Zoom GFX-1

Update to 2007 review

The more I use this thing the easier it is to program. I have learned to program the functions I use on this pedal. I have come with with some really good sounding patches. It is worth the time to tweak this thing, you can get some really good sounds if you have patience. Goes from just Ok out of the box to excllent.

Like I said in my previous review, The models sound good (Love the Fender clean and Marshall, Peavy is not bad either) and most of the FX sound good. Still not happy with the reverb. I use the delay on 2 and it works fine for me. Just don't expect to get an echoplex sound from it. I have stared messing around playing some Nu Metal and the pitch shift works good. Like 3 and 7 best. Sounds good in C or D tuning (think Korn) Still not using the ring mod (useless). One thing I found that is interesting is I was experimenting and used a universal mutli voltage power adaptor and found I can get a nice brown sound (Think Van Halen) by dropping the votlage. It did not harm the pedal and I did not electrocute myself with a EVIAC. I was able to drop down to like 5.5 volts before the pedal would not work. Got the idea because I liked the way the unit sounded when the batteries got low from use. I also aquired a vintage Virbochamp tube amp and this pedal sounds fantastic thru it. The OD sounds OK thru my soild state but rocks when I use the tube amp. The Key for me to getting a good sound from this is pedal was learing how to use the EQ and level settings. Read the manual because the EQ is kind of funky and using the cab sims.

I have several other pedals and use this one most along with my Boss CS-3 and Boss MD-2. For all this pedal is worth the money for the sounds you can get. Gave it 9 because the Reverb sucks but the Chrous sounds great ! (use Stereo)

2 years and still going strong. am now looking for a 2nd one just to keep as a backup, though I am doubtful I will need it. This ***** is as sturdy as a tank. Gets used almost every day. Good for marital Harmony ! The wife does not like to listen to the 130 Fender ! LOL
Use it with a Stereo head phone adapter from Radio Shaft. Sounds great and good for quiet solo practice.

No issues so have not had to call support.

I would buy another one in a NY minute if this one was ever lost or stolen. I love this pedal and it it easy to use/hookup.

Nice sounds right out of the box, easy to edit the basic functions, LOTS of other perameters alter the final sounds, can take a lot of twaeking to get it perfect, even better than it first seems. Really decent manual

frankenstrat and Peavey Classic, nice and quiet, noise gate adjustable, capable of just about anything BUT it needs a bit of time and the manual to get the best out of it. 7 out of the box, 9 when tweaked

very well made, dont jump on it and it will last. compact size and battery option make it gret for putting in the front flap of your gigbag.

Never contacted Zoom UK with this, previous experience with a Zoom 9002 was exemplary.

I play 70`s classic rock (clapton, zeppelin, lizzy) and modern blues. Ive been playing 35 years, this is a bit of an enigma, i bought mine as a stop gap between two expensive processors but ive still got it, everytime i tweak it i find something else and it just gets better. great into a valve amp. unless you are talking expensive analogue units this is difficult to beat.

Really small four button unit, metal construction, looks like a toy but........
Sounds ok out of the box, takes a long time to tweak and re-tweak, ive had mine about six months, into the clean channel of a valve amp side by side against some of the best analogue effects on the market this is brilliant. wont be able to emulate the sound of the top twenty best amps in the world BUT you can get half a dozen world class sounds out of it. I paid the sterling equivelent of $35 for mine. fits in the front pocket of a gig bag, will run off four AA batteries for 24 hours. I love it. rated 7 because its not easy to get the best from it.

Out of the box its a seven, its MUCH better into a valve amp than a transistor. after MUCH tweaking i can get perfect jangly chorus clean, nice spanky full fender type clean, nice smooth or gritty blues, malcolm young to a tee and a close to lukather type lead sound. it will do a decent rectifier type metal sound too. all the effects are quality HOWEVER tweaking the EQ on each patch requires the patience of a saint. Its worth it though. seven out of the box, nine with all the tweaking.

If youre 200lbs+ and stand on the switches they WILL break, if you press them like your car accelerator they wont. if you look after it is nicely built and reliable.

Havent had to contact zoom UK on this BUT i bought a used zoom 9002 and needed a new cover for it and they were spot on.

I play blues (travellin` riverside all the way to Gary Moore) and all the classic rock from clapton to lizzy to zeppelin to satriani. been playing 35 years, this is very, very good BUT it needs some patience to get the best out of it. I would rather have this and a laney vc30 or peavey classic 30 than ANY current modelling amp. I`m looking for another to have another play with the factory presets. Very compact and versatile. makes individual analogue boxes seem VERY expensive and limited. If i were Zoom i would revisit the format and update the amp modelling, its perfect at what it does for very little money.

Just got this cheap on an auktion and can just say WOW!
The 40 patches it comes with is very useable for all kinds of styles.
After trying out the patches for an hour I started to do some of my
own settings and then it hit me!! This little pedal is awsome and SO easy
to use. I play mostly blues/rock and for that kind of style this little baby just ROCK!
the manual was very easy to use as well. A retarded blind chimp can read it and
understand it.

I have tried several diffrent sounds and cant say any negative things about it. The chorus wwith the clean sound is quite warm. Since I don??t use flanger/phaser that much I cant say anything about it.
I use it with Xaviere XV-700 and out through a LINE6 Spider II 30w with some reverb
on the clean channel. Bass on 6 , midlle on 4 and treable on 6.

The metall the pedal is made of seems like it can take some pounding.

I have use several diffrent multieffects and stompboxes. (Korg, Ibanez and BOSS)
and I can honestly say that this little honey can do magic if youre looking for a easy-of-use and rugged pedal to use both live and in the studio.
Since it??s a few years old, you can get it real cheap.

This Pedal Is very easy to use and program. (I have the red one). The foot switches give instant access to 4 patches. I fooled with this pedal when I first got it for a couple of days to get the feel of it and then started tweaking away. Once I read the manual it was pretty easy to program. My only gripe is the lack of flexablity with some of the settings like rate and depth for chrous which is why I own a couple of other pedals in addition to this one.

I Like the idea also that I can play with just headphones and no amp which keeps my wife and 10 year old daughter happy. LOL

I own a Fender Ulimate Chrous 2-12 (120 Watts) and a Gorilla TC-35 pactice amp I use to play an Epi Les Paul Special II with a Duncan 59 at the neck and Duncan JB at the bridge through them. I also own a Morely power wah and a Boss BF-2 flanger as well as a Danelctro fab echo. I like the amp modeling on this pedal a lot. The Fender clean sounds very comparable to the clean channel on my Fender amp. Having also played through a lot of Peavy amps I like the Peavy modeling on this as well (great for 80's metal). To me it sounds like the Peavy 5150. The Marshall Amp modeling also sounds very good, though it is more a solid state sound than a tube sound. The Metal MT-2 Kicks Butt ! One thing I have found is try messing with the speaker cabs (Stack, Combo, Bright Combo) on the ZNR makes a big difference ! I like the distortion also on the GFX1 but don't care for the overdrive (sounds OK) or the fuzz (sucks). The acoustic sim sounds pretty good ! Ok now for the effects. I like the flanger even though there is a lack of settings and you can not get some sounds (Why I have the Boss BF-2). Try using F1 (Preset) with delay set on about 2 for playing Zep's Nobodys Fault But Mine. The Chrous Sounds really good and I can get it to sound very close to either of the built in chrous on my Fender amp (I use it when I play through the Gorilla).
I thought it sounded just O.K. until I listened to it in Stero with headphones. The reverb is complete garbage (There is nothing like Fender reverb). I use my Fender Reverb or use the delay set on 2 to achieve the sound I want. The Echo is OK as well as the Tremelo. The Doubling is also nice and the delay is not bad for a mutli pedal. I susually leave it set on 2. I do not really use the pitch shift, slow attack (though fun to play with) or ring mod. The Cry is fun and have been able to get the Dunlap sound for Bon jovi's Living on a prayer with it. The wah sound alirght, pretty good for funk ! I use my Morely most of the time instead.

My only big complaint is that no matter what I do I can not get this pedal to work with my ultimate Chrous ! I sounds like crap through either channel or either input or either effcts loop (stereo/mono)
(and yes I turned off the DSP). I think it may just be something with the amp itself (incompatibilty) as I have used the pedal on other Fender amps as well as Peav, Marshall, Vox and my Goriila and it sounds fine. If anyone has a found a cure. Please email me.

Built Like a Tank ! I have dropped mine several time and even kicked once on accident still works ! I know I will have this pedal for a long time. Metal Case is great !

Bought used, Was able to download manual on line ! :) Thanks Zoom !

Great for what I paid for it ! Wish some of the effects were a little better (Like Reverb)and greater effect control. Still better than sepnding a left arm on stomp boxes and easier to tote. Good work Zoom ! I am going to check out some their newer pedals. I would bu this again or another Zoom product if this one were lost/stolen.

This Pedal is very easy in use! When you first learn how to controll the patches and insert your own configurations, The fun can begin! All the effects can be Greatly adjusted. There is also a contour option on this board, which is quite cool.

When you learn the basics, You figure out the rest very quickly!

I play this board through a VOX AD30VT with a Epiphone Les Paul 100.
The first time i ever played with this pedal, I liked its RAW and Crushing Distortion which is great for soloing.

When i first fired up this Board with the "distortion" amp moddeling and some reverb (wich is quite basic for this pedal) I thought it was frigging awesome.

But As i got too learn the pedal better, I found out that: This pedal has a total lack of feel! You will not get close to any Tube Sound!

The reverb is really bad, And fades way too quick! All of the distortion amp moddelings are too stiff and it is hard to make them sound fine!

The eq is simply stupid, So you might want to buy a extra eq pedal or simply turn the inbound eq off.

Now this board is fit for some soloing, But ultimate riffing. But For its price, You get much cool stuff too. The Clean sound is awesome, and the aucostic simulation is ok. Loads and Loads of clean effects and many different pitch effects.

In all: This board will make a $100 guitar sound like a $250 guitar, Though it will make a $900 guitar sound the same! This Pedal is not fit for me as im getting better at guitar. When i first got it, i would give it a 10 without a doubt. But it aint fit for my style, but it rocks for clean!

I lost it down the stears once, worked just as good afterwards.
I would not use this on a gig since it doesnt warn you if the nbattery is low. It beggins acting weird and showing all theese weird numbers counting down. After this, it wont respond. It also locks up sometimes making it impossible to switch patches, banks and effects.


But theese problems doesnt occur often. For a small Clean gig, its up!

No big problems!

I play Metallica, Carcass, Acdc and Thin lizzy. This will get you some early Metallica, No carcass but much ACDC and Thin Lizzy.

I have been playing for about a year on electric guitar and a year on aucostic.

This Pedal has a good amount of moddelings and VERY big ammount of effects. But its lack of good distortion for riffs makes a bad for Metallica. Though its crunch, tweed and clean sounds is good!

its respectable ammount of programmable patches and effects as well as other values makes this a good pedal for the starters, But it is too little in the end!

This is my second review now that I have a year under my belt with this unit. Editing patches has become second nature, and the ability to adjust levels on the fly for the situation are priceless. The manual makes more sense if you take the block diagram into consideration and become intimate with what each of the effects, especially the amp modeling, actually does to your sound. My unit is one of the red ones, FYI. The more I use this unit the more I couldn't play without it. You can't get an easier to use or easier to configure device, in my opinion.

I hear and read some of the complaints and I'm not sure what the picky aspects are. I play a customized Strat using a combination of Seymour Duncan Hot Rails and Lace Sensor Holy Grail pickups running through a 120w tube Peavey Duel 212 amp. While the hot channel in the amp might produce the cool edge that only tube can produce, I spend 99% in the clean channel using the GFX-1 because of the variety in sounds. From Billy Idol to Judas Priest the edge is there especially if you tweak the amp modeling and EQ settings to get sounds that make you sound like you're switching guitars between songs!

The only sound quality that ISN'T present in the unit is an effective echoic delay. Since we were covering some 80's songs like Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran", there was a need so the only other pedal I use with the GFX is a DOD Delay.

I would disagree with the claims below that there is a tonal/EQ issue with this unit. I let another guitarist try it out and it became readily apparent that it was his axe that sounded like crap tonally, not the unit. This box responds well to a wide range of pickups and exemplifies the ability of better quality ones. With my Hot Rails pickup in the bridge position I can get some ear shredding sustain and high multiple overtones with the unit and the tube amp. If you've never tried this with a tube amp, you're missing out. I tried with my second amp, a Crate GFx-120 half stack and it doesn't make FET's sound anything more like a tube than their P-N junctions will allow.

Playing 80's-90's Alternative Pop Rock takes a plethora of sounds from strident Fixx sounds to metal. This unit allows me to program a full bank of 4 patches for each genre needed. Everything from "You've Got Another Thing Coming" to Issac's "Wicked Game" to "Message In A Bottle" can all be dialed in (thanks again BigJan!) right on the money.

Dependable? No doubt. I've had mine for over a year now and use only the AA batteries (red case unit) and they typically last about 30 hours of playing time.(that's using Duracells). The ONLY problem I've ever had was getting too active and toed one of the smaller programming buttons by mistake. The button got physically stuck down by the rubber being misaligned, fixed it and never another problem.

While no opinion, it was easy to d/l an owner's manual PDF from work so that I could work on some of the functions memorization, directly from their website.

I've played bass for 40 years and dinked with guitar on the side. 3 years ago I switched full time to guitar playing 80's to current Alternative/Indie/Ska Music. This unit allows me to minimize the floor clutter and to cover all of the multitude of guitar sounds, drastically different from each other, that I need to cover. Prior to this unit I tried to suffice with the 3 channel DSP in my Crate GFX-120 head, and it was like a huge load and handcuffs removed to use this unit. Asked if I would replace it, I already have. When the price dropped to $69 I picked up a second one and put it away should this one fail. I keep all of my patches logged into an Excel spreadsheet for easy recall should I need to enlist the second unit into action. Back up is a Red unit as well, lucky me.

I wasn't too keen on being effect dependent and toyed with several other options, none as easy and as convenient as the GFX-1. There isn't a style this thing can't duplicate with the only exception of a solid repeating echoic effect.

I got this after i have been using the ZOOM 505II for quite some time.
You will get used to the tweaking very quickly once you run thru the manual for about half an hour or so.

This baby has all the same sounds as the Zoom 505II. The only difference is it has more foot knobs or whatever you call it so you can access your patches very quickly. Definately meant for stage use. But one thing really gives me that slight disatisfaction...I find that the overall output and sound color and feel from this baby seems to be a bit lesser than my ZOOM 505II. Im not sure why..it's just that feeling you know...?

Very Reliable. Built like a Tank. Your 4 AA batteries could last more than 2 weeks on regular usage.

I've sent them an e mail once. They replied after 1 day or so. Pretty ok dudes I guess. I havent ask them some serious questions yet so we'll see

Value for money. You have all your basic needs to play for gigs, practice and stuff. Only set back is you can't really tweak into the micro details. And the Chorus sucks. But hey. for a very affordable price, you get what ypu pay for.

Generally easy to use. But editing the effect parameters is somewhat irritating. You have to push the "value" buttons back and forth many times to apply a change. You cannot use reverb and delay simultaneously. And you cannot set the delay time more than 37 miliseconds. That's a huge defect. And you cannot edit the feedback reverb or delay feedback levels either. You cannot edit many of the parameters as you like, there are just presets.

Sound quality is really good. Of course, it's not like an analog setup but i'm pretty sure the sound of gfx-1 would make happy many guitar player. it doesn't suck your guitar's characteristics too much. Overdrives and acoustic simulator are somewhat "not bad". I use fender strat and peavey amp. I can say i'm satisfied with the sound quality. Effect quality is ok.

Looks quite dependable. It has a metal foundation.

I play many kinds of music, from thrash to soft stuff. When playing hard material, then this pedal will work. But if you want to play progressive rock for example, then you will feel gfx-1 is inadequate for you. It's somewhat uneditable, and i hate that. But if i would compare this with a rp80 or rp100, these two cannot even get close to the gfx-1. but i wish it was more subtle. But considering the price, gfx-1 is one of the best pedals of its range, maybe the best one.

Easy to use. Easy to edit. The manual explains basic operation and effect type but the manual does not give any real depth on how to set up effects. This model does what it is designed to do... provide a modest range of effects at a entry level price.

I bought this for jamming after hours at work, practice at home and recording into a laptop with Cakewalk Sonar and M-Audio equipment. There are several decent sounds IMHO. Does it sound like a real amp in a live room? No. Does it sound good mixed with drums and keyboards? Not bad. Does it sound good in a pick up jam after work? Works for me. Excellent tone for me is Larry Carlton, Phil Keaggy and Duane Allman. I play a Washburn HB 35 or a Fender Strat through a 1963 or my 1964 Fender Champs. I can get close to those sounds with the GFX-1 in a recording mix. Can a musician with a critical ear tell the difference? Yep, without a doubt. Can the average listener while driving down the road listening to a recorded mix burned on a CD? Usually not.

The unit comes in two colors, red or purple. I have not A/B'd the two but I imagine some fidelity fanatics can tell the difference between the red GFX-1 and the purple GFX-1. I've been told that the red one has a more metallic edge to the distortions. I have not A/B'd this with batteries vs. a power supply either. I've been told by some that half used AA batteries sound best in the red GFX-1 while the purple GFX-1 gets a better tone with a wall wart power supply. Thank God I'm tone deaf enough to not have to worry about these critical aspects of my guitar sound. I can play guitar through the GFX-1 and have fun doing it.

This unit has some noise but the ZNR is adequate. There is some uneven volume changes at the tail end of sustained notes but generally it is not noticeable during normal playing. The GFX-1 does process the basic guitar tone. To get your guitar to sound like your guitar when running the GFX-1 takes some tweaking and in the end it still will not completely sound like your guitar when run through a good amp in a nice room without the GFX-1 in the signal path. So the GFX-1 does "color" your tone. This does not mean that you can't get a good tone, even a tone close to your guitar straight into a good amp. My experience with the GFX-1 is that there is some compromise. Perhaps the tone is a little "boomy" on the low end or a little "tinny" on the high end. The dynamics are not quite there either. But, I can get a good clean tone and then set up another patch for a crunchier sound. Exactly the same as my guitar straight into a good amp? No, but close enough.

I use a standard volume pedal (250K ohm audio taper potentiometer) wired into the "control" jack. I can not comment on how effective the Zoom model expression pedal is with the GFX-1. With my set up I can control the parameters assigned to the pedal but the range of sensitivity is very narrow. It would be nice if you could program or calibrate the pedal to the GFX-1 but you can't. The wah is weak and the narrow range I experience causes most pedal assigned parameters to be almost "all or nothing". My bigest gripe with the pedal is that it appears to control the volume after the delay. SO you can not get the nice volume sweels using the tails of the delay. My remedy is to use another volume pedal in front of the GFX-1. I do like the ability to control the amount of amplifier gain with the pedal. So I generally use it for that purpose only.

At this price point you get a fair amount of effects but limited "tweakability". For example, you can have a chorus effect. Your options are some chorus all the way to a lot of chorus. You do not get to tweak the chorus tone, or feedback or regeneration or mix level... just chorus, more chorus and a lot of chorus. Same for most of the other effects. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It is easy to use and somewhere between a little and a lot most people will find something they can use.

For my needs and playing situations it is fine. This unit is in a metal housing with metal 1/4 inch jacks bolted to the chassis. Nice. At this price most competitor's units are in some type of plastic case.

Never used Owned for 1 month.

I "grew up" in the 1970's. I live in Georgia so my playing is clearly influenced by the "capricorn sound" produced by the late Phil Walden. Allman Brothers lead me to the roots of blues, jazz and country. Dixie Dregs kicked it up a notch and exposed me to Mahavishnu, Di Meola and others. My taste runs to any style and instrument if the artist can write a song that conveys feeling, melody and musicianship. (Musicianship includes knowing when NOT to play)

I have owned or still own a J station, a Pod, a Korg AX1500 and a Tech 21 GT2. All of these units have good qualities and different price ranges. Each one does something better than the others.

The GFX-1 is not perfect but there are good sounds for the price and metal construction too.

The one thing I wish the GFX-1 had, and I would pay about $30.00 more for, is a MIDI or USB port so the effects could be tweaked in more depth using a software interface. This is not technically impossible and could be done and the unit would still be in the low cost tier.

The GFX-1 is a sturdy low cost multi-effects unit that is capable of getting good sound. It has limitations but if understood the unit can be used effectively either live or in a studio.