Zoom G1X FOUR Guitar Multi-Effects Processor with Expression Pedal, With 70+ Built-in Effects, Amp Modeling, Looper, Rhythm Section, Tuner, Battery Powered

I love this stupid little thing, though my use-case scenarios are... a little odd. But it is useful in several different situations.So, a few months ago, my lead guitar player gets it in his head that he wants to do this song we wrote in 2016 that has me playing a wah-wah pedal, and it was recorded-- weirdly-- on an old Zoom 606 that had been sitting in a trap case for about 5 years until a few months ago. I actually had just used the 606, for the first time in 10 years, for some fly dates in NYC! It was a bizarre show, in that one of the acts I played with was acoustic, but the other three bands are electric, I can't bring two guitars on the plane, so I brought the old 606 because it has a great "acoustic" patch for electric guitar. Problem solved-- the 606 made my electric sound acoustic enough so that it blended in fine with the 'real' acoustics.But I did notice-- the switches on the 606 were a little dodgy when I was rehearsing to track on the east coast. It got through the shows with no problem, but it's clearly at retirement age.I looked at standalone wah-wah pedals, but they all have tone pots in them, and I know what that means-- the WILL get dusty and go bad sooner than I'd like, and some of them can't even be opened and cleaned. The cheaper multi-effects units have optical or digital pots or something that are less subtle, but more reliable. First, I tried the MOOER GE100, and whoa, what a POS that was-- the switch for the wah-wah turned on and off every time I pressed the pedal, so back it went. Grudgingly, I shelled out an extra $30 for the Zoom...And man, it's SO much easier to use than the old 606! You can SEE which effects are turned on or off, and it's pretty easy to modify a patch on stage-- tap the button to change the display, bring up the individual units, change some of the parameters or remove them from the signal chain, takes no more time than adjusting the tone or drive on a TS9 or whatever. The pedal is also better ergonomically than the one on the 606, though obviously not in the same league as a CryBaby-- I HATE playing wah-wah, by the way-- and the pedal just pivots better, though I can't explain why.Then, we get to the showcase, and this time I'm playing a real acoustic-- but a 3/4 size, because my osteoarthritis has gotten so bad, and the 3/4 is easier to play with Silk and Steel strings-- but being mahogany and a smaller body, and also with the Silk and Steels, it doesn't sound QUITE like a "real" acoustic.So I did something truly demented: I used the "Acoustic" patch on the G1X4 to make the 3/4 mahogany sound... more acoustical. It was FANTASTIC; we did six songs counting sound check, and everyone loved us. I was on the edge of feedback for the whole set, but I got some really wild psychedelic sounds just using the factory presets. Best of all, if the feedback starts to really get out of control, just hit the two pedals simultaneously to engage the tuner, and you're back to a clean signal immediately. Much less disruptive to the set than trying to kill the feedback by turning the volume down or adjusting the tone pots, which will involve more trial and error.It's capable of some of the same zany psychedelic weirdness as the 606, but the audio quality and UI are way better.I don't know that I'd use this for the larger shows I play once or twice a year; even for a compact fly rig, I want a bit more control, a dedicated chorus, phaser, delay, distortion, etc. But the G1X Four is TOTALLY fine for smaller venues. Obviously, it's not gonna have the same sound quality as high-end boutique pedals, but for smaller clubs with beater amps in the backline, really, no one is gonna care.The only thing I noticed: In the effects loop of a BantAmp hybrid, it doesn't play nicely with the solid-state power amp stage if the Gain is set past 9:00. But nothing else seems to, either-- my Mystic Edge and Tube Pilot don't really work in the effects loop either, though the G1X four sounds a bit worse than they do in that particular configuration. My guess is for that particular hybrid, with a tube in the preamp and a solid state power amp, I should keep dirt pedals and overdrives in the input part of the signal chain anyway. So it may not even be the pedal. And could be a non-issue for a full-on tube amp.Highly recommended. Didn't even buy it on sale, but if it were lost or stolen, I'd buy it again.

Works beautifully. A gift for my guitar-loving father. He says its top quality, easy to use and has a great range of volume and effects.

I was able to find enough detailed reviews online that I don’t feel the need to do a deep-dive on zoom G1 FOUR. But I wanted to add an honest review on amazon, specifically for musicians around my age (55-65).I paid full price for this and would have returned it if I couldn’t use it.I got this specifically to use at work on lunch break and while I’m waiting for file process/render. Guitar > multifx > headphones. I will def use the drum patches and looper.Everybody has different opinion of what sounds “good”, obviously.I’ve been musician for decades. I've owned 60s 70s and later tube amps; fender vox marshall soldano bogner mesa egnater etc. I have A TON of stompboxes, tho live these days I primarily just use a klon clone and DD-8.I either build or modify my electric guitars; I always replace pickups. I use sc, stacked sc, hb, & mini hb.I like bitey icepick clean surf, 70s southern mid gain, Uli-era scorpions, sabbath, maiden, etc. I have never been a fan of scooped rectifier tone; just not my thing.So that’s me.DO NOT base your opinion of the G1 tone on youtube videos where somebody just cycles through presets. To me, the presets sound like an afterthought (when they *should be a sales tool). The factory patches on the G1 suck imo.Nothing came in the box. No cable, no PSU, and no user manual. Just the G1 and a “quick start” guide, which was useless for me.I googled to find the full user manual & FX list. I also downloaded zoom’s app, GuitarLab.My computer had trouble seeing and retaining conn to the zoom. I swapped usb cable and problem went away.The app seems quirky when finding the zoom. It doesn’t always work on the first try; unplug/replug. It *looks like it’s connected, but unable to edit anything, and then after maybe minute or so it finally works.YOU NEED THE APP! Not all of the fx and amp models are loaded in the zoom. Some of them are only available to load from the app. You use the app to unload and load the fx & models on the zoom.Out of the box the G1 memory was already at 98%. Before I did anything else, I printed out the fx list and went through every single thing. Everything that I knew for sure I wouldn’t be using, I removed from the G1. I’m picky so in my case I freed up a lot of memory. After that I went back through and added some things that I knew I wanted (or at least wanted to try).The amp and cab sims are individual, so in my case I deleted amps I didn’t want (rectifier & other boogie) but I kept all of the cabinet models. You can mix/match amp/cab.Some reviews say the zoom isn’t stereo. False. If you choose a stereo effect, it IS in stereo. This is great for someone like me using it with headphones to noodle at work. If you’re planning on using this live then stereo doesn’t matter. (I can’t imagine ever using this thing live omg lol)I’m not sure about creating/editing patches in the software while ALSO playing your guitar to hear differences. I’m sure you should be able to do this, but I didn’t. I’m not gonna have software at work so I learned how to edit patches (and edit fx and amps) on the zoom itself; it’s not that hard once you get gist of it.Just scrolling through amp models I landed on Bogner ecstasy (blue channel) and it’s fantastic, *in my opinion*. This first patch I sortof randomly created is maestro echoplex preamp > Bogner > boogie rect 4x12 (vin30) > delay > HD hall (verb). Sounds fantastic, at least with SC strat I’m using.You can rearrange your fx order any way that you want, but, you’re limited to 5 slots in the patch. Since I AM using the amp and cab models, that leaves just 3 slots. For me though just using it at work, I will duplicate patches right next to each other with whatever variations I want, then just push footswitch to go between them.There's no I/O for fx loop. I didn't try putting pedals in front of the G1; its just not something i'll use this for; but there's probably a video where somebody tries this.If you’re on the fence on this thing and cant find what you’re looking for in other reviews, I would say go download the full patch list and look it over. I went through every amp and cab (though not every possible combination!). There are three amps I dig that can do some level of gain, and I think about four amps with really good (imo) clean tones.Every amp has eq controls AND you can also do on the fly EQ (low, mid, hi) on the zoom itself for whatever patch you have.