Zoom 506 mk 2 Bass

Pretty easy in use...

I use a ibanez gsr 205 bk on a behringer bx1200 amp...
The sound is very very CRAP especially the distortion and bassynth.
The compressor sounds a bit ok. But the only usefull function on the pedal is the tuner.

The in- and output jack are worthless... they break very soon...
I won't use it at all on a gig

This really sucks... this is really cheap shit... maybe someone who cant play bass can use it.

This thing is very easy to use, especially when compared to the original Zoom 506! Editing patches is easy with rotary dials and simple +/- buttons to adjust things. The manual is great, with a complete listing of the factory presets on the back, which is a handy quick-reference guide.

Although this pedal is is meant as a stomp-box, I have never used it as one. I just have one preset I use all the time and just use this as a pre-amp and keep it sitting on top of my amp. I play a Warwick 4-string Streamer Standard, a 1994 Warwick Thumb Bolt-On 5-string, and an original Ibanez 6-string. The pedal is an inexpensive solution to flat tone. I just use a touch of "edge" distortion (the very minimum amount to give me a wee bit of bite), a bit of chorus, slight compression, touch of reverb, and I picked the highest EQ phase on the pedal. The effect is a little noisy, but I used it in the studio and it was ok with a little Pro-Tools noise gate. I use it live, and don't mind the little bit of noise, because live shows are never whisper quiet anyways. Occasionally I use an additional preset which is basically the same preset as my main one, with the chorus boosted a bunch, and that actually sounds pretty cool. It's not as clean as I would prefer (I have an old Ibanez Bass Chorus which is much cleaner, but the stomp box is a piece of crap and the on-off switch doesn't always work, so I don't use the pedal anymore), but again, for live applications, I don't care about a little noise, and I never used it in the studio, I used a chorus in Pro-Tools. I noticed that the distortions on this pedal really kind of suck. The bass synth effect is horrible also. The octave effect is cool, though, and I dig the defret effect, especially with a lot of reverb. With that setup, I can get a pretty good Jaco tone even with my fretted basses. I do agree with many of the others who reviewed this pedal about one thing though, when in bypass mode, it still affects your sound, and that's a bummer. However, if you have a side-chain effects loop, it's not as bad.

Like I said, I never used this as a stomp box, so it hasn't been put through any kind of stress at all. But I haven't had any trouble with any of the circuitry and the batteries last forever. (I use the pedal with a AC Adapter though). I'm too poor for a backup, so I always use it without one, and it hasn't failed me yet.

Never had to deal with them.

I play all styles of music, from country to jazz to rock and metal. When I try to get a certain tone out of the pedal, I can usually get it. Sometimes it's a little noisy, and it's not always the most brilliant effect you ever heard, but it's fine, especially for just messing around in your room or recording weird sounds. I've been playing since February of 98, so I guess like 6 years now. I just bought a Bass POD Pro to replace this pedal, but I think I'm going to have to sell that now, due to some money issues, so the Zoom isn't going anywhere. :) I play through an SWR Chrome 350 with Tube pre-amp and Genz Benz 210T-XB and 410T-XB cabs. If this pedal was lost or stolen, I'd buy another, since they're only about $50 new these days. I love this pedal because it's compact and easy to set up, it serves its purpose, and it doesn't fail me. I wish it were a little quieter, and I wish a few of the effects were of a little higher quality, but it's fine. I love the tuner, I use it all the time. It's a really easy tuner to read, unlike several others, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I've compared this pedal to a Line 6 Bass POD, and although I liked the sounds of the Line 6 better, in order to switch channels on stage, you have to buy a channel selector for it, which costs anywhere from $75 to $300 depending on which one you want, and the POD itself is $350 new (for the small one) or $600 new (for the rackmount), compared to this 506II which cost me $100. I wish this pedal had better distortion tones, and the synth effect ought to either be overhauled or completely removed from the unit.

These people who keep saying how horrible it is are just mad because they thought they could get thousands of dollars worth of top-quality effects for around 100 bucks, which is simply foolish. If you're looking for a miracle, this isn't your pedal. But if you want to be honest about the capabilities you can expect for 100 bucks, then this pedal will be everything you want and more. Someone said they have a total pro rig, with Ampeg SVTs and all that, well if you have all that, you wouldn't play a Jay Turser bass through it would you? You wouldn't run your SVT through a Rogue bass cabinet would you? No, so why bother with a cheap effect like this pedal? Quit whining about it unless it promised you something it didn't provide. Sounds like some of you have too much money on your hands, but want to be tight wads when it comes to this pedal. How about a little common sense?

easy to use, patches are simple to adjust. This unit suits me to the ground as it is used just for home recording. I plug this unit straight into a midiman M-audio ozone and it sounds awesome. I took it out of the box scrolled through a few patches recorded it straight off and it sounded great.

As I said above this unit suits my needs perfectly for home recording. This unit is like any other digital effects unit, it needs time to edit the patches to suit your gear and need. Take time and see what works.

This is only used in my bedroom studio.

N/A

I do alot of light rock and acoustic stuff and this unit suits me fine. I use an Ibanez Sound gear 200, which is an awesome guitar for its price. If your looking for a cheap unit for recording bass with good sounds then this is for you. I cant comment on live playing since i've never heard the unit through an amp.

Using this isn't rocket science, it's just a little tedious.

I would suggest you forget the presets and build some basic one or two effect presets yourself. Most of the factory presets sound awful. The chorus effect is ok, the compressor/limiter effect is ok, the synth is very bad, and the distortion effects are bad. The tuner works well. The defret is just good enough.

I play all styles using a fender precision through a GK RB400-210. I like the tone of my set-up, so I don't want the pedal to mess with it. Minimal is best, so I just use the pedal for occasional effects (eg chorus, defret) and as an online tuner. I guess I could have three seperate effects boxes that do this stuff better but for how much I use it, this is good enough. It does these fine, the thing doesn't inspire me, it's just what it is.

Fairly easy to use (but the onboard tuner could be a bit more easy to use). Editing patches is very easy, (just twiddle the know thing round and press the +/- buttons to select the sound you want). There is a manual, it gives useful information about using the product and editing patches and everything.

For the price of the product I was expecting much worse. I still can't believe that Zoom managed to pull this one off. It got all the different sounds you'll ever need, and then lets you edit those sounds to get even more sounds! Very impressed with the sound. (I recommend this pedal for bassists who like "in your face" sounds. I find that other pedals like the BP50 from Digitech "pussy-foot" around the sounds, this pedal delivers the goods that Digitech was scared to deliver)

I know that everyone dislikes the plastic casing (saying that it can break easily), but who honestly performs in front of an audience purely to trash their effects pedal. Come on!! Very reliable and excellent for home recording. Who needs an expensive flashy pedal at home anyway? NO ONE!!

N/A

I play:
Metal
Funk
Jazz
This pedal is perfect for fun, it's just a cheaper version of a professional pedal and makes all the right sounds for all the right reasons.

Wassup! This is a very easy thing to use!

Ironically, it has a PERFECT almost professional tone when I plug it into my sound card on PC (also good on a stereo: no noise/hiss). I recorded few wave files and there is absolutely no hiss or any other funny sounding noises, it sends the output in Stereo, so that must be good, eh? All the effects, when properly adjusted, sound good and pro-like, too! So, I guess that's the use for it from now on, because when I put it through my Behringer combo it just f**s up the sound and adds a lot of unwanted and unnecessary hiss screwing up the tone. The only time I can use it along with an amp is if I set the Compressor somewhere between 1-5 and leave the rest of the effects off. I guess if you're into home-recording this thing can be quite usefull, because it pretty much serves as an Analog to Digital converter with bunch of effects specifically tailored for bass! Sounds good to me.

It's a tiny little plastic piece of shit, wouldn't even think of stepping on it!

They have online manual.

I'll try to trade this thing in for something more playable and useable, if not I'll just use it to record on my computer, it's not all that bad if you record/edit things on the PC. If you are intending to use it to play with your amp, I wouldn't reccomend it. Good luck!

Simple operation, good manual, very easy to start editing etc

This pedal is ok for the price, it has very poor quality sounds, ok for home use etc. It has a horrible result in changing the bass sound and tone even when in bypass mode, so you have to consider if this is of concern to you. If you want cheap then its fine, if you want effects without messing your bass and amp tone, even when all turned off and bypassed then leave this baby in the shop for the toys dept!

feels very flimsy and plastic, no good for live stage work

dont know

I TRIED THIS AS A LOW COST ADDITION TO MY PRO RIG, MUSICMAN BASS, AMPEG SVT3 PRO HEAD, ETC. IT RUINED THE SOUND OF BOTH EVEN WHEN NOT OPERATING AS AN EFFECT. TOOK IT BACK AND GOT A BOSS CEB3 BASS CHORUS WHICH SOUNDS GREAT AND WHEN OFF IT DOESNT CHANGE YOUR ORIGINAL SOUND, THATS HOW IT SHOULD BE!

It was very simple to get sound out of the pedals. All you it turn a knob and your open to a whole new world of effects.

The patches are great. Here is a full list.

Slap solo
Vitage
Roc
Rock Drive
Fretless
P-Funk Lead
Chrd Chourus
Attack Fuzz
Natural Clean
Octave Chorus
Fuzzy Drive
Miller of slap
Emotional talk
phase chorus
tauras
bass synth
cyclone
drop
drAstic step
jet beat
octave up
wild wah
High tone amp
billy's drive
ground funky
sweet bottom
picked chours
retro slap
tm slap
nuance
classical
enhanced
soloist
multi synth

The list is f**king endless!!!!!

The soundis great over 69 settings how good is that

6 different types of wah its all then

It can run on a set of AA battries for over 28 hours. If that isn't good what is for a 3 hour gig

its never gone wrong

great

I have been looking at this item for a while now, i tested it out a well 5 times befor purchasing it, its distortion is very good, but as other people also have found out, if you play slap bass, forget this one, it gives you a shitty ass sound for slap bass, it almost sounds like a bunch of fuzz with echo, but otherwise this is a ver good buy.

Lots of noise at first, but if you futz with it, it will turn down the noise.

This unit is very dependiable, the only thing i have found wrong with this pedal is the tuner, one second it will say you at a Eflat, the next it will say that your at a D, even i f you dont mess with the tuning on the bass befor and after you play with it.

I used to use a korg pandora (toneworks) for my bass, but i got tired of not being able to switch from a distortion to clean. The unit wouldnt let me hook up a pedal to it either, this one does basicaly the same exact thing for 150.00 dollars less that the korg, the only difference is that you have less options to choose from, which is ok because your not going to use many distortions on a bass anyway.

Easy As hell to tinker with the effects settings.
However you have to play while changing or you won't get the tones you desire. Yet Without the manual you would be lost, it tells you just exactly what to expect from each effect

I use a Spector bass with it (I don't think I would have such good tone if I used a crappy bass to start my chain), and a Frankenstein Ampeg Combo with a Q-tube 70 amp graffted in. Nice ampegy tone with a wide range of feels. and as for the reviewer who said a RP2000 was better I traded one for this (partially so I could still have effects and a new bass) and the RP2000 is better suited for guitar (I have played quit a few basses through the RP though).

just got it so don't know seems like it'll be ok if you just step instead of stomp

I play alot of diffent styles and it kicks for each.
If stolen I would have to either track and kill the poor bastard or just break down and buy something different.