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!!!!