Clueless about Effects....

[Just_Guild]

As a recovering jazz guitarist (ok, not really an excuse) I have no practical experience with effects.

Out of curiosity and wanting to experiment with my Telecaster, I purchased a Zoom G1Next from my local Sam Ash. Ryan, my guitar guru there, suggested this little unit as it was a relatively inexpensive way to get started and experiment.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_effects/zoom/g1next/index.html?no_takeover

It puts out some pretty amazing sounds, at least to my old ears. But I'm going a little crazy trying to figure out how it really works, etc. Anyone have any experience with this or similar devices?

Thanks so much,

AJ

 

[adorshki]

But I'm going a little crazy trying to figure out how it really works, etc.

Savor the mystery. If you knew the truth you'd just be disenchanted. :lol:

 

[Jeff Haddad]

I bought a similar Zoom multi-effect unit about 6 or 7 years ago to use in the pit band of my son's junior high school production of Footloose. I was the 2nd guitar and he was the bass player. Talk about being out of my element - I hadn't really read much music for a long time! It was fun though. I can definitely relate to the following joke:

How do you get a guitar player to turn down?
Put sheet music in front of him.

Anyway, I couldn't get rid of that thing quickly enough! I had no idea how to quickly and easily go from one setting to another and different effects varied wildly in output - i.e. one setting was super loud compared to another without touching any knobs. It would have been impossible to use in that setting. I didn't really take too much time to grasp the programming of it.

I sold it and bought a Boss ME 50 multi effect - set up like a few analog stompboxes (even though it's digital) - with separate knobs and sections for each type of effect and some extra stuff as well. It worked great and sounded real good through my SF Princeton Reverb. I even used the acoustic simulator when the part called for an acoustic.

I think there is an updated model, but this is a pic of what I used:

I will say that the Zoom unit had some presets that nailed certain tones - Brian May, Andy Summers, etc. although I don't think they were named as such - which would have worked okay for playing at home.

 

[Just_Guild]

Thanks Jeff for the insight.

I really got to spend some quality time with this device and so far, not bad. Your concerns are one's I have, but I think the gain on each "patch" can be adjusted and stored. I have not given up yet! (LOL)

In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes open for a more comprehensive multi-effects device like you posted.

Thanks again,

AJ

 

[griehund]

Griff Hamblin spends about 20 minutes explaining stomp boxes. Kind of like conspiracy theories, the deeper you get, the deeper you're at. :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5fXapM7uJE&feature=youtu.be