I still have mine and still use it I record some of the most sonically and outside the box rock & roll music with it that my muscian friends jfreaked out when they hear them and have no idea on what I use ... it's only classic if you don't (or know how to) use it - for me it's timeless compared with what pretty much everybody is using the same high gain high end amps/effects today ... this unit 100% seperated me from the pack ... I love it!
I bought mine in 1995 and I still have it! Zoom 9150 has two insert effect loops and the first one is placed in the PreAmp section, letting you insert an external OD/DIST unit. The headphones output sounds really different than the line out: it has a kind of cabinet simulation, always on and not tweakable, but still great for the period. Since it is a rack unit, to use it on stage I had to buy Zoom 8050 foot controller as well. It was a great gear back in the day especially for clean or fusion or 80s and early 90s style scooped and processed hard rock sounds; but if you are searching for high-presence and in-the-face crunchy sounds, you will never get that precision from this device. I have read in the forums that some people mod this unit by replacing the original tubes with Tungsol tubes; but I've never seen or heard the result.
That's a classic 80's sounding rack processor. I think it sounds good. And when so many guitarists use the same processors that we can all start to sound the same, something like this, a piece of vintage gear could make something unique. Hook it up to a tube power amp, run it into a 4-12 cab, crank it to 10 and make the soundman cry.
I had one of these for a few months damn near 30 years ago and really liked it, but I decided not to keep it because for what I spent on the unit and midi controller and as immaculate as the unit sounded, there was no variety in terms of pedal, amp and speaker models. They all had the obvious tube texture and they did a great job at really getting it's traits to carryover and make it all the way to the speaker, but it also had this very perfect and unavoidable color and texture in every single patch no matter what you did. It's one of these strange pieces that still get used just for that reason alone, the recording consistency. *It's similar to my Zoom G2 which I still use almost exclusively for 8-string guitars.* It's weaknesses and obscene natural compression from the semiconductor processing gets rid of absolutely all the fly away noise and "trash" in the signal pouring out of an 8-string when you start alternate pick shredding and hitting super elaborate and massive arpeggios. *It is most definitely and obviously a digital sound with the dreaded "plastic" texture and body to absolutely everything you play that we oh so hated digital for decades ago, but once you use it with an 8-string you don't fucking care! lol* It's a redundant and outdated sound and not the only piece of equipment that can get "perfect" results, but that unit does it for 8-string no matter how you use it and what you plug it into. It's good enough that I'll seek out 2 more for backups within the next few years. It does it so amazingly well I want to make sure I have one available for as long as I play. If just having an off day on 6-string, the way it plastifies the signal is still a cheap trick for a recording that sounds million dollar perfect. *Reminds me of what the Behringer V-Amp dual rackmount unit did and I'm sure it would also provide the same results with 8-string and beyond.*
suggestion of review: I don't know, want a challenge, a rare piece of equipment to stay in good condition? a DigiTech RP20 tube is a challenge to adjust the sound, rare guitarists easily achieve the feat, it is a device made for the front of the stage amplifier, difficult to use in a home studio, it has a raw sound in the tube, with great effects, a analog module and the same 'octa-chorus and delays in the 2120 pro artist, but with only one processor, even operational as the 2120, another patchs more simples, it's a different review for you.
Hey Brô(brother), I speak from Brazil... aways very grateful for your atention. a zoom 9150 and a roland gp-100, ??? which one do you recommend? each one has its characteristics, but you are always passionate in your descriptions... I'm really in doubt comparing the reviews of the two devices. in your opinion, with 250 bucks, which one would you choose for your first rack. Detail: in fact I do not lack essential and basics equipment, in this context which rack would be most useful to me in your opinion?
I'm a experiente user of efects and this setups, too. very grateful for your atention. I don't even need to praise you, your name and channel are a reference when it comes to FX for guitarists... True love embrace with heavy metal thunder, my rocker brother!
I played one back in the day and thought it sounded great and hearing you play it reminds me of how much I need to buy one. I love that pitch shifter. I love all good pitch shifters. 😂 Great video sir. ♥️🤘
Great demo I have 2 of these- but you wanna keep the pre-amp dial lower so the clip light doe not come on especially when playing the clean patches- it has a LOT of gain on the pre-amp input dial- something very RAW about these ZOOM units and the 2 x loop outs are great - the stereo one can be set anywhere in the internal efx chain - ! great in front of a few analogue tranny drive pedals to boost a chain with full tone valve harmonics also- I love the ZOOM 9150s
Where would you put your cab sim - I note fx loop 2 can also be used for mono and you can place the insert before the modulation and after preamp. Whereas fx loop 1 is after compressor but before preamp.
@@hummer222 yes good point and good question - I'm not sure tbh- but generally I suggest the cab sim right at the end of the chain - or perhaps just before the time based efx inside the zoom- ? I don't use sims or the time based stuff much in the zoom- I quite like using just the raw main outs as DI straight to my DAW and an loop output after the pre-amp to a whole pedal chain outboard of the zoom that is parallel split and mutlitracked - - I tend to track stuff without a sim - or with a plugin in Logic in post and use studio monitor rather than guitar amps as I don;t play live anymore- - and i have one decent sim out on a blackstar metal pedal that I quite like in the chain - I'm still getting to grips with the zoom really so I am curius what you recommend -- the zoom has serious presence and valve crunch that I smooth out a little with tubescreamer TS-10- DS2 - Horizon Everest drive and Eq BF-2 and stereo chorus in chain that gets mixed in post with teh DI from the zoom - - so I like the zoom as a gain boost and valve crunch before the tranny pedals mostly. really a great boost for the pedal chain
I had one for years, gigged with it. I only used OD1 ( or od2 i don't remember exactly)that was the marshall inspired distortion...plenty of gain with the "turbo engaged" and more dynamic than the super compressed Lead modes
Got one of those a couple of years ago, just for fun since I had one back in the days. To me still sounds like a lot of fun since you still can grab a bunch of cool sounds, very usable sounds I would say.
Dont tell anyone, but everyone used rack gear in the 80's including *gasp* evh.. This zoom sounds better than i thought it would! Like any multi effect unit you have to remember just because it can; dosent mean you should. It's very easy to go overboard. The worst part is getting a consistent level across patches.
Loving the tweak session! Stock settings were almost always bad, you gotta work it! Digging the Savatage Hall of the Mountain King and Roland Dimension D in the background!
This was a fun video, although your playing was what made the video. Brings back a lot of memories! It's aged a bit better than I expected, although there's a really bad digital distortion to a lot of the sounds, but it's pretty endearing at the same time.
I always drooled over this in guitar magazines but couldn't afford it. I'd still like to get one for fun. The only Zoom I owned was the 505, it had the step effect too.
You said it all for me around the 15 minute mark. To my ear it seemed a bit plastic/cocked/dull/hi gainey. Great if you want that kind of thing but I couldn't live without a good crunchy Marshall tone! Impeccable playing as always though!
I mean, whats not to like about the Step section you loved as a kid? I could sit there for hours with that preset as well. Not too quirky, but musical. I recall early Zoom products and they were average at the time. Thanks for giving us a 2nd look at these.
The 9005 was my first rack unit. It inspired me and I felt more confident than ever playing live. Later, I added a Peavey Rockmaster in the loop and used the 9005 for only FX. That was even better! Only issue I had was the brief but noticeable lag in changing patches live on stage and no delay spillover. I used it on two CD's my band recorded. I eventually replaced the 9005 when the TCE G-Major came out. Thanks for reviewing a part of my history :)
Ive had one of these for about 15 years now, run it into a Mesa Power Amp in my rack. Getting some respectable death metal tones once you learn how to fully utilise the 3 Band EQ and the Preamp settings (Plus Tubescreamer infront). The lead sounds are great but again takes a lot of tweaking, awesome being able to have a full range of MOD-Delay-Reverb options. Dying to put a new 12AX7 tube in and see if it enhances things much. Downside is that the Clean settings are too Dirty and the Input/Output level settings are too sensitive. Ive got the proper footswitch too which is hard to come by, but using it was a pain due to the tiny lag when switching patches. Going to try some home recordings on this soon
I had one when they came out; traded a JCM 800 50-watt top for one :-( It was my second go at using rack mounted kit. It was actually pretty cool for the time, I was able to use a tiny rack and a midi controller and it worked great.
I bought one of these when they came out. I still have it. If no one has pointed it out yet, you're playing user presets. Probably edited from one of the existing unit presets. I can't remember off the top of my head, but the first forty or so presets were "artist" presets. I know presets one and two were by Steve Stevens, with one being a lead tone, and two being a rhythm. One cool thing I did with it was take a favored patch, add the octave effect, and turn that effect up 100%, and the original signal down to 0%. Voila. You can capo up two full octaves, or detune down up to two octaves. This is handy if you want to use the same guitar, but play a Van Halen tune, or make your guitar into a baritone, or even a bass (in a pinch).
Used one these in the 90's and into the 2000's. I really liked it a lo. I remember retiring it and going to a Mesa Dual Rec and being disappointed. Think the tube amp was messy and didn't have enough gain. LOL. That was before all the boost insight etc we have now. Good throw-back video. Still sounds pretty good.
Another epic video! Have you tried the Ibanez/Maxon Pue5 Tube? It's basic but they sound incredible. Stick a Gold Lion 12AX7 in it and it rips. Might be cool to check out ...
Cool video! I remember drooling over the old Digitech 2101 when it first came out. I was very young and broke so, I had to settle on a used crate combo with some crappy pedals. LOL
I bought one of these about 25 years ago and still have it. I can't give it away. Been trying to sell it for years. Even brought it o Guitar Center and they laughed at it. No body wants it. It has some great clean sounds, but lots of sounds that are not so good sounding as well. I'll most likely just keep it. Unlike yours mine has Steve Stevens settings on the first few settings.
I had a 9030, the car stereo looking one! basically a small compact version of what you're demoing. Great FX back in the day. I remember the pitch shifting was excellent on a few patches I made. I used the unit mainly as FX, bypassing all the drive, gains, preamps ( marshall jmp- 1/ ada mp1). great lil fx box. was not cheap back then.
I have one of these sitting in a rack. I pull this unit out every once in a while, when someone is looking for something a little different for solos or extra sounds or laying effects into a part. Default stuff is a little too much but if you go in a tone it down some really usable stuff. Sounds huge when connected in stereo setup. Preamp is a little on the weak side, but add in something better in and got a great effects unit.
Hi Leon, it wasn't bad back in the day. Zoom units had peculiar patches unheard in other brands of multieffects. You should try to check the pocket size 9002.
Leon, nice video and presentation part two things I need to tell you. 1 the input level too high which is causing the preamp to clip. You may notice there's a little led to the left reset display you will notice that just about every time that you play that lights up that means that you have the level set too high and it's clipping. To play and turn it down until you don't see that happening you want to just get on the edge I hit the strings hard and not see that light up. Due to the fact that you do not have it dialed in properly everything that you're doing even the clean sounds are distorted. So if you learn how to use it properly this unit will sound way better than it is in your demo. You're doing a disservice to the product. Point number two : I picked up one for $99 Anna pawn shop in Asheville North Carolina. It had 100 Factory presets. Most of them sound very good thermite before 5 that I don't care for. But I noticed that you are presets on the one that you're using are not the factory presets that came on the one that I bought. I'm wondering if somehow there was an update done on it from the company that somebody downloaded. The other possibility is that you are able to create your own presets by pushing a certain button the switches it it to a different 100 back set that you can make custom make yourself. I get the feeling that someone created those presets demonstrating. Once you are done creating your preset you can put in a name for it for example one of the presets that you're using his cause Sambora which is trying to sound like the Richie Sambora sound. All those presets that you have are not the original Factory created presets. For example the first Factory preset on the the unit is named Steve's Lead and totally Nails the Steve by lead sound. I haven't heard anything as good as it on nailing his sound. There are a lot of options what can you do with the presets you see there's buttons there where you hit them it turns off the delay or the Reverb or the modulation excetera. You can also be on the factory preset and add in those effects are not being used so you can just tweak them when you turn the selector knob and it will just go back to the normal preset and cancel whatever you have changed. Now back to the input level you may want to turn it up to where clips a certain level of distortion caused by overdriving 12 X 7 that is inside of the unit which is really a preamp. So if you learn how to use all these different options and there aren't very many ways to change things drastically you can tweak it get Unique Sounds that you really like and then you can save that and the 100 custom preset Banks. I there is a foot pedal for it but I never had one. But this unit is not a toy it is a pro level unit and gives out great stereo video quality sound once you learn how to properly use it. I know you borrowed this from my friend but this is good for people that may consider buying this to know. Hey I played around with it for quite a while it's complicated took me a long time to really understand how I could get some really excellent sounds out of the unit there's a learning curve with this. Appreciate your efforts and cordials presentation. Have a good day
yup- wot he said- - one the units i have was not working when given to me yesterday - the display /control module was not fully earthing to the case- was wobbly- so I added a wee earth wire to it and it works perfect now- interestingly - also it appears to have been modded with 2 resistors and a bridging wire?? maybe someone added some impedance to the pre-amp to tame that hot valve- looked like a proper mod - I need to compare both units to check- as you say it clips really low- thanks for your comment
For me this was a case of exceeded expectations. I didn’t have very high expectations so I was actually somewhat impressed. Especially with the quality of time based fx. I have to admit I was a bit of a snob and didn’t give Zoom much love back in the day. So I wasn’t familiar with this unit at all. You were even able to get some ok lead tones with the preamp/distortion, but it was having that early processor quality. Wonder what valve is in it and if it is actually powered with proper voltage? Thanks Brian for the look and thanks Leon.👍
I have had 1 of these for decades. I Stupidly traded a Mesa V Twin Rack Preamp for it. And what stumps me is the clip level . To play this unit, it always feels like a flat battery type feeling on it. I thought back then it was just the factory settings, and that i could edit it out of the unit, but never could. Maybe the tube effect????... i don't know. It had a bit of potential. But i never found the urge to go deep into it. good video though Leon. I'm wondering if it might sound better with ir's . I think it has some type of early cabinet sim in it. Don't know if it can be switched of. Again thanks buddy.
That was my first 19" preamp, probably too inexperience myself to truly appreciate it But first thing I noticed in this clip, and remember from way back when, it has that somewhat Solid State Boss stompbox character on its OD's (Which i was trying to get away from)
I recorded my band’s first album using this. No matter where I set the gain it would never give me a “clean sound”. Great idea and easy to program. Got rid of it shortly after. Good memories
Looks like the input signal was too hot for most of those presets. I had the little black 9002 twice. And the 505. Zoom does have a sound of their own.
I have one of these and it's a big part of my sound I use it with my pedal board going into the zoom and then straight into a tube amp. I think if you take the time you can get all sorts of good tones out of this the effects aren't half bad either. I noticed if I turn the turbo on or any overdrive then tweak my settings I got better results.
I've had a few zoom units back in the day, but I once had the George Lynch endorsed one, I think I traded it for some other gear, but totally regretted it and now there super difficult to find.
I check the Jackson GP1000 and similar preamps i found Marshall JMP-1, and this thing from Zoom. What's the best choice? There's not much difference on this 80's relics? Really love this artifacts!
They're all pretty different. The lee Jackson kinda does one thing pretty well, the JMP-1 is pretty good at a lot of things and this is in the "totally fine" category. I'd go with a JMP-1.
The problem with any rackmount with all these great presets is recalling them on the fly like a pedal board. Without an audio scientist who understands how to set up midi and pedal boards you are never going to be able to use this live.
I just pulled my old 9150 out of mothballs, I think I forgot how great this unit is! Easy to get the G&R sound, how does one take control of the RTM with MIDI? Not quite straight forward or easy to understand from the manual! Any videos on how to take advantage of this to do or add an expression pedal for manual Whammy control with the expression pedal via RTM?
Navigate to the wah effect and then navigate the cursor/page to the RTM assess. It might involve some trial and error, but eventually, I managed to make it work. Additionally, check the overall functions to determine the channel your expression pedal is set to; it should be either 1 or 6. Keep in mind that if the channel is set for volume, it may not perform other functions, such as wah. I hope this information proves helpful.
I got a 9150 when I was in highschool... Used to gig with it then. Had to give it to my best friend to use when I went to college because the rack was too big (and loud) to use in college. Fast forward 20 years and he gave it back to me. Still fully functioning. I'm just missing my pedal board. Looking for a new one to use with it. Any suggestions anyone?
my first effectpedal was a zoom 1010😂those one tube 90`s preamps are just a bargain, i`m collecting rack stuff since 30 years now just love it, voodu valve, valve fx, ,multivalve....i had this unit but can`t remember how it sounds, just got another one today for 90$, drawback is that those pre modeling units are very hard to dial in, espesially those old multieffects are not userfriendly at all. best preamp ever made in my experience after trying nearly everything even new stuff is the old rocktron prophesy! just get it for cheap and let us now about that here please
I still have mine and still use it I record some of the most sonically and outside the box rock & roll music with it that my muscian friends jfreaked out when they hear them and have no idea on what I use ... it's only classic if you don't (or know how to) use it - for me it's timeless compared with what pretty much everybody is using the same high gain high end amps/effects today ... this unit 100% seperated me from the pack ... I love it!
I bought mine in 1995 and I still have it! Zoom 9150 has two insert effect loops and the first one is placed in the PreAmp section, letting you insert an external OD/DIST unit. The headphones output sounds really different than the line out: it has a kind of cabinet simulation, always on and not tweakable, but still great for the period. Since it is a rack unit, to use it on stage I had to buy Zoom 8050 foot controller as well. It was a great gear back in the day especially for clean or fusion or 80s and early 90s style scooped and processed hard rock sounds; but if you are searching for high-presence and in-the-face crunchy sounds, you will never get that precision from this device. I have read in the forums that some people mod this unit by replacing the original tubes with Tungsol tubes; but I've never seen or heard the result.
That's a classic 80's sounding rack processor. I think it sounds good. And when so many guitarists use the same processors that we can all start to sound the same, something like this, a piece of vintage gear could make something unique. Hook it up to a tube power amp, run it into a 4-12 cab, crank it to 10 and make the soundman cry.
Sounded much better than I expected. Maybe not as good as today's stuff, but one could certainly use it on a gig and nobody would die as a result.
I had one of these for a few months damn near 30 years ago and really liked it, but I decided not to keep it because for what I spent on the unit and midi controller and as immaculate as the unit sounded, there was no variety in terms of pedal, amp and speaker models.
They all had the obvious tube texture and they did a great job at really getting it's traits to carryover and make it all the way to the speaker, but it also had this very perfect and unavoidable color and texture in every single patch no matter what you did.
It's one of these strange pieces that still get used just for that reason alone, the recording consistency. *It's similar to my Zoom G2 which I still use almost exclusively for 8-string guitars.* It's weaknesses and obscene natural compression from the semiconductor processing gets rid of absolutely all the fly away noise and "trash" in the signal pouring out of an 8-string when you start alternate pick shredding and hitting super elaborate and massive arpeggios. *It is most definitely and obviously a digital sound with the dreaded "plastic" texture and body to absolutely everything you play that we oh so hated digital for decades ago, but once you use it with an 8-string you don't fucking care! lol*
It's a redundant and outdated sound and not the only piece of equipment that can get "perfect" results, but that unit does it for 8-string no matter how you use it and what you plug it into. It's good enough that I'll seek out 2 more for backups within the next few years. It does it so amazingly well I want to make sure I have one available for as long as I play. If just having an off day on 6-string, the way it plastifies the signal is still a cheap trick for a recording that sounds million dollar perfect.
*Reminds me of what the Behringer V-Amp dual rackmount unit did and I'm sure it would also provide the same results with 8-string and beyond.*
suggestion of review:
I don't know, want a challenge, a rare piece of equipment to stay in good condition?
a DigiTech RP20 tube is a challenge to adjust the sound, rare guitarists easily achieve the feat, it is a device made for the front of the stage amplifier, difficult to use in a home studio, it has a raw sound in the tube, with great effects, a analog module and the same 'octa-chorus and delays in the 2120 pro artist, but with only one processor, even operational as the 2120, another patchs more simples, it's a different review for you.
Hey Brô(brother), I speak from Brazil...
aways very grateful for your atention.
a zoom 9150
and
a roland gp-100,
???
which one do you recommend?
each one has its characteristics, but you are always passionate in your descriptions...
I'm really in doubt comparing the reviews of the two devices.
in your opinion, with 250 bucks, which one would you choose for your first rack.
Detail: in fact I do not lack essential and basics equipment, in this context which rack would be most useful to me in your opinion?
I'm a experiente user of efects and this setups, too.
very grateful for your atention.
I don't even need to praise you, your name and channel are a reference when it comes to FX for guitarists...
True love embrace with heavy metal thunder, my rocker brother!
I played one back in the day and thought it sounded great and hearing you play it reminds me of how much I need to buy one.
I love that pitch shifter. I love all good pitch shifters. 😂
Great video sir. ♥️🤘
Great demo I have 2 of these- but you wanna keep the pre-amp dial lower so the clip light doe not come on especially when playing the clean patches- it has a LOT of gain on the pre-amp input dial- something very RAW about these ZOOM units and the 2 x loop outs are great - the stereo one can be set anywhere in the internal efx chain - ! great in front of a few analogue tranny drive pedals to boost a chain with full tone valve harmonics also- I love the ZOOM 9150s
Where would you put your cab sim - I note fx loop 2 can also be used for mono and you can place the insert before the modulation and after preamp. Whereas fx loop 1 is after compressor but before preamp.
@@hummer222 yes good point and good question - I'm not sure tbh- but generally I suggest the cab sim right at the end of the chain - or perhaps just before the time based efx inside the zoom- ? I don't use sims or the time based stuff much in the zoom- I quite like using just the raw main outs as DI straight to my DAW and an loop output after the pre-amp to a whole pedal chain outboard of the zoom that is parallel split and mutlitracked - - I tend to track stuff without a sim - or with a plugin in Logic in post and use studio monitor rather than guitar amps as I don;t play live anymore- - and i have one decent sim out on a blackstar metal pedal that I quite like in the chain - I'm still getting to grips with the zoom really so I am curius what you recommend -- the zoom has serious presence and valve crunch that I smooth out a little with tubescreamer TS-10- DS2 - Horizon Everest drive and Eq BF-2 and stereo chorus in chain that gets mixed in post with teh DI from the zoom - - so I like the zoom as a gain boost and valve crunch before the tranny pedals mostly. really a great boost for the pedal chain
I had one for years, gigged with it.
I only used OD1 ( or od2 i don't remember exactly)that was the marshall inspired distortion...plenty of gain with the "turbo engaged" and more dynamic than the super compressed Lead modes
Got one of those a couple of years ago, just for fun since I had one back in the days. To me still sounds like a lot of fun since you still can grab a bunch of cool sounds, very usable sounds I would say.
Dont tell anyone, but everyone used rack gear in the 80's including *gasp* evh.. This zoom sounds better than i thought it would! Like any multi effect unit you have to remember just because it can; dosent mean you should. It's very easy to go overboard. The worst part is getting a consistent level across patches.
Loving the tweak session! Stock settings were almost always bad, you gotta work it! Digging the Savatage Hall of the Mountain King and Roland Dimension D in the background!
This was a fun video, although your playing was what made the video. Brings back a lot of memories! It's aged a bit better than I expected, although there's a really bad digital distortion to a lot of the sounds, but it's pretty endearing at the same time.
I always drooled over this in guitar magazines but couldn't afford it. I'd still like to get one for fun. The only Zoom I owned was the 505, it had the step effect too.
You said it all for me around the 15 minute mark. To my ear it seemed a bit plastic/cocked/dull/hi gainey. Great if you want that kind of thing but I couldn't live without a good crunchy Marshall tone! Impeccable playing as always though!
I mean, whats not to like about the Step section you loved as a kid? I could sit there for hours with that preset as well. Not too quirky, but musical. I recall early Zoom products and they were average at the time. Thanks for giving us a 2nd look at these.
The 9005 was my first rack unit. It inspired me and I felt more confident than ever playing live. Later, I added a Peavey Rockmaster in the loop and used the 9005 for only FX. That was even better! Only issue I had was the brief but noticeable lag in changing patches live on stage and no delay spillover. I used it on two CD's my band recorded. I eventually replaced the 9005 when the TCE G-Major came out. Thanks for reviewing a part of my history :)
I used to own one back in the 90's, loved it.
Great video mate. Aside from the rotary, this unit sounds nice.
Ive had one of these for about 15 years now, run it into a Mesa Power Amp in my rack. Getting some respectable death metal tones once you learn how to fully utilise the 3 Band EQ and the Preamp settings (Plus Tubescreamer infront). The lead sounds are great but again takes a lot of tweaking, awesome being able to have a full range of MOD-Delay-Reverb options. Dying to put a new 12AX7 tube in and see if it enhances things much.
Downside is that the Clean settings are too Dirty and the Input/Output level settings are too sensitive.
Ive got the proper footswitch too which is hard to come by, but using it was a pain due to the tiny lag when switching patches.
Going to try some home recordings on this soon
I had one when they came out; traded a JCM 800 50-watt top for one :-( It was my second go at using rack mounted kit. It was actually pretty cool for the time, I was able to use a tiny rack and a midi controller and it worked great.
I bought one of these when they came out. I still have it. If no one has pointed it out yet, you're playing user presets. Probably edited from one of the existing unit presets. I can't remember off the top of my head, but the first forty or so presets were "artist" presets. I know presets one and two were by Steve Stevens, with one being a lead tone, and two being a rhythm.
One cool thing I did with it was take a favored patch, add the octave effect, and turn that effect up 100%, and the original signal down to 0%. Voila. You can capo up two full octaves, or detune down up to two octaves. This is handy if you want to use the same guitar, but play a Van Halen tune, or make your guitar into a baritone, or even a bass (in a pinch).
Used one these in the 90's and into the 2000's. I really liked it a lo. I remember retiring it and going to a Mesa Dual Rec and being disappointed. Think the tube amp was messy and didn't have enough gain. LOL. That was before all the boost insight etc we have now. Good throw-back video. Still sounds pretty good.
I had no clue Zoom had a rack unit. Thanks for introducing us. That was really fun.
Check out my vid with the 9030, the half rack, too!
I had the 707 as my first pedal too, the drum machine was great to jam with
Loving this old stuff! It's definitely got that "something" to it... not bad, just different.
it's not shy!
Another epic video! Have you tried the Ibanez/Maxon Pue5 Tube? It's basic but they sound incredible. Stick a Gold Lion 12AX7 in it and it rips. Might be cool to check out ...
Cool video! I remember drooling over the old Digitech 2101 when it first came out. I was very young and broke so, I had to settle on a used crate combo with some crappy pedals. LOL
Great review. Thank you. Still have the 9150, and I'm actually waiting for a Zoom RFX-1100 in the mail. :)
Damn!!! You throw me back 25 years..
I bought one of these about 25 years ago and still have it. I can't give it away. Been trying to sell it for years. Even brought it o Guitar Center and they laughed at it. No body wants it. It has some great clean sounds, but lots of sounds that are not so good sounding as well. I'll most likely just keep it. Unlike yours mine has Steve Stevens settings on the first few settings.
I had a 9030, the car stereo looking one! basically a small compact version of what you're demoing. Great FX back in the day. I remember the pitch shifting was excellent on a few patches I made. I used the unit mainly as FX, bypassing all the drive, gains, preamps ( marshall jmp- 1/ ada mp1). great lil fx box. was not cheap back then.
I have one of these sitting in a rack. I pull this unit out every once in a while, when someone is looking for something a little different for solos or extra sounds or laying effects into a part.
Default stuff is a little too much but if you go in a tone it down some really usable stuff. Sounds huge when connected in stereo setup. Preamp is a little on the weak side, but add in something better in and got a great effects unit.
That first tone NAILS Blues Saraceno's lead tone to a T.
I remember listening to hairpick a bunch when I first got into guitar!
Have one at home. Love it.
Sounds nice to me!!! 80's rules!!!😍
Hi Leon, it wasn't bad back in the day. Zoom units had peculiar patches unheard in other brands of multieffects. You should try to check the pocket size 9002.
I didn't know it was going to be attending your gig man. A little more information unless plan would have been better thanks you do rock though
Leon, nice video and presentation part two things I need to tell you. 1 the input level too high which is causing the preamp to clip. You may notice there's a little led to the left reset display you will notice that just about every time that you play that lights up that means that you have the level set too high and it's clipping. To play and turn it down until you don't see that happening you want to just get on the edge I hit the strings hard and not see that light up. Due to the fact that you do not have it dialed in properly everything that you're doing even the clean sounds are distorted. So if you learn how to use it properly this unit will sound way better than it is in your demo. You're doing a disservice to the product. Point number two : I picked up one for $99 Anna pawn shop in Asheville North Carolina. It had 100 Factory presets. Most of them sound very good thermite before 5 that I don't care for. But I noticed that you are presets on the one that you're using are not the factory presets that came on the one that I bought. I'm wondering if somehow there was an update done on it from the company that somebody downloaded. The other possibility is that you are able to create your own presets by pushing a certain button the switches it it to a different 100 back set that you can make custom make yourself. I get the feeling that someone created those presets demonstrating. Once you are done creating your preset you can put in a name for it for example one of the presets that you're using his cause Sambora which is trying to sound like the Richie Sambora sound. All those presets that you have are not the original Factory created presets. For example the first Factory preset on the the unit is named Steve's Lead and totally Nails the Steve by lead sound. I haven't heard anything as good as it on nailing his sound. There are a lot of options what can you do with the presets you see there's buttons there where you hit them it turns off the delay or the Reverb or the modulation excetera. You can also be on the factory preset and add in those effects are not being used so you can just tweak them when you turn the selector knob and it will just go back to the normal preset and cancel whatever you have changed. Now back to the input level you may want to turn it up to where clips a certain level of distortion caused by overdriving 12 X 7 that is inside of the unit which is really a preamp. So if you learn how to use all these different options and there aren't very many ways to change things drastically you can tweak it get Unique Sounds that you really like and then you can save that and the 100 custom preset Banks. I there is a foot pedal for it but I never had one. But this unit is not a toy it is a pro level unit and gives out great stereo video quality sound once you learn how to properly use it. I know you borrowed this from my friend but this is good for people that may consider buying this to know. Hey I played around with it for quite a while it's complicated took me a long time to really understand how I could get some really excellent sounds out of the unit there's a learning curve with this. Appreciate your efforts and cordials presentation. Have a good day
yup- wot he said- - one the units i have was not working when given to me yesterday - the display /control module was not fully earthing to the case- was wobbly- so I added a wee earth wire to it and it works perfect now- interestingly - also it appears to have been modded with 2 resistors and a bridging wire?? maybe someone added some impedance to the pre-amp to tame that hot valve- looked like a proper mod - I need to compare both units to check- as you say it clips really low- thanks for your comment
I wonder whether the sound would improve if we were to hook it up to a cabinet simulator like Mooer's Radar.
For me this was a case of exceeded expectations. I didn’t have very high expectations so I was actually somewhat impressed. Especially with the quality of time based fx. I have to admit I was a bit of a snob and didn’t give Zoom much love back in the day. So I wasn’t familiar with this unit at all. You were even able to get some ok lead tones with the preamp/distortion, but it was having that early processor quality. Wonder what valve is in it and if it is actually powered with proper voltage? Thanks Brian for the look and thanks Leon.👍
I had a Zoom 707-II when I was learning how to play. I remember all the cool artist preset settings you could find online.
I have had 1 of these for decades. I Stupidly traded a Mesa V Twin Rack Preamp for it. And what stumps me is the clip level . To play this unit, it always feels like a flat battery type feeling on it. I thought back then it was just the factory settings, and that i could edit it out of the unit, but never could. Maybe the tube effect????... i don't know. It had a bit of potential. But i never found the urge to go deep into it. good video though Leon. I'm wondering if it might sound better with ir's . I think it has some type of early cabinet sim in it. Don't know if it can be switched of. Again thanks buddy.
Love mine still using it to this day, only real disappointment is the wa. Otherwise very happy with it, controlled through an Art superfoot board.
That was my first 19" preamp, probably too inexperience myself to truly appreciate it
But first thing I noticed in this clip, and remember from way back when, it has that somewhat Solid State Boss stompbox character on its OD's
(Which i was trying to get away from)
Seems like it was clipping a lot. Anyway, lovely playing as always!
Yeah there was some funky stuff happening. Everything down stream was fine level wise but it sounded like internal clipping at points.
I recorded my band’s first album using this. No matter where I set the gain it would never give me a “clean sound”. Great idea and easy to program. Got rid of it shortly after. Good memories
Looks like the input signal was too hot for most of those presets.
I had the little black 9002 twice. And the 505. Zoom does have a sound of their own.
I have one of these and it's a big part of my sound I use it with my pedal board going into the zoom and then straight into a tube amp. I think if you take the time you can get all sorts of good tones out of this the effects aren't half bad either. I noticed if I turn the turbo on or any overdrive then tweak my settings I got better results.
That's cool to know these still get used. Turbo ftw.
I've had a few zoom units back in the day, but I once had the George Lynch endorsed one, I think I traded it for some other gear, but totally regretted it and now there super difficult to find.
I check the Jackson GP1000 and similar preamps i found Marshall JMP-1, and this thing from Zoom. What's the best choice? There's not much difference on this 80's relics?
Really love this artifacts!
They're all pretty different. The lee Jackson kinda does one thing pretty well, the JMP-1 is pretty good at a lot of things and this is in the "totally fine" category. I'd go with a JMP-1.
The problem with any rackmount with all these great presets is recalling them on the fly like a pedal board. Without an audio scientist who understands how to set up midi and pedal boards you are never going to be able to use this live.
I just pulled my old 9150 out of mothballs, I think I forgot how great this unit is! Easy to get the G&R sound, how does one take control of the RTM with MIDI? Not quite straight forward or easy to understand from the manual! Any videos on how to take advantage of this to do or add an expression pedal for manual Whammy control with the expression pedal via RTM?
Navigate to the wah effect and then navigate the cursor/page to the RTM assess. It might involve some trial and error, but eventually, I managed to make it work. Additionally, check the overall functions to determine the channel your expression pedal is set to; it should be either 1 or 6. Keep in mind that if the channel is set for volume, it may not perform other functions, such as wah. I hope this information proves helpful.
@@davidsediqui Thank, will try! :)
Just bought one recently and think I have it figured out.
Any website or forums have posted patches from users?
Oooo my dream from 1994 :)))
I threw mine away some times ago. This DSP had very bad sound presets. It uses big names for bad results.
I could get into that
almost got one of these a couple times
I got a 9150 when I was in highschool... Used to gig with it then. Had to give it to my best friend to use when I went to college because the rack was too big (and loud) to use in college. Fast forward 20 years and he gave it back to me. Still fully functioning. I'm just missing my pedal board. Looking for a new one to use with it. Any suggestions anyone?
Behringer FCB1010 Midi Foot Controller
Yoooo!
Champions?
dislike the lead tones, but otherwise it sounds pretty ok to me
haha have some zoom multi effects with me still, they are fun.
What do you have?
@@LeonTodd just a cheap zoom B1 and G1. some effects are here too but obviously 9150 is way better than those i have.
my first effectpedal was a zoom 1010😂those one tube 90`s preamps are just a bargain, i`m collecting rack stuff since 30 years now just love it, voodu valve, valve fx, ,multivalve....i had this unit but can`t remember how it sounds, just got another one today for 90$, drawback is that those pre modeling units are very hard to dial in, espesially those old multieffects are not userfriendly at all. best preamp ever made in my experience after trying nearly everything even new stuff is the old rocktron prophesy! just get it for cheap and let us now about that here please