Zoom 510 Dual Power Driver

Very difficult. The tweak buttons are also too small. After a while it can be fun, hunched over the pedeal, killing an hour and a half.

Forget about emulating a Tube Screamer or getting anything warm. However, the grunge effect is obnoxious, disgusting and vile --IN A GOOD WAY. I'm pretty sure the grunge sustain lasts forever and you can disrupt any rehearsal with it & trounce any vintage gear. Seriously, the boost & overdrive if okay for soloing, the octaver is nice. My settings: A1 - boost/OD A2 - light dist A3 - Grunge A4 - Octave.
Once you use a Cry Baby wah, Stone Roses style you'll know this wah is useless without a pedal. Also, the tuner rocks. A tuner & one sound would be nice, this has a tuner and 3 usable sounds. Very nice.

Yeah, I think you can depend on this. It will break one day but whatever.

Soloing at home with the grunge effects is a blast. Using the grunge effect at rehearsal is fun just for the shock value on your band members faces --it really beautifully nasty. I think the boost/OD is good though it breaks up your tone a bit too much. My conclusion is that digital distortions are not good at just coloring your current tone but if you use digital distrotion full-on, the sustain, lack of noise create interesting new sounds. I LOVE the tuner, octave, grunge & the OD/boost is passable. You can now get these used for like 20 bucks. GREAT DEAL!
BTW, I'm certain I still haven't tweaked out all it's potential so it could be even better than I know.

Programming this device is easy. Once you're used to the sequence there's nothing to it. No, it's not the most versatile effects processor ever built - but there is a certain "in your face" quality to the Zoom effects that makes me prefer some of them over the pristine and somewhat "distant" sound of many digital devices. I find the "raw" sound of the 510 more appealing than the Yamaha DG Stomp, for instance. For one thing, the compressor on the 510 is far more useful and much easier to use. Some of the effects layout is illogical, for example why would the "fuzz" be in the "main" drive section rather than in the "pre" section? But whatever, it is what it is. The manual was still available online as of 11/'05.

I'm an old fart, I've got lotsa junk. I use this mostly with my fave axe, which is a Cort CL1400 (yeah, I can hear your laughter from here...Bite me!). I also use this with a Cruise short scale bass with Dimario P/J pickups. It goes into a Crate Powerblock driving a single 10" Celestion (or headphones), or a lovely orange Roland Cube 40, or into a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder. I like some of the lower gain sounds that are possible with this device. The combinations possible through the use of the "automatic mixing" feature are intriguing. The compressor works very well. Since I'm not looking for an idealized heavy metal sound, it's all good. I don't expect a $25 box to make me sound like the rock guitar god of the week...(duh). I haven't noticed any excessive noise. The primitive amp sim is mostly a joke, but does change the EQ by scooping the mids slightly, so I use it for that. The higher gain distorions will get you credible early 80's "punk/hardcore" guitar sounds if you so desire. Most of us didn't have perfect, wonderful, ideal equipment back then - we made do with what we had, and if you listen to the underground music of that era, the guitar sounds often reflect that - this device will recreate many of those sounds - the imperfections and idiosyncracies make it sound authentic. This device was marketed starting in the mid 90's, so it's obsolete in the evva mo' betta digital world.

I'm not sure how old this is - I'd say it's at least 5 years old.
The 510 was marketed in the mid/late 90's. I bought it used about a month ago (11/'05). It seems to work fine.
I might use it on a gig, what the hell? Why Not? It is no doubt more reliable than the Electro-Harmonix stuff that was ubiquitous in the late 70's and early 80's. I'd wear Converse All Stars and step rather lightly though...If you jump up and down on this thing in your waffle-stompers or Doc Martens, you will break it (duh! again, kiddies).
Anyway, so far, so good.
(Yes, older Zoom stuff does occasionally need the input and output jacks re-soldered. So it goes...learn to solder.)

Samson/Zoom still had the manual available when I went looking for it, that's about the best you can expect for a discontinued effects box.
(Uh, there's some "rather precious" young musicians who expect these companies to wipe their ass and buy 'em breakfast because they spent $60 or whatever on an effects box, that's simply not realistic.)

All that said, I've never required Zoom's assistance.
"Caveat Emptor" as always.

I play poorly blended punk/blues/rock-n-roll and I occasionally dabble in jazz and country, both of which are mostly beyond my ability. We started our first punk band in '79 (I think?). If it was lost or stolen - yeah, sure I'd replace it for $25, including the AC adapter, why not? I like the compressor, and the auto-mix feature. I wish it had more midrange EQ, rather than just bass and treble.
Whatever. I bought this device because it was there, it was cheap, and I wanted something to mess with on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was much better than expected. I've used it often. Quite useful, and easily worth the $25 gamble.

There are 4 buttons to change values, and 2 buttons to change patches.
Not realy a lot considering its an multi-fx unit. You can forget figuring out how to edit the patches without the manual, since the editing process is rather complicated and not realy initiutive.
Once you do get it, its rather easy to do.

I got myself stuck in some mode a couple of times, and the unit would be unresponsive (resetting it wouldn't help). After downloading the manual from the zoom website I got it figured out.

The manual isn't very well written either.
There is an built in tuner, but it's not realy usefull, since it doesn't show the exact values of your strings (it will say its an B#, but not how far off from tuned it is)

I play mostly metal, grunge and rock. When I used this pedal, I played an s-s-s strat copy through an samick 20 watt practice amp.


The distortion settings were very noisy, even considering low gain settings and using its built in noise reducer. It has a lot of operational noise.

The overdrives lack dynamics and feel, the distortions are not very convincing. I only liked the 'grunge' setting, it had a nice crunch, but it was too weak sounding. The octaver & wah's in this pedal are pretty useless.

I played with it for a few months, I got an sound fairly decent metal sounds, but it wasn't that great.

It is a very cheap looking plastic pedal. It looks as if I could break it using the pedal in a 'normal' way.

The small plastic buttons on the side get stuck a lot, when it happens your settings keep changing until you pull the button up using a screwdriver.
I read other users had this problem a lot too, so this device is pretty unreliable.

I never dealt with them. At least you can download the owners manual from the site.

I play mostly metal, this pedal doesn't make a good match. I guess this pedal doesn't make a good match with any playing style.

I've been playing some 3 years or so, right now I play an
H-S-S strat trough an Metalzone and an Marshall s.s. combo. My gear still sucks, and it's far from giggable. That said, the tone of my setup sounds better than this P.O.S. pedal.

If it got stolen, I would laugh the poor person now having the pedal in his face.

Stay away from this pedal folks, its bad luck. It may be cheap, but just save a bit more and buy something better. Just about any stompbox is better than this thing, and thats saying a lot.

Ez ez, but limited space to see what is on or off, and you have to scroll through all the blocks(predrive, main drive, eq, amp sim znr, level, pedal) for anything. I find this annoying but since the unit is very well protected from shocks, not like their new stuff, it is okay.
The hidden function(bank up and down pressed simultaneously) is clever: you can there adjust the overall gain scale accordingly to your axe. If you program the thing with your les paul, and want to play with your strat, then you adjust the overall gain without touching anything in your patches. Great! But: quite logically it resets everytime the unit is off... Don't forget that point, or you'll have unpleasant surprises, especially in the stress of the gig...
The time lag is almost inexistant, and you can have bank hold. It scrolls through 4patches within a bank, so you can program a patch with overdrive, another with some boost, you copy them (A1-A3, A2-A4) et voila you have a three-channel amp(the bypass makes the clean sound). Very clever.

I play this in many setups : before an amp, in its clean channel. Straight in the power amp of an amp. Straight to the board, via speaker simulation box(the zoom has a fine amp simulation, very useful, but no speaker simulation.).
I play this thing with an expression pedal which allows me to control the panning between block one and block two, smartest thing ever.
So you can rythm clean with comp and gradually fade in some nice crunch while still having the clean sound for bass frequencies'tightness. Great with a bass guitar, only way to have good distortion.
With a five strings bass I toggle between a patch with compressor (and some eq and amp sim) and a patch with octaver (and some eq and amp sim) and it is so far the best thing I ve heard with a bass, no tracking problems and no "pitch shifter effect". Fine!
It is a very versatile and clever unit.
The boost function is perfect for soloing, fresh clear and dynamic.
So far I only use one type of distortion(main4, gain15) with the booster on for solos. It is perfect with my humbuckers'guitars.
When I find a fitting sound I don't search further...
Very little noise, noise reduction works far better than with other zoom products I own(5000,505,9150,gm200,ps02), the sound stays clear and defined.
One could say cold, it is but not in a bad way since a good clean channel(no tubes necessary, only a good amp) warms it up.
For the fun of it I put a behringer mic200 tube preamp in the loop of my trannie 112 combo, and man it is warmer than expected! Now I can't remove it...
I only can imagine the zoom in a vox ac-15, hot'n'spicy!
It is a ten here, considering the price, size and versatility. And the sounds are really good.

Well yes and no. Only a complete idiot gig without a backup, things happen. This unit is very solid, the jacks too (nothing to compare to the newest zooms) and you can walk on it without damaging it. The no is for the tiny bank/edit/store buttons because after some use they stick in the housing and do not work properly then. Some wd40 spray and everything is fine again but still...
The battery option is a life insurance when gigging, because you are not stuck if anything happens to your power supply. And I swear it happens, and more often thn thought in the first place.
My zoom is working flawlessly since a long long time. As are my 508 delay and 504 acoustic(first version) based on the very same design.

It is a very clever, versatile and useful unit. No it won't make you play like Yngwie, crap in equals crap out,only louder and worse.
The compressor is the easiest ever to set up, and it sounds very very good. As does the octaver.
About distortions you can find one for you, provided you don't play like a pig.... And no tone snob either, an audience only cares if you play well with the proper tone the song requests. I can tell you, and I've spent too much in "fine" gear which was no better than this in the end.
I have to find another one, because zoom now does crap.
If you have a warm clean channel at hand, go get a 510.

very easy 2 use....c'mon guyz...4 buttonz!!!(well 6 if u count the 2 pedalz) It may take time 2 play with it and program it 2 get a good sound but that's with any pedal or amp u buy. The only thing bad about it is that if i wanna tweak something during a performance it'll take longer 2 change something going through the editing, than just turning a knob on other pedal, but it's still an easy pedal!!! If u don't think this pedal is easy then u need 2 get off the short bus!!!

this pedal is amazing! u've got every distortion(from OD 2 metal)auto wah, pedal wah,octaver,compressor, noise gate, amp simulator,Eq, and parallel/serial signalz. Although the distortionz r digital, u can get a great sound out of them. People say that it sux just b/c they don't wanna spend the time 2 get a good sound with it, may not know how 2 get good tone, or think tht just b/c it's cheap it's no go; that u have 2 have all tube or high priced/popular effectz 2 sound good.....WRONG! This pedal givez u everything u need and more!

it's reliable. just b/c it's plastic doesn't mean it's cheap and it'll break. U'll break anything if u jump around and stomp the spit out of it. I've used it 4 about 5 yrs in my setup and had no problemz with it. I even use it without a backup, neva needed 1! so if u use it and don't abuse it, it'll last 4eva!!!

neva delt with them...no need 2! good product!

I've been playing 4 13yrs. I play any and everything, mostly blues, rock(all styles of rock),even a little metal. this pedal gives me a great sound 4 wot i play. I use on the A bank and put the bank hold on and i have A1 clean,A2 is my hard drivin OD that i use 4 my leads,A4 is a lighter OD 4 soft ballad or when i need a little breakup,and A3 is a good rhythm OD crunch. It also use it with the 505(which i use 4 chorus, delay, phase,and special fx), as well as a crybaby wah and a few boss pedalz! The 510 is a great pedal when u take the time 2 get the sound u want. I like the versatilitiy it has, especially the OD it rocks! i put it up against my friendz distortionz and it was just as good if not betta; i'm talkin about tube screamers, metal zone, boss OD, Fuzz pedal, even a Marshall amp and it was just as good!!! the only bad thing about it is that it takes longer 2 change something during a performance, if it was stolen i'd buy it agen, but if i can't find 1 i'd settle 4 individual effects that r just as good but i'm glad i got the 510... money well spent!!! give it an all around 9 b/c nothing's perfect!!!

It took me 15-20 minutes sitting with it and reading the manual (Found online at www.zoom.co.jp) to figure most of it out. And I'm sure theres still more I can do.

These are digital effects but they aren't too fake. Distortions galore and this little thing does pretty well.

Just got it an hour ago! :p

Previous answer applies

These effects ARE digital and may sound cheesy to the punk ass kids that mommy and daddy bought them a Marshall full stack and Gibson LP Custom. But for my budget this was a great investment. I'm sick of pissant bad reviews 'cause mommy and daddy bought me a Marshall with better OD or distortion that anything out there so everything else is shit. Ya go fuck your mommy and daddy!

Extremely Tricky too use but if you ever worked your way through a VS880 recording device this is simple. I don't like the pedal switches. Its too easy to hit the wrong one when trying to hit both pedals at the same time. Put this pedal in a simple MXR case and it would be the best.

The sustain is amazing. They threw everything in but the kitchen sink. I thought this pedal sucked because I only used it with headphones and the presets. I'm still trying to emulate the Ibanez Tube Screamer tone with this and am getting close. If anyone out there knows the settings for TS9/808 tone let me know at steve@sec-designs.com

The octaver is a nice touch, the WAH is useless.

Looks pretty flimsy but so far no problems.

Never used it.

7.5 out of 10

I owned this for 3 years maybe more. Now I own a Boss me50, it's another planet. But this was a good pedal for me. It's done only for the distortion. Has some of distortion combining effects like octaver, noise gate, wha, booster, compressor,ecc... and it's easy to use, maybe a bit complicated when editing because there are no knobs. Bit don't be non patient and silly to say: "the pedal sucks 'cuz it takes more than 2 seconds to change settings". Don't be in a hurry for nothing.

People who said here that this pedal sucks are very silly because you just have too play a bit with the PRE DRIVE and MAIN DRIVE and you'll get great distortions, to high gain metal sound to overdriven sounds even for country like stuffs.
I play with a Gibson Lespaul Voodoo and a Peavey audition 110.
Hey no crap settings....and great sounds.

It's made of plastic, one of the pedal switches got broken once, I fixed it immediately all by myself. no problem at all.
I used it on 2 gigs and there was no problem, and at all, why should you play tarzan on your zoom when playing on a gig???? Be gentle with it even on a gig.

Never dealt with them.

I play rock metal, and a lot of other stuffs, This was my effect settings at the time I owned this pedal (about 3 years)

Ibanez wh10, Zoom 510, Ibanez digital delay, Ibanez flanger.

That worth the money it costs.

It's not very easy to set up and not easy to make adjustments.

Anyone else participating in this review who rates the sound as anything other than total shit is tone deaf. I read a review by someone who gave this a good review. After he mentioned what equipment he uses I understood why, he uses a Crate Transistor Half Stack, and an ESP guitar. Anyone who pays money on a transistor head must be tone deaf.

Not sure I trust it.

Only reason I bought it was because I have an all tube half stack through a British 4x12 cabinet and I was looking for something i could play with headphones an night when my wife and daughter are asleep. I do studio recording using Mesa Boogie, Laney and Peavey all tube amps. I would use a Marshall amp but haven't found one that doesn't sound like shit. Anyway I know my tones, and this really isn't worth buying, but hey, there is one born any minute

I used to have a 505(1), so I was familur with the set up, even with the 505 I had, I found it very easy to use and customeize to my likeing. Granted with the 510 it took me a wile to find just the right sound I wanted to get out of it, but what pedal dosen't take a little time to get just right?

I play thrash/death metal, and I found with the pre set on light od (set gain to likeing) and main set to grunge (full gain) and a high EQ setting I was able to get a very Recto like tone, and seires setting with some light overdrive get's a lovely clean tone. The only thing I don't like about the 510 is the lack of flange or chorus. I use this as my main pedal ever since I got it 3 month's ago, and am very happy with it. I must admit some patch's r a little fuzzy, and crake a little too much for my taste, but I just don't use those setting's. I just got the new digitech x seires metalmaster pedal, and the 510 is kicking it's ass so far in the battle for my main set up.

I got this pedal used from a friend, he said the jack for the adapter was messed up so he had to "hotwire" the adapter stright to the box. He didn't do to good a job, but I fixed it, so I can't really comment on the reliability of this pedal

I have had ALOT of distortion pedal's over the year's, inclouding the famous 505, and I was never really happy with the tone's I'ed get out of them and never reall found what I was looking for in a distortion pedal. I can't speack for the next year, but for right now it look's like the 510 is just what I was waiting for, with the pre and main distortion choice's I have been able to come up with full sounding tone's with the right amount of bark and bite. And best of all, if I am not happy with something I can just reset the patch to what I want, but it will take a wile to know just what witch level setting will do to your sound, so be careful or u might just end up with some wicked feedback that will kill everything you play, and just anoy you (and your band, belive me)

I found it quiet hard to use, because the manual was not Dutch and not very clearly written. Also 4 buttons stick. So when you press that button, you've got to put a screwdriver in it. It's not very useable because that 4 buttons.

My setup is a PRS Santana SE with a Ibanez Tone Blaster and I got to say that I can get better sounds out of the amp. The 510 is also VERY VERY noisy when no effects are used. Some effects do sound nice, but the noise is so damn irritating. This effect has almost only distortions (of low quality)

Told ya earlier that the 4 buttons are sticky, also read it in another review, so, the reliability kinda sucks. The whole thing looks fragile and wouldn't use it at a gig, it's not worth that.

Got this thing for my birthday (if I didn't get it, I definitly, DEFINITLY shouldn't have bought it) and it didn't work with a battery so I returned it to the shop and they concluded that I had to use an adaptor. I never had to deal with Zoom so no rating for this.

I play rock and this...well it doesn't suit anything except for deaf guitarist. If you can get this thing, DON'T BUY IT. It sucks.

Not difficult to learn. The manual is available online in PDF and is very self explanitory.

The sound quality isn't anything to brag about. It's not bad, but not too wonderful either. I was hoping I'd be able to get lots of different sounds out of it but it turns out that it is kind of limited. Zoom kind of exagerates what their low end pedals are capable of. You can combine 2 effects (1 from each group) and set a bunch of other things such as amp modeling and noise reduction. You can tweak the effects a little, but not very much. The ability to decide whether to have the two effects going parallel or serial is nice, but still kind of limiting because so many of the effects are so similar.

If you like distortions and overdrives and you don't plan on using this for gigs then I'd reccomend it. It's not horrible for recording and it does give you a little bit too play with. The wah sound is interesting but I have yet to find a way to make it a useful consistent wah. Most of the presets are allright but not too wonderful. I like the "bass plus" preset.

The sound does have it's hissing and clicking but I've managed to always get very close to eliminating that completely by playing with the volume/pickups on my guitar and the settings on the amp.

Some of the buttons stick. It's never given me any trouble other than that. It may be plastic but I think you'd have to try pretty hard to break it.

I obtained this pedal off ebay for $20.00 (US) and it's not as exciting as I had hoped. I play a lot of clean sounding stuff and so a variety of distortions and overdrives won't be very useful. I wish I had waited and forked out a little more for the 505II. Low end zooms may not be the greatest but a pedal like the 505II at least gives you a little bit of everything to play around with. This pedal is only distortions and overdrives. All the timing effects are in the zoom 509. If you play heavy stuff or want to play around with some heavier stuff then this isn't that bad of pedal. It gives you a nice little variety of sounds and if you look around it doesn't cost much at all. At the same time I'd still reccomend that most people look for a 505II which goes for about $45 on ebay. The 505II has a nice selection of the same types of effects plus a lot of other effects and things to play with. It also has higher quality sound, better amp modeling, etc.

Generally I agree with most of the other people here. The low end zooms are not something you'd probably want to gig with or put in your recording studio. At the same time they are very cheap and give you a lot to play with. If you are looking for a way to alter your sound it could be worth a try. It's a lot cheaper than most other pedals out there and gives you a lot more options to play with.

may be hard to understand first.. but then its easy..

sounds terrible.. it may sound okay if u play single notes...
sucks all the sustain out of my les paul..
and there is a big "click" while changing patches...

plastic shit..

noway dont buy this shit.. i only use it as a tuner nothing more.. it sucks all your sustain.. dont buy this shit... get a tube amp for a real distrotion..

Well, when I bought this puppy used, it came with no manual or anything, I got a 9volt battery to use it, and it is SIMPLE TO USE..
I found editing patches to be very simple, and easy to get the gist of..
C'mon guys, all you have to do is press EDIT, and check out the settings, change to the sound of your liking and then press STORE twice! IS that hard?!
Mine has a lil sticker on the bottom with a 6 digit #, but I do not know what it represents..

If I use my Marshall Amp, my Fender Frontman Amp, or even these lil' Sony Headphones with a tip-ring sleeve jack this puppy sounds pretty decent to pretty good depending on the settings..
A lot of the distortions lack punch and sometimes sound rather crunchy depending on the setting, but they can be beefed up in Pre-Drive mode by adding either Booster, Light or Dynamic OD and lots of gain, but this lil' machine is very tweekable, and even without the "beefing", distortions can be edited to your liking..
I just got this last week, so I didn't know it had Chorus..lol

Depending on the type of music played, and the animation of the user are factors of the dependability of this Zoom 510..
I play everything from Jazz, and Blues to Metal and Alternative..
If I was hardcore Metal, I'd prolly break this pedal on the 1st gig..
This pedal was designed for more Rock oriented peeps, so I really don't think this would hold up in that kind of environment, it's plastic..
For practicing I use it all the time, especially with the headphones..

Never dealt with them, I just got this pup, and I bought it used and it works fine! I may look into upgrading if there is some more effects that can be crammed into this lil' box..

For my thing, this puppy busts..
I can have a super clean sound, or some wild seething distortion, I just save the settings for later..It's SIMPLE!! Anyone who says it isn't must be spoiled or just plain STUPID! I'm sorry if I'm blunt, but that is the way I feel!
I've been playing Guitar and Bass for about 6 1/2 yrs, I have several DOD and Boss stompboxes, they rock uniquely, but this digital pedal is fun to work with too I use it for practice and even for a little fun I do use it live, but not for anything hardcore I just keepit clean and use the Noise reduction as well..
I wish this monster had some flanging and some delay effects..
It can help me make music, and it can get in my way depending on what I want to do..
I would buy this pedal again if I lost or broke it, it's that flexible..

This pedal is a pain to tweak. The sounds that come on the pedal are only slightly interesting.
But, with all the possiblities, there really is no limit on the distortion sound you can get on this.
It's digital, so you won't get any beautiful sounds but there are literally HUNDREDS of great sounds in this box if you're willing to put in the time.

Given the amount of different tones, I give it an 8. It does what it does well. Not great or amazing. but well. You can get some really heavy sounds with this. The clean stuff is ok. I do like the autowah, nice and smooth and the octave is great for single note riffs.

Hmm...The case is certainly tough enough for a lot of abuse. The jacks I don't know about. and given that it eats batteries and the adapter cost $25 it gets a 6.
Wouldn't gig without a backup of ANY pedal or guitar.

This pedal is a fine match. I play heavy music, Sabbath, SOD, hardcore and also Zepplin, the Who, Hendrix. If you're patient, it's a good pedal. for $100 it's a bargan.-OH,YEAH, IT HAS A HEADPHONE JACK!!!!!! No one mentioned how incredibly important that is. It's one of the reasons I bought the damn thing.
I've been playing for 20 years and I know what my sound is. This comes close. Close enough for practice. I haven't used this live, but with the delay on switching I would probably only use one patch anyway. Great for 4tracking though.
If it was stolen, well, I'd be sad. I wouldn't replace it though.
It does help me make music. It's really a practice tool. and a great practice tool. Tons of tones and a headphone amp. Well worth the money.

not easy at all. the hardest biggest pain in the ass to setup I have ever seen. not to mention very cheap looking

this puppy just flat smokes!! once you spend a year playing with it like I have. you then realize the sounds it is capable of putting out. amazing. no other pedal I have seen does so much in one pedal and most sounds are usable. it has totally different sounds too! not just variations on the same old shit.does tons of metal sounds and a few good blues sounds as well as other sounds that were pleasant surprises. octiver works pretty good too! it has tons of noise reduction settings as well as several types of amp simulation as well. has a very adjustable pre drive and an equally adjustable main drive with the usual treble and bass settings, etc. etc.... and there is were the value AND the problem lies. zoom gives you soooooooo much to work with and the a near impossible way of doing it. it is almost incomprehensible. no wonder so many people hate this pedal. unless you are willing to spend hours and hours and a college course to figure it out you will toss it aside in disgust never realizing the sound potential you hold in your hand. what a shame. oh!, by the way, sound quality is among the best.

this thing looks fragile and I worry about the computer inside taking a dump on me. it has a glitch in it, or maybe a sticky button, but, when trying to modify a preset it sometimes starts to scroll numbers real fast on the display and won't stop until you push the other buttons enough. very scary. I always sweat blood whenever I need to edit an existing preset. however, once stored it has no problems at all. no glitches or anything. unless of course, you count the "bank hold" function which can be activated accidentally and will make it unresponsive to program changes. took me forever to figure that one out. I thought it was broke. I will give this box a 5 because of the glitches.

?

great sound, great versatility,.. best of any pedal out there.......also the most incomprehensable pedal and the cheapest looking as well as the most glitches of any ever and it is the biggest pain in the ass of any pedal!

I bought it to replace the original Zoom 5000 Power Driver, which makes the Metal Zone look like a Rocktec Overdrive. Unfortunately, that's not what I got.

It's definately not a plug and play type thing. You have to be willing to spend a few hours, days, whatever messing with the buttons to get the right sounds. Then, when you decide, "Oh, I'd like a little more treble, and maybe a little less gain," you have to push twenty buttons to do so, which is rather annoying.

I suppose if you're a patient individual, it's not so troubling, but for the rest of us, yeesh.

Also, prepare to have all spontaneousness in your live sets killed by having to hit a button twelve times to change in between sounds.

The distortions are too harsh, too digital. I used to like stuff like that, but now I'm more into straightforward hard rock and punk. The heavy distortions are too brittle, too fuzzy to sound convincing, and the subtle overdrives sound like farts.

However, since upgrading my guitars and amplifiers, I can now get a really good sound out of it, using the "Booster" pre-drive, turning the output all the way up, and adding just enough noise reduction to kill the line noise. I put it in the middle of my Fender Deluxe Series Strat, and my 1981 Marshall JMP 50 Watt head, and it kicks my preamp in the ass just enough to get amazing distorted hard rock sounds. From Judas Priest to AC/DC to the Ramones to Naked Raygun to MC5 and back again. Of course, that's not what this pedal was designed for, and I'm positive that there's an overdrive pedal out there that will kick my tubes in the ass just as well, if not better than this unit. Right now I'm considering the Reverend Drivetrain.

The buttons stick. Since I use this merely as an overdrive, I don't touch the buttons anyway. If i actually used this at a live show as it was intended, by backup would be a cyanide capsule.

Nver dealt with them.

I like hard rock, 60's garage rock, a little metal, lots of punk and new wave. This pedal is really unsuitable for any of those. If you want super-heavy distortion check ebay for the original Zoom Driver, if you want hard rock or blues, buy a real amp, and perhaps a decent overdrive pedal.

Again, I found something this pedal is pretty good at, but there's something out there I'm looking for that'll sound just as good and won't get me laughed at for using a kiddie distortion.

The manual (instruction sheet) takes some getting used to but, unlike some of the reviewers below who either have patience, self conrol, or reading skills problems (the review two or so slots down), I have had no problem at all making adjustments, even between songs at the club. True enough, most of the canned patches are not useful without editing, but this is common with a lot of programmable gear in my experience.

Ease of use: These 900 series pedals have a problem out of doors in sunlight....you can not read the patch numbers. This can (and has been) a major problem for me and I no longer own one of these pedals on account of it. Love the sound, but since you have to tap/scroll through patches, if you can't see the numbers you can get into real big trouble when the lead break comes up. I now use a CB Labs PRX 902...incredibly user friendly, and sounds even better than the 510.

(Don't you just love it......if you want to see your own tough-guy profanity in print this seems to be your forum, as long as you sign your name "Anonymous". Just had to say that because it seems to be getting worse here within the H/C reviews.)

My Setup: My primary guitar is a stock '72 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop. I have a Mex Tele set up with a Hip Shot Trilogy bridge for slide in four keys.

My amps are old (pre '85) Randalls and a Laney Pro Tube Head. I rarely get loud enough to razz the output stage of an amp, hence the stompies.

Again, I don't understand why so many seemed to have problems getting this pedal to work for them. I like a bluesy overdrive with just a little edge for most things and another patch that can do the "TV Dinners" kind of thing, and I have nailed both of these requirements with no difficulty. I play through both tube and solid state amps, no we can't say the amps are the reason. I get a good sound, or so say our fellow musicians. Don't forget, much of the tone of your gear comes from your personal touch on the strings. The EQ function is very effective and the available drive options are ample. I truly think people are just too impatient to work with these ZOOM pedals, because they certainly CAN provide great sounds.

Sounds I can get: Similar to Robben Ford, Hendrix, Clapton, various generic blues overdrive sounds, thin or thick, any color.
I give this a 9 because I think 10 is unobtainable from any pedal or amp.....otherwise, why would we be spending all this money changing our gear every time something new shows up at the NAMM show?

So what if it's plastic? I used mine on stage and in the studio for two years with no problem. If you're jumping on any of your pedals hard enough to break them I suggest you might have a rage problem, at the very least more money than sense.

Never needed customer support.

I submitted this review because the others are so mixed. Again, I also think some reviewers ought to stick to spray painting graffiti and scratching dirty rhryms on toilet stalls and leave the music to the grown ups. May be the editor here at Harmony Central should be more involved.

I already mentioned we play blues and Southern blues-rock, some of it original. The pedal gave me everything I needed, plus the added bonus of breaking into natural feedback "at volume". Love that when it happens, don't you? Been playing over three and a half decades now. Already mentioned my other gear. If this were stolen? Shoot, I sold it. Probably shouldn't have. Compared to other products of the type, in regards to sound, I'd say it's right up there with the best of them I've used. To me, overdrive with just a tad of compression sounds more like the output tubes breaking up into saturation, which is my favorite "pushed" sound. This pedal can do just that. I prefered this pedal over a big six button floor board because of the compact size. Had a lot of fun with it. At the prices they go for now they are a terrific buy. I may just get another one, just in case..........

Ya'll have fun.

Its pretty easy to use. It didnt take me long to figure it out at all. Just hit the pedals to find the patch, press edit to edit, and use the foot pedals to choose what you want. its not rocket science.

The sound is ok for what it is giving to you. I only tried it on a 15 watt amp though. The effects are kind of mild mostly, and I didnt want that. I wanted something hardcore. If you want something like that, i dont reccomend this at all. I can get the sound of the mild distortion like what deftones play in the introduction of some of their songs. The only problem I have is that the sounds that the guitar makes (even though they are editable) sound very similar. If you want a good multi effect get the 505 II.

it hasnt broken yet on me so I would rate this pretty high. Would gig without a backup

This is overall, an ok piece. if it were stolen, i'd probably get the boss mt-2 or the zoom 505II pedal. Its not a piece of trash though, so if you like mild distortions that are customizable, i reccomend it. It would be cool if it had some harder distortions, but oh well. I think its also a little too expensive for what is has to offer

Not a bad little box for $50(bought used)

Editing is easy, but there are a lot of options, so those who like it simple, might not like this unit.

The manual is very informative(actually, it's a piece of folded paper)

I use a Schecter C-7 seven string guitar, running through a Crate amplifier. By turning the Crate amp's chorus on(bottom level 0), the unit really sounds much better than without the effect.

The distortion can get very noisy, but the secret to this unit is the last editing option of mixing the two channels, something missed by some of the other reviews. If you do this just right (takes time) you can find some kick ass distortion. It's got the digital feel to it, but it's not amp distortion, so....

I would say this thing could help anyone find a unique sound. As for re-creating other artist's sound... i don't think you'll want this unit. I'm not into that anyway.

The pitch shift on this thing is the best i've heard so far for something in this price range. I solo with it and DAMN... great effect.

It has an effect for using a pedal wah, which i find interesting. I don't have the optional pedal yet, but i probably will now.

it's plastic - need i say more
Good for gigs if you are not too aggressive with it.

I wouldn't use it without a backup - again, plastic

never dealt with them and I have owned a Zoom 2020 Player multi-effects pedal for 5+ years now.

I wouldn't buy it again, i would buy a Crate or Marshall amp with 3 channels (2 overdrives). They kick ass. Pedals just don't do it for ME, but some people might like the distortion that pedals put out.
I saw it on Ebay and got it cheap just to see what it was like. It was worth $50, plus the 7.5 in shipping. I wouldn't pay over $80 though, for a new one that is.
I use it recording, because of the ONE amp simulation it has. Does make a difference.

Zoom makes good products, but they need to fine tune their distortions a little more. TOO digital.

Very easy to work with.

The actually sounds like shit. But I would rather die than give up, so I tryed using it with the mg100rcd. On Clean channel it was horrible, but then I switched it to overdrive and tinkered. It realy made everything sound good, both amp and pedal are made for each other. It was suitable for metallica but not exactly fat enough. If you play GNR, this combination it the shit. but i'll rate the pedal alone, the amp and pedddal together would be rated at like a 9.

Input jack is shorting out.

never had to deal with them.

Play it yourself, try diferent combinations.

I've only had this box for about 2 days, and I've put it through a lot of tests. It has a lot of options, so it's not easy to get a good effect 'out of the box', but after an hour of tweaking here and there, I did get a pretty good distortion sound, using the compressor with the metal distortion.
Editing isn't that difficult at all. Just play around and you'll get it.
only needed the manual for one or two things, but other than that it's useless.

I am using a Schecter C7 seven string guitar and a Crate G40x-c amp. It sounds pretty good running through the amplifier, but not so hot directly into my 4 track.

The effects are decent for the price. You can't expect much for $100 really. The distortion can get really NASTY - in a good way. If you tweak it along with your amp, you can get a really nice distortion.

I like Metallica a lot, and I have yet to get a sound close to them from this box. Maybe Megadeth of old, Rust in Peace album. This box would be great for grindcore, punk rock, and even blues.

The wah effect is really nice compared to the old Zoom 2020 wah. Also has a pedal wah that you can use with a pedal, of course.

Noise reduction is good, but when the distortion is cranked, you will get feedback through the amp no matter what.

Well, this thing is plastic, so it's not going to take much abuse. However, any serious musician wouldn't use this at a gig either, so for the money it's great.

I would gig with it as a backup, but not as my main unit.

Never had to deal with them, and I've owned the 2020 for over 5 years now. Haven't had one problem (knock on wood).

I play different styles of music, like Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Creed, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and contemporary rock/pop.
I've been playing for over 10 years now.
If it were stolen, I would not buy another one. I'd save my money for a Crate or Marshall amp and have some REAL distortion.
I love the nasty distortion it produces. Would be great for solos.
I do not like the pre-defined patches, but that's no biggie.
Didn't compare this to any other products except the Zoom 2020, which has lousy distortion.
I wish it had mid range control, chorus, reverb, delay, and more amp simulation.

Everything is on the manual and it is clear.

The sound quality is very processed. All distortions are very weak. You cannot us this stomp box alone if you want to play heavy metal. I am only using it to enhance the tube simulated distortions of a DOD Tec8g. Somethimes to boost my output in leads. Otherwise, I should have returned. I really do not recommend this driver. The only advantage I see is just that it can be programmed, otherwise a Zero (0) rating will be given.

They are made of good plastic boards and are not constructed to be used as a hammer anyway. The only reason why I am giving a 4 is, because as any other Zoom Boxes like this (I have the 508, 509 and the shitty 510), when you are connecting a switch to the Control port, somethimes it cut totally the sound. The only way to restore it is by moving the cables on the connected to the control port.

I have no idea. Website is fair good and they have all the manuals on it.

I do not recommend this driver for sure. Maybe the 505, 505II or GFX-707 have better distortions that this unit.

It is really easy to use and it has a lot of great distortions

it sounds awesome. It has a built in noise reduction

it is made out of plastic, so it is a little fragile

i havn't had any problems

it is the best compact multi effects pedal i have ever used

Easy,i Have Zoom506 too.

I use 510 with bass for Grindcore,industrial and i record direct.
Sound is good for recording because its digital.
It can noisy with some distorsions.

Plastic...

Its good for low budget computer recording and it works good on bass
and guitar.