Zoom BFX-708

Having spent years programming Boss, ART and Digitech products as a guitarist, this unit is a piece of cake to edit. As others mentioned, you have to be careful with the real time edit knobs as they may drastically alter the settings. The manual is good, an easy reader.

This unit is in my pedalboard: Pedulla 4 string/Steinberger 5>Boss chorus (splits the signal to have separate wet and dry outputs)>Boss Heavy Metal> BFX-708 >Digitech RP-12. Both the BFX-708 and the RP-12 have their own loops so I can cut the out of the signal path entirely. I run into a SWR/1x15 for the effected signal and an Eden WT-400/ 4x10XLT for the dry signal.

The unit is quiet when used by itself with headphones but I get a nasty hum in my pedalboard. This is probably due to my budget power supply creating ground loops and 60 cycle hum.

I basically got sold on this unit for the crazy effects. The ring modulator is great, the time warp thing is way cool and 3 of the 5 synth effects are totally usable to me. As others have said, the flanger, phaser and fuzz are great. The cool thing about having the foot pedal is that you can push the phaser/flanger speed up in real time for momentary laser beam- freak out effects. The step filter is too weak to my ears and the pitch/whammy stuff sounds terrible. Because of the wild effects, I give it a 9.

Seems kinda fragile. I got this one cheap because there was no adapter and the output jack was fautly. I fixed the output jack and it's mounted in my pedal board so it shouldn't get kicked around too much. I would use it by itself as log as I had a way to bypass it completely on the fly.

No need yet.

I have been playing bass for 12 years and have been running effects on bass for about 2 years. This unit is way cool for the few crazy effects I was looking for. I play in a progressive rock/ funk band so the weird FX and the synth sounds are great for me. I was set on getting a Line 6 FM-4 for all the cool filter/synth effects but this unit gave me what I was looking for at a fraction of the price. The line 6 also seemed to have a lot of REALLY non-usable effects. The best thing about the pedal is the build-in expression pedal to alter the effects in real time. A cool unit!

pretty srait forward there. i like that the amp simulator is independant of the different patches. the patches were allready quite usable.

have to give it a ten because it delivers pro enough sound quality for the price. i DI it right into the front of house and send the line level signalfrom the "to amp" into the low input of my peavey mark 4 head and 1810 cab. sweet sound!

haven't got there yet! i mainly like to use the amp sim sound to get a good front of house sound. i'll be very nice to it and see.

not yet

i like it, i recomend it, but keep in mind it's plastic, good deal for the price!

The BFX was a pretty good unit to get various "colors" from out of the box, even if you didn't open the manual you could integrate this right away into a jam session and enjoy yourself. And the best part, even find yourself playing more experimentaly. But keep reading, it gets worse...

Using a Warwick Thumb 5 and a new Fender Jazz, I've always been happy with the sound quality. More so through the headphones - if I could achieve THAT sound through my Hartke rig I'd be in heaven.
And I mean the sounds are great across the board, TIME patch really breaks up the band - if not terribly useful.

Nope. It's already busted! And I pampered it. It's a symptom I've seen posted - the INPUT area near the plug has to be wiggled, then utterly motionless. Consider the expression pedal feature and you'll see why this is unworkable.
Tried to give it one last chance in rehearsal last night, but yanked it. But, what did I expect for the price?

I emailed them and got an auto-reply. That was it at this writing. Disappointed.
Sure, I didn't send in any registration - was that wrong?

For my diverse playing influences the zoom BFX was the jackpot, the part that breaks my heart is that I loved practicing with it (yes, practice can be fun with this) with the rhythm sample/metronome and the headphone was great for after the kids are asleep...
But it failed after using it on only two gigs - and I babied it, if I had know I would have never let it out of the house. I used it on recordings and it sounds great - because of the unreliabilty I have a Sansamp Bass DI on order, while not the same thing, I've read here that it rocks and is better made.

Fairly easy to use, I figured out how operate it in about 2 days, about an hour total manual reading time. The manual does its job well, and is easy to navigate. Easy to use, but the myriad variety of effects and their parameters may overwhelm you at first.

Lots of functional effects, lots of wacky-ass space effects. It's all here. Built in noise reduction eliminates feedback. Effects sound great once they're tweaked to perfection, but unless you adjust them they'll sound somewhat plastic, and lack force.

Plastic, but as long as you don't stomp it to death it should be ok. Expression pedal seems sort of fragile...

Haven't had to deal with it.

I play fuzzy rock with spacey touches. I'm using a cheap ass samick stingray ripoff bass, a Crate BX-100 amp combo, a Boss ODB-3, and a Mini Q-Tron filter pedal. The Q-tron provides all the funk i need, so i dont usually use the BFX. As a backup or for a really odd number with lots of odd parts, it (BFX) would be well suited. I usually just use my Boss overdrive and Q-tron though. Anyways, Ive been playing for 3 years. If it were stolen, i wouldnt replace it, I like its versatility and ease of use though. If you buy this, you will mess around for months with effects and lose all musical direction (temporarily). After that things will even out though, and you'll learn to use it tastefully and occasionally.

personally, i love this gizmo. patches sound great if you are prepared to tweak them to your own personal preference. editing is easy but i have lost my manual so i'm stuck with the sounds i have for now. bought mine new in September 2000 and have had no problems so far.

I use the pedal with a westfield 4 string and a session 100w combo. sweet sound. and the edit feature means you can adjust high, low frequencies. patches can be stored to a desired location, so, if you are like me, you keep your favourites close to each other! i am into dirk lance of incubus and with this pedal, i get reasonably close. obviously his rig costs more than all the equipment in my band!!!! it's all about the flanger!

as i say, my unit has been very reliable. i know a lot of people have had problems but, unless you are a stomper, there are no real problems. treat her like a lady!!!! i can feel that with one hard stomp the pedals would break so i don't do it.

have not had to deal with this yet so i cant tell you.

I play in a funk, metal type group. i have played for 5 years. although i love this pedal, i will definitely be looking for something else in the not too distant future. it's great. they had no business putting the drum machine on but it's cool! i love the sampler feature, a nice touch. overall, if you need a nice back up or value for your money then choose this! that's right kids!! this is a good unit.

I think that if you are willing to play around with this processor you can get some good sounds. The 708 has 60 different patches some of which you would probably never use but they are fun to play with anyhow. There are several patches that are great and with some tweeking they can really sound sweet. Almost all the patches do require some adjustment to be used if you are picky about specifics. Editing is easy and once you get the hang of it you will almost enjoy creating new sounds with the 708. You will probably have do read the instructions. Do yourself a favor and start here first.

I have used the zoom with my Warwick corvette fretless. I am also using a BBE sonic maximizer 482 (good stuff). I am running this all through a Fender bxr300 combo. I do have to complain about some hissing I get with chorus and flanger effects. Other than the hiss, the effects are high quality and very useable. Favorites onboard are CHORD,FLANGE,POWER,MELODY,BASIC,ETC. Again, some adjustments were made to all of them to match my taste. I play progressive,melodic,"harmonic",metal music. I am very picky about my sound. I have been able to use this processor in some of my music.

I do complain that the chassis is made of plastic. Eventhough, it is durable feeling. I have used this in probably 75 or more band rehearsals and played it in dozens of shows. The only time that it disappointed me was when we played outside one afternoon. You cannot see the LED diplay in the sun at all. This can easily ruin your show if you switch effects alot.

nope-I am hoping that I won't.

I have been playing bass for about 12 years. I having been playing metal music of all different forms during this time. I am into experimenting with new sounds to broaden my musical horizon. I presently use BBE's sonic maximizer and a 31 band graphic EQ in my rack. These help also to sweeten my sound. I am always looking for ways to improve my sound. If your like me, on a tight budget, I feel that the Zoom BFX 708 is a low priced good quality processor that will give you some knobs to play with. If you spend some time you will come up with some sounds that you can use regardless of music style barriers. If you don't have access to a practice amp, the 708 makes an excellent headphone practice amp. Just plug in you phones and your ready to go!

This is great, this pedal is very easy to learn..I learned most of it's features within an hour or so..Editing is also very easy and straightfoward..The insturction manual is very helpful, it tells you everything.

I'm using this BFX708 w/ my Squier P-Bass and Crate BFX50 amp. It gets a great sound, and with the ZOom Noise Reduction, it's not staticy..The effects are awesome!! I can get some sounds from my fav bands like Stne Temple Pilots, and Alice In Chains..all of the effects are great,

I think I can depend on it and I know if I did have a gig, I'd definitly use it w/o a backup!

I've never dealt w/ the company

I play mainly Rock, and funk, and this has every effect for it..It's great for me./.I've been playing since June 2000, and all I use is my P-bass and Crate BFX50 and now my new Zoom..If it were lost, I know I would buy this one again..I love all of the effects and drum machine in it, and really don't hate anything about it..It helps me make new songs, especailly w/ it's drum machine, and it's very good!

Very easy to use, except I find the analog knobs to be a bit of a pain when you switch between patches. Also, I've never actually bothered to edit my own patches yet, so perhaps there's an option to ignore them. I didn't have a problem with the manual, persay. I glanced through it, set it aside, and will only pick it back up when its time to edit my own.

I've got a BC Rich mockingbird, and a no-name generic 60 watt amp, with this unit. To me, it sounds just fine. This is the first effects unit I've ever owned, and as such perhaps I'm biased. The distortion effects are pretty lame, but beyond that I'm satisfied. Plus, its got some fun ones in there to make some really out there spacey sounds. I bought this because I wanted a wah pedal, and decided I also wanted something to give me that phaser/rotating leslie style sound. I'm contenteded, especially for the price.

People gripe because its plastic, but you know, its pretty solid to me. I've dropped it once, and stomped on the expression pedal pretty hard a few times, all to no damage (yet). I think people are more afraid that its plastic, than anything else. It'd probably take what you can throw at it. I don't play out, so I can't say if I'd gig without a backup, but then, you shouldn't rely on effects to cover your playing anyway. :)

N/A

For noodlign around, this is a fine thing. This is the only effects unit I own, and the only other thing I have any intention of buying is a decent distortion pedal to complement it. Its cheap, its got lots of fun sounds, plus the ability to edit your own. Combined with a basic drum machine, tuner, and even sampling: Its a good bargain.

Been playing bass for 10 years. This was my first FX box, so it was a bit overwhelming at first. But after playing around for a couple of hours with the manual in hand, editing patches and editing while playing was a piece of cake. The feature of naming your patches is nice. I program them in the order I need them. The manual is OK, but contains some errors regarding knob numbers.
The two footswitches are OK, pressing them together takes some practice. The tuner works fine. The MUTE state is nice when you're switching basses; any sound man will thank you for using it. The rotary knobs are a nice "analogue" touch, but after changing patches, a small twist is enough to make a big jump in parameter setting (Oops, what was that setting again??). I'm not too crazy about the expression pedal; as a volume pedal it's OK but when you use it for controlling speed of chorus, flange etc. you'll find the change going from almost imperceptible in the beginning to very abruptly in the end. Even if you use the UP region setting for the pedal. Finally, on dark stages, the big LED display is clear to read but on outdoor gigs, you won't see a thing. Perhaps a backlit LCD would have been better.

I use it for gigging and rehearsing with a showband and for practicing at home. (I'm also in a rock 'n roll band, and I don't need it there). The key here is tweaking, tweaking and even more tweaking. You will also have to reconsider tone control settings of your basses and amps when you'll be using this one. I use it with an Ibanez ATK305, a Yamaha BBN4 fretless and a Laney 50 watt combo amp (No need for big rigs here, my signal always goes into a mixing board).
Compressor/Noise reduction/Equalizer: Great, I think you can find a good clean tone for any bass, with very little noise. My combo sounds very expensive now! The chorus, phaser and flanger are outstanding. Octaver, auto-wah, tremolo, slow-attack (emulating a bow) and vibe (Commodores? ?Nightshift? on a fretless!) are nice too. Fuzz sounds rather thin, but I don?t like fuzz on bass in general. Defret is no option if you?ve got a real fretless, and the synth is a joke. I expected some Taurus pedal sound! I only use the pitch shifter for short octave-down whammy notes; it is blatantly out of tune. Then there are the wacky techno sounds for which I have no use. For different effects, you may need to re-tweak your ?clean? tone settings. I found out that different effects work better with different amp simulation settings, but you can?t combine these in patches. My favorite setting is the ?Edge Ln B?. I don?t use the reverb unit that much, I suppose it?s OK.
The sampler and especially the drum machine are nice for practicing, though the drum volume is rather loud.

Again, it?s not as sturdy as a metal box, but I?m not a real wild pedal stomper. I think I?ll glue the in/out jacks as a guy before me advised. Never used batteries. Don?t pay those $$$ for a Zoom adapter, use a stabilized adapter from any electronics store for $15, replace the multi-jack by a single female jack and you?ll be fine.

No troubles yey.

I owned it for a year now, and I still say it?s incredible for the price! I?m more the functional player, and it nearly has all the sounds I want. As long as it doesn?t break down, I don?t think I?ll need something else. It?s been out now for two years, I wonder about an upgrade? The preset patches give a good impression of its capabilities, but I wish it had more room for user patches. It?s a great box to start with, but I?ll still be using it for a long time.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions!

it seems pretty easy overall. patches are easy to get to, although they sometimes take a while to get there. i recomend programming it so all your favorite patches are in a row. i havn't done any editing with it, other than changing the order of the patches i use most.

right now i'm using it with a jackson performer ps5 and a carvin ag100d amp, but i'm planning to upgrade some soon. i really like some of the effects. some are pretty cool sounding, but nothing i'd ever use in a show. a few are kinda weak, but overall i like it. if you are looking for a heavy metal bass sound(i wasn't but a friend of mine was) look elswhere. a strong fuzz is about as heavy as it gets.

i keep it in the box when it's not in use. it's made of plastic, and i don't think it would take alot of abuse. i personally have never had any problems with it though. i've used it for several shows and many practices and its been fine without a back up.

never dealt with them personally. have heard mixed reports.

i play in a christian heavy rock/heavy blues band and it suits my needs. i really like the fuzz patch, it gives me a good overdrive without being too much. i've been playing bass about 7 years and this is my first actual bass processor(i play guitar too and i used to run my bass through a roland gp-16 guitar effects processor, i don't really recomend that if you're looking for a bass sound). i didn't really shop around because the guitarist in my band was already using a zoom 707 and really liked it and it just made sense to get the matching bass pedal to go along with it. if it were stolen i would probably look around some before deciding to get another one of these or not. my favorite feature is the built in tuner. its very convenient. my least favorite feature is the fact that if you're playing outside or in a well lit area, its impossible to read the screen. you can't see the tuner or read what patch you're on. all in all, though, for the price its a good little unit.