Zoom 1010

Very easy...like everyone else said, no manual needed.

A lot better than some people have reported. I've had it for 6months and I've been VERY pleased. I've gotten some great sounds out of it. The Compresser and Wah settings add a good sound to the distortion. I've gotten a great "Rock & Roll" (Led Zep) sound using the wah. To the guy that said the auto-wah sucked...well, it doesn't have an auto-wah! The wah sounds great, though...but I haven't gotten the expression pedal yet. The effects are great! The distortion can be warm if you know how to use the thing. Sure, the metal and fuzz settings can be noisey, but isn't that what makes metal metal and fuzz fuzz? I've even gotten some Pink Floyd-ish sounds by mixing a slight flange with a nice distortion. My only complaint is the reverb. The room sounds too hollow, but the hall sounds too boomy. I like to mix my pedal with my amp's spring reverb. It sounds much better and more realistic. I play through a Fender Pro 185 with a Fender Strat-Squier that I modified myself. It sounds great...even with a band. I played with a 70's-style funk band and it mixed great. I used a slight flange on the clean channel and that brings my part out over the top of the bass, lead, drums, rhythm, keyboard, and brass. The chorus is better than some strictly chorus pedals that I've tried. I like the seamless changes, too.

Yes, very much. I've taken it on many gigs...with NO backup and it worked great!

Never needed it.

I would definately buy it again, unless I had a little more cash...then I'd go for a 3030 at least. I like the great quality with the small size. It's better than a friends Ibanez pedal of a similar make. I wish it had an auto-wah, phase-shifter, better tuner, and a midi output (like the 3030). I chose the 1010 because of reviews in Guitar magazine. It helps my music tremendously. The clean sound on my Pro-185 sounds harsh, like the distortion, but the pedal cleans that up and makes my guitar playing sound great! I'd recomend it for anyone...ameture to pro.

Damn easy to use. You don't even have to read the manual. Creating/editing is just a matter of pressing a few buttons (nothing to complicated). The manual is a bit small, but it has everything you need to know about the unit.

The clean effects are great. The distortion as oposed to what many people say isn't the bad. Of course if you listen to the preset distortion patches only a few sound good, but with a bit o editing you can get really good distortions, BUT don't expect them to sound better than genuine Tube distortions, they can be close but not equal or better. But if you play it trough a good amp you'll agree that it sounds just Great!

Well as you probably know it's plastic, but it seems to be a strong unit. The only thing that seems a bit fragile are those small pedals... This is no stomp box though so you should be carefull and be gentle with it or you can have a very sad surprise, wish isn't advisable during a gig (i guess that you understood that you shouldn't use it without a backup unless you're sure that nothing horrible will happen - yeah right).

Never delt with Zoom.

I would buy it again if i was on a tight budget, if not i would probably go for something better that the 1010. Overall it's a great unit and unless you are a pro it will probably suit all your needs (at least for sometime). If can help you make/improve songs and add's a hole new dimension to your playing.

Just hit the buttons to change settings, and just hit "edit" to change parameters and values. Very straightforward, unless you're retarded. Really dumb thing, though. You can't change the factory presets,( you only get 12 to change) and they sound really stupid. I never use them.

I guess the flanger is alright. Distortions REALLY suck. I mean, after messing around with it for 7 months, I still can't get any good distortion sounds. The chorus is almost useless because it's not stereo, the reverb is noisy, the "auto wah" isn't auto-anything. The noise reduction works good at least. Doubler is useless. Delay isn't long enough.

No problems here.

Never dealt with them.

I chose this without giving it a good listen. It seemed to have more stuff than say a Korg or a Digitech, but what a mistake that was. It sounds like crap. But it fits in my case good. Don't buy it. What a waste.

It's really easy to use. The manual is clear and concise. I'd give it a ten, but its just plain impossible to get a good sound out of this unit.

The distortions are just plain awful. At first I thought they were kind of cool, but then I went back to using the overdrive on my amp. I play through a Marshall Valstate and in my opinion no pedal can come close to the range and sound of the amp by itself. The clean effects are nice. The delay is good and the reverbs are pretty authentic sounding. The chorus and flanger were also pretty good. (But yet again I have been spoiled by my amp which has a built in stereo chorus). I would have to say that all of the effects are a bit sterile sounding, but maybe that's just my personal taste.

I have only had it for a week. It is plastic, but it seems solid enough. I don't know how much stomping it could take. But if you use at home mainly, like I do, it should hold just fine.

I haven't needed to call for anything yet.

I would not buy this unit again, in fact I am going to return it. It just isn't the effects system I am looking for. As I said before the Zoom's chorus and distortions do not measure up to my Marshall's existing effects. One thing I found particularly annoying was that when playing continously and switching between effects the signal would cut off for a moment. I also found the method of editing a bit irritating. I don't like pressing buttons when I am trying to get a good sound. I would not recommend this unit to those of us who prefer the warmness of analog. But for all of you who like digital, try it out.

I have played for 20 years and never have used effects before ecept a Morley Power- wah. This is the first time that I have really had a chance to try out a multi-effects unit and found it really easy to use as well as edit.

I found the flanger a little noisey, but I'm not sure what a flanger is supposed to sound like. The distortion effects are pretty good but you have to fool with the settings a bit tob get them the way you want. The noise reduction setting works good and so do the other effects.

I have only benn using this for a week but no probs so far

Its a good inexpensive effects unit, I'm really happy I bought it, I only wish It had more user settings.

It is really very easy to use. You don't even have to read the manual to deal with it (maybe that's why the manual is kind of ordinary). It is very simple to edit patches since you explored every sound the unit has for you. A little bit of effects sounds knowledge may help you in editing parameters

Effects like Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb and such clean sounds work very well and sound pretty good. Unfortunatelly, the distortions are very rough and seems like the volume is always low. When you play with someone with a tube-amp distortion, probably someone will ask you to stop playing because the 1010 distortions are really weak and sometimes it sounds just like noise and not a guitar. Also, when you set high gains, the sound gets dirty. Advice you to use the 1010 clean sounds and your amplifier distortion. I didn't tried the wah-wah.

Well, you'd better not depend on it if you have money to buy a better pedal, pre amp, rack or a good amplifier with distortion and reverb. I would use it on a gig because I don't have any other choice of effects. But it is very strong and you can step it hardly to change patches that it will not break. It seems like fragile but it definitely isn't.

I don't have any opinion about it because it never broke up (in 1 year and a half of use) and I never had to repair it or upgrade it. I hadn't to deal with the company yet.

Yes, I would buy it again because it is helpful in many ways to make music and achieve different sounds. The cost-benefit relationship is one of the best concerning multi-effects. I wish the distortion was more powerfull and an harmonizer would be certainly great for soloing, but that's OK. It's useless to say that it should have the twin pedals (just like the 4040): it would increase the price. And this unit is very small (you can put in on the bag or carry with one hand down the street - it fits anywhere). The 1010 is a good call but you have to hear it to take your own conclusions.

I thought that the processor was very easy to use. Tweaking sounds was simple due to the fact that each effect has individual parameters. It's like having five stompboxes.

I I'm not into high gain stuff, so I really liked the low gain settings on the overdrives. Setting the fuzz on a low gain revealed a great fluid sound that sounded like the guitar in The Doors "Five To One." The digital effecets and reverb were all great, although if the reverb settings are set to high it turns your sound into white noise.

Well, It is plastic. It would survive me because I'm very gentle on my equipment. I'm not sure how it would handle if it had to take abuse. I would use it on a gig, but I would place it away from the audience so they don't spill beer on it.

Never dealt with them

The effects are really good for a processor in it's price range. Another big plus is the ability to tweak every parameter. That's somthing you don't see on the Zoom 505, which I was also looking at. I would definately buy it again.

9 very easy to program

the Distortions are all terrible. If you work on them for hours they sound ok when you play by your self, but if you play with a band or with someone who plays through a different pedal it just doesn't hold up. I've played through it for a year and still can't get the distortions I want. Rythm with the metal T distortion lacks any crispness. If you play anything other than a root 5th power chord it turns to mud (Orion). All the clean effects however are great. I play everything through it clean now, I don't even bother with the distortion. If you want an all around pedal though buy one from digitech. I bought a RP-12 yesterday and it blows it away in every way. I would not use the 1010 on a gig unless I was playing all clean tone.

hasn't broken

It's hard to sell. Highest I've been offered is 65$ Phedias@aol.com if your interested.

I can't use it to play metal. To "fake" sounding for bluesy leads. Wouldn't buy it again.

I didn't even really have to read the instruction manual to program user effects on it. It's very easy and simple to get a specific type of sound out of it if you know anything about guitar effects.I'm only 15 and have been playing for 2 years and I probably won't buy a pedal to replace until it's broken.

Very good sound-you might have to adjust the znr(zoom noise reduction) level a little bit, but that's pretty easy to do.The effects sound great, but I still wish it had the extra pedals the 4040 has-the fp10 can control wah and volume and is pretty cheap, about 50 bucks.There are also plenty different kinds of all effects to choose from.

No part has failed me in the first year I've had it and it seems to be built pretty sturdily, while it also isn't heavy or a load to carry around.I would definitely use it without a backup.

I'd definitely buy it again, and over any other brand of pedal in the same price area.I might prefer a 4040, but not for another 200 bucks.I overall like everything about the pedal.

Talk about plug and play! This thing is easier than tying shoe laces. The buttons are a bit small, but then again, hey, who cares.....the manual is basic, but good enough to show you how to edit the patches, bypass the effects and mute the output for tuning - took about ten minutes before I was editing away with glee.......

I guess this all depends on what you're playing into it, and what your amp is, but with my 60's monstrosity (with "hotwired" single coiled pickups) played into a McGregor PA and H&H 2x12 cab it sounds brilliant. The distortions, flanger, chorus, delay are all superb. Maybe the delay would be better if it had a higher max setting. The compressor also really brought the most out of my guitars limited performance, and did the job well. Wah-wah? Well, it leaves a lot to be desired.....lets leave it at that........oh, and all the factory presets appear to be way too loud. The changes between patches are smooth and quiet.....ok, I'll agree with the others, there is a small delay between patches, but unless you're changing in mid note you'll never notice it. Found it pretty useful when using high gain distortions to get a very controllable feedback as well.....nice touch if you like that sort of thing.... One small niggle..... might take some time to change between user programmed effects unless you remember to put them in the memories in the order that you want you use them.

First impressions? Well, this thing is small!! It looks pretty fragile, but it's surprisingly strong - it's stood up to me using it and I'm well over 200 lbs. Never had a single problem with it. It's no stomp box, and if you use it like one then you might end up with an ex 1010, (monty python - this 1010 is no more....no, it's just sleeping)...treat it with just a little respect though and I wouldn't have thought there'd be any problems.....would I use it at a gig without a backup? Would anyone?? That'd be like suggesting you don't take along a few sets of spare strings......

No idea......never had the need to call them......

I'd buy it again if I was on a budget. For the price I'd say this is pretty unbeatable.....easy to get some very classy sounds out of it. People say you get what you pay for, but in this case I think you get a lot more than you pay for! Definitely check out http://www.harely.demon.co.uk/effects.htm and have a listen to the sound samples if you're even remotely interested in buying one. Really wish it had a phaser.....but that's not the end of the world.

Once you have a bit of a fiddle with it you can get the hang of editing patches and get a reasonable sound from it. The manual is fairly straight forward. As far as I know it can't be upgraded, as with most cheap pedalboards, but an FP01 expression pedal can be added.

Without noise reduction on, the distortions sound quite noisy when you aren't playing, especially on the higher gain types, like fuzz and metal T. The noise reduction works excellently. Overall the distortions are fairly good, but it is all very raw, and not warm like a valve amp. Chorus, flanger, delay and reverb are all great, but the delay length is only 420ms, which can be a little limiting. Compression is OK, not great. but OK.

The unit doesn't look very solid but it is surprisingly strong. I would use it live as it's all I've got and I'm not very rich. Once a little stone got stuck under one of the pedals which stopped it from moving but it was fairly easy to get out.

I bought it second hand but it was still under warranty. I never had to deal with the people so I don't know what they're like.

I would definantly buy it again as it has a whole bunch of good effects for the budding musician on a tight budget. It adds life to cheap equipment. It is small and light, yet solid. It could benifit from an auto-wah function, tremolo, and maybe a phaser but it was great for the money. It improves the sound of a cheap guitar like mine heaps,

excellent value, fairly easy to use

looks very rugged

I'd buy one again, but they are a budget unit. If I had more money...
There is a non commercial site related to this unit at http://www.harely.demon.co.uk/effects.htm, with sound samples

Quite easy! - Just plug and play, really, every beginner or guitarest on a budget should have one. And the patch editing is fairly fool proof compared to some of the higher priced competitive products I've tried.

Veriaty of effects is hard to beat in this size price and compact package.
Fairly quiet operation in almost all patches, unless your using "hotwired" single coiled pickups like an old Stratocaster,...But even then the built in noise gate/suppresor cuts most of it out between notes ,...besides, a few "fret squeeks, slides, and buzz's" adds a more real feel and tone to an otherwise too clean pre-packaged sound.
The only draw back is it is output is mono, where as I perfer sterio, But for plugging directly to normal mono guitar amp it is just fine. but in a recording situation I find mono a little confineing,.... However when I record with it I discovered if you plug it:
Guitar----Zoom.1010----(Sterio effects processor)----Mixer/Recorder (I use an - "ART*FXR")
It sounds really big and powerful.

I've had it for three munths and so far it's always worked perfect, even when just trowing it in the bag and lugging it from place to place, home to jam to gig to where ever and back again,....Yes I would use it most places without a back-up.

I have had no trouble with it yet. so I Don't have an opinion on this one.

Yes I would buy it again, I am sold on it, I've tried other brands, and even higher priced Zoom units as well, and it's sounds can't be beat for such a low price. - I've even talked two of my friends into trying mine,.. thay where so impressed with it, thay each now have one of thair own.

Very easy to use. I was programming my own patches in less than 15min after I took it out of the box.

Sounds really good! It certainly gives all the other more expensive models a run for their money! The distortions are by far the best sounds in the box. Combined with the compressor and eq it's possible to get a range of distorted sounds on just one type of distortion. One gripe though - the chorus and flange is a little too weak for my liking, although it might be good for some people because even if you turn the chorus or flange up to full, it won't eat your guitar sound.

Haven't had it for long....

Never dealt with them....

The 1010 is an excellent budget multi-effects unit that sounds like one you normally pay double for. It sounds great and works well. It's light so it's not a burden to carry around (I haven't got a car). I consider my money well spent on this one. It's too bad it doesn't have a tremolo, though...

This pedal has a range of 32 preset sounds, so its a matter of remembering what sounds are where. But you can always find a sound suitable. The patches are easy to edit, and while complex, the procedure is quite simple after some practice. The manual is a touch on the small side, without detailed explanations on the effects.

The 1010 has pleanty of different effects (23 I think) and any 6 of these can be used at any one time, however I've noticed that many patches seem to sound the same. (Due to the digital processing??) But there are pleanty of effects and every effect can be alterted (timing, feedback etc).

This pedal has never missed a beat while I've been using it.

I found this pedal great value for money (there are new models around with built in speakers and stuff). It has provided great inspiration as well as amazed all my friends with the new cool sounds I can get.

I found it very easy to use and edit, but I don't like the small buttons used to put it into the edit mode and then to change the values in the patches.

The pedal wah isn't very good. After adding the FP01 expression peddal the changes were somewhat choppy where as on a dunlop, the changes are very smooth. The distortion unit is fairly good. Adding the amp simulator seemed to make the distortion smoother. Some of the higher gain types, such as the fuzz and metal cheate large ammounts of hiss, which the noise reduction dosen't help out on. It only makes the overall output level quieter. The only setting that reduced this was lowering the presence setting, which made the overall output dull. The EQ isn't bad and the chouus, delay, reverb, and flanging are all great.

I have had mine for nine months and without a single problem.

I would probably buy it again. Overall it is a very solid unit. The one thing I hate is that the distortion is so compressed that it dosen't even matter how had you play,(your attack style dosen't come through). I wish it had larger edit buttons.

This is very easy to use and simple to edit patches. The manual tells you everything you need to know.

The sound quality is excellent and all 16 distortions are great and the delay is good to the only problem is the chorus and flanger are a little weak.

It is very reliable no problems at all no backup needed

If i had to buy it again i would go with a higher model maybe a 2020

In order to create a patch using all of the effects (or whichever effects you want) you have to first find a preset patch with the effects you're looking for and then edit them, even in the user patches. The manual was no help in explaining how to start from scratch.

All the effects sounded good. Wah was weak. The noise reduction function worked good

There is a slight delay when you switch between patches. It sounds horrible switching between patches during songs.

After sitting down in music stores with various other Korg and Roland processors, I found that the 1010 was just the easiest to program.

I was really let down by the lack of a phaser effect. In addition, the Drive Master and Vintage OD effects are terrible. The amp simulator causes waves in the tone, but that's probably because I'm monitoring it through a crappy amp.

The 1010 is a very reliable processor. I've used it for everything since I got it, and it hasn't failed me once. Not even when lightning struck the electrical lines during band practice...

I had really wanted the Zoom 4040, but I just couldn't afford the extra $200. I found an article in a guitar magazine for it and bought it 2 days later. It was the best thing I ever did for my guitar. It turned cheap, crappy equipment into a beautiful, fully operable unit. I just wish it had some form of rotating speaker effect or pitch modulator on it.

Very easy ,crisp sound, with relatively no practice. Switch overs are a little slow,but it is definitly worth every penny!

Not to noisy with proper use of the noise reduction settings.If you have a shitty guitar like me set it to 5.All effects are as strong as they get,Try a fuzz/chorus combo,it'll blow you away!

So far I have never had a problem. It is not a stomp box however, and it is made of plastic.

I love it! I would buy it again in a second. I recommend it to anyone who does'nt want to throw their money away on like five different pedals when they can get the best of everything for less than the price of two!

This is extremely simple to use. I learned how to operate it in ten minutes. The manual is clear and concise.

The effects that came pre-programmed are cheesy with a few exeptions. The self programmed ones that I've put in however sound fantastic! This pedal has the same sound as others for much less money. The overall effects are great except for the wah (need to buy a separate pedal for that).

It's very reliable. I've beaten the hell out of it and it works great still. Looks small and weak, but is built rugged.

I originally ordered the DOD-FX7 but they were all out so the store called Zoom and asked for this as a loaner for me, when I got the two next to each other, this one clearly beat out the FX7...and I bought this one from Zoom. They were very good about giving it to me just to try out though, so I consider that very good customer support.

This is a great buy for the money. It has every sound you'll ever need and they all sound great.

I generally don't care for buttons and would rather have knobs, but this is very easy to use. The manual is straight forward and clear. The grid on the unit lets you know what module and parameter you are performing what function to at all times. It's as "Plug-in and Play" as you can get. I got fantastic sounds out if it in minutes.

Surprisingly good!!! I thought I would just use it for the Chorus, Flanger, Delay, and Reverbs. But the distortion is the best digital distortion I've heard since the Korg A-2 (which I also have). But the A-2 is noisier. The ZOOM Noise Reduction puts an accurate clamp on entra noise, without clipping off reverb tails! A big plus! The best results can be acheived by running the 1010 into a tube amp. The tubes give the digital distortion enough warmth and depth to pass for analog.
The Chorus, Flanger, Delay, and Reverb are classic ZOOM quality. The compressor and wah aren't the best and I generally don't use them (I have an Alesis 3630 Comp. - see my entry on that great unit!; and a Vox Wah for those tasks.)

I'm still not sure if it will outlast my metal stomp boxes, but for the money it saved me (replaced 4-5 of my units), it is worth it. Good construction and sturdy enough for normal use.

N/A

The best effects unit for the money that I have ever owned. I am replacing my Korg A-2 with it. And the Korg is considered the best digital distortion out there (if you can get your hands on one). That's how happy I am with the ZOOM 1010. Simple, good quality, sounds that make you really want to play. Take my word for it!

Very easy to use. Comes with both a standard owner's manual and a quick start comic book which pretty much explains all you really need to know to get started & teach yourself the rest. I really wanted to keep the comic.

It seemed a little bit hissy, but I like that, I have an old tube Dynacord Super Echocord tape loop that I patch into my effects loop just to add hiss I don't have to play as many notes that way. The presets all seemed "metally", but that's what you have to expect from one of these things. Sounds about the same as a 2020, not the best but for the price.......

It got to me working, it seems sturdy, if it gets baqck to Musician's Friand in working condition I's say it's reliable.

I was really hoping this would have a headphone jack. If it did I would have kept it. $169 for a bunch of effects plus a built in tuner seemed like a great deal, why they didn't put in the headphone output I'll never know. It probably wouldn't be something for the "Pro" musician, but it would be perfect for all the "Bill, Ted, Wayne & Garths" out there playing in their basements & garages. Did I mention I wish it had a headphione jack?