FIRST LOOK REVIEW : ZOOM MS 50 G
Traveling with Electronics : FIRST LOOK REVIEW : ZOOM MS 50 G
I've already pulled your tail twice on this one
.....so lets take a closer look
We are living in "high definition digital times" my friends and there are tools O' plenty for the sonic renegades out there to manifest some superior shape shifting with small travel friendly rigs. The ZOOM MS 50 G is such a tool and you can jump to this link to get the straight up (very impressive) specs MS-50G | ZOOM on what (imho), is the most bang-for-the-buck effects pedal that I have seen in a long time (does anybody remember the BOSS SE-70.....thats how long).
Lets be clear from the gate - this is not the do all be all end all multi-effects pedal that is going to replace your entire pedal-board with a single unit.....but.....an MS50G plus a TC DITTO looper and a single 1Spot AC in your back-pack, would make a very attractive plan B, to play a show, should your gear fail to make the plane sometime.
TC Electronics Ditto Looper has just hit the street : 24 bit uncompressed audio 5 minute record time - record/play/overdub/undo/redo/stop/erase (no reverse and no half speed) - yes, it's very small, it does sound great, is simple to use & saves last loop at power down
I am using the 50G at the top of my chain for the purpose of creating 5 pre-set "sub chains" (using a total of 10 effects), that cover some basic sounds. I find that you get the most functionality from the unit if it's on the table board and not on the floor.
Next is my desert island four-on-the-floor : 1- Black Arts Toneworks Ritual / Pharaoh dual fuzz pedal, 2- DOD FX-17 Wah / Vol, 3- Fulltone OCD overdrive / distortion, 4- Boss DD-20 delay / looper. Then back up to the table and into the Strymon TimeLine delay / looper (the Disaster Area Designs DMC-3 at the far left of the floor chain, is a midi control pedal for the TimeLine).
DMC3-midi DD20 delay/looper/tap OCD wah/vol ritual/pharaoh <<<<< 50G <<<
50G Mackie 402 VLZ3 >>>>> Strymon TimeLine >>>
PRE-SET A - BOOST : (2 units) Noise Gate > Booster (to keep things quiet and provide a pre amp), the booster appears in the screen and I can turn it off or on as I get into stacking the 2 fuzz units (ritual/pharaoh) and the 1 overdrive (ocd) that follow on the floor board
PRE-SET B - BASS : (4 units) Noise Gate > Auto Wah > Octave > Booster (for bass sounds), the auto wah appears in the screen for on/off control and tweaking = two shades of bass tones
PRE-SET C - GONGS : (5 units) Noise Gate > Detune > Reverse Delay > Step Filter > Booster (for ring modulator sounds), the reverse delay appears in the screen for on/off control and tweaking = ring mod or subtle detune & filtering
PRE-SET D - SLOWAH : (4 units) Noise Gate > Slow Attack > Auto Wah > Booster (for volume swell attacks), the auto wah appears in the screen for on/off control and tweaking = slow wah attacks or straight slow attacks
PRE-SET E - WETVIBE : (5 units) Noise Gate > The Vibe > Slow Attack > HD Hall > Booster (for long animated reverb), the slow attack appears in the screen for on/off control and tweaking = articulation or long volume pedal swells
So, just using 10 effects (noise gate, booster, auto wah, octave, detune, reverse delay, step filter, slow attack, vibrato, reverb), I have 5 sub chain, basic sounds at the top of my chain (each with two versions), that I can scroll through with a single switch. This is a pretty amazing range of great sounding tonal options coming from a unit that only takes the space of a single pedal on the board. The kicker - $99 bucks.
Modified National Lap-Steel - 4 strings - stainless steel finger-board - two hot rails
humbucker bridge pick-ups (bridge & nut) - volume/tone/kill - bender on high string
Spending allot of time in the shed these days, new SoLoDiNo material in the works!
Also in the shed, The Out Of Context Electric Guitar Choir
.....both coming to a venue soon!
until next month then
safe travels.....dino
