Zoom G2

this box os very easy to use if you have used zoom's other multi fx. But if your new to the world of zoom, it will take quite some time for you to get the hang of it. The manual provided is very easy to use and understand. just make sure to read it very carefully and after that no problemo!!

i am using a crappy no name amplifier (practice amp).ive used it for 2 months now and i was blown away with what it can do. Imagine i could get professional sounds from a crappy amp, what more if i play it with a marshall of mesa stacks. this is amazing...

there is a noise gate noise reduction options. basically there is no noise at all unless your pickups are single coils.

chorus is great. Flanger is nice and very flexible.delays are magnifico!!! I could even emulate incubus' pardon me.. Just combine flanger, delay and phaser and tweak it a bit then do wolume swells then set up a good distortion (peavey distortion, its good, pick it!! i've used it live and i was amaze by the crunch of this thing. I could get that chug-chug sound!!) and youll gonna be nailing it good!!

metal chassis and rubber cheeks.. very reliable, you could use it live!!

i dont know themu

i play mostly heavy metal and punkish tones. if you want to get chug-chug sound, buy this pedal. if you want to enjoy professional sounding effects, buy this pedal, very affordable.

Very difficult to use. It makes up for thel ack of individual knobs in its size, though. I love the super-compact size. It's the best part about it.

Un-freaking-believable. It sounds so good, it makes you wonder how in the hell they did it: 32-bit at 96-Khz sampling. I like the distortion the best. The modulation is the weakest part. No Small Clone or Small Stone sounds here, unfortunately. No Big Muff distortion sound, but every Boss or Ibanez distortion pedal you've ever had is in here.

Metal casing...very nice...built to last.

(Unknown)

It's the best little digital box you can buy, but a pain in the ass to program...four knobs to upwards of 16 different functions. I personally will just have to get used to that. I have always used Boss and Ibanez and Electro-Harmonix pedals. Digital stuff is new to me. If you are used to digital layouts and controls, this won't be a a problem for you. get it for the distortion sound alone, which is absolutely fantastic. Zoom truly amazes me in the sound quality department. The best 99 bucks a guitarist will ever spend. I like it and I'm keeping it.

The ZOOM G2 is a pretty intuitive product. It can be daunting at first and you might wonder what all the knobs and buttons are for. Do yourself a big favour and read the manual a few times over. The ease of use of this product hits you like a brick in the face afterwards.
Editing patches are quick and simple. Simply go to the patch list beginning with A0 and turn every effect off. After that, simply dial in whatever your heart desires.

I'm using this baby with a modded Godin Freeway Classic. I dropped a Carvin AP11 in the middle and a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge. I'm playing it through a Roland Cube 30.
Generally there is little to no noise unless you play through some interference such as a computer monitor. Other than that I haven't noticed much noise. Furthermore, the G2 has a soudgate and other noise reduction options if need be.
Many of the pre-loaded effects are unnecessary. They are over saturated with effects that I will never use. I recommend dialing in effects that you want and store them in a patch.

I play all sorts of music. I finally cane get that sweet clean palm-mute delay to a T on "Basement Ghost Singing" by Armor for Sleep. Also it is very easy to dial in a delay patch for "Bug Eyes" by dredg. In my opinion, the delay and reverb effects are the holy grail for such an inexpensive multi-fx pedal.
Wah/EFX are good. They aren't spectacular. Ring Modulator is interesting and a bit harsh, but anyone who's wanted that NES sound, you've got it.
Also, some criticize the Slow Attack. It's true it does feel like it picks up your strumming, but played with a quick response time and delay to cover up the hiccup, Slow Attack can get the chords of Pacelbel's Canon if you wanted. It's not suited for fast play, but then again that's why they call it "Slow" Attack.

I was a little concerned with the Drive section initially, I found what I was looking for in PV Drive. This little pedal can give you more sounds than the Metal Zone at equal or better tone. (I own the Metal Zone and believe it is very overrated) I think the Drive section is the Achilles heel of the pedal. Having said that you can still dial in competent tones, especially for the price.
I'm very happy with the mod/sfx section as well. Chorus is great, pitch shifter is excellent. The rest is very, very good. There are a few effects you probably wont use such as Step, Ring Modulator and Vibrato is not nearly as good as Tremolo, but generally the rest of the effects are capable of satisfying your needs.

This little number also comes with a pretty nifty drum machine. It sounds a bit pop-esque and kinda Michael Jackson-y, but there are over 40 different drum options to keep you occupied and you can switch the tempo very easily. If you want to jam with a friend and dont have a drummer or need a metronome, the drum machine does the trick.

Favourite effects: Slow Attack w/ Delay, Pitch Shifter, PV Crunch, Stereo Chorus, Spring Reverb.

I would gig with this pedal. It can work in a pinch if you cant afford anything better and it looks like it will last. It's built around solid metal casing and rubber sides. The knobs feel solid and so do the footswitches. I dont have any fear of this thing breaking at any moment or failing to work.

Never had to deal with ZOOM so I have no opinion.

There aren't enough reasons not to give this pedal a ten. The effects are generally superb, the ease of use is great, it's very sturdy and the sheer amount of options will keep you entertained for hours. For the money, there simply isn't another multieffects pedal that comes as such a full package. Some parts are flawed such as some distortion patches or the ring modulator, but just because it does so much, was above my expectations for $140, the amount options it has and how little I feel it does poorly, this little wonder receives a perfect rating. You will definitely find something to suit you in this pedal.

It's a snap ... especially if you've ever used their 505 or 505II boxes. The pre-programmed patches are great starting points for polishing your own sounds.

The manual demands some attention (and a reasonable fluidity in the English language) but is logical and graphically intelligent. The pictures help make sense of the many layers of possiblity in each patch.

(And NO ... I'm NOT a guy working for Zoom!)

The sound is KILLER! Clean and noise free with fast switches between patches and a very hi-speed internal data handling rate.

I don't understand the folks who don't give this G2 a great rating. I've played Zoom stuff since their original 505 back in the early 90's, and even then they gave WAY more for the money than any other stomp box out there. The 505II I got around 2000 was even better ... more places to put all your custom patches, and tremolo too!

This G2 is the best yet. All the massive sounds, options, and features of the earlier 505's but with ZERO background noise, smoother tone all around, and more places to fill up with your own custom sounds ... while keeping all the original factory patches as "reference" for further mods.

The only thing I've done with all my past Zooms is to re-arrange their patches into a more "logical" order ... which was especially necessary with the older 505's which always came up with "A1" for the turn-on sound. Why the heck did Zoom make that first sound a nasty, screaming distortion setting? Hey guys, most folks are NOT in a heavy metal band! So I've always re-programmed things for a nice clean Fender reverb sound at A1 startup, with more "normal" effects nearby, getting wilder and wilder the further you go away from home base. I also spend time setting all the volumes close to each other ... I hate surprises when I'm "shopping around" for a new sound. This is necessary with the G2 too.

But the G2 solves Zoom's "A1 problem" by turning on with the LAST patch you were using. Brilliant!

Solid steel frame and buttons, what's to go wrong? I never had any problems with their plastic 505's either ... but then I don't travel the road with a drunk thrasher band either!

Never needed it. Probably won't with this G2 either.

I'm an old picker ... been playing rock and jazz and country since the early 60's, starting with Ventures surf guitar. Still own the Fender Jazzmaster I bought in 1961 with way too many other toys added to the wall over the years. Ask my wife. I think some of these young players don't understand just how amazing their new toys are compared to the simplistic stuff we used in the "good ol' days" of the 60's and 70's.

As an engineer type, I've built and maintained my own gear since the days when transistors were "brand new." I know that tubes sound good and "warm" mostly due to their lack of high-end and over-pumped bottom end, so I know how easy it is to EQ anything into that kind of "tone." It's not magic ... it's how we fall in love with the imperfections ... like the dust and flicker of old movies that seem so "romantic" compared to much cleaner video material.

Replace if lost or stolen? Hey, I've bought THREE of these Zooms in the past 15 years just because I like 'em. One more would be a given.

Does it help make music? You BET! Every factory patch makes me PLAY in a different way. Then, when you've mastered the customizing possibilities, you can hone G2 patches into very expressive and transparent creative tools.

These Zoom computer driven chip wonders are astounding ... the most "bang for the buck" in the market. (So, Guitar Center, tell me again why you refuse to carry them...)

I read the manual online before trying it out at the music store. When I got to the music store it took about a minute to program my first patch.

I play a warmoth strat with a dimarzio air norton in the bridge and virtual vintage single coils in the neck and middle positions. My strat > jekyll & hyde overdrive pedal > Zoom G2 > Peavey Delta Blues. It is dead quiet even with the noise gate off. The noise gate is only needed for super high gain sounds. The effects are top notch. My only complaint is that I have not found an overdrive that I really love. The clean and high gain sounds rock.

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I play everything from Pop to Jazz to Metal. This pedal is a good match because it is very versatile. I have been playing for 16 years. I also own a yamaha DG Stomp which is awesome but lacked some of the effects this unit has... i.e. pitch shifter, noise gate....and the high gain sounds are tighter on this unit. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it. I love it's size and the price is unbelievable. It's worth a lot more money. I wish the expression pedal would control more than one parameter at a time. My DG stomp controls up to eight at once.

Fairly easy. You MUST read the manual sice the display is very criptic. But keeping the book around for reference ease things a lot.

I suppose a larger display would rise the price but it's a shame nevertheless. Not the end of the world by any means though.

Somewhat easier than my old GFX 707, the modules are more inmediate thanks to the rotary knob.

One thing that I'm not sure I like is the cab emulator settings on every patch, for me a global cab emulator would be better, but I suppose having those in a per patch basis gives you more possibilities.

Other than that this little wonder is really easy to program... once you read the manual.
Talking about the manual, it's fairly concise and right to the point. Not a problem with it.

I have a switch pedal connected to mute/unmute the unit, stepping at the two switches at the same time tend to change the preset before muting and is a little awkward with the switches small and apart.

I own a Washburn Lyon Series guitar (two single coil and a humbucker in the bridge), connected to a Jim Dunlop CryBaby, Boss Metal Zone, Zoom G2, to a splitter DI: one end to a Laney TF-200 combo and the other end to a mixer and PA. The Laney combo has a volume pedal and Boss Digital Dealy in the effects send/return.

Well, at first this baby sonded really dark to me. I mean I got to switch the bright on on the amp to get the distortions to "shine"... no good, I was so disapointed, I was considering taking it back to the store. Then I try it through the mixer... another story!! and the cab emulation is terrific for the size and price of this baby.

Then I realize that all the distorions have a tone control with a defaul value at 5/10, which make it sound somewhat dark when connected to a cab, or a least with mine.
Crank the tone value up and voila!! :) Now the sound through the Laney combo sounds MUCH better.
Now we are talking!! a little touch of EQ and you probably will get the tone you are after!
Granted, you shall not trust the presets, you need to program from scratch this baby to make it sound like you want. For me at least.

The effects I think are awesome, a lot of amps to choose and they are very good. Obviously not EXACTLY like the real thing, but for this price, believe me, you can't go wrong.

I wanted to get a sound like the Metal Zone, a little hard at first before realizing the distortion module tone control, but after that, fairly easy with some tweaking with the EQ. I can't make it sound exactly like the MT-2 obviously because the G2 doesn't have a parametric EQ which is what makes the MT-2 (metal zone) so special, but I got a really close sound. Very nice. The MT-2 stays in my setup though: the low end is bigger and fatter in the MT-2. The G2 with the EQ low freq at max can't get those bass frequencies...

The modulations are very good, so the reverbs. Like some one else said, good for a gig or for a quick recording but you will need to turn those effects off of a professional recording. Engineers have much better stuff at their disposal.

Noise.... noise?? are you crazy?? this thing is the quietest effect I ever had. Of course if you use a high gain module and you try to play with single coil pickups you WILL get a lot of noise, but that's how those pickups work, it's not the G2 fault. With a humbucker or "humbuckered" single coil duo there is no noise. Zero. I try to play the G2 through the high gain channel of the Laney amp with the gain at max and the noise was not higher than without the G2 connected: IM-PRE-SSIVE!!!

IMPORTANT: A little note on DAW: if you (like me) still use a CRT display and play your guitar near it, or happen to have a TV set near you (when turned on, of course) it will induce a lot of noise, specially with single coil pickups and high gain modules (distorions, amps with high gain), the only solution is to turn the monitor off (at least while recording), or replace it with a LCD type which doesn't induce noise.

That said, I must say this little baby is incredible for this price range.

I think is very dependable, is very well build. On a gig I will have a spare probably not because I think this may fail, but because always there are things that can go wrong. You should always have double equipment if possible.

Never dealt with them.

I play progressive rock.
I think the G2 transcend music styles, I think you can play almost anything with this thing.
Is simply amazing, theres nothing quite like it (yet).
If were stolen or lost I think I will bought one again, or maybe upgrade to a better model, you know with a better display :)

Very easy to get a good sound out of the g2.
Easy editing for patches BUT you will spend some time editing. The pre-set patches are OK. You'll find yourself editing over them quickly but the factory settings can be restored if you want.
Manual is very useful and easy to follow.

I'm playing a samick through this plugged into a crate mx20rc and also an ampeg gemini 2.
Haven't had any trouble with any noise. no buzz or hums. nothin
I'd have to say that the effects are pretty strong. the problem here is that you really need to pay attention to the settings on your amp as well as the settings for the EQ on the pedal. this is the part that makes the editing a little time comsuming. Some of the effects I will probably never use but they're there just in case.
I've been able to get some good sounds out of it when it comes to diffrent bands. I like heavy metal so the Megadeth sound is easy and of coarse the Metallica sound is easy to get. You can get the sound of system of a down out of this too. I havent been able to not simulate a sound of a band YET.
Haven't found a bad effect yet but I use just a few like chorus, flanger, phaser. WAIT!!!!the WAH is a little weak but this isnt a wah pedal either. want a good wah? buy a pedal dont use this if you want a good wah effect.

this thing is made out of steel!!! its been very dependable.
Havent giged in several years BUT if i still was i wouldnt without a back up. i'm not saying its not reliable thats just how i am.

no problems to complain to them about

Like i said earlier I play heavy stuff. with the diffrent distortion effects and cab simulations like a mesa boogie and marshall its a good match to what i play.
Been playin for 18 yrs have owned several digitech pedals and was turned on to this by the local music shop. listen to the zoom and then the digitech rp50. the zoom blowed the digitech away.
If it were stolen i would buy another.
I've said a lot of good things about the zoom but i gotta say the one thing i don't like about it. there are only to switches for going through the patches 4 would've been better.
i've already typed way too much but if you've gotten this far go buy the g2 you wont regret it.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? Several of the presets are very good, but to really narrow down on what you want, expect to spend a couple hours learning how to program and safe your own settings.

How about Editing patches? Again, alocate a couple hours for learning the device and you'll be set.

How is the manual for it (if there is one)? Good manual, fairly short and to the point.

My rating is 9/10 because I'm used to working with alphanumeric text displays instead of just 2 LED readouts, but they make total sense once you learn the "code."

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
Mostly through studio headphones or a cheap 10-amp practice amp. Makes the amp sound much bigger.

Is it noisy? On what settings?
Very quiet, high-resolution sound. The changeable noise gating is also excellent.

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
The distortion is better than most digital models you've heard, but not the same quality as analog pedals or professional (studio-quality) effects. However, some of the effects really are excellent...

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
The chorus, phaser and flanger effects are top-notch. Reverb is good enough for live guitar, but don't use it in a studio setting or the engineers will take the G2 away from you. The G2's distortion settings are quite good for a digital unit (probably thanks to the high-resolution sampler) but don't throw away your vintage pedals. Still, for about $100, you can't expect to sound *exactly* like Clapton, Metalica and Floyd. Close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades though.

Can you depend on it?
Seems very well built with a metal chassis and rubber ends. Switches and dials feel like quality stuff.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Yea, but a paltry $100 will get you a second unit - why risk stopping the show? Get a second one if you love the pedal and play out.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
Never needed customer support.

Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired?
No, haven't needed to.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
I'm just a beginning guitarist (a semi-professional keyboardist stretching his wings) so I just need something to sweeten the sound a little while I practice fingering & strumming. The G2 more than meets that goal. The built-in drum machine is perfect for rhythm practice. Generates ideas too - easy to plug in the guitar, G2 and headphones and have a ball.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
Guitar for 2 months, keyboards for 20 years. My guitar is an entry-level Brownsville strat copy. The G2 makes it sounds better than it is, which is encouraging while I see how far into this geetar thing I want to go.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
Yea, sure would get the same thing (or upgrade to the built-in pedal version).

What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
I love the sounds quality, great construction, easy programming, drum machine, battery power, included AC adapter and tons of effects and modeled amps to chose from. The distortion could be better (tubes and vintage pedals have no fear), but that's not my primary use anyway. Others may be perfectly happy with the distortion through, recognizing that I may not know how to play well with it yet.

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
I looked at the Digitechs, Korg and Line 6 products in this price range and decided on this one, mainly because of its solid construction and full feature set.

Anything you wish it had?
Stereo MP3/CD input and center channel canceling would make it more versitile as a "guitar karaoke" device.

Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
Definitely helps me learn and have fun. It's just so darned easy to stuff the G2, two patch chords, my guitar and headphones in a bag and be ready to plink around anywhere. And all for a hundred bucks!

Very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. It comes loaded with 40+ sounds right out of the box, you don't need to adjust anything to start playing. The built in tuner is a great feature too.

Manual is very comprehensive too. I won't give it top marks for ease of use because something with this many features isn't going to be as simple to use as a single effects pedal.

I've played this with a dean guitar and a marshall amp. On some distortion settings it seems to cancel noise, to the point that when you're picking very lightly you can feel the line where the pedal decides the note you played was too soft to be intentional, and won't amplify it. This is great in some ways as it masks minor mistakes, but a but frustrating in others. Mind you there's not that much music I can think of which calls for distortion & very light picking so I suspect it's really a non-issue.

It has a ton of preset sounds, I haven't even needed to experiment with custom ones yet. Has many different distortion tones ranging from a slight distortion through to the "big wall" which is a massively fuzzy distortion.

Clean sounds are very good too, with some very warm tones with a nice ring and echo.

I haven't found any effect on here which I feel is lacking, and if a sound isn't quite what you're after, you can simply copy that sound to the user memory bank and then tweak it to your liking.

From all the photos I saw of this pedal online, it looked like it was plastic, and quite big. It's surprisingly small compared to what I expected, and was very pleased to see that it's made of metal with rubberised edge pieces. The foot switches feel very sturdy, and the adjustment knobs feel pretty good too. I think this pedal could take a few knocks, the only thing I'd be concerned about would be stepping hard on the adjustment knobs. Haven't had a single problem with it since I've owned it (about 3 months).

Haven't dealt with them.

I'm still a novice player but play several styles including rock, blues, classical/fingerpicking.

I've found sounds on this pedal which suit all of the above for my liking.

I'd definitely buy this same pedal again if it was stolen or lost.

Favourite feature has to be the fact that it comes preloaded with so many sounds. You can start using it immediately.

I compared this to a couple of digitech pedals and this one seemed to have nicer features, including a harmonized pitch shift. The drum machine/metronome on this one is ok too.

Considering it's the price of one or two stomp boxes, I don't think the average player could go wrong with this pedal. You get a vast amount of different sounds out of it, and it's one unit vs. having several stomp boxes with their own link cables and power adapters.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of this thing?Let's put it this way...a trained monkey with 2 fingers would have no problem..

Im currently using this pedal with a Gibson 84 Flying V and Les Paul Special,noisy?With 120 dec.dynamic range i think not.If it werent for the leds i wouldnt know if this baby was on or or not.Let's start on how much money you save with this pedal.It is by far the most technically evolved of all the"bang for your buck" pedals out there.Not one comes close.Not even Digitech.But you have to play this thing through Roland amps to get EXACTLY whatever make and model amp you want.I'm a profesional world class guitarist,currently with the band Duel,and i don't rely on tube amps because there is AALWAYS something going awry with them(and i cant stand that midrange mud you play through without the amp being fully cranked)i had a jcm 900 for a while.The power amp blew and i had to replace 3 tubes within 1 WEEK of having the p.o.s. Anyways,here's how much money you save:power brake-$199marshall 900 head-$1,299 peavey 5150-$999 mesa rectifier-$2000 noise gate$99-$200 world class 32 bit effects-$1000's.I'm in my early 30's now and back when i started out in the late 80's,i had an ART rackmount,Digitech rackmounts,T.C. rackmounts etc.and the effects are just as good.When you want to channel swith THERE ARE NO DROP OUTS,you get your next sound in a millisecond.

It seems pretty sturdy and reliable.And forget about filling up the van with outdated rackmount $%^& and useless junk pedals......

Not yet.......

First,if your in a gigging band don't ever come to Jamestown N.Y.,there is no music scene here (as the town is dominated by cops,vagrants,and the spirit of Lucille Ball)The only musical entertainment around here is a drug-addled band called Synergy who people pay NOT to play.I enjoy playing respectable venues,as i need the right gear to get me through every gig.With this pedal and a Roland JC120 coupled to a Marshall 4-12 cab,i can sleep well at night without worrying about my sound.Keep an eye out for "Uncle Bob" Lindbeck yall!Some people have said i make Zakk Wylde look like $%^&(but shhhhhhh,thats our little secret,i love Zakk and Randy,and i have no ego like those gerbil &^%$#@ elitist tone snobs)peace!