More Zoom G3 questions

smudge_lad

Hi guys,

Borrowed my mate's G3 the other day to give it a bash, and wondered a few things that he didn't know the answer to:

1. He used it into the front of his amp, whereas I'm running it into my FX Loop of my Marshall JVM with 4x12 (100% wet FX Loop in series) Which setting should I choose from "Combo, Stack, Direct"?

2. I found that when I kicked my FX Loop on, there appeared to be a noticeable drop in volume. I've got my loop set to +4db, and I tried turning the Global volume to max on the G3, but there still seemed to be a volume drop. I was only using delay on the G3, so it wasn't an effect with a "volume" setting. Anything else I should be checking? I'm guessing this could be related to my first question?

Any pointers would be greatly welcomed

mike_l

1, none, that'd be like putting a drive pedal in the loop* which is a no-no.

2, when I had a G3, there was a noticable volume difference between some settings.

 

*ICBM'll be along in a minute to tell me it's alright to put a G3 there..

Lev

I don't use mine in the loop but I would imagine in your scenario 'Stack Power Amp' would be the option to use for FX loops.

DIRECT Use when connected to headphones or monitor speakers

COMBO FRONT Use when connected to an ordinary combo amp input

STACK FRONT Use when connected to an ordinary stack amp input

COMBO POWER AMP Use when connected to an ordinary combo amp return

STACK POWER AMP Use when connected to an ordinary stack amp return

ICBM

mike_l said:

1, none, that'd be like putting a drive pedal in the loop* which is a no-no. 

*ICBM'll be along in a minute to tell me it's alright to put a G3 there..

No, it's not that - it's the level setting. The G3 probably isn't capable of supporting +4dB even when not using dirt/amp effects. Try the loop at lower level. You still don't want the speaker emulation enabled because it will be going into a real speaker after the amp though, so Combo or Stack, whichever sounds better.

And be *very careful* with a G3 in the loop anyway - if you do accidentally select anything with significant gain, you're into the danger zone of making the amp unstable. This doesn't always occur, but if it does in rare cases it can damage the amp. It usually sounds dreadful anyway...

smudge_lad

My plan was to set up a signal path of all modulation as it would be permanently in my FX loop, which should hopefully remove the potential threat of accidentally selecting a dirt box!!

Will try changing the speaker emualtion to one of those two and see how it sounds. Really hoping it sounds decent.....already sold my M5 and need a replacement ASAP!

vasselmeyer

smudge_lad said:

My plan was to set up a signal path of all modulation as it would be permanently in my FX loop, which should hopefully remove the potential threat of accidentally selecting a dirt box!!

I've just picked up a G3 courtesy of @handsomerik and will be using it in exactly the manny you have described. I'll just be running mods through the effects look of my Egnater combo and my drive pedals will be running into the front of the amp. I've had a quick play with it over the weekend before a rehersal on Thursday and if you're running it in the loop then you definitely need it set to one of the POWER AMP settings; COMBO or STACK is your choice.

All you need are the mods themselves (delay, reverb, phaser, flanger etc etc). You don't need anything else in that patch as each block in the patch is just emulating a stompbox. You don't need anything like an amp model or speaker emulation.

What I've actually ended up doing is just setting one patch which contains the following effects in this order tremolo > phaser > flanger > chorus > slapback delay > 250ms delay. Because you can switch up and down inside a patch by pressing right & middle or left & middle you can set the appropriate effect s out of the six you need in one of the three windfows and then switch them on and off individually.

Just as a follow up, I finally got around to trying out a few of the emulated amps as a direct recording into Windows through the USB out on the Zoom. They sound absolutely great, particularly the Marshall 1959 which sounded HUGE. I might even try it out as a DI into the PA at rehersal. All I'll need will be a guitar, the Zoom and cables.