Zoom 506 mk 2 Bass

Fairly easy to use. The knob addition is a very nice feature. Patch editing is simply. I have 2 issues, the delay times are very short I would like to see more control over that. You cant run the reverb and the delay at the same time because they run of the same Mod. effect. But, for the money it packs a decent punch.

I use this pedal for live applications. I am using Ampeg SVT4 pro and 2 svt 4X10 cabs with either a P bass or jazz bass. The pedal is quieter than the original 506 but, it still is a little noisy when the gate opens up.
The chorus is very nice sounding and they added more chorus pre sets. They all sound fine, If you use a hint of reverb, they really open up.
I think distortion/synth sucks on all basses so I dont even touch those presets.
Obviuosly a BOSS chorus pedal sounds much cleaner. Once again, for the money you can't beat it.

It is fairly dependable. I would make sure that you protect it in your gig bag, it looks like it might break easy if tossed in your gig bag.

When reading this review or if considering buying this unit, please keep the cost in mind. Zoom has done a great job in improving the original 506. You get a lot of muscle for under 100 bucks. If you are looking for crystal sound and have the dough, go buy a POD(not impressed with those either). If you are on a limited budget or have a cheasy amp, this pedal is a great value. It is fun to play with, makes a great headphone practice tool and doesnt sounfd half bad in a live application.

This is pretty easy to use, with a straightforward manual. The presets give you good starting points for different sounds. Editing the patches is not too complicated, and with a little tweaking I could find the sounds I was looking for. I play a variety of music, ranging from metal to blues to funk, so I like being able to set up a bank of patches for each style. My main gripe with the system is that it does not come with a built in expresion pedal like the Korg AX1B. They want you to spend more money to buy Zoom's expression pedal, but any expression pedal will do.

The sound quality is what you'd expect for a multi-effect pedal. It's not going to replace your Mutron, Fulltone, or other high end pedal, but then again, it's not designed to. I use it as a laboratory for sounds when I'm writing songs or learning them. It gets me in the ballpark and didn't break my wallet in the process. This pedal is basically a way to find out if distortion, chorus, flanging or other sound effects suit your type of music. Once you know the sound you're looking for, go out and buy a quality pedal or rack system that gives you that sound.

I mainly use this pedal with a Washburn jazz bass with active pickups. I use either a Fender 25w practice amp or a Dean Markley combo. I run mine through the effects loop of the amp, so there's little noise. Make sure you use a power adaptor though, because batteries don't last long, and without power you'll have no sound at all.

Seems reliable, but I hhave my doubts about the plastic casing. As long as you don't stomp on it, it should survive. If you're using it onstage, be sure to place it somewhere out of the way where it won't get thrashed.
I wouldn't use this as my primary effects system if I were at a gig, but I do take it with me. It serves as a backup in case one of my main pedals breaks down. It's small enough that it fits in my gig box and doesn't get in the way.

I've never had to contact them for support, but I have heard that their support is not very good. Apparently it takes forever to get a reply to a question, and they are reluctant to repair/replace broken equipment.

Overall, It's a pretty good pedal for the price. I think it has better sound than the Korg AX1, or similar multi effects. The downside is the lack of an expression pedal. I'd probably buy another if it were lost or stolen. For the price, it's hard to beat.

Use it as a learning tool and a backup piece, and it should serve you well. I have yet to find one effects system that can give me exactly the sounds I am looking for. For serious work, I have different pedals daisy-chained together to give me exactly the sound I want. The Zoom is used for experimenting, tweaking and to get me out of jams due to equipment failure.

Pretty easy to change sounds and the manual is fine. One knob moves around the clearly labeled effects, +/- buttons change whatever parameters can be altered. There are quite a few, so reference to the manual is necessary at first.

At first appearence it looks to good to be true, and of course it is. Close inspection reveals 16 bit processing and 33.1k sampling and it can be noisy. However this unit is very cheap, the price of one Boss pedal say, and is excellent value for money. The distortion models I think are pretty good, you dont want to turn a bass into some horrible guitar like fuzz, and since you can alter the gain, holding back on even the thrash preset can give a nice subtle effect. Patch A2 does a resonably good Jack Bruce. The chorus is quite nice as is the reverb, so some eighties sounds are there as well. (if you like that kind of thing!!) Though the delay only gives one repeat it can sound like a nice slap-back, nice for rock'n'roll, but no layering Chris Squire tricks. The auto-wha is another good trick, fun funky bass. Only one gripe really, it can be noisy. Its got a noise reduction setting, but really thats only a gate. Turn up some high eq settings and it can really hiss. Rating would be a ten otherwise.

Its a bit plasticy but I only use it for recording. Wouldn't be that happy stomping on it, although it is built as a stomp box.

No idea, never dealt with them

I'm quite happy with this thing, and the bottom line really is the price. You get lots of effects, though with limited editing, so if you really find you love a chorus on your bass, you can get a dedicated unit later. It surprised me 'cos i wanted only distortion and an amp model for a vintage sound for recording and was pleasanlty surprised that i could get quite close to the sounds i wanted, especially as none of the analogue pedals I tried (Boss, DOD etc) got me what I wanted. If you have no multi effects at all you can't go wrong for the money...its worth it for a couple of the presets alone. Its not a POD, and you can't have 8 effects at once without something missing...and yep it can be noisy but its not a bad little unit and great fun.