Zoom 505 II

The 505 II is pretty simple, there isn't too much to edit anyway. If you want some Flanger for instance you can only selcet the speed, but not the intensity. It's very simple and noone should expect too much of it. But still it's fun playing around with.

I got this effect pedal when I first started to play guitar. I put it in front of a 20watts Rath-Amp and thats how my sound was for a long time. I knew it wasn't the best choice, but still it was fine for me. I managed to get some ok-sounds out of the 505 II.
Now I've got a decent Tube Amp from Engl and decent Jackson guitar. Off course my opinion on the Zoom Pedal has changed. I have absolutally no use for it anymore and I realized how cheap the 505 II actually is.
It is noisy when using distortion and I't doesn't work in an parallel FX-Loop, the effects themselves are mostly pretty poor, too.
OK, the sound isn't absolutally useless for a beginner, but you get my point...

Reliability is another problem. I had to resolder some parts quite often, cause the circut board just isn't built well.
Also the plasic it's made of isn't very good.
I also had a few "gigs", only useing my 505 II. I alsways was afraid it may break, but luckally nothing went too wrong with it. Strings break much easier!

Overall I'd say the 505 II is pretty weak, I would't recomend it to many people, maybe if you find it for a very good price and you're just looking for some fun and want to know how effects sound like.
But if you already have one, just make the best out of it. Hey, it's still you playing.

Well I have owned mine for about 2 years and it is pretty easy to use. I wish I didnt have to turn so many knobs for adjusting the patches but I have learned to live with it.

Well I bought the unit as a practice with headphones rig. I agree with all the reviewer who say the factory pre sets stink as they are basically useless.. If you buy one of these be prepared to wipe out all the pre sets. That being said for the price I give it a 7 in sound, I tend to believe the unit responds better with a lesser quality guitar. I know that sounds nuts but I swear it is true.

Well I probably wouldnt gig with it as it is a plastic unit. But as a practice piece it is ok.. I havent had any problems out of mine in the nearly 2 years of ownership so that is commendable..

Hey I havent had to call them so, I can't answer that one.

Well for the price I rate my Zoom 505 II a 7. But then again I bought it new under $80

Read the manual and play around with it for 20 minutes and you will know everything. Its really really easy to use. Editing patches cant be made simpler considering theres only like 5 buttons on this thing. I guess the only problem I have with it is that the two main patch switches are a bit small. But maybe that?s because I have huge feet. The whole unit can fit in my pocket. But don?t let the size fool you, this thing can make some big sound.

First of all, I would like say that any one who looks down upon this product should be shot. They are either rich, arrogant wankers or they cant play guitar to save there worthless lives and blame it on the effects. The Zoom 505II rocks. I have been playing guitar for three years now but due to lack of the green stuff, I use a cheap single coil strat into a beringer 15W amp. I don?t know why people complain about the noise. I mean there is a bit, but the znr takes it away with ease. I play anything on the harder, alternative side of rock. From nirvana, offspring to metallica to korn, slipknot. If the guitar is good and distorted, I play it. And I can play it with the 505II. Ignore all of the factory patches. They are good for nothing. You need to spend time editing patches to get the inner beast out of this thing. It can make any guitar sound that one would desire. And that?s the important part. The distortions are good and the delays, chorus?s, reverbs are excellent. The auto wha isnt to not good though. If you want to wha, get a wha peddle for this thing. Basically, as a multi-effects processor, the 505II does what it needs to for any gutiar player and does it astonishingly well for its price.

The 505II is made of plastic, so don?t use it as a soccer ball. Its that simple. Take care of it and it will take care of you. I have had no problems with reliability, on and off stage. I strongly recommend the use of the power adapter. Batteries will die on you. Don?t say I never warned you.

No problems so I wouldn?t know.

People must realise that the 505II is not supposed to be top of the range stuff (look at the price). Having said that, this product is simply amazing because it is so cheap. Its sound far exceeds its price. I would like to personally thank Zoom for a great piece of equipment. If you need a cheap multi-effects processor that can hold its own, the Zoom 505II is the way to go. ROCK ON

The presets suck, so you will have to do some programming to get anything decent out of it. That said, programming is ridiculously easy.
Patches are extremely easy to edit, although it's a slow process. you just turn the knob to the setting you want to change and press + and -.
I got this used, and this was the first effects unit I bought. I knew literally nothing about effects or anything and I had no manual, yet after a bit of experimenting I understood what most settings did. This is really a breeze to use.

I used this with a yamaha pacifica and a peavey practice amp at first, and of course it didn't sound too great, but to my then untrained ears it was magic. now I'm using it on a yamaha shs-10 synth. I must say it complements the synth wonderfully. I couldn't imagine a better effect pedal for a synth, as it does sound a little grungy and digital, which is exactly the sound I want.
The quality of effects do vary, and I really wonder if some of the more obscure effects have any practical use (some of the pitch shifter settings, most of the step mods). But seriously, a tiny $50 digital effects box is never going to compare to a chain of real high-quality analog effects.
This thing is a NOISY little devil. Seriously. Any high gain distortion setting makes this thing SCREAM.

I've had this for 5 years now, hasn't let me down yet. I've never gigged with it although I plan to. I won't use it as a footswitch as it does look a little fragile and I might break it in the heat of the moment.

Never had any contact

I got this about 6 months after I started playing guitar (age 12 - I'm 17 now), and honestly this is the thing that made me stop playing guitar. I was completely enchanted by this device. I would tweak some settings on this thing, play a couple of chords, and just be amazed. I lost all interest in perfecting my technical guitar ability. This thing does have some sentimental value, so if it were lost or stolen I'd be pissed.
Anyway I soon discovered that synth really is the instrument of choice for me. Now I use this in my industrial synth rig (as stated before), and it fits in perfectly. The sound quality can be pretty thin and gritty, and it's exactly what I need. You can get some really aggressive sounds out of this little guy. The amount of effects available on this thing and the ease of use is completely insane, really.
While this probably isn't a good choice for the professional guitarist with cash to burn, it's the perfect thing for a learning guitarist looking to experiment with effects, or a musician on a budget who isn't afraid of a little bit of digicheese.

I had a 505 before this, so getting a good sound was really easy. Patches are really easy to edit. You can tweak any module anytime, don't have to go through whole patch as in the Digitech RPs.

I haven't red the manual much. This is so easy to use.

No idea of the firmware.

I play this through my old trusty Marshall SL100 daisy chained. It's little bit noisy on some very high gain settings, but ZNR helps alot without affecting to the sound.

I don't use any of the factory settings except the Van's Driver, well I used it only as a base for my own. The factory settings were too over processed.

When I was starting to play guitar over twenty years ago, Ritchie Blackmore was my guitar hero. I can reproduce his sound on Deep Purple and Rainbow albums easily. Of course you have to play with a Strat or similar guitar with single coil pickups. SRV sound is also easy to get. MS DRV sound is very versatile for any Marshall type sounds.

Now I play death metal and all that kind stuff, I use METAL-setting for distortion. It works great with my gear.

The best one on this is MS DRV, it is the closest to the real thing I ever played with any digital simulation device. Guys at the Zoom has made a real good job for this sound. I have compered it with some more priced devices but still it is simply the best. It's dynamics for picking is so close to a real tube amp. At the same amount of overdrive with a tube amp, it acts very identical on picking or turning guitar volume down. Tube amp goes clean just before this baby. I tried this on some other more priced devices, but the result wasn't even close to this 505II, they were overdriven or dead nothing between.
The METAL is my main distortion for rehearsals with bigger gear. I use the other distortion modes occasionally, but haven't found the particularly bad one. The only bad one on my opinion is the STEP and I don't find any use for this sound. Maybe it is an Asian joke for the rest of the world.

I don't see any reason it wouldn't last a normal use. I would use it as a backup for my other pedals. I don't jump on my pedals or kick them around. I haven't got any problems with it.

As mentioned before I play metal, mostly. Sometimes I go to blues, hard rock and so on. I've been playing over twenty years, sometimes more, sometimes less, but last four years more than before that.

I got some this type digital sims (Digitech,V-Amp2,Zoom) and some analog pedals.

If it were stolen, I would buy it again - nothing else can replace it.

As I mentioned before, it sounds great, it's easy to edit. Hate, hmm.. that stupid STEP-sound.

Obviously the MS DRV is my favorite, almost like a real Marshall. Other feature is that the effect chain is in correct order, enabling to use wah and modulations in same time. I had a 707 and this wasn't possible.

I wish it had separate treble, bass, middle and presencs controls...
gets a long list.

It's been my main pedal for years and we have made some good riffs together.

Concidering the price, features and the sound this one of the best gear I've been buying over the years.

to get a good sound it takes a few minutes, remember that is a multieffect unit so it has a learning curve, but when you get the hang of it, it rocks big time.
the patch editing is quite easy as well, like i said before is pretty simple when you got it.
the manual es pretty simple and clear, you'll understand it in a hurry.
the only upgrade that you can make for your 505 II is to buy an expression pedal, then you'll get the most of it.

i use to hooked a washburn bt-3 maverick series guitar into a pro series morley wah pedal through the 505 then to a fender frontman 15 g practice amp, it sound it just great !
its noisy if you wanted to be noisy.
you can get any basic sound of it as well as your favorite artist.
the effects are very nice and cool, they are pretty cool and the sounds are ok and good.

i'll gave it a 9 because its plastic but it has never failed on me.
there was one time when i was jamming on my bedroom and a friend came over and we started to jump, and by accident he stepped on it, but nothing happend to it.

no trouble what so ever, never deal with them, but i'm pretty sure that they will help if you have a question.

For the sound that makes and price its a great unit for a starter, and for a professional would make a day of fun if someone buys it, i dont have it anymore i selled to a friend, coz i needed the money, but i'm thinking of buying it again because the other guitar player in my band has one and the other day i've try it with my expression pedal and it blew me away, in my experience with it i just love it , the amps that has are very good, if you have a big combo amp it will sound great coz of the depth, the one thing that i love the most was the phaser and flanger you can use them both at the same time nice cleans and the cab simulator is quiet and quite useful when recording something right to the mixer...
at a live sound its pretty good, i had many gigs with it and never failed me, always on top of everybody else but nice and rich sounds through a PA system.
the next time that i buy it, i will never let it go !!! trust me.. !!

It takes just about 2seconds to create a new patch if you know what you're doing. Its damn easy to use... and the manual is for dummies. Manual explains everything very well... but if you're smart, you don't require it.

The sound is simply amazing... and for this price its a steal. It gets noisy if you use wrong settings..or if its too close to the amps. Otherwise its fine... but static cant be avoided.. gotta work on that.
Distortion is good... but to get the raw palm mute tone u need to use a bit of wah whichs makes the tone really shrill... but overall.. excellent tone.. good effects.. wah isn't very bassy.. but it is fine with good amps.

i have done so many gigs with it.. and its cool on stage.

Easy to use..m familiar with the way it works...its simple..
you won't even need a manual...except when you need to reset all the patches and some ways to bypass the signal.....

i hate the hiss....some unusual humming noise are there 25 percent of the patches...
m not sure...it could be my setup..
m using 505II with my 504II for my acoustic guitar...I bought 505II because I need to use overdrive/distortion etc....my clean signal is generated by 504...

Yup...you can depend on it...BUT..if you are using multiple stomp boxes along with this, i would recommend you to create a pedal board to protect the connections and the unit as well

no contact

Alternative to soft music...
I would definitely get one AGAiN if stolen..
compared this with the usual stomp boxes..
same price but this has tons of sound

I just wanted to update my previous rating.
i've been using this thing for about two months now and i think its an awesome unit.
All the distortions are very cool.
i just bought an Ibanez guitar and the zoom sounds great with it.
All the Metal, Lead distortions are really Smooooth unlike the MT-2 metal zone which is muddy and fuzzy.
Its great value for money.
its only competitor is the Behringer V-AMP2.
I mean you can use just the zoom and be on your way.

To fully enjoy the zoom you need a good guitar, and a good amp.
i have an Ibanez guitar and a Marshall amp and the zoom sounds very cool.

the chain is only as strong as its weakest link and if there are problems in your guitar or amp the zoom is only going to amplify that.

there no sound in the world you cant get with this unit.
if you can hear it in your head, you'll be able to find it here.

Very Easy. You have to program patches near to prevent searching (A1, A2, A3, etc.) The manual is very well.

I'm a beginner and I play with a Peavy 15 watts BackStage(Tube) and a Peavy Guitar (199$). I play Metallica, other heavy and hardrock. I think for that price, you cannot have better. I love it ! The sound is very good when the gain is not too high and when the noise reduction is used. For a beginner like me, it's fantastic.

Japan reliability !

No need

For Metallica it's perfect ! The acoustic with Hall effect (Fade to black, etc.) is very nice. Nirvana too ! You can find many patches on the web. Look for quality you get for the price. Leave the Pro say what they want, but if you are a beginner, you must buy that !