Zoom 505

Although, as everyone else has said, some of the preset patches are a little gaudy. It is very easy to reset the patches. It took me all of 15 minutes to figure out how the entire unit worked (no previous multi-effects pedal). Although some complain that with only two pedals it is difficult to switch to a far away patch, I have found it extreemely easy to set the patches up so switching is a breeze

O.K. This is why I am submiting this evaluation... Almost all the effects are very good (except the distortions but I have a Proco Rat and a Boss Blues Driver to take care of that) but there is way too much hiss that comes out of this thing. I tried using it with a battery, an adapter, in a chain of effects, and by itself, and every time it had this unbearably loud hiss. When you plug the out put into the amp, you could automatically hear it, even if the unit is on bypass. I tried it in my friend amp through the pre-amp section and the hiss is non-existent (by the way, I tried lowering the output but it had no effect). I am very upset because I loved the unit (it has great effects, is small, and very friendly).

Although it is made out of plastic, it feels sturdy

Unfortunatly, I am going to return mine because of the hiss. I have a Jackson PS-4 guitar and a Fender Champion 110 amp. The amp is a little 25watter with alot of punch and by guitar has humbukers. I am used to silence. Even my Ratt pedal is quieter. I am going to look at the DOD FX7 and the Digitech XP200 Modulator (I have a Crybaby Wah 535, a Boss Blues Driver, a Ratt Distortion Pedal, and a footswitch for my amp, I basically only need modulation effects). I would suggest to check out the Zoom unit with your amp (in store) before purchase.

After you dink around with the Zoom 505 for a while it becomes quite easy to use. Its just those first couple of days that it is confusing. If you are a nit-picky person and want sounds perfect than this can take a little time in editing the patches to get the precise sound. If you are just jamming around, its great. The manual could use some help. I think that is kinda why it is confusing at first (cause the manual is too). Overall, it is a quite handy and fairly easy to use.

Some of the factory preset settings are a bit noisy and none of them are perfect at first but a little time in tweaking them out usually solves that. All the effects are pretty good except the metal distortion. It just doesn't really deliver that "metallica" punch that you think it'd give. Putting more mid's and low's does help, but I still haven't found a good setting for pure Metallica crunch. If you're after a more of a metal shredding pedal, this isn't the one for you. The zoom 505 really is a jack of all trades and master of none.

I've had the Zoom 505 for a couple of months and it is really great so far. It is quite small for a multi-effects pedal so it is very versitile. I bought it for just playing around on and practicing on because it had a lot of effects for a good price. After some experience I can say that it would do OK in a gig. Back up for individual effects (like wahwah and metal) is suggested. But for plain old garage band jamming, its a good deal.

I don't think I'd buy it again because so many other good pedal prices are coming down. The two things I really don't like about it are the Metal Distortion and the Auto-Wah. There just isn't anything like the real Wah-Wah (Jimi Hendrix Crybaby). I compared this with as many other multi-effects pedals as I could. It wasn't to expensive and to complicated and it wasn't to cheap and crappy either. I had really hoped it would have delay but it doesn't. I have recorded some stuff with it and it gets the job done. Its fine for me and if your too serious about music, than get something better. If you could care less about music, get something cheaper. Otherwise, its a good pedal to start your career on.

Very easy to set patches and use the machine. Easy to get fairly good sounds - but most of the factory presets are too extreme. I wish it had a little more parameter control in the decay and period of the delay section. Manual is skimpy but it's all there. I think the ZOOM folks made very clever use of the buttons and indicators that are on it.

Some effects are noisy - especially the acoustic sound. Most are pretty decent. You get what you pay for and this is a great value, but it may not be the right thing for professionals.I think the Zoom folks made very clever use of the buttons that are on it.

Everyone complains that it's made of plastic but then again I don't see any reports here of them failing. Too early to say.

Not much experience here. I sure wish they were on the WWW. I have one question in particular, in case anyone knows the answer... Again Does anyone know what the circuitry looks like at the control jack? I want to put a pedal on and suspect it may just be a potentiometer that's needed, but I do not wish to buy the pricey and over-light Zoom pedal.

I haven't had it that long, but I'm really pleased with it. It's a great value! They pack so much stuff into a little box. With some gentle handling I think it will be my only box for a long while. My only complaint would be that it really should have a few more foot switches to get through the banks more quickly - right now one has to reach doen to jump banks; the foot pedals only go up and down the patches. A little more control of the delay would be nice.

After using this for about 6 months (?) I feel obligated to give a final update on the 505. Many people complain that the distorsions are weak when soloing, I also found this to be true, until I sat down one day and played with it for about 2 hours. I now am of the opinion that the sounds (especially the distorsions) rival any good Boss pedal on the market. Infact, I prefer the 505 metal distorsion (with compression = 7) to the MT-2 metal zone by Boss. The other tones possible is almost limitless (well, remeber that it only costs $110). I find that the factory presets are pretty weak, but once you tweak them, look out!

Best bang for the buck, period.

This is a follow-up to my earlier review of the Zoom 505. I've recently added the FP01 Expression Pedal, and would like to post my experiences with it.
The first thing I noticed was that it is awfully light in weight. It's made out of plastic. The only problem I have had with it is that it is so light that it "walks" away from me sometimes. To solve this, I've put right in front of my mic stand (the kind with the tripod base).
While the lightness is fine for carrying it in my backpack (with the 505), I really wish it were made out of metal, with a heavy base. It doesn't have the feel of my Dunlop Cry Baby Wah-Wah, but certainly is usable. The lightness causes me to have to hang my entire foot over the pedal; I cannot keep the heel of the foot on the ground (as with the Cry Baby). This makes it a little tiring (especially when standing while playing).
The pedal is definitely useful for me, as I switch from rhythm to lead breaks with the band, and need to adjust the volume a little. I need the leads to jump out, in front of the band, and then kill the volume a little when it's over. I had been messing with the volume knobs on the guitar, but it was a little difficult. The FP01 makes that a lot easier. I can also do pedal wah-wah with it (although I don't use it much). I use it as a volume pedal for the most part.
By the way, a stereo patch cord is used to hook it to the Expression Pedal jack on the 505. There is a stereo plug on each end. The FP01 also comes with regular in/out jacks for use as a regular volume pedal (with any signal chain).

The nice thing about the FP01 is that is controls the volume after the distortion section, before the modulation and reverb/delay section. So as I turn down the volume with the pedal, the distortion remains strong, but the guitar fades back into the reverb. Very nice and professional, similar to how recording studios would fade it. When turning down the knob on the guitar, it would kill some of the distortion as well as the volume. So now it kind of fades off into the distance. Also, if I turn the pedal down the whole way quickly, it still reverberates -- it doesn't just cut if all off suddenly.
It can also be used normally, as a thru-volume pedal, although I cannot imagine anyone using it this way with the 505 or 1010. I cannot comment on the sound quality of using it this way.
It can also be used for shifting pitches, but I haven't tried it out yet. I don't use the harmony functions, but I'll probably cook a patch next time we run though "Ramblin' Man" (for the solo at the end). However, even then I'll preset the harmony interval.
The sound quality is not a problem; I've never had a problem yet with it scratching, sticking, or glitching.

I've been using it regularly for a couple months, with no problems. I'm using it almost continuously when I play, and haven't noticed anything wearing away. It's not too loose; it retains the setting no matter where I leave it. It uses a gear-and-pot system like most variable pedals, so I would imagine it will eventually wear out. It might actually last longer, since it is only a digital controller (scratchiness from the pedal itself will never be a problem).
As I said before, it's plastic. It's good enough, but I would have preferred metal with a heavy base.

No need to deal with Zoom yet!

This is a tough call.
I can only recommend using it if you're playing in a band, and need to control volume quickly and accurately. I think it's overpriced, considering how light it is. It has a tendency to "walk away" from me, but as I said before, I put it in front of the mic stand when playing out.
Those playing by themselves would have little need for it. I would also not buy it solely for the pedal wah, as the auto-wah is fine for most applications.
If it were made heavier, or priced at least a 1/3 less, I could easily recommend it. As it is now, I think it is way overpriced, and only of value to those using this live, in a band situation. However, it does provide a continuous control over dry/wet signal, since it fades out the signal before the reverb.
By the way, anyone with info on how to modify a Cry-Baby with a stereo plug to accomplish the same thing (I've heard rumors about this going around) -- please send me the details.
P.S. to Zoom: please improve the 505 tuner. I still have to use my old one for any real accuracy. The Zoom can't even tell which pitch I'm using half the time (let alone how close), and I'm using high-output humbuckers. How tough can this be?

At first its a little confusing...the manual could be better. With a little practice you can edit your own patches easily. One nice feature is you can always return to the factory settings by resetting the unit.

The effects seem a little noisy. Some hissing on flanger and chorus and the A-1 patch is way too loud. The original patches sound ok, but you will definitely want to tweek them. Sounds are fair to very good no GREAT ones. (the acoustic patch comes close)

Had it for four months with no problems. Get the A/C adapter...it eats up batterys in three hours.

I wouldnt buy it again...I would save my money for better sounding effects. I love the multiple effects and small package. I hate the fact you dont have a knob for volume control. Its sounds like what I paid for.A lot of Fair effects at a cheap price. Dont buy it for pro-use. OK for fun and practice.

I've had the 505 for about two months now and I find it pretty easy to use. At first it was a little confusing. The manual is not very good but if you play around with it you'll get the drift.Editing is preety easy within it's limitations. But for 170 Bucks Canadian how can I complain??

It's a little noisy but that's not a big deal. The Wah is not a Dunlop but it's not bad for a multi effects unit..again especially for the price. The distortions are ...well..some good...some bad... the Overdrive and Blues are pretty good. The metal stuff is terrible..but I don't lke that stuff anyway so for me it's OK. One problem is that it does change the sound of my gear a bit. I have a Strat Lone Star and a 160 watt Fender Stage 112SE. I lose a little of that classic Fender sound. However, some very ,very patient tweeking has helped.You'll need patience. You can get your sound but you have to play with it!!

So far so good.. I don't gig any more so I won't be jumping on it!!

Again.. don't know.. its works fine after two months

Yeah.. for the price it's great. I looked at at DOD FX7 which is a better unit but not as good a deal.It's nice and versatile for a home player like me...good for jamming too. If anyone has some good Blues settings please Email me.

very easy to use; effects in 6 batches of 4; only problem is transferring between 2 effects; unless they are adjacent in the batch, you have to skip through the other effects or reprogram the effects; programming effects is easy; based on level of effect; also, small size makes transportation easier (6" X 9" X 2") built in tuner very handy

most preprogrammed effects are interesting but not very practical; distortion types are excellent in sound;

if handled correctly, probably fine; only had it for a month; so far no problems; warrentee included

it is definitely worth it; easy to use, cool sounds, pretty cheap, small in size; its a good deal

Manual is more than what you normally get.. It is a large foldout, so unless you xerox each section as a single page, its best to just tape it up on a wall.. Editing patches is pretty easy if you don't know what sound you're looking for and just want to experiment... to find a particular sound then you need to know the components of the sound.

It can be noisy... The initial turn-on setting of A1 is the loudest sound that it makes and it sucks to turn it on and get a bunch of feedback..It can be easily solved by changing the patch, I've just been lazy.. The effects are good for the money..I wanted an experimental pedal that would not require a big outlay of cash and this is it.. For a great sound, i would get a specialty pedal. Acoustic patch is great tho!

Im not a live guitarist, so I cant answer truthfully...But I have to say it works great in a controlled setting...Looks a little flimsy being plastic and all...But I would trust a Boss over this...

I bought the FP-02 Volume/Wah pedal and the manual really sucked... I tried to find the company and it took a while to find a US number for them and that number never answered (no answering machine either). Also the Internet doesnt have much in way of support either.. Zoom doesnt make it easy to find em....

Definitely would buy it again.. I bought because of the price and the fact that it will let me experiment with a bunch of effects cheaply. This is definitely the "Jack of all trades, master of none (except maybe acoustic)" pedal! I dont know how much I'd like it as a performance pedal, but for me it's the greatest thing out there.. An aside: if anyone has any good patches or good websites - E-mail me!

To change effects you have to scroll through the damn thing(unless you buy a foot switch)And it is hard to find good settings.

It's not noisy but most of the effects are really cheesy.They sound like a fucking computer or something.

It would break in a half a second.

If your in a band don't even consider wasting your money. If your not in aband it's still a waste of money. DON'T BUY IT!!!!