redant
Hello everyone,
I have a good guitar (used to be when I bought it anyway - Ibanez RG47). I have a very old zoom effects box, which in my opinion never cut it from day one, and now sounds even worse.
So I am taking on a bit of a project (trying). Mostly clean sound, including George Michael, Simply Red, Mike & the Mechanics - that sort of stuff. Will be playing alongside a backtrack, and the guitar will go through a PA or guitar amp+PA.
I will be doing mostly rhythm, and trying to give the songs a bit of an edge with some buzzy fills and short leads.
So what do I do with my sound?
What effect box can you suggest? (something that will withstand the test of time a little better than my Zoom).
I have such a terrible ear for sound, and I am somewhat at a loss.
Please helppp...
Red-ANT
Tokai-SA
Find yourself a 'used' Vox Tonelab SE.
That's all you need.
DonovanB
Or a boss GT8.... It's not the Boss for nothing...
I also do quite abit of simply red, Kenji Suzuki does such simple stuff yet it is so effective. Listen to some of his Nylon work in the Live in Cuba album.
Squonk
Hey Redant
I know this forum kind of despises Zoom pedals, but I think it's mainly because they dont know how to operate them.
Have you tried removing all the effects from a patch and starting from scratch.
I have found that the stock patches are generally crappy and plastic sounding. Zoom distortions are pretty crappy, although on some of the comptitions , fellow GFSAfers have asked how I got that good tone (all zoom by the way).
The cleaner FX like compression, EQ, Chorus etc are reasonable on the Zoom, although I dont know what model you have.
If you just going to play with Backing tracks etc, the Zoom should suffice untill you know what you really want.
The thing is you could buy something else and have the same result. A lot of what you sound like IMO is in your fingers anyway.
Bob-Dubery
DonovanB wrote:
Or a boss GT8.... It's not the Boss for nothing...
Indeed not. They paid a lot of money to the consultancy that told them that "Boss" was snappier and sexier than "Roland".
mattayou
+1 to Squonks tone through the Zoom. Prooves that a Zoom box can produce a decent tone!
redant
Thanks everyone for the valuable input. I think Squonk makes the most sense pertaining to my case. I also thought that a new pedal will fix my sound miraculously, but I think I am going to end up right where I am now.
So I will do as you say and give that Zoom a second try, until I know where I really want to go with this.
ReD ANt
DonovanB
Squonk receives the nobel prize for being the first person to program a doorstop. :applause: :applause:
Alan87
I am a firm believer in "less is more". Unless you are looking for a sound saturated with delay and infinite reverb I suggest you just get a good amp with good clean and drive channels and some reverb. Take your guitar to your local music shop and test everything they have.
aja
Alan87 wrote:
I am a firm believer in "less is more". Unless you are looking for a sound saturated with delay and infinite reverb I suggest you just get a good amp with good clean and drive channels and some reverb. Take your guitar to your local music shop and test everything they have.
I agree 100%
That is how I "discovered" what I want out of a guitar
evolucian
For the price of a MFX you are being suggested, for a lot less than that and the sound you are looking for... you could have 3 pedals (if your amp has switchable reverb)... my suggestion would be compressor, chorus and delay. Your amp should have overdrive... and a slight overdrive is all that you will be needing. I hope this helps
[deleted]
Well, redant's first post did say he might go through an amp or a PA...so we can't count on an amp's reverb or drive. I'm with Squonk on seeing what can be done with the Zoom before getting to the point of parting with money. First things first...
evolucian
Dunno... I'm anti zoom so I guess I shouldn't be here, lol... but it does make sense to start from scratch in the setup... its just the noise suppressors in those things are hideous... but anyway
Heath
I have a zoom 4040 , that I got from strat . Its old , its analoge and I wouldn't get rid of it ever . Best sound multi fx I have ever used .
Alan87
I had a Zoom myself and was pretty unimpressed and parted with it after a year or so. I have started from scratch with a decent amp and have never looked back. If you want that "expensive" sound i recomend getting delay and reverb single effects. A DD20 is fun if you are into that kinda thing.
MIKA-the-better-one
I am anti zoom to, and I do beleive this gentlemen stated he is unhappy with his sound at the moment..... I dont like multi's but I would say go witha boss gt8 or 10, they sound pretty good, and from what i understand you can go straight into a Pa from them, or a vox tonelab.
Zoom, while I understand some like them, personally i feel the distortion or anything gain wise is pretty darn bad, and further every zoom i have used has sounded very digital, the are fun to fool around on.
A zoom will work, its just how good do you want to sound? Zoom good, or BOSS GT8 or 10 goos, which is pretty darn good when put next to a zoom.
Or you could go with a simple stompbox setup, however then a pa may not work
Sean
MIKA the better one wrote:
...I dont like multi's but I would say go witha boss gt8 or 10, they sound pretty good, and from what i understand you can go straight into a Pa from them, or a vox tonelab.
Okay, who is this? And what have you done with Mike? ?
(yes I know, you were merely speaking comparatively ? )
ZarK
Hi There.
I'd go for a GT-8 if I where in your position and I could get my hands on a good example. For clean tones with delay and chorus there are not many if any out there that'll beat it for the price imo. I much prefer the 8 to the 10. I used to own an 8 and thoroughly tested the 10 last week. The lower gain distortions are acceptable, but the high gains have never really impressed me... You can get some decent solo tones though... You also have an fx loop, midi control and a large number of banks and patches for all your songs. You will have to spend some time setting up your patches and tweaking for tone, but after that's done you'll be set. The built in tuner is also a nice feature and it's rather sensitive which is good. The fact that you can run the 8 or 10 in stereo through your pa is another bonus. The cleans when set-up is brilliant! I really like the 8 and 10's chorus, reverbs and delays a lot!
Go test one or both.
MIKA-the-better-one
hahah, I know its weird for me to say this, but in terms of what the guy is looking to acheive it seems the best option....... There is a place for such multi effect units, not with me however ?
DonovanB
So How's the zoom working out then redant?
