G1 Review

The G1 represents a significant upgrade from the previous 505 series. The new Zoom G1 pedal features 24-bit/96kHz digital multi-effects and an incredible 40kHz frequency response. The G1 also includes a built-in drum machine, harmonized pitch shifter and an astounding 46 effect types.

Ease of Use:	8.2
Sound:	8.4
Reliability:	7
Impression:	8.6
Overall rating:	8.1
Users rating:	7.9
Comments:	37

Featured review by: unregistered, on october 13, 2007

Ease of Use: First of all, I do not work for Zoom. The preset patches are generally OK, for something as little and as digital as the G1. If you want a good sound, then you must first know or somewhat define the "sound" you want, and from there, start turning the module selector. it's not that hard, but it just takes patience, especially if you mix up a lot of effects. I mean, compared to analogs, tweaking a digital doesn't only take 2 minutes! The sound that comes out of this unit goes through the drive, ZNR, comp, modulation, etc. With all the effects that comes with the G1, you really have to make choices. You don't need the manual really. I only read to know about turning the patches back to their original state (in case I messed up). // 10

Sound: For a price of $70, this babe kicks ass! The preset patches are OK, the distortion and Overdrive patches do not sound that digital. If you close your eyes and just listen, you'd find it hard guessing if it's analog or not (the distortion). An exaggeration, but something like that. The modulation module, which contains the great effects, sound good and the delay too, awesome! I'm using a very good copy of the Strato (did I mention Suzuki) and I plug it into the home stereo! It still sounds first class though, believe me! Sounds good with the stereo which was not built for this, and sounds greater with an amp, built for this. When the Zoom noise reduction is turned to zero, or lesser than the preset, the noise comes in. It's like a gate: once opened, hell breaks out. When you increase the value though, noise becomes controlled, but your sustain suffers! I compensate though by adding a little delay and reverb. You do not need a very long sustain most of the time though, right? if no, just play with the reverb! When I first tried it, I was surprised it sounded the way it sounded, because it was pretty good! Load some more patience, tweak, and oh! They'll be surprised to know that it's coming from this cute, little thing! There are 40 writable patches, the other 40, read only (from 00-39), maybe, maybe, so that you'd have an idea of how this patch was created, the effects combined, etc. Useful useful. I play Velvet Revolver, alterbridge, filter, and the like the wah's not that wah-like. It is there, but it needs more kick. It's nothing compared to slash's "slither" or even "come on come in solos," but gets a bit, little, touch close to Mark's "find the real solo autowah." The clean sound of Mark's "Open Your Eyes," with a little chorus, is easy with the G1. The distortion in filter's "you walk away" is easily imitated by this babe. I made it even sound heavier for the part after the 2nd chorus! // 9

Reliability & Durability: The front's made of plastic, the part that hits the floor is metal, with some rubber on the edges, maybe so that you won't get "electrified" while playing. I don't know with the first review, but the fact that you actually have something to step on other than a foot Switch, to me, is gig-like. So yes, on a gig without backup. This is not Boss analog encased in steel, so please give it a little loving when you step on it or kick it. // 8

Impression: Overall, I think G1 is for the not-so-rich-but-decent-guitarist (am I talking about me? Apologies). I mean, what are you going to do with an Ibanez, a Fender with all the boss/vox/korg digital and analog effects plugged through each other like that of Mike of Incubus (singing: Love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt) when you don't know what you're actually playing? I play "rock" from those I mentioned above to lighter ones like lifehouse, more experimental, like Incubus, and even lighter like Jason Mraz and John Mayer (Velvet, Alter, and Filter, are the ones I'm busy with right now.) I'm self-taught, started strumming in 6th grade, the scales, modes, techniques when I was 18 so how old am I? And up to now, still learning them. "Owned" not "played" my first electric when I was 18 by the way. So from 6th grade to 18, it was mostly electric songs played in "acoustic." If it were stolen or lost, that depends: if I have more money, I'll buy a different one. If I just have money, I'll buy the same thing again. if I don't have money, then I'd probably just behave. It's cute, light, yet it can do So many things for you if you just want it to, of course, subject to limitations. It also has a built in drum Machine, good for soloing practice. The EQ works, but "confined" to -18 to +18 settings. (Sigh) hey it's only $70, let us not be so harsh about it. Needs work on the sustain of the distortion. I wish the effects under the modulation module, were separated, like that of the delay, so that we could maximize it! I wish we could select more than one effect under a module when editing. G1 actually has two delays: one under the modulation, and one separate, more range than the first. The control knobs are very easy to turn, the step-on pedals I suspect were placed with 'springs' to protect it inside making it more sturdy comapred to 05-507II, which I've also played with but didn't own. Don't get me wrong, the G1 step pedals respond, ok? // 9

overall: 7.5

Reviewed by: toyboxmonster, on march 30, 2009

Price paid: C$ 70

Purchased from: Bobba Lalonde Music

Ease of Use: This is a much more intuitively laid-out processor than the hectic, disorganised unit's in it's price range. The G1 is fairly simple multi-effects pedal to use, though for first-timers, it may be a little complicated. The manual does it's job well in explaining everything. The patch saving process is easy and quickly learned. It is very easy to jump from one category (Compressor, Modulation, Rverb) to the next. Editing may take a while, because some of these effects have a pretty good range of sound. Depending on the genre you wish to play and the extent to which you plan on using these effects, this can be either a huge advantage or an irritating drawback. The presets, of course, are completely unuseable, but it's a multi-FX processor; what do you expect? // 7

Sound: At the time when I owned this, my setup was: Epiphone SG Special/Fender Telecaster > Zoom G1 > MEGA Bass Amp. Though both the guitar and the amp were very low quality, I still managed some decent tones. While the G1's sound is very digital, it is also very warm and fat, as opposed to the thin, cold sounds of many low-end multi-FX pedals. Surprisingly, the G1 does have some useable gain sounds. I was particularly impressed with the cave-like Acoustic simulator and the very nicely simulated Rat distortion. I used the latter extensively and am constantly baffled by it's great tone when I listen to recordings of my old band. The delays are fairly choppy, though the reverbs are quite nice and mellow. The biggest surprise this pedal has in store is the quality of it's flanger. It has a massive sweep that even the higher end processors cannot emulate. This is honestly a better flanger than some stompboxes offer. The other modulation effects aren't wonderful, and aren't terrible. They are simply there, period. // 7

Reliability & Durability: As all Zoom products, the G1 is housed in a plastic chassis that seems extremely brittle. The footswitches look unreliable, and I've heard horror stories about the input & output jacks. That being said, I owned mine for about 6 months and had no t rouble with it. I gigged with it once and faced no trouble. The G1 is not a pedal that will withstand much abuse, but if it's well taken care of, it should last. // 6

Impression: Of the very few multi-effects pedals in it's price range, I have No Doubt that the Zoom G1 is the best. It is not a good effects unit byany means, but it it beats out DigiTech's RP-50 in terms of sound quality, practicality, and versatility. I sold this a long time ago to pay for an RP-50 (which I also sold). This is a decision that I regretted almost immediately. I've never had the chance to try one of the Zoom models with the expression pedal, but I imagine that it would greatly improve this box's versatiliy. Though I've moved away multi-effect processors and toward single stompboxes, I will definitely keep an eye out for some of Zoom's single products, particularly delays. Once again, this is not a very good ppedal; it is, however, the best purchase for a fairly new guitarist on a tight budget. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on february 02, 2009

Price paid: $ 71

Purchased from: Golden Music

Ease of Use: The Zoom G1 is an upgrade for Zoom 505II. I have used 505II before and to me the sound has improved a bit from the old processor. The patches are editable only after you read the manual thoroughly. Otherwise you will end up nowhere. Not to mention the manual is well written with adequate details. New patches are moderately easy to create and save. // 7

Sound: I am using a pacifica and a Laney LX12 with it. The processor gets noisy when you turn off the Zoom Noise reduction. However I find ZNR system completely useless. It kills your notes early. I normally turn it off and use moderate gain (it eliminates noise to a great extent). To be honest it has quite a few tasteful effects. The delay, reverb and compressor are the only usable effects, others sound like toy. The amp modeling works great, especially Marshal JCM 2000, 1959, Fender Twin, and Matchless. It almost sounds like an authentic tube amp. The Fuzz modeling effects are perfect. You will have hard time differentiating between real and the simulation. // 7

Reliability & Durability: This pedal wont survive Live playing. It is made out of very poor quality plastic and not so strong knobs. It has some problems with the adapter it came with, it turns off and on randomly. I will not use it for live playing. // 3

Impression: I play classic rock, Hard rock, Progressive rock and some blues and this pedal can handle them well. If it was lost/stolen I will buy a Tonelab LE. I compared it with DigiTech RP 80 and found this more authentic in terms of amp simulation. With the price it came, I don't wish any thing more. // 6

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: AlskiOverload, on june 23, 2008

Price paid: $ 100

Purchased from: Morgenroth Music

Ease of Use: Right away, you can easily mess with the settings pretty easily. The included manual is a must to keep, because some of the names for the effects, mods, and drives are quite hard to understand without it. It comes with a quick reference card that you should tape to the bottom to keep. Navigating through the patches and stuff is quite simple, though not the most convenient way thought of. User made patches are handy, and there are plenty of ways to experiment. Overall it's very easy to use, and the large range of effects will appeal to anyone looking to experiment with these things. // 8

Sound: I personally am using it with a 15 watt Peavey, but put together with this fits my needs. If you don't turn the reverb and gain down on your amp, this can cause some sound issues, but not major ones. The effects themselves sound great, but the way you use them is important. The way the interface works doesn't allow for you to mix effects. You can Pick one effect, one Drive, and one modulation, along with delay, reverb, and various types of those. The effects though are simple to tweak, such as changing the rate, gain, and you can buy an expression pedal for things like wah and many of the modulations. The included patches sound great, and on the ref. page, you can see the song, amp, or artist that it sounds like. Artists such as Lukather, Page, Hammet, Gilmour (I might have misspelled some of those)One issue is the noise reduction thing you can have. If you have that on on accident, it can make your sustain and tone suffer. // 9

Reliability & Durability: So far, no problems have been found with it. Immediately I noticed that it was made of plastic, so you should be careful if gigging with it. The bottom of it is metal, so it's fine there. If you are careful not to abuse it badly, you should be fine with it. // 9

Impression: I play funk, classic rock, and some more prog rock than I used to. This works out well for what I use for it. It has plenty of basic effects and drives, and it also has some more advanced effects, such as harmonized pitch shifter, chorus, ring mod, etc. It's not quite as customizable as other pedals, but for the price it's amazing. I've been playing for over a year, but I have really experimented with this pedal. If this was lost or stolen, I would definitely buy it again, but next time perhaps the one with the attached pedal. I love the simplicity of it, but one thing I don't like is it's customization, it's just pretty basic feeling. My favorite feature is the delay, because it sounds great when you need to use it, but it should be used lightly or in moderation. // 9

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: phillipssg, on september 20, 2007

Purchased from: Online

Ease of Use: It's fairly easy to figure out how to work the box, it took me about 30 minutes, that's without reading the user manual as I found that the manual was rather confusing. Editing patches is fairly easy as well and I found, extremely fun! You can alter each of the following for one patch: The volume, the type of effect to apply, drive and consequently the gain, the EQ (low, middle, high), ZNR/AMP, modulation and the rate of modulation, delay and the time of delay, reverb and the decay of the reverb. After creating a patch that you like from altering the above list, you can save it into the pedal's internal memory in 1 of 60 locations. You can get a huge range of sounds, I managed to make one that sounded like a pneumatic drill. The wah on it is absolutley superb as well! // 9

Sound: I'm currently using an Epiphone SG G-310 with a Fender Frontman amp and I find that it produces great results, I have no reverb/delay setting on my amp therefore it's a good way to demonstrate the the pedals effects without the added amp effects, and to be honest, the sound quality is quite impressive. I was playing part of the G major scale and I loaded one of the preset settings and the notes I was playing were being played as well as notes a fifth higher, so it was playing in Harmony and it sounded really impressive. There are also very good distortion settings on there as well, one of the presets sounds exactly like Dimebag Darell's guitar settings. It just goes to show how versitile the sound settings are on this thing. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I've had no problems with it so far, although I've only had it for 2 days. But I would have no fear of gigging with it, you can cycle through each preset and homemade sound with the easy use of 2 buttons (up and down buttons) making it easy to use and enjoyable to play with. // 9

Impression: I (try) to play a wide range of music, varying from Buckethead's experimental intrumentals to classical music such as Bach and Vivaldi and this thing suits me nicely. I can tweak it to sound like a music track from the old Mario games and I can tweak it to sound like an acoustic classical piece, there are very little limitations and the possibilities are nearly endless. Therefore I definately would buy another one if it where lost or stolen, you can get so much out of this multi effects pedal for so little money. // 9

Comments

[frusciante_50]

How much would it normally cost online?

You're looking at about $60.

[mistertomo123]

i got mine for about £40 and think its great. you can do anything you want with it, it's just changing between all the effects that is tricky to do quickly or while playing. for practicing and gigging without too many chaning in styles though its fine. By the way, the auto-wah on this thing sounds immense, and you can get to sound like bon jovi or john frusciante in the blink of an eye

[zman@home]

Looks promising, as I also am a "not so rich" but decent guitarist, and am looking into buying something like this product.

[electri5]

i am looking forward on buying this product i dont know when but i am deffinately going to make a review about this g1.

[electri5]

i am just wondering how to use this product?

[electri5]

can someone help?

[noteblitz]

how to use this product? well, as you can see in the photo, it has two step on pedals, up and down. it operates by either using an ac adapter or 4 AA batteries. by default, the moment you press the pedals, the sound changes. you can also do patch call setting, that requires stepping on both the up and down pedals at the same time for the sound to change...is this what you mean?

[rockhard90s]

Very complicated function, until now i am still learn to use it. Although it has manual that comes along, the manual confusing me. It's pretty good, and it has a lot of effect. CHEAP AND EXCELLENT!

[electri5]

just got my zoom g1x yesterday now i will make review

[HeavyMetalHobit]

I currently have a G1 and a Peavy Raptor Plus, and they sound great together. I never go anywhere without either of them. The distortion is very good (Ed is my favorite drive), but the wah-wah could use a little more wah, though. You can customize it to almost any sound you want, and with a good amp, the G1 is an exeptional effects pedal.

[HeavyMetalHobit]

The only beef I have with it, though, is the Bass effect. The one that makes your guitar sound like a bass. If you play too fast, or you tune your guitar to drop c or lower, it sounds wierd. Like someone's untuning your guitar. But, it's a small price to pay, especialy if you don't want to make your guitar sound like a bass.

[Pingis_Or_Death]

How is the delay on this one? Is it any good or should I buy an overpriced boss delay pedal instead?

[dutchiebkh]

Just brough mine today and i love it already

[Pingis_Or_Death]

For 75 euros this is a very good pedal. The distortion models are pretty good and meaty, at least they're better than the distortion on my spider.

[mr02]

Does the G1 works fine with a headphone ?

[hirruken]

@mr02

yes

[ymeii]

gud eve.. i would like to ask the set-up of zoom g1 to create good artificial harmonics like what dimebag darell of pantera is doing?

[Capn Reed]

I was wondering...What is the Drum Machine like?

[1201ZJ]

the drum machine on it sucks, but that is the only thing that i dislike about it.

[Ryan Hazz]

can this G1 play on computer's speaker???

[yao151]

it has awsome delay
use the extreme distortion and pinched harmonics are mind blowing(every other distorion doesnt work that good for it)
drum machine is werthless
i would go with the G1X just because of the expression pedal+there about the same price

[anotherbattery]

got it just a few weeks ago. is gr8!..the price and quality is awesome for a "not so rich" decent guitarist

[lewisg1]

it can go on computer speakers but youll need a small to large jack to make it fit

[lewisg1]

i have one of these and when you get to know what all the things on the screen mean its very easy to use and produces some great sounds. THe only thing that it lacks in fine adjustability for things like tremelo.

[iplayguitar17]

i cant wait for mine to come

[iplayguitar17]

is the delay any good?

[WheresTheTwang]

my friend has one of these shittest distortion ever man, me and my other mate ( a bassist ) can always tell when someone is playing a ZOOM because of the really shitty distortion

and just so you know i would probally buy one if i had the chance

[KsE3234]

i can't wait to get this...only 3 days

[leenux5030]

its totally awesome i got it for jus $48 ,

iam totally satisfied,
can any one PLZ, suggest any good site for patches,
ive cheked haax.se , de dnt have black metal patches

[Ic3]

This efect kiks ass

[rickneedshelp]

its a decent unit for the price.only gripe i have is the volume for just about every effect is so up and down like Marys pants at a picnic.

[Shaunfromtheuk]

I have one and i think it is great for the price i got it (£50)

[iplayguitar17]

I love it its worth the money

[CanadianRocker!]

I've had the Zoom G1 for over 2 years now and I absolutely love it! It can do it all, I have a Jackson JS30 Dinky and this little pedal really beefs up the sound of the Jackson, I don't use a guitar amp, I have it plugged directly into the line in of my computer for any recording either with Cool edit pro or Windows Media Encoder and the output is going to my home stereo a Yamaha 200watt receiver with massive tower speakers, 125 watts each it sounds sick!! I can also play my backing tracks or mp3's through this setup and play along with them. This pedal can produce the heaviest death metal, or the sweetest blues and even a very nice acoustic sound, this baby functions beautifully and the patches switch instantly, the settings took a little time to figure out and get them to where I like them but that was half the fun! I definitely recommend the Zoom G1 to anyone, I've also had the Digitech Rp-100 and that thing sounded very digital, had the Zoom 505 as well, loved it also but sold that too and then bought the Zoom G1 which also had the built in drum loop machine which the 505 was missing, having the drum machine is really good as well, all adjustable to your liking, it has 40 different patterns which can be sped up or slowed down and raised or lowered in volume, overall this is one fine pedal, I use it everyday and it is very durable, no problems at all, but I also treat it well and don't kick it around, anyway if you are thinking of getting a multi effects pedal, get the Zoom G1 or the newest one they have, you won't be sorry, Zoom Rocks! oh ya and there is a webpage that people can go and submit all of their custom patches that you can try out, here it is..http://guitarpatches.haax.se/ Enjoy!! Canadian Rocker Guy!

[leenux5030]

I ve been using ZOOM G1 from past December ,its totally worthed for its price ,I am a beginner I thought Ill buy a good costly processor latter ,

But I dont think it is required to buy a new one , this processor works pretty nicely ,

I play Black Metal , gives ****ing awesome distortion , and add a little delay and reverb to the extreme distortion patch , this lill thing gives gawd dammn demonic sound that can scare the shit out ov ya neighborhoods

[akosiehm]

I've been using this for almost two years,still sound great,I just borrowed it though..i have used z0oms 505,606,707,gfx-4,gfx-5,g2..i d0nt own anything all borrowed.hahahaha!