Zoom A3 Acoustic Pedal

[celtic_dude]

Originally Posted by rainfire

WOW! Fantastic! If they accepted it, to renege would be pretty crass of them. Good luck.

So I got my shipping notification tonight so it looks like they made good on it So excited! Should be here on Monday. I will post my reviews sometime after that.

[celtic_dude]

Just got home and my new Zoom A3 is here! Review to come later this week!

[jimmy bookout]

Well, I got my A3 and as usual, a quality piece with a horrible manual (just like other Zoom manuals) IMO.

I plugged it in to my Zoom recorder (!), got some wonderful sounds out of it just playing around. So...feeling cocky, I thought I would set some memory patches for my various guitars and then the brick wall jumped up and creamed me. I thought one could set up a patch memory for a guitar in the memory (20 places available) for example, this would have model type like OM-42 in position 1, effect like Mod reverb in position 2, and another effect like Silky chorus in position 3. What I can't figure out is how to do this....help! Am I thinking this thing will do something it won't?

Jimmy

***EDIT*** I didn't understand what the memory patches would do, so each of the 20 can store one effect it appears (I still haven't figured out what the A/B on the right is supposed to do and, of course, the manual makes NO mention). OK...so how do you get it to save that effect in that space. Sorry, it is late, I am VERY frustrated with Zoom (just like I was with my H4N and camera), this box sounds great but is about as intuitive as the original iDrive on BMW's and it's like the manual is missing pages (which it isn't). Zoom could take a LARGE lesson from Fishman on how to write a manual and make the menus a little more complete.

Rant off....the box does sound good.

[JoMas]

Originally Posted by jimmy bookout

Well, I got my A3 and as usual, a quality piece with a horrible manual (just like other Zoom manuals) IMO.

I plugged it in to my Zoom recorder (!), got some wonderful sounds out of it just playing around. So...feeling cocky, I thought I would set some memory patches for my various guitars and then the brick wall jumped up and creamed me. I thought one could set up a patch memory for a guitar in the memory (20 places available) for example, this would have model type like OM-42 in position 1, effect like Mod reverb in position 2, and another effect like Silky chorus in position 3. What I can't figure out is how to do this....help! Am I thinking this thing will do something it won't?

Jimmy

Jimmy, each memory slot DOES save a patch with 3 effects each. I don't know why that doesn't work for you. The manual is bad indeed, and it took me a little while to figure it out. Make sure to go to "settings" and untick the "automatic save" option (it is on by default). That make things easier to understand and manage.

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by JoMas

Jimmy, each memory slot DOES save a patch with 3 effects each. I don't know why that doesn't work for you. The manual is bad indeed, and it took me a little while to figure it out. Make sure to go to "settings" and untick the "automatic save" option (it is on by default). That make things easier to understand and manage.

Thanks for the tip, I will get home tonight and monkey around with it some more.
Frankly, I've learned more from just messing with the thing than reading the manual (which I downloaded before I got the pedal and read it TWICE). It's funny, folks my age (56) are owners manual readers, my 6 year old daughter just starts messing with stuff and figures it out. I should get her to mess with this thing, she would figure it out in 5 minutes!

Jimmy

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by JoMas

Jimmy, each memory slot DOES save a patch with 3 effects each. I don't know why that doesn't work for you. The manual is bad indeed, and it took me a little while to figure it out. Make sure to go to "settings" and untick the "automatic save" option (it is on by default). That make things easier to understand and manage.

Well, I'm still fighting it but I'll figure it out eventually, I'm sure.

You are spot on with your assesment of the Zoom "modeling" verses the Aura Spectrum "imaging". Had the Aura never existed, the Zoom would be the one of the greatest preamps ever for eliminating piezo quack, that said, I spent a couple of hours tonight recording various guitars A/B'ing the Aura and A3....I much prefer the Aura Spectrum, it provides the "airiness" and realism that the Zoom (with the "Air" effect being used as well) cannot come close to.
So, I'll keep the A3 for a few more weeks and play with it more, but, I am thinking now that it might leave. Just one man's opinion, YMMV as always.

Jimmy

[winstondog1]

I bought one - gave it a try and returned it! Too much hassle if you use it playing out. Not bad if all you do is record or play in the house. Not user-friendly at all.

[jlipoth]

Originally Posted by winstondog1

I bought one - gave it a try and returned it! Too much hassle if you use it playing out. Not bad if all you do is record or play in the house. Not user-friendly at all.

I couldn't disagree more. As with many all in one devices, there is a learning curve, but my favorite thing about the A3 is that I barely have to do anything after the initial setup. Here's how I have it set up:

effect 1: Preamp sim to match my guitar
effect 2: BBE Enhancer
effect 3: punch factory

100% wet (the effects are subtle enough that there is not need to blend in a raw UST sound)

The guitar input is set to piezo to help soften the "quack" (it works nicely too).

Here's the icing on the cake. I have 3 dedicated footswitches that are actually useful:

1. Auto anti-feedback
2. tuner/mute
3. 2.5db boost for solos and light picking

Even if you completely disregard the amp sim and "quack" remover, I can't imagine any "simple" setup that would give me an enhancer, compressor, and 3 useful footswitches for live playing: All in 1 device where all the settings are saved so all I have to do is plug into the "magic box" and play I've been thinking about picking up a Fishman aura pedal to compare, but now that I've had the "boost" switch, I don't really want to go without that feature......

[bluegrasserk]

Old thread I know, but a couple of questions for those in the know:
I like my A3 for acoustic as it really helps control my K and K mini, and am looking to do a combined acoustic and electric pedal board.
1) The A3 is rated 9v and 500Ma. Would a standard power supply like a Voodoo labs pedal power 2 be able to power this? If not, what would be an alternative (im really trying to keep it simple so one power supply is preferred)

2) Even with the effect off, the preamp and body choice are active. If using electric, would completely turning off the pedal kill the signal or would it just pass through?

Any advice appreciated!

[Photojeep]

Originally Posted by bluegrasserk

Old thread I know, but a couple of questions for those in the know:
I like my A3 for acoustic as it really helps control my K and K mini, and am looking to do a combined acoustic and electric pedal board.
1) The A3 is rated 9v and 500Ma. Would a standard power supply like a Voodoo labs pedal power 2 be able to power this? If not, what would be an alternative (im really trying to keep it simple so one power supply is preferred)

2) Even with the effect off, the preamp and body choice are active. If using electric, would completely turning off the pedal kill the signal or would it just pass through?

Any advice appreciated!

Hi,
Until just recently, I was using a One Spot power supply to run my A3, Boss TU-3, and a Ditto X2 looper. This worked perfectly fine but I was concerned about my A3 not getting enough juice (the manual and website both mention the power consumption issue when using certain effects.)

Last week I splurged for a pedal train SC-3 board and a Pedaltrain Power Train 1250 power supply. Now all is good. The Power Train 1250 has one section that is 500mA that can be shared with up to 4 pedals and then 4 additional spots with 210mA each. One of the last 4 can be switched between 9v and 18v.

My A3 now shares the 500mA plug with a pedal that only requires 10mA.

Like I said, my little one spot worked but as I was getting a couple new pedals, I thought it best to give the A3 what it was designed for (or as close as I could.)

I'm pretty sure some folks have used a Voodoo power supply with equally good results. I needed 500mA power in one plug if could get it and another that could put out 18v all in one unit. The Power Train 1250 fit the bill perfectly for me.

Although I haven't tried it yet, I'm pretty sure the A3 must be turned on to pass power through. I'll check tonight when I get home from work just to be sure.

Best,
PJ

[pipedwho]

The A3 is not 'true bypass'. So no power means no sound coming out of the pedal.

[bluegrasserk]

Thanks guys! So there is no way to have it in the chain without affecting the electric signal?

[pipedwho]

Not really. You could create a patch with all effects turned off (including the guitar modeler), but the EQ would still be in line, so you'd have to run it flat.

You really need an outboard effects loop so you can bypass the A3 when the electric is connected.

[bluegrasserk]

Hmm, probably easier to just have it first, which i would anyway for the acoustic and just take it out of the chain for electric.

Would this be a power solution with the A3 plugged into one of the outlets on the power supply using its own adapter?
Also, does the power draw matter based on how you use the A3? I dont love acoustic effects in general and just use it for the preamp/DI and boost and anti feedback functions, which it is wonderful for.
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?id=SPB-8

[pipedwho]

No problem powering it separately with its own plug pack.