Zoom 505

Once you've used it for a while, it gets easier to use. If you have as good an ear as me, you can make sounds like anyone.

This thing sounds amazing. I've used it for some recording and it sounds pretty good. I mostly use my Fender Strat and Heavy Metal Tele through a Fender Blues Jr. I can copy almost any sound except for a lot of Rage Against the Machine. They use really funky harmonizing shit.

I've dropped it before and it hit the ground pretty hard. It still looks as good as the day I bought it. I haven't had any problems.

It hasn't had problems.

I play blues, punk, metal, and rock and can get any sound I want. I've been playing about 2 years and have never seen anything so amazing. If it were stolen or lost, I'd either get another or get the 505II. I comparred this to other multieffects pedals, but the price tag on this thing was so appealing.

I think its a very user friendly pedal. I mean you do need the manual to get started, but after all the crap, its a ease to handle

ive played threw many single pedals, like boss and dod, and found this pedal by far the best. this pedal virtually took away any feed back, buzz, that my other pedals were creating. The distortions were very cool,to play the most extremist metal,death metal, i think thats a pretty good complement

Well i admit its pretty hectic to switch to other patches on the button, but i would bring it to a gig, and if i would bring a backup, a backup is always a neccesity with any pedal

This is the best pedal ive ever had for the price range, i would recommended it to anyone, the distortions were perfect, reverbs, and combinations are terrific. I do not know why everybody gives it a bad rap for, but i found its the quality of the guitar more than the pedal, i have a jackson, and it sounds great on it, if i had problems, i would look into better pickups.

It's incredibly easy to use, especially compared to high-end fx pedals like a GT-3... The manual is somewhat lacking, but gives you everything you need to know to operate it. And editing patches is as easy as pressing edit, shifting through the 9 different effects banks, and then storing the change...

However, even though you can edit the patches, you aren't allowed total freedom of editing (like the phaser has 9 preset speeds, and the EQ has 50 preset settings that you must choose from). Because of it's editing limitation, I give it an 8.

I'm using this pedal through a cheap Lyon washburn and a marshall VS65R straight into a Peavey XR600C for gigging, and it sounds great! There is surprisingly little hiss and background sound when the noise reduction is turned up to 6 or higher.

Because of the editing limitation, it's difficult to get an exact sound, but you can do a lot of reverb/delay/flange/phase effects with it, and the distortions sound great in my opinion, i guess it just depends on the type of distortion you like (I like a grunge/punk rock type), however, out of the 8 distortion settings, I only use 2.

I especially love the clean sounds with the chorus.. Reverb isn't too good on this, but combined with the awesome reverb from the VS65R, it sounds great.

I know there are a ton of better fx pedals, but for the money, this is great for me!

I would depend on this unit at a gig, and despite what others say, a fresh set of batteries will you last you a lot longer then a couple of hours. I ran mine on old batteries from my closet for over 3 hours... But do get an A/C adaptor for long practices and gigs.

I would use it at a gig without a backup definitely, nothing could really go wrong with it anyways unless you stomp the hell outta it or spill something on it, it holds up pretty well for plastic.

Never dealt with them, hope i don't have to

I've been playing guitar for about 3 years now. I play a few styles mostly consisting of soft and light rock and alternative pop/rock. I bought the pedal as my introduction into the world of effects, and it works great for that. Professionals may want something more...

I'm in a band that plays mostly blink 182 covers, so the pedal gives me a nice punk rock distortion and good chorus clean sound with the phasing fx i love for some songs.

If it were lost or stolen, i'd probably buy something with a little more freedom, but a full blown fx pedal like a GT-3 is just not for me, it seems like overkill when i really only use about 5-7 differen't effects.

I love the nice distortion and other simple fx i can get without having to blow $70 on each individual pedal. I hate the lack of freedom in manipulating the EQ or speed settings of phaser/flange/step.

Overall, I love this pedal because it's so easy to use and so simple to get a sound close to what i want. It's not time-consuming or difficult to master, and it's fun to goof around with. Like I said, serious musicians will definitely want something much better, but I like it.

I had no problem using it. Each pedal cycles thru the patcehes, and there's an edit switch for when the time comes. You simply cycle thru the displayed sounds and make your selection. It may be a little cumbersome, but not difficult.

In my opinion, there are only a couple decent sounds. The distortion settings are not one of them, If you need distortion or overdrive, count on seperate pedals. (i.e. Real tube, TS9)
I use Fender strats, and Peavey Classic 50 410 combo. I play blues. This pedal is very noisy on most settings, but I like the acoustic setting with compression, sustain and use a TS9 for overdrive. It's the only thing I found a use for. Used with a noise gate ok. (If you have one, I wouldn't go buy one just for this pedal.)

I don't currently play out, but I'd gig with it, because if it did give me problems, I would not miss it. Currently having on/off connection problems with power plug.

I play the blues. Pedal offers a containment for the sound only after playing with it for a while. Don't count it for overdrive.
Been playing 18 years.
Would not replace it if stolen.
Bought it for fun, and to see how it sounded.

the zoom 505 is not bad but does have some faults.When changing from sound to another it cuts out for a fraction of a second , but is still very noticeable.Also you cannot flick between sounds very fast like sonic youth switching the distortion on and off quickly.

Im using a Laney 120 amp and Gibson epifone and you can get some nice sounds or some very dirty ones.

to use it in a gig might be difficult because you have to cycle through each patch,but i spose you could have it organised so each patch for each song is next to each other.I dont know, and hitting both pedals together sometimes you cant press both down at exactly the same time at then your up shit creek.

For the type of music i play it feels kind of limiting.I would much rather have each individual pedal.Ive been playing for 7 years.
Overall it has some nice options and i wouldnt throw it in the trash just yet.But im sure there will be something much more user friendly in the shops somewhere.The most useful thing so far has been the muted tuner its a real treat.

Sorry...but I could not get this unit to function properly
Not user friendly in my view
I found the manual very difficult to interpret.
Virtually gave up after an hour, threw it back in the box, and returned it.

I ran a US Tele, through a Fender 112, couldn't get rid of the buzz.
I never got any decent sounds out of it.
The only good thing that came out of it was my $100 money back.

You gotta be able to get the sound out first before you can depend on it.

Haven't dealt with Zoom until this episode, and I won't again.

Rock & Roll (Covers) 50's, 60's, 70's up to and including Top 40.
I've been playing for about 35 years.
If I did own it and it was stolen, I'd probably give the theif the reward.
I'm using a Korg G3. This is a much more friendly unit.
Anything I wish it had??? Yeah...a manual that made sense.

Easily plug-in-able but to get the best out of this thing it does help to have a look at the manual. Not that it's much good... but it helps point you in the right direction. Otherwise, fairly straightforward.

Set-up: Strat - Marshall JH1 - Boss TR-2 Trem - Zoom - whatever amp I can get my hands on.

Quality depends on what you're using it for: for a few gigs without a hugely sophisticated sound system it's fine; but if you're planning on recording anything (even on a 4-track) the NOISE is just far too much to take.
Would be embarrassed to have this sort of tone on tape but for live situations where no-one cares it's great considering the cost.
Wouldn't bother with many of the distortions though, get a dedicated pedal for that, they're not expensive.. for chorus, flange etc though it's pretty good.

Hmmm... Plastic. Cheap. Wouldn't want to stamp on it too hard. Part of the reason it's worth getting a separate dist pedal.

Never had to (yet).

I've had this 505 for a few years during which my style has shifted from tuneful indie to post-rock. As such, I find myself using it less and less, partly because of the noise which is a killer in this sort of mathematically precise music, and partly because I've just outgrown it.

I wouldn't care that much now if it were stolen... time to move.

I'm not rubbishing this pedal - I'm just saying it has its limitations and so long as you can accept them (and only play live!) it's great for the money. After a while, though, you will start to yearn for cleaner, higher quality effects.

It's very easy to use, and it has an built in Digital Chromatic Tuner. It has 24 pre-programmed Sounds, but whenever you want you can program you own sound into it. You have 24 effects to choose in, and you can use 9 of them at one sound.And it has a Control-pedal Input.

When you use a small amp (i used Marshall VS15R) it is very good and you will get a good sound, but when you use a big amp (i used Marshall VS265) the sound gets worse. By a better pedal if you have a good big amp.

You can use the pedal with a 9V battery, or an elimintor.
But my Battery-input broke. My friend also has a broken battery-input, so i wouldn't relay on this. The cable on the eliminator is very short and that is a big draback. I would defintly nt use this pedal on a gig, because on a gig you have large amps and you will get a terrible sound.

I play Punk-music. I have been playing for three years, I own a Gibson Les Paul Special, an Epiphone G200, a Marshall VS265 and a Marshall VS15R. I would not buy i new Zoom 505 if i lost it.
I wish i had a Marhsall Jackhammer, and a Zoom GFX 8.

It's quite easy to use.

This little buddy is easy to use and programmed..
i love it so much and it's value for money..

but soon after using it for some extreme music, i found a MAJOR weakness in it.

It doen't work well with Peavey tube amps...gives BAD feedback..BuzzzZZZZZZzzzz kinda sound if you noticed.
Worse still if being apmplified to the monitors and main system in a hall.

The acoustic is cool but noisy feedback..too bad

Distortions not too bad but it's quite artificial..not dynamic

I will never use it for any gig!
For personal use is okay but not for GIgs

50/50 customer support kind of thing.

i even sent it for repair thinking that my pedal was faulty but they told me that it had a bug! Darn!

I used it for pop, instrumental songs..

I owned it for 2 years

It takes time to switch trew patches, and you can't play on the knobs to make crazy sounds (hey, digital = no knobs).
But it's quite passable for 150$CND

24 patches for 100$US (well, 54$Us, i checked and i feel ripped off)
is very good. When i look at a Boss Chorus for 60$, a distorsion for 45$ and a blues sim for 60$, and i can do 5 times more with 100$US,
I think ****.
I used a Vantage (Ibanez copy) and a Randall 35watt.

No problems yet (1 year of ownership)

Never talked with 'em, and will probably never.

I play everything revolving around Pink Floyd, Metallica and Everclear. Gives you an idea. Quite diverse. I've been playing for 2 year, well 1 year if you count out a year of goofing out.
If it were stolen, i'd buy a Zoom GFX-8. Prog rock 4ever.
David Gilmour, Rock on !!!

Not very user-friendly unless you happen to be a techno-nerd. My buddy who works as a tech for the phone company had no problems with it, but after three weeks of frustration, I sent this unit back to Musician's Friend. I never could dial in the sounds I wanted.

I play an Epiphone LP Standard through a '60's 40watt tube amp. The factory pre-sets were interesting to play with, but I never could isolate and adjust individual effects to my liking. The tuner worked great!

I consider the 505 to be a gadget rather than a useful tool, and would not consider using this other than for my own amusement.

As usual, Musician's Friend were easy to deal with when I sent this thing back. I have never dealt with ZOOM.

I've played off and on for over 30 years, steady for the past 5. Mostly blues/classic rock,(SRV, Trower,&ZZ Top-inspired) and some jazz (Al Di Meola-inspired). I'm of the old school of finding the right guitar/amp combination, then throw in an effect or two just to add color to my sound. I don't depend heavily on effects, but enjoy a nice chorus/overdrive sound ala the Ibanez SS-10, or just the clean chorus found with a Roland Jazz Chorus amp.

very easy to use, takes all of 2 minutes to figure it out

i play a strat through a crate halfstack and the pedal sounds like shit. the distortions are all worthless and the "trippy" sounds are all crackely when i turn the amp up. the only decent sounds are the chorus and flanger.

the thing is made out of plastic. even my girlfriend is more dependable. (and thats bad)

i play everything from blues to heavy medal. i thought it would be a good buy cause it has so many features, but ends up it sounds like shit so all the effects are worthless. i definately don't recomend even thinking about buying it unless you want to buy mine used on ebay.

Well, when I first picked up this pedal, I just kept all the presets that were there. But once I realized that I could change them, (duhhh...) I did. It wasn't too hard to get a decent effect out of it, and the manual made it even easier.

I first used this pedal with an Ibanez GRX20 through a Peavey 2x10 Backstage Chorus. It sounded much better than anything else I had ever put through that amp. The hissing was pretty minimal, and basically all the effects were to my liking.
Later on, I put the pedal through a MESA/Boogie head and a 4x12 cab, with Jackson guitar owned by a friend of mine. I forget what kind of pickups were in the guitar, but they were really expensive and souded great through the amp alone. But once I played through the pedal, it hissed like a cat on PMS. It was deafening. All the effects that I had liked through the Peavey now sounded like shit. Only then did I decide that I need to get rid of it.
Now, I still have the pedal, 'cause I haven't gotten rid of it yet, and just lately I used it with a Laney head and 4x10 cab with my Washburn WG-587. It sounded a little better then the MESA/Boogie, but still sounded like shit. So, I am definitely getting rid of this. Maybe I'll give it to my little brother or something....

It is definitely dependable and it is still in one piece working as well as it ever did. I have played a few gigs with it and I didn't need a backup once.

Never needed to.

I play absolutely ever kind of music I can think of, and it sounds great with some, but terrible with every other kind. I've been playing for almost 5 years, and I've had the pedal for a little over 1 year. I also have a Jim Dunlop Crybaby, and a DOD Juicebox. If this pedal were stolen lost, etc., I would definitely not think twice about getting something else. I have compared it to a Line 6 POD, and a Boss GT-5, and they both beat the FUCK out of my ZOOM. All in all, if you're just starting to play guitar, and want something easy to use that creates great sound with a smaller amp, I would recommend this. However, if you plan on playing any gigs, or plan on going anywhere with your musical career, DON'T BUY IT! And if you've already been sucked in, GET RID OF IT!

Its ok to use, but not directly user-friendly.

I love the clean sounds. I'm addicted to them. The distortion isn't something I would use when recording though. Only for pratice. But for the price, it's a super-bang-for-the-buck. But do not buy it thinking it's a one-box-solving-all-your-problems. It's rather quiet which is nice. However, if I wanted something else than a good clean guitar sound, I would NOT buy this thing. It takes a lot of tweakin to get what you want.

I would not gig with it.

Haven't dealt with them

A killer deal for the money. However, try it first. Its very limited. There's a lot of tweakin' to do before you get what you want. If you get it. Its packed with a lot of nice-to-have-but-I-rather-not FX... But I love the clean sounds.

The main thing about this pedal is you have to play it through an amp thats compatible with it.I found it sounds best through Rolands and Fenders.Dont use it with a Crate or any other amp with very high frequency eq,since it will sound too raspy.Of all the distortions,distortion is the best setting,since it is very Marshall like and has a higher sampling frequency.

If you program it right,youll get the best pro quality souns out of it.Dont judge it on the preset sounds,as they suck.Im going through a Roland Spirit 50 with it .All effects are PRIMO,with the exception of the auto wah,and the clean sounds could do with less background hiss(slight noise).

Its very dependable,i get every sound i need out of it,if you use it right,it will become a part of your rig youll thank god you have in the long run!.

My name is Rob Lindbeck,ive been playing for 13 years,totally pro now,mainly play classic YES,Ozzy w Randy Rhoads,Deep Purple,Crue,VH,great original compositions,and for all the different styles i play,this pedal is the best deal for the money,I set it up just perfect,and use it in the studio and on stage with my band Caution.I usually play my Gibson Flying V 84 or my Dean VXT through it.

It is very easy to use. When I first got it, I was editing patches within 10 minutes.

I play through an ESP M-II and a crate GT-80 Tube Amp. This pedal has one good distortion, if you play metal, but other than that, it is very difficult to get a good distortion. The limiter and compression are terrible, and the auto wah is garbage. The flanger, chorus and doubler all work good, for the money. You can get a nice clean sound with the doubler. The main thing that hurts on this pedal is the background noise. Ever hear one of those old generec Heavy Metal Stomp Boxes? Well double that and you're close to the background noise. Even in bypass mode, there is loads of background noise wether you are going through your amp or directly in to the PA.

Everyone always says here "It's plastic, it sucks." I totally disagree. I have thrown this thing across our studio, stomped my guts out on it (we played metal for quite some time) and spilled beer all over the buttons. The + and - buttons stick a bit, but that's from the liquids. other than that, it is fine. You should always have a backup, always....

Never dealt with Customer Support

For a beginner to novice, this is an excellent pedal. Once you can tell the difference between good and bad effects, look elsewhere. If you're in to Metallica, Megadeath, Pantera, you can get a very good sound but if you like punk rock, jazz, or any bluesy type of music, it's just not happening.

Very easy to use, as the options are not overwhelming. It is easy to get the sounds you want. Patch editing is a pretty simple process.

I have to make this distinction, a person who plays hard rock or heavy metal, this pedal sounds great. You can get plenty of grunt without hisses and hums etc.

But for the blues or jazz muso, getting warm nice sounds isn't easy. The decay on the low distortion, is not the best.

The stereo output sounds great! It sounds better through a Technic stereo amplifier and wooden speakers, than through a combo guitar amp.

The noise control is great too. Pedal is easy to get professional sounds! You can download people favourite patch settings from all over the internet too!

Ummm, mine seems to have a channel that fades out and back in a minutes later for no reason.

I contacted www.samsontech.com/zoom for help, but their forwarded me onto the Japanese website that had no email address listed. Not very internet friendly.

It is fantastic value! For little more than the price of one Boss or Ibanez single effect pedal, you get all this! I am seriously considering buying a new one to replace this when it dies. Although, I may get the Zoom GFX-7 which really rocks!

You can learn to work this thing in 10 minutes or less.

Sound.... hmmmm.. Well i have a California Strat and it sounds good.. not great.

Its good for tinkering not for gigs.

No thank you!

I don't like a certain type of music i just like what sounds good and has feeling. I've only been playing for 4 years so I guess im still a newbie =P. I think if it were stolen id try something else. I bought the pedal to learn about sounds really and I have to admit it did the trick.

The 505 is very easy to get a good sound. Keep in mind that it is all digital, no tubes, but none the less, the sounds are nothing short of incredible. Editing existing patches are easy on "online". The manual is very clear and concise. Many of the "Tips" are helpful as well.

I use a Fendera Strat ---> Zoom 505 ---> Peavey Bandit. This unit is quiet even at high-gain settings. There is a wide palette of Overdrive/Distortion sounds to please almost eeryone. "Tube Heads", however, will probably not like these sounds. The noise reduction is incredible. While one cannot change the delay times, several patches exist with very usable settings. The same holds true for the flanging, chorus, phasing, reverb, wah-wah, etc. I did not purchase an expression pedal yet, but I see it in the future. I have found several websites that are dedicated to Zoom 505 patches, some settings tailored to artists and songs while others are just certain sounds. Overall, the sound quality of the Zoom 505 is amazing.

Zoom has a very good reputation and I think it is a dependable unit. I haven't gigged with it yet, but I have had no problems practicing with it. Time will tell if its plastic casing will hold up. I wouldn't run over it with a car or jump off of a drum riser to change a patch. If you are into heavy stage antics that include jumping around a lot and abuse the pedal, it probably won't last long. But then I wouldn't abuse any pedal regardless of the music I am playing, metal or plastic.

N/A

Overall, this is a very nice pedal. The sounds they packed into it are nothing short of amazing. It's a very good pedal to try your hand at effect programming. If you don't like it, at least you did not spend a lot on it. It's not 100% programmable, you can't change every parameter of every effect, but the settings Zoom has programmed are very usable. Keep in mind that this is a digital pedal, so don't expect analog quality. I remember reading a few reviews that said that the digital harshness is too much. That is a matter of personal taste. If you are trying to get the sound of old Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck, this pedal my not be for you. I bought the pedal after wanting to try my hand at effect programming and I am not a full-time gigging musician. If you bought the pedal before trying it at the store and you hated it, it's your own fault. Would you buy a car without test driving it first? I think not. The Zoom 505 gets two thumbs up!!!

Unfold the manual and it takes you 30 minutes to know everything there is to know about this multi-fx. I've changed the parameters on it so many times that I can do it blindfolded at a gig. Just remember to always use this with the ac adapter.

I am here to tell you this: Never use the the modulation parameters (which includes chorus/flanger/etc.) with a guitar. They sound so generic and stiff...there's nothing unique about them. A few distortions sound okay but none are really wild or nasty...just very tame sounds. Try putting another distortion in front of the 505. One thing I do really like the sound of are the reverbs, delays, eq, and compressor/limiter with a guitar. Here's a fun fact about the 505...use it to mess with your vocal tracks or use it to create wierd techno songs with one of those crappy little kiddy keyboards. Believe me, you'll have loads of fun. ONE REALLY BAD THING: THERE IS A HALF SECOND DEAD SPACE BETWEEN PRESETS SO YOU CAN NOT JUMP FROM ONE PRESET TO ANOTHER WITHOUT HAVING THAT SOUNDING LIKE YOUR GUITAR JUST DIED FOR A SECOND.

Yeah, its pretty dependable...just watch out for some of the smaller buttons to get stuck. Don't chuck it around cuz its made from el cheapo plastic. Always always use this with an ac adapter. It sucks batteries dry after about 2 hours of contiuous use. Dammit, and you bought this thing cuz you were too cheap to buy some real effects...

nope

Hey listen, if you're just starting out and you want all sorts of crappy gimmicks to your sound, get this pedal by all means, but if you're experienced and play serious gigs, ask yourself why you're even thinking of getting something as icky as this? If you want laughs, please get yourself a cheesy little keyboard that has like 100 different crappy instruments, 6 different beats, and an auto fill in, and put it through the 505...seriously, you will be on the floor laughing at how crazy the sounds are...

very easy to use. easy to edit(press edit and do what you want) changing effects is as easy as stepping on the damn thing.

it doesn't matter what guitar i use, or what i amp i use. this thing has horrible sound. Its definately good for beginners tho, to get them started on how effects work, and what certain effects are like. but up to the point when you can tell the difference between good and bad effects, time to get a new stomp box.

its plastic. i think i treat it pretty nicely, but its starting to get a little slow..i dunno what the problem is. doesn't matter, i'm about to go for some real effects. one more thing, the batteries dont last. get an adapter

Dont remember the exact price, but i think it was about 80-90bucks US that i paid for it. had a friend bring it from Japan. To be honest, I really like this little thing. I've only been playing for 3 years, and only about a year and half ago did i get this thing. Before that, I knew nothing about effects, besides the fact that they give your guitar a lot more possibilities. From the 505 i learned a lot about effects and using them. Its just that now after playing more, and actually starting to notice sound and understanding music on a higher level, i realized how crappy this thing is. but hey, its cheap, great for beginners. i'm saving to get better effects int he near future..but as of now..this is doing its job decently well.

this pedal isn't to bad to use i guess

i really like the sound u can get from this pedal one distortion in particular, theres not much noise with this i use a epiphone regent 50 (ok with this amp) and a peavey classic stereo course 212(or something like that)(excelent sound with this)

U DEFINATLY CAN NOT DEPEND ON THIS CRAP! I WOULD NEVER USE IT IN A GIG!!!!

they were friendly i guess but didn't fix the problem when they said they had it fixed

I play alternative music the distortions are good for this. if it wear stolen i DEFINATLY WOULD NOT buy it again! because of the patches they suck i've had the pedal for least then a year and ALREADY you have to hit them so hard and SO many time for it to change over. i wish that it was it was more reliable and diferent (not plastic) i wish it was like the dod pedal for ease of use.

If u have never used anything like this b4 it may be a little hard. It gets easier to use every time you use it. Its easy to edit. The manual does not help out much.

I use a gibson flying v with a fender roc pro1000 head powering a marshall JCM900 4x12. I don't understand why people say its noisy, its not.(maybe its because they got a shitty amp)If you keep the ZNR on 9 and the equilizer on 44 on basically all the effects you will have no noise. Its your choice if u want to use the 505's compressor or limiter, but I turn them off and use my BOSS CS-3. I am a loyal zoom follower but I do agree with the majority the metal distortion sucks a$$. What I discovered with the 505 after almost 7 months of owning it is that it has the best distortion I have ever heard. If u crank the gain on the regular distortion keep the EQ on 44 or 45 keep the ZNR on 9 and keep the volume below 22 it is a perfect noisless distortion.

its is plastic but I have had it for a year now and it has not let me down yet. I have used it on 10 gigs without backup and it hasent let me down. oh yeah I have to MAKE SURE AS MANY PEOPLE CAN READ THIS!!
THE 505 IS PLASTIC, SORRY BOYS YOU CANT STOMP THIS ONE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND IN THE FIRST PLACE WHY WOULD YOU STOMP SOMTHING YOU PAID A TON OF MONEY FOR??? I THINK STOMPING A BOX SHOWS TOTAL IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY.

the people at zoom suck, it takes to damn long for somthing to get fixed. Oh yeah I forgot to tell u this above I brought my 505 in to get repared, but when I got it back 3 months later I realized that there was nothing wrong with it. My fault. But! that is no excuse to keep a pedal for so long that there is nothing wrong with it.

I play metal so the distortion and chorus are great, and i can get many people to agree with me.I've been playing for 4 years and I'm only 16. I also own a randall 4x12, gibson sg, dod death metal which sux a$$. the 505 kills all other effects boxes. I wish i had the carl martin compressor/limiter.

Very easy. Manual isn't that extensive, but it really doesn't need to be. All the parameters are all laid out and easy to edit. The built in guitar tuner is a definite plus.

I orignally bought this for my Ibanez guitar and a busted ass guitar amp, but now I've discovered that it sounds pretty good no matter what you plug into it. I now use it sometimes with mics, or to add effects to samples & record onto my PC or play out through a stereo reciever. My only complaint is that some of the effects create a slight hissing sound. All the effects sound pretty damn good for a guitar pedal.

Very dependable.
No problems yet.

n/a

Overall very good pedal. This was the 1st guitar pedal I've ever bought & I've never needed to buy anohter one. It's about the price of one or two single sound pedals, but it creates the sound of like 10. If you ask me not buying a Zoom 505(or perhaps something similar?) and instead buying tonz of pedals is dumb. You get all of those packaged into 1 easy to use pedal for a very cheap price. Good product! I'm very happy.

Relatively easy. Editing patches is allrite, but that scrolling EDIT and other messages threw me for a fricking loop.

I use MESA RECTIE, Jackson Reverse and Washburn MG-520. If the sound is good, then I'm a Chinese jet fighter and monkeys fly out of my ass. Loadsa of noise on distortion, METAL distortion sucks ass, the only way I'm using this 505 bastard is on L9, dist, A9, 29, 0, 0, 29 - and clean sound.

NO. Would not use it on a gig. Made out of plastic and buttons keep getting stuck.

Screw 'em all.

Screw 505.

i found the zoom 505 a real pain in the ass to use, it hold lots of funtions but if you have to stomp the pedals many times to work your way through the many usless pre-sets that you have waisted your time getting because any band wanting serous kick or any stadard of quality would through this pedal away, (i did) (sold it accually)

the echos and chours were ok, but everything else was horrible, or utterly useless, the distortion made me want to cry, the metal distortion hurt my ears, even when it was quiet. I was verry tempted to use the blues distortion for my metal band, untilli found the Danelectro Fab tone.

it lasted long enough for me to sell it. but i wouldnt be too sure stomping on this plastic toy.

The day i sold this pedal was great. If you are looking for a good sound, it is best to look around and purchas 1 or 2 "real" pedals rather than 1 with many "cheap" fuctions like in the zoom 505.

8

I have been playing in bands for 26 years!20 years playing lead guitar.I play country&oldies most of the time but,have played all kinds of music.The Zoom505(for the money)is GREAT!! I got is as a gift.When I first looked at it,I said to myself,NO WAY!BUT-when I started to use it,I was BLOWN AWAY!:)I`ve payed more for one effect, 20 years ago than what the zoom cost! It does have it`s flaws but,I think that it`s VERY USEFULL(FOR THE MONEY)Everyone complains that it`s made of plastic,WHAT IS`NT? It`s VERY STRONG!In my opinion,the zoom 505(for the money) is SUPER!!!:)

very easy to use, I get great effects from it like wah, pantera crunch, synth., jet, and many more.

very good sounding effects, high quality! It works well with any guitar (I use a rogue strat and a les paul). There is a small amount of background noise, but it isn't horrible.

On mine, the pedals don't register as good as they used to. It takes several attempts before the patch switches. I wouldn't use it in a gig because of that, even though everything else works fine.

I can get a wide range of sounds out of the zoom 505 because you can edit the settings. There are endless possibilities. I never get tired of experimenting with it, it has really been the foundation for my tone. Definately a great deal for a beginner or anyone who likes to create effects. If the pedals worked as good as they used to I would give it a 9 or 10.

It Couldn't be much easier to use, but it's really not worth using

Ok...It sounds AWFUL! The distortion is cheesy, and all other effects are totally useless. Like one the other people reviewing this pedal on this site said, it works out to about seven dollars an effect. IT SURE AS HELL SOUNDS LIKE IT!

Plastic. Not even a distant relative to boss quality. Expect it to break every 2 months or so.

I play blues, rock, jazz, and lots of other stuff. when i used this pedal- i was into hard rock/heavy metal. If it were lost or stolen, i'd be happy.I should also mention that it has the worst tuner on the planet. I bought a boss gt-3 to replace it, which is fabulous.

Wenn you first learn to program it - it's easy to use

I have a Gibson SG '79 and a Marshall amp. This pedal is OK to for a beginner... But the distorsion sound is not gut! nicht gut! I use my ZOOM for little thinks like Delay, hall, EQ, and volume settings.

It is plastic! I hate that! Some of the buttoms sucks, and does not work on my ZOOM!

It's OK for little thinks like Delay, hall, EQ, and volume settings. But thats all!

Its very easy to use. If you cant figure it out, then you shouldnt even be playing the guitar. Absolutely NO control over the effects in ways that are important tho.

If you think this thing sounds good then your retarded..

Shit, its made of plastic, i think its going to break any second. The batteries only last about a half hour. I would never use this on a gig.

Ive been playing for about 7 years and I got this pedal about a week after i started playing guitar, when i was stupid enough to think it was a good thing. I only paid $30, but its only worth 50 cents!! crap, if you want an effects pedal, get REAL effects, not this piece of shit.

A lot of presets, and editing is easy. But its too easy to use, meaning you cant control the sound very well.

The sound quality SUCKS. The effects are cheap, the unwanted noise is as loud as the guitar sound itself. Certainly a piece of junk.

Hell, this thing is made out of plastic. The + and - buttons broke like 10 times and the stomp petals crack every time i use it. I wouldnt even THINK about using this in a gig at all.

Lucky for them, i havent called them.

This pedal is a piece of crap. If it was stolen, id have a celebration. Then id go out and get some REAL effects. This is definately the worst piece of junk ive ever come across and i curse the day i bought this piece of junk.

It's easy to use but it souns like shit. You can't get any power out of the stupid thing, even in bypass mode it creates hum and noise. The only effect that sounds kind of nice is the chorus.

When I bought the thing I was using some cheap amp (I've used it over a mesa though) but it just sucked. Some cheap digital piece of crap. Right now I only use the sound of my amp (JCM 900, 4100) and maybe I'll use the chorus of an ART 19" rack. It is noisy as hell, even in bypass mode.

Probalby not. It's plastic.

no, never had to deal with them, after two monts of trying and using I traded the fucking thing for a Vox distortion booster.

It's a cheap piece of crap which is for starters, only funny thing about it is that you can use it with your headphones plugged in, but I can also do that with my V-twin

Fairly easy to use but the settings it comes with are use less...

I have a Les Paul Standard and a marshall vs100rc amp
Its distortions alone are'nt that good but if you use the rythm distortion with the amp distortion it produces a rich sound. The chorus is great and I love the flanger the ZNR doesnt do much.
I use the chorus and distortions to sound like warren haynes.
The distortions are bad...

It's made of plastic if it were a little bigger and was mad of metal I would depend on it more...
I would use it w/ a back up...

Never dealt w/ the zoom co.

I play blues/rock and metal...
I've beenplaying since i was 10
I have a Les Paul w/ a marshall amp, Dunlop Crybaby, Boss XT-2, DOD Death metal, Flashbeck Fuzz, and a Grunge
I think that if it were stolen and I had alot of money I would save up for sepperate pedas such as DOD and/or Boss chorus, flange, EQ, tuner etc...

The manual is well organized, and it is easy to understand, it take awhile to master the tone that you want. This is a pretty straighted foward multi fx. 24 programable effect up to 9 at once.

I used either a Epiphone Les Paul 100 or Samick artist series through the Zoom 505 and the Peavey Rage158. This pedal is really noisy and the distortion sucks. But sometime you can get a decent tone off the pedal.

I don't think I can depend on this pedal, it doesn't look that though.
Nevermind about gig with it. Better get those bateries or adapter handy.

I never dealt with them.

I play mainly punk rock, metal, alternative, but sometime when I fell goofy I'll play some country. Well this isn't much help at all of getting the good tones. I've been play for 3 yrs. I have a Yamaha acoustic. Now I got to save up some cash for the mesa boogie triple rectifier solo head and a new Epiphone Les Paul Custom. But now i have to changed the stock pick up on my les paul 100 first, then i'll save up some money for the amp head. If anyone stole my pedal i'll hunt them down and make them pay for it. And definitely not gonna but this pedal again is just a waste of money, if you gonna get a multi fx, i suggest you to buy digitech or korg multi fx. Or if you looking for those nice amp tones i'll suggest you to but the mesa boogie v twin pedal, the formula, pod, or digitech rp product line. And never WASTE you cash on this pedal like me or you'll regret it.

I was editing, testing, and storing my first patch after playing with it for 10 minutes. The effect names are printed next to each red light, so the manual wasn't necessary for reference after I experimented for 45 minutes. Finding 505 patches on the internet is easy, and programming was a breeze. It was easy to get good sound. It would be nice to have a command to clear the current patch, so I wouldn't waste time scrolling through 25 values to turn an effect off. I used a regular "battery eliminator" adapter in place of 4 AA alkaline batteries, and it worked fine.

All I wanted from the Zoom 505 was some spacey echoing sounds. I have them now, and am very happy. While the ad copy claimed "lush CD quality" sound, the signal processor samples at 31.25 KHz, not 44KHz like CDs. The distortions (each with 30 levels of gain) are good, especially Metal. I liked the auto-wah, and decided there is no need to get the optional pedal.

My cheap novice equipment (Harmony Korean Strat copy and a boom box with RCA inputs) has been greatly enhanced by this clever toy. The Hall reverb also worked nicely with the drum sounds from a Yamaha MIDI keyboard. The signal was quite weak from a microphone, so I would recommend recording to tape and then sending the signal in for effects.

The case seems solid, but the little editing buttons feel loose. I expect it will be fine for home use. The case has "Made in Japan" molded in, and I trust Japanese manufacturers.

For people interested in a useful toy, the Zoom 505 is worth trying. I've been burned dozens of times by lousy products, so it was refreshing to be fully satisfied for a change. I figured if I could make a dozen useful patches, they would only cost $6.66 each. Not a bad deal for a tightwad electric guitar dabbler. It's so nice to have compression, reverb, and subtle chorus and flanging effects. The built-in tuner is a great feature, and gets the job done fast. All it's missing is tremelo.

It's extremely easy to use.

Everything sounds pretty good.

My right pedal went out after about 7 months.

Overall -- it's a descent pedal for the price. But don't count on it for over several months.

THIS IS THE FIRST MULTI-EFFECTS PEDAL I HAVE OWNED, I THINK THE INTERFACE IS VERY SIMPLE

I THINK THE SOUND IS TERRIFIC, THE ZOOM NOISE REDUCTION FEATURE IS VERY USEFUL

I HAVE USED IT WITH NO BACK UP AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO PROBLEMS

I HAVE NEVER HAD TO CALL FOR HELP OR MAKE ANY REPAIRS

I TRY TO PLAY AS MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC AS I CAN TO HELP MY ABILITY AND TO A WELL ROUNDED PLAYER. I'VE BEEN USING THE ZOOM 505 FOR ABOUT 7 MONTHS AND I LOVE IT, ONE THING HOWEVER IS THE LACK OF A TREMOLO EFFECT, THERE ARE 24 EFFECTS, WHY NO TREMOLO. AND, I NOW KNOW THAT YOU CAN GET ONE ONLINE FOR A LITTLE OVER $90, I GOT SHAFTED AT A MUSIC STORE FOR $145. BUT, OVERALL I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT, AND I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE!

if you can program a VCR, then no sweat for this pedal.

i use a cheap hondo les paul thru an old marshall lead 12 practice amp and it sounds just great. the distortion section is excellent (as good as a Fab Tone) the chorus is good, delay and compressor are OK, reverb is fair, acoustic is bad (OK cuz i don't ever use it) overall, for the price, this pedal is the king. it's like having a delicious all-you-can-play buffet without spending a truck load of money.

it's plastic so i make sure i don't stomp on it too hard

don't know

i've been playing guitar for 15 years, but off for the last 5 years. i recently bought a cheap les paul copy and a marshall amp on eBay and started playing again. i play mostly 80's rock music. i wanted to have a pedal board setup but couldn't afford to buy several boxes, so i ended up buying this one. i'm glad i did. if it was lost or stolen i will buy again (if they sell one as cheap)

Relatively easy to use. You've got to read the manual, that's all.

I use a Fender Super 112 all-tube combo, and an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Limited Edition Guitar. I've also have a Jim Dunlop Crybaby and a Danelectro Dan-Echo pedal.
The sounds of this multi-fx unit are awful!.Weak!.DIGITAL!.HORRRENDOUS!.
Maybe the Chorus is a little serious, but's remember it's an out of style effect. Maybe you could find an use for the phaser and the fuzz.
Other fx?: Auto Wah? Ha, ha, Overdrive? HA, HA , HA, STEP?:HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!

Plastic.

???????

I play blues, rock and psychedelic pop. Been playing for 6 years. If it's stolen I would thank the thief. It's a complete piece of JUNK!!!. Buy separate pedals, this is a digital garbage.

I'm not technically interested, so it took me some months to coming round to editing. Once I did (and read the manual) it's really easy to use and I've gotten some useable effects out of it.I have placed my good effects on A1, A2 and F4 so I won't have to tap-dance all that much, but it can still go wrong occasionally, just like it isn't always that easy to hit the two pedals simultainiously to by-pass, especilly if you're singing at the same time (which I do a lot).

I'm using the Zoom with a 1977 Gibson RD Artist, a Boss Compressor, a Marshall Guv'nor Overdrive and a Zoom 507 Delay/Reverb (brilliant) into a Marshall Bluesbreaker Combo. Most of the effects are horrible and noisy, but I made a good chorus and a good flanger and that's all I use from the Zoom.

None of my Zoom's have failed me yet - but use a power supply, by all means. I'd use it without backup.

Haven't had to deal with the Zoom people.

I was raised on metal and played through a now deceased Rockman Distortion Generator for many years, which I loved. Now I'm getting old and play in a covers band - mostly 60 and 70's music (CCR and so) - and the Zoom's chorus and flange are really handy for this kind of music. For distortion sounds I have my Marshall, so I'm perfectly satisfied (although I'm getting a "real" distortion for powerchords, which my Guv'nor doesn't do very well). I have been playing guitar for 23 years (semi-professionally for a few years) but has been concentrating on getting a life for a few years and has only recently begun playing in bands again. One semi-professional band I was in wasn't very impressed when I showed up with my Zooms (why would I use a cheap effect with such hi-class equipment?), but once they heard it, there was no complaints. You see, I have programmed a good chorus and a good flange sound, and that's all I use it for - except for the tuner. Most of the sounds on the Zoom, especially the distortions, are horrible, but come on - a good chorus, a flange and a tuner at this price - it's a bargain. I would certainly buy it again if it was stolen - for the price it can't be beat. My advice to all the people frustated with the Zoom: Spent some time editing the effects. You'll maybe end up with only two or three sounds you'll like, but think what three stand-alone effects would cost you.

Nice sound...editing is easy .Just about everybody has one. Good multi-purpose pedal. Great for beginners

I use an original Crate 2R series. It has a suprisingly good sound when I run it through my wooden franken-amp. I listen to almost anything and I can get pretty close to what I need from it.
Run it with dunlop Crybaby. Always sounds cool.

I would, and DO use it without backup. Don't have official power suply. WON'T PAY 20$ FOR A STUPID POWER CORD. It is pretty reliable.

Haven't had it upgraded or repaired. haven't had to. Got it in almost new condition. Retailers were very friendly.

I've been playing for almost 6 years. One of the best little pedals I've ever owned. If it was stolen, I'd be pissed, but I'd get a new one. Best (and cheapest) deal on the market today. Want the expression pedal. Definatly helps me. Recomend for any beginer, or season veteran!

Nice sound...editing is easy .Just about everybody has one. Good multi-purpose pedal. Great for beginners

I use an original Crate 2R series. It has a suprisingly good sound when I run it through my wooden franken-amp. I listen to almost anything and I can get pretty close to what I need from it.
Run it with dunlop Crybaby. Always sounds cool.

I would, and DO use it without backup. Don't have official power suply. WON'T PAY 20$ FOR A STUPID POWER CORD. It is pretty reliable.

Haven't had it upgraded or repaired. haven't had to. Got it in almost new condition. Retailers were very friendly.

I've been playing for almost 6 years. One of the best little pedals I've ever owned. If it was stolen, I'd be pissed, but I'd get a new one. Best (and cheapest) deal on the market today. Want the expression pedal. Definatly helps me. Recomend for any beginer, or season veteran!

It is very easy to use and to edit. The manual is simple, not the best but ok. Mine is newer takes 4 AA batteries, not aas noisy, has a plate on back,

Im using a strat with a laney HCM60R. The distortions are a little noisy, when you try to put the amps distortion on it sounds horrible, hisses like crazy. The effects arent really weak, i like the flanger and and those type of effects. The distortion is ok and the wah is ok, the tuner is real nice but the ZNR doesnt do anything really, that i can notice. I can get alot of sounds like bnds. If you just go to sites about it, you get a bunch of pathces that are great. The presets are ok, but the blues jass thing E2 is the worst thing i ever heard.

Its made of plastic, but it still is trong, has a metal plate on the bottom, i wouldnt gig without a back up, im nnot sure if Id gig with this, havent had it long enough.

I never had to deal with them, but ive herad bad news about it. There is a warranty, dont remember how long.

I have played guitar for about a year, i play alternative, heavy metal, just about everything. It is great for 109, people dont relize that you get what you pay. You cant expect every effect in theis samll pedal to be the best. I would buy it again if it was stolen, or just get a gfx 707. I love the ease of use and editing. I tried it to toher single effects, never tried another multieffects. My friend tried it out, he uses a line 6 amp, with the effectrs, he said it was nice and nicely cmopared to the line 6's. I wish it was made of metal and had knobs instead of buttons.

IN THE BEGINING I WAS AMAZED BY 505......BUT LATER I CONSIDERED.....THAT IT WAS TO "CHEAP?" I CAN'T DESCRIBE IT.....BUT WHEN I LEARNT HOW TO PROGRAMME IT......I I I LOST MY BAD THOUGHTS AND.,.....BUT I HAVE STILL SOME PROBLEMS WITH MY OWN DISTORTION.....AND HERE'S WHERE I WANT SOME HELP

THE SOUND QUALITY IS THE BEST I'VE EVER HEARD....BUT I JUST WANT MY OWN EFFECT.....THERE'S THE PROBLEM WITH MY SOUND......I CAN'T FIND MY SOUND!!!!

THAT'S MY EFFECTOR!!!!!!!!!! BUT I'VE STILL PROBLEMS WITH MY SOUND!!!

-----------------

WELL I PLAY POWER METAL.....(AS MANOWAR . GRAVE DIGGER.....AND I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THEIR DISTORTIONS WITH MY 505) I PLAY GUITAR SINCE I WAS 10!(AND PIANO SINCE I WAS 4!!!).....IF SOMEBODY STEAL MY 505....I'LL BUY A GFX707.....WELL IDON'T KNOW.....MAYBE I COMPARE ITS DISTORTION WITH IBANEZ OVERDRIVE EC-20!!!

The Zoom 505 is way to compact. Since there are only two pedals, it is really hard to get to the patch when playing live (sometimes you even get to jump to the wrong patch or activate bypass by error). Patches are also hard to edit, buttons are to small. Led display is also to small, leading to the problem of abreviations (it really takes some time till you figure out what everything means). This effect pedalboard should be easier to use, since it has few effects (24?)

The Zoom 505 should have enough effects for an average starting player. Chorus and flangers sound nice. Still, there is a strong weakness with the wahs (auto and expression pedal driven) and the distortions (they don't sound natural, they are useless). I used the Zoom with my Ibanez JS100 guitar driven by different amps (Dean, Marshall, Fender), and never sounded good when distorted. Echo/delay range is bad enough as to exclude it from working effects. In few words, this is usefull when in need of a chorus/flanger. If you start playing, distortions are okey. But when in need of a wide range of distortions, for a gig or something, Zoom 505 is never the choice. I could never make a distortion sound the way I liked.
In adittion, I have to mention that Zoom pedalboards always boost the bass cut. You get a very noisy effect when using distortion.
Amp/acustic emulation/distortion is weak, too. Deserves no more than a 3.

I put a 7 because once it trashed my Dean Speaker: high output signals and bass boost can trash most of the average speakers after a while ...
The compact Zoom is very strong, though: you can handle it without care, treat it like bullshit, and keeps on working. Still eats a 9v battery in 2 hours.

Never had customer support .. not to wait that there IS some kind of customer support for anything here in Costa Rica...

I play Progressive Rock/Metal, a bit blues, and the effects don't even get closer to what I want. The only thing I liked was the clean effects like Chorus. I have been playing for 8 years, and after having known a lot of small and cheap effectboards, I'm now convinced that the best is getting sepparate effects, or a real good and therefore expensive multieffects. I sold my 505 after 3 months, and the guy I sold it to was by no means happier then me with the 505.
If you are starting to play guitar, maybe this is your solution. But if you think of the price, including the expresion pedal (without it you can't to nothing), it's better to buy something good the first time. The worst I can imagine is a musician that has no madurity in choosing effects because it grew up learning with bad multi-effects.

Well its probably not the easiest thing to learn but its not hard either.

OH MY GOD!!!This thing sucks a huge bucket of rotten ass.No wonder music is in such a shitty state if people think this thing sounds good.The only use I will get out of this thing is if I have to throw it at a animal to scare it away.Yuuuuuck!!!

Here is some advice for zoom.Why not cut more costs and make it out of
cardboard???Crap.

Never dealt with them but its probably as good as there product.

I have been playing guitar for 8 years and this is by far the worst sounding thing I have owned,even compared to a peavy rage amp.This thing should be hunted down and wiped off the face of the planet.

This pedal sounds great, distortion is good and so is the wah. Editing patches is not that hard although, I had to look at the manual, but I could of actually figured it out on my own. The manual goes into detail, basically tells you everything. I wish they made the pedal bigger so that it would be possible to switch patches my skipping a whole bank, 4 effects. There is a bank switch on there but it is so small you foot can't do it unless you're not wearing shoes. On the otherhand, there is 24 effects and they all work great. It is also hard to bypass the pedal when you need to get a clean or distorted sound from the amp. I got the gist of it, you just have to make sure you press the pedals down at the same time or otherwise you will switch the patch you were on.

I am using a inexpensive Hondo II guitar with a Peavey Ultra 112. This pedal sounds great, especially on the first patch, right when you plug it in. My guitar is in perfect condition, but I would imagine on a more expensive one it would sound awesome.

I think Zoom does need to make one out of metal or at least make the pedals more durable. I have not had mine for long, about 3 months, but I would imagine it would break in the longrun. I jam with my frieds and it works fine, just be careful with it.

Never dealt with them, hope I never have to.

I haven't playing guitar that long, about six months, and I love this pedal. I just play around with it and use a lot of the different sounds it has. I never programmed my own in except for one time, but then I put it back to factory settings, which you can do. I think they made almost every combination, since there is 24 presets already programmed. I need to find the expression pedal to hook up to it, but I hear this is expensive, so I'll just not buy their brand. I would definitely buy this pedal, it's worth the money, makes you sound good even if you strummed one string.

Let's just say I haven't used it in a couple of years and I still remember all the functions. Easy enough

I originally bought it for guitar (I was a beginner) and I've had good times with it, it's perfect for beginners - has all the distortions, effects, compression (like beginners know what it is ;) and so on. Lets you practice with headphones - the reason I still have mine. Of course it's cheesy when compared to real amps and effects, but hey, choruses, reverbs, compression and stuff like that can still be used to a degree.

Anyway, yesterday I used it to process my... snare drum! Yeah, I miked up my drumset and I didn't have enough compressors and effects units, so I used my 505 on the snare. I had maximum compression, chorus on 5 and a tad of reverb, like "Hall 1" or so. "Distortion" was on "Acoustic" and drive was on about 15 or some small value like that. Let me tell you, it sounded excellent! I may just store that setting and always use it for my snare! I can also see how it could work on vocals just fine. The best part is - you can combine things that are important for drums, vocals, etc. - chorus, reverbs or delays and compression. It doesn't give you a whole lot of control over these effects, but you shouldn't apply too much anyway, just a touch. It has to be a 10 for the snare drum, but definitely not for guitar :)

Mine's about 3 years old, it took a lot of stepping on and although it's plastic, it's still alive and well.

It helps me make music in the sense that when I need an extra processor I always remember that I have this thing and I can use it. I wouldn't ever buy one of these ZOOM boxes again now, but I don't wanna get rid of mine either, it can be useful, even if for just headphone practicing.

So easy I figured it out on
my own...never looked at the instructions
until it was too late (if you know what I mean)
and even then, the instructions HELPED
what I already knew

I use this in my home studio...gigs...whatever...
Thing is...you must plan ahead...have a clean
near a distortion if you're gonna do that!!!
It switches easily, fits damn near in your pocket,
and (if run through a mixing board) will sound
like you've got a big A#$ rig!!!

Never had a problem....atleast not yet *crosses
his fingers*

Haven't needed it yet...but being so simple....I
imagine if you couldn't get it fixed yourself
you could get it repaired for a few bucks

Excellent piece of machinery...easy to use..
easy to edit on the fly....great effects...
BUY THE EXPRESSION PEDAL.....if you think it's
too expensive, buy a BESPECO pedal!!!
$20 and worth EVERY cent!!! Wah?? Volume?
Pitch drop/raise?? All in one $20 pedal...
BUY IT!!!!

I am amazed that so many reviewers have given a low rating in this category. I had this bad boy figured out in less than two minutes thanks to the multitude of web pages out there (check out: http://users.erols.com/gottstein/zoom/zoom505.htm ). Because of these sites I have yet to even look at the manuals. It is very easy to use.

My setup is a Fender Japanese Strat with Hotrail humbucker at the bridge and stock single coils at neck and middle or a Gibson Les Paul Junior Special. I also have a Pro Co Rat and a Cry Baby Wah. I run it through either a Fender Bullet Reverb, Peavey Bandit 75, or my Yamaha MT 120 Four Track. There is very little noise through my humbuckers, but the single coils can be noisy with some settings. I play all types of music and this has a pretty good sound for most, though I am still trying to find a distortion sound with a little more low end and crung. I just use my Rat when I need that during recording. There are so many damned sounds you can get from this little box, you just have to be creative because the presets are not very good. There aren;t many sounds that you can't get from this thing if you tinker with it (that is half of the fun anyway!)

It is plastic, so I wouldn;t want to beat it too bad. The foot switch is not very smooth either when it comes to changing effects in the middle of a song. I would certainly not want to gig with this thing- studio and home play only here folks. Under those conditions I don't see any problems.

Never had to deal with them and I hope I never do.

I like to play a variety of music and this has been perfext for me. I have been playing since 1983 so I am no rookie kids. I also own a Tokai APB-?64 Bass, Fender Statacoustic (Buy one if you can get your hands on it!), Fender DG-7, Squier II Fat Strat, Boss Dr. Rhythm DR 550 Drum Machine, and Casio CTK-611 Synthesizer. If it were stolen I would be very pissed and buy another. I love the sheer number of sounds you can create. The only thing I dislike is the lack of a smooth transition between effects during a song that you get with the stomp boxes. If anyone can find me an effects unit as complete as this for twice the money I would love to see it. Contrary to other reviewers I do not think this box is only for beginners. I believe beginners should not get this. Get a Rat, Strat, and an amp and get your own style and skills down before you start screwing around with multiple effects. Otherwise, you will not be able to appreciate the sheer creativity that this box offers you. Oh yeah- BUY THE ADAPTER. It pays for itself in a couple of days.

Damn, talk about easy all you whinos should take abit of time to figure this stuff out

I use a tele with mine and its fantastic! With the more powerful distortions and a big amp setup stay the h33l away!!!
Also you can sound like anyone you want no matter what.
The distortions are good on a lower to midlevel but, if you get too high it sounds like abunch of noise

Very reliable and I would definetly use it at a gig no questions asked. ZOOM should seriously think about making a metal version of the 505.

Never had any question or problems with it

I play classic hard rock and some metal and I love it.
I've been playing for 3 years.I own a Telecaster, Washburn(cheepo), Marshall 60W.If stolen I would bouy another. I wish it had a metal casing to it.

This is the worst pedal there is in my opinion...Editing is out
of the question and very frustrating..MANUAL SUCKS!! BIG TIME!!

I use a Fender strat through a Dod Grunge,Boss Xtortion,Boss Metal Zone,Crybaby Wah and a Crate GX15..This is so noisy..On almost every setting...Altough some sounds are cool but not enough..Most of the effects are just a joke..Big joke...I almost fell down laughing at the weakness of some of the effects..This is definitely a tone sucker..Distortion is fair.Chorus and time based effects are average.

Plastic.Weak plastic..Wish it was metal or harder...Never use this on gigs..This is just not meant for gigs..

Never dealt with Zoom..

I play a lot of types of music..This sucks big time...Get a GFX707 instead..It's so much better..I wish it had an X pedal..I would never buy this thing again...

IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT YOU ARE A FRIGGING MORON!!!

I'VE OWNED AND USED THIS PEDAL AT 2 PRACTICES A WEEK AND APPROX. 2 SHOWS A MONTH FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM.

SINCE I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS LIKE.

I HAVE TO TELL YOU ALL THAT IF YOU ACTUALLY WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK OUT THE PRODUCT BEFORE YOU PAID YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY FOR IT YOU WOULD BE LESS LIKELY TO COMPLAIN...MR.$239 CANADIAN DOLLARS!!!

Not bad once you get the hang of it. "Good sound," however, is a relative term, especially concerning the 505.

Wouldn't use it for recording, other than quick and DIRTY demos... too noisey. The only such demo I did with it got a job the first tape I sent out. That is not specifically due to the 505 however... Like the sounds it makes for the price. I'm a pragmatist/cheapie. My guitars are cheap... Mexi-strat and Samick-made Springfields. My amp is cheap... Danelectro Nifty Fifty. The 505 fits right in. I'm into portable and expendable. The 505 is.

I wouldn't stomp on it... I don't stomp anyway... That's for kids. Holds up to a light tap. I generally set it on one patch and leave it there anyway. I gig with it, all night long. Would only use an ac adapter with this... wouldn't even consider batteries. I take pretty good care of my equipment. So far, so good.

Haven't had need.

Would be nice if the delay had more flexibility. Would be nice if you could use the delay and reverb simultaneously. Would be nice if they threw in tremelo. I play rockabilly/blues, so it isn't too hard to get it to do that well enough. I used to tote a compressor, an overdrive, and a delay for my guitar. Not anymore. My "sound" is pretty simple. I set variants of it through about three banks or so, and something in there is going to "fit" my mood/ears at any one time and whatever guitar I've decided to take out and use that night.... I purposely picked my guitars to get three different "classic" styles... strat, 335, and les paul. What "works" for one doesn't necessarily work for the others... The 505 patches make it easy to "get it" without tweaking any knobs.
When something comes out that is better for the same price, or less, I wouldn't hesitate jumping ship... that is, if this thing should give up the ghost. For now, it does the job. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it... or replace it." For simple souls that can play and need something for club work, oakie dokie. It is what it is. You want more, pay for it. Simple as that.

I gave it a seven because I have not yet figured out how to edit the stuff, but the ease of simply flipping through effects appeals to my lazy side.

The sound is pretty good if you're doing nothing but the effects it has. Try to turn up the distortion on your amp, and it's background fuzz heaven. Always plug it in with your guitar through the input jack on the front. If you have an effects loop, it will feedback like crazy on the distortion effects. I play through a Carvin 2x12, and I use it mostly for the tuner setting, which is really handy because it's always set to the bypass. All I have to do is hit the string and look down. However, I tune to C#, it seems to not be able to read anything below D. The acoustic setting sounds neat with the distortion up on the amp.

It has served me well for these past few years, and I take it to band practice every week. I would not want to stand to close to it when I'm on stage, though. I walk back and forth a lot (I picked that up after watching Tony Iommi too much) and I'd be afraid of crushing the little thing, or at least accidentally changing an effect. I've heard of pedals falling off, but maybe they had lemons.

I haven't had a good history with getting help from companies when my other stuff broke, usually some kid that doesn't even know where he works.

It's really an anti-climactic pedal. It's built up in reviews, mostly by places trying to sell it. It's been dependable for me, for the most part. I like some of the effects, but for the most part, they're pretty useless. My Carvin amp has better built in effects anyway. It does do me good when I have to make quick tunings with that built in tuning feature. It hasn't affected my style much, I'm a Stevie Ray and Black Sabbath fanatic, the amp's distortion does fine. I wouldn't replace it if it were stolen, lost, or broken. I recieved it as a present, so I would be more sad about it in that respect, rather than as losing a valuable part of my guitar setup.

at first, it was like fucking a chipmunk on a bowl of jello, but after a couple of days, i started to get the hang on it. Pretty cheesy distortions (unless you are playing off a mesa triple rectifier), delay is a bit shallow, as well. Good chorus, good flange. Excellent echo. I dont like the fact that you have to pay like 150 bux xtra for an expression pedal, when this ones less than that, and does like ten times the shit!!

cheesy distortions

sounds like a dog raping a mongoloid for the fuzz effect

ive spilt a lot of beer on it, and it still works!

dont think it take it to a gig...maybe

zoom is like the jews of guitar pedals, man

okay i guess

Very very easy to use, but a real pain in the ass to edit effects..If you can call them that. Having two pedals on the unit (one up, one down) can be a really bad experience onstage, especially if you want to change patches! Either you have to hit the little + or - button to switch patches, or program it so you can hit the up/down pedals enough times to cycle through the patches.. I don't know about you, but this is a nightmare on stage... The best advice I can give is; Keep all the sounds you will use in ONE patch, and have it programmed so it will stay in that patch no matter how many times you stomp those cheap little plastic pedals.. Otherwise, you could get a really really horrible response from nowhere...

First off, I must say that anyone who thinks this pedal sounds good is either deaf, 14 years old, or a complete fucking moron. This is by far the noisiest effects pedal I have ever had the misfortune of playing through. My current setup consists of a couple Strats (1973 w/ maple neck and DiMarzio pickups, and a 1989 Custom Shop Strat w/ a maple neck and Seymours) and a Yamaha AES-500. I play them all through my Crate Blue Voodoo 120 Stack with Celesion V30's. THIS SETUP SOUNDS AWESOME!! Without the Zoom 505, that is... No matter what you do to this pedal, it is noisy, it gives off alot of "white" noise. (For those who are unfamiliar with that term, think of turning on your TV with no cable plugged into it. The only way I could get this pedal relatively quiet, is when I ran it through the Effects loop of my Blue Voodoo, as the pedal's noise gate did nothing except for take off high end and make notes die quicker.. and about the distortion.. USELESS!!! There are several types of distorted tones available-I'll give them that-but they all sound like shit!!!! Chorus isn't all that bad, and the flange was decent, but I'm being really nice here. The main thing that makes this pedal suck is the fact that it has such a horrible processor. The response on some effects is VERY slow. Like the half-assed harmonizer, and the doubler/octaver.. I was hoping to get an ok 12 string sound when I turned on the octave feature.. Instead I got what resembled an out of tune harpsichord.. absolutely horrible. And some of Zoom's factory presets are the last thing you would EVER want your guitar to sound like!!! I play Eric Johnson/Joe Satriani/CCR/Zeppelin/Pink Floyd stuff.. and this pedal makes me want to cry..

Made outta cheap plastic.. I am very nice to my gear and barely touch the pedals to activate them... They both came loose and rattled constantly whenever I would move it.. Very light, too.. Can't hold its place on stage, always skids around.

If I let anyone else I know use this thing, it would be long dead..

Not even worth it

I got rid of this thing about 8 months after I bought it.. I was originally looking for a good Chorus/Flange pedal, and was gonna buy a Boss, when the Retard Sales guy told me I could buy this piece of shit for only $30 more and have all kinds of effects.. Being the moron that I am, I bought it.. But I am rid of it now... Thank God!! I hate this thing, and I hope I never see it again (besides on the bottom of my toilet) It is really that bad, don't buy it.. Get a Digitech..

Stay away from this thing, it is so horrible that it has made me anti-pedal for life..

Thanks alot, Zoom.. For having the guts to produce something so horrible at such a rediculous price.

About average for the digital-inexpensive-multi effect genre; read the manual - twice. Regarding the "manual", it's actually a large sheet of yellow paper which folds up a bit like a roadmap, and is vague and frustrating to read. ZOOM has lost what little class it once had, back in the 9002 days, and accept that most effects in the 505 are stuck in the narrow modes they are programmed in. The delay has only 9 settings for delay, no mix, and no dwell. Really! Note that delay and reverb cannot be used at the same time. Various patches have a great range of gain; the ones with distortion generally jump right out at your face, while others are barely audible. And only 4 user programable patches. What were they thinking?

What kind of market are they targeting with this product, 14 year olds? Lovers of distortion will not be disappointed with the number of "electrocuted kitten" sounds, though most people today have no idea what tone actually is. If you would like to seem to play a lot of notes really fast, and need something to cover up the flubs and poor timing, then by all means buy the 505. The famous step effect is really annoying.
To be fair, the chorus is not as bad as others I've heard, compression is handy, though a bit clunky, and noise reduction is a great relief, since this unit seems noisy. The number of effects is a good learning tool for novices, sort of like viewing a movie preview to decide if you'd like to actually buy a ticket. The price puts it within range of many, and a lot of kids will be refering to it and the "good old days" some 20 years from now, I suppose. In my humble opinion, one would be better served in buying a higher quality unit; something tells me that there will be thousands of used 505's for sale cheap in the near future.

I would not be objective if I criticized its reliability, I haven't had the unit long enough to break it (3 weeks), and will be returning it soon. If it is any help, my 9002 lasted for several years, until an electrical storm killed it.

Here we go! If my experience is typical, then it would seem that ZOOM subscribes the "greater fool" theory of marketing. In other words, why bother servicing an existing customer, when new ones will buy before they consider what it's like to not get any response from the manufacturer when something breaks. It's so gratifying for one to be ignored after several attempts to contact ZOOM (Samson); teaches you humility. Why bother them anyway, they already have your money. Did you think they were in business for their health? Once I went in to a local music store and asked if they carried ZOOM products. The salesman's reply was "garbage", just the one word. Now I know what he meant.

I've played since 1964, and have used hundreds of types of gear. I own 7 instruments presently, all top quality, including 3 I built myself. In the past I've owned Fender, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Vox, and Marshall products, to name a few. The ZOOM products I've had in the past were generally good, I think the 500 series might have been a mistake. Likewise their customer service.

This is the second generation Zoom 505 built in green transparent plastic with an aluminium base, taking 4 AA batteries.
As Easy to use as stabdard 505, but its updated GFX-2 processor means there is less background hum. I was editing patches within 10 minutes of recieving it. Manuals come in 5 languages and are clear and easy to use, but with something this simple why would you need one?

Updated processor means that it is much quiter than a standard 505 and the effects sound a lot less digital. Some of the presets are inspired - Metal Overdrive, Acoustic and Fuzz Wah, other are less so but with a bit of tweaking you get a huge range of great sounds, of course it does not sound as good as individual stomp boxes but at the price of less than 1 who cares?

Slightly better built than the original 505 check the aluminium base plate maybe eventually Zoom will build all their products in metal. The change of batteries to AA drastically increases battery life. However I would be dubious about puting full weight on it. But I'm sure if I did it would survive.
I would gig without backup - carefully.

Havent needed to yet,comes with a years guareentee so If it goes wrong they'll soon get it back.

For the price nothing beats it. Better built than the shoddily designed piece of plastic they call 707 and for the money saved I'll get nyself a proper Wah - either a Morley or Crybaby, Hell for the price where can you go wrong.

The Zoom 505 is easy enough to program, and for the price, it accomplishes the tasks of at least 10 stomp-boxes (which are always of questionable usefulness anyway, except the TS-9).WHY WON'T ANYONE PUT A POWER SWITCH ON THEIR STOMP BOXES OR PROCESSORS?!? I did. I drilled a hole next to the power jack, and removed a corner of the battery housing inside.Then I installed a toggle to the 9v wire. That eliminates dead batteries when I return from a phone call offstage.

After playing for 20 years, and going from cheap DOD chorus boxes up to the ART SGX2000, Digitech GSP21 and RP10, I have to say I'm impressed with this little guy. If it wasn't for the lack of predelay on the reverb (try getting a fender spring-reverb sound from it sometime), and the fact that the distortion doesn't capture the tone of my strat as I bend a string, I'd say it's wonderful. Of course, I had to alter every single patch to get it to be useful, but I've done that on all my processors. It seems sound engineers have no grasp on what we guitarists consider "usable". They tend to want show off how awful a patch can get when you overload it with delay. When was the last time you listened to an album where delay was used, anyway? Okay, I'll get off my soap-box.
The autowah works better than a Digitech product. In fact, I've got the "Sunshine of Your Love" tone programmed in it. Forget the expression pedal, it sound good enough in automode. I also have programmed in The Cars flanged tone, and it sounds great. SRV is a little harder to capture. My "Jimmy Page" patch was easy to program.This pedal is a little cleaner than the Digitech products, when run back-to-back. The Digitechs seem to lose a little more signal - proven by their bypass settings. The acoustic simulator is part of the distortion circuit?!? Okay, whatever. Its weird, and I don't use it. For any preamp, I suggest NOT playing one through a tube amp, or even fender solid state amps, as they are modeled after tube tone. Use a sterile amp, perhaps a keyboard amp. And for any guitarist- lose the 8 inch speakers. It is common opinion in all the guitar circles I've been involved with, that 12 inch speakers are perfect for guitar.

It's done fine so far- nothing's busted yet. Then again, I also don't "mosh" my gear while I play, either. It sure can eat batteries, though. I'm tempted to try a Nimh battery. I tried a Nicad rechargable, but those are only 7.2 v, not 9. How and why they sell them, I don't know.

I've never talked to them.

I play anything from Pink Floyd to Dream Theatre to Beatles, style-wise. It works pretty well, but my disappointment with the reverb prevails, and I've had some problem with noise on occasion, which is hard to duplicate.I'm interested in the RP2000.

I have used this product as an introductory effects unit ages ago and in the way of use, its pretty easy.
Up or down, scroll through the effects pretty easy. the editing, saving, tuner etc however bring it down in ease. But all in all pretty easy 2 use!

mmmm sound quality isnt the best part f this product. It does have lots of effects for such a cheap unit though, however they are very low quality.

Ummm i wouldnt really trust this pedal as far as i could throw it.
It isnt intended for gigging however if i was to use it at a gig i would definatley use backup. Its more for the use of a begginer guitarist just getting into effects.

Never dealt with them

I play heaps of different styles of music and the zoom 505 just doesnt cut it.
If i was looking 4 an introductory effects unit i would be looking at maybe a korg or a boss. I wouldnt waste time on the zoom when youll have to upgrade very soon due to itz lack of quality!

I don't think its easy to edit, but to use it can't get much easier.
The manual sucks!!! It was probalby written in Japanese and translated, it doesn't make sense in some areas like the eq patch.

I use it with acoustic & electric guitar.
you can get a good acoustic patch with limiter, amp sim, chorus, and hall reverb. i was suprised by the sound, just don't over do the effects.
(Try acoustic sim. through an acoustic, can get a cool sound)
I got the petal because I play bass and have a bass amp, didn't want to buy a guitar amp, and needed distortion, chorus, & such. I hardly play electric through it.
the preset patches suck, and you will probably want to modify everylast one of them.

It has worked for me (and my friends who like to borrow) for about 8 or 9 months with no problem. Using the memory it sucks batteries, get a cheep adapter. Play shows without back up frequently

For what I play with (acoustic & electric both straight to system or through bass amp) and for (small groups <100)it is good for me. I have been playing for <2yrs and have a Ibanez acoustic with aftermarket piezio and a Minx110 bass amp, or a BXR100.
If it were stolen I would buy a 707, because they are so much better and it wouldn't be that much more to buy. I wish this petal was as easy to edit as the 707. It helps make music but you have to work awhile on patches to make them sound right.
I is great for the price

Oh yea!!!!, This thing is very easy to use. It has a little "edit" button, just hit it, then go through the effects with the patch buttons and edit with the bank buttons, dont get no simpler than that.

Hummmmmm, y'know....I think this pedal gets a really bad rap. This thing sounds pretty damn good through any amp. I use all the efects, for some reason or another. They all have a great sound if you can think of something to use them with..haha, but they really do sound great!!! I run this thing through a cheap Epiphone LP Special, and a small Fender Frontman 15wt, and there is little-no noise at all, as long as you dont have any gain on the amp- that is, and its gotta be on the clean channle of your amp or you'll end up with a mess. But as far as a good sound, this thing really does sound great. I was very impressed with sound quality. The distortions are excellent, as are the chorus, delay, wah, reverb, phaser, pitch shifter, and whatever the hell else is on there. I like the auto-wah, but I gotta get the expression pedal cause I hate the constant fast paced expression on the auto-wah. Im gonna fork over the dough for the FP02 expression pedal so I can cry the wah into my bends, hehe, I love it, I'm so addicted to that damn wah...hahaha, but that metal distortion on this thing is so killer. Man, just set that distortion, and your ready to go, no joke, and the fuzz, rythm and acoustic simulator are great too. I have found some kind of use for every effect this thing has, I play a lot of 80s type metal, and I do some 90s stuff too, and every opnce and a while i'll mess around with some of the wild effects and do some KoRn or Limp Bizket or something, but I primarirly play stuff like AC/DC, Ozzy, Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, and stuff like that(all requiring different settings wich I have already stored as patches)

I dont know, I havent had it very long, so time wil tell, but Im prety sure as long as youve got the propper adapter, ot a dump truck load of 9volt batteries, this thing will work......did I mention this thing eats batteries?...well, it does!!!!...go for the extra $25 and get the damn adapter..PLEASE!!!! But, they do have a new 505 out that is clear blue and takes AA's for longer battery life.

Hummmm, hopefully I won't have to deal with customer support

I feel like "8" is good for this section, that maybe an overstatement or an understatement, I don't know because I havent had it long enough to tell the reliability yet, but I do know what the pedal has shown me, is that this thing is the best effects processor for the money, no really, it's great for the price, I just wish I would have waited for the new clear blue one that takes AA's instead of 9volts. But seriously, the only things I have a problem with is the fact that it drinks batteries(just get the adapter, it'll pay for itself in like a couple hours), and the fact that the expression pedal is not built in, but I guess not everybody needs an expression pedal, and having one built in would just raise the cost of a very good priced pedal, so you figure, if you buy this thing new for say, $100, and you pay $25 for the adapter, and then $50 for the expression pedal, hell, you've only spent $175, I mean, that's pretty damn cheap compared to other processors comparible to this one, plus, who the hell else makes one this small??, hell, the damn thing fits into a gig bag, gosh, I cant say enough about this pedal, hummm, I got sound covered, I got the eas of use covered, and I had to comment on the other ones, and now im on over-all rating, damn, Im trying to think if there's anything else you might need to know before buying this pedal.......well, I'm stumped here, so I guess that's it, enjoy if you buy one!!!!

I hate the fact that you have to go insane and shift patches to get to effects. Playing with this POS live would kill me. I dont even have one but my friend bought one and he doesnt realize that he wasted his money. Im stickin with the DODtec4X. That thing smokes.

The only good effect on that pedal is the flanger. I liked the way it sounded but everything else sucked. When i used it, I was convinced that every effect was combined with reverb. Its frustrating that the sounds are programmed the way they are and you cant adjust speeds or depth etc....

If u weight over 200, stay away from this frail little pedal. My god, its made of plastic. Im sorry but when I play on stage, I like to jump around and go crazy and if just once i came down on a Zoom pedal, goodbye. Using this at a gig would be totally senseless unless your a backup guitar player and you have 5 minutes between parts to shift throught the patches to find your effect.

I wouldnt call if it broke. I would kick myself in the @$$ for being stupid enough to buy it. Im sure that if i called, they would laugh at me and put me on the suckers list.

Do not buy this pedal. I would recommend the DODtec4X. I was jammin on another bands equipment and is discovered that they used DOD processors. I tried the tec4X just to see how it compared to the zoom and i almost wet my pants. Its so awesome. The bipass is done on individual pedals instead of pressing on both. The effects kick @$$ especially the wah wah. I never had any trouble, plus its made out of a hard material that would withstand anything. If elephants played guitar, I would recommend this.

This is an update to my previous review about a year ago. It is quite easy to use, but it is not flexible enough - way too limiting.

I am using pretty much the same gear. Except, i borrowed a trace elliot stack, and used it with that. It sounds really bad. honestly, most of the effects are unusable, the distortions are too digital. I went out and bought a fab-tone, and it is so much better. The problem now is if i put the fab-tone before the 505, then the 505 makes the distortion shite, and if i put the 505 before, then all the 505 effects become really weak. So i decided to bin the 505, and buy a dod flange, and i am currently saving for a nice delay. oh yeah, and no matter what anyone else says, this is possibly the noisiest pedal i have heard ever in my life.

i gigged with it, broke off one of the pedals, it is so light that you have to tape it to the floor otherwise it doesn't stop sliding around. fortunately i had my fab-tone to save me.

don't know, don't care.

i play everything from led zeppelin to soulfly, and it is only really good for clean stuff. i like the delay, but that is it. if it were stolen or lost, i probably wouldn't notice because i never use it. seriously if you are thinking of buying this pedal, then think what you want it for. if you want it for distortion, buy seperate pedals. i suppose if you don't care about sound quality, and never go at high enough levels to hear the noise, and you had no money, you could buy it, but it really is more effort than it is worth. just save for a bit longer and buy either the new zoom, which is supposed to be better or seperate pedals. in my opinion seperate pedals is the only way to go. then again, if you can get one really cheap you might as well go for it as an introduction to the different effects, but don't think of it as a serious pedal. i have given it four, because without it i would never have moved on to better pedals, but now it just seems crap.

Very easy. But I forget which button it is but if you it and anthor it locks up on one set of patches which sucks.

Very good if you want to record I think you should not hook it up to the amp just to what your recording on.

You can fit it into your carrying case. I would use it for a gig but you have to do a lot of shit to it.

nope

I play a lot of Ratm if you don`t know they have a lot and I mean a lot of effects so what I do since it only has two peadles and 24 patches is I set the effect on it but I set just a regular electric gutiar before it so I can switch back and forth easy.

When I first got it, it took me a while to figure out how to edit patches but after about a hour I started to get it

I liked the sound it was a big step from the push button distortion and reverb on my Peavy Pacer and it sounded a whole lot better with my Strat than it did with my Peavey Preditor. I love the reverb effects and the lead and metal distortion

I never had any pronlems with reliability the only thing is man that thing eats batteries.

never called

I love playing Metallica and Sabbath through it but I still haven't found a good setup for RATM. if I lost it I would most deffinatly buy a new one!I wish the Expansion pedal did more than it does I was dissapointed.

Easy? No i don't think so. Only 4 buttons for editing. And how about live concerts??? How to select patches with *ONLY TWO PEDALS* It sucks!!!!!

In that little box called zoom-505. There are so many Fx. That's why quality of sound is not good. How can 24 fx in little box souns great. Sure if you never listen great tube sound, or real analog distorthion, may be for you this sound will be great. Distortion sucks!!!!!! Digital distortion - yack! go listen pedals distortion or another effects processors (such as boss, digitech...)

Never deal with 'em

I play different styles of music.
My setup is: Guitar - Aria Pro II,
Amp - Fender Bullet Reverb Amp
Fx - Boss Dual Overdrive

I'll never buy it even for 5 $

it is very easy to use. i never even looked at the manuel and i figured out how to edit and use everything that it had to offer.

i'm using a jackson, and an epiphone guitar with a 15 watt epiphone amp(not the greatest, but it gets the job done). it isn't too terribly noisy, just on the metal distortion, but that sounds great anyway. i can get a pretty close megadeth sound out of it. i haven't had it long enough, but i am in pursuit of a randy rhoads sound. i think that i am on the way to getting close to a zakk wylde thing too, but he is too bad. i love the reverb on it, it works great!

i can depend on this unit, but the AC adapter is a must. i would definetly use this on a gig!

i play for the most part megadeth, ozzy, and black sabbath. i have only been playing for4 months now, but this unit is helping me learn as i go along. overall, this is a great deal for the money. you get a lot of good effects in a small affordable package, i would much rather take this along with me instead of something bigger.

this is very easy to get right sound of it.i only read the manual for 25 minutes and this is all.editing patches is very easy just push edit button and skip whit two pedals.there is a very huge and good manual,that tells all the things of this pedal.

i m using jackson guitar and a small amp.This pedal isnt noisy(thansk zoom noise reduction)on anything.Effects is great for th?s price.Distortions are great.chorus and delay is excellent,and cleans are good to. i m cathing all sound that i want from satriani to malmsteen,metallica to iron maiden

this is also made in plastic but i have no problem about 505
i dont use this on a gig
but two months later i will

i m playing rock and metal for 1 year(but i m playing at 8 hours a day )This is very good pedal for beginners and intermediate players.I dont want to lost that pedal.This very small and easy programmable pedal and it helps to my music really well.This is so cheap.Get this pedal!!!

I found the zoom very easy to operate and the manual helped me with anything else. It is a bit tricky to change settings within a patch at first.

The distortions are good, great range from a tight crunchy distortoion to a fat fuzzy sound. The clean settings are OK but mostly pretty dodgy. Plenty of little wierd sound that can be fun too.

The unit as far as i have used it is reliable and i would definately use it without a backup.

I play metallica, slayer, sepultura and cannibal corpse and it is very effective for emulating their sounds. I play a gibson and a jackson through a marshall and it improves my distortion and range of distortion hugely. The clean sounds are OK. It is a hard to change patches on while playing but it is otherwise a good pedal. It is good for a tight metal sound I dont know how it would sound for other genres simply cause i dont play them much. I would reccomend it especially for its price if you are looking for a cheap way to get a good sound.

It is very easy to use. A great manual came with it, which helps very much. Editing patches is very simple...after you get the hang of it. It does, however, take some time.

Well, this is a very touchy subject. This all depends on what equipment you use with it...I used it with my Squier Strat...I thought it sucked. I then got a Metal Zone, and a Standard American Tele, and I thought about bringing the pedal out. When I did, it HONESTLY sounded BETTER than the Metal Zone! No joke...But I use more than 1 effect, and the Zoom is a bit too hot for the other pedals.

So far, nothing is wrong with it. I've had mine for about a year..It's made of plastic, so I guess it could be broken very easily, but what can't? (Eh hmmm...BOSS). Anywho, it's pretty reliable. I probably wouldn't gig with it..only for say one or two songs. I gave it an 9 because of the plastic.

I have never dealt with them. I hope I never have to.

I play mostly rock, and this is a good match. The distortions are analog, so it has a unique sound to it. The preset factory patches basically are useless, but if you really fiddle with this thing, there are some nice sounds you can get out of it. The delays could be longer...and the flanger could be deeper, and the phase could be more rotary...But who cares? It's a wonderful deal. A wonderful pedal...both for beginners, and as a backup or a practice "weapon" for pros and great players alike. If you want something that will sound good with your GOOD guitar (cause like i said..with a bad guitar, you get a bad sound), then buy this pedal!

This pedal is easy to use. I looked at the maunal after and realized that I had already mastered the patch editing system and other things. This is a good pedal for use in gigs. I played a few gigs that I needed loads of effects one after the other, so I simply laid the patches up one after the other. No problems with this pedal even if you are technologically impared.

The sound quality on this and my Carlsbro GLX 100 is great! Recording, practicing or even gigging is no problem. The sound is always top quality and I could not ask for more. I play Grunge, Metal and Rock/Pop. This pedal is all I could ask for. Great sound quality is always an important thing to look out for.

I have never had any problems with this pedal! I would take it to a gig without even thinking about a second pedal as back up!

I called once to ask about somethings about the pedal. I asked about things that could damage the pedals and they were very helpful.

This is the best pedal that I have used. My message to professional players, amateurs or begginers is: GET ONE! They are great. Orginally I was going to use it as a flanger only. I needed a flanger but the shop did not have the flanger I wanted so I bought this pedal thinking that I would only ever use the flanger. The flanger is cool! Very! I have used much more than the flanger now. I use it alongside my Danelectro Fab Tone and my DOD Ice Box Stereo Chorus. Many people that I know have bought this pedal and they love it. I love this pedal! My advice to all those people who are not to sure about buying it, go to a shop and try it out. There is no harm in asking. This pedal really is great for whatever style. GET ONE!

Very easy to use after a week or so of perusing endlessly the instructions.

I use it with a 15 watt Bullet, Fender sans reverb and a Washburn BT-8. I can't say much about quality of sound as I don't have that much experience. Some of the patches seem silly to me but most are at least interesting.

No comment: it's still new.

No sign of guarantee with this model. Their motto is "catch us if you can". Ha-ha!

This thing is good for getting your feet wet in the effects box quagmire. THE reason I decided to put my two cents in is to say that it is DEFINITELY worth getting the optional AC converter. I don't think batteries are strong enough to carry the whiz-bangs and they're expensive. the AC converter made all the diff. in the world between idiot noise in some patches and understandable intent.

very easy to use, nice and compact...... will fit right in the case with my guitar.... dual power option (cause batteries suck) Editing patches is great, because you can listen to the changes as you make them and fine tune your sound..... there's no guess work

As far as sound quality, you have to realize that this is based on so much more than just the pedal itself..... your guitar, pickups and amplifiers make such a difference.... I am using this with an Ibanez Ax 7 string guitar.... it has humbuckers, which definately make a difference in overall sound..... people who complain of static noise alot most likely have crappy pickups. You can make effcts sound weak, or you can make them sound kick ass. At home i use a small fender bullet amp, and even that sounds fine... my roommates Peavy Audition Chorus sounds great when using the pedal.... At gigs with big ass Line 6 amps and stuff like that, the sound was Primo..... heres a little hint: Louder is better. I do dislike the way there is a slight pause while switching effects, but that is common in a lot of multi effects pedals, as the patches need to be loaded.... much like a computer program..... it takes time.... The chorus sounds really good, and the delay effect is cool, it could be longer though.... phaser and flanger also sound great....the acoustic simulator is not super, but NOTHING is perfect... I give it an 8

Reliablity? Of course.... I've had mine for 2 years now, it sits on the bedroom floor, i try not to abuse it too much, but occasionaly step on it or kick it around in the dark..... infact i've even spilled water, soda pop, etc on it...... didn't do a thing to it. Of course its not made to jump on, i wouldn't even jump on a metal pedal. i like to take CARE of my stuff...... so as long as you're not playing floor hockey with it, it should hold up great

yes, infact i had accidently hit a button which locked the effects.... it was a feature of the pedal....... to prevent accidental switching of effects while playing........ i couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, but i emailed Customer support and recieved a response right away, and the information given to me was very helpful. I've also requested catalogues and information about other products, and they sent them out to me right away

I play a lot of different styles, from Korn to Limp Bizkit, No Doubt, Lit, basically the top 40, whatever is going around.... it works good for all types..... except COUNTRY..... as the acoustic simulator isn't great, it takes a lot of tweaking.... A tremolo effect would be nice. I've been playing for about 3 or 4 years, but i probably put in 3 or 4 hours of playing a day. If i lost it, i would probably buy it again..... if i didn't i would definately consider buying a differnt Zoom pedal again...... I love its small size, dual power option. The built in preamp is great..... I can plug in earphones and jam away into the night..... it also makes great for recording. However, if you are going to be recording a record under a major record label.... you can probably afford a little better......though its well worth its price..... and more.... if you're a beginner, this pedal is a must, it makes playing guitar much more fun..... and once you are ready to step into doing gigs, maybe you can use it.... maybe you can't...... But i recommend this pedal to anyone who wants to enhance their guitar experience without paying a whole wad of cash for the 24 different pedals you would have to buy seperately

Easy to use.......of course if there are only 24 efects and editing is piece of cake.
having to push both pedals SUCKS!!!!!!! and can be a real problem when playing live

acoustic simulator sucks the bass is extremely loud and it usually gets distorted
disytortions have no power
i'd have to say that the chorus is the only good one if you have a good guitar and amp
all the effects are sh*t the only ones i use are the distortion and the chorus, maybe sometimes the flanger
but things like the auto-wah, acoustic simulator, pitch shifter all are worthless

it will die in some months
i can't even turn it on now, and when i could, i couldn't go down because the pedal didn't work, which meant i couldn't change the effects 'cause one pedal didn't work and you need both to do so

the only good thing is the price
and the only reason i bought it, but it sucks if you consider yourself a beginer-intermidiate playerf don't buy this you'll regret it, like i did.
DON'T BUY IT UNLESS YOU DON'T HAVE MONEY TO BUY A BETTER THING
oh and hail HEAVY METAL

THis is very easy to use.

The sound quailty sucks if your into recording.
But for a starting out gutiarist its good.

THis is not really dependably.

This is a great machine your a starter
but if ur an established gutiarist looking to record
I would simply suggest going with BOSS.

This pedal is very very easy to use! it's very small, but u can gat a great sound out of it!

I have a Hughes & Kettner Edition blonde amp,and that's the amp for this pedal! it ruuuuules! You will get the fatest pantera sound and a very clean sound like "Nothing else matters" intro by metallica!
I also have an Ibanez RG 270 dx guitar and it sounds very good! U can get the fatest metall sound, to the cleanest sound on this pedal

I have never had a problem with it, but my friend has!
I have used it on gigs and it worket out pretty well!

If you play Heavy, and then I MEAN REALLY HEAVY METALL this is the pedal!!! it's also good for clean sound too!

I have found that this pedal is extrememly easy to use but what sounds good at home may not sound good when the volume is increased.

I use a Fender squire bullet and a Peavy Scorpion 165 watt amp. There are about 7 good sounds that you can get with this pedal from the manufacturers settings. The rest of them pretty much suck but you can edit those out to put in sounds that you prefer.

Reliability... Hell No, but its still cool to mess around with.

The input jack on my pedal lost a connection some how and I took it in to get it fixed.... I did'nt see that fucking thing for about 6 months. Customer support sucks. I'm pretty sure that they have only one phone line so if it ever breaks under warranty Kiss that sucker good bye for a while. Oh did I fail to mention that when it came back one problem was fixed but it had a new problem. My local guitar store fixed the problem the second time because they didnt want me to have to wait another six months

Other than it breaking and taking it for ever to get repaired. I really cant bitch to much. Some settings and sounds are weak but for 130 bucks Im not complaining. The batteries do not last long but a 20 dollar power supply has seemed to take care of that problem. I think this pedal has good bang for the buck but is hard to match sounds of other friend amps when jamming for fun.

Very easy to use, the manual tells you almost everything you need to know. Editing is very easy but it's kinda hard to shut down the effects in the middle of a performance (you are supposed to press the two switches).

The 505 sounds good with me, but it won't with anyone. I usually use my Gibson Les Paul Studio in it and it sound very good, specially the distortions but my brother's Fender Squier Stratocaster, doesn't sound that good. So, with a good equipment it is a certain shot!

You have to be careful with it, it's made of plastic and feel afraid of breakin' it everytime I press the switch. But taking care, you can depend on it.

Never dealt with them.

I use it for heavy metal : Iron Maiden, Metallica, Helloween... the 505 is not the best but it makes a good sound. It is missing a drum maker (like the GFX - 707 one) and it could have the wah - volume pedal (FP - 02 witch I bought) included. But at all it's good and it defenetely worths.

The editing is so simple. When you read the manual and figure out how the thing works, you'll be overwhelmed by the possibilities. Editing averages to about two minutes per patch.

I have a standard fender strat with a 30 watt Peavey.
Sounds great. Plugging straight into the recording studio through the preamp works perfectly. Only probablem is the acoustic simulator produces a slight hissing that increses with the high. The metal distortion is unbeliveably good. I'm not into soloing, but the solo distortion is clean, tight, awsome.

I have never had a single problem with it, and i've had it for more than a year. I very nearly jump on the damn unit when i use it. Its got a sturdy body. I do use it for gigs. Guzzles batteries, though. I uses a wall pluggin.

Never had to deal with the company.

I play from the deftones to silverchair to metallica to 311. its good for all. you can even tweak some patches to sound techno like orgy and incubus. I would most certainly buy it again if it were lost. Its so small too. The size of a book. I just wish it had a blender. It certainly stimulates your creativity. Really hard, sometimes, to decide which sound to use in a riff. The most awsome thing is that at the most it costs $150. Unbelievable. Just get one.

The only thing good about this pedal is that it's easy to use. Manual tells you nearly everything you need to know.

I used an Fender Strat with a Roland DAC-15 amp when I was using this efx. Notice the past tense here. This is a totaly crappy pedal and after patiently having it for like 6 month, I had to sell it away! The compressor/limiter is shitty and the distortions are noisy as hell. I've tried to do some recording with this pedal and went through hell doing it. It is by no doubt THE NOISIEST pedal ever! The reason I gave 2 points is because the reverbs are kinda cool and so is the pitch shift and stuffs. Other than that its totally crappy. It also sux the batteries real bad. A 9v can only last you for like 45 mins. If u got S$150 to spare, spend it on hooker or something.

No and I wouldnt even use it for a jam session let alone a gig.

OK, the people dealing with the stuff here in my country are pretty cool people but if its spoil I would just threw it away though.

I play nearly everything, from Dream Theater, Oasis, Radiohead, Nirvana, GnR, Lunasea, and stuffs. This is a totally crappy pedal. Please dont waste your money. Dont say I didnt warn you.

The editing of the patches is best done once you pick at it a bit, seeing what you like, but the accessability of this petal is outstanding.

I have an Ibanez RG1320 with a Marshall '60's tube amp. The effects petal is great for any type of playing or distortion. It gives you the heart-wrenching distortion patterns, all the way to the beautiful clean tones. It's just a matter of what the user likes. I was able to copy the sounds of Green Day, all the way to Eddie Van Halen. Even Hendrix!

I would definately use it on a gig without a backup. I know I can depend on this petal, and I plan to record with it, although the battery doesn't last long, the memory is permanent.

They are great, but I don't deal directly with the company.

Killer Dismount and I play everything from ballads to punk rock, to metal, to blues, to oldies, to vintage, etc. With such a wide variety of music, I find I need a wide variety of petals, right? WRONG! All I needed was this petal! I have compared it to many other products. Nothing adds up. (unless it's a higher model ZOOM petal)

This pedal is very easy to use. One look through the instructions and editing is a snap. You may have to have the instructions handy for the first few times through to find out what all the abbreviations stand for, but after that it is smooth.

I run this through a crappy bass 10 watt amp and a crappy guitar most of the time. When used with a larger amp it sounds okay until you get the volume turned up real loud. Nothing that can be used at a big gig. It has a lot of unrealistic factory settings that were probably just put on their to make it seem as though it was loaded with everything. With a bit of editing though you can get just about every setting you could want (remember only at lower volumns)

I would definately not use this for a gig. The two pedals are too close together. you could accidently try to hit it for a heavy mud sludging chorus and end up with a wack digital sounding pansie riff. It is plastic which kinda sucks but it is a very durable plastic.

N/A

This pedal is great for a beginer trying to find the sound that is right for you. Also when used with headphones directly into the output jack it is great for practicing. Just get a better pedal when you find the sound you like

It's very easy to edit the patches, but to get a good sound from it is a difficult task. The manual is very useful, may seem confusing at first, but after a while you can survive without it.
Learning how to get a good sound out of it is like playing chess, it's easy to know how to move the pieces, but it's difficult to become a real chess player. It takes time to really know the unit. It's recomendable to program it properly before a gig, since patch edition is easy but it takes a while.

In order to get a good sound out of it, you need to have good equipment. Most of the people says it doesn't have a good sound, but they have guitars with noisy pickups and very small amps. It works better with bigger amps and good pickups. I use a Washburn KC-630 and a 65w Marshall Valvestate VS65R. Initially, I used a cheap Squier guitar with really noisy pickups, and I blamed some of the noise to the ZOOM, but when I changed the guitar, the sound really improved.
Some of the distortions have a bad sound, like the Fuzz, the Distortion and Metal. Overdrive, Blues, Lead & Rhythm have a nice sound. The patches using the Blues distortion are more difficult to create, because maybe they sound good with low volume, but when you increase the volume, it can sound weak. The acoustic simulator doesn't have a good sound, it doesn't sound acoustic at all, and puts too much bass. The modules are mostly useless (lots of weird unnecesary noises) but the Chorus and Flanger are pretty good. The delay is quite good, and the hall reverb works good. The room reverb is quite useless.
After almost two years of owning it, I could find some good sounds for blues, classic rock, 80's metal and jazz/fusion, such artists like Eric Johnson, Hendrix, Van Halen, Santana, Zeppelin, Metallica, Al Di Meola, Brian May and Joe Satriani.
The pedal controled pitch is a good feature, but doesn't fit my style of playing. The auto wah wah is useless, the pedal wah wah is way better.

The box is plastic, so you gotta be careful with it. It's resistant, but not resistant enought to really depend on it for a gig. The Volume/Expression Pedal (sold separately, and really useful) is also plastic, so the whole package gotta be used with care.

I haven't dealt with the company, and I've never had to get it repaired.

I've been playing for about 6 years now. This little box lets you make sonic experiments, specially with all the weird noises. It fits any kind of music.
The main reason I picked it up was because of the price. It's really cheap for all the features it has.
If I loose it, I'd probably buy something more professional and spend a little more.
Overall, this product is a good intoduction to the complex world of Multi effects Units.

Very simple to use, great for the beginner to the more advanced. Won't take very long to understand and use.

Well here is the catch. If you use cheap gear(amps,guitars,etc) dont expect killer results! It's that simple. If you have better equipment then you'll probably be a little happier with it. But heres the real deal. Dont go out and pay $100 and think this is all your gonna need! Because it probably wont be. I mean you pay a $100 and your going to get a $100 worth of happiness. If you really want quality sound your gonna pay a whole lot more than $100. I read where all these people are bitching and groaning about how this thing sucks, didn't you try this pedal out before you bought it? Your the only one to blame. I could see if you spent a grand or more on something and you weren't satisfied but you spent a $100 on it so remember, you get what you pay for. This unit probably suits newbees more than veterans but, try it before you buy it!

It's built fairly sturdy and I wouldn't be scared of it fallng apart but, I also wouldn't jump up and down on it either!

Never dealt with them, never needed to.

O.K, I play what in my opinion is real music, METALLICA. Not that new sissy sounding metallica but, old metallica and megadeth,you know before they started acting like a bunch of trend followers. Maybe they were abducted by aliens and it's not really them! But right now slayer rules the roost because they stayed who they are and not change to fit in! I would have to say the best feature of this thing is price and reliability. No I wouldn't buy it again because I got it just to play around with, and it doesnt do awhole lot for me personally, but I knew that when I bought it so I not bitching (hint,hint). I got it for just a toy.

i thought that it was very easy to use except for programing it but i got used to it after a while. even though i am a beginer i think its a great pedal to start out with.

i thought the sound was very good but also very tech like. i liked it but again i am only a beginer and i have no true experience on the subject.

very reliable. i accidently stepped on it with like full whieght and nothin happened to it.

good

very nice to work with for a beginer but if yoyur more advanced then u might want to go another route

i takes about months to really know how to get the sound you want...
the preset really sucks because you need to edit it in order to suit your amp and your guitar...but after you get a hang of it...you can get ALL the sound you want yes ALL(pretty close to all)
im a tone freak myself and im really happy with this cool toy..

i use a strat and a fender frontman(the loudest small amp you can get ) you can get all kinds of sound you want..IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT..
i can get the van halen sound very close...eric clapton's bluesbreakers sound..to metallica sound...all are possible the manual doesnt expalin how you get the sound you want..it just says what buttons do what..dont you the preset...
GET the sound you want with this!!or else you waste this baby's talent....the DELAY and ROOM REVERB and DISTORTIon suck!!! the blues distortion is not BLUES!!the metal distortion is garbage...the only good one is the LEAD DISTORTION....with the compreser and limiter in the box..oh yea and the very flexable EQ with the lead you can get the sound you want...in addition...if you set the volume of the effect FULL UP and then adjust from the amp....
you can get a stack like sound..
very crunchy...

i had it for a year...NO PROBLEM!

n/a

it the best for it's price..if you have the money and want something really last and reliable
GET IT!

After about 5 minutes of reading the manual, I found it easy to use and edit different patches

I use this with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard through a 10 watt Fender amp. I bought this because I wanted a many effects to mess with and create my own sound. The compression and sustain effects are totally crap. Acoustic sounds are ok. Distortions are ok, if you are a kid wanting to copy crap like Nirvana, but are totally rubbish for Megadeth stuff. I play mostly Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and some traditionalal hard rock/metal, and I have to say that the 505 is somewhat fundamental where creating sounds are concerned.

It's plastic, but it is a pretty strong. I would not rely on this for a gig, as I could just imagine it reseting all the patches on me in the middle of a song.

Never dealt with them.

Overall I would say to stay clear of this product. But If you are not too bothered about the actual quality of the sound, but more of the quantity of effects - then consider buying it.(But who is?)

After reading the manual for thirty minutess, you can work the thing without a problem. It's kind of self explanitory. I use a cheap stratocaster through a marshall amp, and I could get a decent sound from it.

Using my standard strat and a marshall 65-watt amp I can get the sound that I want from it. There is virtually no noise thanks to the ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction). I still have to play around with the patches to hopefully get the sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin. Theres eight types of distortion, they are all okay, but I like the overdrive and the blues. They are the only natural sounding effects. The other ones are very harsh and digital sounding.

It's made of heavy-duty plastic. If you really stepped on it hard I guess you could break it. Zoom claims that a 9-volt battery could last 22 hours, but I wouldn't trust that. Get the adapter. I would use it in a small gig, but nothing really important.

I never dealt with them.

I've been playing for two years now, mostly rock and alternative. This is a pretty good unit for the price. If you bought individual stomp boxes to make all these sounds, you would probably spend $500. If it got stolen or lost I think I would try something different. I like the convienience of having an all in one unit, if I wanted the best sound in the world, I wouldn't have bought this. I like the reverb, but I wish the distortions were a little better.

This pedal is fairly simple to use, there aren't that many buttons to confuse you!

I thought this pedal was ok when I first got it, now 2 years later I think it's awesome for what you pay for it! The best way to find out what this pedal can do is get a mate to jam on whatever riff he wants, and you just change the pedal settings as he plays! You'll be amazed at the sounds that come out of it!

It's only made of plastic but I've never had any troubles with it, I wouldn't recommend it for gigs, but then if you wanted a pedal for gigs you'd be looking at spending a lot more than what this costs.

I just surfed the net to get a copy of the manual (I bought it second hand and never got one) other than that I haven't needed to call them.

I'd like a crunchier distortion on it, but it does me fine for jamming with mates at home. If you want something cheap that has a shitload of effects, then get this pedal. Nuf said.

I find is box to be an EXCELLENT pedal for its price range. I use a
a SAMICK WARLOCK which is an absolutely beautiful guitar any rock/metal styles , i have a Fender Original for more flexibility.
Reasonably quiet unit,Good for metallica , others

could be better could be worse, nice all around unit for all styles

100% dependable for me for five YEARS, YA , i d trust it for a few gigs for sure..

Never repaired, no dealing with the company

Yes this is a good match if you want variety at a low price. great blues , acoustics and distortions in this box

Alright, I don't know about anyone else but its pretty god damn simple. There's some features that I don't believe are mentioned in the manual such as when increasing (press +) to go faster, hold down the minus and then press the plus. Same for going down but reverse order of buttons. Makes setting volume or eq much faster.

Ok, i'm using a _REAL_ guitar (American Deluxe Fat Strat) and the sound is very very sweet. I haven't used it at gigging volumes so I don't know. For home use its one of the best. I love the distortions, the reverb is pretty nice too. Flanger is alright, phaser I dont' use too much.

Dunno, it's plastic. Probably not safe to jump like a monkey around it.

Never dealt with em.

classic Rock, blues, etc..very nice tones. I'd get somethign else maybe because i've matured as a guitarist and would get something that sounds better at high volumes

it sounds so great until you deside you wanna change patches mid chord. then here hear thios horrible 2 second delay and a change in volume. editing is simple. and the manuel is a godsend considering every effect is rated just by two numbers which mean nothing without the manuel

i use and electra pheonix and a prinston chorus amp. it feeds back on the acutsitic setting which i guess does make it pretty realistic. like i said it sounds awesome as long as you want to keep the same sound through the entire song. you can get some nine inch nails tones if you fiddle long enough though

i doesn't seem like it would break. but live i have messed up in the whole have to step on both pedals to trigger an effect.

just got it and it hasn't broken yet

it's weak but if your poor and wanna make some effects it's for you deffinately a poor mans processer which is all it was meant to be

With 8 types of disortion from acoustic to blues to metal, and crystal clear CD-quality sound, it's no wonder the 505 was the most popular pedal when it was released. The compression and noise reduction go great after a distortion stompbox, and editing the 24 patches is a breeze. The only downside is that some effects can't be used simultaneously, like chorus with flange. The manual is needlessly deep, yet easy to understand. You should be able to master the pedal's capabilities within a week, if you practice frequently.

I use a cheap Squier Strat and a cheaper Crate amp, but even so, the pedal makes a great sound. The only time I get any noise or feedback is when the volume and distortion levels are WAY up. I can get fairly close to Metallica distortion, and chorus that sounds just like Nothing Else Matters. As for acoustic simulation, it's pretty good, although sounding more like Everlast's acoustic stuff than a live acoustic sound. Grunge is no problem if you crank up the gain on the blues distortion. The compression make any clean sound more professional, and the flange and phaser give you a good idea of what you should expect in a stompbox.

Being a plastic unit, you can't expect to jump on it and still work perfectly, but it's pretty reliable. The built-in chromatic tuner is nearly perfect, and the tune-without-hearing-it function reached by pressing both pedals and holding them is great for live stuff. I have had a few problems with patch copying though. Very occasionally, it has switched into copy mode without my knowledge (or my action) and I have saved over a favorite patch.

Haven't had any problems not remedied by cutting the power for a couple seconds.

I play basically anything that rocks, and this pedal gets close to any but the weirdest sounds I want to imitate. If it broke, I might go for the ZOOM 707, just for its pitch-shifter knobs, but this is almost as good. The only thing wrong with this pedal is the fact that a few of the effects are on the same "track" as others, forcing you to choose one or the other. The best features are the silence you get when you dampen the strings, and the extra-smooth distortions. Paired with a Boss DD-5 and a Dunlop Crybaby, in the following order: 505, Crybaby, Delay, I can get extreme versatility. One strange thing you can do is run headphones directly out of the line out jack. This gets you the real guitar sound, not how the amp and speaker interpret it.

Fairly simple to use considering the number of features. With the price I paid I shouldn't complain. The manual is good.

Using with a 70's Fender Squire II Fat Strat and a Peavey 300Watt RMS amp. If you turn up the distortion on your amp AND on the 505 you can get some really great dirty distortion. Especially by increasing the distortion at your amp too. I have tried the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone and I think that the ZOOM pedal compares fairly well especially since it can do more. Nevertheless, the pedal is somewhat noisy on some patch settings and not on others. I have noticed that increasing the Zoom ZNR and decreasing the patch output level on the last patch setting can help. Each function such as distortion, chorus, etc. on the pedal may cause different levels of noise. Anybody have access to an audio analyzer or oscilloscope to test? A good way to use the pedal is to adjust your amp and pedal so that the noise level is low and the sound level is where you want for the current patch and then control the volume for all patches with the volume knob on your guitar.
There are great patches on the web. Just search for em. There is a free patch database at http://net.result.com/~jay/index.html
You can preview some of the factory patch sounds at: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/cgi-bin/shop.dll?doc=zoom505.html
However I think that zZounds.com is probably a cheaper and better place to purchase from though.

Has not broken yet. It has a plastic case though. I not hesitate to use it on a gig if I was playing through a good powerful amp.

Never dealt with the company.
Never needed any repair work done.

If I were to do it over again I would probably purchase a Zoom GFX707 instead. It is rated better at this website as far as sound quality (less hum noise) and has a built in pedal. If you buy the wah pedal for the 505 and the 505 itself you will be paying as much as buying the GFX707, which has a built in pedal and more features. I would also purchase the 9VDC 300mA power supply from some place like Radio Shack. (They have a good variable voltage 300mA power supply that is cheaper and you can use it to power other things too.)
A good way to use the pedal is to adjust your amp and pedal so that the noise level is low and the sound level is where you want and then control the volume for each patch with your guitar volume potentiometer. There are great patches on the web. Just search for em. There is a patch database at http://net.result.com/~jay/index.html
Listen to the pedal sound at: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/cgi-bin/shop.dll?doc=zoom505.html
Nevertheless zZounds.com is probably a better place to purchase from though.

This is an easy system to use and there are plenty of capabilities to edit patches. The manual is good and shows all important points.

The only reason that I defend this little processor is because I play a lot of Metallica, and I have been playing for five years, and even with basic equipment including a 15-amp and a BC Rich Bich, I can get some nice metal and distortion. I would definitely not recommend it to someone looking for a clear sound as this is the weak point of the pedal. I do intend to get an Ibanez JEM 77FP and a big, nice amp in the future. Naturally, I will have to get an zoom 8080 to go with it, for a darn good setup.

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Great, no, perfect for beginners, as beginners will spoil their potencial with a processor that is too good such as the 8080, and that should be saved for the developed and stylised guitarist that has been playing for enough years such as myself. I am 16 years old and have been playing since I was 11. I have developed my skills and I am not in a pointless shoddy indy or gothy pants band. Metallica rule, Megadeth are the daddy, new guitarists forming a band suck! The 505 is for you and I have owned one since I had been playing for 1 and a half years. I feel that you should not even use the 505 immediately as you learn to play as you will cack about with the delay and use preset sounds. The real 505 user will customise a strong distortion of even better, metal, with little bass and tone, just perfect for the first solos. Please follow the musical (not image) musical line of metallica, not marilyn manson, yes to megadeth, and please, please steer clear of pop and indy, please, in the name of humanity.
im Edd D and you should write me about anything to do with music and guitars and im sure to reply, I am also looking for other wannabe bandies who are already quite good at their instrument, Metallica style music, and I myself am a lead/rythm guitarist.
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egd99@stvincent.ac.uk

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It's really easy to use once you've been playing around with the functions a bit

Overall is awasome....I have a strat but i can simulate the les paul sound..the lead option is my favorite..and the Hall(reverb) the Blues sound is too distorted to me..and the delay is just too vage to be edited...by using the EQ you can really get your own sound

GOOD unless you use a hammer to smack the crap out off it

DONT KNOW
never dealt with it

The only way this would be easier to program would be if you could just "imagine" the sound you wanted...and have it automatically adjust itself to make that sound.
The unofficial webpage has thousands of patches...all these people bought one...can they ALL be wrong??

If you progam in someone elses patch..verbatum....you might get some hiss or feedback..but some common sense shows you can adjust some of the gain settings and balance all the patches to work with your amp.
I have a Peavy Heritage and 12 guitars. I once had to play a gig with just my 505 and a battery powered Peavy practice amp with a mic to the board..i sounded great...come to think of it why DO i haul a 90 pound amp..pedal board and 2x15 cabinet to gigs??
The endless list of patches..including descriptions..artists..sounds like this song..etc....are beyond incredible.

I've used it for gigs every weekend for over 2 years. The ONLY problem i ever had was getting it into Bank Hold mode and having no idea how to get it back to Normal...I ended up resetting the original preset patches..of which only a few were useful for rock.
I wish they put a few instructions on the bottom of the unit!

Zoom has a PDF file of the user manual to download on their website...for ppl like me who..lose the original.
It's never broke on me..and like the rest of my pedal board..has had its share of less than sober dancers fall/trip/step on it.

I love this pedal...I dont like the expression pedal Zoom sells..but its just personal preferance..I like a longer pedal travel. Just remembering I played a whole gig with just the 505 and a tiny amp...says it all!! It does up to 9 effects at once...and most sound really good if you spend time to tweak to your settup. 9 pedals fix-mounted on a pedal board would be one HUGE thing to haul around.

One drawback..when i have to sing is that I sometimes hit the wrong side of it..and go to the wrong patch...epsecially coming out of solos...I'd suggest you set your patches so every other one is semi-clean and ones between your distorted patches. That way if you miss...you dont end up playing a steve via patch when you need a matchbox 20 clean acoustic chorus patch.