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Thread: Zoom G3 and the frustrations of watching YouTube demo's

  1. #1
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    Default Zoom G3 and the frustrations of watching YouTube demo's

    So over the past few years I've been trying to find a useable solution for USB recording and late night silent practice with headphones. So far I've tried the following products with varying degrees of success:
    Zoom G2.1 - really nice effects but fizzy distortions but not too bad
    PODxt - a good jack of all trades without being outstanding at any one thing
    Vox Tonelab ST - left me cold after a short honeymoon period - sold it after a month - very little control over the tone and limited effects
    Fender Mustang 1 - works great as an amp but the sound through headphones is not so good - high gain is meh and usb only works for audio in not out - can't monitor & over dub - WTF?

    I've also tried a Boss ME25 in store for a while through headphones and it didn't wow me either. The POD HD300 is another option but I already have a M13 and I feel like I'd be paying for the same FX twice. Maybe Line6 should bring out just a USB amp modeller for those of us with M series effects already. The M13 into the PODxt doesn't sound great either.

    Anyway I've recently turned my attention to the Zoom G3 - similar stompbox layout to the Line6 M series but with amp modelling and USB ASIO support. It also features a drum machine which syncs to the 40 second looper. Great features but how does it sound? Well this brings me to the second point of my post - how the hell can companies allow their products to be demo'd with the worst possible settings using out of tune guitars? I'm not talking teenage bedroom high gain guitar hero's here (although they are equally annoying) but big companies like Sweetwater. Take a look at Sweetwaters G3 demo below and compare that to the same product being demo'd by a home player who knows how to dial in a decent tone. I know Sweetwater are probably just using the pre-sets and not tweaking but of the 100 pre-sets they can't all be this bad.

    Overall I think this unit could work for me and I think I might order one based on the 'good' demo's I've heard.

    Bad Demo:


    Good Demo:
    - Lev

    Main Guitars: Fender US Deluxe HSS Strat, PRS SE C24, Fender Baja Tele
    Bass Guitar: Squier VM Jaguar Special
    Main Amp: Vox AC15
    Main Effects: Digitech EXP-7, Line6 M5, Soul Food, Sub n UP, Flashback, Polara Verb
    Vids: www.youtube.com/levguitar

  2. #2
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    Yeah I agree that first demo was horrible. I can't imagine them selling many units based off of those tones. It brings up the question though: why do companies make up so many stupid and unusable presets? I assume it's a combination of showing the limits of the unit and standing out among other units in a store like Guitar Center.
    Quote Originally Posted by Spudman
    Does anyone read the original post?
    Guitars: Gibson LP Studio, MIA Fender Precision, Carvin C350
    Amps: Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 + Avatar B212 / Genzler 12-3, Acoustic B20
    Pedals: Pod HD500X, Diamond Compressor, Tech 21 VT Bass, Sonic Research Turbo Tuner

  3. #3
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    I guess there's several use cases and potential customers that they need to keep in mind when creating pre-sets. Some people will play into a clean tube amp, some will play into a solid state amp, some will use with single coils some with HB's. Then there are people who will exclusively use this hooked up to a PC, some will use through studio monitors others through headphones. Then there's the varying quality of gear being connected to.

    Then they need to consider who plays the unit, younger guitarists will be impressed by crazy effects, their abilities may be somewhat limited so the sound of a heavily modulated flanger with tons of gain while playing a power chord may float their boat. Then there's older more experienced players who are looking for something more subtle.

    I'm not making excuses here and I think most manufacturers pre-sets suck but I guess it's not that easy to make good sounding presets that will work well for everyone out there.
    - Lev

    Main Guitars: Fender US Deluxe HSS Strat, PRS SE C24, Fender Baja Tele
    Bass Guitar: Squier VM Jaguar Special
    Main Amp: Vox AC15
    Main Effects: Digitech EXP-7, Line6 M5, Soul Food, Sub n UP, Flashback, Polara Verb
    Vids: www.youtube.com/levguitar

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