Help me choose a Zoom!

d8m

I've lightened my pedal load a bit lately to:

Tuner>ERD>DS2>Ditto

I'm looking into picking up one of the zoom units to run in the chain to cover a lot of sounds in small form factor.

I literally cannot decided whether to go for the MS-50g which is a more traditional multi-fx with a bit of everything or go for the MS-70CDR which is purely mod/delay/verb.

I'm thinking that having a few dirts on the MS-50 could be useful if I ever want to cut my board down further in future.

The counter argument in my head is that the dirt's may not actually be that good on the multi-fx.....

 So I'm better of leaving dirt as standalone pedals and running it into a one pedal mod/delay/reverb setup.

There is also always the Zoom G3...... which looks to me like an MS-50 with three foot switches!

Help!

thomasw88

i've had 2 zoom G3's, the ms50g, and a zoom g5.

 

sold all of them...  sound wise they are ok, but I couldn't get any of them to work well in my setup.   always seemed to ghave to tweak them on the go, and they didn't seem to work too well with other pedals imo.

 only multi effect i have now days is a line 6 m5 which i don't use that often.  but has outlasted all of the zoom ones.   However, I  much prefer using single stomp boxes (delay, wah, drives) , and keep the m5 for the occasional odd effect that I need occasionally ie flanger, phaser, octaver.  The m5 isn't perfect  but it sounds good and is pretty easy to use.

Forge

I love my G3 because you can use it as 3 side by side stompoxes - I only use it for delays, reverbs and other modulations - I particularly dislike dirtboxes simulations.

Grunfeld

d8m said:

The counter argument in my head is that the dirt's may not actually be that good on the multi-fx.....

 So I'm better of leaving dirt as standalone pedals and running it into a one pedal mod/delay/reverb setup.

That's pretty much my take on it.  I sold a G3 because the distortions were not worth having IMO.

I've got an MS-70CDR which I haven't taken out live yet but it does a passable job at what it is supposed to do.  I still don't like it as much as dedicated units though which is why it hasn't quite made it onto my board yet.

Kebabkid

I've had the MS-50G and got rid of it and now have the MS-70CDR instead - I wanted my dirt pedals separate plus I had some favourites which I preferred. Also, I found the signal of the MS-50G a little too hot and it didn't combine well with my other pedals (all true bypass) and caused some overload/unwanted mild distortion, even when off. Being just a mod, delay, rev fx pedal with no preamps/distortions, I've NOT experienced that with MS-70CDR

Whilst I've not had the Zoom G3, I've had the B3 (bass version) and it's the exact same layout. I found this to be a real boon so I don't think you can go wrong with one of those but I would say try it with your pedals first just to see if compatible. A lot of people here use it without "my issues" so could be just my board or choice of pedals (Keeley, TC, Fulltone, Xotic).

d8m

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Looks like I've narrowed it down to the MS-70 or going full system and getting a g3.

Unless there's some other multi-fx unit I have completely overlooked? 

:-S

d8m

Having spent a good amount of time checking out reviews and Youtube videos I am likely to pull the trigger this evening and get a G3 rather than an MS-70CDR.

I was leaning towards the ms-70 as some of the features on the G3 wont be needed for me as I have a tuner and looper.

But price point vs functionality has swayed me towards the G3 as it has the potential to be my entire rig if I ever decided to drop pedals.

The Youtube videos of peoples patches mimicking 'famous' guitar tones was a plus also!

Any last advice/caution before I go for it?

digitalscream

It probably won't make any difference if you're running your signal at instrument level, but the MS-70CDR can handle line-level stereo signals, which none of the other units in the range can do (weirdly).

d8m

cheers @digitalscream that's always good to know

Having looked at the patch lists I'm almost tempted to go for the MS-50G.

Has alot of the same effects as the G3 and is nearly £50 cheaper

monquixote

I have a G3 

I think the Mods and Delays are gig quality, but he reverbs and drives not so much.

The G3 is more practical for live use than the CDR though it irritatingly lacks patch switching. 

d8m

monquixote said:

I have a G3 

I think the Mods and Delays are gig quality, but he reverbs and drives not so much.

The G3 is more practical for live use than the CDR though it irritatingly lacks patch switching. 

At first I was deciding on the basis that I have my DS-2 and ERD for my dirt so any dirt that came with the pedal would not really be used.

After watching some videos I'm pretty impressed with the fuzz so am thinking it would be nice to have them there if I ever fancied giving it a go!

The MS-70CDR seems to contain a lot of verbs and delays I wouldn't really want as I'm after more of a general fill the void pedal. So again it seem like paying for functionality you don't really need.

On top of this If I'm paying £90 for the MS-70CDR I might as well chuck another £20 in and get the G3!

I only really play at home so at this stage the single switch doesn't bother me, I'd only use it for one effect at a time.

Seems like its going to be a battle or price vs functionality between the MS-50G and G3.

thomasw88

If you're convinced you want one... Then go for the g3. It'd easier to use.

d8m

Went for the G3

It was a little more than I planned to spend but I hope it should stop my GAS for a good while.

If I like it that much I may seriously downgrade my board size and sell a few things off.