Zoom 506 mk 2 Bass

Very easy to get the hang of, can be a bit annoying having to scroll through so many options to get to the setting you want (or to turn an effect off). The manual was pretty good, preset sounds are fun but not really useful (which kind of sums up this unit).

The effects are very varied and a bit extreme in cases. Owning this pedal is really only useful for learning what effects are available and which ones you want to use. To be honest I have decided that effects and Bass guitars will only ever have a limited relationship, this pedal goes with me everywhere - as a tuner. I have taken to using the effects with mics and guitars where most of the settings are ignored. The ones I dabble with are Reverb - not enough sensitivity with the settings (a bit of a kareoke effect to be honest), Distortion - just too harsh for my tastes, Wah - kind of fun, Chorus - a bit artificial and robot-y. Yes, I know I'm not using it in the way it was designed, but I never found a good setting for that purpose either.

It was broken when I got it, the in (or out - I forget) put jack was broken - the solder joint had cracked internally. It was fairly easy to fix, and had been owned by a bit of a gorilla. One of the buttons did stick down at one point, I can't remember how I fixed it but it wasn't hard. It always seems to do the business as a tuner though...

I was able to get the full manual from the website easily - other than that, no experience.

It seems to muddy up the sound of whatever you run through it, to me the bass just sounds better without even bothering with this pedal. It has given me a good education in what people mean when they say 'hall reverb' or 'room reverb', or learning what wah or chorus sounds like. I have no regrets in buying it and it is better than having no pedal, but it is never used for it's intended purpose any more. Having said that, it is great as a headphone amp - the effects are often in stereo so it can sound OK through headphones (better than acoustic only and more portable than a combo amp and a set of 'phones). Good effects (and multi effects) can sound GREAT, try as I might I can not get a sound I love through this unit. Oh, I never have battery life problems either - I guess just using it for a couple of minutes a week as a tuner doesn't suck the batteries dry...

Pretty simple for a programmable multi effects unit, but to the point where it's kinda limited. The presets had to go- none of them were very usable. The manual was ok I guess, but I didn't need it as I also have the 505II(guitar version). Editing is easy- too easy. Not enough parameters, you just cycle through like one number for each effect! Firmware unknown, and I can't think of any practical way to upgrade it.

I use a cheap Chinese Hofner knockoff(no name)that's my favorite bass ever believe it or not- much fatter sound, better sustain somehow, far superior feel and lighter weight than my old p-bass, and all those other supposedly high quality basses I've had in the past!(Rick, Gibson RD Artist, etc), anyway, > Ibanez bass compressor > Modded Boss ds-1(or big muff depending on my mood) > Zoom 506II(for now) > Hog's Foot clone that I had to build myself because no one makes them > Ampeg v4b(late 70's) > Ampeg svt 1520h cab(same size as the 8 10, but with 4 10's, 1 15, and a horn). Yeah, I know my amp's too damn big, but it sure sounds good.
About the zoom- cool tuner, HORRIBLE envelope filter(in the 506 anyway), ok chorus, useless distortions, useless flanger, good Phaser, useless eq, useless amp sim, good noise gate, wimpy compressor, useless reverb(good actually, but WHO THE HELL WANTS REVERB ON BASS!), good delay(never use it, but it's there anyway), cheezey "synth" sounds, poor tracking on the octave stuff, and no noise at all. You CANNOT switch between effects during a song- it drops out for like a half second. Overall it can be useful. But not everything is usable.

Eats batteries like potato chips(28 hours MY ASS!) Pretty sturdy in its own way, but once the "store" button got stuck while I was tweaking a patch AND IT RESET ITSELF TO ALL FACTORY PRESETS!!! ARRRGHHHH!!!!! Yes, I use it without a backup. If anything goes wacky(occasionally) I just yank it outta the chain and do without it. Better step lightly- the plastic's kinda thin. I wouldn't stomp too hard, but I assure you from experience it CAN withstand being drop-kicked! So can a ping-pong ball.

nope

I've been playin' for about 25 years, mostly rock. I have way too much other gear to mention(hell, I COLLECT pedals). I like the tuner in this thing mostly, but it's useful for a few appropriate effects if the song calls for it. I bought the 505II first, and was SO impressed with the envelope filter(AUTO WAH) and distortions that I had to go out and buy the bass version. WHAT A DISSAPOINTMENT! It turns out that the 505 is perfectly ok for bass anyway- it don't kill your bottom like most guitar effects. Right now I have the 505 programmed for use with my theremin(no I don't use it live!), but the 506 would be just fine for that! The only reason I haven't switched between them is that I just don't feel like re-programming them both. However if either one ever resets itself again I won't hesitate to make the switch. My advice would be to just get the 505II instead of the 506II because the 505 has EXCELLENT envelope followers and great distortions, and the only thing the 506 does that the 505 won't do is the silly "synth" sounds! Well, also the defret, but that's just a bass booster similar to a Hog's Foot!
But eventually I plan on phasing out any and all multi-effect crap anyway. Face it, REAL pedals just sound better. That ain't just my opinion, it's a rock hard ice cold fact! But, I'll have to replace it with like 6 more pedals to do everything I do with this little plastic cheezebox... and I haul too much crap around as it is. (Hehe- also my guitar player thinks pedals are for guitar only for some reason. Jealous I guess. But how many effects do you really NEED for bass? I can get by without ANY if I have to.)
If it got stolen I'd just use the 505 and get it over with... or use my small clone, small stone, eq pedal, stage tuner, auto filter, reboxed Walco gate(they called it a "feedback reducer" for some reason, but it's a good noise gate), and homemade CMOS boost. Sigh. I'd need a giant pedalboard.... so I guess it helps out, and it's acceptable the way I use it.

Ok..I'm not exactly a great enthusiast of bass effects or anything just that I needed a bit more tonal versatility. Anyways this pedal has an extremely easy to use interface. but read the manual first or its easy to get confused about what does what when and where.

I'm running this through a Stranger Cube 80M bass combo, an Indian made amp which was none the less better than several other amps I'd thought of buying (some marshall amps included) and a Java Quake 4-string.
The system seems extremely sensitive to electrical interference. I moved my setup closer to my computer and had to use the spike buster to power the pedal. I'll tell you the noise was unbearable. But when I used it away from the comp it sounded great. The ZNR does a good job of cutting any unnecessary sounds.
Some of the effects, thrash distortion for instance, sounds a little watery and can be a real pain in the wrong places if you're trying to imitate Cliff Burton or any other heavy metal bass sound.
Overall, the pedal is best suited for fuzzy tones and slap styles or clean tones with bits of overdrive. Also the defretter works very well.

Given the choice if I could get a BOSS effects proccessor I'd buy that instead.But the unit is rugged and probably will be able to take some punishment (Though I'd refrain from jumping on it or the likes).
I used it at several gigs and no complaints so far..

Never dealt with the company.

I usually play anything from slow rock to heavy metal to funk and gospel.As I said before I don't use it for much apart from the noise reducer and the fuzz and clean tones. On the whole I'm not a great fan.

Without having read the manual I spent 15 minutes to figure out how this thing works. Dial knob is a very good thing in easening patch editing!
Later I downloaded the manual and found some cool things like indirect patch change (although I don't use it), and it had some of the settings explained (e.g. EQ).
This box is very easy.

I use Yamaha BB-N4III bass with this box, and plug into a 2x12" combo (or sometimes into a PA).
Generally, i like the sounds that this thing produces, but there are some points:
- Absolutely uncontrollable and hard-to-understand EQ, I can't create an EQ curve that I want to. The EQ changes too much when I change the value.
- Amp Sim makes my sound smeared and dull, there's no "finger tone". I keep this off.

I use "Fat" as DIST because the EQ is very limited and I can't do it with an EQ only. ZNR works fine for me, even though my bass does not produce hum. I use the compressor (at the lowest level of compression), but I'm gonna buy a dedicated stompbox for this (I'm thinking of Digitech Bass Squeeze).

I don't like that "digital" hiss that is produced on certain combinations of effects. And 32000 Hz/16 bit is too bad :(

I gig without a backup because I don't have a backup %)
I changed the switches under the stomp buttons countless times, had to re-solder i/o jacks and a power jack. I can solder, so that's not really a problem, but it annoys when you press a button and it doesn't work! :(

Never dealt with them.

I play alt.rock, and it fits. But I wish it had more good tones...
I play for 5 years, used to play w/o any FX-box, but when my guitarist just gave me this Zoom, I began to use it.
I like the tuner and the chorus/flanger/phaser (helps creating "cosmic" sounds). I like the fretless simulator VERY much.
I wish this pedal had only this - tuner, compressor, 8-band graphic EQ, adjustable chorus/flanger/phaser and ZNR.
If it was stolen, I'd buy a dedicated compressor and an EQ, that's all. Maybe I'm gonna sell this piece of plastic soon.

This pedal is pretty user-friendly, but does require reading the manual, so you know what certain specific parameters have to offer (eq presets-50 of them!, high-bandpass, low-bandpass, etc.). Still, the maunal is pretty straightforward, and to-the-point. Editing patches couldn't be easier, compared to the first 506, which I had, too. The rotarty knob, bank and store buttons are simple. All you have to do, to make a patch is turn the rotary off of "Play", and you're in edit mode, then select your sounds, press "Store" once, then again, and that's it-pretty damned easy.

I used to have mammoth setups, but I'm sick of carrying cabinets, and eight bazillion pedals with me to gigs. Now, all I have, are my two basses, a fretted and fretless Ibanez SR506 bass, a Monster cable into the Zoom pedal, another MOnster into a combo (preferably with a built-in DI), and the DI to the house mixer-talk about downsizing, huh? I've used the 506's predecessor live before, with no problems, and if there is noise, the ZNR (Zoom NOise Reduction) usually rememdies hiss. I'm not big on disortion, or synth, so I don't tinker with those effects, really, although you can get good sounds from them-it just takes time to dial in the right combinations. Everything usually sounds great, but it just takes time to get levels (volume, blends, etc.) balanced. I usually use an SWR Workingman's 15 live, or something similar (I currently rent). I really don't try to emulate a pro's sound, since I like what sounds good to ME. But, I don't see why a pro couldn't use this little guy-sounds good. I'm using many more of the effects on this thing than I ever thought I would. I've been able to get a beautiful chorus (just as good as my old Boss pedal, believe it or not), as well as a MONSTER modeled amp sound, very similar to the SVT setting on a SansAmp Bass DI, which I've also owned. This amp sound that I made, sounds just as badass as Ryan Martinie's sound, but with more punch, if you can imagine that (more mids). My bass sounded great before, and it seems like it's on steroids now. Plus, it seems to have put a lot of new life into my dead strings. I like it! I also will make some patches with phasers and flangers, so I might get some good usage out of this pedal. I'm rating this category with an 8, since I've only had it for a few days, but am pleasantly surprised with the sound quality.

I'm sure this thing would be dependable. It's not as tough as Boss pedals, with the metal casing and all, but unless you're a careless dumbass, and/or beat the piss out of your gear, then it should be fine. I've used the regular 506, like I menionted earlier, live before, and I didn't have problems, or need a backup. I'm expecting this to be the same.

I've never dealt with the company before.

I play anything from thrash, speed metal, to light jazz, and everything in between. This pedal is a helpful addition to my simple setup. I've been playing for 10 1/2 years, and my gear was mentioned in the above descriptions. I'd probably buy another one of these, but only close to the price I paid. I got a good deal on this new, as I wouldn't want to pay much more for effects, since I've found good stuff for the $37.11 (ending Ebay bid). I said previously, what sounds I love so far, or what I've made, and the user-frendliness is nice. I really don't hate anything on this pedal, except maybe for the plastic casing. I've already got a few favorite features on here, some being the bandpass, eq, amp sounds, and of course the smooth chorus sounds (even clear down on the low B string. I just bought this, because I was looking for an "all-in-one" package to cover some effects that I like, a nice big-rig sound without the size, the handy tuner, and having a slew of other effects, if I feel like using more. Hey, for 40 bucks-not bad, I'd say. All it takes for a lot of people, are some interesting effects, or new/good tones to get them playing again, or better. This has done just that for me. I'm not getting paid to say any of this, either-I just like this pedal, as it's a really nice bang for the buck. I'm probably one of the few who thinks this way, but you CAN get great sounds out of a pedal like this. People automatically think, that if you buy a cheap whatever, it's going to sound that way. This is mostly untrue. All it takes, again, is just being patient, and seeing what these things can do, and learning how to use them properly (levels, combinations, eq's, etc.). I recommend not listening to what others say, try to get lucky a bit on Ebay like I did, fork over 40 bucks, and see what YOU think. That's what I did, and I'm more than happy-money definitely isn't the end-all-be-all.

Just read through the instruction manual, everything is there and once you get the idea you will be able to programm your patches, set your eq and get closer to the sound you are looking for. Read the manual, it's short and to the point. The unit is small and there are not too many buttons to confuse a user.

The tuner is awesome. Its very easy to read and it comes in very handy on stage and at practice. Just hit the two pedals simultaneously and hold for a few seconds and you will be in the tuner mode. Your sound will be muted and you can tune without anybody hearing you.

Currently I have a Spector Euro 5 going into the Zoom pedal, which then goes into my Yorkville 2x10 200W combo.

The unit does get pretty noisy, there is significant hissing. The noise gate (ZNR) does a good job of silencing any hissing or other noises when you are not playing.

I think the sound quality of these effects suck for the most part - they get lost in the mix and even when you raise the volume on them, its hard to hear them clearly...only a select few effects are good. The chorus is decent, and the fretless effect sounds cool...even though it does not re-create the fretless sound very well it still has a unique sound. There are a total of 4 effects on here that I am satisfied with.

I primarily use this unit for the preamp, it adds lots of power to my current amp! I was looking for a warm, deep and punchy sound and I managed to obtain it after some tinkering with the effects.

It has not failed me yet...although its made of plastic its very tough and durable..also, its made in Japan.

Never had to deal with the company

I baught this thing off ebay for a whopping 36 bucks American which was half the price of what it goes for at the music store in my city. It's a good unit for a beginner. For somebody who wants to use lots of effects with their sound live and in the studio, look elsewhere. I am not entirely impressed with it, but for 36 bucks I do not see this as a big loss.

Since I primarily use it for its tuner, the pre amp and the odd chorus here and there I do not necessarily need it for my sound...I am thinking about selling it and getting a seperate pre amp, and a seperate tuner. If you can find one on ebay near the price that I paid for it, try it out. Do not go to your local music store and pay 69.95 for it..its not worth it.

Simple. I got it on a trade with no manual and it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to create patches. It'll take some time to find a decent usable sound without too much noise. It takes time, but its not impossible.

I own a fretless Fender American P-Bass, Fender American 60's Jazz Bass and a Warwick Streamer Stage II which I play through an Orange AD200>Orange Cabinet. Now thats some high quality equipment right there. I always love to see the look on my friends faces when they see my very expensive rig and then look down to see this little plastic, AA powered POS sitting between my bass and my amp. I only own it because I traded a guitar i bought off a friend for a Roland GP-8 FX processor at a Buy/Sell guitar shop and the guy threw this thing in to balance out the difference. I cant refuse free equipment so i took it.
All in all the sound is much better than i expected from this little hunk of plastic. With some tweaking you can get some good tones but at some point you will hit a wall with it and it'll do all it can do. The distortions are bad, the phaser is OK, the delay is very limited, the Modulation FX are decent, the chorus is good. I cant see anyone duplicating an artists tone on this thing, unless that artist happened to have played through one of them, which ofcourse is highly unlikely. BUT for the retail price its decent, it gets the job done and does produce some ok sounding effects. Definately not as bad as some people make it out to be on here. Its somewhere between a 6 and a 7. So ill just give it 7

Had it for a while now. No problems yet.

Got it on a trade, didnt have to deal with them.

Ive been playing 8 years and have a variety of music styles, the biggest of which is jazz. i listen too victor wooten, stu hamm, patituci, roscoe beck, marcus miller, dream theater/Liquid tension experiment, steve vai, satriani, eric johnson etc.AND I WORSHIP Jaco. Ofcourse this procescor cant be compared the this type of music. Its way to elementary to be playing lead or solo bass. It is however great for a beginner who is just looking for something to mess around with, or for someone who isnt too serious about bass. Its DEFINATELY not as bad as some of the other reveiwers make it out to be.
Like I said I got this as a free "throw in" accesory on a trade for a guitar effects processor. And considering I paid no money for it I'm happy. I mainly just set it to one patch I like and let it sit there as a preamp and it does just fine. I dont really notice it or worry about it too much, its nothing compared to the other equipment I own or the music. I got it free and it doesnt mess up my sound so whatever,

Not too hard to use...you have to know a bit about effects though. Other than that, it's simple. You navigate through the menus with a knob and chose things with a dial. Making your own patches is simple too. Just go through the menus and set them to what you want. (Distortion type, effect, etc). Read the manual and you'll understand everything.

I use a mexican P Bass and either a Squier BP 15 or Behringer BX600 amp. Sounds okay either way. I'd get individual pedals, though, if I really want to sound good. The distortion is pretty good, most of the rest of the effects are okay, but the flanger sucks.

Seems a bit delicate. I woulnd really "stomp" on it for fear of cracking one of the plastic pedals. Also, the dials have a tendancy to get stuck, which is a pain when youre in a menu. As for a backup, you dont really need one if you take care of the pedal. 2 words however: "Power Supply". Make sure you have one, I've had this pedal crap out on me while playing when i use batteries.

Never dealt with em.

I usualy play all sorts of rock. I've been playing a few years and this is one of the first pieces of gear i got. Now, I'm looking to buy individual units, because, as mentioned, they sound better and you can control them more. But this unit is fine if you dont need a fancy effect . I use this pedal for distortion and noise reduction mostly, and those features are ok.

The manual is better than average at detailing the steps for explaing effects editing and creating patches. The interface to edit/create patches isn't bad if you have experience with this type of device, if not you may be a little frustrated. There is more parameter control over each efect than I expected in a unit this price. The pedal itself is easy to use although navaigating patches in a live performance is cumbersome if you need more than one patch and the addtional patch isn't next in the bank. Mine also hesitates when going from patch to patch, a bad trait for sure. I've set mine up with my own patches for chorus, octave, eq, and boost and I put a null patch in between each one so wherever I'm at I can always get to bypass without worrying about stepping on both switches at once. Generally, I use a patch for an entire song then go to something else or bypass for the next song. The tuner works fairly well and like one other reviewer said it can be an excellent direct devise; it can also be awful depending on your recording setup. Bottom line: you can get 'some' good sounds out of it.

My setup is a Fender Jazz-Boss NS-Keeley Compressor-ZOOM 506II-Boss EQ to Hartke or Behringer heads and Avatar cabs. I haven't had the unit be noisey. The effects I use it for aren't bad actually (see above) and if I spent more time maybe I'd find more. There's the rub for me, I'll spend a couple of hours learning and setting up a unit but I'm reluctant to spend more time than that. But that's my problem. Setting the volume level seems tricky. It depends on the effect(s)you're patched into and what else you have running; some effects seem weak, some strong as far as volume. I've found sounds that are usable and I like, but this is no be all/end all silver bullet of a pedal. And I agree with some of the others, the distortion settings are not usable.

It's plastic and a mass produced, high manufacturing volume unit. I haven't had any problems in two years or better but I don't rely on the pedal (or any pedal) so if it dies, it dies. I've used the ZOOM acoustic pedal for guitar for almost 5 years without incident and besides the fact it eats batteries it has been reliable. I have to give it a 7 since I've had no problems with either unit yet.

Never used them.

I play rock, blues and country and I can get usable sounds I like from this pedal for all styles. I own the ZOOM Acoustic guitar pedal and love it, although I use only 2 or 3 patches. I've played guitar and bass for over 30 years and bought this unit as a gift for my brother who's a casual player. He stopped playing and has given me the unit, otherwise I wouldn't own one. I think you should be careful buying multi-effects and know what you're getting into. The sound quality of the effects probably won't match individual pedals. There's a reason top of the line multi-effects units have cost $500.00 or more in the past, although prices on all of this stuff is falling and value is improving. This isn't a great tool for a serious performing musician. However, it is capable of getting some good sounds, may not have inherent quality problems, and most importantly may inspire beginning bass players to play more and to continue seeking out their own sound and tone.

Pretty easy once you read the manual. Once you've found a sound you like set it in and go for it, lots of spaces!

Okay, when I had my Peavey this thing was ok. Now I play a Warwick Corvette FNA through a Marshall, and I notice just how bad this thing is. If oyu have a crappy bass and a practive amp, then it is fun to muck around with. However for anything more serious, it just completely destroys the tone, even on bypass/tuning mode. I can't stand it now. Who needs effects anyway....heh heh.

It is plastic, but this sucker isn't going to break any time soon.

Fine for experimenting when you are learning, horribly destroys nice sounding instuments tones.....