Zoom G9.2tt

Great sounds right out of the box, some editing is tricky (for me), but read the manual a couple of times and you'll get it down, REALLY versitle!!! Extra assignable/programmable pedals are the best thing since sliced bread!!!

Use with a B52 AT212 or Boogie Nomad 212 100 combos and it sounds killer with either. Only downside I could find are the wah simulations. Just can't tweak them enough to sound right so I'm using an external Crybaby 535 since my OLD DeArmond weeper went out on me. Also wish I could get that "strings" sound that my Boss GT-6 gets.

Here's where it's hurting. After about one year, the right pedal started to get this loud "squeak". After numerous messages left and emails written to Zoom, they finally told me to return it for repair since there is nobody authorized in metro Atlanta GA. Rather then packing it up and paying $20. shipping, I decided to take it apart myself to check out. Amazing what a little WD-40 can do!!!! BUT! One month later the #2 footswitch went out completely and again numerous phone calls and emails finally got me an RMA # to return to factory for repair so I shipped it right away. THREE WEEKS LATER I still have not received it so 2 more phone calls I got a guy who told me repairs should take 4 to 6 weeks from day of receipt!!!

See RELIABILITY above! They are BAD...Nice guys but the service is SLOW SLOW SLOW!!! Still waiting so I am glad I didn't sell my GT-6 which I am rediscovering.

I'll play just about anything from country to metal and everything in between. Been playing about 30 years and have the BOSS GT-6 and a gazillion stompboxes, an original Line 6 AXYS, and misc. vintage heads, cabs, and combos. Main Axes are an older Parker Fly Deluxe, 69 Paul Goldtop with mini 'buckers and an Ibanez 540S LTD w/ Dimarzios. If it got stolen I would definetely shop for another brand. Been looking at zoom drum machines but after this I will have to go with Boss. I LOVE the sound and versitilty and especially the dual pedals but the reliability is just not there. I shopped ALL the other multieffects before buying this. Really do love it but it is way too FRAGILE...

This unit is pretty simple to use when it comes to editing patches. There are several amp models. Combine this with a ton of tone-shaping controls (3 band EQ, presence, lo-mid, harmonics, etc.) you can come up with any sound. Zoom even took the time the describe each amp model with their actual real-world counterpart names a separate sheet. Needless to say, the manual is good. I didn't even read the whole thing, I just read as much as I needed to understand how to start creating patches. And they aren't kidding about the save speed, this thing saves your patches instantly. The USB output is nice, except I have Windows Vista and getting the drivers to work was too much of a pain. Besides, I prefer the sound of the unit through my amp and mic'd rather than the built-in cab simulator, which I find muddies the sound.

I've used a PodXT Live before and the only thing I prefer on the PodXT are the larger "pad" buttons which are easier to tap with your foot on stage as opposed to the little stomp buttons on the Zoom G9. Also, the unit is tremendous (2 feet wide!) because of the extra pedal. Also, the placement of the Channel A/B switch can cause you to easily misstep and hit a separate bank...

My amp is a Marshall AVT20 with a replacement tube and a new Eminence Ramrod speaker. People say that you should use MFX with a flat-response amplifier like a keyboard amplifier, but I actually really love the sound of it through the AVT. A lot of people don't like AVT's, but running this through the clean channel sounds great in the bedroom or for recording.

Lately I've been playing Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, and Dream Theater stuff and you can land all those sounds on this.

At first, I played mostly with the hi-gain models. The 5150 model is very "thrashy" and gives a lot of feedback. Harmonics are easy, but its way too dirty for me. The Marshall JCM models sound nice too, but my favorite model for distortion must be the ENGL model. You can get a wonderful all-purpose crunch sound without getting too dirty and it palm-mutes well.

The clean settings are excellent. There unit has built in reverb, chorus, and delays so you can really layer your clean tone if you're into that. There are models for Fender Twin Reverb, Bassman, Roland Jazz Chorus, VOX, etc. There are also slightly overdriven Fender and VOX models simply called US Blues and UK Blues, which I assign as Channel B of my clean tones. Works great. I'm not the type to try to exactly match the tone of my favorite players, but this gets me pretty close and what more could you ask for?

It comes with many presets of specific artists, but I haven't touched them. I start tweaking right away. As for noise, there's built in Noise Reduction can make your guitar dead silent based on the threshold you set, but I turn it off because it kills the sustain. But its there if you want it...

I do use this at gigs without backup, but only because I can't afford more than one! I bought a cheap case for it from Rondo Music because it would suck if this thing messed up. Its pretty tough except that one of the knobs fell off while it was in the case I bought for it. Not too big of a deal since it went right back on. Otherwise, this thing is a tank. I bring this everywhere now, despite its size simply because I can get great tones easily with any guitar or amp. If I ever purchased a backup, I would probably get the G7 because I never use the extra pedal on the right (nor do I use the Z-axis functionality).

Never dealt with Zoom, never had to.

I play whatever I'm enjoying at the moment, whether it be progressive metal, blues, rock, funk, whatever... this handles it all. It is equally adept at handling hi-gain models as well as clean models.

I've been playing for 7-8 years. I replaced all my stompboxes with the Zoom because I didn't like tap-dancing on stage. I have an Ibanez RGT42DXFM with Evolutions, Epiphone Les Paul Standard with Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB, and my amp is a Marshall AVT20 with an Eminence Ramrod speaker.

If this were lost/stolen, I'd be very pissed and I'd probably have to raise money to buy another one. I love the versatility and variety of tones you can get and I love that it replaced a multitude of my other gear (tuner, recording interface). I wish the channel A/B switch was easier to hit. I don't care for the Z-axis pedal. I've tried a POD XT Live and I prefer the Zoom to it because it sounds much more natural and organic compared to the POD.

I don't understand how some guys saying this thing is just fair to middling. So far I never got a tool with such easy to use effects. You easily put it on, pick a Bank and an effects set and then start to take off. Modifying the presets the same manner. Select a bunch of effects by pressing the according button in the effects block, check the details by turning the right knob in the detail block and thats it. Than it may be important to put the controll of one or more effects to one of the 2 pedals. Nothing easier! Press the pedal button and select the preferred effect with preferred control parameters. Now store it down to one of the user presets. Than get started. And thats only the hand operated part. With the MIDI interfaces and a notbook or something like this and the provided application, all settings are in perfect overview.
Reading the manual is nearly unnecessary. Nevertheless if you have to, the manual is very easy to use.

Don't get me wrong! But my rapture for this thing is almost unlimited. For example the Marshall JCM 800 not only sounds is very close to the original but also during the act it feels like the original - perfect! The same to the ENGL or VOX AC30 Sound. Same to the effects. The Delay delays, Flanger flanges and the others do what they should do. No particular howlers.
I play it directly to the music stand with a DI box in between and a speaker simulation (4x12). The capacity is like a real tube amp, however without the well known dubbing problems.

I've got the impression of a very robust chassis. The buttons and knobs too. The pedals are looking a little bit fragile. However during the up to now appox 50 gigs there are no damages.

So far (1 year) I didn't need it.

My favorite style is Rock and Heavy metal. Sometimes a little bit Jazz and Folk. For this and in considering of size, weight and price its the ultimative hard worker on stage. I'm now playing the rock guitar since 12 years and the ZOOM G9.2tt definitely helped me to become a more soulfull player because of the abundant great sounds and effects. For me: Classic Tops and Amps are out.

I give it a 5 on ease of use, because of the many settings and tweaks you can do with this one. If you like to experiment with dialing in a multitude of sounds, then you will love this unit. If you just want to plug and play, then you're in for a bit of learning curve.

I've owned a PodXt (biggest hunk of junk I've ever heard) and have played Digitech RP350A and Boss ME-50, and this thing blows them all out of the water. I was easily able to get real tube tone of it (well duh, it does have 2 tubes inside) and emulate the best hard rock sounds. In fact, and I'm being totally serious about this, I took it to my rehearsal room that I rent and cranked it through the clean channel of my Randall stack. After I finished jamming, someone was waiting outside the door and said "oh, I'm sorry, I thought George Lynch was rehearsing inside." I got embarrassed but just said "thanks, I wish". (I later learned that George used to rent rehearsal space at this place, so that could explain the mistake)

Like I said above, I've cranked this thing flat out for hours at a time and have never had a problem with it. I imagine the tubes will need to be replaced eventually, but I can't foresee any other issues with it. I will use it at gigs.

Never had to get support for it as of yet.

No matter what style you play....blues, country, surf, hard rock, nu-metal...this thing can dial in any sound you've heard on album or in your head. But you gotta be patient with it due to its many setting possibilities.

This is not a review, but a response to one reviewer who expressed that he could not find a gig bag or case for the G9: I had the same problem. There is no official case or gig bag, and the G9's dimensions are unusual enough that nothing seems to fit it well.

However, after 10+ hours of searching, I found a gig bag that fits it just about perfectly. It is a gig bag for a midi keyboard called the "Edirol PCR30." Many sites (American Music Supply, Zzounds) have the wrong picture posted for this product. Sweetwater has the correct picture posted and that's where I bought mine from. It works great and runs for about $40.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PCR30Bag

Some of the pre-sets are over-effected and would need tweaking. To get the best out of this effects unit you do really need to read the manual and dial you're own tone in. Then editing patches clicks into place and is an absolute cinch. The manual itslf is very readable and simple to understand. Once I started to see what the capabilities of the unit are, I wanted to read the manual anyway to make the most of what it offers.

I am using this with a 7-string Washburn fitted with an 81-7 and 70-7 and a PA2 booster, a Peavey 5150 head and a Marshall 1960 4x12 cab. This is for gigging and recording.

It is possible to get the sound of your favourite artists, using the amp simulations, without too many problems. For me this means Dimebag, Hetfield etc. This unit is infinitely tweakable, possibly even too tweakable. You could spend a lifetime fiddling with the knobs, making very fine adjustments. But I love that about it.

The distortion affect of the dual rectifer and diesel amps are great for 7-strings, picking out the harmonics that other amps can't. This unit is great for metal, which I what I use it for, but I reckon it'd be equally good for for any other style, which I have tinkered with.

The chorus, modulation patches are all to a very good standard and ver useable. I haven't yet come across an effect it doesn't do well.

This unit is amazingly silent even at gig volume - the noise gates on it are fantastic and the ZNR is great for leadwork when you need sustain.

I haven't had it long enough to comment on this but I will be using it without back-up so we shall see.

No need.

I've been playing guitar for nearly 20 years and have built up a huge collection of effects pedals in that time. I have now sold ALL my individual pedals because with this multi-effects unit I just don't need them. I spent many months reading up on multi units before deciding to buy this one and I couldn't be happier with the performance - it is above and beyond my expectations. I also considered a Line-6 XT Pro, a Korg 3000, Boss GT8 amongst many others.

I love the fact that it looks the dogs bollox, before you even switch it on. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't come with a gig case and as far I can tell it isn't possible to buy one for it, although I am still looking.

My favourite feature is the energiser and accelerator tubes which add real warmth to your tone - just don't overdo it.

It makes producing my tone and switching between sounds much much easier. I play metal and this unit is perfect for the sound I want. If it was lost or stolen then I would replace it (and kill the person who nicked it if I ever found them).

Anyone who can't get a good tone with this piece of kit needs their head examining.

I have two guitar effects before this unit came,BOSS ME-50 and Pod XT, so I find easy to get the tones that I wanted.

I have to say that the Zoom G9.2tt has a much better sound quality to Pod XT, BOSS ME-50 and even Boss GT-8. My friend has BOSS GT-8 and I found that the distortion effect of GT-8 is quite weak (rather thin). Zoom G9.2tt has this rich sound to it when playing metal. For Amp modelling, ofcourse you cannot compare to the real thing like the tube amps but it sounds way better than other multieffects can provide like GT-8, or Pod XT(I previously owned one). Overall, I am very impressed with this unit and it costs way cheaper than Pod XT Live or a GT-8.

It feels solid.

Never have to deal with the Zoom people.

I would give this unit a 9 for its tone and ease of use. I can get alot of tones that I really like eventhough some of the tones are not applicable to the kind of genre that I am playing. I am happy with it..:)

I DO NOT USE ANY OF THE AMP MODELS AND I DID NOT BUY THIS UNIT FOR AMP MODELS.
This is my 2nd review of this unit since I???ve now been using it for over 6 months. I am running this unit into a Rivera R-55 and using the Zoom as a pre-amp controller. For $400 it is a good deal when considering what you can do with it even if you turn the amp models off. This is a quality unit made by someone who understands guitar players. Here are some features that I think make it a good unit:

1. Gain booster for twin channel amps. You can use the input and internal volumes to get all kinds of gain boost if you want. You do not need distortion boxes with this unit if you are running into a twin channel amp with gain knobs. I am overdriving my Rivera with this unit and I have some of the warmest overdrive imaginable. Very similar to EVH brown sound. You can also use the EQ settings as a gain booster.

2. You can use the patches to store all kinds of different patches, as you desire. Each patch can have its own volume as well so you can have pre-set volume/gain boost settings and switch by changing patches. You can make patches specifically for your clean channel and specifically for your distortion channel.

3. Volume pedal. Works great!

4. A/B channel switch: You have A/B channels in each patch. I set the EQ for Humbucker/Single coil sounds. All I have to do is switch the channel and I get a different EQ in the same patch. It sounds like I???ve just changed guitars.

5. Wah-Wah: I like it. It???s probably not as good as some separate units, but most people will not know the difference and it is programmable.

6. Noise gate: This unit has a nice one.

7. Compressor: You can set one of your patches to have some compression and get nice sustain if you want.

8. Whammy: You can have a nice whammy with this unit.

9. Tremolo: You can also have a tremolo that is controlled by one of the expression pedals.

10. The reverb & delays are nice. If you run this through your effects loop, you can do stereo effects. But the amp models may not work properly in this set-up.




Unlike the review below this one, this unit did not color my sound. I tested this many times while working on my sound and I find this unit to be very transparent. I turn all the speaker simulator stuff off.
The only other effects device I use is a delay that I run into the effects loop. I could use this unit for my delays, but effects sound better in the effects loop.

Overall this device works well with my Rivera amp and I have good tone with this set-up. If you buy this unit, maybe try from someone who can let you return it.

I have been playing guitar for 34 years and my current sound is by far the best I???ve ever had. And this unit is a large part of it.

Is fairly easy to set up and get good sounds, but when editing it can be hard to know what your original settings are since the 'E' comes up if anything is changed. Is also very touchy as the four main knobs are overly sensitive.

You can get great sounds, but it is very finicky when used with a tube amp. I use a Mesa/Boogie Mark II and it is easy to go overboard with the tube pre- and post sections.

This is where it failed BIG TIME for me. The vacuum switches began to fail only a couple months after buying it, especially the up/down bank switches (of course the ones you need the most for live use). They also began squeaking very loudly. Then one of the patch ones began to fail. You could step on them repeatedly and they would do nothing. Sent it back to Sampson and had them replace all switches. Took them over five weeks to fix it and they had the nerve to tell me only one of the switches was faulty. It was sent back in the same box I sent it with but with no packing material! I got it back a month ago and am still having problems with one of the bank switches. Played a gig last night and had to step on it repeatedly to get it to switch banks.

Overall they were way too slow and did not follow up at all on something that is pretty expensive and crucial for a working musician.

Overall rating is that it is a great product (much better sound than the GFX8 I had before) but is made with cheap components that are unacceptable for live situations.

Its fairly easy to use and get around. Some EQ parameters are difficult to adjust because the controls are scattered all ofer the board. Its difficult to know what a patch controls, especailly the foot controllers. The LED is very limited. Editin patches are easy too. The problem herer is that there are many things to take into account to get the sound you may want. The manual is okay for the most part. I did notice that it doesnt tell you where the tuner is located in the signal chain. I think the firmware version is 1.02 and it has not been upgraded sinc I purchased the unit 3 months ago in January 2007.

I the unit has some pluses and minuses. On the plus side is that it does have decent AD/DA converters and sampling rate. Not much complaints about the digital noise due to conversion and bandwidth limitations. It has all the effects and controls that one would evere want and they sound very decent when the unit is used generically.

On the minus side there are many things that are troublesome to me. The preamp models are okay but to me they do not have the dynamics that a real amp would have. You cannot control overdrive or distortion with your guitar volume or pick attack like that of an amp. The unit also colors your guitar tone. Even with everything off when the unit is in your amps effects loop you can hear the difference when you switch the amp loop on and off. The preamp section colors the tone more than the effects section. I wish there were a way to have the model section on without and amp selection to take advantage of some of the preamp controls. Since I dont find much use for the preamp models the input tube isnt that impressive. The ooutput tube selection is also not much use to me either. Besides, you cannot change the settings from patch to patch anyway which is a big limitation in my book. The units effects loop is verry noisey and has very limited headroom. The I/O amps in that section are subpar. It is very difficult to control the volume of this unit between patches and even in the same patch. I have heard my unit change in volume, on the same patch, without changing andthing, over time. This is annoying and unsatisfactory. I think its the preamp section (tube).

I would like the I/O section to be improved so that an amps preamp can be used in the effects loop of the pedal (4 cable method). Right now its too noise and verry limited. As stated above the preamp section should have a selection where you can select no preamp and use it with the preamp controls such as the stomp boxes. You should be able to move the pedal loop anywhere in the preamp chain or in the intire effects chain for that matter. In addition to being noisey, the effects loop has very little headroom and is easily overdriven. Maybe its has inferior I/O amps and AD/DA converters in this section.

I have tested and tested the unit in many different configurations using a Marshall TSL 100 and a B-52 AT100 and received similar results.

I first used the entire unit in front of the amps and tried out all the presets and preamp models. Like I said above, I didnt like the lack of dynamic control of the preamp models so I wanted to try my amps preamps (both sound great with dynamic control from clean to distortion with your guitar volume)in the preamp section of the Zoom. Turned off the Zoom preamp and this setup sounded okay but the noise and the limited headroom (can we say digital distortion) made this unusable. Too bad too as this configuration would allow me to use the Zoom's cool pre-preamp effects before the amps preamp and the cool modulation, delay and reverbs after.

I then placed my amps preamp in front of the Zoom, going out the loop send of the amp to the input of the Zoom. The output of the Zoom went to the loop return of the amp. This, I learned was limited in that all the cool effects such as WAA, Phaser, Compression, and those that sound cool befor the preamp, sounded terrible. This is also where I experienced problems controlling the volume of the Zoom. You could never know what level the Zoom would be at. This was very annoying as I chased this problem for weeks and couldnt figure it out.

My current setup is my amps preamp, out of the amp effects send, into the effects loop return of the Zoom and out of the Zooms out put back into the amps effects return. This setup sounds real nice as I have pretty decent sounding modulation, delay, and reverb. Althought I still have a headrooom issue at times and I cannot use any other part of the Zoom except those thre effects.

It seems pretty sturdy. I dont like the volume swells.

I have tried to contact them via their website and havent heard from them.

This thing would be excellent to me if the above issues were resolved. Its a pretty cool toy for some but does not have the flexability that I need or want. This pedal is the closest thing to my utopian pedal but just not there yet. The GT-8 was also close, but it has its own issues. I would rather zoom, or any pedal manufacturer, pay more attention to the effects, I/O, flexability, and overall sound of a pedal instead of modeling amps and preamps. These models are not there yet either.