Zoom G1 Four honest review 

i think i watched around 10 videos about this pedal, yours is the most simple and most useful one thanks for that.

Simply the best review the G1 on RU-vid. Thanks very much!

Ok so I've had the pedal for a week - this is more pedal than I expected! So is the sound quality not only for amps, cabs and effects but through headphones and amplifiers. I've tried it through the effects loop of my Randall RX30D which sounds great, also through a tape/cd input on a Peavey Backstage II and that also sounds great. My favorite amp models on this pedal: Fender Deluxe Reverb, Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall JTM45 (downloaded via Guitar Lab), Marshall Super Lead, Bogner Ecstasy. Spring Reverb sounds great, I like it better than the Fender reverb. The comp and rack comp are great for fattening up your sound. One thing that many people don't realize is that the mic/cab sim needs to be turned on depending on your setup. Another is that some amp models have a bright on/off switch or modern/vintage that affects the sound greatly. Other amps have input 1 and input 2 that can be used together or separately and that also affects the tone. Lots to tweak if you enjoy tinkering, but I find myself grabbing the guitar more often now because it just sounds so great, my ears still can't believe it. The looper and drum machine work flawlessly and were well thought out. Maybe 1 minute of looping would have been better, but I find that 30 seconds keeps it short and enjoyable. The different powering options are big bonus. The plastic is not that cheap or flimsy. I take care of my things, so I'm not worried. But I may follow the advice of @GRant and buy another for backup and before they disappear or increase in price. All in all, I am satisfied with the pedal, I chose not to get the one with the expression pedal (wah) because I don't really use wah or volume or much effects besides spring reverb, overdrive and the occasional compressor. I definitely recommend it and am looking forward to trying to record with it now that I have my audio interface again (quarantine). Thanks for the uploader for sharing the detailed video and also for answering all of my questions!

Brilliant! Such an undervalued review. So many other reviews on this pedal board went on and on about their complaints. I thoroughly enjoyed yours because you gave the necessary details that help make one decide a purchase. I think you effectively demonstrated the value of this machine. So, kudos to you!

By far the best review of this pedal I have seen. Kudos.

Appreciate this review. Rough and raw, but packed with knowledge only a gigging musician could provide.😉 Hands down the best review I have seen on the G1 FOUR.

Best review yet. Good man.Thanks .

Finally i found someone who discuss using this pedal during live. Thank you very much.

Just bought one. Your presentation was very helpful so I’ll be referring back to it several times once I receive it. You saved me from spending the $ for the bass version, too! Thank you.

thanks for the walkthrough, this is a very useful and informative video!

Great review! Simple and easy with great content

This is by far the best review of the Zoom G1 Four that I have seen. Thank You Can you do a review on how to use the looper functions with and without the drums? Glad to subscribe.

You are Awesome! This channel will grow huge one day I'm sure of it keep it up bro!

Thanks for justifying my purchase even more. I also learned a lot from this video. 😁

This was the most laid back and natural feeling review. Felt like you explained, described, and analyzed this and communicated your thoughts and feelings well. Lastly, to get an excellent review AND live sound samples FOR guitar, Bass, and acoustic guitar just takes it to the next level. Nice playing, btw. I'm buying this after the video is over.

Thank you for this video! A great and actually honest review

"There! Are! Four! Lights!", kept me chuckling for awhile. Great detailed review, covered items no other reviewers have so far (Mar 2020). As for uncloaking the mysteries, "...nicely done!"

Thanks for the review. Just opened mine for Xmas yesterday and I LOVE it! I have a 505II and a G1U already, but your clear explanation influenced me to choose the g1four instead of the g5N I was going to get. The looper and rhythm being separate was the game changer. I wish it had a bit more memory both for effects and patches, but it is VERY easy to use and I was programming patches instantly with it without reading the manual. I did have to update the firmware, but that was to be expected. By the way, it sounds GREAT. I used to have the G7.1UT, but that was such a pain in the butt to program that I ended up selling it. This thing is easy to program and sounds fantastic.

Best review so far. I didn't even know what "patches" are. All the other reviews are geared towards experts and keaves beginners to tech lost. Thank you for taking the time to be thorough!

This is by far the best review / tutorial I've seen for these units. I have a g1 four and I'm finding myself running out of slots for different effects. I had looked at the g5n but after looking into it I realized that there are a lot of shortcomings in the design as you mention here. Something you mentioned toward the end but didn't really emphasized is the fact that on the g3n and g5n the looper takes up one of your slots in a patch and you can't switch between patches when composing a loop. Whereas on the g1 four the looper is a global function and does not occupy a slot in any of your patches. Very surprising that the entry-level units actually function better as a looper than the more expensive ones. I was thinking about getting a g1x four to put at the front end of my chain for things like noise reduction, wah and other things that I normally always have on or at least available on the front end. Then I could run that into my g1 four and use that unit for switching patches. I'm also considering doing a modification to add some foot switches as someone else suggested. It's funny... I came up with this idea like 2 days ago and now I run across your video suggesting the same thing. I guess I could say great minds think alike LOL Anyway... great job on the video!

Get this fellow a Zoom endorsement. Best review of anything guitar, ever.

I recently bought one of these and totally concur with your review; superb, value for money fx unit. Nothing wrong with plastic, just treat your gear with respect! However, I do worry how the plastic 1/4" jack sockets will survive constant use; these should definitely be metal sockets!!

AWESOME EXPLAINATION My friend ,,Most detailed info about the zoom g1 four ive found ..FINALLY,,,,i just got my G1x 4 with the Expression pedal just a coupke days ago and its basically the same as far as what and how you showed how to build a patch and really just all of your info is awesome on all the edit and settings as well..Thank you sooooo....much!! ...Im 51 and have used pedals from back in the day,,I compared my g1x four Plastic shell and remembered those old pedals was some really cheap and thin plastic,,,The Zoom has a really thick and very solid more than what i thought..im just happy as i can be with mine so far,,This is my first processer and i love it,,I always used pedals chained together and This bad boy has it all in one PLUSSSS!! ..Plenty enough for any type Gig !!!!,,,i mean build a few patches and make a bank for it...Im just really getting into the edits and setting but i did get build a few patches of my own today!!! Again Thanks

Great video! Super informative. Thank you!

Been almost a year with this tiny multi effect. What a great effect. Just love create my own tunes using the drum & the looper.

Great, detailed review. I am looking to make a travel rig that is as small and functional as possible. Looper / drums is a must. as well as size. This video has helped me a lot. Thank you!

The battery selection option is for the device to be able to accurately represent remaining battery life. I think it's mostly useful for using the AA batteries, since the external battery usually have their own remaining battery meter. Great explanation. I liked this unit and am going to get one for my travel practice set-up. I cherish being able to bring just one unit like this and a small mini amp when travelling for work instead of several pedals from home. Big advantage is the different options that you have to power the unit. Great.

Considering getting this pedal to pair with my older zoom G2 in stereo output to two different amps Great review, I see now that if I want to use the amp/cab simulation for direct recording I'll really want to use both boxes to get the full range of effects I like to have available. Thanks!

Your very smart man ! I'm not a professional but was struggling to fit everything in five slots. I can mimic some of my favorite players and can put to patches next to each other for lead an rhythm but never thought about buying another. So dang simple. I freaking love the sound from this thing. So thanks for helping a dummy like me. It is another 100 bucks basically but would be an awesome setup.

That's it, I'm getting one this year

Great video man.

Revisit to my previous comments from one year ago: I still enjoy this pedal, and since I no longer participate playing live or with others, I use it exclusively into headphones or a 10 watt Peavey Backstage II amp. I've gravitated to preferring the Bassman amp with both my SG and my Tele type guitars for clean sounds. I also enjoy playing clean on the JCM800 (and also with the Dyna Drive OD pedal for 80's metal) and the Dual Rectifier and Diezel amps are great for high gain tones. Want an Alex Lifeson or 80's lush guitar tone? Use the Hiwatt amp and Analog Chorus and you're halfway there... also I find to fatten up your tone even more, similar to a stereo sound, you can use the P-P Delay set real low will give you a huge wall of sound. Oh yeah, and everyone could agree that the best sounding cabinet (for any of the amp models) is the BGN 4x12 (Bogner Ecstasy Cabinet 12"). If you want a lot of high quality tones for not a lot of money, this is a gem and a steal :)

I do something similar to your suggestion of using two of these. I use a G3X that has different patches that I switch between. This feeds into a G1on that has 4 always on effects. 1) A subtle detune which is set low in the mix. 2) a plate reverb which is set low in the mix 3) a graphic equalizer which is at the end of the chain and which I sometimes tweak live. 4) a BBE Sonic Maximizer clone effect. Then I have an A/B switch which feeds my G3X into the G1on on A and my acoustic guitar on B. Very flexible and affordable.

The best review

came for a review got a relaxing voice. Two in one

Great and useful review. Thank you. I have the same unit. Very useful. Below are some points based on my experience: 1. Cabsim could be used with external preamp/pedal (ideally, with amp sim). Sounds quite nice. I've tried it with a number of tube preamps and was quite surprised by the results. 2. Upgrade the firmware to enable placing the looper function before or after effects based on your needs. This could simplify and speed up dialing sounds. 3. Guitar Lab software significantly speeds up tweaking the processor. Really convenient. I really hope that somebody will figure our how to upload effects from the Bass and Acoustic version. There should be a way for this, similarly to older processors from ZOOM.

that delete feature and scrolling to a specific type of effect was my main concern since it is easier to do with G1On, and I find this so hard to tweak when creating your own patch. now i will enjoy mine better, thanks a lot

I find it great even as a noob! Once you work out which are 'strums' and which are 'solos' your good to go. Its great enhancing an existing tone, i play a gretsch for old rock (Del Shannon etc) and with the good reverb/delay/ trem options, it gives me a lift every time I play. Just need somewhere with decent patches I can copy onto mine, again old stuff like The Shadows etc.

Bro ur funny at the same time informative 😂😂😂

Just bought this awesome pedal thanks to this review. To anyone who wants to power it via USB: make sure the output is 5v 900mA or plus because I tried with an older phone charger (output 5v 500mA) and it didn't work. I guess it's meant for USB 3.0 ports. I used 1150mA. What's the output on the power bank on this video?

Nice demo Grant--thankyou ----cannot see what it cost (retail) approx ---in $. ??

Have you had a chance to check out the Zoom g2 four yet? I was recently thinking of getting one of these g1's, then saw the g2 was just released. Then was back and forth between a g2x four and a g3xn. Your video has mostly talked me out of the g3xn so far.

I think this will be my bday present to myself

Hey GRant! Great video! I've been debating the g3n or this and you've really sold me on this. I just wanted to ask what kind of bass you are using.. Model? Year? Thanks! It sounds great but maybe it's the pedal :)

Nice one. I’ve been looking at the acoustic one for wife’s fiddle. (And my guitar secretly). This little display of the functionality might have clinched it.

I am waiting for mind to be delivered, My concern is I want to learn, triads, and pentatonic, apreqios, with 30 second loop it seems inpossible?? Is there a way to do this or should I change to someting Els??

Thanks for your video. I have a newbie question about cables, please help me understand. (1) Guitar to G1: TS to TS Cable. (2) G1 to Amp TRS to TRS cable? Is this how it works? I just bought my first electric guitar today.

This should be an official manual video 🫡

I echo sajjads comment here. Well done. A lot of bs explaining this pedal out there. Yours is the best by far. Good job sir! 👍

Can i use it without an amp ? Like on my computer speaker with the output jack ?

Hi sorry to bother you but i have question about this unit here is the thing, i use only bias fx 2 and a audio interface to play/record songs and i always wanted to cover the marooned by pink floyd but i didn't had any pitchshifter pedal unit (i even learned the song but playing it without pitchshifter doesn't do it justice) i was wondering since you can't use more than 5 unit in your signal chain do you think it is possible to use this unit through a audio interface then into reaper > the bias fx? for remaining effects like delay or reverb something like this < pedal > < noise gate > < od > < amp > < cab > into the audio interface > reaper > bias fx on paper it should work but i scared that by the time that singal come out of speakers on my PC it sound somewhat ruined (thin or unusable for playing/listing to ) thanks again!

Awesome video! Your voice is really relaxing. BTW do you know there is a simple mod to use it in as stomp mod with some external switchs?

You speak of connecting two of these. Is just with a patch cable and do they each react/see eachother? Through wich element do they recognize the patch playing ?

thank you

It would be great if you could show some good bass patches for the G1on. I have that pedal but I can't find any video with a good bass tone

So I did get two. I play mostly into headphones, or through a Fly 3. I used the open patches one one to set up as amps and cabs with some reverb, delay. and chorus. I used an open patch on the other one, and set up ZNR, compression, drive, and other effects. tried i, and it worked. Now I'm gonna mess around, and see what I can find. Then delete some patches I don't Want, and then I will have lots of room to download other patches. I was going to get the g3n, but at the same price for what I got, I can't go wrong.

What does the octave divider sound like ---can you demo it ?

Could I run a Casio work station keyboard through this to lay a loop?

Great review. thank you very much. Have sometimes an issue with “process overflow error”. do anyone know how to prevent it and why does it happen? Thanks for any solution!!

Do you think the g1xfour is good for getting RHCP songs?

Excellent review!!! I have a big doubt. My english is not very good to listen. They say that small and cheap multi-effects like G1 Four is not a good option for professional use on bigger stages, I was told that for testing in your bedroom the G1 Four sounds exactly like the G3N, but in big presentations the G1 Four doesn't sound nice, because of the long cables used to reach the mixer that controls the PAs. I heard this happens with any cheap Multi-Effects pedal. I heard that the G3N and bigger pedals have something that preamps the sound in a different way, so they are considered professional use, whereas pedals like G1 Four would sound on PAs as if it were with the sound passing through a pipe. Well, what do you think of this whole story? PS: They also said that an analog Booster pedal connected after the G1 Four fixes this problem.

I just got a G5N and it does autosave as soon as you stop playing with the knobs if you are fine-tuning a level.

Brilliant review I hadn't considered using a power bank to power the zoom g1 four x pedal, I have a lumina technology model AI601 CAPACITY 1500MAH/55.5WH INPUT 5V 2A OUTPUT 5V 2.4A Would this work with the zoom g1x four to power it using the micro USB port on the pedal.

Have you hooked up 2 units? My local supplier says I can't. I'd like to know. Thanx in advance

The manual says the battery type option allows more accurate display of the remaining power..... Question.. do you care for the expression pedal model?

Bro, I couldn't find the MS45os effect in my G1 four processor which you have used in that SW-1 patch of yours. Can you tell me where can I find it or do I need an update or anything ? I really like that sound in the beginning and thanks for this awesome tutorial.

Hey I saw Ur review in the g5n too. Just curious is the sound quality, quality if the patches the same on both or would you say the g5n patches have a higher quality sound ? I was just curious to know if this processor, the g3x and the g5n have the exact same quality just different switches or do they have differences in sound quality too..

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This video is more helpful than all other videos in terms of a simple to understand general overview. But I still wonder: what do you think of the amp models? Are they worthy to use in a home recording? I usually use clean Fender amps with a touch of reverb or marshall amps with overdrive.

Great video! Is there a way to activate "stomp mode" to automatically loads when processor starts up on last used patch?

Can you use bass patches on G14?

Would you comment on the sound quality when using headphones plugged into the output jack? I want to use this pedal as a headphone amp that has decent EFX, but I'm not trusting enough to buy it. In my experience sharing the line-out & headphone-out in the same jack is a terrible idea; it's really just a line-out that can't handle the low impedance of the headphones, and so with headphones such shared outputs have very low volume with terrible tone that can't be fixed no matter what I do. Zoom's manual seems to imply that you can use this same jack for both, so I'm curious to know whether it is really mysteriously capable of this (and even more curious to know how it's possible that it could work). Thanks!

G'day great video just wondering if you can save a loop or does it stay in memory.. so that next time you play you can keep practicing over the loop you made yesterday?

Would I still need the amp and cab simulators if I’m running jt into my fender g-dec amp? What benefit would it give having them on?

Does the output work as a headphone out?

You know how this G1Four unit has the 5 numbered buttons for each stompbox effect in a patch? I have an idea. What if I modified one of these units so each one of those buttons was a foot switch instead? Then each effect could be turned on or off without having to scroll, right? Thoughts?

Is it still working now after 3 years?

Great review! But why do I hear a spring reverb on your voice?

I have ordered a G5n based on my experience of the G1on. Since ordering I have discovered quite a few negatives, such as both the looper and rhythm units requiring 1-2 patches each. On by G1on and I thing the four, they are completely separate. If the amp sims are a lot better (particularly vox) I can live it the 2 patch use but if the effects are not much better then all you are buying is a fancy case and not a whole lot more. I will have to reserve judgement until it arrives.

Tonewise, which has more better effects, this one or the Zoom G2 four?

Hi, Do I need to use special headphones? I have mine plugged in but I am not hearing sound

Can we use it to record electric guitar in my PC's Daw??

Okay, so tell me how did you power it up with a power bank ? cause that is insanely cool. Plz I wanna know

Hola buen video ... El g1four tiene la misma calidad de sonido que el g5n??

With one of these, is a guitar amp even necessary? Could I output from the G1 FOUR to a powered PA speaker or system?

can you use and stack 2 overdrives in a patch?

Do g1 hour have hold reverb or hold delay

There's software floating around to load effects intended for one Zoom processor to another, as long as they belong to the same "family", of which there are two. You should be able to load B1 Four, B3n, G3n, etc. effects on your G1 Four. @AudioPilz did a video on it recently. Searching "Zoom Firmware Editor" and "Zoom Effect Manager" should get you close enough. "Zoom hack" will get you a bunch of idiots crashing into people's Zoom chats... As far as I can tell there are no videos of X1 Four being "hacked" on RU-vid so it might be worthwhile to try it out.

"Don't crush it underneath a truck."

I love this video and your channel’s description. “Farts”

ur cool

How does it sound with headphones?

So it's basically a G1on with improved UI and a software editor to create/edit patches.

Nothing better at this price range, you can stuff all your over priced multi FX if you can’t get a good sound out of this then you’re in the wrong game

Sorry --meant the PITCH SHIFTER ----can you play it for us novices?

Yo brah! i dont know whats wrong with this guyz ZOOM but mine has a solid spring on the paw peds and the buttons are so much easier than poundin the peds when tabletop

Why assume? Why not read the manual?

zoom g1four is more basic than g1on

😴😴😴😴😴😴

I don't understand why people wanna talk