Zoom MS-50G MultiStomp Guitar Effects Pedal, Single Stompbox Size, 100 Built-in effects, Tuner

I bought the Zoom MultiStomp after watching a few reviews on YouTube. The pedal sounded awesome and grabbed my attention, especially when I learned that you can upgrade it and add more amps and effects. What really won me over was the ability to put the effects in any order and to use an effect more than once, meaning I could gainstage overdrives or stack choruses or delays. That was the selling point.This marked my return to using multi-effects after more than a decade away from them and my return to Zoom after almost 20 years away. Actually, my very first effects pedal—a good many years ago now—was a Zoom Player 2020 back in 90s. Later I had the Zoom 9150 Valve DSP, which I really liked, and a friend had the Zoom 9030, which was full of great sounds. Now I've returned to Zoom with the MultiStomp and I also recently picked up a mint used Zoom G3, which I immediately updated online.I can use up to six effects in any order and even use any type (OD, mod, delay, etc.) more than once (or twice!), which gives the unit a ton of flexibility and gives me a ton of possibilities for all kinds of awesome sounds. The options are plentiful. The only thing I'd like to see changed is to have the Zoom Noise Reduction made global to free up one of the slots as long as it could still be inserted anywhere in the chain. But that's not too big a deal because I'm finding the sounds I want and need with what's available.It's really a great unit once you figure it out, which wasn't very hard at all. I upgraded the firmware and started adding and deleting effects while only using the manual as a reference when I needed it and I'd never done anything integrating an effects unit with a computer before. I also started programming my effects patches keeping the manual on-hand for reference until I knew my way around. I found a lot of it was pretty intuitive in both cases.I'm mostly using this for direct recording to a Tascam digital multi-track right now, but I'll also be using it with a Joyo Jam Buddy and a DV Mark Little Jazz. I'm sure it'll play nice with them.

I use this mostly to play jazz, country (old, traditional), gospel and occasionally some rock. The majority of the time I use it in front of a Fender Princeton Reverb with a Gibson ES135. The Princeton has excellent reverb and tremolo, but with the Zoom MS50G I can get very different (then spring) reverb, various beautiful sounding vibratos, ect...When I show up to chuch, I have my guitar (in the case) with the MS50G in one hand, and my Princeton Reverb in the other. Load ins/outs have never been much easier.The MS50G you can set up to where it will scroll through patches. LIke say, I'm doing a 70s outlaw country song with a compressor/phaser/reverb then hit the footswitch to go to the next patch where I might be set up for a jazz standard with different reverb/vibe then hit the button again for rock with distortion/delay. Once you get the hang of programming it, it'll do alot more then most folks think it will.I use 2 of these units. Ones on the floor and the other one I usually keep on a music stand with my tablet. Being I play clean the majority of the time I normally only use the one but if I'm doing metal (with a different rig) I run one in the front and the other in a footswitchable effects loop.The majority of the time I use the compressor, reverbs, tremolo/vibrato/vibe, and occasionally the filters and autowah for fun. I like some of the drives, some sound overly digital others sound pretty organic. Really depends on what rig its ran into and how.I like the instant access to the tuner.For what these pedals cost, they're a no brainer. If you don't use a lot of effects these are really great. I was actually looking for a reverb pedal and discovered these. They'd been on the market for years and I avoided them. For a decent low cost reverb and tremolo pedals, it'll easily cost more then the MS50G, probably sound no better (sub $150 pedals) and not have all the features. Like if I find a reverb I like and it sounds to bright (for older jazz for example) I can go to the EQ section and take some of the top end sheen off. Pretty cool stuff.My only real gripe with it is no XLR output like my Zoom G3 has. The amp models (at least the clean Fendery stuff) sounds good enough to run directly in the board (like my G3 will) but I have to use a Whirlwind box to do it.Is it the best pedal going? No. Is it the best all in one single stomp box pedal? From what I've seen, yeah, by a long shot.

All metal enclosure. Pedal feels solid and like it will last a long time. I like the tuner function and tap tempo. To get the most out of this pedal, you need to go to the Zoom website and download the latest firmware. My pedal updated quickly with no issues. There are "extra" effects, but you have to download the effects manager. This took me awhile to figure out. Zoom should really give more detailed instructions. The update alone WILL NOT automatically install the extra effects. Once you have the effects manager downloaded, you simply connect the pedal to your computer and pull up the manager. You will see all 172 effects listed... you simply check the boxes of the effects you want to install on the pedal, then hit the scan button to install on your pedal. You cannot install all 172, there is not enough memory on the pedal. As you go down the list and check the effects boxes, the manager will keep track and let you know when you're reaching the limit. I have 122 effects installed with a little room to spare. I noticed that if I added effects right up to the limit, I'd get an error message and the effects would not load. I'm using a 2015 MacBook Pro running Catalina 10.15.7. I hope this is helpful to someone. It took me a few hours to figure this all out. Once I did, I really enjoyed using this pedal even more. There are limitless pedal combinations and tweaking to be had. You can stack up to six effects... and easily move the effects wherever you want in the chain. Chain reads from right to left. Do yourself a big favor and read the instruction manual that comes with the pedal, or it can be confusing. Once you do, the pedal is a joy to use and actually pretty simple to navigate. If you don't want to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on individual pedals and a pedal board, then GET THIS PEDAL!