zoom 505 offered for me to buy!!!

[youngi]

hii,
well a used zoom 505 is offered to me for $40
i can't afford buying a more optional multi effect,
would u advise me to buy it, i find really a good bargin since the prices here in egypt are soooooo  high due to our bad economy.

please advise me!!!!!

also can i buy a volume pedal and plug in the place of the expression pedal?? will it work?

[Peter Snowberg]

I think the only real question is do YOU like the effects it gives? I have never played with one, but I looked at a number of reviews at Harmony Central and it looks decent for an inexpensive multi-effects unit.

From the reviews, it looks like a MOSFET booster in front would be a good addition.

If you don't like it, how easy would it be to resell it for $40?

Take care,
-Peter

[petemoore]

Of course like any Cavteats...it depends.
 For long echoes and all kinda patches in one box...it'll do that...
 As to the quality or musicality of those patches [?able///opinions wermcan...
 As to the compatibility, if it's like what I had [RP100 Digitech] which acted just like what other reviews read about using it with other effects...doesn't have much use for them...
 I tried mine live and it sounded like hammers in a steel drum going crazy sometimes, other times [if I had any kinda delay running like reverb] the thing would cut out...NO SOUND...for as long as it takes to say NO SOUNDS slowly...sometimes it was sorta passable sounding.
 My overall rating as a stage unit is: Wretched. a bane to musicality compared to analog stuff.
 I tried a Roland [forget the model letters], one of them 2000 buk jobbies, looked pretty new, had much higher resolution, I was interested in it as a trade for a Fender Strat, did really cool stuff in the living room [I temper my 'digital novelty'excitement now], but the sound faded, then came back, then disappeared...he re-started...it worked for a while...then the stories about how I didn't know and I'll take such and such for it...I sedd I'll give you 50 cents for it...literally, mitha rippa...yea get on home ..lol.. and take yer junk too...
 Anyway I offed the digitech unit with a half broken [needs adapter to work] adapter jack that's impossible to fix [inside the box anyway]...predisposition for failure I sezz.
 It always managed to work for me [and sounded just] like the day I bought it [except for some considerable outages and PS cord/jack twiddling.
 I had quite a time trying to dial in a tone I liked and dial OUT the digitalness...I concluded it can't be done.

[Vincent Volta]

Hey,
thats a good one in Egypt, China or here in Argentina! The 505 sounds cool on crazy stuff: the pitch programs, the phasers, the modulating ones, etc. It sucks on chorus, reverb, delay and distortion ( except for the fuzz ) The forte of this unit is mixing all the FX you can and adding a distortion pedal to it is your best bet. Dont ever use it live, its a pain in the ass to do so.

[Hal]

i bought a 505 about 4 (?) years ago, for $40 used.  Now I see 'em for about $30 used, but still pretty stable.  um...I can get a decent solid state distortion out of it, but the most usable effects are the weird stuff.  They delay is decent, though, for $40...

now I use it for recording.  It stays right next to my computer, until I can afford a POD...

[Dan N]

I like mine as a headphone amp.

[youngi]

so what is the expression pedal???

[petemoore]

Gives you a foot treadle [like wah] controller for parameters like wah, Volume, pitch shift..whatever the unit uses the Expresssion   pedal for.