Zoom GFX-707

Face it, with so manny possabilities you're going to have to read the owners manuel. It did take me a while to learn how to use the presets though.

It's not exceptional. But in terms of bang for your buck, it's great. Some of the preset effects are mediocre, but some realy kick ass.

Would you ever do anything pro without a backup? If I did a show with this. I would prbably spend 30 sec cycling through effects to find what I'm looking for, but as far as reliability and sound quality I wouldn't be shaky at all.
I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS PEDAL IN 2 YEARS. No jack, or electronix problems at all. Period. People complain about reliability and in the same breath say try not to drop it allot. Hey einstin, do you drop your guitar allot? If you did might you have problems? just something to think about...

Can't say. I've never needed any... Hmmm...

Perfect for beginners. Not made of steel, but not a problem unless you're throwing it against brick walls. Sounds sweet, but the owners manuel is a MUST. I've shoped around and you would have to fork out a boatload of cash to get all these capabilities.

Rudimentary tweaking skills will make it easy to find your tones once you've had a few minutes practice. Straight forward Matrix type layout with (generally) 3 variable parametres controlled by the 3 white knobs. Or alternatley, tweak main effects (dist/mod/reverb/master) on the fly with the rotary knobs any time! Too easy!

Used this out the front of a silverface twin for a few years. Later in the loop of a Fender stage 160 and again in the loop of a mesa nomad 100. With both Humbucking and single coil equipped guitars. Many effects here the best of which are chorus and reverbs and I think the "lead" distortion should earn a special mention because although its a little..err..."processed" sounding for some reason I like the damn thing! As for other distortion/modulation effects...most sound pretty cheap and cheesy. I guess you get what you pay for. I wouldnt mind using this just for the chorus or reverb but the damn thing does not have a true bypass. This means that when it's in "bypass" mode, its still actually sucking my tone away! Not good! A great buy for the beginning guitarist without an amp/money for separate boxes but not really for anyone searching for good tone!

I encountered the same problem another guy described below where I was getting this crackling from the input jack. At first I thought it was leads/the jack but after opening it up I found that the 3 pins soldered to the board had basically become cracked all around in such a way to force an unreliable connection. No worries - 10 minutes and a bit of solder later she was as good as new. While the problem was pretty minor it was still a bit of a piss off. Cheap cheap cheap.

Never dealt

Again, broad variety of almost-there tones with the odd rough diamond. Strictly for beginners or people who can tolerate inferior tone! Good value for the price if you're a beginner but ultimately a piece of plastic shit.

This is a very easy editing unit... But it could be better... I think ZOOM improved it on the 707 II series

I've been using it with a Ibanez rg 507 and a marshall vs 100. This is not a noisy unit at all, when using the ZNR...
Some modulation effects are not bad, but others are useless like the Vibe...
The distortions really suck...
I'm sorry they really SUCK, the only reasonable is the LEAD distortion...
I cannot sound good with this unit, i can take much better sounding with the ZOOM 505II although it is noisier but it has better distortions, i mean much better and notice that the 505II is so much smaller!!

It is made of plastic, it is not made to last years... But if you take good care of it... maybe
I wouldn't use this in a gig without a backup at all, unless i wanted to give people the idea that i was the worst sounding guitarist ever!!

No opinion....

Acording to my musical influences, this unit is not a good choice...
I don't think that a smart thief would try to rob this unit, unless he was a real Jackass... I would run and buy something better...
Don't love it, oh the drum machine is not bad at all, but the new units from ZOOM have even improved drum machines so...
It just wanna say... IF YOU ARE SANE DON'T EVEN THINK OF BUYING THIS...
IT SUCKS SO BAD THAT EVEN ELECTRICITY BEGS NOT TO BE CONSUMED BY THIS UNIT...

This pedal is as versatile as you like! You will find editing patches really easy if you are familiar with Zoom units, and although this is my first, I find the setup really easy to use. The swell pedal is great too, and I actually find it easier to use during play than most Morleys I've tried. I use mine to emulate as close as possible the tone of Hank Marvin (I'm saving up for a dedicated echo unit even as I write this!), and some echo settings of his too. The tone I get through my Fender Deluxe 90 amp is nigh on as close as you can get without paying the earth on Meazzi effects units and Vox AC30s. When I use other effects, the sound stays the same quality, and the versatility really comes through. The manual is straight forward (if you dont find this to be the case you need help), and once you can change patches you can just about do it all.

I use my 707 with a Hank Marvin Signature Fender Strat and a Fender Deluxe 90, and you can't really fault the sound, as long as your amp is off the floor, on a table o5r stand etc. Vibration then kicks in on some notes and it all gets very ugly! It's not really noisy but you may get some odd sound changes if you put the Zoom Noise Reduction up much higher than 3. There is one chorus sound that is totall gorgeous, (called "L-LEAD") and when playing atmospheric stuf this really comes into its own. The Hank sounds that I get (as I said) are pretty surprising too.

I have regularly gigged with my 707 and found it so reliable. I have found that the jack outputcome loose sometimes, but a quick soldering ob sorts that out for months afterwards so no worries there, cos all units like this are subject to this sort of hiccup.

Haven't dealt with Zoom, so I wouldn't really know.

I something happened to my 707 I would immediateley but another, but probably the 707 II, simply to get a newer model (sad innit?!). The only thing I will say is that it is generalised, and so the echo effecs that I want for a good Marvin sound have to be provided by another echo unit. Overall, I highly reccommend this effects unit, and it is great as a first (as mine was for me). I would definitely go for Zoom again, probably rack mounts, ut that's beside the point. This little box is wonderful to use, has great sounds and I love t. Nuff said!!

Quite an awkward pedal, and no matter what combination of patches used it still sounds awful. I suppose it's good for a beginer who wants to start dabbling with guitar effects.

This will make your guitar sound like a cheap piece of plastic. Over prossesed, scratchy, fake. Tried through transistor and valve amps - will seriously destroy even the best valve tones. It basically seems to take the sound of the guitar, strip it down to a horrible thin tone, then prosses this with various artificial patches. No true bypass, which means in bypass mode, you only have the thin stripped down guitar tone. Your better off saving up for a half decent valve amp with one or two good stomp boxes or effect units that you will actually use, rather than 50+(?) unusable effects. I was bought one for roughly #100 about 5 years ago; there's around 50 or so sounds on there I think, so that's about #2.00 per effect. You get what you pay for.

Would never take one near a stage. Owned it for years and it didn't break but that's because I didn't actually play it; then sold it on Ebay. I doubt it's plastic casing could take very much kicking about though. I suppose it will do what you tell it to do if you understand how it works exactly.

Never dealt with the company.

I generally play rock music of some description and wouldn't wish this pedal upon anyone for any style. I've been playing for 6 years and have grade 8 guitar. If I lost one of these I wouldn't be too heart broken. Hate these things, the best thing about it was the box it came in could fit A4 paper folded in half perfectly. Got the pedal when I was a beginer; it seemed pretty cool to a 13 year old. Wouldn't recomend it to anyone to gig or record with.
Oh yeh, did I mention that this isn't a very good pedal?

When i first took it out of the box i was satisfied using the pre-set patches. But after a while i found it extremely easy to set up my own patches. I liked how it had parameter knobs just like most stompers.

I got this when i first started learning guitar. I loved the metal, wild fuzz and the acoustic sim. But after about 2 years i settled on the Compression/Crunch tone. I love this sound combined with the expression peddle. It really kicks ass because you can sweep to any level of Distortion in real time with your foot. With the Comp/Crunch tone you get chimey clean all the way up to insane crunch. But the compressor kicks in when the gain gets to high and you lose some volume. not a huge problem though. More on the tones later in my summary.

I give big points to Zoom for making a unit that preserves the natural sound of your guitar. What i mean is this: you can plug in a strat and a les paul. They will both sound different as they are supposed to. Big plus when compared to other digital FX gear.

I have gigged with this unit many times and it stood up excellently. I am very careful with the plug in jacks. Although it is mainly plastic, it is very tough.

I had a solder problem but in my first week. I took it back and it was fixed in 2 weeks. I can't complain.

I have had this unit for 5 years now and i am still i love with it. I wish there were more units like this that had it's flexibility. It has every effect that you can think of, with infinate adjustablity, and real time control with the expression pedal. I found the effects to be very versatile themselves. The phaser for example has 4/5 different types that you can pick from. The tremolo is setup so you can control the shape, rate and depth...just like a real trem box. this thing has a Harmonizer and a half decent pitch shifter (whammy effect) as well. The wah is a little hot when it is slammed down, but it is cool that you can set before or after the pre-amp. You can go from Kirk Hammett wah to Porn theme wah. The overused effect is Delay. Zoom has always made good delays and this one is great. i just hate how it is on the same bus as some other useful effects...but there is a seperate delay in the reverb bus...that doesn't have as many parameter options, but it works good.

Now...after 5 years what do i do with my GFX? When i started out I had a very simple setup. GFX - Amp. That's it. I got a Cry Baby to replace the wah on the GFX. It worked great when plugged in before the GFX. I borrow a Line POD from the lead singer in my band, and i discovered that the POD sucks for FX but kicks ass on Tones! So...my signal path is POD - Cry Baby - GFX - AMP. Here's another advantage of the GFX over the POD...a bypass option. If you want to turn off the tone bus and use it as a multi-tasking stomp box collection...go for it! I use the POD for my tones (switchable with an optional FB4 accessory), my cry baby for that extra solo punch, and the GFX for my whammy pedal, digital delay, reverb unit, tremolo, flange, phase, talk box, vibrato, ring modulator, and chorus. And it sounds amazing.

If you are wondering about amps, just keep in mind that Line 6 amps suck with this thing. Why? You are plugging in the wrong side of the pre-amp, and most (if not all) don't have an FX loop. Blech!

But i have played this with a 30 watt practise amp, a 240 watt stack, a 100 watt Crate, and many large miscellaneous mongrels at live shows. It sounded great all the way.

So there you go.

I bought this a little over one year ago now...its very easy to use..but there arnt really enough knobs for the amount of options you can change..

I use nasty line in ussualy...but i will buy an amp soon...Most of the effects sound suprisingly good for the price of the pedal.
Now, Overdrive on the otherhand is extremly bad...very nasty, but everthing else is great.
SOmetimes i get some crackling with chorus, but i think it may be my set-up...

now here is the downfall...Many times ,i have to wiggle the cables to get sound out...and the input/output connectors are comming loose...

never used it

I probably would not but it again. Although it is very cheap and decent sound, i would much rather go with a BOSS pedal despite the price diference. This was my first pedal, without it i would be done in =) so i guess it very practical for starters.

Straight out of the box this is a simple and easy to use unit. It has loads of patches(40 I think) half user and half system, a lot of effects too, I seem to remember from the manual that you can link up to 9 at the same time.

Editing patches is a breeze with the three rotary knobs doing all the work.

Changing between patches quickly can be a chore as there is only a up and down system of moving around the patch library - however with some editing you can store all your most used ones side by side.

Manual is good and covers all the basics including the use of the inbuilt drum machine.

Sound quality wise this thing rocks - well it did for the first year anyway, but more on that later. I use it connected to my amp but also as a mobile practice tool since it will run on batteries for about 14 hours and fits snugly into my rucksack. On earphones this sounds great, and using the built in rythmn unit set to metronome is great for nailing those tricky timings.

I use it with both my Strat and my Les Paul, previously ran a Westone Spectrum through it as well but I have since sold that guitar - and all sound great. When connected up to my solid state Peavey it adds tonal qualities to my sound that the amp alone could never muster.

What really makes this baby come alive though is the amount of patches and settings you can download from the web. I originally bought a Zoom GFX8 before this and apart from the confusingly large number of rotary switches, knobs and buttons on it, there just wasn't any info on it kicking about on how to get a Clapton tone or a tone for a particular solo by a favoured band etc. Now I know that a lot of the fun is trying to sort this stuff out for yourself, but then how many of us say "pah!" to tab and refuse the help it offers when working out a solo? anyway, there are numerous sites for the GFX707 and the amount of info on them for drum settings, patch settings etc are great.

A quick note on the drum settings, some might think it cheesy, but some of the looping tracks on it are great for jamming along too and the metronome is fab for practice.

This is my only bugbear. About a year after I bought it, the patches which featured modulation effects started sounding a little weird, but only after moving the footpedal. If you went on to the patch with the footpedal at any angle then the sound was great, move the footpedal at all in any direction and it went totally crazy like high pitched warbling. I tool=k it back to the shop I bought it from and the guy there checked it out and told me thats how the patches were meant to sound ... which was bullshit really as it was either broken when I got it and had got better, or was broken at the time I was in the shop.

Anyway they wouldn't do anything about it.

I still use it but get annoyed with the broken patches some of which I used to love using before they went wonky.

My old guitar teacher had one for about 5 years before I got mine and never had any trouble, so maybe I just got unlucky and picked up a bad one. I thought about replacing it, or writing to Zoom to complain (I may still write to them), but I have since purchased a Line 6 Guitar Port and use it as my main practice tool and the range of amps, effects and patches on it far outweigh those on the Zoom and the internet aspect is great and getting better all the time.

Haven't dealt with Zoom directly, but may do in the future so can't comment on it. The dealer support was negligable, but then it was out of warrently and not a high end product to begin with and to be fair to them they have been good at other times when I have bought other gear from them, so maybe they weren't too familiar with the product and didn't know that the sounds weren't as they should be.

I lay all sorts but nothing too heavy, I like clean, crunch and slightly over driven sounds and the Zoom delivers al of these .... if you like insane gain, it'll do that too.

Once you start writing your own patches on the thing is when you really start to get your money's worth. One day I was messing about with the presets, the next I sounded exactly like Dave Gilmour .... the next day Hendrix etc ... okay so I am not talking about my playing ability, but sound wise I had them nailed :o)

I tried out a few other effects, one by Boss, the GFX8 and a couple of Digitech ones and although they all sounded good, the only one I was trully happy with was the 707 ... can't explain it, but it was easy to use, portable, sounded great and was not too expensive.

Would I buy another one? Mmmmm not sure, the Guitar Port now covers my main bedroom practice sessions and I now only use the Zoom for travelling and weekends away etc, and if it were lost or stolen I could use my portable MD for this so I'm not sure about replacing it. However, if I didn't have the Line 6 GP in my arsenal, then I would most certainly buy another one.

---NOTICE---

---THIS IS FOR ANYONE WHO HAS EXPERIANCED WORN OUT JACKS WITH THIS PRODUCT---

Its not actually the jacks that are worn out. The solder joints inside the pedal where the jacks attach to the main circuit board are prone to cracking. This is easily fixed. All you need is a soldering iron and some VERY basic skill with it.

Open up the back by removing all of the screws on the metal back plate (duh). Find the points where the jacks meet the circuit board. they are easy to find. Each jack is connected by 3 rectangular solder joints that are in this shape (the top of the diagram being the part of the circuit board closest to the back of the pedal):

☼

☼ ☼

If you trace from the back of the pedal where the jack is, you can lead right to them. Notice how the solder around the joints is cracked? Heres how I fixed mine:

Before you start, you may want to mask the areas around the joints with some sort of tape (I used masking tape) to keep solder from moving around and possibly damaging the board. Also bear in mind the soldering iron may cause heat damage to the circutry so dont keep it in contact with the board for too long. Also, use a 15 or 30 watt soldering iron, higher wattages may damage the board. And finally, use 60/40 rosin core solder. Its designed for light electronics work. Many other solders are acid core. Avoid it, it damages electronic components.

I took a nail and put a small amount of flux on the tip. I melted the old solder on the joints, and while it was melted, I stuck the tip of the nail into the melted solder, then pulled it out. This removed most (dont remove all of it) of the old solder.

Next, I just melted and applied the solder as I would any other joint, do this however you see fit. I lightly fluxed the joint, and added the solder, but I used a bit more than there was before, to help prevent this problem from reocurring too often.

After the fix, it should work fine

If you need help, post you're questions in the effects forum at http://forums.tabcrawler.com . I can help you there. My screen name is Zeppo.

Well I read the manual before diggin into it... I used my Roland Cube-15's distortions to play with my garage band, and I had to write patches for the musics I played into the Zoom... it took me about 10 minutes and 1 or 2 times playing the music and making little arragements with the equalization... preety much easy to use... The manual is particularly good, and easy to understand, though the effects descritpion isn't very informative (but hey, how can you describe in words a sound ;) )

I use it with my Ibanez GRX70 and a Roland Cube-15, but I've tryed it out with other amps,and it always sounded good!It isn't noisy, and even if you need to cut the noise, ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) is very effective!
The distortion effects are normal, but if you twitch gain and equalization, you'll get the most out of it!
Chorus is pretty good, Flanger too (but I don't use it).The 3rd module wich includes reverb and delay is very good...I don't even like delays much, but have started using them since I bought it :)
The expression pedal is good for controlling the modules... I don't use it for wah, I've used a cry-babay wah and now the wah on the zoom doesn't seem very effective... but as I said,controlling Distortion, Modulation and Reverb with it is VERY HANDY :) At least for me :)
I've tryed some patches I got from the net, and they worked out fine, but I'd rather do my effects and toy with the thing.. It will take me quite some time yet to master it.
The Drum Machine is funny, and I use it to make my drummer practice faster :)
The 6 second recording/loop is just a luxury...The tuner is normal :) All in all it gets a 9 because of the price I payed for it, otherwise it would get a 7, because the modulation module isn't as good as it should be!

It seems solid, even the expression pedal, but I've had it for only 2 months, so I can't really talk about it!

Never broke down (not even with it's previous owner)

I payed 50 euros for it, I get a tuner, a distoriton pedal, a chorus pedal, a flanger, a delay and reverb pedal, an expression pedal!Ok they aren't top in their category, but I got a sound almost the same as a Boss simulated effect Overdrive Distortion... So I really can't complaint!Will it broke down in the future... I'd say it's likely... Is it the best... no it isn't... Is it good enough for starters and medium players without money (aaaaaah here's the right question).I'd say definitely.If it broke down would I get another? Probably get a better one if I had money...Do I regret buying it... not a chance... It's quite cool, and I find some reviews to be excessively on blaming the Zoom, and not the bad guitars and shity amps...People need to realize that they are not using professional material ;)

for me the worst part in the gfx 707 is the ease of use: this unit has got so many possibilities that it is very tough to get a good sound.
there are too few knobs for too many sounds.

I use the gfx 707 via a sessionette 75-amp & PA. I have got a Squier Stagemaster and Ibanez Blazer.
The unit isn't noisy at all. The effects in itself are basically good, but the factory-settings are weak. There are great heavy sounds and clean sounds but there's nothing in between.
My favourite guitar players are adrian belew and robert fripp (both king crimson). Besides I like davids gilmour's (pink floyd) sound a lot.
Just the other day I found out that the internet is LOADED with settings for the gfx 707 (just get www.google.com and press settings zoom gfx 707 and you will get hundreds of seetings.) With these examples it is quite easy to get that pink ployd-sound. stilll looking for a great belew.

My gfx 707 has never let me down, I would definitely rely on it for a gig.

If you take time to programm, the gfx 707 delivers great sound for rock.
If this unit would break down I wouldn't buy a new one. When I bought it al coupole of years ago it was top of the bill, but now the gfx 707 is already oldfashioned.

The only thing you got to do is spend some minutes reading the user's guide. Doing that, and practicing some with the multi-effects, you can really change parameters and create some new effects in seconds. Just like the other ZOOM multi-effects, is really easy and friendly to work with. The possibility to store a 6-digit name for the patches is really good to avoid some problems about finding the correct patch to the moment you are playing.

I'm using it with a Epiphone Sheraton II (semi-acoustic body) and with a Fender Stratocaster American Standard. The effects are good, generally. Some distortions are really good (lead/dist/metal), but some others are really awful (fuzz/overdrive). To avoid some problems about losing the expression and the sound of a long note, you have to increase some compressor to these distortions. Some modulations are really good; Chorus is really beutiful; Flanger and Pitch sounds like some computer midi files; The Expression Pedal isn't really good (just like every expression pedals built-in these multi-effects) - You can't expect a "Dunlop CryBaby" sound for 707. But that's good for using it as a volume controller. Reverb is REALLY good, much better than some other multi-effects (the other guitarist of my band have a Digitech RP-200, and the ZOOM Reverb is much better). The Delay isn't really good, but the Ping-Pong Delay, when used through a stereo amp is cool. ZOOM GFX707 is good for some clean effects, and bad for others. That happens with the distortions too.

Everything you can see is plastic-made. You really need to look after and try not to drop it too often.

Never needed.

I've been playing for 6 years. I play some latin rhytms (like bossa) and other "light" things, like jazz. The GFX 707 isn't really apropriate to these sounds. But I play some other sounds, like Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Yes, and some Progressive Rock Bands. Is a good match. It's really good as the first multi-effects pedal. If it were stolen, I wouldn't buy it again. Actually, I'm selling it. I'm looking after some BOSS pedals or any better multi-effect.

707 has five knobs and few more buttons, two stomps and expression pedal. I migrated from 505, so I had some problems at start, because it is absolutely different to control. Manual is relatively good, general use is nicely explained, just effects are not very good described. After set up it is easy to use. Switch and express...

I use Squier Tele (sounds more like mexican Telecaster, good piece) and Squier Strat (same quality) and it works really good with it. Tele can be twanging or growling, Sound can scream or bell. I also tried Les-Paul like imitation and it was really good either. I mostly use Peavey Microbass amp and with 707 it sounds better (for me) than guitar amps in same class.It is enough for rehearsals and home playing. Good combination.

It is cheap digital multieffect, keep this in mind. I was quite dissapointed with factory presets, they are mostly useless and/or noisy. You have to get used to it and make your own effects. This costs some time, but sound you can get from it can be real. Amp simulators are mostly useless, unless you play directly to speaker without guitar amp. Distortion effects have wide range, and mostly very very usable when properly equalized they have crunch and growl, almost ecerything, just they get a bit broken when turned to maximum. Some are really unusale for chords. Compressor, I think, only makes it play louder or enhance with Bright or Flat. Modulation effects are nice, delays, choruses, vibes and so, some that look unusable can be very good when tuned properly.
Chorus is nice, V-Chorus is very warm, delay sounds ok, vibe is good if set properly, tremolo too. Pedal-Wah is somehow not very accurate but usable when tuned carefully. Reverbs are nice and deep, only problem is you really hear it is digital. But, hey, what you expect from cheap multieffect? Afterall it doesn't sound much worse than analogs. Only you can't expect that detaility and dynamicity of sound.

Well, I have it for about three years. I had to repair jacks and AC plug, because it got broken, but i was only prob I had. If you know a skilled or medium skilled engineer no problem. It felt me on ground few times and plastic is still ok in one piece. I am not very gentle to it so I give it what I give it for reliability, again, only jacks were problem.

Never dealt with, never knew about :o)

I think it is really usable thing, I even made a recording with it through a Musicman 100watt full tube amp. It sounds good. Really good. If tuned carefully it can be compared to a little collection of analog effects, it doesn't so THAT good, but not bad either. My effect memory is full and I can't do anything with it, I would need 3 times more to have enough. With expression pedal you can really do some havoc, so I think it is really good piece for peaople that want to get used to guitar effects, or need many effects (like me) for lower price.

Its Easy to use, a baby could do it.

It gives really weak, no-bottom-end, staticy sounds with most fx. only good ones are z-lead and stdcho (chorus)

I trust this thing about as far as a cat can throw it. The jacks are completely worn out and the way they assemble it you cant fix them. Its the disposable pedal. It lasts 3-6 months, then kicks out. 95% of the time im playing, and the thing just stops, on account of the fact the jacks are so loose the cable doesnt touch the connectors. It blows, you cant gig with it, and even practicing at home is becoming a stretch because I'm always having to stop and shake the cable around. Its in a shitty ass plastic shell thats about as strong as a burning anorexic toothpick on crack.

Its bull shit. In the time ive owned it ive played metal, nu-metal, pop-punk, hardcore punk, pop-rock, hard rock, classic rock, alternative, grunge, blues and jazz. Its impressive to a newb, but its usefulness wears thin. Im upgrading to a boss or digitech as soon as i get the money. DONT BUY IT

It is a fairly intuitive device. It was my first multieffects unit. I was a multiple single-effect pedal guy until about a year-and-a-half ago when I got this thing. I was able to plug right in and play without any trouble. It delivers a good sound, but does tend to be a tad noisy. However, you can tweak it and your amp a bit to work around that. Editing patches is no problem, just use the three knobs to increase or decrease. The manual is fine, neither stellar, nor hellish. I was not aware of the "firmware revision number" and have not "upgraded" my unit.

I do a variety of things with it in my home studio and in live performance. Mostly, I'm running my fairly cheesy Yamaha 311MS guitar through it into a Fender Bassman. Sound quality is pretty impressive, considering the price. I have used it straight into the mixer, both live and in studio as well and it sounds pretty good, though not quite as good as mic-ing my Fender amp. The rather simplistic, but good sounding, amp simulations do give some variety. I find it can be noisy, but mostly in PC-based recording. This was probably an artifact of some sort of impedence-matching or sampling rate issue, but I'm not sure. I stopped using the PC program and got a freestanding multitracker and the problem went away. Gives a pretty good imitation of The Edge's digital delay (I think he used to use a Memory Man) sound. The detuned sound is very close to what a lot of '80s alternative bands used. Generally, though, I'm not trying to copy others, so never really looked at the pedal's job as being to emulate somebody's tone. One of my favorite distorted sounds on it is the one called "Flash". One problem is that the distorted sounds are way louder than the cleaner tones, but this is simple to adjust for and is a rather natural issue. It is a good first multieffects pedal either for beginners or for guys like me just testing the water as regards giving up all those cool little metal boxes. The tones are unexpectedly good and I have used them on our latest album for layers, but it is also clear to the experienced ear that it's not quite professional quality. Close enough for most purposes, though.

Here's where the only real problem with this thing shows up. It is all plastic. I'm not one to jump on my pedals (though I do trip over them sometimes; very embarassing!) and I always treat my equipment, no matter how inexpensive, as something I'm very lucky to have. However, despite babying this unit, the output jack has become loose. I now have to brace a chorus pedal against the output cable end to keep the jack in place. I cannot depend on this anymore as, even when I remain relatively still, it cuts out. Pretty horrible during a solo. If you need something that will last reliably for more than a year-and-a-half, better try another product. I will no longer use it for gigs. I can still use it for practice at home, but I imagine it's time is limited even there. But, for the price, you can't have it all.

N/A

I am lead singer and guitarist for Phlox Parallax, an alternative rock band in the Midwest. I have been playing with guitars most of my life and I'm 36 now. I own too much gear to list here and most of it isn't that impressive, just by name. Is there a 12-step program for gearoholics? This unit is a good match for me, particularly as it was my first multieffects unit. I would not buy the Zoom GFX-707 again as I am ready to go forward with a rack-mountable unit now and leave all my little metal boxes at home. This pedal convinced me that I can do that. I will consider Zoom products again in the future. All the variety available in tones and the onboard drum machine are quite lovable features. The main problem is the lack of durability, but I knew that going into the purchase. It is made of plastic. Plastic fails if used repeatedly. The machine also has a loop sampler that was a little fun, but I had trouble getting it to synch just right. The original choice to buy this unit was based on price and availability at zZounds.com. Didn't really compare it to anything else. This unit is great for experimenting with new effects, but don't expect it to hold up to years of use, even if you baby it.

It's easy to use, The only thing thats is bad that is hard to go to the tuner mod. The manual is god. The thing I like whit it is the way I can use the pedal, As a volume pedal, gain pedal for Modulation or Delay/reverb, very useful.

Most of the effects sounds great, Mostly I use Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Pitch, Wha-Wha, Reverb and Delay . The noise gate (reduction) is very good, I can use my other pedals TS-9, Guv'Nor .. whitout geting any noise.

I haven't had it so long so I can't say anything about reliablity

I didn't get any manual when i baught it, I find it at ZOOM's homepage

I made a mod. so I can change bank up and down with two external switches. Maybe I will put in one extra external switch so I can easy go to Tuner mod.

The controls are simple enough although i'd like to be able to equalize in a more direct way, but it only has 3 knobs and a 4 band equalizer.

I use a crappy low cost guitar but there's a good bang for the buck inside. If you're patient enough you can get some good distortions. The patches that come from factory should satisfy many rockers.

It makes absolutely no noise. I used it direct to the computer's sound board and it only processes the sound coming in. No noise added. Music to my ears. The last time i recorded i used a clean guitar with a long Room reverb, it sounds heavenly.

I use it on gigs without any backup (don't have money to buy a backup). But even so i won't need it. Just have a little care not stepping on the cables. It could brake the jack inputs. Also don't jump on it. It's not a rug. You can use batteries for a long time if you're not certain of your transformer.

Never needed.

I'm pretty satisfied with it. I'd definitly buy it again or the 2nd version of it (GFX707II). Right now I'll only jump for a higher class effects processor.

It's quite straightforward and easy to use. The manual is fairly well-written and will tell you how to tweak it etc. The knobs make it quick and easy to adjust presets

The preset distortions are fair, but you won't find very good high gain patches. Even the preset "Metal" effect is pretty weak. There's good stuff for classic rock etc. but you won't find that thick crunch of a Mesa Boogie Mark IV in there. However with a little adjustment, you can get some respectable tones. Of course, no pedal can ever match the distortion of a good amplifier.
The chorus and modulation effects are very good for the price. I am quite pleased with them. I have been able to emulate many artists' clean tones.
Overall the tone is quite good. Especially the chorus and modulation effects.

I've had the unit since early 2000 and it has worked quite well. It is pretty well constructed. I don't tour extensively, so I don't know if it will withstand the rigors of professional gigging, but it has worked well for my purposes.

Never dealt with them

Overall the pedal is quite solid. Some people seem to expect POD level sounds, but you'll never be able to get close to that in this price range. If you want a pedal mostly for distortions, perhaps this isn't the right choice. But the chorus, flange etc. are very good. The pedal is a good bargain for the price paid.
It's not as good as a rackmount unit or anything, but you'll get some good sounds out of it. It's a great pedal for practicing and messing around.

Really easy to use, with the exception of 'jam mode', which involves stamping hard on the rocker pedal to activate things. Also, the rocker pedal doesn't have a very big range.

I used this with my Washburn BT-2 (fairly cheap and generally crap-sounding) electric, and it breathed new life into it. My crap Japanese amp has never sounded so good. I also tried the pedal with my electro-acoustic, and found that the delay and chorus effects sounded great. There are a couple of crap-sounding effects like pitch-shift, but apart from that good.

Great so far, no problems. Have gigged it and even spilt a glass of wine on it without a problem. Only issue for gigging is that the display is useless in bright sunlight.

Never dealt with the company.

As an amateur musician who just plays for fun mostly, this pedal is great. The wah-wah is really what I bought it for, and that works fine, the amp-sim is good but not spectacular, and a longer delay might be nice but the flexibilty of the user effects (programming your own) was a nice bonus - distortion, modulation, three different types of EQ and reverb can all have 2 or 3 parameters tweaked, all in the same patch. As a cheap all-in-one, this is great.

Pretty easy if you read through the manual and get an understanding of it. The effects are pretty easy to tweak - and certainly need tweaking from the presets. It takes a while to get a great sound out of it, but I think that's true for any effect set up you could think of.

I'm using a marshall valvestate 100W amp, with a variety of guitars - 2002 fender standard strat, danelectro DC-59, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, and a Simon and Patrick acoustic (a great sounding acoustic guitar). I've been playing for 9 years, play with a lot of different bands and have to be able to cover every style from funk, to punk, to jazz, to praise, and anything else you could imagine. I've had this unit for about 2 years now.

The PRESETS ARE HORRIBLE. Whoever programmed them had no taste. Luckily, they give us enough nobs and options to tweak stuff alot.

Once you do that, I personally think it sounds pretty good. The presets really suck, but there are enough options on this thing to get a really good sound out of it.

When I run straight into my amp, it does seem to take away some tone, but that's because you are now using a different pre-amp system! If you buy a good sounding amp, you probably like the sound of the amp - most of which is created by that companies pre-amp processing. However, I find that if I run it as an effects loop off my amp, I can get some great sounds out of it. Although only some effects sound good in that setting (don't use distortion.)

The compression, chorus, delays, reverb, and phaser all sound great in this setting.

What amazed me recently was how adding the acoustic simulator into my effects loop improved the sound of my acoustic. Normally acoustic guitars sound like crap through normal guitar amps, but after putting the acoustic simulator on, it actually sounded pretty good. I could hardly tell my guitar was plugged in. It sounded like I was just gaining volume. Pretty sweet.

The distortions are alright, but I prefer the sounds my amp makes, so I don't use them in that kind of a setting.

I also use it for playing at church in a praise band where I plug directly into a DI that runs into the board. This is where I need to be able to use it's distortions, amp sims, and practically everything on it. With several hours of tweaking, I've got some really nice sounding settings that work great for this. It really saves me from carrying an amp around.

And while there are better things out there, I think that FOR THE PRICE, this unit is pretty hard to beat.

So far it's doing well, but it's already got a crack in the screen... it's made of plastic so it won't last forever...

It's great for the price. You can get better stuff, but the price tag is what drew me in. I compared it to other things, and the zoom came out on top.

easy to get a good sound out of it unless its distortion. editing patches.....its alright. rather buy seperate pedals to do the job. you get what you pay for...150 dollar sounds????? whatever. i would definatley invest in other single pedals. this zoom is not for me.

its not a noisey pedal, everything sounds ok but the distortions sound like TOTAL CRAP!!!! dont buy this pedal for the use of distortions!!! ugly!@

unreliable! hard to switch back and forth to sounds. and when you do there is a half sec. delay of no sound.

never dealt with it

i give it a 4. i would ONLY buy this pedal if on a low budget and one who only has a hobby of playing by themselves

It is pretty easy to operate. The manual is very detailed and walks you through the process of customizing your sound.

My biggest advice is that you MUST be willing to spend the time to craft your own sound. It took me countless hours and weeks of experimentation before I could get my ideal sound.

I'm a rock/metal player...I use it with an ESP M-201 into a Crate GX212 combo. The distortion (if managed properly) is thick, cruchy and packs a real punch. The amp models help too. The clean tone is excellent as well, producing a very crisp tone. Once again, its up to personal taste.

The effect I find most lacking is the Wah...the tone is thin, weak and is absolutely dreadful. There are some neat effects as well, but most of them aren't worth your time.

A problem i've encountered is that the displays are impossible to read under bright light. So day-time, outdoor gigs won't turn out so well.

I've owned it for about 2 years. Once, It was completely soaked when it started raining in an outdoor gig. After letting it dry, it didn't miss a beat.

A huge problem is the input/output jack. It is not very well fixed, so if you jiggle your patchcable a lot, the jack can get very loose, and the connection will be disrupted. You'll have to open it up and re-sauter the connections.

I've used it for all my gigs (because I can't afford anything else) and it will do fine as long as you don't step on it.

No Experience

For its price, the value is incredible. The sounds that this little thing can make can be extremely good, provided that you spend enough time with it to craft your own sound. Don't use the effects it comes with...make your own.

The construction is kinda flimsy though, so you'll have to be very careful when playing live with it.

this product is exremely easy to use. the manual is very helpful when you screw somethin up and it has a factory preset so its great

the sound is great the only down side is it doesnt have a real good clean sound the heavy distortion is great most of the effects sound great some effects r pretty useless though i play a jackson guitar and it works perfectly. You can easily get sounds of mettalica and van halen the chorus effect is very good it had very good sweep

u can depend on it have had it for a year and hasnt got messed up yet

havent had to deal with it

i play mainly rock blues and jazz and it works great ive been playin for a year if it were stolen i would definetly buy another my only hate is the expression pedal doesnt have very much range i wish it had a clean sound and an acoustic simulator as well and the sample recorder has only like 7 seconds before it cuts of and u can only use clean sound on it the tuner is good and the rythym section is magical there is so much u can do with it

This pedal sounds amazing if you take a little bit of time with it.Its a bit trickey at first, but the more time you spend on it, the more amazing it gets.

I have used a BC rich warlock, Numerous Jacksons including a V, a Kelly, a regular dinky.... more.

The maps Ive used it with are a marshall valvestate, Crate blue voodoo, a line 6, and a couple lesser crate models.

The chorus option on this is the best ive ever heard. I probably have hte greatest clean sound of any musician in the business with this pedal. You have to make your own distortion because all the programmed ones are terrible.

Here is where the pedal falls apart. Literally.So far my reveiw has been good, as it deals with the sound quality of the pedal. Let me tell you, the great sound quality is not worth how half assed this pedal is.Not only have I personally gone through 3 of them, but ( and im not exaggerating ) 5 of my friends around here have owned them, gotten them repaired a few times, and now none of us have a working 707 pedal.THIS IS THE REASON I WROTE THIS REVIEW! DO NOT BUY THIS PEDAL! This is the shoddiest peice of equipment ive ever worked with.Do not use it live !!! Do not take it on the road !!! And if its only for bedroom play... BE CAREFUL ! This thing is a mess.

The company are terrible.Terrible.I dont want to say why really because i would go on forever. Also, Sam Ash, employees are undeniable assholes as well.

I wil say this, the sound that i got out of the pedal is amazing.But the pedal itself is so crappy it falls apart about every 2 months after the first 5 or so.The input jacks are horrible, its just a bad pedal. Good sound, bad pedal.Not worth buying. Borrow it or if you can get it for 30$ or less go for it.It took me a while to learn to give up on this thing, but i feel now its my duty to inform others of its .. its... bad...ness.

I use mine to 'dirty-up' synths and it's fairly easy to use:- after digital access synths and such..
Editing is easy, manual is so-so

Synth direct to mixer or into sampler.
The effects are good enough for my purposes.
Favourite artist sounds - Van Gogh's Ear falling on floor...
Phaser is smooothh.

Hope so I'm using it live next week!
Seriously, because of plastic case it needs careful treatment.

Fun! ..and great for off-the-wall pitch shifts, ring mod. is a little weak..
Fills the gaps in my sound nicely. As I work in several genres it's proved very useful.
Version II looks interesting..
Excellent on vocals too!