Zoom Review: Fire 15 Modeling Amp

History:

Purchase: i bought this at my local guitar shop. i paid £80 for it which seemed like quite a bargain to me. I already own 2 guitar amps and a decent array of pedals but i was moving into a new flat at univesity in the city centre and didnt have room for them all so i thought a practice modelling amp with a headphone input would be the perfect solution to my problems

What I Like About This Zoom Fire 15 Modeling Amp: For the price i wasnt really expecting the earth to move for me when i played it, but the different amp models where surprisingly good. To be honest its no match for the line 6 Spider or a pod unit but the Marshall model is great fun with the gain turned up and the acoustic option is also pretty good. As you would expect from Zoom the effects are of a fairly high standard for the price and the menu's are clear and easy to use.

What I Do NOT Like About The Zoom Fire 15 Modeling Amp: Dont even bother with the Fuzz or Metal amp models unless you want to sound like some Swedish death metal band plugged into a cheap Squier amp on full gain, these settings completely destroy any tonal quality your guitar might possess. The slow attack and Ring Modulator effects are fairly redundant as well and the level of effects isnt too impressive. Another problem is that the auto wah effect only seems to work on the 3rd and 4th strings unless you add a load of chorus to them.

Zoom Fire 15 Modeling Amp Quality Rating: The amp is nice and light but still feels sturdy enough, to be honest it isnt really viable as a gigging amp, but you can get away with it for home four track recording, especially if you add the doubling and chorus effects to your rhythm parts. You can also pull off a nice range of Tom Morello style solos with the effects in this thing, overall for the price a decent workhorse of an amp.

Review Summary: I had to buy something like this to allow me to continue playing electric at all, for anyone else in this situation it makes a great 2nd amp to practice on and for a beginner on a budget it does supply the complete package of amp and effects. If i had to be honest though i would advise you to save the money and buy a better amp and a couple of stompboxes.

Rating of this Zoom product: 3

This Zoom Fire 15 Modeling Amp Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: Nemo

Review Date: 2003-11-26