Zoom G3

p90fool

One question, do I lose my stored patches if I update the firmware to V2?

I've been tweaking mine on the fly at gigs for over a year (the main advantage of automatic storage), and I don't want to have to start again.

failed_astronaut

@monquixote - I'm not sure if this is what you're after but I use a momentary switch set to "bypass" so I can arm a couple of fx (delay, phaser, boost for e.g.) but have the patch switched off untill I need it.

Ideally I'd like a switch like the Skinny Little Twin but with a third switch set to "bypass" as I find this really useful.

@mike_l - The edit&share software is really handy for cycling through the patches and getting a fuller idea of what the unit can do.

monquixote

p90fool said:

One question, do I lose my stored patches if I update the firmware to V2?

I've been tweaking mine on the fly at gigs for over a year (the main advantage of automatic storage), and I don't want to have to start again.

I think you do, but I believe you can back your patches up to the PC if you install the Zoom Software. 

digitalscream

monquixote said:

p90fool said:

One question, do I lose my stored patches if I update the firmware to V2?

I've been tweaking mine on the fly at gigs for over a year (the main advantage of automatic storage), and I don't want to have to start again.

I think you do, but I believe you can back your patches up to the PC if you install the Zoom Software. 

Not only that, but I seem to recall that v2 isn't compatible with patches from v1, so you'd have to start from scratch again...

guitarfishbay

Can you set it so the G3/X can do

XLR out = with cab sim to go direct to desk

+

1/4" outs = no cab sim either front of clean amp or FX return for stage monitoring

At the same time?

monquixote

Not as far as I am aware. 

I think the same goes to all outputs. 

ICBM

guitarfishbay said:

Can you set it so the G3/X can do

XLR out = with cab sim to go direct to desk

+

1/4" outs = no cab sim either front of clean amp or FX return for stage monitoring

At the same time?

No. That's one of it's major drawbacks, for me.

guitarfishbay

That is a shame.  Thanks.

koneguitarist

ICBM said:

guitarfishbay said:

Can you set it so the G3/X can do

XLR out = with cab sim to go direct to desk

+

1/4" outs = no cab sim either front of clean amp or FX return for stage monitoring

At the same time?

No. That's one of it's major drawbacks, for me.

Wouldn't it be better if you wanted to go direct to PA, come back out of PA to amp via a monitor output. That way the out front sound is consistent to what you want, and you can tweak amp to suit you. Or maybe go into amp and when happy mic or DI amp.

ICBM

There's no way of making it absolutely right through both the PA and a guitar amp at the same time though. The best you can do is set your amp to as close to full-range as you can (dime the bass and treble, zero the mids basically), and hope that the soundman gives you the right sound out front. It's probably better to do it that way than try to make the DI sound like an amp at the desk - unless the desk has speaker emulation onboard, I came across one a few years ago that did, but I can't remember what it was now.

close2u

I too have a Zoom G3X ... and for all I've used it, I'm still a novice at it really. I've had a layoff with electric guitar and fx for a little while and now want to get back in to it. So, if I may, I'm going to come back with a load of FX n00b questions on a whole load of the comments / advice given above.

p90fool said:

... I gig direct to desk with one on some pretty big stages, and it's a consistently authentic amp sound every night ...

I'd like to practice with this ... any further tips? Do you set up all of your patches with an amp model in?

p90fool said:

All the amps can be livened up with a compressor model set as a clean boost with a slight treble lift, and don't forget what a graphic EQ model can do for all amps, just like in the real world.

Can you explain this a bit more in detail? Thanks

monquixote said:

It's buffered bypass only, but it seems to be fairly benign anyway.

It isn't completely transparent, but it doesn't make it sound worse to my ears and I have it at the end of the chain so I know I can drive lots of cable if I need to.

?? Are you talking about the G3 in with other pedals here?  

monqixote said:

... The verbs aren't the best, but can be made much better by removing the huge amount of pre delay they all seem to have by default. 

Can you explain about removing the pre-delay please?

monquixote said:

The clean models all have too much "tube" which is think is simulated power amp load. Pull that back and they have a lot more dynamics and sparkle.

And this too?

monquixote

close2u said:

I too have a Zoom G3X ... and for all I've used it, I'm still a novice at it really. I've had a layoff with electric guitar and fx for a little while and now want to get back in to it. So, if I may, I'm going to come back with a load of FX n00b questions on a whole load of the comments / advice given above.

monquixote said:

It's buffered bypass only, but it seems to be fairly benign anyway.

It isn't completely transparent, but it doesn't make it sound worse to my ears and I have it at the end of the chain so I know I can drive lots of cable if I need to.

?? Are you talking about the G3 in with other pedals here?  

monqixote said:

... The verbs aren't the best, but can be made much better by removing the huge amount of pre delay they all seem to have by default. 

Can you explain about removing the pre-delay please?

monquixote said:

The clean models all have too much "tube" which is think is simulated power amp load. Pull that back and they have a lot more dynamics and sparkle.

And this too?

No problem

I use the G3 on my gig board at the end of the chain. I use it after a load of other pedals (wah, volume, drive) so the G3 is acting as my Delay and Modulation. When you have lots of cables in a setup you get cable losses. Having a buffered pedal at the end of your chain means you can drive a long cable from your board to your amp without problems.

Predelay is the time between the note being played and the reverb kicking in. It's the same effectively as having a very short delay with the "wet" output of the delay feeding into a reverb. Having the swell of the reverb delayed by quite a lot (about 50ms be default IIRC) means that the swell of the reverb isn't masked by the attack of the original note which makes the slight artificiality of the reverb sound more apparent.

"Tube" is one of the parameters on the amp models. I don't think the manual explains what this means, but I assumed it was simulated power amp saturation. In order to get the Fender models like the Twin I used on my bands demo to sound spanky I had to turn it right down.

close2u

monquixote said:

Predelay is the time between the note being played and the reverb kicking in. It's the same effectively as having a very short delay with the "wet" output of the delay feeding into a reverb. Having the swell of the reverb delayed by quite a lot (about 50ms be default IIRC) means that the swell of the reverb isn't masked by the attack of the original note which makes the slight artificiality of the reverb sound more apparent.

"Tube" is one of the parameters on the amp models. I don't think the manual explains what this means, but I assumed it was simulated power amp saturation. In order to get the Fender models like the Twin I used on my bands demo to sound spanky I had to turn it right down.

So the default is set too long in order that we can hear the reverb in 'stand alone' ... but for proper and real life usage it should be set shorter to make it sound 'better'? Is that right? WHich paramter are you using to adjust this and to what extent?

I'll explore the tube setting ... I haven't used the amp sims - just went in to amp without any of them on - but if I'm going to try and explore going direct to pa I will need to get to know them.

 

 

monquixote

close2u said:

So the default is set too long in order that we can hear the reverb in 'stand alone' ... but for proper and real life usage it should be set shorter to make it sound 'better'? Is that right? WHich paramter are you using to adjust this and to what extent?

I don't have it in front of me at the moment, but I think it's on the second page of verb settings and called pred or something like that. 

Better is only IMO so have a play and see what you like.

PolarityMan

ICBM said:

 set your amp to as close to full-range as you can (dime the bass and treble, zero the mids basically),

Why does this make the amp close to full range? Is it something to do with how the tone stacks work and is that applicable across all amps?

mike_l

close2u said:

 

So the default is set too long in order that we can hear the reverb in 'stand alone' ... but for proper and real life usage it should be set shorter to make it sound 'better'? Is that right? WHich paramter are you using to adjust this and to what extent?

 

Pretty much all the presets are too high. As has been said before, they're set to show what the unit is capable of, rather than what is useful is a band/musical situation. Having said that it is always fun to tinker with settings and find new ones.

 

Photek did say the Fuzz face is good, he isn't wrong, I've never got on with fuzz before, but I do like the one on the G3. 

 

ICBM

PolarityMan said:

Why does this make the amp close to full range? Is it something to do with how the tone stacks work and is that applicable across all amps?

It's because guitar amps are inherently all midrange, due to the speakers. The tone stacks in many amps actually have a big mid cut already to compensate for this as much as possible, which leads people who have seen the 'tone stack calculator' to wrongly think that to get a flat response you turn *up* the mids - but it's still totally outweighed by the lack of any real top-end from a normal guitar speaker, and lack of bass from (especially) open-back cabinets.

This is the whole reason you need speaker emulation on a DI signal in order to make it sound like a guitar amp, so you have to defeat that as far as possible on the amp in order to get back to where you started, if you're running an emulated signal into it.

Bidley

digitalscream said:

monquixote said:

p90fool said:

One question, do I lose my stored patches if I update the firmware to V2?

I've been tweaking mine on the fly at gigs for over a year (the main advantage of automatic storage), and I don't want to have to start again.

I think you do, but I believe you can back your patches up to the PC if you install the Zoom Software. 

Not only that, but I seem to recall that v2 isn't compatible with patches from v1, so you'd have to start from scratch again...

No, you can use your old patches with V2 if you back them up from your PC. I did just that.

Grumpyrocker

koneguitarist said:

Wouldn't it be better if you wanted to go direct to PA, come back out of PA to amp via a monitor output. That way the out front sound is consistent to what you want, and you can tweak amp to suit you. Or maybe go into amp and when happy mic or DI amp.

You could run the G3 with a setup for a guitar amp. Then run the left mono amp to the amp, the right one through a DI box with cabinet emulation. Behringer do a really cheap one for around £30 that sounds great and has an emulated 4x12 on it. It also has ground lift.

Alternatively you could run the mono out to the amp as normal, and use an XLR to TRS adapter to run from the G3's XLR out to the DI box. 

close2u

Additional question - when running direct to pa ... so you need an amp sim right? .... is it also worth experimenting with the cabinet settings? do they make a big difference?