Zoom 505 II

Very easy interface. You can create a patch in a snap.
Would be nice to have a drum machine in there...like to new G1 or G2 etc.

Some nice ones in there. Zoom knows something about sound. It is a cheap effect, but they really chose some useful ones. Mine is pretty clean sounded pedal and the noise level is not too high. I did not buy this one, but the are so cheap used, that no one should even complain...

yea..it's a plastic. so do not drive your car over it..OK?
this midget is always ready for my bedtime practice.I would be careful with those for a gig though. It needs to be attached to a surface with a rubber band or a string. Don't abuse this mouse.

Going to call them soon. They better give me some cheese supplies for this small creature.

Now seriously, for the money,this is a great tool for a hardware recording use. I can tweak the hell of it with my Tascam. The acoustic sim is great, and it makes my seven strings guitar sounds like Marcus Miller meets Victor Wooten-you best believe it. I am going to compose some NASTY grooves with this, and edit it on my Mac. There are so many multi effects out there these days, and they are all the same.. in a way. That means: you always find something that you like, and something that you do not like. Use your ears!!! teak tweak and tweak. Do not settle for the presets, even if it is the Boss GT-10, or a POD X3

This is a good first effects pedal. It features a lot of effects for a low price, and it opens the doors to some interesting sound possibilities. Editing the patches is easy, and the manual is generally pretty clear (there are a few places it is vague).

I use this with a Fender Standard Telecaster. It features "ZNR," or "Zoom Noise Reduction," which works pretty well. The effects are fun, but after you get some experience with some higher end effects, the Zoom 505 II begins to sound a little cheap and thin. I pretty much just use this for the tuner now.

The "ring modulation" sounds terrible, and some of the distortion effects are bad, but otherwise it's pretty good. I like the delay the most.

This is a lower end pedal, so it's not terribly high quality. Mine is plastic, and it feels like a toy. I've been fairly gentle with it, and the output jack is getting really loose; it makes a terrible noise if the unit is giggled a bit and the connection breaks.

This is a good pedal if you are new to playing and want to experiment a bit, or you find a used one for sale cheap and want to just mess around. Otherwise, save your money and get a higher quality pedal. Just remember; you get what you pay for.

It has a ton of effects to mess with, but I wouldn't use it in a gig.

If you really want good effects, find the ones you want and spring for them.

Very simple. A knob and a few buttons...what you need the manual for?

I had a Digitech RP50 and I traded a buddy for the 505 II for the better amp sims. Just the Zoom sounds more analog and harmonic rich, so I think I got the better value. This pedal is pretty metal, I was able to record some tracks for my solo project easy and they cut through the mix well. Most effects are pretty limited with their sounds and parameters, but for half a Line Six Liqua-Flange, a multi-effects box isn't going to be top notch. That being said, you can get nice passive effects that can cut it. After a few months of owning it, the input jack started getting noisy and whistling. More on that later.

I've gigged with this probably three or four times when it was new. then...a year and a half later, the input jack was becoming steadily worse and worse. I was already babying this thing because of its plastic jacks (I hate threadless plastic jacks!!!), and the power would cut out when I changed presets because of the wobbling jack, and it was getting noisier and noisier until I couldn't take it out with the ZNR. Not only that, but the positive terminal fell out of the battery enclosure and I had to rip it apart and secure it again...tightly. So no, do NOT gig with this after a year. but for 50bucks, the sound and time it held up is pretty astounding.

Never called them. Did some home repairs though, and what I fixed didn't break again.

If you're on a budget, want a uber simple multi effects box, analog sound, etc, find an ebay listing (they've been discontinued) or pick up a G1/G1x. I feel my money/trading was well spent and I still got the better end of the deal. But if you want steel pedals and things you can really get good sound out of while stomping them, you're gonna have to shell out more cash. I feel I've gotten great use out of it and I still listen to those old recordings and killer dm distortion.

pretty easy to use once you get used to it

creating and editing patches is simple, switching between then can be tricky. Small plastic buttons are flimsy. LED display does what it should but not great

One good feature is a stereo line out to headphones so you can practice without an amp. Worth owning one just for this

The only reason I bought this pedal was because I had a cheap practice amp with no reverb on it. This was cheaper than a reverb and came with oodles of effects.

If you're using this at home to practice or (as I did) as an interface for recording then it's OK. Don't use it live whatever you do. It's noisy and many of the effects just sound weird.

The distortions are tinny and artificial sounding. Has an amp modeler which is useful if recording straight from it into a mixer but again not that convincing

Reverb's OK . delay is so,so.

Can't remember much else except that some of the preset patches are hilarious.

Not great sounding but what do you expect for this kind of money

Made of plastic. Never gig with. One step too heavy and it's all over for this box. Still, I had it for about a year and it always did what it was supposed to so i suppose that makes it reliable

never dealt with them

I bought this from Sound Control in Sheffield for ??40. As I said all I needed was a reverb but I came away with an all singing and dancing multi-effects unit. I ended up selling it on ebay for more than I paid for it so it cost me nothing.

I'm really not sure how Zoom got so many effects into this thing and who on earth they were trying to compete with but it works beautifuly in a Heath Robinson kind of way

It would be easy to mock this pedal with its weird sci-fi alien bowel motion effects and tin can meets angry wasp on acid distortion sounds but for the money nothing else even comes close. For a guitarist who's just starting out or is on a budget this is the pedal for you. Don't try and compare it to a Boss or a Vox Tonelab because it isn't in the same league (and it may be playing a completely different game). Just accept it for what it is and enjoy it.

I have no regrets about having owned one of these.

Would make the perfect Xmas present for a learner guitar player.

Easy as pie to use. The exact printed manual is available online in PDF format. Setting patches is just about as simple as the predecessor Zoom 505. The 505 is actually a bit easier because you can see at a glance mode what effects were on or off. But, the "dial format" of the 505 II is more robust, and less likely to stick or break. It's actually pretty easy to change a patch quickly if needed (as opposed to a rack mounted unit).

As many have said, the presets are 90 per cent useless (unless you're using headphones or want some outer space sound). As to sounds, read below.

I use the 505 II (and I own a 505 as well) for about three or four sounds. You'll likely want to create your own.

The P7 Pitch Shift is an excellent patch--add a bit of room reverb and you've got a really nice wash that's a bit stronger than a BOSS Super Chorus or Chorus Ensemble, but not as thick as an old Analog CE-2. This is the primary patch I use the 505 II for. It's cheap but effective harmonizer sound that I use for three or four ballads a night, and for colour in a couple of rockers.

The C3 & C5 Chorus patches are also very good--you don't really need to add anything to them--they stand as warm, sparkling choruses on their own. Maybe adding a bit of D1 Delay for slapback on one patch as a change-up is good idea, but the choruses are definitely nice the way they are.

I also use a couple of Delay patches - D1 and D4 that can be used for the odd solo or rhythm.

As far as the other sounds go . . . I rarely use them. I've got a flange patch, and a couple of chorus hybrids, but that's about it. IMHO, this isn't a distortion box by a long shot. You could use the EQ for a high end boost, or to roll of mids for certain songs, but the 505 II is not meant to be a replacement for a true amp sound, a good stompbox distortion, or an amp modeler. The distortion, compressor and can be noisy. Best to stay away from them IMHO.

BTW--the 505 II (and the 505) sound pretty darn good through a effects loop. If you want a stronger sound, the loop works well. Just stay away from the the distortion patches (again, IMHO).

It's never broken on me yet. It's too bad Zoom didn't put it in a metal casing and charge an extra $20, but as long as you have it firmly seated on your pedal board (I use a velcro method) it should last . . . as long as you don't lean on it like a Tube Screamer ;-).

Never had to deal with customer support. TTYTT, for the price of these things, it's not really worth the time if there's a problem.

I'm a classic rock player, but play a wide range of rock-related styles (blues, pop, mood stuff, ballads), but mostly kick-ass stuff. Been playing professionally for 34 years.

The bottom line with the 505 II (and the 505) is that they will not be the be-all and end-all (but neither was any rack mount unit I ever owned). As I said, the Chorus and P7 sounds are the strong suits of the unit, and for those alone, I really like the product. I use it every gig, and even start the night with a tune using the P7 Pitch patch. I also rely on it for songs like Pink Floyd's "The Wall". I know Gilmour doesn't use chorus in the verse chords, but WTH--it adds a nice flavour to that part of the tune. Also, that same patch is just what the doctor ordered for the intro to Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone" or the guitar melody in Billy Idol's "White Wedding"

I have a zillion stompboxes . . . I only load up about 9 or 10 for any given gig, but the 505 II has become part of the overall picture. I can use it with my Line 6 Flextones for smaller clubs, or with my JCM 900/Hiwatt DR 504/Marshall 4x12 for bigger venues.

IMHO, for the price, the 505 II (or the 505) are worth it for the patches I described. The Chorus, Pitch and Delay effects aren't noisy in the least, and most decent pedal chains will have a Noise Gate at the end just in case.

I realize these Zoom units aren't designer stuff, but WTH . . . for the sounds that are good in 'em, they're well worth a place in yer arsenal.

I think it's easy. It may only have a two-character display, but there's only so much you can edit on this thing - Select an effect from the bank, and one parameter. The manual is informative (only a couple of instances of bad translation!). It has explanations of the nature of some of the sounds/effects, descriptions of the factory presets, which can be restored, etc. It's not the worst. My main gripe with this is the two-pedal system. It's something to get used to, but even then, tapping both pedals simultaneously to bypass isn't easy to get right first time, even after two years. It is also easy to select the wrong preset, and also it's annoying having to scroll through presets during a song, so for that reason the only live use this gets is one preset per song, saved one after the other. Can't go wrong that way.

I would say it's not bad, provided that you know what you can and cannot do with it. When I bought this, I wanted something that would provide me with a variety of sounds at a decent price, and this was being sold off at ??35. I have had a lot of use out of it, but it is not without it's limitations. It works well plugged into my computer, as with a POD, only cheaper and not as good - It has a stereo output that also doubles as a headphone out; I haven't bothered with this more than once, but it does definitely work. I do use it in my chain, but mainly as a delay, with presets. Some settings are OK, some are really quite good. The Marshall overdrive is OK, some nice crunch sounds to be had. I have found that it sounds best with the amp simulation on full; otherwise it sounds pretty poor, to my ears anyway. No, it does not sound like a cranked JCM-800 stack, but it really cannot be expected to. All that said, however, I wouldn't use it (the built-in OD) in a gig situation anyway, just for fun when I can't be bothered to set my full rig up, or can't, etc etc etc. The reverbs are quite good, particularly the hall reverb, more than the room reverb (which is also good). I don't really use reverb though, but the hall reverb is fun to play with sometimes - mess around with the feedback times - some interesting sustained feedback to be had - you could be in a cathedral... I can't think of any practical application for it though. The delays are what I use most - they are really quite good. One parameter adjusts the feedback/depth, then the delay time in a separate bank. Another novelty is the cocked wah setting - it actually sounds quite lifelike (I did a shootout against my wah (Morley PWO; soon to be RMC Wizard). For a simulation in a cheap multifx, it's not that bad. I don't care for auto-wah. There's also lots of random sounds in the 'mod' bank, that I'm sure someone can find some use for, aside from the usual chorus, tremolo, etc. I use an Ibanez RG1570, with a Morley Power Wah, Ernie Ball VP-JR, Zoom 505II, Boss SD-1, Marshall GV-2. I play out at my church, and when I do, I use a keyboard amp. At home I've got a Marshall MG10CD practice amp, and an old bass amp of my dad's, which sounds nicer than the Marshall, only is getting old and unreliable. It is noisy, but the inbuilt noise gate seems to curb some of it down to a vaguely acceptable level. It doesn't seem to do anything for the rest of the chain, however.

Now this is where it gets negative. It is made of cheap plastic, and I knew it would crap out at some point. I've had it for two years, and the jacks are becoming unreliable - waggle the cables and it will fizzle and cut out. Not great. I did read on here of others who'd had similar experiences, but you get what you pay for. I'm not hugely dismayed - I never intended to go to my grave with this thing, and i'm getting what I paid for, to be honest!

I have not attempted to get in touch with them - I have no need. It's not worth the cost or effort to get repaired. It hasn't died yet anyway.

Overall, this is a good 'cheap thrill' for a guitarist that's new to effects. I found it great as a means of experimenting, and it's not bad as a delay - I can have different presets for everything. In the future I may accomplish this with a midi board and rack delay. If it were stolen or lost, I wouldn't replace it. It's done its job.

Its easy, sorta. If you've used other multi-effect pedals before, you should have no problem putting together one that you like. My only grievance is that you must cycle through them all if you miss your preset.

As far as quality goes, its a turd. Plugging your headphones into it is about the only thing that it is good for. The presets are okay, some of them. For the most part, you are trying to get your own to sound good. and i'd rather spend my time rockin'.

Its plastic, as mentioned.

its still working...unfortunately.

Its sounds okay through a solid-state amp, but it truly kills your tone through the tubes. It has been banned from my effects chain, and without true bypass, i can't even use it as a tuner. Save your cash and get a real sound.

This thing is pretty easy to use. I've been able to do what I want without much problem. Any questions at all and the owners manual will cover it.

I like the sound quality for the money. You can tweak each patch as well with the built in compression, EQ, noise reduction, etc.

Any reasonable musician should probably realize that a multi-effects pedal that's cheaper than many individual stomp boxes isn't going to ahve the very best sound. But I can say for sure that it's worth a lot more than the price. The sound quality of the 505II has improved over its predecessor.

I've had this for 4 or so years. I've never had a problem with it. I don't tour or gig heavily, but it's lasted through weekly rehearsals, gigs, and loads of home jamming.

Don't jump to conclusions about its plastic body. It's more durable than you think!

N/A never had to call them

I play all kinds of music from blugrass to funk, and jam rock to flamenco, so this is perfect for me. I did't have to shell out much money and got a hell of a lot of versatility from this pedal.

I play a Parker Fly Deluxe through this, and I've been playing now for 13 years. I've used this for recording, gigging, and rehearsal, and have had no issues whatsoever with it.


One suggestion: Don't buy the expensive expression pedal for this thing. I had one and it was a $60 piece of crap. Get an expression pedal of higher quality. Same goes for a tap pedal. I never tried the Zoom tap pedal, but I got a standard keyboard tap for $14 and it works fine.

I have used my zoom 505 II 4 years, and I can say when you know it and read the manual then, you can get the best from this pedal. My new users only play the originals patches. I think is easy editing when you edits your first patch and better when you get out the sound that you want.

The oirginal patches are noises, overall distors, and the acoustic simulator have a lot of hiss, specially when go direct to mixer. I can obtain my best sound adjusting GAIN, EQ, and ZNR. If you want distor "clean" then need in chain other pedal before. I used a Boss DS-1 and my zoom FDR clean. Excelents sounds when I connect two amps for stereo sound. Really is the best sound fot this.

I played rock, and pop and i think can be for begginers, but, in the mix you can fill some decents sounds specially if use amp simulators from this.
The bad things the original patches need be edited for better performance.
The good things, is cheap, have the basics efects, and you can work easy!

Fairly straight forward but can get a little tricky without the manual if you are trying to dial in your personal tone due to a lot of the readouts being numbers and letters that you may not always know exactly what they are saying.

Never buy a $60 to $80 little plastic pedal and expect it to act like a $200 to $300 solid steel floor pedal. I think for the money this little plastic yet very durable little pedal (The Zoom 505 II) packs quite a wallop! This unit sounds absolutely fantastic through headphones for late night or early morning practicing w/FX.

I owned mine for years but when I tried to use it as a serious piece of gear in my chain there was always this certain frequency issue that bothered me and I could not get rid of it even with 2 or 3 EQ's so I only used it when practicing by myself

I recently put it up for auction. During this time I was trying out new tubes in my Marshall TSL100 and had some trouble inserting one of them which resulted in frying a diode or something after turning it on. Sent it to the shop for repair along with my little Laney combo to get an FX loop installed so I had nothing but a solid state amp to practice through. I thought, man, this thing has such a great sound for an inexpensive all in one unit (which I usually am not too fond of) there MUST be some way to get a sound good enough to play out with.

I plugged it in and again it had quite a wide variety of tones and distortions but I just couldn't get rid of that frequency issue. I then turned EVERYTHING to "off" except the distortion and chose my favorite one. Threw one of those old MXR 6 band EQ's (blue one) in front of it because I love the tone, punch, and crunch this pedal gives when pushing other pedals or preamps. WHAM! It sounded fantastic! Possibly too many bells & whistles in this little bugger but I tell you what, I have recently tried out many pedals including a Rocktron Nitro, MXR Micro Amp, Rocktron Silver Dragon, Seymour Duncan Twin Tube, Boss Dyna Drive, DanElectro Fab distortion and a few others I can't remember at the present time and sandwhiched these pedals with EQ's and still barely came up with anything I would play out live with.

These are all good pedals but I just couldn't get the tone I was after. I haven't tried every pedal in the world but the only other ones I have played through within the same price range that sounded as good or better are the Boss SD-1, the Ibanez TS-9 (both Keeley mods) and a used (Paid $99 - cost $189 new) Sansamp GT-2.

Although the presets/patches on this sound pretty darn good right out of the box, you cannot just plug this into an amp and expect eveything to sound golden. This is an All-In-One unit with NO FX loop. If you run this into a head or combo with any kind of preamp gain your Reverb and Delay are going to be distorted and sound absolutely terrible not to mention other issues if there is too much high gain between this unit and your amplifier preamp. Although the fx in here are not real sophisticated, they still sound fine and all though basic, if you run it into a clean amp they sound very good. Sure they are a little limited but my goodness how much quality can one expect from one little unit packed wiah FX, Distortions, overdrives, amp models, EQ, compression, (etc.) for $60 to $80?

I have had mine for years but never played out with it. Although it is plastic it feels and looks pretty durable. I suppose if you threw it against a brick wall as hard as you could or jumped on it with all your body weight you may damage it. Otherwise I think with normal use it should last years and then some.

Never contacted them

Super value for the money! I didn't have a chance to try it out after I found my sound with it due to my main amp being in the shop. It was through a solid state amp that I discovered the trick to get it to sound good but it still sounded warm and natural. I literally had to shut almost everything to "off" except the choice of distortion/gain.

Would I but it again if it got lost or stolen. Well, like I mentioned before, while I was selling mine on Ebay I actually figured out how to get my tone out of then. I would definately buy another one but I am getting the Zoom 510 because I don't need the FX in the 505II and want a plate full of distortions and tones that zoom offers in hopes to find that little extra edge when I get my main amp back. I used to plug this into my clean channel and seriously thought about running it this way and getting rid of the Boss SD-1 Keeley mod pedal but it had that frequency issue. Can't wait to try the 510 when my amp gets out of the shop but I would have NEVER sold this if I would have made this discovery sooner!

EXCELLENT Bang for the Buck! I have always liked the sound of Zoom pedals although only owned one. It was because of hearing a guy plug into one in a music store one day that motivated me to try one. I highly recommend this for an inexpensive route to add distortion/gain to your setup.

This unit takes a little time to figure out, but once you get the basics down, it's really not that hard to ues. Editing the patches is easy,And i would suggest you taylor them to your personal liking.The manual is good.

This unit is capable of a variety of sounds,from country, rock, blues...But I must STRESS, it sounds great in the headphones, or for direct recordings, but most of it's best qualities don't transfer over when you use it with a guitar amp! That said the distortions are good, the effects are good,it's a tuner,and it's affordable.I use this mostly for direct recordings, and to practice in the headphones. It does a great job at both of these.I play A Parker Nitefly guitar, and a Kramer Pacer Deluxe, but I rarely use the 505 with an amp.Some of the more distorted sounds are a little noisy, but not any more than a amp cranked up with some gain.

Why they made this out of plastic I'll never know!I don't think it would hold up very well if you used your foot to change patches, or banks!This is not road worthy, but fine for studio, or practicing.

no opinion

Iv'e been playing for 32 yrs,I own a parker Nitefly guitar, a Kramer Pacer Deluxe, A Line 6 Flextone 3 amp, a Carvin X100B Amp, an ADA MP-1 Tube preamp, asst. FX, and a small home studio, with a Yamaha AW1500 16 track digital recorder .I play classic rock, blues,motown,progressive rock, and some original music.I originaly bought this to practice in the headphones, but after trying it out on a home recording, it quickly became my first choice for recording.I love it's ease of use, good sounds and effects,low cost, and it's a tuner!Whats not to love?It's such a time saver in the studio,no mikes or stands to fool with, just plug it in and your ready to go!This device has helped me make ALOT of music over the years Iv'e had it.I've used it for electric, and acoustic guitars.bass, and even run a vocal mike thru it to take advantage of it's clean sound, and effects!I have since replaced it with a Zoom G-2, but my trusty 505-2 has served me well over the years!

pretty easy to use.

I use a gibson les paul and fender blues junior amp. and... it kills the whole sound.

The distortion sucks. really sucks. usually when i play with it a while, i get so frustrated i simply turn the volume down all the way, unplug the effect and play directly to the amp.

The chorus, phaser, tremolo, compression and most of the others "MOD" is ok but not really good.

the delay is too short and it dosen't sound good.

The wah is a shame.

I may have used it once in a while for some nice effect I wouldn't buy a pedal especially for them, but... it's not true bypass! it kills your sound even when it's off! so sadly i kicked it out from my effect chain.

I would never have bought it anyway, I do check my effects before buying, but I got it to my birthday from a friend of mine who though i'd like it... the numbers probably dazzled him (40 effects). I would have gladly switch it with 1 good effect.

it's plastic! and it sucks.

never needed them, because even if it was broken i'd never bother to fix it anyway.

it all comes down to 3 words: don't buy it.

It is absolutely easy to edit the patches. It is also easy to operate the effect. This is my firstmulti-effect, so the whole thing was new to me, but became familiar with it in 5 minutes. I had the manual earlier than the device and I wanted to learn operation from that, without much success. But this is probably because I had no experience at all.

I think it is cool for playing RHCP and that kind of music. Delayed distortion sounds are rather similar to early Metallica solo sounds. Chorus, flanger, phaser, delay great. Distortion: could be better. There are some funny effects that you'd never use, but it is worth to try them out once... The effect is absolutely silent, I just can't hear if it is on or off if I don't see it. Especially if compared to my Boss MT2. I have an Ibanez RX-40 and a Marshall MS-4. I know that's not too much...

I think it could be safely used at a gig, it seems quite reliable.

n/a

I'm not in a band just like entertaining myself and relaxing with some tunes. I wanted to have some low-budget stuff that would allow me to play many styles. I like playing RHCP, Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Faith no More, and I found it an excellent choice for RHCP songs. The chorus, the delay, the flanger and the phaser are excellent. The distortion will never be anything big with my equipment, but it is not worse than my Boss MT2 Metal Zone (that I sold immediately after buying this one). I compared the chorus to my Ibanez SC-10 (which has very positive reviews here, at harmony central), and I'm so satisfied with the Zoom that I'm selling the Ibanez.
I don't know how this effect would sound on a stage, but I'm definetely sure that I made a good decision to drop my Boss MT2 and Ibanez SC10 and pick up the Zoom, and don't forget that it is at a bargain price.

It takes about 5 minutes to get the hang of this. Also you can have some fun making your own combinations as there are 36 channels which are all editable. All programs come with a pre-set unique effect, so you can plug in and play without having to go through, setting all of your patches up as soon as you get it. The pedals themselves are large and make it easy to navigate channels. The manual is good, there is a list of all the patches and the amps/sounds they were modelled on.

I play this through a line 6 hd75 head and a 4 x 12 ashdown fallen angel cab. I find that even though it is 'stereo' the sound is too thin and scratchy. I play a crap squier strat and the factory single coils are soo noisy, but the ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) takes most of the hum away, which is probably the best feature of this pedal. The set effects are pretty crappy, they don't really fit in with any style of music. The wah is pathetic, i think if they knew they couldnt make it even close to a cry baby, they should have left it off the pedal altogether to save from embarrasing themselves. I usually find myself using this as a tuner (it has a decent tuner) and using the amp head's built in distortion and effects.
Sometimes, the tuner will refuse to work, and just sits there with a blank screen (not good if you're at a gig) I have never gigged with this, though i do use it at band practise and it has been ok.

However, this pedal would be ok for complete beginners, who don't know the difference between distortion and a paul reed smith.

This pedal is not the most reliable in the world. Sometimes (even after putting fresh batteries in) it will turn itself off, and back on again, and it always turns itself on on the effect A1, which is at default distortion, so when this happens, you get the amp head distortion and the pedal distortion mixing to create what can only be described as NOISE. Again, NOT GOOD if you're taking a lead part at a gig.

N/A never dealt with them

I play in a band, covering foo fighters to senses fail, but in my own time I like to play some older rock (guns n roses, thin lizzy, bit of metallica..) and it doesnt really suit any of them. I think this pedal goes from general effects to wierd exotic ones (A1 being the standard distortion and F6 a pitchshifted tremolo delay crunch or something) and none of them comes close to matching the sounds of slash's marshall stack/ jubilee head. I have been playing about 3 years, and apart from the rig above, i own nothing more except a westfield p bass copy, a battered acoustic and some practice amps. If this zoom pedal was stolen or lost, it would'nt stress me out, just motivate me to get some decent pedals instead. My favourite feature of the Zoom 505II is the noise reduction. If i went back to the shop where i bought it, and had the same 60 pounds in my hand that i used to buy this, i would ask for a boss pedal instead.

Pretty easy to use. Takes a 10 minutes to figure out, but after that its simple.

I have been playing for a long time (I'm old!) and have lots of professional gear. I play lots of styles of music, and the ZOOM does not really cut it for any of them. It sounds "someting like" alot of stuff, but doesn't really nail anything. The distortions are not sweet or pleasent, the modultion effects, compared with a good peddle, really are pretty thin and cold. Same goes for delay. In the grand scheme of things, it is not great sounding. But it is not horrible or anything. I use it as a headphone amp, and because of my life style, I probably end up using it more than any other single peice of gear that I own, so if it was really bad I couldn't do that.

I've had it for years (maybe five?), and have used it for over 2 or 3 thousand hours and it is still like new, and I don't take very good care of it. It's easy on batteries too!

When I purchased it, I was looking for a simple headphone practice amp. Nothing more than a clean feed, maybe with a volume control. I expected to pay about $100. I got this for about that much. So when you consider that I got a complete self contained "multi-effects/amp modleing/headphone amp" for less than some tuners (which this also has, and it very funtional and accurate I might add), the ZOOM really is remarkable! It is an absolute best buy, and a real conveniant,compact, flexible low cost solution if you are the player who spends alot of practice time on the road and need a practice headphone amp so as not to disturb those sleeping in the next hotel room. I would not recommend it beyond that. So in short, not suitable beyond private practice, butI think it may be the best around for that.

The sound I was able to get out of this pedal was astounding although it was my first pedal that I have owned. The manual was easy to read and wasnt really required as the unit explains itself by being there

I use an Ibanez GAX70 with a Crate amp, I was able to achieve kind of a SRV tone which I really like. Its never too loud and the tone is pretty even.

This product never failed me and I would use it yeah its my only one

I play a mix of classic rock and the blues, and every once and a while I play some harder riffs. the pedal handles all of it. ive played for two years and own my guitar thats it. i plan on buying another one because mine got ran over by a truck. i dont realy dislike anything except the effect where it makes like 30 different sounds at once from one string, not sure what thats called.

hi everyone.

the zoom 505II ist very easy to use, you can edit a patch very easy.

there are a lot of drive modules, it depends on what kind of music you play. but i have to say, you CAN NOT GET A METAL sound out of it(not enought gain). for blues, punk, funki, or rock it's ok, but not for metal.

the EQ sucks, there isn't an normal 3.band EQ, there ist a kind of 1band EQ from 1 to 50.(1-14 bass, 14-25 normal, 25-40 middle, 40-50 another bass). the EQ SUCKS.

and this thing ist very noisy.


the effects, chorous, oktave etc are all very good.

505 had senn some stage und studio, and every one has stepd on it because they haven't seen it, but, ist ok, it's not damaged. very robust althought ist made from plastic.

you can play every thing with it, but not METAL, and noisi is it too.

I find that is is really easy to get great sounds out of this unit once you understand the manual and understand what every effect does. You need to fiddle with everything and find what tyou like, then make your own patches, which is easily explained in the manual- the manual is a great helper. This unit is stock.

Needs a better master volume control for us occasional headphone users.

I'm using this unit through two amps- their basically speakers (Drive cd300 combo and a Jay Turser 10 watt)- since the output on this unit is stereo I fashioned myself a cable that splits the left and right channels to two amps. The manual mentions this kind of cable but it is extremely had to find. And when you find it, it's kind of expensive for what it is... Anyways using two amps makes all of the effects sound WAY COOLER, and fuller than one amp alone, especially chorus or delay/echos. My guitar is a Jay Turser JT-100 Les Paul copy, bolt-on neck sadly, but I've got this baby rigged to be better than the epiphone starters that cost more, the epiphone owner agrees with me on this.

When some Nady headphones, I could hear some strange backround noise that isn't audible when I play through an amp. Very high-pitched noises. Anybody who gets unwanted noises with this unit has too many effects turned up way too high. The manual mentions that some guitars do this. Read the manual people.

-The delay/echo have a cool ping-pong effect in stereo, this is great!
-The reverbs are pretty decent too, they add a good character to your playing
-All of the amp/distortions are pretty good- they're far better and far more versatile than what small amps such as mine have built in.
-I really like the tremolo and chorus effects, and the EQ/Phase controls are really helpful to tailor your sounds.

ZNR (zoom noise reduction) is a great feature!

NEGATIVES: All of the distortions are sort of harsh sounding. I like them, but I really wish that the unit had a smoother, mellow tube-like tone. I've tried everything to get it with my setup, but maybe it's my guitar.

-The cabinet modeling sucks, I don't care for that at all because it takes away the character of the sound that i like.

This unit is totally reliable, but I suggest using an AC adaptor (9V DC 300ma; tip negative) because well, it's better that way.

This thing is really tough, surprisingly. I've stepped on it in all the wrong places and there aren't any knicks, scratches or stress marks. Still functions perfectly.

I've never needed to deal with any customer support, nor have I ever tried to get an upgrade or some repairs.

If you want tons of tonal possibilities for $50 or $60, go for this thing. I can't emphasize enough how much better using this is than using a small amp alone. It's really able to help you get cool tones. I can get some decent blues or jazz tones and piercing leads out of this thing even though my guitar's not the top of the line. I plugged my friends Fender into this once, found the right switch position, put it on a setting that I made- I call it my "RUSH" setting. It sounded awesome! I played parts of Fly By Night and the chorus effect made it so fun to play along to.

I chose this thing for the price and the multitude of features it had, and was very pleased by what I got. I'm sure you could get better effects but I'm not about to go buy multiple pedals!

I wish this thing had a better master volume control! I didn't even know it existed until recently by closely looking at the manual, but it's just becoming an annoyance to turn down the unit every time i need to use headphones.

I wish that this pedal had a left channel output and right/main output so that the option to use two amps was more readily available.

This is a musicmaker for sure; fabulous for the price.

I picked this up used a local music shop for $50.00 cdn. I'm impressed with how easy it was to get going with it. It didn't come with a manual so I downloaded one which answered any questions I had.
I just started with a preset that I liked, fooled around changing settings them saving them as a patch. Once I got into this I found myself moving around this thing quite easily.

I play mainly bluesy rock with a Roadstar II and have come to like the hall settings with some gain.I play mainly through headphones for 2 reasons- I have 3 little kids and my amp is a Traynor 6x10 cabinet with an old Ace Tone head(pretty much overkill for the house, but that's what I've got!).I'm able to get Stones type sounds no problem-I've got a humbucker in the neck and I can get lots of cool blues sounds.

I don't play out hardly at all- I would bring this to a gig because I wouldn't be stomping on it a lot. Just set it and forget it.It seems fairly sturdy but by no means bulletproof.

Bought it used.

I've been playing on and off for 20 years-by no means am I really good, but I do enjoy fooling around with guitars and gear. I only have the Roadstar and a Yamaha acoustic(FG410),nice guitar. If it went missing I would definately replace it, it's just too versatile for the money.

Looked a bit scary when I first saw it, but after 10 minutes, I got the whole thing figured out. It is extremely easy to use, though its a shame that you cant switch banks without leaning down and pressing a button, which is kind of akward when you're trying to play. You can buy an outboard pedal to switch banks but I wouldnt consider buying it.

I am using an Epiphone Les Paul and a cruddy 10 watt amp(I am 15 and on a budget, thats why I am not reviewing a Boss MI60 or something). If you use the noise reduction, the noise is er..reduced. So its not noisy. The distortion is great for metal, and I like the wierd space effects because you can get a great Muse sound.The effects are very high quality and clear, which is great because you dont have to pay through the nose for individual pedals. The flanger and the delay is great.

I dont gig. I am not very skilled yet. Itlooks pretty durable.

Never dealt with them. Hope I never have to.

This is a great little gadget for people on low budgets. I [lay mostly metal and the distortion on it is great. If it got stolen, the thief would get their eyes gouged out, 79euro is a reasonable sum of money. This was cheaper than all the other single effects in the shop, and is great value.

Relatively easy to use... Simple and easy 2 use knobs 2 select the parameters you want to edit. A little reading of the manual is required though in order to learn how to store and move patches.

I use this with my ibanez RG and Marshall MG100. I mainly just use it for distortion and its relatively decent.. i can some really thick distortion from it for rythym playin and sum really nice lead tones as well, its also got lots of other cool effects. Its very quiet on most settings and only creates a small amount of noise on sum patches where the gain is high.. one problem is sumtimes when i plug it in it just makes this horrible squeeling sound and u have to fiddle with the input to make it stop, but i have a strong feeling thats jus my problem.

Its relatively reliable although it is plastic which could pose a problem.. myn has a problem sumtimes it just resets if i stand on the side of the peddal while changing patches.. one thing which is good is it lasts long on batteries provided u unplug it wen not in use.. i use it at gigs without backup.. but i know if sumthing does go wrong i can always use the shitty built in distortion on the amp.

havent dealt with them

I play mainly metal metalcore and this actually doesnt do such a bad job for its price... i mean dont get me wrong there are better peddals out there bt in this price range its up there at the top. If it were lost or stolen i probaby wouldnt buy a new one purely for the fact that i've had it about a year and a half and im bored of it and want to try sumthing new... I love the versatility and ease of use and of course the price but i hate the way i can create lyk 10 nice distortions but none of them are perfect for me, but hey thats just me.

Switching through the factory presets is a breeze, although the volume of those presets is all over the place. It's reasonably easy to figure out how to tweak the patches. Controls are very simple and the manual is quite clear.

My general setup is a Fender Standard Strat through the 505 II into a Fender Frontman 15G practice amp. I don't have impressive gear. I've also played through a Peavey XXX head and 4x12 cabinet.

When I took this pedal home, I thought it was amazing. Since then, I've realized that the quality is very poor. It has settings that sound fabulous - as long as the amp is quiet. No matter what distortion setting you use, it will sound terrible if you turn the amp up loud. There is no clarity to the sound. It just becomes noise. Most of the distortion modes are extremely harsh and totally unuseable.

Most of the other effects are of a reasonable quality, but they don't offer a lot of room for editing. I found the pitch effects particularly limiting: the unit only offers a very limited selection of intervals for harmony, and they aren't particularly useful intervals either. The wah settings are almost completely useless without an expression pedal. The step effect, however, does sound pretty cool.

Another huge problem with this unit is that it adds an incredible amount of bass to the sound. I suspect this is to cover up the quality of the effects so that the unit sounds amazing when you first plug it in and so that in theory you buy it before you realize what it actually sounds like. This bass CANNOT be lessened by tweaking the 505's EQ settings or even by turning the amp's bass knob down all the way. This is not a guitar or amp issue: the amp and guitar both work fine without the ZOOM unit plugged in.

The unit is made of plastic and doesn't look like it could stand up to a lot. The patchcord connections are terrible. If the unit is moved at all while plugged in, a tremendous amount of noise will be heard through the amp, as if a cord had accidentally been unplugged. Once during a gig I shifted the pedal with my foot and it began to inexplicably feed back on me and I needed to turn the amp off to stop it.

Also, the output patchcord connection no longer works properly. It has come loose somehow and so the guitar signal occasionally cuts out without warning. I have checked very carefully with various patchcords and the cord is not the problem. Furthermore, when I opened the pedal up with a screwdriver, it turned out that it is actually impossible to adjust and tighten up the patchcord connection: it is encased in a solid plastic box which cannot be removed. A year ago I could have relied on this pedal but I no longer can.

I've tried to deal with the company before, to get help with a friend's desktop recording unit. There was no e-mail address listed on the website and the only tech support phone number listed on the website or in the manual was a phone number in Japan.

If you're strictly a recreational player and you never intend to turn the volume up too loud, this pedal could be perfect for you. It does provide a lot of effects in a lot of combinations that sound pretty decent at low volumes, and clean sounds are pretty decent even at higher volumes.

If it were stolen or lost, I would not buy this again. I would probably build up an effects collection from higher quality pedals. A year after buying this pedal I am extremely dissatisfied with the tone and it is breaking down on me. For the money you would be far better off buying any Boss or Digitech pedal that you can count on to last.

This piece of kit is VERY easy to use. If you want, you don't even need to look at the manual until you've finished playing with it. The controls are intuitive, clearly labelled and they respond immediately to any and all changes. Within a couple of minutes you can work out for yourself what each button, pedal or dial does. No confusions whatsoever. Very high rating.

Mostly, I use a Peavy 50 watt practice amp (clean inout channel), but I also use the 5050II with my headphones for a lot of quiet practice and experimentation. (ie: 'quiet' for all those others in my house or room). I also use it for some direct recording and it's no problem there either as regards noise.

Using headphones, I find the 505II to be incredibly quiet - virtually silent. The effects are very good and distinctive, although many of the factory presets are incredibly harsh, but then, I'm not a thrash or grunge merchant. My preferred sounds are country, blues or smooth sustain and reverb. With a bit of tweaking and a LOT of fun, all my preferred sounds are available .... I can even get close to pretty accurate Roy Buchanan, Hank Marvin or Gary Moore sounds.

For me, the strength of the 5050II is the speed and ease with which you can experiment, change and store settings.

I use the 505II with both electric (Strat) and acoustic (Fender 6 and 12 string) guitars - the acoustics being fitted with 'soundhole pickups' as opposed to piezo. For acoustic, the 505II works best with the more subtle effects and I generally steer clear of much distortion - but that reflects my preferences rather than any weakness on the part of the Zoom. Once again, I've had a lot of fun trying to emulate the sounds of favoutite players such as Gordon Giltrap, Billy Strange's original 12-string sound or John Martyn. The latter's weird tones and FX are a real challenge, but I've got close. (Just wish I could play as well !!!!)

I have no comlaints here - but (as you might guess from my previous comment about preferred music styles), I'm not a stamp 'n' stomp sort of player, so the unit isn't getting a true hammering.

As for using it on a gig without a backup - I have a 2nd 5050II still in its box after my initial setting-up. I've never needed to unpack it again. Nuff said?

Can't comment.
Never needed to try.

I play country, folk, blues and medium rock, not grunge, thrash or Satriani ! The 505II does almost everything I could wish for in terms of helping me create the types of sound I like to use.

I've been playing on and off for 45 years and used to use a gaggle of separate FX pedals, but now the 505II does virtually everything.

It's compactness and power are fantastic - as is the value for money BUT, BUT, BUT I wish there was a button or easy way to obliterate all factory presets so that you could start with a clean sheet for each effect or even for the whole lot.

I would guess that fully pro, or even a lot of semi-pro musicians who do a LOT of gigging, would need something a bit more robust or with more pedals for instant acces to settings, but if you're a beginner looking for a high value FX processor or someone like me who plays a lot but is not a fully-fledged and really frequent performer, then the 505II is virtually unbeatable.

I've only had the Zoom 505II since Christmas Day (5 days ago) and I've only used it for 2-3 hours, but I've already got excellent sounds out of it without even scratching the surface of its potential. I have already edited one or two patches and found the process very easy. The manual is fine, but with my ropey eyesight I downloaded it in pdf format from the Japanese website and I've printed it out full page size! Much better. As far as I'm aware, its not been upgraded in anyway.

I'm astonished to read that other users have found it noisy. I have found it whisper quiet (in term of unwanted noise). The effects are as loud or quiet as I want to make them. As I'm a home guitarist with no delusions of being a rock star and with a little Marshall combo, I'm not looking for seriously loud anyway.... I've not tried to emulate the sounds of my favourite artists - I don't tend to go for that anyway. I've still got a lot of playing to do but I've tried all of the standard effects and one or two of my own and I'm very satisfied.

Seems to be sturdy enough. Certain made of sterner stuff than some of the pedals I've owned over the years. As I don't play in a band I tend to operate it by hand anyway. I don't see any reason why the unit shouldn;t last, but at the price I paid for it, I'd have no hesitation buying another if it broke.

No dealings as yet. I've no reason to suppose any difficulty. This is an unfair subject to rate anyway. So I will score it high.

I was forced to put my "electronic" pen to paper to write a review because I was stunned by the wide variety of reviews, particularly from guitarists who rated it very slow. For #29.99, with the AC adapter thrown in free, I think this is a superb piece of kit. I'm no great shakes as a musician and, at 48 years old, having bought a new electric guitar this year for the first tome for about 25 years, I bought the Zoom 505II because it was sooooo cheap. It lives up to all my expectations. Perhaps its because I would have KILLED to have something like this back in the mid-70s when I had my first Les Paul copy, that I like it so much. I suspect that some of those who are younger than me are frankly spoiled by their expectations. Its a bit like when I wander into the big new music shop in Southampton and listen to some of the excrutiatingly bad guitarists making a mockery of Gibsons and Fenders - makes me feel quite good that I can sound just as good with my #47 Ebay Keiper, my tiny Marshall amp (another Ebay gem) and the Zoom! If you can afford hundreds of pounds on guitars, effects, amps and whatever, good for you - but don't look a gift horse in the mouth - this pedal cost me slightly more than half a tank of petrol in my Lexus.........

Very easy to use.this one is simple to use and the sounds are great.
zoom are japanese based so a lot of the mauels were in japanese but there was one really good one with information on the different effects. switching patchesis really good but i wish the button to change banks (group of 6 patches) was built to use with your foot. editing is nice and easy.

i use a 40 watt roland amp and a cheap strat style with it and it sounds great. the distortion can be really grunty, light, really gainy and much more. the accoustic and foundation clear types arnt that great though.

The zoom site seys that the plastic is extremly durable, but it looks kinda flimsy. i cant afford to use a back up, but if i could, i wouldnt need to as it has standed up to the knocks i have given it so far. i sugest using a power adaptor with it as it chews battery really fast

never delt with them

i play punk mostly but i think it would also be great for metal.
I read in the manual that you can buy an optional expresion pedal for it (fpo2) but i tried it out in the shop and it sounded crap.
overal its a great pedal for beginer-intermediate and it makes me want to upgrade my guitar. also its a geat price for the quality. you just cant beat zoom when it comes to effect pedals, although there were a few unusal sci-fi sounds that i dont think i have any use for. its a great pedal and you should buy 1. much better than the digitech 1 i tried out