Zoom 505

Pretty easy to use. Instructions were a bit more confusing than helpful when I first got it but I was new to programming. All in all it's really easy to use and within ten minutes I was doing fine having ignored the instructions and mainly used them for reference such as effects explanations/defenitions.

I've used this pedal with several amps. Older Yamaha with twin 12's, single 12 w/50 watts and most often with a Crate solid state head and half, now full stack. The compression is quite satisfying in my opinion. The more compression you use the more it compensates by rasing the input level. Auto wah is a great but the pedal wah is really disapointing. Don't use the limiter but it does what it should. The Distortions tend to suck BUT not with all amps. I use it with whatever distortion and the gain on 1. My amp heads gain takes on the voice of whatever gain I choose even the FUZZ. THEY SOUND AWSOME!!! Some amps when used as meant they sound digital and really like shit. My Yamaha and old Crate they sounded great on. Not digital at all. The modulation effects give you ZERO parameter control but don't sound digital at all on my main rig or any rig I've used them on for that matter. The Flanger is what mainly leaves me craving parameter controls but I guess the Phaser really does make up for that and when both used compenstates for it. The pedal pitch bend is decent but also quite lacking giving you bend down or dual octave bend which is really useless FOR ANYONE. The amp simulation and Zoom Noise Reduction are absolutely great. While the EQ could have been set up for specific bands it still does very well. It is a very unique simple parametric EQ basically. The Delay and reverbs are actually exceptional but again lack parameter controls. The room reverb is great as is the hall. The delay can give you a short echo, ping pong in stereo or on the 1 setting the EXACT delay sound Kirk Hammet used to use. My only MAJOR gripe is the output level. It's set at +4 db for going straight into a
P.A., mixing board exc. for recording. Most ppl are using it straight into an amp and when doing so it delivers an annoying amount of white noise. not enough to ruin your sound but enough to annoy you especially at higher volume levels. Pisses me off the noise reduction gives you perfectly clean sound but the output level is that of Pro Audio gear when it shouldn't be. It should be -10 db for going straight to an amp. This with a few other minor drawbacks earn it a seven.

Bought mine online but my friend at Sam Ash was shown how to sell them. THEY STOOD ON THEM! The guy I know infact jumped up and down on it while standing on it!!! Plastic but it's very solid. I have had mine for 7 years and stood on it the other day for the hell of it. WORKS FINE. Been chewed up in my car, crushed under furniture....you name it it's been through it! Spilled soda and a number of other beverages on it. It's very reliable and if absolutely was a must I'd gig without a backup but otherwise NO WAY WITH ANYTHING!

Never dealt with them till recently for a battery cover. Never got back to them cuz I'm sure they'd wnat 5 bux for one plus shipping which would be ridiculous.

Overall its a great pedal. The effects don't give you parameter control but there is enough of a variation that you can get the sound you need for basically any cover song. The distortion seems to perform differently with different rigs but typically sounds very shitty cuz it sounds digital. Sounds great though the way I found to use it as mentioned above. The white noise is just unacceptable so if I get the 505 2 as planned I better check it out in the store first. All in all it's a great pedal and will save you a FORTUNE in single pedals or even if you build analog pedals yourself as I am now getting into.
Beginner or Pro this unit still has a lot to offer you. Anyone who can't manage to get the sound they need from it is quite simply gear incompitant. But hey thats 70% of musicians/guitarists out there!

I got this off a friend a while back, while at first i thought it was shit,we found the manual somewhere and actually fucked with the thing and belive me if you fuck with it enough you will get the effect you want.

All i can say is...transtube...i think the only reason people don't like it is because there output is anything but. This thing was built for it. Some of the fake harmonics and that fucking bassy sound are tacky but its all about settings,most people don't even bother spending time with it

doesn't look like anyone has gigged it, but actually i couldn't find mydod, so i took this on stage and it did the trick....although that was only for 2 effects, it survived but i switched to a bass pedal at intermission and suprisingly did better 0_0

nope

all in all i think this is neat to either have fun with, play when your heavy trippin,or you lost your pedal, but i don't glorify it,the bitch gets a six...

Ease of use? Very easy but the continuous button pressing is extremely anoying! Everything is straightforward on it as it is designed for beginners. The manual was pretty good but mine came in japanese and chinese not english and i purchased it in Australia. Weird.

Remember dont expect much from this box as it is designed for beginers who dont really have a trained ear. It is pure crap. I currently own a Fender roc pro 700 with a tube preamp and have been using it with a jackson ps4 whcih i just sold and am purchasing an ibanez rg1570 instead. i also use a boss mt2 which sounds crap going through the zoom as it is weakened and muddied by it. It is extremely noisy on any setting and the noise reduction thing just decreases sustain and clarity. All the effects are weak and thin with no quality in them what so ever. The distortions sound fuzzy and like a computer distortion while the cleans are muddy, unclear and thin. you cant get the sound of any artist through this thing. one thing. i have to admit that there is one effect that sounds half descent. its a distortion patch with delay. thats all and even that is only good through a tube amp and quality guitar. But anyway who needs all this extra digital crappy effects. jsut by 2 or 3 analog stomp boxes. Clean, distortion and any other preffered effect. Trust me its worth it. Dont buy. not even for beginers as they will eventually hear the pure crapness of the pedal.

OK this is its only strong point. Its made in Japan,is solid and the plastic is quite sturdy aswell.

never dealt with em

For all those idiots who rate this thing good your nuts. dont get me wrong it may sound good to you but if youve got ears it sucks. just my oppinion. Do not buy.

This thing is easy to use - when you are knowing how it works.
It has many functions, but you have to read the complete manual
to use it. 24 patches.

I am using it with a Rickenbacker 330 (copy) Jim Harley and
an old Rickenbacker TR 7 (solid state) amp.
Most programms are not useful. Some are good, some are crap.
Sound is sweeping from good to really bad.

I would not play a gig with it.

N/A

I bought it 6 or 7 years ago because this thing was the only thing
with a compressor I could get. I wanted to play Beatles and Byrds,
but the result isn't good.
If it was stolen I would buy something else.
But it's good for beginners to see what effects are possible on a guitar.
I don't like the plastic on it, and the thing, that it hasn't got an
on/off switch.
Mainly I only use it to play with headphones (my amps headphones-jack
works only together with the speaker, so I can't play quite only with headphones)

its relatively easy to use. 6 buttons. just read the manual, or be like me and mess around with it

being a multi-effect pedal, i wouldnt expect spectacular quality from any of the effects but for some reason this pedal sounds sweet on tube amps (all i have owned are tube amps (silvertone, carvin, etc). even as my taste has matured and i have learned good from bad effects, the zoom 505 was my main pedal for years.

well, its been dropped, kicked, stuffed in bags without padding, and even pissed directly onto by my dog and it still works fine (it always picks the most expensive item on the floor to relieve itself on..) . not too shabby for a plastic pedal

never really contacted them, so no comment

i play zeppelin, floyd, pumpkins, weezer, hendrix, and whatever else i deem good music. i think the distortions are the best features this pedal has to offer (when programmed with the equalizers and compressors also on the pedal)

i got this pedal in the 6th grade, along with a vintage silvertone amp (before i was really serious), and it was an excellent way to learn about all the effects out there. ive played it through numerous les paul and strat style guitars, and its sounds great on all of them... but much better through a tube amp. i cant stress that enough.

although i wouldnt suggest a seasoned player should buy this pedal, its great for beginners.

You need to use the manual quickly, which is very small. Once you do the unit is very easy to use. It's gets stuck in certain modes sometimes which can be a pain.

I am using this with an old Fender "The Twin" amp. For the price you pay for one of these nowadays, I don't think you can complain about the sound too much. The high gain settings sound kinda crappy, but I find the setting with a small amount of overdrive sound suprisingly good. I have gotten some nice clean tones out of it. Overall, I was able to get useable tones, and a ton of them, from a unti that cost me $25 CDN used. So you can't really knock that.

It seems flimsy when you pick it up, but it can take a beating. It eats batteries as others have mentioned. I picked up an adaptor that works with it for $12 though so no biggy.

bought it used.

I play a mix of Surf, Punk, Rock and Roll and Hard Rock in my band. For $25 I got a unit that allows me to switch to a clean "slapback" tone for surf, and give me a fairly nice overdrive. It lets me set up identical settings, but with a different volume for each one which is great for leads. Again, for the price you can pick one of these up for used I can't really knock it.

Easy

The distortion is really fake but the other effects sound good

This is why i am really posting this review. I have had this thing since they came out. I used it for home practice so i didnt have to lug all my gear home every day after practice. THIS THING IS ONE TOUGH SOB!!! The batteries went dead so we rigged up this power suply that started to smoke and the 505 was acting funny. I threw it on the band room floor and thats where it sat for 2 years. Last week our bastment flooded and the 505 was under 2ft. of water and mud for 3 days. After i cleaned it i put some batteries in it and the f#$k'n thing still worked.

its tough, Effect are ok, good deal for the money

Digital stuffand it is really for beginners who want to have a little fun....Hard to get a good sound out of it, patches are easy to get on the net and apply, but..............
Ehhh......cycling thru the banks to get to where you are going is a joke!

Neat at first...But no useable sounds ....EXCEPT a slightly modded and gated F3!
I use that to play several songs from Gilmour's Live 1984 gig in Bethlehem PA and I can get some pretty close stuff with that setting!
The rest I would erase and make those patches "OFF"!
"9" for the modded F3
"1" for the rest!

Still ticking and I don't bring this out until the very end!
LOL..........

Fugggedaboutit!

Read the above and there you go!
A one trick pony in my book, but it's a pretty good trick!

I love my zoomette... I've used so many peoples different amps that don't come anywhere near the sounds i get. Editing patches is easy... I have a load set up next to each other for songs where i need to switch between them, and i find it easy.

Most of the distortions are a bit poo.. The one i use 95% of the time is the basic overdrive. It gives me a nice thick ampy sound with the drive on about 20 with my not-a-les-paul, and with the drive on 1 or 2 with some treble boost and reverb, i get a nice twang that;ll crunch up when i hit it hard...

I go straight into a PA, or mixer for recording. I think maybe it prefers that kind of amp to a guitar amp, judging by other peoples' reviews. Give it a power amp and some nice speakers to play with, and it will love you...

My clean sound is often mistaken for acoustic... Loads of reverb and a bit of chorus, and i'm a happy bunny.

Touch would, its been fine so far.

I got it half price when they brought out the 707. Bargain. I recently got an expression pedal and am having loads of new fun with the pedal wah. I get sounds from metallica to GnR, to my own sound out of it with no problem at all...

El pedal es facil de usar, basta con experimentar unos 20 minutos, hasta cogerle el tiro.
El manual es de gran ayuda (yo tuve que bajarlo del site oficial de zoom), como compre el pedal usado, me lo entregaron sin manual.
Estimo que cualquier persona puede aprender a usar este pedal.

Los sonidos no son malos, pero tanpoco son excelentes. Digamos que son fantasticos para el precio que pagas (actualmente he visto en internet que lo venden a $45 bucks). Me gustan las distorsiones, si las seteas bien, puedes conseguir un sonido decente. Yo la he usado con una guitarra baratilla "primer" y con un amp BEHRINGER vintage.
He conseguido "imitar" el sonido de ciertas bandas, tales como deftones, nirvana, greenday, y aunque el sonido no es el mismo, suena muy bien. Los efectos son buenos, con excepcion del wah, me parece muy debil, y carece del "feeling" de un pedal wah analogico.

Lo he utilizado en varios lugares (con diferente acustica), la verdad, si tuviera suficiente dinero, compraria efectos independientes montados en un rack, pero invertiria casi 6 veces lo que me costo la zoom 505. No me quejo del sonido conseguido en presentaciones en vivo.

El pedal funciona muy bien, no se que cuidados habra tenido su anterior due?o, pero sigue funcionando conmigo. Al parecer los materiales empleados en su fabricacion, son de excelente calidad.

Yo toco musica grunge-punk. Las distorsiones son buenas para este estilo, no me quejo. Llevo tocando unos 3 a?os, antes tenia un pedal independiente de distorsion, pero deje de usarlo cuando consegui la zoom 505, debe estar botado en algun lugar de mi habitacion. Si se me perdiera, o se me da?ara la zoom 505, probablemente compraria la 606 con pedal de expresion, me parece muy atractiva (ademas, como que ya es hora de cambiar a la vieja 505).