Zoom A1 Four - Amazing $130 pedal (and a cool tip)

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by lkingston

Can you mix in just a percentage of the modeling? For some reason that I cannot understand, previous Zoom effects pedals don’t let you blend between the modeling and the pickup.

No. You can't set for a blend. In my own case, I just briefly try every model to see which one a) appeals to my taste, and b) seems compatible with the particular guitar/pickup rig I'm using.

My biggest disappointment regarding the models is that you need to have a model engaged to set the box's gain level. The other effects have a volume level parameter, but that's not the same thing. If you have the model block turned off, you can't adjust the gain and you need to be careful to supply an input signal which neither overdrives the box or is so low that the box's output is insufficient.

Its also a problem that the A1 Four's input impedance, at 470 Kohms, is too low to do justice to many passive pickups. Aaron has mentioned that there's a way to increase the input impedance, but I still haven't found it.

[westernslope]

So I wanted to see what people ended up thinking about the vocal ability of this little box. I know that we talked about potentially using it for vocals but I didn't know how deeply people had tried that

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by westernslope

So I wanted to see what people ended up thinking about the vocal ability of this little box. I know that we talked about potentially using it for vocals but I didn't know how deeply people had tried that

I tried this. I wanted battery power and be able to add some EQ, compression, reverb and delay. It worked well, but I still prefer my TC Play Acoustic for vocals and figured out a battery solution with it.

I have a Behringer digital mixer which I could never get the vocals where I wanted. I tried hard to replicate what TC does with their “tone” button. I could never get there with either the Behringer or this A1 four. Not saying it can’t be done. I just couldn’t get there.

[JackB1]

Wish Zoom make another unit identical to the A1 Four but with a more sturdy build quality