Hi!
I've gone and got myself a Zoom Gfx-1, partly because of Wes Inmans glowing review an partly because I've had nice experiences of other Zoom multieffects. Anyway:
It works really well and I like it a lot apart from one thing. I can't seem to get a decent acoustic sound, or to be more precise, the sound is ok but the volume of the patch isn't. It's way to low and I can't understand how to make the setting work so that I don't have to manually raise the output when switching to an acoustic patch. Pretty akward when you need to change patches in the middle of a song... ( and especially if your playing straight into a mixer like me and dont even have an amp nearby)
Anybody out there (or is it in here? ) able to give a hand?
rgds
Henry
Henry
Boy, I feel a little bad if you are disappointed with the GFX-1.
You are correct about the acoustic model though, the volume is very low compared to all the other amp and distortion models.
About the best you can do is turn both patch volume and gain up to 30 and save. Then, you could turn patch volume on other presets down until you get a nice mix. EQ setting can affect volume too. You seem to get the most volume around 25, which is the "flat" EQ setting. This neither boosts or cuts frequencies. You get the tone of your amp.
I have some songs where I have 2 or 3 presets set up just for a particular song. And this is how I have overcome this problem. I turn the acoustic model up, and the other models used in the song down until I get the proper balance.
I like the acoustic model, it sounds great, but you are correct, the volume is low compared to all the other models.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I agree with Wes - I have most of my presets with a patch level around 20 - then I can simply set the acoustic model up higher (25 or more). If you don't get sufficent level for the mixer with your average patch level at 20 (unlikely really, but possible on some passive DI boxes) you can always turn up the master volume (value keys when in 'Play' mode) for the duration of the gig - this will remain set till you switch off, when it will return to the default level.
Congrats on going for the GFX-1 - this little niggle aside, I still reckon it's among the best processors around, regardless of price. I'd be lost without mine!
PVTele
Yeah, that is another trick, Master Volume. For live gigs I usually set Master Volume around 20. The default is 40, but it will go up to 50. I have my GFX-1 on a pedalboard with AC adapter, so it stays on all night. Then I set my amp volume according to this setting. When the other guitarist turns up as the night goes on (he always does), I simply bend down and raise Master Volume. Lots of times the stage is really crowded, and I cannot make it back to my amp. So I control overall volume this way.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Yes, that's good use for the master volume Wes ;-) Fortunately I'm usually the sole guitarist so I don't have to bother with that aspect - it's the sax players you have to watch, esp. if they're using clip-on mics with their own pre-amps - scary! :D
Wes and PVTele
Boy, you're great! Thanks a lot! This is such a nice place on the net.
I tried your approach to the problem and: lo and behold! I was suddenly able to hear myself. (Also the others in the band were able to hear my mistakes...)
I especially love the trick of starting at 20 for master volume, now I'm suddenly in control when it comes to my own output.
