Zoom G1 Four Guitar Multi FX Pedal Demo and Review 

Thanks. Glad to help

Thanks. Top tip... If you update the firmware you can put the looper before the FX, then record a loop and adjust the FX on the fly in real time to find the exact tones you want (and save them, all while the looper is still playing).

Agree with everything you've said there. It's hard to imagine pedals of this quality existing a few years back, especially given the affordability

Wow, thanks for that info. That'll be a really useful update and I'll look into it ASAP.

Thanks. Steadily improving the quality of my videos.

Great purchase. Hours of fun ahead

Thanks. Happy to help.

You're welcome. Yes, the G4 will worth without any need for a DI direct. Just engage the speaker sim if you want that mic'd sound. Top stuff.

Great idea. Will try that

Great to have you onboard

Yes, always check the cab / mic settings, depending on your intended use (playing through amp, or direct to desk). A lot of the Zoom G1 Four's presets don't have any cabs or mics engaged. So always tweak the settings and add a cab/mic if required. Just experiment.

Yep. Layering really helps flesh an idea out

So can you save the loops to use later?

@@eyetalic No, there is no way of saving a loop to the unit. Once you turn it off the loop is gone.

@@tgdb4968 Just bought the unit and wish I'd known this before - so if you are playing live you have to create the loop as you play. Not sure what I would need to spend to do this, but having said that , this unit is great value.

@@davidmaxfield2398 Yeah you cannot store the loops on the unit.

Yes. Depending on which outlet I use in the house, and depending on which guitar and what other equipment I'm using in close proximity, the noise is either there or not. Batteries just eliminates most of those variables

You don't delete, you over-write the patches. And I don't use guitar lab. Prefer to tweak via the pedal UI.

I don't see why not. I use it on vocals so it can handle the full audio range / spectrum with no issues. Go for it. Amazing unit.

Is It suitable for electro acoustic guitars? Whats your opinion, Pete? Thanks

Save the 2 patches you wish to play with, both your perfect distortion tone, and your best chorus chime, then save them next to one another. You can do this 4 times and then toggle up and down either way and still be sure to engage your 2 favourite setting no matter which way you tap the footswitches to change patch. You can control the distortion with your guitar volume pot, so you can control your OD tone and Dist tone right from your guitar. And leave your clean tone totally clean with no amp sims on. The best clean guitar was recorded by people like Michael Jackson and Prince. Both of which played directly into the desk only running through a high quality preamp to add that transformer-in-the-circuit weight in the signal. Perfect cleans with just modulation is the way to go.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse can you make vidio tutorial please ...if you have free time ,thank you. Very much

This is definitely worth it in 2022. Great sound quality, and the key is to program it yourself. With so many flexible features it produces a great bunch of tones.

@@ZaibasLightningRanger I now have 2! Snap them up. A genuine unsung hero of multi FX

Yes, just plug the headphones into the output jack. It takes the large 6.3mm jack size (same size as a guitar cable jack).

Guitar > Pedal > Tascam Model 16

You can turn the reverb tail on / off depending on what you want

@@PetesGuitarUniverse thank you for the response😁 is there something like this in Bank mode and stomp mode?

@@user-nh5ml3je6d when you select a reverb one of the parameters is to turn the tail on/off. However you like to use it, patches or stomp.

Seem to last ages. I run mine on batteries for recording (to eliminate ground hum earthing rattle). Get many sessions from one set of batteries

I used to have to replace my zoom every 8 hours or so max. Buy some good rechargeable an proper charger. An keep 2 extra sets in the area

Headphone output is excellent. Literally brilliant. No issues at all. Just use the right hand side knob to lower the patch volume so you don't blow your ears up. The tones sound incredible. Especially the modulation / stereo FX.

Used zoom for decades. They are the first pedal company to do this an the digital multipedals afaik. I split an recorded wearing headphones while recording on the fly videos with my old one.

The input is mono, so will accept any mono instrument. And yes the looper has a max time about 30 seconds or so. You can layer on top, but can't make the loop any longer.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse alright, thank you so much

Thanks. I prefer rechargeable batteries. But other solutions definitely work well if hum is an issue for anyone.

Yes, in fact I use it for recording DI bass. Make your own patches and there are lots of great FX. Really useful.

Great idea and setup

I use it with active buckets sometimes too. The key is to drop the gain levels to bring the clarity back.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse thank you for this will try reducing the gain on the amp, I also use an overdrive pedal in my chain, with very little gain, around 10 in value, should i reduce the gain on the overdrive pedal too. Will try reducing the gain on the amp first and see how things go, thank you very much!!!

@@ILLRICARDO it's called 'gain staging'. With a bit of experimentation you will get the sound you're looking for.

Thanks. They're standard drum patterns. I might cover this in a follow up video, as I have discovered some amazing features I want to share

I'll try harder. Bro.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse, 👍

Hi, I agree the stock patches suck. But this pedal offers amazing tones when edited and patches made from scratch. I use it 90% of the time for recording clean tones, which are stellar. There are a couple of excellent chorus FX, fully editable parameters. I prefer the Tri-chorus, which is heavenly.

It's just a little bleed from the camera mic

Oooh yeah. I'm planning to do a deep dive video on this pedal to cover everything, as there's too much to cover in just 1 vid. Stay tuned / subscribe to the channel for the up coming vids.

Will do! And btw, do you still use the amp and cab sim even though it's already plugged in a real amp?

@@davidmylesmapilot5708 usually turn on the cab sim if recording direct. It just applies high frequency damping like a cab does.

Hard to say. Boss are great at what they do. But personally I find the new Zoom ranges of guitar FX sound better to my ears. You can get good live tones and even better direct recording tones. The 32-bit processors Zoom use are top spec.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse Thanks for your input. Listening over RU-vid, I like the zoom sounds as well. I may just get the Zoom as I have been debating.

@@philos212 that would be my choice too. I already switched from Boss to Zoom. Don't regret it.

@@PetesGuitarUniverse It's funny, about an hour after I made this comment I found a Boss GT1 used in excellent condition from a guy here locally. It was too difficult to pass up. I will be experimenting with it for now and then get a Zoom G1X four later on.

@@philos212 cool. I'm sure you'll love the Boss. Great unit.

Yes, you can power it via the wall wart. But batteries avoids the hum / cycle noise that many who use multi fx units (no more so than any other pedal)

@@PetesGuitarUniverse thanks man 👌🏼

Thanks for your feedback. As mentioned, the tones are all stock Zoom patches (except the first couple of clean patches). All patches used are recorded direct and have the cabs engaged. But thanks

Just something I came up with for the video. I always try and write something original

@@PetesGuitarUniverse can u pls tell me the chords? I can figure out the strumming myself... Love ur playing btw

The usual auto-wah, yes

You sure can!

Use the ZNR (zoom noise reduction) patch in the last slot. Adjust the parameters so it's silent when not playing, but so that it doesn't choke the decay of a single note sustain too early

I plan to do a real deep dive to explore a bunch more of the settings on this, as there's so much to go into.

I’m having one delivered to me and I been playing since I was 12 but my whole family plays but I’m more excited about the drums

Aw the distortion, the dopey big boy distortion ! Use Boss SD 1 and SD 2 for distortion ! Now what do the reverbs and echoes sound like ?

As many as you like, so long as they're under 30 seconds in length (loop). If you stack lots and lots, the earlier ones will loose clarity slightly, but that's the same on all loopers

@@PetesGuitarUniverse thank you!

Totally agree. The presets suck, as with most multi FX. But I can guarantee that the tones within the G1 Four are first class. I have dialled in a bunch of amazing patches of my own and believe they rival anything else I've ever heard. The delays and looper are worth the money alone.

​@@PetesGuitarUniverseyou can export/share those patches 😉

@@onceagain227 about to release an in-depth tutorial on how to get the best out of this pedal. Subscribe for notification when it releases soon

@@PetesGuitarUniverse you got it, dude. Subbed.

@@onceagain227 cool. I've discovered some very cool things about this pedal. Will be sharing soon.

Well spotted

You need to plug a jack into the input and output.

Dude, some pedals won’t turn on unless you plug the jack cable :)