Zoom GFX-1

use default patches or edit own patches in banks by turning two knobs , value up and down
extremely easy to use
and the controls are designed for gig.
very convenient

amazing ZNR almost no any noise when u mute the guitar strings by your hand although it's in a dirtiet metal patch sound.

I can use some vintage guitars without noise through this box to reduce the noise and get a professional sound.

the acoustic simulator , wah and distortion, modulator, reverb all are great sounding, in a unbelievable price too

i use kramer baretta, its quad rail pickup is noiseless,
i have a squier affinity gold special that i changed some cheap pickups to get some punk sound.
through the GFX1 my squier sounds no any noise and veratile.
it's unbelievable that my squier sounds so professional.

the only thing i'd complain is the EQ setting are some presets, not adjustable parameters.

reliable
steel shell,
no reason to buy another plastic multi-effects in this price range.

I play punk in my band, but i practice fast appregio, blues rock, and sometimes play folk in home.
and I have played about6 years
this small multieffect is good for practicing as well as peform in gig.
originally i wanted to buy another cheap guitar, i was lucky that i didn't buy it, and bought GFX1
this one would be a life long gear, but cheap guitars wouldn;t be

u won't regret to have this effector. very lovely one.

very easy, 2 knobs and 4 buttons in all. todays pedalboards (except the digitech) are made to be as much user friendly as possible, and this little beast make no exception. light (1kg) simple and with just the necessary to gig with no extra useless stuff. 10 patches which involve all 4 (for a total of 40 patches) pedals providing a clean a rithm a solo and an overdrive channel for various music genres. I chose this between all the bigger gfx because it has all the important features of the others, an incredibly low price and 4 pedals in a very very small package, with no useless function.

i use it with a washburn idol wi65 with SD pickups. For 80euros you can take home a preamp incredibly good on a tube amp, plugged on the return (i think it's been designed to play especially this way since it sounds very credible and powerful). But it can also be used straight to the mixer for direct recording, well its not as good as a pod for the distortion recorded but if you can tweak it well (as i did) you can archieve an absolutely credible sound anyway. Effects are good, but the best is the znr, zoom noise reduction, which works great with the distortion leaving them harmonic rich and takin out all the unwanted noise. Overall i had a pod, sold it for a bunch of money and bought this since i needed some other equipment and to exercise home and record to pc this is absolutely enough. Live if plugged to a good amp this baby could really surprise you, give it a try!

never dealt with zoom, and i had many zoom accessories. This means that their stuff never breaks.

despite a not so high elaboration (20bit, 31khz) this unit has a very low price and everything to play live, exercise at home with headphones and in line recording, providing always good results. The developers aimed to the substance takin out all the useless functions (those are for the gfx4 and up) and what remains it's a very playable and useful machine, little and light enough to take everywhere and complete enough to make a little bit of everything, especially live (IT HAS FOUR PEDALS!!!). You'll be stunned of how powerful the distortions are plugged on a tube amp.

When I bought this badboy what I did was open the box,install some batteries and boom!I was just playing it like I had it for more than a year.Even a 12 year old kid can navigate this one but reading the manual can be really helpful.Editing patches and creating new ones is really easy.

I'm using a Peavey predator plus EXP and a Peavey transformer 112 Amp and using GFX-1 w/ it is really AWESOME!!!The ZNR feature is really great because it eliminates unwanted noises.The distortion sounds great and the other effects like Flanger,Delay,Chorus and the Pitch Shifter(Phaser).The CleanTone and Acoustic Simulator feature is not that bad but you can easily edit it.

It's made of a solid metal casing but I'm not sure if it's rustproof,If it's not that the can only be the downthing about it.But it really is tough since I dropped it so many times but this badboy still doesn't give up on me.I can really play it on a gig w/ out a back up and w/ no worries.

Never dealt w/ them,guess you don't really need them actually.

I play from Classic to Progressive rock to Heavy Metal and since you have 8 types of distortion to choose from you can actually get the type of sound that you want.I've been playing for about 8 yrs now but I've only used analog effects pedal loke BOSS DS1 and DS2 Turbo,BOSS Chorus and Delay pedals,they sound great but w/ ZOOM GFX-1 I can almost duplicate the sound that these pedals can generate.If this gadget was lost or stolen (hope not) I will still buy the same thing and wont settle for anything else.

Very straight forward set up, once browse through simple manual you can play for hours.
Mine comes with Japanese and English in separate instruction booklet.
Editing patch is very easy to do, you can copy into one patch if you find what you like, or you can also easily customise the patches.
Its got very handy guitar tuner on board, which works fine.

I've had many different multi effects and Pedals, such as Boss, Digitech, Korg, Xv-amp...etc...BUT I hated those...why?...The sound was very Tinny...
However, this little beauty creates very serious tones with very little money.
Recently, I downsize the AMP to Marshall MG10CD,,,which is very small practice AMP.....But....with GFX-1, it ROCKS!...I have to find much smaller AMP now.
GFX-1 is very good with Hard Rock, Metal, Blues, it's got very good Overdrive and Distortion(total 9 different drive modules).
Chorus, Delay, Reverb is just comparable with other brands,...
ZNR(Zoom Noise Reduction) is fantastic, which reduces annoying noise during playing pauses and silent passages.
For the price I paid, I can't find anything to complain about Zoom GFX-1...It's the best budget Multi Effect you can find in todays market.
I will give 9, because you need to buy Expression Pedal and DC Adapter separate.

Unlike other cheap effects, it's got metal case.
Also, runs with Batteries and DC power.
The size is small enoght to fit into to gig bag...
It sould last years~~,if you look after well.

Haven't had anything happened yet....
but, I should be able to get very good service from Zoom, if something goes wrong during warranty period, beacuse my personal detail has been input to the system when I purchsed from the local music shop.

I play 80' hard rock and some metal...like metallica.
I've been playing guitar for 20 years,,,,and my setup is Gibson LP custom, Marshall MG10cd, Zoom GFX-1. I don't need anything else now.
If this is stolen, I will get another GFX-1 straight away.
If you are looking for guitar effect under U$100.00, you have very few options, but do not spend your valuable time to compare other products. This GFX-1 is the best option you've got.
I've tried GFX-3, but GFX-1 has got more useable patches than GFX-3.
I have spent more than $700.00 to buy Boss pedals, but this little machine can handle a lot more sounds than Boss pedals.
Now, I have to put my Boss pedals on Ebay....
This is fantastic value for your money, you won't be bored with this.
I have to give 10, you just can't find any fault.

I did not read the manual and could edit almost immediatly. Very easy to edit and save patches. You must understand the parameters before editing any patches. After reading the manual, things came more clearly.

Unfortunately, I could not use this directly to the mixer. The sound of the distortions were rather thin and parameters were not enough to get that thick midrange sound. The unit is extremely quiet though and is almost silent. I like the ZNR and it does a great job by gating the extra unwanted noises. Distortions are great if you like Heavy Metal type distortions. The nicest sounding distortion is probably the US blues. Played it through a Red Shadow amp but it sounded a bit thin on many settings. The clean channel is incredible and so are all the chorus, flanger, phaser and delays. For the price I paid for it, it is worth every penny. The distortions should be improved with more weight added otherwise its a great pedal. Because of the weak distortions I have to give it a 5.

This unit is made of metal and should be very reliable. Can depend on it and would not need a backup. The unit can run on 4 AA batteries and its a real plus if your adaptor breaks down or when there are no mains outlets.

No need for them so far.

I play mostly music from Deep Purple, Santana, Toto, Eagles etc so I need distortions of different types and weighted and thick. The GFX1 does not suit my type of music. If I were playing Heavy Metal or Death Metal, this distortion pedal is ideal. I have been playing for 36 years and still play daily. I now own a Korg AX1500G and its one of the best sounding, easy to use and edit on stage. I would not buy another GFX1 if it broke or got lost. I am very interested in the GT8 but it costs so much. The GFX 1 has excellent clean tones which are great for playing a wide genre of music and good chorus and delays. The pitch shifter sounds great. For the price I paid, I think its a great buy. The size is just right, does not weigh alot and can be run by batteries. Zoom should improve on the type of distortions, and have more flexibilty on the parameters, then it will be a great FX unit to use.

Very easy to use and program - as easy as the 505 series pedals. The programming is mroe like an idito gauge approach. You can't tweak but so many parameters. While some folks might find this limiting, I find it refreshing after coming off the heels of a Digitech GNX3 (still have it) and a Yamaha Magic Stomp pedal (long gone).

The manual is fine and tells you what the 2 letter codes mean - chorus, flanger, etc so you can navigate through the various options contained in a single bank of effects.

Runs on batteries or a $10 universal power supply.

Here's where it really shines... cleans are very good - not boomy like the 505-II. The overdrives have enouhg flexibility to get what you want. I am very, very impressed by the available tones.

One thing I really like is when using the GFX-1 as an effects pedal on a ptach, bypassing amp modeling, it sounds excellent - like having a chain of dedicated foot pedals for chorus, echo, reverb, compression, etc. OK, you can't change the order of effects in the chain, which some folks might find limiting. For me, it just makes things easier.

The auto-wah vs an effect where they combine step and chorus... hmmm, I like the step-chorus combo better. the auto-wah is sorta useless on this pedal - like most other pedals, but I have a Crybaby, so who cares?

So far, so good. All metal chassis. Metal inputs, too, if I recall correctly. Made In china (I gues you can't have everything :)

I am using it in a pop/rock/funk dance band context with a Samick JZ-2 fatboy archtop (I have Gibsons, but like using the Samick right now). We haven't gigged out yet, but will be in the coming months.

As an aside, I used a Zoom 505-II for some time in my last band and gigged out with it (yes, I have mroe expensive pedals, but it's so light, fits in the back of an amp and has acceptable [not great] tone). The GFX-1 is a much better sounding box to my ears than the 505-II.

Zoom also has a GFX-3 - same as GFX-1 but with a foot pedal and up/down bank pedals, but I use a real volume pedal and bought the GFX-1 for its small foot print and didn't want one with a pedal. I've already got thta in the form of a Digitech GNX3 and a Zoom GFX707.

Real simple. This unit is not complicated like most at a higher price but offers a lot of the basic features.

Sweet. The noise reductions helps keep the noise down. The distortions are the best I have heard from a multi-effects unit and rival most single stomp boxes. The chorus, delays, reverb, phases, doubler, and flange are all top notch but lack the tweakability of stomp boxes. The wah is not as impressive.

No reason to think an all metal box wouldn't be reliable, but the GFX-1 has not been around long enough to really tell.

No idea.

Nothing comes even close for $100 in terms of features and quality of sound. You can not get a better multi-effects at double or more the price. The sound is fantastic. I have played through about 15 different multi-effects - this is the best sounding.

Very,very easy to use. This is one of the major selling points of this unit. The display is clear, the knobs are obvious and the pedals are hard to miss. The manual is ok, but you should barely need to use it. Battery operation is crucial to me, as I'm using a fully portable system for playing out on the street. It's very nice to have four "stompboxes" at my feet like this.
Accessing different banks and the tuner is almost too easy!
Some presets are over the top (of course) and also poorly matched in terms of volume and their patch/bank locations, but several of them are quite good.

I'm mainly using this with a 10-String Chapman Stick (passive stereo pickup). I play through a Carvin S400 battery charged mini-PA. The sounds range from acceptable to very good. Nothing really awful, but perhaps no real standouts either. I mainly use a bit of hall reverb and sometimes OD/Distortion or chorus for solos. The reverb and most of the modulation sounds are acceptable. The DRIVE section is easy to tweak and should have enough variety for most people to find a good "dirty" sound. I'm getting a Boss DD-20 for delay effects, so I'm not too concerned about the delays, but they are probably one of the weak points on this unit with very little flexibility. The other low point for me is the EQ which is limited to preset "curves".
I compared the GFX-1 with my Digitech RP-80, and while the Zoom is much easier to use, the Digitech is slightly quieter.

This is the second major selling point (see "Ease of Use" for the first one)! Zoom have seem to have really listened to the people out here, both regarding the construction and layout of this pedal.
On the surface, this appears to be something that could last a lifetime.

Don't know enough to comment.

The construction and ease of use of the GFX-1 are exceptional and nothing else on the market comes close at this point in time.
In terms of sound it delivers reasonably good quality, but without the flexibility (and in some cases performance) of individual pedals.
I would say that it is comparable to other multi-effects pedals in terms of sound (i.e. the Digitech RPs, Boss ME and other Zoom units).
Considering the price, this is almost a "must-have" for rehearsals, pub gigs, busking or any other situation were you need something that works & isn't too sensitive.

Pretty easy to use, one advantage of not have too many options means it's not too hard to program. The manual is available on the japanese website, but not the american website. You can check it out here
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/ then click on downloads, then on manuals.

I've only had it for a few days, one thing to look out for is that is sounds very different in the power amp input vs. the regular guitar input. I think it's much better in the power amp section, but if you tweak the EQ on the amp and guitar you can get a decent (not great, but not awful) sound in the front of the amp. The compression is good, the noise reduction is good, the distortions are a mixed bag, but there are enough good ones to make it worthwhile, the delay is not very flexable, you can set the time up to 370 ms, but the volume and repeats are not as flexable. The weakest part are the modulations (chorus, flanger, ect.) They are not bad, but they're a bit over the top, it's not possible to get a subtle effect, it's all or nothing.

It's not given me any trouble yet, but it's only been a day. It seems very solid and well built, especially compared to old zooms.

What I love - having four different sounds at my feet with instant access, it's also easy to easy to switch banks (it can hold 40 programs total), it's also small, seems very tough, and can run for 24 hours on 4 "aa" batteries. No other unit is that portable and easy to use. I love multi effects, but I hate having to have an extension chord all the way across the stage to power them and having to decide between light, but fragile units (like the older zooms) and big heavy units with lots of things I never use (like the Boss Gt-3 and the bigger digitechs). Also I love that there is no noticeable half silence when you change patches like on the digitech RP-100.

What I like - the tuner and the distortions are all very handy for live use. I have it set up for a clean, compressed chorus sound on the first pedal, then a light overdrive, then a metal type rhythm sounds and the fourth pedal set to a thick lead sound with delay. No other pedal can do all that and be that portable at any price. It's also cheap enough that if it gets lost or stolen I'm not out $400 like a POD XT.

What I don't like - it needs to have a way to adjust the mix level of the modulation and delay effects, as is they are very in your face, I prefer them more subtle. Also, the color, purple? What's that all about?

If you want to get the exact sounds of artists with complex delays or modulations, this is not for you, but if you want a cheap, well built unit that lets you get to a lot of distortion sounds easily, this is a great unit. If I just wanted a four channel distortion unit, I'd probably be better off with the line 6 DM-4, but I like the idea of being able to have 40 sounds at my feet and mix compression and distortion and some delay and the occasional over the top modulation effect.

It reminds me alot of the zoom 505II but with two extra foot switches. Cant get any easyier than this unit to get nice sounds.The manual is good and the tuner is quik to lock one, better that the 707 I had.Presets are not too bad but it depends on yopur amp.

I run this in front of a marshall VS265 and use the chorus on my amp. I love it !! the batteries last over 24 hours of use and its small enought to fit in a guitar case.Noise gate is great and all the effects sound realy good too.I even like the acustic simulator.

I have had other zoom products and they all lasted forever.This one is metal and the jacks are not plastic.Foot switches remind me of the early boss switches and are built well.

N/A but I hear its ok.

I love to check out new gear and see how it sounds.I love this small powerfull effects unit.I still have my boss pedals and my pod and a few others. Some think that if you dont have a tube amp amd a boss blues driver that you sound sucks....come on...go to any local bar and see what the band uses. It ranges from everything from a crate 60 watt to peavey 5150.In the past I have used line 6 flextone,marshall,crate and even a fender cyber deluxe. All are great. Try this unit and see for your self. Its cheap, mad of metal and can run on batteries for over 24 hours for $99 bucks and sounds great.I have been playing for 25 plus and there is alot of gear out there that sounds good for a decent price. It all come down to what you like and the amp you are using.I know guys and girls that are still using older digitech stuff and making it sound good. This unit has good distortion nice effects and even some good sustain with a good noise gate. Check it out.