I remember when I started playing guitar, that was 200x… wait, was it 1999? 🙁 :old-man-yelling-at-cloud:…(nevermind the year, that’s not important)…I had no idea what pedals or had any interest in them, mastering a barred chord was actually the goal and the dream.
A few years later, my brother got a Zoom 505II (At this point I actually went into a 15 minutes sidequest to try to find one to buy) and that was THE pedal to have and love, it had it all. It is a multi-effect with a great range:
“…the 505 II incorporates a varied palette of 33 effects. Up to nine effects (including ZNR and amp simulator) can be combined in a patch. The memory of the unit holds 36 rewritable patches, providing the holds-barred performance”
If you’re 15 and just discovered what an electric guitar and distortion can sound like, yeah, this was heaven. To be honest, more than 20 years after, I do not even remember how it sounds, but it might have marked me more than what I remember.
In April 2020 (The dark times [COVID]) I decided to get a pedal that had been in my head for the past few months, it was around 450€, but who cares? We were all going to die anyway. That’s how I ended up with the Empress Zoia, very similar to the Zoom 505 II if you think about it.
It’s this rectangle that can do basically anything. Do you remember the ‘You wouldn’t steal a car’ commercials? Well, this let’s you “download” pedals/effects created by others. If downloading a pedal is a crime then … you can’t prove that I’ve done it!
Pretty, isn’t it?
It has a firmware that can be updated, modular construction of patches and collaboration. This is a programmer’s dream…Although, I must recognize that I usually do not create my own patches, I mostly have modified other’s to my needs.
In the patch storage you can find recreations of existing pedals and unique creations. The Zoia shines when we are talking about creating textures, it is one of the reasons I wanted it, that’s my go-to type of composition.
It can process audio and also be used as a synth and be controlled with external MIDI and/or send MIDI to a different device. It’s really a Swiss army knife.
Apart from the Zoia, I had no other remarkable pedal, maybe the Big Muff Pi but honestly I had never liked how it sounded on my recordings. I was actually missing a bit part of every guitarist sound, a great tube amp.
Problem: I live in a small apartment. My neighbors would hate me if I cranked a tube amp.
Solution: The Simplifier X
This thing is powerful. It can take a weak line signal and transform it simulating a Marshall, AC Vox or Fender amp. Is it the same as a tube amp? Not sure if I would call it the same but it is possible that most people would not be able to tell the difference, it is that good.
Yeah, of course it is not a Kemper, it is not a Quad Cortex either, but it costs 1/3 of the price, so definitely not a bad deal.
If I had to go to war with a Zoia and the Simplifier X, I’d be happy. Or at least, I’d have a great sound.
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