Zoom 9002

has everything but here's what everyone wants.. i couldn't find the manual online at the zoom site (like it's so old they archived it ;p but diggin' around i found the 9002 pro manual, then altered the link until i found the 9002 manual...

The Zoom 9002 manual can be downloaded at:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/Previous_Model/E_9002.pdf

the 9002 Pro is at:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/Previous_Model/E_9002Pro.pdf

Yeah, I know, I rock... lol!

Great for some sounds. Great for practice, okay for recording.

yes, battery is good for about 1-1/2 to 2 sets. lots of people claim to have made a (4) AA battery pack that works. I'm going to try it sometime.

They directed me to someone to get a battery once.

it's good for most general rock

**Disclaimer... I am both a 9002 fan/user of the 9002 and a vendor of free 9002 repair information, repair parts/ services, complete refurbished 9002's and accessories including new rechargeable batteries at www.e-lectronics.net*** Because of my great personally interest in the 9002, I have obtained a lot of 9002 information and would like to share it. I am not affiliated with ZOOM or Samson, just a fan. The following review is to the best of my knowledge based on my experiences with the product and may have some slight discrepancies.

It doesn't get much more simple than the ZOOM 9002. All feature are accessed directly with a very simple menu and the 3 band EQ bars are dynamic with in each effect for adjusting rates and gains.

If you want to record with it, just plug a stereo 1/8 inch to RCA into one of the two provided headphone jacks.

With or without the manual, anyone can be fully proficient at using the 9002 very quickly. If you don't have the manual, you can download it from ZOOM in several different languages here:
http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/Previous_Model/

All releases of the 9002 use the same 7.5vdc 200mA power supply (AD-0001D) and 6v BT-0001 battery and 9002R or 9002F remote control, with the exception of the PRO model which will use the PRO which is the only release that works with the FC02 foot controller with bank switching. Be careful with aftermarket power supplies, the 9002 (atleast the early ones) do not have reverse input protection and will fry if you swith the + and -.

Very unique,

I admit that I do like the newer PS-02 for it's compact size, AAA batteries, bass and drum backing, and recording features.....it even has an emulated 9002 effect BUT... truth be told none of these sound like the 9002. I don't personally rate the 9002 as the very best all around sounding processor ever, but the sounds it has are good and very unique.

If you're wondering what the difference of the 9002 releases are, here it is:

All models use the same ZFX-1 16 bit processor.

There was an early release called the "Special Edition" with an Orange ring around the display. I believe this was a promotional model, maybe offered through GC or something. The key here is that it was and early release and really doesn't have any advantage over the other releases.

The 9002 in its standard form with the blue trim has some internal changes, mostly component enhancements and some minor circuitry changes. I don't know exactly when the changes took place but you can guess by your serial number....1000 and lower are pretty early 5000 and up have had some changes made to improve noise reduction and electronic efficiencies. You likely won't notice much difference between any of these assuming the ones you compare have fresh capacitors in them.

The 9002 PRO was the last release of the PRO with the latest circuitry improvements for sound quality, noise reduction and efficiency. The PRO also works with the FC02 foot controller which has bank switching capability and is increased to 40 user defined and 40 preset patches. In my opinion, the PRO has more presence that the standard 9002.

The PRO Artists Edition is the same as the PRO with pre programmed patches by famous artist.

Many 9002's are now suffering from the electrolytic capacitors drying out which also sometimes causes the charge pump circuit IC7660 DC to DC converter to fail as well. Before completely drying out, the unit will usually whine while "warming up", the distortion will get weak, the headphone outputs may give out as well. Finally when the capacitors dry out all the way, the unit will no longer pass the guitar signal but you will still hear the AUX input, metronome and tuner. This problem is primarily showing up in the standard units but this is most likely because they were release before the PRO, I have serviced a ton of dead standards and only 1 PRO as of winter 2006. My guess is the PRO's capacitors time is coming.

If your ZOOM 9002 looses it's sound output, don't throw it out, just replace the capacitors (or have them replaced for you if your not electronically inclined.)

Remember,

These were released in the early 90's. All and all the 9002 was designed very well.

Issues are:

-Capacitors drying out causing loss of guitar signal (this can be repaired by replacing caps and sometimes also the IC7660)

-Power supply failing (these are great power supplies, it's usually just the tip that fails, a replacement tip can be bought at Radio Shack for about $2 and soldered on)

-Power failure...there is one section on the circuit board that not too often but does sometimes crack a solder joint causing a total power loss, this too can be fixed with a quick touch of the solder iron. Some times the DC input jack and headphone jacks will break a solder joint at the board as well, most are repairable with a touch of the iron, some are actually broken jacks and I have not found a replacement other that spare parts units.

-Battery covers break or get lost (www.e-lectronics.net has new compatible non-OEM replacements)

-Batteries were discontinued and have all died (www.e-lectronics.net has new compatible non-OEM replacements)

ZOOM and Samson have both been extremely good customer support for me. I have bought various parts directly from Samson and received great information from ZOOM Japan. They also offer an extensive manual library which I find a great resource.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/Previous_Model/

All good, no complaints here!

A very low cost yet versatile processor that I wouldn't want to go with out. Many people use these for guitar as well as bass or vocals. With the headphones and a new battery I can rock in privacy for about 4-5 hours.

I like the unique sound, simplicity, and size. I also like the fact that ZOOM blew the competition away with this unit, it was light years ahead of the others and it still rocks.

It's hard to compare to others because it's so unique. I haven't used the other small units like Korg Pandora. The sound of the 9002 is much different than what you will find in the newer line of ZOOM.

I like to keep the toolbox loaded and the 9002 is a keeper in my opinion.

I am doing my best to keep the 9002 alive; for more infomation feel free to email me and I'll do my best to help out. Hope you've enjoyed this bit of info! -Markcm

Sliders are not too accurate, but generally it is very easy to use even without a manual. Surfing trough banks and presets is ok. There is a little gap when changing between presets, but it is manageable. I use to play it for couple of hours every night and it was hard to change any parameters because there isn?t any light on a display (of course that I played in dark, it?s a great feeling), but later I learned where the keys are by heart.

It really sounds terrible when played through an amp, noisy when compressor used, and it has a week distortion. Can produce some very good cleans. Sound quality improves greatly when it is used trough headphones.

It bounced a hundred of times and it still worked ok. It is very old now, and sometimes when tuned on it won?t give any sound for some 15min. and after that it works normally. Probably it caps need a replace.

Although I love this little thing (it?s my first ever effect), I must be objective. It's a good effect for practice and excellent for beginners, some pretty good cleans could be produced, but that?s about it. Anything with distortion and amps is simply something that Zoom 9002 isn?t built for.

It's a very easy unit. No much parameters for edit.

Well, I'm in love with the ZOOM 9002. I owned also a ZOOM 505 and a ZOOM 2020, but nothing like the 9002. Very 80's sounds, but with too much quality for the price and the unit.

I recorded my first CD with this unit, and it was fantastic... My first unit was stolen, but I get a very new one from www.e-lectronics.com, wit a complete overhaul and a NEW BATTERY !!!!

Well, I play 80's rock and this unit is good for that. Bon Jovi Songs, clean guitars with flanger or chorus. NOT FOR NU METAL !!! My first unit costs US$ 480 in 1992!!! Now, in EBAY you could find it for 80 bucks. Mine costs 110 bucks because the man in e-lectronics made a complete ovehaul to the unit (change of capacitors) and send me a new battery (6 hours for the unit !!!) and the reomtecontrol unit, with all the manuals !!!

Well there are so many seetings posible that it isn't really hard to get agood sound out of it.
The distortion lacks a bit of sensitivity, such that if you're looking for a particular sounds, that's the one it just won'r readily give. It takes a bit if fiddling with the compression to antain what you're looking for.
A child could edit patches on the Zoom, however you may also need a childs small fingers to edit adequately.
I'm lucky to have received my Zoom as new with all the manuals,which are also dead easy to use and in 3 languages, so if anyone has a question regarding "How to...." feel free to mail me.
If the Firmware number is the one printed on the back of the unit, then mine says 004209.
Mine hasn't been upgraded, any way how could you upgrade the little critter, it's already jam packed with chips!!! lol

Guitar-Transfer, USA performer series (Fender wannabe)(It's definately not made in the US),in a Fender Bullet reverb amp.
Never found it to be too noisy
Everything is fine except the little distortion hik and those bizarre special FX, Hmm, more precisely the third one, Metallic... Strange

Not tried to hard to reproduce other peoples sounds, mine were always good enough!

Distortion a bit iffy, pitch shifter creates a dalay effect... not good. and the last FX sucks + the majority of the artists patches also suck, that could have been extra space for my patches.
Other than that they are all seamless.

100% reliable on power, provided the wire is good

Wouldn't be reliable if i stepped on it!

The batery was dead on arrival, never bought a new one, never even thought about it.

The foot controller is a bit too flimsy, the wire that hooks it up to the main unit looks like it was made for Barbie. I'm still waiting for someone to walk on, and obliterate it!! lol

Had some issues with the microswitches in the controller too. Sometimes I'd press 2 and patch 4 would come on. For that reason alone I'd never use it out.

N/A

I'll give anything a go, It's fine for that.
8 years on and off, AS said Copy fender, fender mp and a crybaby. I rely on the amp distortion, it has more grunt.
Hmm, tough question, It's so cheap now I'd probably get one for the fun of it, but other than that, not really.
I love that it's so unusual and compact, most of the sounds are good. It's fine foe a home setup and headphone fun.
Haven't really compared it. Chose it coz it was going cheap. My neighbour couldn't deal with editing the patches.
Wish it had a Wah attached to the foot controller + a sturdy connecting wire, Backlighting would be handy too on the display.
Put into a reinforced floor unit instead would probably be safer.
I've had it for 7-8 years, loads of fun and lots of noise, good noise though.
If you have cash going spare, buy one.
If you're anovice, buy one, explore the effects, then you can spank out on dearer and more specialised analogue gear.
Long live music

Doesn't get any more simple than the Zoom 9002

Sounds are good but dated 80's.

Two big issues- the capacitors tend to fail- see a write up on fixing this here: http://www.guitarsite.com/database/Guitars/rec/732/wwwboard/messages/349.shtml

The dead battery thing was a pain in the butt, until I made a new battery pack, it works awsome! check ebay, I usually have one forsale there

Zoom sent me a new manual for my 9002 free of charge in 2004, I like that!

Mostly use the distortion, I've played for several years but I'm not a real sound quality critic, extra volume usually solves my issues.

I really like that you can get one of these for less than $50 on ebay and rockout with your headphones, the small size is a real plus if you have a battery for it.

If you want to get your zoom going again, check ebay as I usually have a NEW BATTERY PACK listed forsale there. or you can contact me by email too at: mmph@comcast.net

Wow! I thought I was the only one still using one! Extremely Easy to use, bought mine new in April 1993, after recommendation by a top local guitarist.
Never liked the shape, used it on my guitar strap once, but it got in the way, kept pulling it off the amp until I worked out how to lash it to the carring handle with some cable, or gaffa-taped it through the rails.

Using Strat through Peavey practiceamp/Fender Princeton Chorus/ DI.
The presets always sounded a bit too "American Metal" to me. I Play mostly Blues, Classic Rock, etc. but easy to set up some decent sounds on it.
These days mostly use for EQ, compression, delay, etc into a line 6 Pod.

Battery went years ago so now using power supply only. input, output jacks starting to show wear and tear but after 11 years, what do you expect?

never needed them.

took ages to decide to buy it, but when I did, I never looked back until now, when its beginning to show its age.

Very easy to use with clear definable value adjustments. Comes with 4 channels of 4 banks each pre-programmed to get 16 different quality sounds right off the bat. Plus you get 16 more (4x4) that are user banks you can customize and save for future use. So you get 32 different storage banks overall. Only thing bad I can think of are the small buttons, but I'm not complaining.

Great sound for a Zoom and the 9002 itself isn't much bigger than a standard guitar Distortion prossecor/switch.

It is somewhat fragile. I've had mine over 10 yrs, and after about a dozen drops or so, I've notice some of the LCD bars come and go, and a little piece of plastic seems to have become loose inside, but the output sound is unaffected and still sounds great.

Sweet product for the low end price I paid. Sure there are better, but not in this price range.

I only use a few of the effects on this unit. The footswitch is a must and provided you concentrate it is quite easy to use.

I used a marshall combo, HH combo, and Torque combo. A stereo output was taken from the output and the left channel taken to the Marshall.
The right channel was taken to a stereo chorus with 1 channel to the HH and one to the Torque. The mix of the 3 amps gave a powerful Upfront sound which made my Guild and Burns Brian May guitars sing.
My favourite artist is of course Brian May and preset 4/4 gives me the Hammer to fall effect. A few of the harmony effects are quite good and the single delay is good for Brighton Rock type work however some of the harmony channels are useless. I have since removed this pedal from my live set up and only use it as an amp simulator for recording work. a built in tuner would have been useful rather than just the tuning fork.

The footswitch let me down once and was repaired under warranty.
I have since replaced my set up and now use a vox valvetronix and vox brian may. I still bring it along but its use thru the pa is not recommended as it sounds a bit passive, however its better than nothing at all.

I tried to get a new battery and found them unable to assist as the sony battery had been discontinued and no other battery was available. Had I known this prior to buying it I would have steered well clear. The repair was straight forward and fast enough and it has remained robust during constant daily use.

I play a mixture of music and use it to create backing tracks.
Have played for almost 30 years and use the guild and burns brian mays with brian may vox thru vox valvetronix. The zoom is used with cubasis to create backing tracks. I have some old analogue effects which do not work effectively with the newer amps.
Just wish it had a tuner and a port for a pp3 battery instead of the obsolete thing it has.
To get the best out of this unit it must be used in stereo as the mono sound is too busy for one channel and makes a confused noise.

Bought it around Xmas 1991. It's very easy to set up good sounds, to learn to use patches. The manual was clear and easy to understand. It was in english language and not italian, but it was understandable. On the manual there are all the original settings, in case you want to re.set up then.

I've been using 2 guitars: maison with 2 HB, and a Guild B.May model.
Different amps. With the Hughes & Kettner Attax 100W the zoom doesn't work good on the "effect input". It's better on the normal/brilliant input. It's a bit noisy connected ti the amp, but just a little. Nothing if compared to other effects in 1991. With the zoom I can reproduce similar effects/sound as Brian May. The distortion isn't very good. I use the ampli. gain. The "Cry" is an "automatic wah wah". I use the CryBaby pedal. The compressor and all the other effects are good. There are 2 delay effects that give a "Stereo Sound" on 2 channels if connected to a stereo recorder, or a stereo amplifier. The "metal" sound, if set up, is very similar to the Queen song "Headlong" guitar sound. Rating:10 in 1991 if you consider the cost/quality relation. in 2004 the rating could be a 8. Today it's a good effect box (7), and still is a good pre-amp for house recording (9). ( I used the zoom to record traks directly into the PC). Clearly it's not an multi-amplifier emulator.

the battery gives troubles, so I use the power supply connected.

Never had a reason to contact them

I play rock '70's/80's
I don't know if I would re.buy it. Maybe today there are boxes with similar effects + other things in the same box (pod).
I love him 'cause it's easy and fast to set up. You can use it in different way: to play for fun, to exercise, to record, on stage. On Stage it miss a footswitch (it was an optional). It has a "handswitch". You can put it on the guitar body, it has 4 buttons.

Years ago I could sell it, but I took it with me. It don't need a Rack unit to be taken around and you use 2 seconds to plug in.