, with 3 control knobs. Unfortunately because of the small screen you dont know what each parameter it set to until you turn the relevant knob - not very intuative.

Also it's easy to get overwelmed by the sheer number of effects. The manual is very good though (you can download it on the Zoom website).

Really nice touch is that you can adjust gain, EQ and level using the front knobs when in "play" mode, and the expression pedal can turn a particular effect off/on. Also the pedal switches patches in 5ms, it's so quick, no 1/2 second of silence like the old zoom pedals anymore!

PC recording is really easily, i'll talk about it more later.

To start - the 20 presets all suck. really badly. Not sure how zoom dropped the ball so badly on this one, but pretty much all of them sound sucky.

I've found the best way to set up a patch is to set everything to off (except reverb), then go the drive module and find an amp/pedal model you like (if you want to use one), and adjust the gain and level to suit you. The amp/pedal tone should be set between 5-8, to give you some leeway for adjustment later. Now turn on the EQ module and adjust EQ to suit your sound. Then finally, add any extra effects, one by one.

The sound of the distortions is frankly incredible. Some really great crunch, fuzz and smooth lead sounds in there. I also love the ring modulation, phaser, slow attach, pitch shifter - as you can tell, i like weird sounds. The expression pedal can do tons of cool things with different effects, like adjusting the phaser or delay rates, however the crybaby pedal wah effect is just ok. They're not really enough travel on the pedal, but it's still useable.

One thing though, is a lack of a good overdrive sound. I went back and tried my Zoom 505 and couldnt believe how fuzzy and bad the distortions sounded. However, the "rhythem" overdrive setting does a great edge-of-breakup sound that i havent yet managed to get out of the Zoom G2.

very solidly built - i'd be suprised if i had any problems.

no idea

I bought this mainly for PC recording, and for this reason alone it's been brilliant. The G2 comes with Cubase LE and a quick getting started guide, and already ive produced some nice sounding demoes. The G2 appears as a soundcard when plugged into your PC via USB, so recording has zero latency, plus its way cool to play an Mp3 and jam along with it through headphones.

Live it's sounded good through a PA, overall this is a great pedal well worth the money and probably better value than a POD (cos you can use it live or for recording, and its way cheaper!). I'd definitely buy it again.

As with the old 505, very easy to change patch settings. Much easier to save settings as well. Really need the manual at hand while editing to get a full understanding of the symbols used.

Included drum machine is useless....
USB port,useless....
Included recording software, useless....

Tried at front end and through effects loop of Tech21 TM60, and direct to PA. Have tried both single and bucker pickups. EQ setting for both amp and PA...FLAT. I dont try to emulate the sound of any one artist/guitarist, so I cant make a comparison there, however I am able to get some really good clean chorus and delays with my TM60 from the front end and in the EFX loop. Distortion is another matter. Best run in the front end for distortion.

Direct to PA in stereo this thing kicks....but I have spent about 3 hours playing with it to find sounds I was lookng for. Oh yah...quiet!

Expression pedal can be a pain. IF you have the pedal in the middle of its travel path and switch to a patch that uses it, it does not know where it is and does not instantly respond. You need to leave it at the top or bottom of the path.

Modulations are great, and easy to find a good sound. DRIVE, amp sims, need you work on them to find the sound you are looking for. Playing around with the EQ and Extra EQ is the key.

Gigged a long time with a 505 without back up, I think I would do the same here. I am really looking forward to using this direct to PA without an amp at rehearsal. If that sounds good and works I would do the same at a gig. Too soon to have any ideaof reliability issues.

Never dealt with them

Band plays 50% cover, 50% oringals. Style is rock, country rock, modern rock. Been playing for 37 years and have a variety pedals from back in the early 70's, 80's, till now. I like this for its compact size, and diversity. It is not all things to everyone, but will cover a wide variety of need. Oh Yah...did I mention quiet?!?!

Some combinations of effect are absolutely crazy. I dont know where or when I would use them, but they are fun to play with.

Pretty easy to use once you know it. It is like a row of virtual stomp boxes: there is a rotary switch to select each box and three knobs to set the parameters for the currently selected box (or some key parameters in PLAY mode). The manual is good for explain how to get to all the less-obvious bits but if you don?t understand amps and effects you?ll just have to try stuff out. (You might ask why the hell someone who doesn?t understand amps and effects would have one of these, but I have a fourteen-year-old daughter who is learning guitar, so...)
Where the G2s fall down is that it has a two-digit numeric LED display ? fine for selecting patch ?C3? or ?D6? but a bit of a pain for parameter editing. You kinda get used to it when you do your first bit of editing, then you go back a few days later and you?ve forgotten some of the obscure stuff - like an upside-down A is a W. One of the bits that confuses me is the hieroglyphics for the various amp/distortion models ? ?FC? is Fender Clean, ?JC? is JC Clean and they are both clean (makes sense so far) but then what looks like ?NC? is Marshall Crunch, which is obviously not clean. Then you?ve got ?Pu? which is either a Peavey 5150 model or a Vox Wah, depending on which part of the processing chain you?re in. Takes a bit of getting used to.
Another annoyance is that you can?t just turn cabinet modelling on and off overall ? you have to create separate patches! And to set the overall output level you have to select ?Control? and then set the volume ? and then it goes and resets it next time you power up! Annoying little quirks but overall not bad, and like I said ? look at the price!

I?ve used this with my Washburn MG40, my Steinberger Spirit GT Pro and my brother?s 1985 PRS (only briefly ? not often I get my hands on it!). Very impressed with the sound overall, especially considering the price - you?d pay this much for a wah and a cheap distortion box. The sound is kinda clean and bright and detailed, even with the messiest distortion patches. In some ways it?s a bit too toppy even with the speaker cab modelling, but that?s easily tamed with a bit of EQ if you?re recording, or by using cheap headphones when practising!
The presets are a matter of personal preference ? I wasn?t too keen on them to start with but I can see the use of most of them now. I did think originally there was a tendency to be either all clean or all distortion, but when I realised that every time you change the amp model it changes the parameters to some default values I finally started to sort it out. Making sure the compressor isn?t on you can get progressive (touch-sensitive) overdrive no problem, either by turning down the drive on ?crunch? models or by using the ?Boost? before the ?clean? amp models. The only thing is that the onset of distortion (the way the sound breaks up) seems to be pretty much the same no matter which model you use. It sounds as though the distortion model is the same and the individual character comes only from EQ before & after.
The drum sounds are surprisingly good and the patterns pretty good too (allowing for the fact that, as usual, they tend to be a bit ?busy?). The lack of bass line sequencing and patern chaining makes the drum section just an overgrown metronome ? and the fact that it cuts out the reverb section when you switch it on kinda seals its fate. Playing in time is a bloody good thing to practice, though.
As for features it?s easy to look up what it has, so I?ll look at bit more at the less obvious things. There are a lot of areas where it could be improved, but you have to admit that for the price there?s little to complain about.
The whole processing ? modelling ? effects chain is pretty standard. It?s good that the pre-effects section can be placed before or after the amp/distortion modelling ? you can often make a lot more of the wah by putting it after the distortion. The wah has been criticised quite a bit by other reviewers but I think it?s pretty good if you think about what you?re doing with it ? just like in real life.
There are some effects missing that I?d like to see. There?s no voice-box filtering, no synth filtering and no rotary speaker simulation (though considering how bad most rotary sims are you?re probably not missing much ? PLEASE somebody come up with a simulator as good as a Korg G4 in a multieffects pedal). The acoustic siimulation I haven?t made up my mind about yet ? I prefer Korg?s, but this one is still useful.
I haven?t used it for recording so far (should be really handy with a laptop) but it is immediately recognised by PCs as a USB audio interface. It would have been nice if you could record the clean signal while listening to the effected signal but Zoom have decided it is not to be (not on this unit, anyway).
I also wish the pedal could be used to control a wider range of parameters. Why do they think you want to control modulation speed rather than modulation depth or effect mix? The G7.1ut can patch the pedal to a wider selection of parameters, but for nearly twice the price. At least you get to control effect mix for the stereo chorus.

Seems really well built. It?s sometimes hard to tell whether it is metal with rubber added on or rubber with metal added on ? especially as it stinks of rubber when new! It is the former, of course. Even the battery compartment door is reasonably sturdy (well, compared to most). The controls are nice and positive and the pedal feels good too. It needs to be on a solid floor for you to be able to ?kick down? on the pedal to turn pedal control on and off ? takes quite a heavy press but it is up to pressure. Of course, whether it actually is reliable only time will tell.

No idea: never had dealings with Zoom.

Some bad points (hasn?t everything) but no killers and all at an excellent price. I play a variety of styles ? blues, jazz, ambient and ?weird sh*t?. It sounds good ? you may have to EQ off some of the top end for more vintage sounds but it is better than trying to add top end that isn?t there. The only drawback after quite a bit of playing is that the distortion models seem a bit ?samey? in the way they kick in ? which is where I?m normally playing. This seems to be a common problem with amp modelling: clean is fine, distorted is fine but it?s the bit in between where quality shows. Have to keep reminding myself about the low price!
It?s a nice size for the job: just big enough to use but small enough to carry around in my laptop case ? *with* my laptop! Overall I?m very happy with it, in the absence of the money, space and road crew I?d need to have all the amps, mics and effects it models. A big step up in quality for Zoom.

Este pedal tiene un excelente sonido. En realidad me sorprendio mucho cuando lo probe en la tienda antes de comprarlo. Editar los bancos es facil, ademas el manual es de gran ayuda.

Yo utilizo generalmente una strat a traves de un amplificador behringer. Excelentes parametros de compresion. Las 3 perillas metalicas trabajan perfectamente en la edicion y construccion de bancos. la puerta de ruido trabaja super bien, elimina todo el ruido innecesario. Algo que me agrado mucho es el simulador de cabinets y posicion de microfonos. Las distorciones suenan mas llenas que nunca, excelente modelado. El wah es decente, un buen punto es la opcion de colocarlo antes o despues de la distorcion (inteligente opcion). hasta ahora he conseguido todos los sonidos que me he propuesto. La paleta de efectos es muy amplia y manejable.

Desde luago que dependo de esta pedal para tocar en vivo. Antes de comprarlo tenia la zoom 505 II junto con el pedal de expresion FP02, pero tenia muchas limitaciones, sobre todo en cuanto a delay.

No he lidiado con ellos.

Actualmente toco musica alternativa-industrial. Gracias a este pedal, puedo recrear en vivo la mayoria del sonido que consegui en estudio. Como trabajo con bases sampleadas, el tempo debe ser perfecto, y la G2.1u me permite setear las repeticiones del delay acorde a la base musical. Este pedal es simplemente excepcional. Me fascina que todo sea de metal (incluso las perillas), lo unico que no me agrada y me resulta irrelevante es el drum machine integrado, bueno, el unico uso justificado que se le puede dar es el de metronomo.

You are up and running in minutes.

I use Ibanez JS 1000 with this unit. It sounds far better then older Zoom products like the 707 or the competition in the same price bracket. Its quiet, crisp and full of dynamics with absolute fantastic distorted en clean sounds. Tried Santana?s Samba Pa Ti with the C5 patch and it really comes very close. This dinky unit holds some very impressive sounds and is capable of a lot more. The digital distortion unit makes my JS 1000 sound like a synth. Not a sound for vintage lovers, but for a off the wall sound it?s perfect. The reverbs and delays are great. The harmonizer is ok but could be better. Phasers and flangers sound good but are no replacement for the real thing. The sound very well with a distorted sound, but a lot weaker with clean sounds.The wha simply sucks. But this never was a strong point of Zoom. As a amp sim distortion unit it?s better then then units costing 5 times as much.

Never had any problems with Zoom gear.

Never had a reason to contact Zoom.

This unit is not very flexible and some effects are useless or don?t sound that well, like the wha. Most patches are way over the top and need some tweaking. If it wasn?t for this inflexibility and weaker modulation and filter effects. The sound quality would have been a solid 10.

The G2.1U is very easy to use, also because the manual is very good (which is quite rare).
Editing patches is easy, using the drum machine is easy and even recording with Cubase LE on the computer is easy.
I had a very bad experience with a DAW and was reluctant to buy the Zoom. But I wanted a small unit with an integrated tuner and volume pedal to use live + something to easily record myself when I'm practicing at home. The nice thing is that these two things are combined in 1 pedal and that it's not expensive at all.

I used to have a Zoom 4040. A few months ago I bought a Korg PX4D to practice at home. I wanted a new thing for live usage + recording so I bought the G2.1U. Frankly, I am a bit dissapointed about the sound quality. The out-of-the-box sound quality of the Korg PX4D is much much better. But maybe I have to spend more time editing the patches.

Don't know yet. The good thing is that it has a metal case, so I hope it will be OK for live usage.

I play jazz most of the times (but I can rock too!). I needed a small effect unit with chorus+reverb+tuner+volume pedal for live usage. But also when you are practicing it is important to record yourself regularly to hear you good and bad points and I can do this with the Zoom too! And it's cheap!