As I've read somewhere in the Internet, people on budget should seriously consider a Zoom 9150 unit.
I still remember that in the '90s we considered this preamp and multifx as a crappy unit, but we definitely were wrong a lot.
Today it's very easy to find these 9150s for less than 100 euros and they really worth a try.
This old toy is plenty of features, it has a very good tube preamp and all the effects an average guitar player needs.
The user interface is very easy and programming patches doesn't require to be Stephen Hawking.
The 9150 has controls for both Input and Output level, so that one can fine tune the guitar signal and the overall output volume...I can assure that this allows to play late in the night at very low volume without risking to be put in jail.
Furthermore, the stereo phones out has a sort of speakers emulation and can be also used as a DI box.
The unit has a single tube for the preamp section (don't know if always used or just for some settings) and I found that tubes rolling makes sense also with the 9150.
The original tube is unbranded and there's no labeling at all...nothing.
I compared it to original MP-1 tubes and they look absolutely identical...so I assume this is a good quality high gain chinese tube from the '90s and it's still full of life (as internal battery as well).
I tested here a TungSol 12AX7, a couple of 7025 TADs (that are in my MP-1 right now) and a 5751 Philips JAN spec that is currently inside the unit as it makes it play great with both clean and dirty tones.
The good thing about this Zoom is that factory patches are very, very good and they are usable...just a few of them are crappy.
There are 99 factory presets and 99 user location and it possible to copy factory presets on user location and start creating patches from a (very good) base.
The preamp section is made of 8 different sounds: 2 cleans, 2 crunches, 2 overdrives and 2 high gains.
In this section ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) noise gate and a first mono loop are present.
The loop is just on/off, but it's useful to insert an overdrive in the signal path and program its usage from patch to patch.
Overdrives and High Gain have a Turbo setting that's a sort of on/off gain booster....but with a good overdrive in the loop better results can be achieved, turning the Turbo off and the stomp on.
I've done this with a Klon Centaur clone and the outcoming sound is awesome.
Compression can be set in this section as well.
Then there's a good, complete and effective EQ section that helps to fine tune your guitar tone.
On the digital FX side, this unit is missing nothing:
-1 chorus
-2 phaser
-3 flanger
-4 tremolo, stepper, rotary
-5 pitch shifter / octaver
-6 auto wah and pedal wah
-7 pedal pitch shifter
-8 mono and ping-pong delay
-9 classic reverbs (plate, reverse, hall, room...)
In the reverb section, there's an uncommon feature: if you don't want to use 9150 reverb, you can turn it off and use it's memory to expand memory and increase delay time in delay section!
After that, there's a Total section where the overall output volume can be set and the 2nd effects loop can be activated and programmed.
This 2nd loop is stereo (mono send, stereo returns) and it's fully programmable: can be set as serial, parallel, internally mixed and placed in different points of signal path (meaning sections: preamp, eq, modulation, delay...).
The MIDI implementation is complete: program change and control change are recognized and accepted.
With the Zoom 8050 and a FP01 expression pedal, all Real Time parameters can be modified in real time, making this unit very powerful in many situations.
The Zoom 8050 can be powered by connecting it to dedicated Remote plug and FP01 must be connected to 8050 directly, so further power supply is not needed: just power the 9150 on and it will power the 8050 (as the ADA MP-1 does with MC-1).
For sure there's stuff around that's better or better a lot (Lexicon MPX G2 or TC G Major 2, for instance), but that's more expensive stuff.
The overall quality of this little Zoom rack is very, very good and it can be used as a stand alone unit, covering anything from preamp to eq to digital FX.
I like it a lot and it's the toy that made me come back to crack gear.
When I bought the MP-1 and the GMaj, I was considering to sell it...
Then I decided to keep it and add a Marshall 8008 Valvestate power amp to build a 2nd, small and complete rack.
You can see something similar in the attached picture.
With the 9150, the 8008, the 8050 and the FP01 I could have a light "ready to go" plug-and-play rack I can use in different situations, if needed.
I attach also 9150 and 8050 user's manuals, for your advantage!