Zoom 506 Bass Effects

I live by my zoom 506. Its the easiest processor pedal i own and have ever used. The sound is pure and clean and STEREO, yes stereo. Editing of effect is as easy as thinking about it. Just hit edit and go at it then hit store and boom its locked, bamm no worries about loosing an effect5. You dont even need the mannual but its a nice thing to have because it tells you alot about cross patches.

I havent had a problem with it

I'm sorry, but this unit is not user friendly. This is especially true when finding what (if anything) is effected with the FP 101 expression pedal. If you're one who likes to tweak your distortion and chorus sounds, do like I did and get your self a set of BOSS Bass pedals. The best way to use this pedal is for the presets.

Some effects have some noise that even the ZNR can't fix, and preset A2 requires precise level adjustment in the unit so you don't make the drummer crap his pants when you switch to it during a song (for some reason this preset's level is not in sync with the others). The chorus kicks butt though. Honestly I really don't need to go beyond bank A and B for all the sounds that I need.

I Gig with it and haven't had a problem with it. The battery should be replaced before gigs though cause you never know.

Haven't had a severe problem with it.

I played with this in a nine inch nails cover band where I was having to switch between patches frequently (some times 3 in a song). A built in song patch storage would have made this easier. That issue aside, this beast helped save our arse more than once when doing songs that would have otherwise required a dedicated keyboard because some of the noises created on the recordings. The best part of this pedal I think is the extraneous noises you can get out of it (check out B3 slap-pop style and let the fuzz ring out). I plan on trading it in for a 506 II because of the talk modualtation and the more user friendly setup. Not the easiest device to use, but one that helps you get you some bang for the buck.

A quick glance at the manual is all it takes. It has some good effects built in, and it's easy to make your own: simply browse through the eight effects and choose the one of each you want. Press the store button twice (so you don't accidently save something you don't want) and it's saved. There are many tones you can dial up pretty quickly.

Some of the effects are really good, especially the chorus, which I use most. It's difficult to get a good heavy distortion other than fuzz, but if you don't turn up the gain setting too much it doesn't sound bad. The only effect which is actually bad is the compression. It's way too noisy. The unit as a whole is a little on the noisy side: I wouldn't record with it, but it's just fine for playing live

Made of plastic. Hard plastic, but still plastic none the less. Doesn't feel like it will break, though.

Not a bad little unit. Very small and portable. Compare it to any other $100 pedal out there and it's amazing. If you want an inexpensive pedal that can do a lot of things, this is a good choice. It's not a god pedal, but then again, you're only spending $100 for half a dozen effects. Not too bad.

It's pretty easy to figure out. I bought it without the manual and I figured it out really fast. The only things that suck is that if you want to switch banks you have to reach down and hit a little button, and that when you change settings on the effects, you can't just spin a wheel like on some effects processors; you have to hit a button like a thousand times.

Well, you really can't expect the sound of a $1000 pedalboard from something well under $100. That's a given. So I'll just say it does sound GOOD for it's price. It is pretty noisy, but it does a descent job of hiding the noise while you're not playing by silencing it. Some of the effects you can get are pretty good, actually. The distortions are mostly pretty weak and add a little punch to your music, but in my case, they don't really affect the sound much since I have a crappy amp. :-). The chorus is pretty well done also. The amp simulator and EQ can make some pretty nice tones stick out, also. I play it with an old Ibenez Roadster bass, and they sound pretty descent together.

I know I can depend on it. Some people here act stupid because it's plastic. Well, it's HARD plastic. And, am I the only one here that doesn't **JUMP** on my effects pedals? It works fine if you be careful with it. I've never had a problem.

Never dealt with them.

I play a lot of punk rock and Blink-182 style music, so I don't even use it. I used to play other stuff, but it's not that special to me anymore. I'm gonna sell it soon, but it's been worth the money for what I have done with it. I've owned it for a little over a year. It's fun to mess around with, but I don't think I'd ever use it in music.

This thing is the easiest piece of gear to operate. I'm on a small scale and this is good enough for now. Hopefully I would like to get something better. But for now this thing is great.

This little black box gave me a great sound. I play an Ibanez Soundgear 5-String through a Fender BXR-60 Amp. I put the ZOOM right after my Bass Cry Baby. I call it the Big White Machine. That is a great pedal also. But I've always had great sound with it. Even when I plug my acoustic guitar into it. (Side project)

I've owned it for three years and it still works just as good as new. I have used it in gigs before and it still sounds AWESOME. Even with a club P.A. I will continue to use it until it wears itself out. That'll be a while from now.

I still haven't called them in three years.

You've heard about my rig.(albeit a small one). I love this thing. I have written killer bass lines using this thing. Even on cover tunes I usually add one effect, well an effect bank. I like the phase shifter with some fuzz, reverb, slight delay, and chorus. This thing gives out killer sounds if you mess with them. My suggestion. Edit a garbage factory setting and close your eyes and just push buttons and I guarantee that it'll sound cool.

took me 5 seconds to figure it out. the manual could have been simpler and the tuner i don't trust. but otherwise this is a great peice.

i play a memphis 4 string, through a peavey tko-115 blackwidow and it sounds great. a little noisy when the gain is way up. some of the effects are too weak for me but i am still begining. but i am starting to find a sound of my own and thats what matters.

i have only had it a short while but i use the adapter so i dont chew batteries. but i would use it for a gig.

havent had to use it.

i love this peice. i can make it work very well for me. plus my friend has a 505 guitar and we can set things up so we always know what bank to be in. i later want to get seperat pedals but hell i'm poor right now gotta go with what works for now. but now i can come up with better riffs using the sounds i want making my job easier.

The Instruction manual seemed to try and be confusing. It is fairly hard to edit patches because you've only got 4 button that do 20 different thing and the screen only has two digits two display some rather criptic symbols sometimes.

Its pretty hit-n-miss with this unit. While the chorus sound excellent, the distoritions sound kinda crappy. In general the presets are no good and need to be edited to use. While using it with a practice amp, headphones, or 4 track is OK, this thing sound like total crap through my 300w stack. Way too much background hum and it has some kind of digital high freq noise.

I know a little something about electronics but I cannot figure out why this thing cuts out some times. It doesn't cut completely out it just drops down to a whisper. Also, the external expression control jack doesn't work. Also the whole thing is plastic, not very roadworthy.

I should give these guys a call about my problems with the unit but I'm not looking forward to it.

I would not recommend this product to any pro or semi-pro bass player. While the sound quality and reliability are below our standards, I'm giving this a higher rating overall because its great for beginners. You can't get this many effects the the money anywhere else so it great for them to learn what effects they like and how to use them. Also, I've found it useful for low volume jam and practice sessions where you don't wanna haul a bunch of peddles or a rack of real expensive stuff to.

It is pretty easy to use and editing is easy after and hour or two. tHE manual sucks nuts but its not hard to use.

I play an Ibanez GSR 200 through a Boss ODB-3 and the zoom to an Ampeg BA115. THIS THING SUCKS BALLLSSSSSSS, the presets are weak and even when you edit them they suck. It sounds okay on a little like 15 watt, but when its loud enough that you can hear it, youll crap your pants it sucks so much. THe distortions are all fuzzy, the flanger is weak and everything else sound like sounds from a nintedo game.

I would never depend on this thing, it is thn wussy plastic and there is no way you could switch effects a show without sounding stupid. I would never use this at a gig. It also drains batteries

Nope

I play agressive rock and this thing sucks. It is noisy and a waste of money. I sold the thing because it blows so much. I dont think ill ever trust zoom again. Everyone out there, listen to me, dont be a cheap ass, buy seperate pedals for the best sound or for the next best thing, buy a boss or digitech multi effects processer.

Just plug it up and go. It has a couple of good patches from the factory, however it's better to create your own rather than to sound like someone else. If you take time to read the manual it's easy to edit.
The manual is direct and to the point.

I use it with a peavey max preamp,alesis quadreverb plus,alesis micro compressor,alesis micro EQ,M1400 mackie power amp, 410 Peavey and 115 peavey cab,sure wireless,I play a Peavey Axcelerator 5 string and a 69 p-bass
I use it mostly for distortion
It's a bit noisy if you dont run it through the efx,loop however if you use it's noise reduction it's not that bad.
When asked if I can get the sound of my favorite artist My reply is this, I don't try I play My way and My tone's my signiture .
Thats what's kepet me working for 23 years.
All the efx sound fairly good

I've used mine for about 2 years with no problem
Would I use it on a gig without backup? Yes Four shows a week .
If you dont abuse the unit (i.e. jump off your stack on top of it to change patches) it will serve you well.
Im not nut's about the plastic but prety mutch every thing's going that war so get used to it

Never had to

I've found the 506 to be good for the money you pay
I bought the 506 when my other distortion unit went down at a sound check I found this one at a local music store and intended to play one show with it and it performed so well and I have used it right on.
It's good for players just starting out (and for pro's that find themselfs out in the middle of stix in need of a little distortoin)
If you'r not expecting the 506 to sound like a $20.000 rig, you wont be dissapointed for a $100.00 bucks you cant go wrong
I play not only 4 live shows a week but I also record.
Gospel rock is my main thing but I also play all other styles in the studio.
I've played for 23 years and as I said before my tone is my tradmark and that's How I live, and this little thing does the trick.