Anyone got the Zoom MS-50G?

JeremiahJeremiah Frets: 631
I had one of these, and the sounds were fine.

However, when running it on battery power, it made an incredibly annoying high pitched whining sound when using some of the amp sims and distortion/drive effects. (when running on mains power, it did not make this noise.)

I sent it back and got a refund, as it made the pedal unusable for some of the situations in which I wanted to use it, but I'm just wondering if it was due to my pedal being faulty, or if it's an actual problem with the design, and all units of this type will suffer from the same problem.

Has anyone used this pedal and experienced the same problem?

(note: the built-in noise reduction effect did successfully remove the noise when I wasn't playing the guitar, but as soon as I hit a note, it came back and was loud enough to almost overpower the guitar.)


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Comments

  • PauloPaulo Frets: 65
    I have this pedal and tried it tonight with the battery and via a generic psu and there are no noise issues at all.
    The unit probably wont last long on batteries but its a handy option I suppose.

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  • JeremiahJeremiah Frets: 631
    Could you try using one of the amp sims (I think it was FD combo, though I'm no longer sure) and turn the gain most of the way up, and see if there's still no noise when using batteries.

    I've actually ordered a Korg Pandora Stomp to replace the one I sent back, so if that turns out OK I probably won't be buying another Zoom, but it would still be interesting to know if mine was faulty.

    The reason I need to run it from batteries is because I play at a lot of open mic nights where you only get 15 minutes or less to play, so there is a lot of pressure to get on and off the stage quickly. If I'm going to use effects/amp sims I don't want to have to be fumbling around looking for a mains outlet.

    When I tried to use the Zoom, the noise was just unbearable and I had to give up on it and just plug into the PA with no amp sim.
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  • PauloPaulo Frets: 65
    I ran it with just basic fx. I will run it with the Fd combo tomorrow and try a few settings. I'm really happy with this pedal so far. The compressor and rat distortion are great and the delays and tap tempo facility work really well.
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  • PauloPaulo Frets: 65
    Just checked it and it seems fine on amp sims and distortions with the battery


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  • JeremiahJeremiah Frets: 631
    Thanks for checking this out for me - seems like mine may have been faulty.

    Anyway, I've got the Korg now, which is IMO not as good as the Zoom in terms of sounds (and more expensive) but I think it would be too much hassle to send that back and try my luck with a replacement Zoom.
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  • JeremiahJeremiah Frets: 631
    Just a quick update to this: I've seen a post on another forum suggesting that the noise issue with the Zoom MS-50G is a known problem, but Zoom won't do anything to fix it because doing so would reduce the battery life. Obviously I don't know if this is official or just someone talking out of their ar*e. However, it also seems to suggest that the other Zoom units like the G1on and G3 don't suffer from same problem as they use 4 AA batteries rather than 2.
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