ZOOM G11

95
DECEMBER 2020 GUITARIST
reviewZOOM G11
ZOOM G11 £699
What You Need To Know
Another do-it-all floorboard.
Aren’t there enough around?
Maybe, but Zoom has been
making these for a very long time
and it’s about time there was a
successor to the G5n.
How is this different to the G5n?
It’s slightly bigger, for a start, with
more footswitches. It also increases
the amount of modelled amps
and allows you to use onboard
and imported IRs, plus it has
a touchscreen.
Isn’t a touchscreen a bit of
a gimmick?
Not at all! It lays out everything you
need to get the job done with less
fuss than wrangling menus, cursors
and a data wheel.
Z
oom was one of the pioneers of the
floorboard multi-effects processor,
but it’s been several years since the
company released a new one. Now, building
on what the previous G5n offered, it’s back
with this brand-new G11, which is certainly
feature-packed.
It comes equipped with an intuitive
touchscreen display, two banks of
footswitches and a pedal treadle. It has
a stereo or dual mono effects loop for
adding external pedals or for four-cable
connection, and an input for an expression
pedal. A USB connection allows operation
as 4-in/4-out 24-bit audio interface as
well as providing access to computer-
based editing via the free Zoom Guitar
Lab software, also accessible with an iOS/
iPadOS device by connecting a Zoom BTA-1
wireless adaptor.
A looper that records up to five minutes
in stereo can be synchronised to the
68 onboard rhythm patterns, which
are handy for playing along to for a bit
of silent practice using the headphone
output. There’s also a degree of MIDI
capability with Program Changes and Clock
synchronisation supported.
As for its sounds, the G11 offers 240
onboard patch memories in 60 banks of four,
each preset having a signal chain built from
a linear array of 10 blocks (DSP permitting).
An amplifier can be assigned to one of the
effect blocks as can a cabinet model or IR.
There are 24 cabinets matching the 24
modelled amps as well as 70 matching IRs,
but there are also 130 memory locations
where you can load your own and third
parties’ impulse responses using a USB
flash drive. The range of effects is pretty
comprehensive, with the everyday nestling
next to the esoteric.
In Use
The G11 is slim and weighs only 2.8kg
(6.2lb), so it’s easy to move around. That
light weight is no doubt due to extensive use
of plastic, but there’s nothing flimsy about it.
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CONTACT Sound Service GmbH WEB https://zoomcorp.com
ZOOM G11
Basic functions are carried
out via the touchscreen, which
has four scrollable pages
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GIT466.rev_zoom.indd 95 24/10/2020 13:16