Zoom 1010

Good sounds right out of the box, although you should edit patches to match your set-up. About the editing: I think this thing is easier than a Line 6 POD to edit, pretty self explanatory. The manual(downloadable on the Samson website in PDF) helps for descriptions of the sounds of the preset patches which can help you get closer to programming your own presets.

I've used this with a crappy Crate practice amp, a Fender Princeton Chorus, Line 6 Flextone series amps and just about every kind of guitar you can think about (Parkers, Gibsons, Strats, Danelectros, Ricks, you name it)with great results. Some effects patches can be noisy, but just edit in more "Zoom Noise Reduction" and it can tone the noise down a bit. I came up with all my own patches and it was easy to get good Pink Floyd delays, The Edge type effects, great Sex Pistols guitar tone, 311 harmonic distortions, Jesus and Mary Chain reverbs, cleaner than clean sounds, the works, just dial it in and don't be afraid to use the EQ.

Ive had my unit since it came out new in 1995 and only just recently bought a back-up (a fraction of the price I bought it new,about $45-$70) on eBay due to a sticky bank pedal. This thing is just plastic, but I use to use this thing in garages, barns, dank practice rooms, bars, on the grass. I would say as long as you dont step on the cable when it's plugged into the jack, your pretty good.

Never dealt with customer service and it's probably no longer around dealing with this ancient pedal. I found that it is pretty easy to take the unit apart yourself to see if there is any major problems with the pedal mechanisms or the contacts.

If you want a decent pedal for cheap that you can get most of the sounds that a POD has, this is it. It's not flashy but is highly effective in getting sounds you want with little hassle. This thing definately inspired me when I first started playing guitar, I spent hours editing the patches to match up to some of my favorite bands' sounds with great success. If someone stole this from me I know for a fact I would get a used one off ebay in an instant (good thing I have all my own presets written down in a notebook). I have never had any problems putting any other effects pedals in the chain with this pedal. I end up putting a distortion pedal first before the Zoom if I want a little more bite for solos. Ive used just about every effect pedal with this (MXR, Boss, Dano, ProCo, Big Muff, Korg, Dunlop, etc.)in any order going in or out of the Zoom with little or no noise problems. The only thing I wish it had was a built in expression pedal/volume pedal. If youve just started playing guitar this thing will surely get you inspired to learn and is a good stepping stone for learning the ins and outs of basic guitar signal chain and simple editing.

If you ever played a video game,useing and programing the 1010 is pretty simple if you dont have a manual,but with a simple search on google will find it.

I've owned this pedal longer then a decade and played it through amps ranging from a Gorilla 50watt to an old sears tube amp,to a Fender Princeton,and guitars ranging from les pauls to teles to the wacky "dont impale your singer" 80s guitars,and even an acoustic.sometimes it can be too loud depending on the amp or how hot your pickups are,but you can turn the pedals output volume down.however when you change to a different patch the volume resets.12 user patches isnt a lot,but if i recall it was the first multieffects pedal that cost under 2 bills,and it sounds better then the 505/505II

It went through a flood,and the buttons stopped working...fast forward a couple of years and a "nothing to lose" attitude,i fixed it with some good contact spray,the buttons inside had rusted,but it works just like when i got it.

For the price when it came out,it was an awesome value,guitar center didnt exist and a stompbox cost around 150 at your local guitar store.its served me well,fits in a gigbag,sounds good,sounds great if you have an amp with some extra reverb or delay effects.these days there are a lot of better effects for 200 bucks,but if you can find a 1010,they are usually dirt cheap(15-30 bucks)and its a good complement to any set up,be it budget or full blown and you just want a new cheap toy. and if your starting out and cant afford the newest toy from Line 6 or Roland,Zoom doesnt kill your cash.

Preset sounds are straight forward, to program effects- I jest dunt like...know. It is rather difficult to keep them saved. The presets are pretty decent though. The manual I have was um, kinda dumb.. do this, step two, do that...now RAWK. This processor will do a whole lot but it is not well explained. I bought this back around 1997 and it has seriel # 052546.

There are probably 3 setting I absolutely love. There is a massive gain on (I think) bank B2 that is positively metal evil. Through my Randall I get a great Metallica sound (No Remorse). I like the chorus on B1 but it's a little muddy. I tend to switch between these two and clean. It has a tuner built in...nice feature for such an antique digipedal. I play what would be called metal/blues 70's style hard rock. I can get a good slap-back blues tone out of one of the settings but I consider this my waycrunchnumetalpedal and this is all I consider it good for. I play it through a Randall RG100 sc. I used to play it though a Peavey 212 classic and it sounded decent through it too.

I have not yet destroyed it. It has been a little tempermental. At an informal gig I decided to use it and it kinda freaked out on me and I had to wrestle it away from my rig and hook back up my analog kids ( obvious reference to Rush) I really haven't trusted it since live. I have recorded with it at home and it's been great for that.

huh?

playin 26 years, I love Rush, Police, King Crimson, Styx, Priest, all the great blues players,and the prog rock genere. My style/sound could be compared to Gary Moore, Winters, Lifeson and James Young ( I wish). I play with kind of a heavy hand/alternating pick and some people say.." yer playin too many notes an' too fast you bastert" I agree sometimes but it just gets me off to play that way. I probably would not buy another, just get a Boss metal zone or similar. I like the insane gain on B2 and the tuner, other than that it a 10" plastic thang takin' up space. I have to say for what it is capable of doing it was worth the money and I didn't have that much back then (1997). I have enjoyed recording with it where I can be right there on it controlling it.

It's very user friendly unit. I bought mine used without the manuel and I had it figured out even before I plugged in. 5 minutes and I got a decent metal sound. I've plugged it in My buddies Fender tibe Bass amp (don't remember the model) got a pretty good sound out of that.

When I was originally Bought it I had just switch from bass to guitar so I was playing it through a Crate 15 watt bass amp. Since the unit didn't come with a AC adapter I had to buy a universal so I think that is causing some humming coming from the unit. For the distortion I'd have to say it's decent for the price. The other Effects are not that convincing

Other than the humming it's held up pretty good.

never delt with them

I play metal to hardcore so it could be used for that.
I've been playing guitar for 10 years and bass for 14. If it were lost or stolen I'd say I wouldn't replace it.

this was my first pedal I bought it about 15 years ago and picked up all of its tricks straight away.

this pedal is perfect for all kinds of metal like industrial Gothic and
death metal. Great for heavy distortion

I have used it almost every day for about 15 years and have had nearly no trouble at all.

never had to use it.

I play most kinds of metal and use Washburn and ibanez guitars through
a torque pa system amplifier. I find this pedal better than a set of kronk distortion pedals

I traded a piece of glass for this unit. It can be a useful piece, given its limitations, provided that you read the manual (which is still available online) and make your own patches.

Patch editing is straightforward, and there are few limits on combinations. Having said this, it takes time (and a definite objective for your sound) in order to tweak the unit appropriately.

Bear in mind from the outset that this unit samples at 31.25 kHz, which is below CD-quality (44.1 kHz, the standard used in most better units). It is also 18- rather than 24-bit.

Given these specs and what I had read about the sound of it in these reviews, my initial expectations of this effects processor were low. But the chorus, flanger, reverb, and delay sound fine - I'm not sure if I could replace them all better with a series of stomp boxes.

I found it impossible to achieve any satisfactory setting on the wah and most of the eq and high gain distortion. The distortion circuitry is analog, which makes it nasty and best applied to the mid- to low- gain distortions.

The Zoom Player adequately livens up a Roland GH-450 amp, espacially if looped it. An ART Tubepac preamp helps to warm up the sound.

My only complaint is the bypass, which sucks some of the dynamic of out my guitars (a rebuilt, customized Fender E-Series Squier and a 2005 Toronado). This is most apparent and completely intolerable when I hook the Zoom up to a 1972 Super Reverb amp. To obtain a real bypass and really hear the guitar and amp hwne I need to, I use the Zoom on the non-reverb channel and switch directly into the reverb channel with a Morley A/B/Y box.

The piece is plastic, and the pedals will stick/break if pressed constantly. To avoid wearing out the cheap pedal that cycles through the banks, I use only six patches and duplicate the banks between a/c and b/d.

No dealings with the company or even any store with this one. If I upgrade, it will be to a Boss ME-30 or ME-50.

This pedal suits the purposes of my practice and small gig rig. For beginners or those with limited amps, it is useful for experimentation purposes. It is hard to lose, as they now cost only about $20-30 on E-Bay.

Very easy and straghtforward editing. I Bought mine when they first came out in the mid 90s and lost the manual shortly after-but it's pretty intuative

I seem to be the only one on this board that feels this way, but I love this thing-when they discontinued them about 5 years ago I actually bought a second one to keep in the closet. The secret is to completely ignore the presets-just start each patch from scratch with a clean sound and gradually add stuff. I get a great "Crossroads" era Clapton and also early Jimmy Page sound (Distortion #2) It does a real nice RockaBilly Slap and a rich Andy Summers chorus. I bought this to replace my Boss pedals-I thought I would only use it occasionally when I needed the convenience - now I really feel limited when I pull out the pedals

I've used it ealmost every night for about ten years now. Every few years I starts acting up - I've learned to open it up and look for cracked solder- just take a soldering iron and re-melt them. It's as good as new for another couple of years

Never did

I've been playing in and around NYC for full time for about 25 years.
Jazz, Country, Rock and Blues-sessions, clubs. One problem with the 1010 is it's not really quiet enough for pro-recording. Live it's not noticable, but in the studio it sometimes picks up some wierd digital noises. I've tried to keep up with other stuff out there-Pod, Korg AX1, Pandora - Digitec-most of them have some good sounds (the exception was the Boss ME3-useless!) I recently picked up the Zoom G2.1U-it's real studio quiet, but distortion is not as authentic as the 1010.(maybe I'll break out the old Boss OD 1 to use with it) With all of these effects-don't just buy them plug em in and think they'll make you sound great. First try to hear the sound you want in your mind's ear, then attempt to create it with the effect.

Gumby, Gumby, Gumby. I know these aren't meant to be high dollar items with the same level or quality or sound. Just a basic stomp on the buttons approach. Very cheap plastic feel.

Noisy lame sounds that you'd find on an vintage video game. Lousy sounds/patches, sucks the life outta any amp.

Wouldnt expect much with the cheapo plastic

Never had to use. Junked the pedal before this happened (took it back to the store)

Save your dough and the headaches, just buy a couple of good pedals you'll be way ahead of the game

Quite straightforward for a multi box.

SG Gibsons, Carvin Belair amp. Make no mistake, even for a budget box this is really quite awful. I bought it as an emergency back-up for gig's, but can't bring myself to use it, so it's only being used as a spare tuner. It is noisey, and seems to suck the tone out of my guitars. The preset sounds are appalling, and even after hours I couldn't get a effect out of it I was happy with.

Hard to rate as I haven't used it much, but it is a solid unit, and other people I know with Zoom products have had no problems.

Never dealt with them.

As I've said, this is awful. I use a Line6 Crunchtone and a DOD Icebox, both of which put this to shame.

Fairly easy to use. Patches can be edited quickly. You just can't edit
in real tone or decent sustain...doh!
No delay w/reverb, but you can have reverb with a Doubling(short delay).

P90 pups/vintage tube amps and 70's SS Peavey Pacer.
The distortions are weak so shut that off. Well, maybe leave on and reduce the gain to preserve some tone and use more of the amps gain.

Tone sucker. Sustain sucker.

Use a tube pedal w/SS amp or lower the Patch level w/valve amps. You spend most of your editing on trying to get the tone back after adding effect.

If your ear is used to tubes and quality aftermarket pups you have no business trying this piece.

If it would fail I could toss it, doh.

Playing for decades. I just went ahead and bought it in '97 after trying it at a pawn shop. Never tried a multi-effects unit 'til that day, "you live, you learn". I thought I'd be able to edit things a bit calmer when I got it home. Calmer exposed the lack of tone and sustain.

Boy if somebody would build a programmable analog multi-effects unit.

I won't replace it if you come steal it.

This takes a little work to get used to modifying the sound, but once you know the trick, it's pretty simple. The instructions weren't very good, but it's not hard to figure out when you play with it. One confusing thing was all the options that don't work on it, unless you have the extra bits that attach to it, like optional wah pedals, etc. Without them, obviously, not all the functions work. There are quite a lot of options, and sounds, but it also works well if you have dedicated pedals, and you need some of the simpler effects to go with it. Mine is old, used, but in good condition, and well taken care of.

I play a crappy kramer beginner, a Dean Evo that i've done some upgrades too (my main axe for now) and a really nice Oscar Schmidt semi-hollow that is awesome, but not my style, and I'll be selling. They all work well, and the pedal served its purpose. It is extremely useful, and a good quality pedal. It isn't really noisy, but it takes a LOT of fiddling to get the sound you want. The preset volume often needs to be tweaked depending on what you're looking for. I have played this through lots of things. I've played through a cheap 10 watt kramer practice amp, a peavy rage 158, my personal PA system that serves as a big amp, and through a Mackie professional set up at my youth group, and on several trips with the youth group. It sounds good on all of them, even makes the crappy practice amps sound better, but it is not easy to modify the sound you have on a patch, unlike a dedicated pedal that has knobs on it. Basically I make all the available presets into any/every sound I think I might potentially need, and hope for the best, and that works pretty well: Distortion, delayed distortion, wah-effect (not so good) clean, clean delay, and mixtures of the above. I like green day, goldfinger, blink 182, brand new, the strokes, the used, alkaline trio, and such, and I can get the sound I want, but it's not easy, and I can't always use the same patch for the same thing, so sometimes I have to mess with the amp, or guitar controls. One AWESOME feature is the built in tuner: whatever patch you're on, hit the button for that patch again (as though reselecting it) and the tuner comes on, and the patch goes off, so it's just a clean sound. These days, I use a behringer OD100 overdrive/distortion pedal, and run it through the 1010, into the amp. The 1010 is mainly for tuning right now, as well as delay when I need it. I did manage to model an acoustic sounding patch, which was cool.

It is very reliable, I've had no problems, if anything gets funky, or you don't have time to scroll through all the patches to get back to the one you need, just unplugg it, re-plugg, and it's reset. It is mainly used AS a back-up, just in case I need to use one of the distortion presets, but mainly I use my behringer pedal for that. I do gig with it, almost every sunday at youth group, and it's been on two youth retreats stuffed under a bus in a backpack, with no negative consequences.

Never dealt with them, I got it used, and it had been owned for a long time, so I don't plan on contacting them.

I play punk rock, heavy(ish) rock, and clean stuff. I've been playing for about 3 years now, and I like this pedal, it was my first, and definately worth it. I think it's cool how many presets there are, but it's a little difficult to use sometimes, but that is in part because I don't understand all the terms that are used on it (things like "time", "rate", "ZNR", etc.)I would get something else if it was stolen, but that would suck, cuz it would mean getting dedicated tuners and delay pedals. It definately makes making music easier for me.

Same as most multi effects units, and not much to edit anyway.

Utter shit.
There is no reason why anyone would ever pay money for this.
Crap crap crap. Distortions utter bollocks, and the modulation stuff is so limited that it doesnt make the 1010 worth a tenner.
Very very noisy, and this was when zoom noise reduction was even worse than their more recent efforts. Either a very noisy sound with no NR or a horrible constipated no-attack-no-sustain sound.
bypass sound is hopeless.
only possible use is for a novelty nasty fucked up sound say with fuzz and flanger, but you'd need an effects loop cos the bypass sound is unusable.

Mine hasn't broken, but then i've hardly used it because it's crap.
It won't fall apart, though the amount of noise suggests it's got dusty inside very easily!
But then when you can only rely on it produce a shit sound all the time then what does it matter?

I think SOUND is a fairly important consideration in the creation of music.
This sounds rubbish.
Buy something else.

Rant over - Ahhh feel much better now:)

http://www.add9.co.uk

I have had mine for a little over 10 years now and I love it. Learning curve was easy, after a couple of hours I put the manual away and never used it since.

I agree with most that the distortion and amp sims suck. I can get some good distortion when I combine it with the distortion on my Crate GX-60 but for the most part I use a seperate pedal. An effects loop is essential to eliminate the noise and level the volume. The optional pedal is a huge plus. Wha is ok but the volume control is excellent. I play a Fender Ash Strat and the compresion works great with it. Delay, reverb and modulation are very useful.

I have played MANY gigs with it used it for both electric and electric acoustic gigs with no problems. I have run it through the board on it's own for recording and have never had it fail on me.

Never had to call on them ! Never a problem.

I play everything from folk/country to thrash and jazz and use it for all. If set up right and tweeked it is a good box for tweeking acoustic sound into a board as well.I have been playing for....40 (!!!!) years now and it is as reliable as any effect I have ever used or seen. I would definately get another if lost or stolen. I love the fact that it is so easy to program. I hate that you can't go back to a patch but have to scroll up to change patches. I have compared it to many other single and multi effect. Except for distortion it workes just fine for me. And at the price it is amazing.

Muy facil de usar. Buenos sonidos, simple layout. Viene con 30 presets (algunos estan buenos, otros directamente malos) y tiene 12 patches para grabar tus propios efectos personalizados. El manual es facil de leer, y en realidad uno aprende usandola, probando, metiendo la pata y modulando sus propios sonidos. Ahora consegui una Korg AX10G que es mas versatil y tiene mejores sonidos q la 1010.

La uso con un equipo Peavey Bandit 112, Jackson JSX94, Epiphone Noel Gallargher Supernova, Gibson Explorer y la verdad q andubo muy bien. Buenos efectos de modulacion, al igual q el ecualizador, noise supressor y compresor. Lo unico q no me convencieron fuerona las distorsiones, a las cuales me costo agarrarle la mano, ya q estan seteadas para un tipo de sonido mas crudo al q yo buscaba. Otra desventaja es el hecho de q la velocidad de repeticion del delay no era muy ampli, y ciertos temas de u2 q queria tocar, por el tempo no llegaba. En general, muy buen sonido limpio, mas los efectos de modulacion. Creo q nunca use el efecto doubling, y algunas distorsiones son muy sinteticas.

Use la pedalera en alrededor de 10 shows en vivo, nunca me defraudo. Lo q si vi, es q sus pedales, sobre todo el tone bank, el de mas a la izquierda, fue severamente da?ado, a tal extremo en q tiene muchos arreglos caseros realizados. Tuve q cambiarle los jacks de input y output, pero eso es mas q todo el gran uso q le di. La carcasa es plastica, por lo cual es menos duradera que una metalica, pero eso es otra historia.

nunca hable

En general es un lindo equipo para principiantes, o como parte de un seteo mayor. La utilize junto con un jimi hendrix wah wah de jim dunlop, con noise gates, digital delays y etc, siempre respondio bien. La use tambien un par de veces como efecto para voces, teclados y bajo, siempre respondio en optimas condiciones. Es un equipo simple, para autodidactas, ofrece modelar tu sonido mejor q algunos pedales por separado, pero si queres un sonido profesional, comprar otras pedaleras o pedales separados. la verdad q el bichito me gusto

A bit of touch-and-go really. There are absolutely no surprises. I could do this in my sleep.

I've been using this with different amps for seven years and I've found that other than the distortions, which are admittedly a little weak, it sounds better than anything I've ever plugged in to.

I play a lot of goth/alternative and the chorus and delays are just too sweet to leave out. K, The distortions are still weak but will do just fine live. The equalizer is the only thing I never use. Total BS. But then again, noise is good!

You can get just about anything out of this one. As long as your amp does the crunching.

Except for all the plastic that has to be caressed gently I've never had any problems with this unit.

And since I can't afford a backup... I bloody well have to rely on it!

It's second-hand.

OMFG! I really love this pound of plastic! It gives me just about everything I've ever wanted.

It's usually complemented by a 20 yr old yamaha distortion and has gone straight in the board this way dozens of times. Else, I use a H&K 60W combo and they sound great together. I think I've sucked up every single drop of reverb out there...

Ohh man this is such a good pedal I just can't handle it. The manual is really easy to use, and after about 20 minutes, you don't need it at all.

I use it with a schecter guitar, and a crate amp, and it sounds great. It has many different choises of sound to choose from, with almost everything from jazz to heavy rock. The distortion is ok, but a bit fuzzy at times, but other than that it is flawless.

Yes of course I can depend on it, it is the only pedal for the low price and high quality out there.

I bought it off of ebay, so I didnt deal with the company.

I play rock, and it is a great pedal for this style.
I have been playing for about a year and a half.
I would buy another if I lost it.
I like the sound, and the set up of it. I don't like how some of the distorion is fuzzy.
I haven't compaired it to other products.
It has every thing I need.
It helps tremendously when you play.

very straight ahead design, ez ez. You have all you need for rock'n'roll and even more.
I like when you are in edit mode: you then can use the footswitches as pedals, it is absolutely convenient on stage. Of course you have to program the unit accordingly.
The chromatic tuner is very welcome, as is the reduced timelag when changing patches.
What I do miss is a master volume, I take care of that with a controller pedal (there is a jack for it, great since it works before the delay or reverb block so you keep the tails of them when violoning for example).

First, I only use it straight in the power amp of my 112 combo. So it is not colored by the preamp of this.
I find the compressor fantastic, you can finely tune it, and it comes juicy as I like for funky stuff. Warm sounding.
The chorus is the best I've come across in such devices, very warm while definite, hats off zoom.
The eq is very useable, as are delay and reverbs.
Now now now... THe distortions!
First, the amp sim setting of each one is crap period so don't use it.
You have 8 types which covers a lot of stuff but only 3 of them are to my taste, which is enough for most stuff indeed.
Solid tight rock rythmic thing, lush delay solo lead, maybe a bit of crunch blues, all comes honestly (provided you play properly because crap in equals crap out but worse)

Very reliable, 10years old and no sign of premature death...The same for all their stuff except newest.

I come back to this unit very often, because it is usable on stage without having to play the engineer. Pods and alike are a real nightmare live. And don't sound that much better in the configuration I use the little zoom. Not to mention the fabulous chorus and compressor.
So why spend time, nerves and money when this little one does it?
An audience won't make a difference, as long as the player does well.
And this is it.
This thing spared me settings nightmares, and I can play jazz, funk, old rock to heavy stuff with it so for me it is a blessing.

I've had this unit for roughly 10 years, so it's hard to remember what the learning curve was like. All I know is I can program it w/ my eyes closed, very easy to use.

I've never used any of the amp or distortion modelers, they're pretty cheesy. I've always thought that the modulation & delay effects were pretty good quality, though there's the dreaded "drop out" delay when switching between patches. I got around this by running it through an effects loop which I could bypass. So, I'd only change patches while the loop wasn't engaged.

Like I said above, I've had it for 10+ yrs & have easily played 200 shows with it & never once had a reliability problem. Very durable.

N/A

I have to admit, it's got sentimental value to me & I still use it at home sometimes. If you have a bypassable effects loop, give it a try (I've seen them preety cheap on ebay).

Easy enough. After a few days you'll put away the manual. It's easy to stack a few sounds into a single patch and the navigation is simple.

Let's be honest, this is a budget unit. To begin with the unit is a little noisy and it does affect the direct sound of your guitar a bit but some effects are quite useful. The delay and chorus are average. There is a decent range of parimeters on the chorus but the delay is a little too short for my taste. Still it's long enough to be usable. These aren't stellar sounds but good enough for stage work. The reverbs are fairly good here with enough range to satisfy most, especially the smaller halls. Any digital reverb beats spring for me. The real winner here has to be the EQ. I can easily program a third channel by programming a scooped setting against the midrange settings on the amp, along with any effects. Another good feature is the mute which is easily engauged by tapping a program twice - once for bypass, but it's not true bypass. This unit also has a guitar tuner that actually works, but it's slow. Best bring along a dedicated tuner. On the down side are the destortions - god awful, totally unusable. I'm currently using a Charvel strat through a Tech 21 Trademark amp and use the 1010 mainly for the delay, EQ, and reverb. The sound is quite good for live performance of heavy rock and blues.

The Zoom 1010 has been in service with me since 97 with no problems. It's as well built as most hard plastic units but I am careful with it all the same. I carry an old digitech delay as a backup as delay for me is the must have. I've never needed it however.

Never needed them.

This unit currently serves it's purpose well, that being to give me a usable all in one unit for basic effects in a small package. The time based sounds are moderately good, it's reliable, the switching is quite, and the reverbs, delay and EQ are good enough for most types of music. The chorus is good for most situations (but my EH Clone Theory smokes it) and all of the effects sound well enough stacked together in a single program. Avoid the destortions at all cost. Bottom line is that the 1010 keeps my peddle board tidy and it works on stage. This is a bang for the buck product. IF you want prestine hi-fi effects this thang ain't Lexicon. Now if I could only find a product this size with the same features but higher end sounds I'd be set. Wish it ran on batteries.....

Not too bad as far as setting up. The manual is helpful to get you started on editing the patches and tweaking the sound, but it's pretty easy and you won't need it after awhile. Have fun trying to get a good sound out of it though!

Crap. My main gripe is that the distortion effects are weak. I play a lot of metal and these are just sad. You just can't get a good sound out of them. The factory presets are pretty much useless. Some of them might be promising if you could edit and store them. I guarantee if you get this you'll be hanging around the user presets area, of which there are only 12!!

I've had this since 1998, and started out using it on an old USA made Peavey Predator with a Peavey Audition 110 combo. I was expecting more than what I paid for, I guess. The Pred only had a single coil at the bridge, and at the time, the 1010 distortion sounded better than the built-in on the Peavey combo. However, I found that when I put a humbucker in, the Peavey distortion sounded GOOD and the Zoom sounded awful. Since then, LP's and DeArmond have been played thru it, and it is just cheesy. If you have a cheap Strat-style SSS axe and a crappy combo amp, this may be worth a few bucks to you. Like maybe 10-20 bucks. Otherwise, steer clear.

Sadly enough, I've used it more for vocal effects (!) lately. Wrong I know, but you musicians out there making minimum wage know what I'm talking about when it comes to scraping by with equipment. I was just beginning to think that all of these cheap multi-effects pedals were junk until I heard a buddy's DigiTech RP100 and I was blown away!! Now THAT'S what this Zoom should sound like. If you're looking to try out multi-pedals, I'd start there.

Put it this way, it hasn't broken yet. I've been pretty careful with it, but it has been hauled around a lot and it's still in one piece. However I can see how it could get damaged if it were thrown around too much. And I'll agree that it doesn't have the construction that matches some of my other stompboxes.

I will say whoever designed the wall adapter for it should be severely beaten. The prongs are on the same side as where the wire enters it, so if you plug it in the top of the receptacle, you block the bottom, but if you plug it in the bottom, the stupid wire is in your way and gets bent severely to allow another plug to be inserted above it. Stupid. I know a buddy who had his Zoom crap out on him because the wire broke in the adapter at this stress point.

I wouldn't gig with this if only for the reason that the bank/bypass switches are really touchy. They are in the DigiTechs also unfortunately. I once used this live where I bypassed between clean and the effect and effed it up every time in the song because the pedal was too touchy.

So an 8 might be too high a rating but it gets that since it hasn't broken. Yet.

Never had to deal with them.

I play different genres, but a lot of distortion-based stuff. So this thing may as well go out the window. I've been playing for 12 years, but don't have a lot of gear because I am poor :( I will soon be owning a DigiTech pedal when I can get the money together. The fact I hate this Zoom yet I've stuck with it since '98 is just sad. If it were stolen, I'd laugh at whoever got it. I lent it to a friend for awhile and he gave it back without me even asking for it! That tells you something.

I like it because it's pretty easy to tweak and the noise reduction is good. Generally easy to set-up and is reliable, but trying to get a good sound from it is like polishing a turd. Wish I would have done more comparision at the time, but it looked good in print! Definitely going with DigiTech in the future, at least this time I've heard it firsthand and know what I'm getting. If you already don't like DT's effects, then stay away from Zoom.

It's quite easy to use when you're getting used to the parm / module buttons. easy to save and all, it took me about 3 days to figure out how everything was working.

I give it 8 'cause I mainly use it as an effect processor to play with my mixing console, yes the distortions are really crappy if you play with an amp and any amp distortion will probably sounds better, but as I said, I use it with a mixer and it kind of sounds good with the 'amp sim' on.

I sometimes use it for gigs but I would tell you not to do that because I broke one of the little pedals in the 'heat' of a show...since it's plastic you have to treat it well...

I have no opinion for I never needed help for it, nor did I get it repaired even if there's this little piece broken (I opened it and just glued it)

I'm playing experimental / noise music and...well it fits my style 'cause there's lot of fucking weird effects that most people don't use but I do...

It's pretty easy to edit and save once you get the hang of it, but the presets are mostly unusable and I'm more a knob tweaker than an "edit"er.

I just took mine out from years in the mothballs. I was surprised at how nice the reverb and chorus sounds are. The distortions are horrible, but if you don't use distortion, this is fine for amateur use. Too noisy for anything more.

Mine has never given me a problem. It is plastic, so I treat it gingerly.

Haven't dealt with them, but they have an OK web site with downloadable manuals.

I would never pay what I did when I got it new, but if you are looking for a cheap effects package and don't use distortion, these are available cheap on eBay and elsewhere. I have the pedal attachment too (set me back another ~$60 new way back when) and it is pretty well made--I use it as a volume pedal in my real rig. I've been playing for 30 years and use this at my country house. It gets some pretty sweet churchy sounds, but has a lot of cheesey sounds that you have to avoid. A good value if its strengths (mostly reverb and chorus) match what you want.

Pretty easy to use, but thats because there isn't much to it pretty much. Edit, store thats about it and moving between the different effects is pretty basic.

I use a ESP LTD MH-301 through a Marshall MG100HDFX Head
The distortions are very bad - dunno if i have ever used any of them.
I'm pretty happy with the distortion i get from my Marshall.
Chorus is pretty sweet - use that quite alot because it's easier to adjust than the chorus that comes with the marshall.
Same applies with the Flange.
Dely is ok and Doubling is not to crash hot.
Can't hear any compression at all.

Very reliable - had it for about 4 - 5 years - nothing has ever gone wrong with it.
I would never use it at a gig - so this is backup.

If it was stolen i wouldn't replace it - i pretty much use it as a tuner so i would just by a new tuner :)
I play mainly metal and stuff like that and i been playing for about 7 years. Doesn't really match my style, the sounds i like to play around with generally don't involve that many effects.
I love the chorus though.

is very easy to use. Almost you don't need a manual. If you need it, you can download it from the web

Good compression, superb chorus and flanger. Good hall, room and delay effects (only 420 ms?). The Wah is very siple and you need an extra foot pedal for use it. The EQ is acceptable.For my low tech setting I use this effect with a Ibanez auto-wah and this work fine.
My setting is very simple and I have an array of avalable sounds-
Gibson SG or fender Telecaster-->Ibanez Auto-wah-->Zoom 1010--->Fender Amp
Simulator amp distorsions: the simulator is good if you need a record on your house, but not for a gig. You have 12 user presets, if you play rock and roll, funk and alternative rock, is enough.
About the "normal" distorsions: all the distortions are very mid range oriented. You must be very careful about the setting. I find very usable the I mode (rhythm) if you need an extra bite on your distorted amp. The mode 5 (drive master) . This sound like the Boss DS-2 in turbo mode. All the others distortions- crap. But can you expected from a $200 multifx. Is enough!!!!!

I use it all the time, also in my room. Is all plastic. Be careful and you don't have any problem. Place the effect on a bag (Almost all the problems happen before the concert - not at stage!)

I don't needed. I had a problem with the left pedal. A good technician repaired it. Only 10 dollars and the efeect is like new

Good if you want the sound of this effect. Very simple to carry, you don't need extra bags or efeect for a decent sound. For this rang eprice, a winner

Pretty easy to use, i got it with out a manual and prety quickly made some what I thought at the time were cool sounds.

It comes with some good effects... the delay is cool and the reverb is ok. It has one or two distorions, but i find they all have horrible tone. Note, this little baby stops your guitar sounding like it should. I have a classic marshall mosfet wich sounds sooooo clean.... the pedal filters the sound of my clean sg and replaces it with a dull lifeless tone!

I have put my foot through three of the PLASTIC supported pedals. Bear in mind under those cheap bits of plastic is the "mother bord" for the thing. I then supported the wait using folded toilet paper. The jack have at one point or another all come lose from the board meaning i have had to resolder them back on.

Never bothered them. I fix things myself.

good starter pedal. if you are more serious get some more serious equipment!!