Two G3 questions

[Ubleha]

Hi all,

I got G3 recently and I'm impressed with such a great tones coming from such a small unit. Two questions:

1. I consider purchasing an expression pedal like FP02; when using FP02 with G3/wah effect, how does one activate the effect? Do you have to press the switch on G3 and then engage the pedal? From the photos of FP02 I didn't notice a switch, like on a regular wah pedal. Is there any that does have a switch built in?

2. Amp sim MS1959 is my favorite, but it doesn't seem to sound that great with built in OD nor dist effects well, if I wanted to kick in with a high gain sound using the same amp. Is it me doing something wrong? Or - is the real amp this simulates reacts the same way?

Thanks!

 

[weshunter]

don't know about #2, but for #1, you'd have to activate the wah on the G3 and then use the exp pedal to control it

 

[kleydj13]

#1 - You would press the switch on the G3 to activate and then the expression would be your controller. No on/off functionality on the controller.

#2 - Be mindful of the gain and volume levels on the OD effect. Zoom tends to set them insanely high and it tends to overload the amp. The Distortion + is my favorite and I usually set the gain to about 10 and the level at about 50-60. I think the stock settings are like 60 and 100. Way too much.

 

[buddaman71]

^ 100% agreed ^

Distortion + is my fave stomp too, and overall, many Zoom presets have WAY too much, over the top gain. That said, the G3 is an awesome, extremely useful device for $150.

 

[Ubleha]

#2 - Be mindful of the gain and volume levels on the OD effect. Zoom tends to set them insanely high and it tends to overload the amp. The Distortion + is my favorite and I usually set the gain to about 10 and the level at about 50-60. I think the stock settings are like 60 and 100. Way too much.

Thanks. Would this be the case with MS1959 amp sim? Does it sound right with OD or Dist?

 

[Will Chen]

Thanks. Would this be the case with MS1959 amp sim? Does it sound right with OD or Dist?

With any ZOOM amp sim, if your going to use one of the ZOOM modeled dirt boxes, turn the level and gain way, way, way down. Really. In the case of the ZOOM TS versus the real deal, the gain at noon is the equivalent of the real pedal at max and the unity level is down almost at the lowest settings. For all the G3's strengths, the dials do not resemble real pedal's controls at all. Experimentation is the key.

 

[weshunter]

With any ZOOM amp sim, if your going to use one of the ZOOM modeled dirt boxes, turn the level and gain way, way, way down. Really. In the case of the ZOOM TS versus the real deal, the gain at noon is the equivalent of the real pedal at max and the unity level is down almost at the lowest settings. For all the G3's strengths, the dials do not resemble real pedal's controls at all. Experimentation is the key.

do you find this to be the case with the amp sims as well? i was having trouble getting the amp sims to not clip going into the board. i assumed 100 level was unity and tried using the 'active' input and all the different combo front, stack power amp, etc -- didn't even consider turning the level way down b/c i just assumed 100 was unity. now that i write that down, it seems kinda stupid.

 

[camstudio]

I set the amp gain and level so the total equals 100 as a rough guide. Eg. 42+58=100. Another way is to check you level on a daw using the usb. Keep your record level on the unit at 0. Patch level at 100.

 

[Will Chen]

do you find this to be the case with the amp sims as well? i was having trouble getting the amp sims to not clip going into the board. i assumed 100 level was unity and tried using the 'active' input and all the different combo front, stack power amp, etc -- didn't even consider turning the level way down b/c i just assumed 100 was unity. now that i write that down, it seems kinda stupid.

There is no global unity setting for the G3 and without any graphical metering its all trial and error. Odd how Boss, Digitech, and Kemper (and presumably Fractal) seem to understand how to create effects within a patch at unity gain but Line 6 and ZOOM have troubles getting it right.

 

[buddaman71]

FWIW: When creating patches from scratch on any MFX/Modeler, I have always created a neutral "template" patch, copied it however many times needed for the desired number of custom patches and then tweaked each patch from there. Starting each custom patch from the same template GREATLY helps manage the common patch-to-patch inconsistency issue. This has always been a problem, especially for the companies, like Zoom, who have a history of multiple ARTIST or custom banks of patches that were created by multiple people or teams of programmers and can be very inconsistent in gain/volume/etc.