Zoom G3 Multi Effects Pedal Reviews

4.4/5.0 based on 19 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Brian Kerns

When I first started with my Zoom G3, I realized one thing: This pedal is incredibly easy to use. Not only that, but the effects sound great! With a built-in drum machine and looper, it's really fun when I'm just jamming in my apartment. And I can also use it as an audio interface, so I can quickly recording any song I've just written. I think this pedal is a great addition to any guitar rig.

JR Dahman

With its solid metal construction, the Zoom G3 is worthy of the title “STOMP BOX”! This powerhouse is an all-in-one dream machine that comes loaded with over 100 high quality effects and amp models, giving you the ability to really mold and shape your tone to perfection. With its three large screens and knobs, it couldn't be easier to choose a patch and fine tune it to your liking. You can use the effects individually or combine any three to give you the perfect sound. Add in the easy-to-use 40-second loop phrase recording and overdubbing, plus the integrated drum machine, and you really do have a pedal that can do it ALL!

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Customer Reviews

Tom
from
December 22, 2012Music Background:
Band, Weekly, Large Room

Zoom G3

This is a great product. It's a very fair price, and that's what it's all about. Six simultaneous Stomp effects for each chain. Use the patches OR create your own ( I choose the latter). If you like to sound good, buy it.

SOUND: Great! The head turning snapped necks the first time I used it. I play a Gibson Midtown. I use the Zoom G3 Graphics EQ instead of an amp model and use the DI output to go directly into the sound board. I like a clean sound so I dislike amp models. This is because all manufacture's typical model the original amp sound and that means you even get the amp circuitry noise. The Zoom G3 and my POD xt both reproduce that same noise. I use the Zoom G3 now instead of the POD xt because of simplicity and good sound.

SIMPLICITY: Each Chain's Stomp Box (6) parameters can be changed easily and quickly (Do it - it's done. No save process needed).

PERFECT for me. I've read concerns about scrolling through banks. If you can dance on the buttons on a Stomp board throughout a set, then you can adapt to the Zoom G3 (simplicity). HERE"S THE SOLUTION: I don't need to jump around through more than three Stomp chains per song. I store patches in sequential order (from A0 to whatever - theres more than 100 chain slots available). During this process I put each songs primary patch in the middle and the other two (above and below the primary Stomp chain) and include a number in the Songs Title for those songs needing a sequencial series. Once the Stomp chains are set up, I hold down FOOT BUTTON # 1 to enter Scroll Mode. Then I simply scroll up and down during a song, and continually scroll up through Stomp chains as we progress through a set. Finally, during this process the name of each patch is displayed in the Far-Right (brightly lite) Window, so it's easy to see where you're at throughout the set.

COMPUTER INTERFACE: Easy. Save all the patches (current factory settings and all those you create) to your computer and reload them into the Zoom G3 in whatever order needed for your next gig. Easy to do with a laptop if you're on the road. There's more.... it's all just extra toppings on a good desert.

Tom
from Touring
December 8, 2012Music Background:
Pro musician

A Swiss Army Knife DI

Needed a DI for my acoustic guitar, so I decided to take a gamble and pick this up... Glad I did. I first dialed in an eq to make the guitar sound as natural as possible, and as a DI, I was very happy with it. Then I added a compressor to raise the volume of finger style passages, and it sounded great. A nice hall reverb added some fullness. Then, because of the firmware update (see below), I was able to add a delay/chorus following an amp model based on a Fender Vibroverb set to be slightly clean, with a boost pedal in front of it to give it a bit more bite and growl if needed. The three (nice) switches control the boost, amp model, and chorus, and it ended up making a great little pedal setup for my acoustic guitar.

The bottom line is that it does a great job as a DI, and I got some added tone toys thrown in. The amp models don't feel as lifelike as the Line 6 HD, but they sound great on stage and in the mix. The only thing I wish Zoom would have included is the ability to sync delay tempo via midi. However, at this price, that isn't really expected.

As an aside...when the unit first arrived with the old firmware, only three effects could be used at a time, but the firmware update 2.0 adds the ability to use six at a time...that essentially gave me the freebie sound options described above. It is now my favorite DI.

Richard C. Smith Jr.
from Frederick, Maryland
December 5, 2012Music Background:
Semi-professional musician for 25 years.

Zoom G3

Received the G3 two weeks ago...I am very pleased with my purchase from Sweetwater. I couldn't believe that they actually follow-up with a phone call! Who does that anymore? This is my fourth multi-effects that I have used in 25 years and my second Zoom product. I tried other processors recently, but found the G3 to be exactly what I was looking for. I love the amp sims!! They have to be the best I have ever heard! Thanks Zoom!!

Jeffry Arntzen
from Mo, US
April 9, 2012Music Background:
Weekend Warrior

Great Bang For Your Buck

I bought the G3 mainly for home practice. Love the drums tracks and looper, very easy to use. I've started to use it at gigs, and find it very user friendly. I'm mainly using the delay and modulation effects at gigs, but have used the looper live. Definitely worth the money

John See
from Sula, MT
March 23, 2012Music Background:
Long time student/songwriter.

Everything in one box.

No matter what your style of guitar, this device will help you find the sound you are looking for. It's an absolutely brilliant design that lets you build a tone from an amp and then tweak it with a huge set of pedals. And when you get it the way you want it you just plug it into the laptop and amaze the world. This is without a doubt the best thing I have ever purchased for guitar in forty years.

Charles Goode
from Alabama, USA
January 17, 2012Music Background:
Active musician, singer for ______ years!!

G3 pedal

Amazing quality! With several Zoom products in my equipment bag prior to this I'm still impressed. Built like a tank and quiet make the G3 a great pick for me; less weight, geart tone, and very simple to program.
Also Thanks to the Sweetwater team for the prompt turnaround.

Jeff W.
from Telford, PA
July 19, 2011Music Background:
Church musician

Amazing Quality for the Money!

I just received the new Zoom G3 effects processor and am totally blown away by it. I was looking for something for playing in church every week. Sometimes I play my Strat, other weeks it might be the Martin. This thing is SO cool. It's like having a couple of hundred effects at your feet. You choose any three and assign one to each of the three foot switches. Playing acoustic and don't need the amp sim but could use an EQ instead? Want an acoustic setup with boost, combined chorus/reverb and delay? You can do it. Need to go direct into the board with amp simulation? No problem! Playing electric and need an "Orange" head with a tube screamer and spring reverb? Two clicks of the footswitch and you're there. Plus tuner and looper. I've owned the TC Nova System, DigiTech RP1000, Boss units, separate pedals, etc....and this has them all beat - for two hundred bucks. GET IT!

giovanni witjamulia
from
March 18, 2013Music Background:
hobbyist, student

good effect good value

this effect is do great. i love the features that's included with this pedal. the effect variation is a really great. it's have a great delay, modulation, reverb effect. so many variation. i love stereo delay in this unit. i used two amp for out. and i really like the sound. the stereo chorus is amazing too. but i don't really like the amp simulator and distortion effect pedal.
the loop feature is great too, there are many drum sample over there, fun to jam with it.
overall this pedal is great and the value is great too. i really love it.
but i not recommended this pedal for main distortion sound.

Ted
from Somersworth, NH
September 12, 2012Music Background:
professional amateur

Best modeling unit available

Upgraded to version 2.0, the Zoom G3 is almost everything I want from an effects modeler. Strong and lightweight, complete range of effects and amps, sound quality is top notch. No latency, no dulling of your tone, qucik patch changes. It can sit on the floor, or on a desktop and look at home as a stomp or studio box. With 9 dedicated knobs, it makes a fantastic synth effects box as well as for guitar. I really like the triggered gate delay, never heard that in a guitar amp/fx modeler! A month later and still my favorite piece of gear. As good as the "leading brand."

Rob S.
from United States
April 6, 2012Music Background:
Avid Hobbyist

Pull the trigger, you know you want it!!

If you can't find your tone in here, you may be deaf...
The effects are amazing quality. The amp models can't be beat for the price. You can only use three effects at a time, but there are multiple combos like delay/chorus, delay/reverb and comp/OD so you can get around that if you try. It doesn't get much easier to tweak the settings. I may have found the last pedal I will ever buy, well, unless I buy another one. One for the pre amp effects, one for the effects loop!

Cory
from Columbus, OH
November 3, 2011Music Background:
Recording Guitarist, Hobbyist

Compact Multi-FX With Stompbox Versitility

Zoom has really come a long way. Several years ago, my first multi-fx pedal that I ever bought was a Zoom. While it sounded great as my first pedal, I eventually found more expensive and bigger pedals that sounded even better by other manufacturers. But now that I had so many large multi-fx, I really wanted to go back to a more compact, portable solution that wouldn't sacrifice tone. The Zoom G3 was the perfect choice!

When searching for a new pedal here recently, my criteria were that:
1) The pedal had to sound good
2) It had to be relatively small
3) It had to have an on-board drum machine
4) It had to have a looper function which could be used at the same time as the drum machine

After searching for a long time, the only solution I could find was the Zoom G3. As soon as I plugged in and started fiddling with the knobs, I was blown away! Not only did the pedal sound awesome, but the easy of editing was phenomenal! Most multi-fx can be rather tedious to edit. Because of limitation of number of knobs and screen size, you must constantly scroll through various menus to try and find the parameters you're looking for.

The Zoom G3 is different, because it takes more of a stompbox approach. It is essentially 3 smaller single-effect pedals side by side. Each screen shows what effect you have selected on that pedal. From amp sims, to chorus pedals, to compressors to reverb, any one of the 100+ effects can be selected and in any order. Each effect slot also has its own set of three knobs to change the parameters. This means that it is very simple to change the gain on an overdrive pedal selected without first having to page through the parameters of your flanger pedal. Each pedal can be edited independantly, making it more enjoyable to edit patches on the fly!

The effects sound great and there are plenty to choose from. Classic amp emulations of Fender, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Vox and more sound pretty good for a multi-fx, and feature gain, eq, presence and cab controls. A nice selection of several different choruses is cool too, as well as multiple flangers, delays and at least 10 overdrive/distortion pedals. The looper and drum machine work great, and are relatively easy to access. The looper can record 40 seconds of audio (or it goes down to 20 if you enable an "undo" feature, which can be helpful at times) and will sync up to the drum machine.

If you're looking for a compact multi-fx that is easy to use, sounds great, has tons of features and won't break the bank, this may be the pedal for you! One tip that I picked up early on is that at first, the pedal sounded WAY too bright. But going into the master menu, you can change the line-out options from "direct" to "into combo amp" or "into amp stack", which will give a more balanced sound.

There only one downside that I found with the pedal. Though I find it to be minor, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed by purchasing this without knowing this. Since this pedal takes more of a stompbox approach instead of the classic multi-fx, it only supports 3 effects at one time. What this means is that each screen on the device represents one effect, so at any given time, the most effects you can have active are 3. Sometimes 3 effects won't cut it, such as needing to slap a noise gate onto a chain with an OD, amp and delay, or something like that. While there are a few effects that combine two into one effect (phaser+delay, reverb+delay), it's not comprehensive enough for everyone's needs.

fred
from ohio
August 28, 2011Music Background:
guitar player for over 50 years

an army of sounds

i had the g2nu, and this looked the upgrade i wanted. the ability to turn effects on and off directly through the g3 is what sold me, but the overall sounds this unit can make are amazing.

there is a bit of a learning curve-at least for me. that is why i took 1/2 point off the rating-lol.

overall though- probably the nicest processor i have ever used

Jimi-Lee Lloyd
from New York (New York State Worlds Fair & The first Woodstock)
April 3, 2013Music Background:
Musician, Voicelisl

Zoom G-3 Multi Effects Pedal

Thanks for putting together something portable now I spend my time working it out the way I would like it & in a smaller package. I'm still learning but it sounds nice. So what else is new that your hiding thatI might be able to use? Just don't tell my Lady. Keep up the good work.
Peace

Kameron
from Cortez CO
March 7, 2013Music Background:
recording, hobbyist

cool pedal

I really like my zoom g3 looks great, easy to use. Although I thought it would've had a few more things to offer. Yet I'm still learning about it. Great pedal though

Howza
from Syracuse, NY
November 22, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Great Product!

I use this with GarageBand and It works like a charm! USB interface is seamless. Amp models are very true to the original sound. It's a nice compact way to get many sounds in one unit. Love the stomp box layout, very smart.

from Tampa, FL
June 15, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Great Stomp Box

Love the effects even though some I will never use just due to my personal tastes. This is a great practice tool for learning what sounds you like and keeping time with the drum loops. The recording software is easy to use so far. I just wish it was easier to turn on and off the drum loop while playing. It seems to be well built.

from Hartford, CT
June 13, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

A Useful Device for Recording Direct

I use the G3 for direct recording with my Tascam DP-02. It records nicely in both stereo and mono (the balanced XLR comes in handy for that). With the proper tweaking, many of the amp and effects mods sound pretty darn good and are very usable for home recording, especially the cleaner tones. The super-high gain tones aren't as good, but usable nonetheless. While as with a lot of multi-effects processors, there are also a bunch of useless un-musical "noisemaking" effects in there which I could do without, I guess it's possible someone might find a musical use for them. I haven't used the looper yet and don't intend to so I can't comment on that featue, but it's nice to have in case I find a use for it. The backlit LCDs and intuitive effect and amp icons make using the G3 a breeze. It would be nice if it had a separate headphone output volume control because the output levels on the presets vary widely when using it as a straight plug in practice device. Other than that, the G3 is packed full of decent tones for the price.

Chris
from Hattiesburg Ms
October 17, 2012Music Background:
Pro musician

Nice tool

For some one who dont like effects this is a nice tool run through the effects loop of my boogie with just enough to give some color to the sound

Looperman
from Scio, OREGON
March 21, 2012Music Background:
Musician of 42 years.

Zoom G3

Great quality product. Works fine. This unit has so many options you will have a hard time using them all. Lots of great sounds. Very easy to use. I gave it a 3 only because of the bad.
The bad ..
You can't start and stop the drum machine with your foot while in the Looper Mode. It has to be stopped with your finger by pushing this little tiny button, which is in the middle of other buttons. This is quite hard to do while playing the guitar and having the unit on the floor.. All Zoom had to do was make that little button a foot switchable button. Maybe a $ 5.00 fix. To bad about that. I almost sent it back because of this problem. But I will keep it and deal with it because of the other good features.