Zoom 509 Dual Power Modulator

For me, it's easy to use because I have other 500 series ZOOM pedals.

My setup? Mostly my LP Deluxe through a Mesa Nomad 45.
Is the 509 noisy? No. Not at all.
The effects are plenty "strong".
I run all my effects through the loop except my wah pedal.
The 509 suites my needs very well. Nice chorus and tremelo effects, which is all I use it for.

Some people gripe or worry about plastc stomp boxes. Morons. It would take a special kind of idiot with a claw hammer to break a Zoom 500 series pedal, AND, the switches are far more relible than Digitech's.

No idea. Never needed it.

This is my 44th year playing lead guitar on stage. We play nostalgia rock from the 60's to current day. I've got all kinds of gear.
The old 500 Zoom pedals are cheap now on eBay. They may not be "true" studio quality effects, although I have recorded with them with totally acceptable results. Regardless of that, they are very adequate for stage use, in my opinion. Any old 9VDC, 300MA wall works. My only complaint is the red LED display that cannot be read in daylight, but that's it. Yes, I would find another if this one disappeared.

PS: I don't know about you, but any product review signed "anonymous" has ZERO credibility with me.

I have other Zoom 5000 series pedals, so the ease of use is just fine. First time users will have to work at it a bit, but I got used to it and find adjustments, even between tunes on-stage, no problem. I give it a score of ten for users with 5000 series experience, 7 for 1st-timers.

My Stage Setup: 72 LP Deluxe and Steinberger (for slide). Amp is miked mono through the PA. Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 combo and 1978 Randall RG 60 (crazy clean and LOUD).
Is it noisy: No.
Are the effects weak: No. Just fine. Works really well through the loop.
Can I get my favorite sounds: Yes, including "Good Times Bad Times tremelo/leslie (in mono). Chorus is quite good.

I should add that it doesn't seem to color the tone of my amp or guitar at all, which is ideal. All the modulations are amply good for stage use, especially the chorus. I like it. For the studio? Don't know. Haven't tried that.
Score 10 for "Pristine", just because I have no idea what "pristine" is supposed to mean? H.C., what does that mean?

Excellent! You know, some reviewers gripe about plastic construction, but I have no idea why. I have NEVER had a problem with these 5000 series Zoom pedals. Never. I have had numerous problems with other pedals that were steel but had plastic push buttons (i.e., my RP series Digitech stuff).

Never needed it. The things work.

Style I play: Nostalgia rock.....just about everything.
Playing how long: 44 years this year.
If it were stolen: Replace it, of course.
What do I love about it: It works well and it never fails me, like my other Zoom 5000 series pedals.
Compared to what: Tsunami chorus, Ibanez chorus, Boss CE1, CE2, DOD something (I forget which).
Anything I wish it had: Liquid crystal display. LEDs can't be seen in sunlight.
Does it help: Yes, definitely.
Any comments to share: Sure. Give these dinosaurs a try if the price is right. Watch eBay and get one. You can always unload it later. I like all my Zoom 5000 series pedals for stage work. As you already know, the studio is a different story.
Over-all rating is based on stage use.

Es un pedal un poco mas dificil de programar que otros pedales Zoom de este nivel. Concentrandose un poco se pueden sacar sonidos interesantes, todos en un pedal, lo que nos ahorra varios pedales a la vez.
El hecho de poder obtener dos sonidos a la vez es correcto, por lo general no hace falta mas.
Los sonidos preseteados por lo general no son usables, pero con un poco de trabajo se pueden encontrar sonidos interesantes.
El manual carece de explicaciones especificas, y esto lo hace peor que otros manuales de productos ZOOM

Uso una guitarra Fender Strato modificada con un humbucker en el puente , y un Floyd Rosa, una Gibson Les Paul, una Fender Telecaster, una Gibson SG y una Ibanez JS. Con todas anda bien.
Los seteos no son ruidosos para nada.
Sobre la calidad de los efectos: no son gran cosa, aunque son usables realmente el flanger, octaver y el pitch shifter es bueno, en especial el "intelligent" , que se incorpora a un aparato que provee este efecto a un precio mas que aceptable.
El chorus no es gran cosa, el phaser es bueno usarlo solo con seteos limpios pero no es muy versatil

... Standard Factory settings are MODERATE (i m a KB-player ; wide patch & FLOATING SOUNDS with improvisation) ...
But after SPENDING 2 Hrs with all FLANGER + PHASOR + ROTARYo + pitch (detune) i got addicted ... maybe somebody is FASTER ,
cause i have taste 1 PATCH-combi for around 1 Minute to get a judgement ... Very complex to me was PARALLEL effect-settings...
This came very later ---> Try chorus (fast) + Rotary (slow)
or Flanger (slow) + rotary (fast) +++++++
NUMBER of Effect combinations are over 1000 !!!!
at least i have spent 12 Hours for around 48 memory patches
- but on 4 days - cause after 3 hours i felt tired comparing ...

For programming I used 4 different Type of ORGAN SOUND , my very intention was a SLOWER MODULATION-SPEED than a mechanical ROTATING / Leslie / cabinet effect ... GREAT , really slow enough.
There was no TREBLE frequency loss (rather to some digital or analog Rotary effects ---> Korg G4 or BOSS SE 70 ) ... NO additional noise in my self-made 8 channel Amp Equipment (Zoom Out is STEREO only)
Intensity Control is ok ...
Very Hard to program the real Leslie ACC- + DE- CELERATION stuff.
My substitute: Use 2 memory patches in sequence (fixed speed setups)
I like very much the PHASER + FLANGER + detune besides the basic doubled rotary effect...

I dont live on stage; but on travelling .. it works fine ..
during travel : 50 % I used stereo headphones, which is fine on the output... Battery consumptions is high (ca 200 mA) ...
No problems with external supply ...

i m happy with 2 Zoom 5o9 devices because i need 2 * 24 Memory patches for my Sound... I programmed the numbers in contrasting effects to get the hardest on 4 channel AMPLIFIErS.
Very Flexible and enough potential to make the KB_SOUND scream (=overstate) & to play "understate" , whatever u like ...
i m very happy as a "modulator" freak since 20 years !!!

Thus far, I've had no difficulties with it. It's really just a matter of finding what effect you want and toggling it with your foot. Might be a little slow for some, but on the whole I'd say it's idiot proof.

Depite what others have said, the bypass on mine works fine. As for the quality of the effects ... this is where it falls flat, as it were. The effects are all rather spacey and synth-like. However, I play in a church band and they like the 'spaciness' of the tones, so it works for me. Chorus is perhaps a little much, but phase shifter is great.

Yeah, I'd gig with no backup, but definetely with spare batteries.

Haven't had any problems yet.

I play a good variety of different styles; anything that's not hard rock or jazz could probably be juiced a little from this box. You could, of course, buy analog stompbox chorus's and tremolo's and what not, but not for the price of the 509. So if you're on a budget and don't mind that a couple of the effects are synthlike, I'd get it.

read the manual and f**ck with it for a few beers, thats all it takes, unless your a dropout.the manual tells all nicely.editing is a breeze and it is a very quiet unit, and it is not a tone sucker like the f**cking gfx 707. which i completely regret, i would trade that sucker for a commodore 64...

i play a hamer diablo through a peavey ultra plus..all the effects on the 509 are at least as good as if bought seperately..the chorus is top notch..not sure about the pitch shifter, this is my first one so nothing to compare it to. anyone that plays heavy music and has a clean channel will appreciate the flange,phaser,chorus..

have gigged without backup for 3 years now with it..though if it did breakdown it wouldnt be a big deal.(hey i play metal). by the way plastic resins have been proven to be stronger than some metals and lighter.

n/a

not sure if i would replace it. too much cool stuff out there..if it had digital delay it would rate at least a 9.

it`s one of the easiest units on Earth, easier than a boss pedal. the reason why i got this pedal was the shop was selling them off at #40.

i use a Iron Maiden Fender Stratocaster, Marshall standard 50 watt thing and rubbish boss DS-1 pedal.

the best thing about this pedal is you can get most of the sounds you what from punk to metal.

i have used this at gig, but i would always keep a back up cos of the battery consuption.

never needed it......so far

i would get one again because of the sound it gives. sounds good with or with distortion.

Read the manual and you should not have any problem editing the pathces or making your own. Tweaking it to get a sound that suits your needs can take up some time.

I play LTD Viper301- Morley Bad Horsie- Zoom 509- Marshall AVT275. Slightly noisy on bypass and play modes. Effects sound great for a $70 box. Most patches need a little tweaking.

It eats batteries as fast as you replace them buy the adapter for it. I have not had any problems, would never gig without any backup on any effects pedal.

Hope to never know

I play all types of music heavy to jazz. It has some usefull effects some that are a waste but you just have to edit your own patch over the ones you find useless. I would buy it again if lost or stolen.

Takes time to program, with little dinky switches, but once you tweak it in it is okay. Manual is moderately helpful. Easy to swtich patches on stage, even in the dark, but hitting both pedal buttons at once to bypass it sometimes is tricky if you're in a hurry.

I use this pedal on a Rhodes, to get tremolo, chorus, and phaser effects; the chain is Rhodes->ADA MP-1 Preamp->Zoom 509->ART Levelar. This pedal has mono input and stereo output, and can do tremolo, vibrato, chorus, stereo panning, phaser, flanging, rotary speaker, pitch shifting, delay (minimal), 'intelligent' harmonizing, rudimentary graphic EQ, and rudimetary parametric EQ. It can take pedal control for pitch shifting, and a pitch sense from clean amp channel to use for pitch changing distorted sounds. You can run up to two effects, in series or parallel with control over mixing, as well as dry/wet level of each patch.
The 'intelligent' harmonizer isn't; it can be set for key, etc, but has to be preset for major or minor thirds, fifths, etc; never sounds right in real use because it cannot do a fourth harmony, or alternate between thirds and fourths. Basically an awkward pitch shifter.
The trem/pan/chorus/phasor sounds are good; two phasor settings can sound like a 90? (MXR Phase 90) or 45? (MXR Phase 45) phasor. Basically any modulated sound you want can be achieved; I got the Steely Dan rhodes sound without much trouble, as well as the classic Rhodes ping-pong tremolo.

The main sound quality problem is that it sucks life out of any sound you put through it, even while bypassed (solid-state, not true bypass). It makes everything sound slightly cold and metallic. You can compensate somewhat by putting an EQ in front of it and boosting mid-treble. I built a bypass stomp-box to keep it out of the signal path when not in use, and just live with it while it's being used. No room inside the box to add a true bypass switch.
The 509 will distort, badly, if you feed it too much input signal. Mine also hisses, even while bypassed. Not too loud, makes it fine for live shows but bad for studio work. I have heard that some units hiss more than others, might be a quality problem.
I still use it because having separate chorus, phasor, tremolo/pan pedals takes up too much floor space on stage. For studio work I use the tech's effects.

I've gigged this heavily over 3 years, and it's seen some abuse (dropping, kicking, stuff stacked on it in the van, beer spills, etc). No problems so far, even though it has a plastic case.
One thing, though; this unit sucks batteries fast. One gig per battery. Use an adapter.

Never dealt with them.

For the price at the time (eBay), it was a good deal. Takes up less space than having separate pedals that do all this thing does, if you can live with it. Harmonizer is junk; don't buy it for that.
The effects are good and flexible, but the tone-sucking, hiss, and lack of true bypass make it non-ideal. For most stage use it's fine.

hard to figure out how to edit effects, although i didn't get a manual

cheap way of gettin a lot of gay effects, but i must say some are usefull

plastic, and it's not a boss, thats all i have to say

??

well, i bought mine used (EBAY) and it seems to be somewhat fucked up, because if i sturm really fast, sometimes it will turn off. but none the less the price is right