Zoom MS-70CDR & MS-100BT Effects Pedal?

[leddo]

Out of curiosity and because of my interest in echo boxes I bought one of the Zoom MS-70CDR pedals and it arrived today.
There are some good sounds on it no doubt, but it is nowhere near as easy as the Zoom G3x to programme and is very fiddly, not recommended unless you are au fait with how to set these things up. Also, the patches can only be saved on the unit, no EDIT & SHARE for this, so no storing the patches on the computer, it's all manual.
At £65 I can use it as a straight echo box and chorus when I've programmed it, but for another £30, the G3 wins hands down.

It is a more trying pedal to work with than the G3 or G5, but once you figure it out, the CDR70 is a great little unit. There is a wider choice of delays and some of the reverbs are sublime. It is well worth putting in the hours Dave to tame the beast, I think you will find it will be rewarding.

[dave robinson]

I've got some Shads patches installed and a Duane Eddy one and it is simple once you get the hang of it, but I haven't figured how to scroll through the patches that I need with the footswitch. Also I don't know how to get the footswitch to turn off the whole effect for straight guitar sound. As Leddo says it has some great echoes in there, but it is NOT something I would use on stage at the moment. The G3x is far more stage friendly, as well as being more user friendly.

[sausage fingers]

I think i read you have to set up a blank patch and then switch to the blank patch to use the on/off switch as bypass
Rob

[Ian Miller]

Hi All,

Having spent a little time researching this device on the web, I have discovered a number of users have been lobbying Zoom for greater USB connectivity for Edit & Share compatibility. Zoom themselves are not ruling out this and may include this in a future firmware update.
It seems also there is some midi capability via USB. Some users have constructed a more functional footswitch system using midi. Search Google and Youtube 'MS-70CDR Mods' will find the info.

Ian

[dave robinson]

Thanks guys, I don't think I'll be going down the route of too much investigation, I am busy with band affairs and don't have the time so it' highly probable that I'll finish my programming of ten or so Shadows echoes and sell it on with those loaded. That said it does sound very good, I've done the first five and it sounds great, there are only five more empty 'user' spaces that I can see.

[Ian Miller]

You can overwrite the pre-programmed patches if you need to Dave.

Ian

[dave robinson]

Thanks Ian, I was aware of that and indeed have done a couple that way. The problem is for me that it appears it isn't very practical to use on stage, so I don't think I'll be using it other than n the living room or studio and I have easier, less fiddly options TBH. It's a great little unit if you ar not under pressure to change programmes fast whilst putting on a show. The echo and reverb/chorus sounds are an improvement on the G3/G3x, as there is more choice of fine tuning, but in a live situation slickness is everything.

[leddo]

You can overwrite all the programmes on the CDR70 with your own creations. You are not just limited to the user spaces.

[dave robinson]

So does anyone know if this can be programmed to allow scrolling through the patches with the footswitch, or is it possible to use the footswitch as an off/on live on stage ?

[dave robinson]

Well after a good few hours working it all out and programming all my own favourite patches into this little pedal I can tell you that it is amazing. I figured out how to use the unit live on stage and scroll through my named paches, allowing continuity during the show. There's no compression or distortion, but it's very useable for Shadows and similar if you have a nice Vox amp or something like the Joyo AC Tone to DI into your system. I'm going to try it with my Boogie on stage and set up a second chanel for the overdriven 'Parisienne Walkways', with the clean sound for normal use on the first chanel. I did think that I might move it on, but today's findings have changed my mind as the echo editing is even better than the G3x.
If you know what you are doing, I'd recommend this little pedal over the G3x IF you can do without the compression, swell pedal and wah wah and of course the fuzz box. I had a little play of Happy Birthday and compared it with the Hall & Collins and it is very close , it's all in there if you know how to get it out and at £65 v £600 . . . . Choices !