Blogging Ottinger (tim)

The power supply for the zoom GFX8 multi-effects pedal is skimpy. It has a tiny, fragile two-conductor cable that runs to the pedal. There is a hard-rubber cover where it goes into the converter box, but it’s too hard and too short. Sure enough, the cable fails right where it runs into the block. It failed at rehearsal on Wednesday night.

I knew it would not last, though it’s made it for a few years. So I figure I can order one from any supply house. I flip it over and look at the specs. It produces (get this) 12VAC 500mA output. Note that it’s AC output, not DC. Also it’s neither nine nor eighteen volts. You are NOT going to find these in ready supply at a guitar store or catalog. In fact, I did not find them in ready supply. There are some about, but the product (Zoom AD0008D) has been discontinued. In a year or two, there probably won’t be any more around.

I hope that the newer zoom effects have standard power supplies, or at least better quality cables. I did order one, and if it’s not back-ordered or out of stock I should get it next week. In the meantime, I’ve lost nearly every effect I own. This is the second time that’s happened. The last time, it was also a multi-effect with a funky power supply. That one later failed from an internal wire break. Ah, the things we skimp on come back to bite us.

I got by on Sunday on just the two channels (clean/dirty) of my Crate “Club” series vintage tube amp, a great little amplifier by the way. That was not too bad, and actually it sounded better and more natural and warm than the effects from my Zoom. That’s to be expected since the Zoom is all digital effects. It has to sound a bit more synthetic than the all-tube genuine analog signal path.

I think I will swear off digital multi-effects. At least if I have individual pedals they will probably die out one at a time. If the power supplies go out I can use standard 9V or 18V DC power supplies which can be purchased at any guitar store. I could even use 9v batteries if I have to. That’s some operational survivability I don’t have now.

With the Zoom I have a boatload of presets that I can tweak and adjust and save, and I can switch between pre-built patch sets with a single button click and banks of four user-defined patches easily. That’s when the unique, fragile power supply is not broken. I really have enjoyed that kind of flexibility and the range of capabilities of this great digital board, and it always sounded good enough to me.

Now I have a friend in a prestigious recording school who can build me great analog effects with true bypass (so I can maintain an all-analog signal path except when I really need to patch in a digital effect). I’ve seen and heard some of his work, and it’s quite impressive. I’ll spend a bit more getting a collection of high-grade analog effects, but they’ll be high-grade analog effects.

The new power supply for the Zoom will buy me some time until I have what I want. Maybe a few years. But once I get my first couple of effects pedals, losing the zoom will be less of a catastrophe and more of an inconvenience. I will be able to patch around it easily.

I have the guitars I want for now. Maybe in my future I will add something with P90s, and some more distant year a nice hybrid. I’m happy with my amps and thought I was in “coasting” territory, but now I will need a bit more gear acquisition. I’m sure it will be really cool when I’m finished, if I’m ever finished. OTOH, it’s a hobby, and a hobby isn’t really supposed to be done and over.