Zoom 505 1st Gen

[Bigbear]

What about these Zoom multieffects? I found they sound good at our provinces one and only pawn shop... I know you can model a s**t load of tones out of them... anybody use one of these Zoom 505 or any zoom?

[Nelskie]

Hey BigBear - I have (2) Zoom pedals - 505II and the *new* G2 pedal. Not sure how they'd compare to the orginal 505, but the (2) I have are both excellent pedals, with loads of sounds & effects. I use them with both tube and solid state amps, with equally great results. All Zoom pedals have various equalization & depth / rate adjustments, allowing you to "tweak" your sound even further. The new G2 pedal has another really great feature: a built-in drum machine for practice. That, along with some great models of vintage amps and effects. There's a link under a thread that I started for the G2 in this same forum section - you might want to check it out.

The other thing I would mention to you is that buying new would give you the benefit of a warranty vs. buying one from a pawn shop, which wouldn't. It might sound good at the shop, but like any electronic device, they're very sensitive to hard use. With the 505II at around $59 US, and the G2 at $99 US, they're not outer-worldly expensive, either. That extra $$ spent might alleviate the frustration of dealing with a defective unit down the road. Just a thought, for whatever it's worth.

For players who may not want to dive into a full-on modeling amp combo, they offer the average player a cost-effective option for creating unique, usable tones with just about any type of amp.

[Tim]

Nelskie,

Can you give any comparison of the *new* G2 pedal to the Digitech RP 100A? I have the Digitech, but also looking at the G2.

[Nelskie]

Tim - Sorry, can't help you out there. As I'd mentioned in a previous posting, "tone" is a largely subjective issue, and varies accordingly between different players. What sounds good to me might sound like absolute crud to you. Anyways, seeing that you already have a multi-pedal, maybe you should think about getting a "stand-alone" pedal, like a DigiTech Bad Monkey, or perhaps a DigiTech Tone Driver (which I am presently considering). Often times, a pedal that does one thing really good can make a bigger difference in your overall sound more than a pedal that does a lot of things marginally well. The Zoom G2 I hold as an exception to that line of thinking, in that it does a lot of things very well, and has been designed for effective use live, and in studio recording applications (which some multi-pedals aren't).

I can certainly relate to your situation, though - there's really a lot of cool gear out there, which makes it very difficult to feel "right" about buying one particular item. We're all hoping to find that "lightning in a bottle", so to speak. Best off to do some research on the web, or maybe start a thread on this forum. Eventually, your ears are going to have the final say in what works, and sounds best for you.

[Justaguyin_nc]

I have the zoom 707 and at one point enjoyed the sounds it could produce (or me producing them) but in the end it seemed to nasal sounding at time and washed (imho ofcourse) .. the new G2 supposedly is the highest sampling rate at this time at 96khz and 32 bit processing compared to pedals like it.. heard clips.. might be nice.. Always hear that zoom is toys or junk, heck MusiciansFriend.com say they dont even compare and thats why they don't carry them.. try to search for them there.. lol... they want you to buy Digitech instead.. I think its more in the cut from each vendor they recieve then the product.. just my opinion again.. but my 707 has worked fine with no problems and alot of presets can be found on the web for these multi Boxes.. I would trust zoom again...