ZoomG1X FOUR Guitar Multi-Effects Processor with Expression Pedal, With 70+ Built-in Effects, Amp Modeling, Looper, Rhythm Section, Tuner, Battery Powered

I can't see how anyone at any level would not find something in this pedal, especially considering the price point. Unless you're already hopelessly over bloated with GAS. Hmmm... Sounds a bit like me... Zoom seems to put something in it for just about anyone. Capable of being a standalone rig, and I have mine setup as a practice/experimentation rig. Just added a keyboard amp. Cheap and effective. I have some perspective with Zoom down this multi-effects pedal avenue having both an older G3X and G5. Still the same as far as a multitude of quality effects. Some are great. Far better now is the amp/cab simulations - very good. Also most of the supplied patches are good. Again some are great. I tend to think the overall sound delivery has been improved marginally as well, though most of the improvement has been the amp/cab simulation. Some too in the supplied patches. Mostly the same ol' effects. A few improved ones, and some nice new ones. Some people have bitched about the changes Zoom has made to the interface and its usage. Well, with as few controls and display as you have - you're going to have to compromise. I actually prefer the new operations - it emphasises patches and the navigation of them. With the older G3X and G5, I used them more like a bunch of separate stompbox effects into a full guitar amp. With the new G1on - organised and used on a patch oriented basis. And with the with the nice amp/cab simulations, I run it into a keyboard amp/pa. Makes a great practice/experimentation platform. Emphasising experimentation and learning, and yet still sounding great while doing it. I think most - beginners to even quite advanced - can learn something from the vast assortment of quality patches factory shipped. Compared to the older G3X, G5, and in particular a lot of older digital effects monstrosities (mostly crap settings) - I found very little to remove on the G1on. Granted many were not my cup of tea, but well done nevertheless and kept around for reference. And interesting to review what they did and allow yourself to think outside of the box in regards to sounds you can get. Summary: No - it won't sound like a 4 digit price tube amp. But it will surprise you with tubish sounds you can tweak out. Some stuff is digital sounding, especially exotic effects. But rather than uncontrollably, unusably artifacting, they are consistent tools to craft with. Who cares if their tube screamer effect is not a dead ringer for the original - if you like it - it's usable. Plenty of usable on this thing. I can see performing with this if need be. Pretty incredible for the denaro...

This thing is super portable. Very easy to throw into the pocket of a gig back or a backpack. Perfect for situations where you might need a preamp to plug into a PA at a bar or something, and don't want to lug around a much heavier device. It's battery powered, so you don't have to go hunting for outlets. Very handy device to have around for random things where it becomes useful.The rhythm machine is really good, and the looper is easier to use than other loopers I've had before. It only has 30 seconds of loop capacity, but I never found that to be a limitation for just looping some quick chord progressions or a chorus. It has two pedals for the looper, which is nice because it's less confusing to use live. Probably wouldn't recommend the looper if you play Jazz or something and need 2 minutes of loop capacity, but for everything else, it's good.The preamp models sound good, and the effects sound great. The preamps aren't as high-quality as some of Boss's newer AIRD stuff, but they sound decent, definitely better than some of the older COSM-era Boss GT products (just for comparison, in case there's anyone reading who is familiar with them). The sound quality is good enough to use for gigs.It also has a global EQ that you can set very easily. I cannot exaggerate just how useful this truly is in random live settings. Very often presets will sound good at home but sound a little bit unbalanced through someone else's PA system. This global EQ is fantastic because it takes about 2 seconds to bring up the treble or the bass if you need to make it sit better in a mix live, or need to make it fit better with a system that has a different frequency response. Seriously a very useful addition, and it affects all of the patches, so you can very easily rebalance the whole thing without needing to go in and try to edit each patch individually just for a quick gig.The only thing I don't really like about it is that the presets are less impressive than the rest of the device itself is. They aren't bad, you can get some really neat sounds out of it right out of the box, but you don't really realize the full potential of the device until you go and start making some of your own patches with the the Guitar Lab. It would have been nice to get more presets, but for how cheap and portable this device is (and for how much it can do), I don't think that's really a very significant complaint.These things are very useful to have around. I have more advanced guitar processing rigs too, but I still find a use for this little thing fairly regularly just because of how convenient it is to carry around.

Update: I've had this for about a month now and this pedal does provide some really good tones but the one I have is susceptible to radio interference when using higher gain settings which is somewhat reminiscent of a scene in the Spinal Tap movie. Cleaner tones are fine but for high gain stuff this may not work for you.I purchased this as a backup to my main multi fx amp modeler and for that purpose it's fine. It is an entry level multi fx/modeler so don't expect Fractal FM9 tones. Overall I'm happy with it and it's good to have in the gig box in case the main unit craps out. Here are some pros, cons, and tips.Pros: Great value. Good selection of effects, amps and cab sims. With a bit of tweaking good tones can be had. Primarily plastic construction but the build quality is good. There is a rhythm function for practice, and a looper as well. The Guitar Lab app make editing presets pretty easy on your PC or Mac.Cons: Most of the presets are set to run into the front of a guitar amp are not going to sound good without changes if you run through a PA or FRFR. Presets have up to 5 effect/amp/cab blocks available and when used as a modeler 2 blocks are going to be used for the amp and cab sim leaving only 3 for effects and such. The user interface on the pedal wasn't intuitive for me so it took some time to figure out.Tips: Download the full manual and the Guitar Lab app from the Zoom website. The included quick start guide just covers the basics. If you use headphones, PA or a full range flat response speaker the "mic" setting on the cab sim blocks must be turned on. Any preset with a cab sim has that setting turned off by default.So to recap, it's a good unit, the price is reasonable and Zoom makes quality stuff.