Zoom 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!!!

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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!!!!