ZOOM 1010

Summary Price New Check at zZounds.com Manufacturer URL http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/ Ease of Use 8.9 (63 responses) Sound Quality 7.4 (62 responses) Reliability 8.3 (56 responses) Customer Support 7.6 (13 responses) Overall Rating 7.8 (61 responses) Submit a review!

Ease of Use: 10
Piss easy

Sound Quality: 9
Pretty damn good for beginners to advance, experts may find this limiting.

Reliability: 10
no probs ever

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I play everything does the job for $200 you can't go far wrong!!

Submitted by slade at 08/01/2000 22:01

Ease of Use: 10
extremely simple. if you can't figure this out without a manual, you've got problems my friend. if you've got problems, the manual is very clear.

Sound Quality: 7
i bought this back when it first came out, 3 or 4 years ago. before then, i had always played acoustic or just plain out distorted - this was my first taste of most of the effects. at the time, i loved it but i now find it somewhat lacking. the noise is pretty bad at times if used for recording line-in, but it's ok on an amp. i'd use it for keyboard before guitars, honestly, as the best features are the spacy stuff.

the compresser/wah is weak, but it is noticeable. the distortions are pretty cool as far as multi-effects units go, although that shouldn't be the main focus for this thing. if you want distortion, get a couple of obscure stompboxes and link them together - big name distortions are generally generic and cliched...

the eq isn't amazing, but it works. personally, i love the noisy chorus - it's really nasty and great with distortion. the flanger is ok, i remember being able to nick that kim thayil "fell on black days" sound with it a few years back. the doubler isn't a real doubler, but it's fun to play with..

the reverb isn't real reverb, it's a really fast delay - and that's probably why the actually delay only goes to 42 seconds, too much space bogged down on the other side. this shouldn't be the main delay in your setup, but it works fine and sounds ok.

Reliability: 7
seems pretty small, but i'd gig with it anyways. i just wouldn't stomp on it that hard...

Customer Support: N/A
?

Overall Rating: 7
overall, this is not a professional unit - but i don't think it's supposed to be. i rarely use it nowadays, but i loved it when i was 16 and thought it was the greatest thing in the world. i used to stay up until all hours of the night programming this thing, then sleep when i got to school. it's a great 'beginners' effect pedal because it won't spoil you and it'll force you to program it yourself because the presets are truly horrendous save a few...

if i was going to change it, i'd add an expression pedal, a few more effects (tremolo, octave, pitch shifter, etc) and make it out of steel, dammit. i wouldn't replace it nowadays, no, but i don't plan on turfing it either...

Submitted by inri at 07/27/2000 20:05

Ease of Use: 10
Sounds good from the box. Presets are lame but fun if you are capable of having fun. Menu system is extremely easy.

Sound Quality: 8
Its not that golden tube tone everyone speaks of its a 100-150$ digital pedal, It does what it says no frills. These are the people who cant figure out why they cant beat a ferrari with a yugo.

Reliability: 10
The only time i had a problem with it is when i plugged my instrument into the amp jack. Felt like a real dork.

Customer Support: N/A
Never delt with them

Overall Rating: 9
i play with a yamaha, gibson flying v, washburn bt2, or fender strat. All sound good just have to edit the patches for each guitar. All sound great through a nice fender amp.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/19/2000 13:33

Ease of Use: 10
Iดve bought it in 1998 and was my first FX, as a guitar rookie I guess this is the most easy-to-use FX in the wolrd.

Sound Quality: 8
Its sound great, but the chorus get noisy, really noisy. Good Distortions and Reberbs, kinda good delay too, but the chorus it very noisy.

Reliability: 10
It will not let you down, ever. (unless you go out of power).

Customer Support: 7
When I bought it, it had not sound, I send it to the store and they don't replace it, they fix it, but it don't sound that bad.

Overall Rating: 8
It works for what I need it, but the chorus sometimes make me sick. I'm always feel pain when I heard that noise.

Submitted by Anonymuos at 06/15/2000 21:47

Ease of Use: 10
It is very easy to get sound out of it. The patches are simple to edit. I have not upgraded it at all.

Sound Quality: 9
I have a peavey studio pro 112 amp and a fender stratocaster guitar. It is sometimes noisy, only with certain distortions or wah. Most of the effects sound great. I use my crybaby wah wah with it. I can easily get the sound of Metallica, or Limp Bizkit, any of those guys. The distortion is great. But the wah on the pedal itself isnt good. Thats why I use a crybaby.

Reliability: 10
I can depend on it with no problem. I jump on the pedals all the time and ive never had problems. I always use it on gigs, but as I said, i use my crybaby wah wah with it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 9
I play in my band, Heavy metal and rock. It is an awesome match for my music. Ive played for 2 years. I use a crybaby, zoom 1010, boss metal zone, digitech wammy, and boss reverb. I would buy it again if it were lost. I especially like the distortion on this zoom 1010. I hate the wah on it. Ive compared it to many other pedal boards and I like this one. Not the best, the one I liked most is the digitech pedal board but with zoom, its cheeper, plus ive gotta ton of other pedals to mix. I wish it had good wah, maybe made of metal, and some more controls. It definitly helps me make music. BUY IT IF U DONT HAVE IT!

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/11/2000 09:12

Ease of Use: 9
Never used an FX that is so easy to use. The "patch-menu" couldn't be more simple

Sound Quality: 7
The rate of the bluit-in FX are average, delay/reverb is good. Still, the pedal sounds static when in use and not played. Too bad, sound quite annoying

Reliability: 7
Never let me down before (on gigs and rehearsels). Used without any other FX (Wah, tube screamer) it may sound very narrow.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I play mostly my own songs, so I can create my own sound. The Zoom 1010 is cheap, multi functional and sounds not bad at all. I've got more FX I use, mostly in combination with the 1010. Wouldn't want to miss it when I'm playing!!!

Submitted by R. Verkoelen at 05/08/2000 04:05

Ease of Use: 10
It is really easy to use, editing could be no simpler and the manual is very good. Top marks on this one!

Sound Quality: 9
Well I used to use this with my Epiphone SG and My Squire Jagmaster into my Marshall VS100R before I sold the thing. It wasn't particularly noisy on any settings, and if the distortion was getting a bit hissy then the noise reduction usually sorted it out, but it did mess the tone up a bit so you'd have to fiddle with the eq again.
The distortions were top notch-I can't complain about them. Number 4 (can't remember the name of it) was the best one for me cos I play stuff like Smashing Pumpkins and it did sound pretty good for that stuff. The compressor was just cack, I never bothered using it at all. The wah's were ok but not nearly as good as the cry baby I've got now. The Wah number 1 sounded good as a fixed position wah (like the intro to Leech by Limp Bizkit), but when used with the expression pedal it was a bit jumpy-not a smooth sweep at all.
The flanger was excellent though I must say, it went really slow and deep (just like Love by Pumpkins), but it didn't go very fast. It was good at what it did though. The chorus was good if you liked Michael Bolton Ballads (which I didn't!)but you couldn't get the wobbly vibrato sounds out of it that you can with a seperate chorus pedal cos the rate didn't go fast enough and the depth wasn't deep enough. Delay was cool if you like digital delay, but not a very long delay. It sounded good on maximum length, but then you haven't got the option to increase delay time if you need it. Reverb was ok bu I used my amp's reverb normally instead. And lastly, the doubling was pretty good but completely unused on my effect cos it didn't fit my style of playing. EQ was excellent too. The tuner was very accurate, but it only tunes as low as C# so if you want to tune it to low B or something them you have to tune the low string off a 12th fret harmonic-not a major problem, but I'm sure they could have designed it to tune lower in the first place.

Reliability: 7
I used it at a few gigs without a backup and no problems....it's made of plastic so don't go being a rock star and jumping on it though! Never had any problams with mine, but I looked after it pretty well.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I play mostly alternative rock music, and this pedal is good for what it was made for....which is basically an introduction to the world of effects. I've been playing 5 or 6 years, and I still have the guitars and amp I mentioned earlier, but I've since sold my ZOOM and bought some stomp boxes instead. It lasted me 3 years and I got some good sounds out of it, but I got to a point where I outgrew it and I wanted more flexability and better tone. I didn't like only having 12 presets cos it limits the sounds you can use at a gig I think. Stomp boxes sort this out cos there is practically no limi tof combinations to use. I also like trying new fx routing systems now to see how effects work in different ways depending on how you wire them up.....this is impossible to do on the 1010. Another on of my favourite things about stomp boxes is the ability to get feedback going and bend down and create havoc by messing with the controls! Again, out of the question with the 1010. It's cheap and it does sound good-I'd recommend it to anyone, you've just got to take into consideration it's limitations before you buy it. If you have the money and you want ultimate flexibility then forget it and buy single pedals, but if you're on a budget and you want basic usable sounds then this is very, very hard to fault. It seemed much better to me than the Korg things I compared it to, and so much better than the Dod Multi Fx thingy too. Buy it if it fits what you want it for. Excellent value, but be warned-you will grow out of it after a few years.

Submitted by Phil Davidson at 04/20/2000 15:16

Ease of Use: 10
If you cant figure this out, put the guitar down and pick up a shotgun you will have better luck with it.

Sound Quality: 7
Distortion is workable, flanger is great, chorus great, I agree with the masses the reverb and compresser could have used some work

Reliability: 10
works, all the time

Customer Support: N/A
havent delt with them

Overall Rating: 9
been playing for about 10 years, the pedal can only take you so far you have to play, i dont know about everybody else but i can make almost anything work with some tweeking ( make your own expression pedal, just follow a schematic of a volume pedal and send the wet back to the unit on the stereo channel)

Submitted by Derek at 03/20/2000 13:25

Ease of Use: 10
for a multi-effect box this one is really easy to use

Sound Quality: 6
celan sounds are great and remain clean at higher volume.
chorus is quite ok, but sometimes a bigger rate of it would be needed
(eg. intros). flanger sounds like it would be made by some 80's cheap synth and really sucks. distortions are not much better either. they don't sound pure and at higher rate sounds too electronic.

Reliability: N/A
never used it on a gig and only for practice and experimenting different sounds.

Customer Support: N/A
never had a need to

Overall Rating: 6
I play sort of funk/grunge/metal stuff, sometimes blues aswell. it matches quite good for some blues and classic rock stuff but not for metal or other styles with more distorion. It's really good for just experimenting different sounds when you write music, but i would not go and make a recording with it.

Submitted by stony at 03/18/2000 13:12

Ease of Use: 10
An untrained monkey could use this. Hit edit, use the aroww keys and the table to quickly find what you want to edit, and use the value key to change it, then hit the store key twice. THATS IT! Also very easy to adjust the volume. Just select the patch use the value keys to change the volume, then hit store twice.

Sound Quality: 7
I am Using an Ibanez RG170 through a Yamaha Mini Mixer with Bose fold backs and with this unit the distortions impress me for a digital unit. The reverb is also nice but could be better. Hall is probably the best, the room is a little dry. The Delay is only an echo and isn't perpetual. On top of that it is only 420ms long :-(. The chorus is excellent as long as you dont start turning up everythig past halfway, otherwise it can detune your guitar, this mabey desierable but as a guitarist that playes everything from Nirvana to Blues this is not good. Same with the flanger, it is possibly a little weak but i am comparing with an old dedicated flanger pedal I used to own. Once again dont turn up the settings to high as this can detune your guitar. The doubler is an interesting function and can be a nice addition to the reverb if set right. The Zoom Noise reduction is very effective but has to be turned up all the way to be effective, this eats at the tone slightly, but not much. The Compressor is absolutly useless,you have to turn it right up for it to be noticed, but this eats the tone dramaticaly. The Wah is weak and you have to buy an extra pedal for this, hell, for the $80AUS I could buy a decent second hand dedicated Wah!

Reliability: 8
Well, it aint let me down yet. It is made out of re-enforced injection moulded plastic that seems strong enough but i wouldn't jump on it (i am gental with my equipment as I am a poor student :-))
The pedals are a little flimsy but they have held on so far and plugs seem to pull out the back much to easy. I would take a distortion pedal to a gig with me but that is it. The reason i dont is because i don't own one and the school dont like me flogging theirs (Boss MT-2).

Customer Support: N/A
Well i have never had to deal with zoom, i bought it second hand from my local music shop and the DC in plug had dry solder joints that had to be repaired but the man at the shop fixed it for free before he sold it to me.

Overall Rating: 8
Well I am a 15 year old who has been playing guitar for 5 years now and i consider this board as getting past my interests as I move into writing my own songs. I love the distortions, I have got a Metalica, Nirvana, Offspring, Living End and Live Distortion programed into it (there are 8 types of distortion). But it lacks the clean sound that I cherish so much (i play with a delicate balance of both clean and dirty). I compared it against a Zoom 505 and a Boss
ME-30 but i couldn't afford the ME-30 and the zoom 505 was just crap.
If u are like I was, a poor student looking for a cheap board that will absolutly scream out distortion. Buy this. If it were stolen I would trak down the bastard who stole it and beat the $200 dollars out of him and put it towards a Boss GT-5 that will more than sattisfy my weird obseion with using all sorts of effects in songs. This is a good board if you play a lot of covers but if you wish to write songs, you may find it restricting.

Submitted by Kenn Melksham at 12/17/1999 06:53

Ease of Use: 9
It's real easy to get a good sound out of the 1010. Each effect has three or four parameters to adjust to find the sound you're looking for. The full manual is good, but the one page comic book version of the manual is good enough, and you probably won't even need that. The only thing you can't use out of the box is the Wah Wah. It costs $50 or $60 extra for the FP-01 foot pedal to use the Wah Wah. I give it a 9 only because it's kinda hard to use the Wah Wah if you don't have the extra $50 for the FP-01. Which I don't have so I have no idea how good the FP-01 is.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Fender Double Fat Strat through a Silver Face Bassman 70 and an Ampeg V4 4x12 cabinet. The setup sounds great with the 1010. If your setup is too noisy you can set the Noise Reduction to eliminate any unwanted noise. The effects all sound like analog stomp boxes, but you can chain effects together into a single patch so you don't have to stomp six different boxes to get the sound you need. The best way to get a consistent sound is to find the best setting for each effect seperately, then use the same settings on the individual effects each time you mix effects. I hope that makes sense. I'm sure you could duplicate anyone's sound easily since the 1010 has about 10 different Distortions, 4 Wah Wahs, 2 Reverbs, and about six other effects, plus it has a Compressor, EQ, and Tuner (w/ bypass so you can tune silently).

Reliability: 10
The 1010 is more reliable than any stomp box I've had since it comes with an AC adapter and all the effects are wired together (in the right order) internally. No need for a pedalboard stocked with 2 dozen different stomp boxes that must be chained together in the perfect order (so you don't pick up AM sports radio shows) by working patch cables, not to mention the $15 apiece for most ac adapters. And I've played a countless number of live shows and practices without any problems at all. Just make sure you write down your patch settings just in case.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
The band I'm in sounds kinda like a cross between the Melvins, Babes In Toyland, & Fugazi, with spooky melody lines, but the 1010 could fit any sound or style because of it's number of effects. And since most decent stomp boxes cost between $100-$200 anyway, you might as well get a 1010 and get almost every effect you'll need, instead of just one. I also own Distortion, Flanger, and Compression/Sustain pedals, but since I bought the 1010 they've been collecting dust. If anything ever happened to it I would replace it immediately. I started off with a Zoom 4040, but switched to the 1010 because of the ease of use, and the size, the 1010 fits in the compartment thing in my hardshell guitar case, the 4040 was about as long as the body of my guitar. The only thing I would change about the 1010 is that the "optional" FP-01 Wah Wah/Volume pedal would come free. The only other thing I would recommend is to not get too carried away with the effects. My band's set list is 16 songs long, and I've only used 5 patches. Oh and be sure to make the first patch of each bank the same distortion, then use the other two patches for other sounds. And whatever you do, DO NOT USE THE PRESET PATCHES! Make up your own and give them cool names. My set-up is:
A1=Fuzz Box
A2=AM Radio
A3=Distorted Flanger
B1=Fuzz Box
B2=Clean Chorus
B3=Spooky Reverb

Submitted by Mike at 12/07/1999 04:49

Ease of Use: 10
I have had mine for 2 years and I would not trade it for something that is ten times more expensive,or heralded as being the best. It's easy to use, sounds great and is easy to transport.

Sound Quality: 8
I use my 1010 with a Hamer Standard (Explorer shape mohagany body, humbuckers)with a Marshall half stack. The effects always come out clear and I can get the crunch that I want(METALLICA). Distortions are awesome, but the cleans could use some work.

Reliability: 10
I have never had a problem with my 1010, and I have used it for two years, at least two to three hours a day.

Customer Support: 5
The only upgrade I would to the 1010 is to make the expression pedal(FP01) sturdier. I broke mine in about two weeks, and a wha-wha-volume pedal is a nessescity for every performing guitar player.

Overall Rating: 9
I play mainly heavy metal, but I like like the slow stuff too, and the 1010 is able to handle my stomping from distortion to clean. The 1010is an essential element in my sound and if it where lost or stolen, I would deffinetly buy another one. I played my buddies Digitech RP-7 and I preffed my 1010 over it. The only thing I can complain about is the sturibility of the FP01 expression pedal. The 1010 has opened up many doors of creativity for me, it has been a non-stop sense of release for me in the two years that I have had it.

Submitted by Big Dave at 12/03/1999 21:34

Ease of Use: 8
This unit is pretty easy to use. It took me a couple of days after I first got it to get it working completely, and it's been a long time now that I've had it; I've got working with it down to a science. It is an extremely limited unit, but I can get the sounds that I want out of it most of the time. It would be nice to have more than four banks of three settings, though.

Sound Quality: 4
I use an Epiphone les paul special into a small, 65-watt Peavey chorus 200 amp, then into a Woodson 200-watt stack. The chorus on the 1010 is very limited; my Peavey amp has depth and rate knobs that can do much, much more, but usually the 1010 chorus is acceptable. The flanger isn't bad, but it's not what you'd call "studio quality." I've never used the doubling effect; it really doesn't make it sound like two guitars. The reverb is loud and obnoxious. The distortions are quite terrible. I use the metal-T (8) and the fuzz (6) and none of the others, although one time I did put my vocals through the 1010 for a recording and used the rhythm distortion with the flanger and I've treasured that recording ever since. The other distortions are wimpy. I tend to use the metal in conjunction with my amp distortion for some extremely distorted sound, and that works out. The wah is totally not worth it! It barely affects the sound of the guitar at all and produces a lot of feedback. The compressor doesn't do anything (I've never heard any difference in having it on or off). The delay is very noisy and it is way too short, but I have been able to use it to my advantage. Along with the wah, I use the delay and the fuzz as a feedback setting. It sounds wonderful! My amp controls it perfectly. I can play the guitar just by holding my left hand on the frets and sliding up and down, and I get octaves and fifths and thirds and nothing that will explode everyone's ear drums! If you already own this unit, give it a try. But the sound quality overall is poor.

Reliability: 7
I don't know. I have the FP01 expression pedal along with the unit (big waste!) and it broke the first week I had it. I took it apart and hooked the plastic gear back in place and it worked fine, but recently it broke again. This time I found out that when I switched chords, my new one didn't have a "stereo" jack and it wouldn't work. That was a cruel catch, considering that the chord that came with it is unshielded and will probably stop working soon. I use this unit in a live setting and although I'm pretty sure it will break down on me at some point, it hasn't really shown any signs of that yet.

Customer Support: N/A
Never needed it. I wouldn't know.

Overall Rating: 5
I play rock. It's the only music that is constantly changing and expanding, whereas pop is terribly stagnant and never changes. I like the unit, but I would never recommend it, especially since I paid way too much for it. I bought it for **I think** $140 + $80 for the expression pedal! Big mistake! Don't laugh-I was young and naive. I had only been playing for a year and didn't yet understand that there's more than just list. If it were stolen, I would definately buy something else. But the sound it makes is unique in its wimpiness. When I created the feedback setting, the guys in my band were amazed. Sure, this unit kills my tone and makes my guitar sound like it isn't even a guitar, but that's not such a bad thing. Anyway, don't buy the unit, but if you have it, don't throw it away!

Submitted by miscellaneousguitarist43 at 11/20/1999 21:13

Ease of Use: 8
I thought some of the sounds out of the box were useable, but if you spend some time editing you'll get something better.With 12 user patches on 4 banks of 3 sounds each, you might find it a bit limiting if you need a different setup for EVERY song. And you need to arrange the sounds so they're on the same bank if you need to use more than 1 per song. Editing the sounds quickly during rehearsal is painful to say the least-it's not hard, just tedious, knobs would go a long way towards fixing this, but then it'd be more of a stomp box i guess.The manual is helpful, i just don't use it, but occassionaly i forget about some little feature(like the ability to scroll only thru the user patches) and it reminds me.

Sound Quality: 9
First off, it is digital and does sound a bit dry. 2nd that's not always a bad thing.
For those who think the distortion sucks, i say it's a matter of application. For my punk band(where i use either a Gibson Les Paul Classic or a Vantage(model unknown)into a Roland JC-120), the tone is so utterly obnoxious and unique among a sea of boss, dod and ibanez stomp box users, that i love it. someone once commented that my guitar sounded "bitchy"(not "bitchin'").i took it as a compliment.
In my other band (dark experimentaly music, i use both Gibson and a Danelectro U2 into the roland jc120)I've found that the distortion, in combination with other effects, begins to take on a superprocessed 80's sound, and it's not exactly what I'm looking for. The delay IS kind of short and the chorus shallow(the roland jc-120 has such beautiful chorus tho that it's insulting to even run the zoom chorus into it).BUT I've actually used one of 3.1 on a recording(that's right a PRESET) and it does just what i want it to. Of course we tweaked the hell out of it on the mixer with EQ to remove some of the harshness.
Tweaking is very important with this pedal(on the pedal itself or on a mixing board), or you'll be sorely disappointed imho, but if you spend some time with it, it's easily worth the price.

Reliability: 10
mine has had beer spilled on it, has been dropped from three feet off the ground onto cement, been stepped on when people were rushing the stage to sing along, kicked across the stage,etc. and it keeps on working.

Customer Support: N/A
never had a need

Overall Rating: 8
i play hardcore-punk in one band, dark experimentaly gothy/industrialy stuff in another, i play all sorts of stuff on my own. I've used the zoom with several dif guitars and amps(the danelectro using the "jazz chorus" sound into a vox pathfinder makes a fine jazz sound, at least for practicing).I actually think the zoom fits the punk band best, since cheap sounds aren't really an issue. And i've never had any problem hearing the zoom over the drums(of course, my amp kicks ass in the volume dept.).I've had the zoom i think for 3 years now, and while i'm finally expanding my effects setup(i've never been big on them until the last year or so)the zoom will stay in the effects chain-even when i get better sounding distortions, or a real delay pedal. I dont think i'd replace it though if it was stolen, unless i could get it used. One thing that i don't see mentioned much, is that the zoom makes a fun little processor for vocals. when i'm recording in my sad little homestudio, and i dont have access to ten thousand reverbs, and running thru an amp isn't practical, the zoom comes in handy.

Submitted by Anonymous at 11/13/1999 12:44

Ease of Use: 9
It is so easy to program this Zoom, altough it is difficult to get excactly the same sound as you hear in your head, but maby I am to critical, but asd said easy to use. When I bought myu Zoom 1010 I didn't even had a manual, and I still don't have one, but to program this motherfucking'thing is so simple

Sound Quality: 6
I use two main guitars a Fender stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Studio. For slide I got a Stratocaster model guitar, witch produce the wild sound I want to have for slide, My amps are a fender showman (Twin top), with a 4x10" marshall speakerfor a perfect clean sound, I use a Marshall JTM-45 with a Marshall 2x12"speaker, for crunche, or "harder"claen. And I use a Marshal valvestate 100 watt head with a 4x12"speaker, to produce a heavy distortion in combination with my Boss metalzone and ProCo RAT distortion. Sometimes I use it for the clean chaneel for the real eighties clean sound, in combination with my boss chorus and my boss compressor. I use my Zoom for the delay to get the brain my delay effect in combination with my Boss and DOD delay. The delay is short, but sounds good for what I need. The noise of my Zoom is Afwull, When i record the noise is to loud so I use a carl martin noise killer, with is very good. Compressor on the zoom is shit, so is the (plastic) construction. Distortion sounds quite well, but there's to much trble in it. Chorus and flanger sounds good, but my Boos chorus sounds "deeper". It's fucked up that the zoom isn't stereo, but after all it's good for a extra effect, or when all your other stuff is fucked up.

Reliability: 7
me zoom always produce sound so it is road tested. A friend of my had also a Zoom 1010 but he had kicked to hard on it and the printplate was broken, so be carefull. When my zoom won't work I can play as well, but something "disappear"in my sound.

Customer Support: N/A
??????

Overall Rating: 7
I play all styles of music, reggae, funk, soft and hard metal, rock, but never punk it's to simple to boring and to childisch! But it works when I use my Zoom.
The zoom should have a stereo output!!!
I play guitar 10 or 11 years so I knoew where I talk about!

Submitted by jasper at 11/09/1999 02:41

Ease of Use: 5
very simple to use...dont need the manual..editing is a breeze..but getting a good sound is real work..

Sound Quality: 6
im using a fernades guitar with active pickups and its quiet to begin with but with the zoom its dead silent through my crate gx65...its hard to get a good sound or impossible the distortion is very thin and horribly digital sounding..its great for practicing or recording..but dont even think of using it in a band situation you'll kick it across the room to damn thin sounding...

Reliability: 9
i bought it used and it looks a little beat but has worked perfect for close to a year..ive heard from others and theyve never had any problems..they are plastic but seem to be made very well

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them..no problems so far

Overall Rating: 8
this is a great little unit for putting some punch in your home setup if you dont like your sound....nice for recording..but you'll have to come up with your own presets the factorys are useless..just dont even think about using it in a band..its no good for that..but for the money you cant beat it

Submitted by kevin carvalho at 10/26/1999 00:00

Ease of Use: 8
Very easy to use. Total "plug-in-and-play" ability. Getting a good sound is pretty challenging though. Didn't bother reading the manual cuz it was pretty self explainatory.

Sound Quality: 4
Most of the effects are fairly competent, but definetly not pro standard. The delay is only 46ms long which is way too short. The reverb can sound very tinny. The doubling effect is trash and i don't ever use it. Compression just can't be heard. Flange is probably the best thing on there, but the chorus is basically useless cuz it ain't stereo. But the really bad thing is the distortions which just SUCK. Trying to use them in a band situation is impossible. I went back to using the distortion on my amp (a Fender 212 Deluxe).

Reliability: 4
Broke after about six gigs, but I'm pretty abusive with my equipment. A more light-handed player would definetly have a better time with it. My advice is to definetly NOT use it live unless you like living on the edge.

Customer Support: 7
When i got it replaced they seemed pretty cool

Overall Rating: 4
I play mostly modern metal plus older eighties stuff (like the police and u2) plus I like to experiment with noise etc. This pedal definetly does not get the main sounds that i need. The distortions are just useless. My main criticism of this pedal is that it doesn't go "far" enough i.e - the flanger/chorus aren't deep enough, the delay just isn't long enough, reverb is hardly noticable. If u like fx that scream at u then this is definetly NOT the pedal to use. However, if your into more laid back stuff, this is worth a look at but there are plenty of other multi-fx that do the job much better. I'm currently trying to get rid of this pedal, cuz i bought the gr-30 guitar synth which just wipes the floor with this thing.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/23/1999 00:30

Ease of Use: 9
Very easy to use, cause entire my group called TANKER use this great stuff!
Editing is very easy, manual explaine you all what do you need.
This unit is updateable, but only for technician...
I'am a technician, so I do exciter to my ZOOM

Sound Quality: 8
I use ARIA guitar with MARSHALL COMBO VALVESTAT 65 (I hate Marshall, but nothing better in Czech)
Noisy is only when ZNR (zoom noise reduction) is OFF.
Like I say above, I do some fix in this unit and now I got ZOOM 1010
with EXCITER (sounds like a early FIREHOUSE or PINK CREAM 69)
But not all distortion effect you can use...
Some (ovedrive) effect sounds very bad, but LEAD (7) is great, you can play solos with Y.Malmsteen, K.Hansen or MANOWAR !!
Chorus is best effect in this unit, delay is too short,but reverb is great !

Reliability: N/A
Don't opinion

Customer Support: 10
This unit is very simply so no need any support, and if some mechanic problems found, you can fit it yourself (very easy)

Overall Rating: 10
I play heavy metal style of music (Y.Malmsteen)
I play on the guitar 14 years and I got my own group called TANKER
More at: http://www.tanker.applet.cz
This unit is forever, and entire group use ZOOM (2020, 4040, 1202)
Great units from SAMSON !!!!

Submitted by Peter Tanker at 10/18/1999 04:28

Ease of Use: 9
READ BOTTOM OF REVIEW OR E-MAIL ME FOR NEAR PERFECT TUBE AMP EMULATION!!! This unit comes with 56 great preset patches. You can completely customize 16 of them. The other 40 I hardly get into, because I customized those 16 for exactly what I want. Honestly, it takes more than a little tinkering to get just what you want out of it, but it was worth it, especially when I finally got the perfect tube amp sound of it! Like I mentioned, I have included the formula below. Like at least 1 person above mentioned, all those taps to get back to A is annoying. I bought it used, but I got a manual from the internet or something (I don't know because I had someone else get it for me, my kind ol' dad!). It goes into great detail without confusing you, and it was very helpful to me. I have no idea what the heck a firmware revision number is, so I'll ignore that. (And check out my tube amp presets!!! You may be just as excited as I when my solid-state amp suddenly took on tube tones!)

Sound Quality: 9
Right now I am using this with an Epiphone S-310 (which sounds exactly like a Fender, so it's great to work with on thet 1010) and a Peavey Mystic. (It has amazingly Les-Paulish tones and a coil tap that transforms it into a perfect Tele sound) So I can hit everything. I use a solid-state Peavey Bravo 112 combo amp. (OK I won't mention anymore to look at my tube amp presets) The presets sound really great even on the solid-state amp. Well, that's what a digital amp is anyway, right? It is fairly difficult to get EXACTLY what you want from it, but a close fit is seconds away. I used VERY general instructions in a guitar magazine to get Tom Scholz's tone. And there are already a Jimi Hendrix and a Fender Jaguar preset on here. Getting "close enough" is simple on this unit, but if you want exact, you will spend hours, potentially, like I did. It is very worth it when your work pays off, though. Everything sounds really great on the 1010, but the chorus is a little weaker than some other units may offer, and you need a seperate foot pedal to utilize wah and volume control. However, it's perfect for the amateur, and certain effects will work great even for the professional. The 8 different distortions with line and amp sim are really great.

Reliability: 8
I haven't had any problems with it that was the unit's fault. I have had a faulty cord I used and didn't get any sound, obviously. However, the power cord is kind of short, and could easily be pulled out on a gig. However, ignoring that one flaw, it would be dependable on stage. Just be careful not to yank it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with the company and never done any work on it.

Overall Rating: 9
I play many different styles, and it can fit many. I have played for 2 and a half years and have already talked about my gear earlier. If I lost it, I would definitely consider it, but might also consider an upgrade to on of those digitech deals. I love working for a certain sound for hours, then finally getting satisfaction. I also like the ease of getting a general sound you want out of it. I hate the fine-tuning it sometimes takes to get your exact sound. I chose this one because I had a friend who didn't use it and I could take it home even before I had fully paid for it. I wish it had come with an expression pedal and a headphone jack. It definitely inspires me musically. And now here it is: so close to perfect tube amp; clean and overdriven. clean: Comp/Wah: sens: 2 attack: 0 tone: 10 patch level: 22 distortion: dist color: 11 (valve overdrive w/ amp sim) - I know this seems strange, but it helps with the warm sound. gain: 1 tone: 2 znr: 0 EQ: presence: 5 high: 7 mid: 3 low: 10 Turn off chorus/flanger and reverb/delay. Now for the overdriven tube amp: Comp/Wah sens: 2 attack: 0 tone: 10 patch level: 22 Distortion: dist color: 11 (valve overdrive w/ amp sim) gain: 12 (you can try higher, but it gets too bright on my amp) tone: 3 znr: 0 EQ: presence: 5 high: 7 mid: 3 low: 10 turn off chorus/flanger and reverb/delay There you have it!!! You may need to adjust the tone settings on your amp! And have fun with your newly tubed solid state amp! Try adjusting the settings on the 1010 to your liking, but in my experimentation, anything else would make it sound too bright or choppy and really fake. Let me know if it doesn't sound right on your amp! And since I was kind enough to share with you, share some stuff with me!

Submitted by Josh at 09/06/1999 18:01

Ease of Use: 9
Easy to use. Follow the (well written) manual and your only minutes from some pretty good presets. Editing patches will take quite a bit of experimenting for the exact sound you want (unless you just get lucky). The indicator lights in edit mode provide a pretty good roadmap even without the manual.

Sound Quality: 9
Mostly good sounds. Using a LP Custom or Fender Strat or other guitars along with a Laney AOR 50w Tube Head / Kustom 4x12 Cab. For practice, a number of 15w - 30w solid state amps. Obviously, the processor needs very different settings for these combinations of guitars/amps. If distortion is cranked the noise level is high... better to use the amp's dist. Large variety of good tube sounds (a couple not so good). The echo, reverb, chorus, delay, flange, doubler & eq are all satisfactory for the price. The distortion needs some work to reduce noise but can be pretty well controlled with tinkering in edit mode. The wah is almost non-existent except under certain eq/tone settings and is easily washed out by the other effects (w/FP01 pedal). The auto wah is almost undetectable except under just the right effects combinations. I don't really like the concept of AUTO wah anyway. With a half-hour of tinkering I've been able to simulate most any classic rock and blues artist/group pretty closely.

Reliability: 9
Bought unit new 2-3 years ago. Haven't had any problems. A gig? ...always have a backup, completely set up. The show must go on.

Customer Support: 5
Web site needs help. Haven't needed support. Don't know.

Overall Rating: 8
I play mostly classic rock & blues. Not too much in the way of effects changes midstream in a song. Been playing most of my life, I'm 47 years old. This unit is a great buy for the money, I thing now you can pick one up new for about $120 & get a hugh number of effects. To get just the right sounds takes quite a bit of tweeking. The worst characteristic is the numberous stomps it takes to go back to Bank A. Stomp through A-D, then through 0-9 to A... that's a lot of stomping. A-D are the user setups, this is where I stay, the extra ten stomps are a pain. Sooo, I modified the power cord to come up the mic stand to a small (reset) push button (normally on) switch. If I hit the button (turn off the power to the processor) the 1010 resets to Bank A instantly, allowing me to get to the user setup I need quickly. Yes, I'd buy another one. The most bang for the buck in my opinion. The world definately has better units... Put YOUR bucks on the barrel head and take your pick.. this one's not bad!

Submitted by Mark at 08/08/1999 12:54

Ease of Use: 10
very easy to get good sounds and to edit patches. Still have manual and boxes.

Sound Quality: 10
used with fender roc pro 100 and aria pro II guitar. effects sound great and powerful. great blues, metal, old rock tones. Includes dis, fla, cho, del, rev, com, dou, wah, eq

Reliability: 10
very dependable and definetely no need for a backup.

Customer Support: 9
never needed to be repaired

Overall Rating: 10

Submitted by Adrian Stockman at 05/09/1999 08:46

Ease of Use: 10
a little confudeing at first but once you ger the hang of it real easy

Sound Quality: 10
The sound is amazing. it would go so fare as to say it is at the heart of my sound. I play a Gibson SG and a Fender Stat. I will tell you that if one guitar cant get the sound the other can. The amp's this sounds best with are 1X12 combos and such not big 4X12. The only complant i have is not enuff user banks.

Reliability: 10
i never had a problem with it and io kick around all the time.

Customer Support: N/A
dont know never needed it

Overall Rating: 10
Well it is a good pedal if you work with it. But if you think you can just plug it in and kick butt. your dreaming good tone is labor of love or luck!

Submitted by Choder at 05/05/1999 09:07

Ease of Use: 4
As far as multi FX go the Zoom 1010 is not very user friendly if you are just starting out. I bought mine about 4 years ago. The presets were decent but not very creative. the manual was helpful but not extensive.

Sound Quality: 2
I used this two different setup. My first was a crappy Kustom amp with a Squier Strat. It sounded decent to me at the time. Then I ran an Epiphone Les Paul Studio Pearl through it to a Roland GC408x Stack. IT slaughters the Pauls tone and made the stack sound very thin. The effect were terrible. The only reason I give it a 2 is because the distortion was at least usable to some extent. The wah is unusable with the $70 wah pedal and sure as hell isnt worth it, the compressor is weak. The corus is thin and choppy. The delay is so digitaly cheesy you can recognize your original tone. The flanger is somewhat usable but not as good as other multi FX in this price range. I compared this with a less expensive KORG AX1G and the KORG blew it away in tone and quality. I have tried several Zoom pedals and they are all JUNK. Toneless, and painfully digital. Save your money and buy the Korg.

Reliability: 2
Dont put your eggs in this basket at all. After 3 1/2 years the unit went stone dead on me. I never used it in a gig setting either, just easy practice use. Of course no guitarist would be caught dead gigging with this thing. It did last 3 1/2 years though. So I give it a 2

Customer Support: 8
When the unit broke Zoom was very helpful. I never sent it in to get fixed though. I just sold it as BROKEN on Ebay. And I got $70 out of the stupid thing, and the people I sold it too Knew it was broke. Well Thank god there are uneducated shoppers out there.

Overall Rating: 1
This was the biggest peicce of junk I have ever bought for the guitar. It is not suitable for any music at all. if it had been stolen I would not have sought to find it because the criminal would get his punishment by having to use the thing.

Submitted by Josh Ray at 04/13/1999 07:34

Ease of Use: 9
Piece of cake... can learn to use it in a few minutes. Just stick to the manual; but I believe that you can learn to use it even without the manual.

Sound Quality: 6
Comp - (4) Even to the trained ear, the compressor doesn't seem noticeable. Wah - (2) I bought a separate FP01 pedal and I tell you, if you long for Kirk Hammet wah sounds or Cry baby-ish tones then you'll be frustrated. Tip: Don't buy the separate foot pedal. Distortion - (6) Eight Different Distortions + eight of the same kind, except that they are amp simulated... Good for blues but if you long for crunchy or shredding distortion then this is not for you. EQ - (7) This may be the product's redeeming factor... Maybe a bad preset can somewhat be enhanced by this feature. Chorus - (9) Very clean and versatile-sounding, if you manipulate the parameters. Flange (8) Good for the "jet scream" and flange settings of other sorts. Doubler - (8) - simulates 2 guitars playing at the same time. Sounds close to Room Reverb. Reverb - (7) - Has Hall reverb. Just hall reverb. No Plate reverb, no church or garage or stage reverb. Has Room reverb though. Delay - (4) Good for Eric Johnson-ish delay (short and decays quickly) but not recommended for Steve Vai-ish delay (long and decays slowly) because the maximum time is only 420 ms.

Reliability: 4
Not dependable. One day you might be shocked that your bank pedal would not work anymore. I had the 3 patch pedals repaired by replacing the tact switches on the PCB. Buttons eventually malfunction, in as short as a year or a year and a half, for a brand new set.

Customer Support: N/A
Hmmm. Well? They charge a lot. Maybe 20 times as much as the cost of labor and materials. I chose fixing it on my own.

Overall Rating: 6
My repertoire ranges from Cannibal Corpse to Metallica to Pearl Jam to Steve Vai to Joe Satriani to Eric Johnson. The bottom line is, the unit can't suit my needs. If you play blues or simple hard rock or grunge then maybe this would be enough. But eventually, you'll consider a better alternative, like a Digitech RP-7 or a Zoom 8080. But to come to think of its price, it's better having one than buying several stompboxes.

Submitted by Skunk at 03/27/1999 08:04

Sound Quality: 3
the distortions suck, as do the rest of the effects.

Reliability: 3
Seems rather shoddy, the pedals are very little and i had a constant fear of breaking the whole thing by stomping on it too hard.

Overall Rating: 2
Had it for 6 weeks, sold it, bought a BOSS ME-8. Don't even consider buying this product. Thank you. Goodbye.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/25/1999 03:26

Ease of Use: 9
Uh.. well yah, it took me about 2 minutes to cycle through all the effects and controls and figure 'em out, though i've never used a pedal before, I thought it was pretty damn simple. What, 2 buttons and an up/down.. sheesh. Overall, getting what you want from it is simple, even though I had no manual (bought second hand).

Sound Quality: 8
I'm using this pedal with a $150 Legend bass, and a sound city 30b amp. I *think* it's a guitar amp, but then again the fact that the bass response is sweeet and the "b" on it... Anyhow, the zoom adds no noise to the chain, if anything, the compressor cuts it down a little. I must say, the compressor sens5, attack10, gets an awesome sound, like tom araya (slayer), and is good for slap/poping, whereas 10/10 will get a metallica feel. It's also good for general rock/blues and jazz playing. Though, the reverb is ghastly sometimes, and the flanger is iffy too. Not good, as my amp is quite noisy, though on something decent, the zoom would be ok.

Reliability: 9
Jesus, it works fine, does what it's meant to. I don't know its history, but I think it's newish, and used a bit. So far, the footswitches are ok.

Customer Support: N/A
The website is crap, as far as I remember. Though it should be fine.

Overall Rating: 8
I play thrash (bass), metal, rock, blues, country - damn near everything, and I mainly use the compressor, and the chorus and/or reverb. It improves my sound tremendously, as my amp has no inbuilt fx. There's a distortion/amp simulator, a guitar effect, but I use it sometimes, and it's very crisp. The OD Valve amp is nice for bass. The flanger is okay, but only just.
The zoom 1010 is a good effect to have, if it's all you can afford. I don't think I'd get anything else even if I had the money. It's good for what I need, and if I need a punk bass sound, or a nirvana sound, or a metallica sound or a flea sound, it's all in there and easy to get. I'd recommend it to anyone, though admittedly, I've never used anything else by way of effects. (I'd use the reverb on a marshall rather than the reverb on this thing, but it does okay.)

Submitted by Niall Donaghy at 02/06/1999 19:17

Ease of Use: 6
The good thing is it is compact, cheap, a lot of effects. I like the reverb and chorus making a nice sound with the amp simulator and i like some of the distortions. The bad thing is the buttons worns out and the fpo1 pedal (for the wah) is i think 1/3 the price of the zoom 1010 ( which i think is expnesive so i got the zoom 4040 cause it has the pedal already.

Reliability: 4
id rather use a korg sound module or a set of boss effects

Submitted by nick at 02/02/1999 00:10

Ease of Use: 7
takes practice. buttons (inc. footswithces) small and inconsistent in terms of pressure needed to trigger. common occurence to step on several footswithces at same time, and time consuming to cycle through many banks.

Sound Quality: 8
pre-programmed effects are really cheesy attempts at traditional sounds, but user programmed effects can be good. i created an amazing distortion: very crunchy, full, controlled, the anti-fuzz; then made other weird noisy stuff. i liked the noise reduction option, and the tuner function.

Reliability: 7
i have had my pedal for two years, played a few shows with it. 2 main problems: bank selector switch broke, adaptor (mandatory i think) too easily unpluggable.

Overall Rating: 8
i liked the numerous options and sounds. good for the price and size.

Submitted by XaaronX at 12/10/1998 17:50

Ease of Use: 10
VERY VERY easy... no secrets, the manual fill all the needs... 10 minutes editing patchs is enough to learn all about it.

Sound Quality: 4
I use an Ibanez RG60 and a regular transistor-amp. Flanger and the reverbs are cool, delay is too short (46ms), compressor and wah are terrible, and the distorcions... god, I don't have words, is the WORST thing I've ever heard. Without the Amp Simulator, the guitar sounds like a chain saw or something like that. But, even with the Amp Sim, the distorcion is crap. I'll give 7 for clean sound and -1 for distorcions... -1 + 7 / 2 = 4....

Reliability: 6
Well, I droped it many times, and nothing happened. But sometimes the + and - buttons don't work. Well, I wont use it in gig, it sucks when the buttons dont work.

Customer Support: N/A
Sorry, no opinion

Overall Rating: 4
I play blues, vintage stuff (Deep purple, Led Zeppelin), heavy metal (Metallica, sepultura), and the 1010 is terrible in all of these styles. When I use clean sound it's pretty OK, but the distorcions, urgh. I'll never buy it again. Anyway I liked the EQ, its pretty simple and works fine. Digital distortions are crap, but 1010 is more than crap. But hey

Submitted by Eduardo LUssari at 12/05/1998 18:01

Ease of Use: 10
sounds good notse gate bette than on my art ecc dont cut youre signal off and lets you sustain editing patches is good and can scroll thru user or preset patches.

Sound Quality: 10
withe strat by applause art ecc and laney with carvin cab.

Reliability: 10
yes i would depend on it for the money you pay you get all those effects and a tuner like it better in some ways than my art ecc and the art is more money?

Customer Support: 10
good and sites on the internet with patches cant find any sites for the art ecc,dont think this unit is able to upgrade?

Overall Rating: 10
good value for the money and found mine used on the net here?

Submitted by al at 11/09/1998 10:09

Ease of Use: 10
easy to use cant go up and down editing patches easy sound of patches bad sound edit patches you can get good metal sound no limiter you get manual wich is good unit is bad any zoom product is very good for one sound only metal digital sound if you ask me the effects are good.

Sound Quality: 5
strat and laney amp carvin 4&12 cab noisy dist settings nr helps not enough effects good you can get srv sound dist is digital sounding not like others i have tryd with same setup not as noisey as zoom 5000 more than 505 thas sad this is more money better than thetube works pedal i bought should have called it the bee hive real tube too?

Reliability: 10
yes i do give this unit a 10 zoom prouduts are the best.

Customer Support: N/A
never had to use it replaced thre weeks after i got it with art ecc use the zoom for effects only no comp no eq no dist ,sad 165.00 for unit that only uses 3 effects at once thinking of getting zoom 500 series les money better price

Overall Rating: 10
hope to sell or trade away not my type of unit sell for 75.00i ship

Submitted by al angeli at 10/26/1998 15:43

Ease of Use: 7
It's easy to figure out the basics. Pull it out, hook it up, and start hitting the pedals. Editing is simple, too. You can figure out a lot just by looking at the instructions on the unit and playing around with it. The manual helps, but who reads them cover-to-cover? The presets, as with most units, are pretty average. They're a good place to start figuring out your own. I took the ones I liked, moved them to the user group, and started tweeking. Just figuring out how to move them took some time. It's taken me a while, but I've now got some effects I really like. Read some of the other posts here for more tips. One tells you how to cycle through JUST the user patches or JUST the user prests, rather than all of them. Another suggests reducing the presence on the EQ (to below "5", otherwise it sounds very tinny). Both helped me out.

Sound Quality: 8
I've got a Gibson Les Paul Studio that I run through a Marshall JTM30. The Zoom 1010 adds a lot of the individual sounds I'm looking for. With the noise reduction section you can dial in the amount you want/need. Swithching between patches is quite seamless. Some posts here say the distortions are pretty weak. I used to agree, but I've changed my mind. Over half of them sound darn good with some tweeking. For example, you can get the Super Lead to sound a Tubescreamer. I have a TS-9 with an 808 mod, and I've been able to get the 1010 to sound reasonably close. Likewise, you can edit the Rhythm distortion to get a pretty darn good blues sound out of it. I'm not into metal, so I can't really comment there (except one preset sounds darn close to Ozzy's "Crazy Train"). For Aerosmith, Kiss, Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, SRV, or Clapton you can do quite well. Distortions aside, its chorus and delay are the effects I use most. I can get pretty darn close to "Get Over It" (Eagles), and "Rough Boy" (ZZ Top)with them. Bottom line -- put a CD in your stereo or boom box, fire up your rig, and start editing the Zoom's patches. With a decent ear and a little time, you can come close to almost any guitarists' sound.

Reliability: 9
Some people seem to have a hang-up with effects made of plastic. Sure, a metal box will be more durable if you weigh 200 lbs. and plan to jump on it like an idiot. But with half a brain, you shouldn't have any problems. I've had my 1010 for about a year. No hassles of any kind. Gigged with no backup. If you're overly concerned about this catergory, you probably one of the people who buys an extended warranty on your toaster oven...

Customer Support: 8
I misplaced the manual once, and called Samson for a replacement. The guy was very friendly. The manual was out of print at the time I called, so it took a couple of months to get a new one. When I did, they actually sent me two.

Overall Rating: 9
This is a "good value". It's not a DigiTech RP20. But considering the price, you can't go wrong. If you have no patience, want to plug 'n' play and get great sounds IMMEDIATELY ... go ahead and spend $600 for an RP20. But if you're like most guitarists on a budget and in search of "great tone", this unit can get you in the right direction. I only wish there was a place/way for users to share their favorite patches. I've been playing for over 20 years, and enjoy having the 1010 to create different classic rock sounds. It's given me flexibility I never had before. Sure, if it were lost or stolen I might replace it with something more expensive. Who WOULDN'T want to upgrade their gear? But as far as bang-for-your buck goes, this is a pretty well-kept secret.

Submitted by Kevin at 10/25/1998 16:08

Ease of Use: 10
I think this is the easiest thing to program. The factory gives 12 banks and we got to work on 4 banks, which is kinda stupid for me, cos I think it would go better the other way around. When you go to the editting mode, it has the flashy things that will guide you. You can easily change the preset on each sound.

Sound Quality: 8
The only thing I really hates about this model is the distortion. They just don`t sound mean enough. I dunno, maybe I haven`t experimenting long enough with it, but I have for 5 moths now and it`s getting realiily frustating. I make my own guitar with olds fenders pick ups (i dont exactly know what they are) but the distortion just don`t give me the kick i get when i`m using the, say boss metal-zone. But i really like the chorus and flange. Experiment with em, adding delay or playing with the compressor and you`ll get the coolest sound ever. Sometimes I`m amazed, cos think the is hiding something for me to explore. I often get cool soiund when i`m just sitting and noodling with it. I like the RHCP's One Hot Minute alot and the model can give me the sound i need.

Reliability: 10
It never failed me. And i never bring any backup on my gigs. Cos i dont have a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to call em

Overall Rating: 8
The downside on this model is that i like metal alot. And the distortion just dont cut. But i also like clean sound. I`m currently writing a song (jazzy one) and the chorus, flange, reverb really kick ass. Well you can`t have all good things in the world anyway. I wish it had more powerful distortion and maybe a built in wah pedal, cos i never really used the wah.

Submitted by Luke at 10/09/1998 06:45

Ease of Use: 10
It's not hard to get a good sound. Editing patches is vary simple. The manual's actuly good.

Sound Quality: 8
The guitars I'm useing a '67 Gibson SG, Hamer Slammer,Martian Stinger, and fender strat. The amps are, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Fender Deluxe Pluse, and Crate Vintage Club 1x12. It's not niosy at all. The compressor is a little weakand so are some of the distortions. I've managed to get vary convicing Van Halen sounds like those from Balance useing the heavy metel distortion along with chorus and 4x12 cabinet simulator.

Reliability: N/A
I haven't had it for long

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with the companie.

Overall Rating: 7
I play mostly insturmental and rock and this thing works pretty good. I've been playing for about four years. If it were stolen or lost I would probibly buy something else. not becuase it's not a great unit, but beacuse it does not suit all my needs. I like almost every thing on it except I wish it had a back button so you could go backward thruogh the patches but for the quality of the effects and the money you can't beat it.

Submitted by Nathan Wingo at 06/28/1998 02:28

Ease of Use: 8
Easy to get a good sound out of it, if you read the manual. It is very important you read the manual several times before operating this thing. Some people say they have to cycle through all the patches to get back to the first patch. This is half true. If you press the "Group/Module" button while the pedal is in the normal mode, you can switch between just user patches, or just preset patches, or both; the way it is when you turn it on. It will reset to offering both groups of patches each time you turn it off. This is important to know if you're like me and don't use the preset patches.

Sound Quality: 8
I used it with a Strat and a couple of Peavey and Fender amps. Mostly the clean effects sound great. A couple of the distortions are a little weak. Not noisy at all because of the built-in noise gate. Also includes a tuner so i was always in tune. You can change the tuner calaboration too, so you can tune in sharps or flats.

Reliability: 10
Always saved the patches and never had any problems with it. I used this on a couple of gigs and very many practice sessions and it's still in mint condition, mostly because i didn't jump on it like a jack ass and i kept it in the box when not in use.

Customer Support: N/A
-

Overall Rating: 9
I play Rock and Blues and it had some cool stuff in it. After about a year, i realized i didn't need all those effects, and decided to just buy a Distortion, Chorus, and Wah pedal, which is all i use. I wouldn't buy it again because i don't need all those effects for my style, but it is a great unit.

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/03/1998 16:38

Ease of Use: 9
Really easy pedal to just plug in and start playing, I'm very impatient so this is good. Editing is really easy, just press a couple of buttons and away you go.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a l/h Yamaha Pacifica played through a Fender 50 for practise and a Marshall 250 for gigs. Some effects sound a little weak but that is just a case of tweaking the eq params. The wah doesn't seem to exist if you don't have the xpression pedal which I don't yet. The factory presets are all quite interesting although some can sound a bit muddy. There are 16 distortions (8 for an amp and 8 for headphones) some are good some are crap, but because editing is so quick you can set your own. Falnging and delay are good. Big problem is the fact that you cannot go back down patches, you have to go through the whole lot, this can cause trouble at gigs but with a bit of practise it works fine, you can set up the next sound you want while you are playing without putting it on but this could be a bit confusing if you are singing and playing at the same time!

Reliability: 9
Seems dependable, I was a bit worried about the flimsy looking pedals at first but as long as you don't weigh 20 stone and jump about on it like a knob you should be alright. I have used it on many gigs without back-up, well, I keep my dod overdrive on hand just in case the system packs up, I just have to survive on that alone

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them, so no complaints

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing 8 years and I think that this is a really good pedal. I'll probably go for a 3030 next or perhaps a dod multi pedal. It really gives you some creative help!

Submitted by James at 03/31/1998 04:01

Ease of Use: 9
This is a very easy pedal to use. I wouln't use it for a gig though because it changes from usermade effects into factory presets.

Sound Quality: 6
The overall sound is just noisy. The things i like about it is the clean channel, reverd delay and the chorus is okay. The distortion (if it is properly set right) does not sound good over a loud amp.

Reliability: 9
This is a very dependable little unit. (i've put mine through everything) but i would not use it in a gig due to the prior statement i made.

Customer Support: 8
They do a pretty good job at what they do.

Overall Rating: 8
I play every type of music except for country and well rap isn't music. this little unit always comes through except for the metal dist.

Submitted by Barry E. at 12/31/1997 17:55

Ease of Use: 10
Selecting patches is easy, there is a bank pedal and pedals 1 - 3. Just scroll thru the banks and select. Editing is just as easy, just press edit then change the parameters. The 1010 uses 5 modules and 4 parameters in each. Up to 6 effects can be used simultaneoisly. If you can't figure it out on your own, the manual will help.

Sound Quality: 7
I go telecaster-1010(with fp-01 expression pedal)-crate gx-30m. The distortions(8 times 2(with amp. sim.)=16 total) are rather noisy and just seem to be lacking some crispness. The flanger is good and not too noisy. The reverb, delay, and chorus are relatively quiet and sound great, and the I can get some fun wah sounds with the fp-01 expression pedal. I haven't used it too much(had it for only 3 days), but i find that using the distortion on my amp and some chorus from the 1010 i can get a good clapton-blues type sound.

Reliability: 8
Haven't had any problems yet and even though the unit is plastic, it seems like it's very durable. I would use it on a gig without backup because I don't have any other choice. Otherwise I would always take a backup with me just to be safe.

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 8
Overall, for the price, I would say the 1010 is a good unit. Although the distortions are not great the 1010 makes up for it in the other effects(chorus, reverb, delay, flanger, and wah). The 1010 used with other distortions can get a great blues sound. A metal, punk, and alternative sound can also be achieved with some tweaking. I wish it had better distortions, but that's okay because I can get good distotion from my amp. I would buy it again unless I had more money, then I'd buy something better(obviously). But for the money, the 1010 fits my needs just fine.

Submitted by Jordan Hucht at 12/27/1997 10:35

Ease of Use: 7
very easy to use, although switching banks can be difficult as it only has a down switch-not the best for gigs. manual is made for several different countries-ie.japan, the uk, the us and germany, but gets the message across.

Sound Quality: 8
the flanger is very noisy- it sounds very good for no doubts just a girl. the distortions are very good- although ZOOM seem to have put delay on everything the delay is ok- but i hate delays the chorus is ok the reverb ROCKS the strange effect what makes it sound like2 guitars is strange the presets rule

Reliability: 7
seems reliable. my local music shop owner hates ZOOMs because they change models so often.its plastic, but i stand on it. i tend not to let our heavy footed guitarist stomp it though.ive gigged it

Customer Support: N/A
they were very helpful when i wanted to buy one. the stands at shows seem ok

Overall Rating: N/A
i play rock/punk/ grunge, and rarely use anything but the distortions, reverb and the occasional flange.

Submitted by Andrew Guest at 12/06/1997 06:29

Ease of Use: 8
it's easy to used it take me an hours whitout the manual, but it's not comprehension at first glance you got to look carefully!

Sound Quality: 7
the sound is pretty good when you understand that the presence in the EQ must be low it warm up the sound a lot. you can get a real cool white zombie sound out of it. but it take me a year of tweaking to get my perfect rock sound, but even whit the amp sim on it didn't sound good on tape. low level distortion is hard to get and is noisy but on high level the ZNR noise reduction does a great job! the chorus is weak it never satisfy me the flanger is real deep! the delay is cold it alway go (ping!) if you know what i mean! the reverbs are deep enough and i loved hem! the wah must be thrown away i find it quite stressful! but overall you can get a lot of big rock sound!

Reliability: 9
it never failed me! the pedal is solid enough to take my weight and i am quite loud !!! but be aware of dust going inside the footswitch it make them sticky

Customer Support: 5
i send them an Email 2 months ago no response yet

Overall Rating: 7
to a debutant it's a real good unit but i play for ten years now so i decided to go for a better unit the boss me-30 is better for my needs now. but when i buy the zoom it was perfect for my needs. for what i understand after all thes years of playing is when you buy a multifx target your need! do you do a lot of direct recording? do you play live? etc.... cos for practice a 1010 is great but if you record it's kind of poor! and to play live i don't know!

Submitted by dtr at 11/19/1997 22:47

Ease of Use: 10
I bought this unit used, and it didn't come with a manual. 2 minutes with it in the store was plenty of time to figure out how to adjust the parameters. With relatively few buttons to choose from, saving patches was simple to figure out. Definitely simple.

Sound Quality: 8
Well, the unit isn't that noisy. Some of the distortions are noisy, but these are the ones like fuzz that are suppose to be. The other effects have little or no noise to them. As far as quality goes, I was impressed with the chorus, flanger, delay, and reverb. They all suited my needs perfectly, as I am a big Pink Floyd fan, and love anything that seems kind of "out there". The distortions were kind of flat and left something to be desired, so I might have a look into one of those "Daddy-O" pedals that everyone raves about.

Reliability: N/A
I've had it for about 3 days with no problems. I get nervous about it as it is made of plastic instead of the sturdier metal units. I'd have to depend on it, as I'm not loaded with cash :)

Overall Rating: 8
For the price, it kicks arse. I love modulation effects and I wasn't expecting much from the distortions, so that wasn't much of a let down. I tried it next to the Boss ME-5, and the effects were comparable except the Boss had analog overdrive (and was $70 more...). I wish it had a phaser in it though, and it doesn't have things like tremolo, panning, and auto-wah, but for the price, it really is fantastic.

Submitted by Doug Wilcox at 08/09/1997 20:23

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy...like everyone else said, no manual needed.

Sound Quality: 10
A lot better than some people have reported. I've had it for 6months and I've been VERY pleased. I've gotten some great sounds out of it. The Compresser and Wah settings add a good sound to the distortion. I've gotten a great "Rock & Roll" (Led Zep) sound using the wah. To the guy that said the auto-wah sucked...well, it doesn't have an auto-wah! The wah sounds great, though...but I haven't gotten the expression pedal yet. The effects are great! The distortion can be warm if you know how to use the thing. Sure, the metal and fuzz settings can be noisey, but isn't that what makes metal metal and fuzz fuzz? I've even gotten some Pink Floyd-ish sounds by mixing a slight flange with a nice distortion. My only complaint is the reverb. The room sounds too hollow, but the hall sounds too boomy. I like to mix my pedal with my amp's spring reverb. It sounds much better and more realistic. I play through a Fender Pro 185 with a Fender Strat-Squier that I modified myself. It sounds great...even with a band. I played with a 70's-style funk band and it mixed great. I used a slight flange on the clean channel and that brings my part out over the top of the bass, lead, drums, rhythm, keyboard, and brass. The chorus is better than some strictly chorus pedals that I've tried. I like the seamless changes, too.

Reliability: 10
Yes, very much. I've taken it on many gigs...with NO backup and it worked great!

Customer Support: N/A
Never needed it.

Overall Rating: 9
I would definately buy it again, unless I had a little more cash...then I'd go for a 3030 at least. I like the great quality with the small size. It's better than a friends Ibanez pedal of a similar make. I wish it had an auto-wah, phase-shifter, better tuner, and a midi output (like the 3030). I chose the 1010 because of reviews in Guitar magazine. It helps my music tremendously. The clean sound on my Pro-185 sounds harsh, like the distortion, but the pedal cleans that up and makes my guitar playing sound great! I'd recomend it for anyone...ameture to pro.

Submitted by Jesse Kaufman at 07/30/1997 08:03

Ease of Use: 10
Damn easy to use. You don't even have to read the manual. Creating/editing is just a matter of pressing a few buttons (nothing to complicated). The manual is a bit small, but it has everything you need to know about the unit.

Sound Quality: 8
The clean effects are great. The distortion as oposed to what many people say isn't the bad. Of course if you listen to the preset distortion patches only a few sound good, but with a bit o editing you can get really good distortions, BUT don't expect them to sound better than genuine Tube distortions, they can be close but not equal or better. But if you play it trough a good amp you'll agree that it sounds just Great!

Reliability: 6
Well as you probably know it's plastic, but it seems to be a strong unit. The only thing that seems a bit fragile are those small pedals... This is no stomp box though so you should be carefull and be gentle with it or you can have a very sad surprise, wish isn't advisable during a gig (i guess that you understood that you shouldn't use it without a backup unless you're sure that nothing horrible will happen - yeah right).

Customer Support: N/A
Never delt with Zoom.

Overall Rating: 8
I would buy it again if i was on a tight budget, if not i would probably go for something better that the 1010. Overall it's a great unit and unless you are a pro it will probably suit all your needs (at least for sometime). If can help you make/improve songs and add's a hole new dimension to your playing.

Submitted by Pedro Gomes at 07/23/1997 13:20

Ease of Use: 7
Just hit the buttons to change settings, and just hit "edit" to change parameters and values. Very straightforward, unless you're retarded. Really dumb thing, though. You can't change the factory presets,( you only get 12 to change) and they sound really stupid. I never use them.

Sound Quality: 1
I guess the flanger is alright. Distortions REALLY suck. I mean, after messing around with it for 7 months, I still can't get any good distortion sounds. The chorus is almost useless because it's not stereo, the reverb is noisy, the "auto wah" isn't auto-anything. The noise reduction works good at least. Doubler is useless. Delay isn't long enough.

Reliability: 10
No problems here.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 1
I chose this without giving it a good listen. It seemed to have more stuff than say a Korg or a Digitech, but what a mistake that was. It sounds like crap. But it fits in my case good. Don't buy it. What a waste.

Submitted by Blaine Froeschl at 07/08/1997 22:46

Ease of Use: 6
It's really easy to use. The manual is clear and concise. I'd give it a ten, but its just plain impossible to get a good sound out of this unit.

Sound Quality: 5
The distortions are just plain awful. At first I thought they were kind of cool, but then I went back to using the overdrive on my amp. I play through a Marshall Valstate and in my opinion no pedal can come close to the range and sound of the amp by itself. The clean effects are nice. The delay is good and the reverbs are pretty authentic sounding. The chorus and flanger were also pretty good. (But yet again I have been spoiled by my amp which has a built in stereo chorus). I would have to say that all of the effects are a bit sterile sounding, but maybe that's just my personal taste.

Reliability: 7
I have only had it for a week. It is plastic, but it seems solid enough. I don't know how much stomping it could take. But if you use at home mainly, like I do, it should hold just fine.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't needed to call for anything yet.

Overall Rating: 5
I would not buy this unit again, in fact I am going to return it. It just isn't the effects system I am looking for. As I said before the Zoom's chorus and distortions do not measure up to my Marshall's existing effects. One thing I found particularly annoying was that when playing continously and switching between effects the signal would cut off for a moment. I also found the method of editing a bit irritating. I don't like pressing buttons when I am trying to get a good sound. I would not recommend this unit to those of us who prefer the warmness of analog. But for all of you who like digital, try it out.

Submitted by Jon Tarter at 06/30/1997 19:24

Ease of Use: 10
I have played for 20 years and never have used effects before ecept a Morley Power- wah. This is the first time that I have really had a chance to try out a multi-effects unit and found it really easy to use as well as edit.

Sound Quality: 8
I found the flanger a little noisey, but I'm not sure what a flanger is supposed to sound like. The distortion effects are pretty good but you have to fool with the settings a bit tob get them the way you want. The noise reduction setting works good and so do the other effects.

Reliability: N/A
I have only benn using this for a week but no probs so far

Overall Rating: 9
Its a good inexpensive effects unit, I'm really happy I bought it, I only wish It had more user settings.

Submitted by Randy Hunt at 06/12/1997 17:18

Ease of Use: 9
It is really very easy to use. You don't even have to read the manual to deal with it (maybe that's why the manual is kind of ordinary). It is very simple to edit patches since you explored every sound the unit has for you. A little bit of effects sounds knowledge may help you in editing parameters

Sound Quality: 7
Effects like Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb and such clean sounds work very well and sound pretty good. Unfortunatelly, the distortions are very rough and seems like the volume is always low. When you play with someone with a tube-amp distortion, probably someone will ask you to stop playing because the 1010 distortions are really weak and sometimes it sounds just like noise and not a guitar. Also, when you set high gains, the sound gets dirty. Advice you to use the 1010 clean sounds and your amplifier distortion. I didn't tried the wah-wah.

Reliability: 8
Well, you'd better not depend on it if you have money to buy a better pedal, pre amp, rack or a good amplifier with distortion and reverb. I would use it on a gig because I don't have any other choice of effects. But it is very strong and you can step it hardly to change patches that it will not break. It seems like fragile but it definitely isn't.

Customer Support: N/A
I don't have any opinion about it because it never broke up (in 1 year and a half of use) and I never had to repair it or upgrade it. I hadn't to deal with the company yet.

Overall Rating: 7
Yes, I would buy it again because it is helpful in many ways to make music and achieve different sounds. The cost-benefit relationship is one of the best concerning multi-effects. I wish the distortion was more powerfull and an harmonizer would be certainly great for soloing, but that's OK. It's useless to say that it should have the twin pedals (just like the 4040): it would increase the price. And this unit is very small (you can put in on the bag or carry with one hand down the street - it fits anywhere). The 1010 is a good call but you have to hear it to take your own conclusions.

Submitted by Fabio Prikladnicki at 04/26/1997 09:25

Ease of Use: 10
I thought that the processor was very easy to use. Tweaking sounds was simple due to the fact that each effect has individual parameters. It's like having five stompboxes.

Sound Quality: 8
I I'm not into high gain stuff, so I really liked the low gain settings on the overdrives. Setting the fuzz on a low gain revealed a great fluid sound that sounded like the guitar in The Doors "Five To One." The digital effecets and reverb were all great, although if the reverb settings are set to high it turns your sound into white noise.

Reliability: 6
Well, It is plastic. It would survive me because I'm very gentle on my equipment. I'm not sure how it would handle if it had to take abuse. I would use it on a gig, but I would place it away from the audience so they don't spill beer on it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
The effects are really good for a processor in it's price range. Another big plus is the ability to tweak every parameter. That's somthing you don't see on the Zoom 505, which I was also looking at. I would definately buy it again.

Submitted by Chris Galizio at 01/27/1997 17:46

Ease of Use: 8
9 very easy to program

Sound Quality: 4
the Distortions are all terrible. If you work on them for hours they sound ok when you play by your self, but if you play with a band or with someone who plays through a different pedal it just doesn't hold up. I've played through it for a year and still can't get the distortions I want. Rythm with the metal T distortion lacks any crispness. If you play anything other than a root 5th power chord it turns to mud (Orion). All the clean effects however are great. I play everything through it clean now, I don't even bother with the distortion. If you want an all around pedal though buy one from digitech. I bought a RP-12 yesterday and it blows it away in every way. I would not use the 1010 on a gig unless I was playing all clean tone.

Reliability: N/A
hasn't broken

Customer Support: 8
It's hard to sell. Highest I've been offered is 65$ [email protected] if your interested.

Overall Rating: 5
I can't use it to play metal. To "fake" sounding for bluesy leads. Wouldn't buy it again.

Submitted by ethan at 01/14/1997 08:57

Ease of Use: 10
I didn't even really have to read the instruction manual to program user effects on it. It's very easy and simple to get a specific type of sound out of it if you know anything about guitar effects.I'm only 15 and have been playing for 2 years and I probably won't buy a pedal to replace until it's broken.

Sound Quality: 10
Very good sound-you might have to adjust the znr(zoom noise reduction) level a little bit, but that's pretty easy to do.The effects sound great, but I still wish it had the extra pedals the 4040 has-the fp10 can control wah and volume and is pretty cheap, about 50 bucks.There are also plenty different kinds of all effects to choose from.

Reliability: 10
No part has failed me in the first year I've had it and it seems to be built pretty sturdily, while it also isn't heavy or a load to carry around.I would definitely use it without a backup.

Overall Rating: 10
I'd definitely buy it again, and over any other brand of pedal in the same price area.I might prefer a 4040, but not for another 200 bucks.I overall like everything about the pedal.

Submitted by Dan White at 01/13/1997 07:15

Ease of Use: 10
Talk about plug and play! This thing is easier than tying shoe laces. The buttons are a bit small, but then again, hey, who cares.....the manual is basic, but good enough to show you how to edit the patches, bypass the effects and mute the output for tuning - took about ten minutes before I was editing away with glee.......

Sound Quality: 8
I guess this all depends on what you're playing into it, and what your amp is, but with my 60's monstrosity (with "hotwired" single coiled pickups) played into a McGregor PA and H&H 2x12 cab it sounds brilliant. The distortions, flanger, chorus, delay are all superb. Maybe the delay would be better if it had a higher max setting. The compressor also really brought the most out of my guitars limited performance, and did the job well. Wah-wah? Well, it leaves a lot to be desired.....lets leave it at that........oh, and all the factory presets appear to be way too loud. The changes between patches are smooth and quiet.....ok, I'll agree with the others, there is a small delay between patches, but unless you're changing in mid note you'll never notice it. Found it pretty useful when using high gain distortions to get a very controllable feedback as well.....nice touch if you like that sort of thing.... One small niggle..... might take some time to change between user programmed effects unless you remember to put them in the memories in the order that you want you use them.

Reliability: 10
First impressions? Well, this thing is small!! It looks pretty fragile, but it's surprisingly strong - it's stood up to me using it and I'm well over 200 lbs. Never had a single problem with it. It's no stomp box, and if you use it like one then you might end up with an ex 1010, (monty python - this 1010 is no more....no, it's just sleeping)...treat it with just a little respect though and I wouldn't have thought there'd be any problems.....would I use it at a gig without a backup? Would anyone?? That'd be like suggesting you don't take along a few sets of spare strings......

Customer Support: N/A
No idea......never had the need to call them......

Overall Rating: 9
I'd buy it again if I was on a budget. For the price I'd say this is pretty unbeatable.....easy to get some very classy sounds out of it. People say you get what you pay for, but in this case I think you get a lot more than you pay for! Definitely check out http://www.harely.demon.co.uk/effects.htm and have a listen to the sound samples if you're even remotely interested in buying one. Really wish it had a phaser.....but that's not the end of the world.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/13/1997 05:57

Ease of Use: 9
Once you have a bit of a fiddle with it you can get the hang of editing patches and get a reasonable sound from it. The manual is fairly straight forward. As far as I know it can't be upgraded, as with most cheap pedalboards, but an FP01 expression pedal can be added.

Sound Quality: 9
Without noise reduction on, the distortions sound quite noisy when you aren't playing, especially on the higher gain types, like fuzz and metal T. The noise reduction works excellently. Overall the distortions are fairly good, but it is all very raw, and not warm like a valve amp. Chorus, flanger, delay and reverb are all great, but the delay length is only 420ms, which can be a little limiting. Compression is OK, not great. but OK.

Reliability: 8
The unit doesn't look very solid but it is surprisingly strong. I would use it live as it's all I've got and I'm not very rich. Once a little stone got stuck under one of the pedals which stopped it from moving but it was fairly easy to get out.

Customer Support: N/A
I bought it second hand but it was still under warranty. I never had to deal with the people so I don't know what they're like.

Overall Rating: 9
I would definantly buy it again as it has a whole bunch of good effects for the budding musician on a tight budget. It adds life to cheap equipment. It is small and light, yet solid. It could benifit from an auto-wah function, tremolo, and maybe a phaser but it was great for the money. It improves the sound of a cheap guitar like mine heaps,

Submitted by Andy Dixon at 11/17/1996 16:52

Ease of Use: 8
excellent value, fairly easy to use

Reliability: 9
looks very rugged

Overall Rating: 7
I'd buy one again, but they are a budget unit. If I had more money...
There is a non commercial site related to this unit at http://www.harely.demon.co.uk/effects.htm, with sound samples

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/17/1996 08:59

Ease of Use: 9
Quite easy! - Just plug and play, really, every beginner or guitarest on a budget should have one. And the patch editing is fairly fool proof compared to some of the higher priced competitive products I've tried.

Sound Quality: 7
Veriaty of effects is hard to beat in this size price and compact package.
Fairly quiet operation in almost all patches, unless your using "hotwired" single coiled pickups like an old Stratocaster,...But even then the built in noise gate/suppresor cuts most of it out between notes ,...besides, a few "fret squeeks, slides, and buzz's" adds a more real feel and tone to an otherwise too clean pre-packaged sound.
The only draw back is it is output is mono, where as I perfer sterio, But for plugging directly to normal mono guitar amp it is just fine. but in a recording situation I find mono a little confineing,.... However when I record with it I discovered if you plug it:
Guitar----Zoom.1010----(Sterio effects processor)----Mixer/Recorder (I use an - "ART*FXR")
It sounds really big and powerful.

Reliability: 9
I've had it for three munths and so far it's always worked perfect, even when just trowing it in the bag and lugging it from place to place, home to jam to gig to where ever and back again,....Yes I would use it most places without a back-up.

Customer Support: N/A
I have had no trouble with it yet. so I Don't have an opinion on this one.

Overall Rating: 10
Yes I would buy it again, I am sold on it, I've tried other brands, and even higher priced Zoom units as well, and it's sounds can't be beat for such a low price. - I've even talked two of my friends into trying mine,.. thay where so impressed with it, thay each now have one of thair own.

Submitted by Michael S. Stegner at 10/13/1996 00:33

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use. I was programming my own patches in less than 15min after I took it out of the box.

Sound Quality: 9
Sounds really good! It certainly gives all the other more expensive models a run for their money! The distortions are by far the best sounds in the box. Combined with the compressor and eq it's possible to get a range of distorted sounds on just one type of distortion. One gripe though - the chorus and flange is a little too weak for my liking, although it might be good for some people because even if you turn the chorus or flange up to full, it won't eat your guitar sound.

Reliability: N/A
Haven't had it for long....

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them....

Overall Rating: N/A
The 1010 is an excellent budget multi-effects unit that sounds like one you normally pay double for. It sounds great and works well. It's light so it's not a burden to carry around (I haven't got a car). I consider my money well spent on this one. It's too bad it doesn't have a tremolo, though...

Submitted by John Kung at 08/05/1996 16:42

Ease of Use: 6
This pedal has a range of 32 preset sounds, so its a matter of remembering what sounds are where. But you can always find a sound suitable. The patches are easy to edit, and while complex, the procedure is quite simple after some practice. The manual is a touch on the small side, without detailed explanations on the effects.

Sound Quality: 7
The 1010 has pleanty of different effects (23 I think) and any 6 of these can be used at any one time, however I've noticed that many patches seem to sound the same. (Due to the digital processing??) But there are pleanty of effects and every effect can be alterted (timing, feedback etc).

Reliability: 10
This pedal has never missed a beat while I've been using it.

Overall Rating: 8
I found this pedal great value for money (there are new models around with built in speakers and stuff). It has provided great inspiration as well as amazed all my friends with the new cool sounds I can get.

Submitted by Dave Martin at 07/26/1996 13:08

Ease of Use: 8
I found it very easy to use and edit, but I don't like the small buttons used to put it into the edit mode and then to change the values in the patches.

Sound Quality: 8
The pedal wah isn't very good. After adding the FP01 expression peddal the changes were somewhat choppy where as on a dunlop, the changes are very smooth. The distortion unit is fairly good. Adding the amp simulator seemed to make the distortion smoother. Some of the higher gain types, such as the fuzz and metal cheate large ammounts of hiss, which the noise reduction dosen't help out on. It only makes the overall output level quieter. The only setting that reduced this was lowering the presence setting, which made the overall output dull. The EQ isn't bad and the chouus, delay, reverb, and flanging are all great.

Reliability: 10
I have had mine for nine months and without a single problem.

Overall Rating: 10
I would probably buy it again. Overall it is a very solid unit. The one thing I hate is that the distortion is so compressed that it dosen't even matter how had you play,(your attack style dosen't come through). I wish it had larger edit buttons.

Submitted by Luke Loeffler at 07/18/1996 18:28

Ease of Use: 10
This is very easy to use and simple to edit patches. The manual tells you everything you need to know.

Sound Quality: 8
The sound quality is excellent and all 16 distortions are great and the delay is good to the only problem is the chorus and flanger are a little weak.

Reliability: 10
It is very reliable no problems at all no backup needed

Overall Rating: 7
If i had to buy it again i would go with a higher model maybe a 2020

Submitted by Tim Wilson at 07/04/1996 14:36

Ease of Use: 4
In order to create a patch using all of the effects (or whichever effects you want) you have to first find a preset patch with the effects you're looking for and then edit them, even in the user patches. The manual was no help in explaining how to start from scratch.

Sound Quality: 8
All the effects sounded good. Wah was weak. The noise reduction function worked good

Overall Rating: 2
There is a slight delay when you switch between patches. It sounds horrible switching between patches during songs.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/26/1996 11:21

Ease of Use: 10
After sitting down in music stores with various other Korg and Roland processors, I found that the 1010 was just the easiest to program.

Sound Quality: 8
I was really let down by the lack of a phaser effect. In addition, the Drive Master and Vintage OD effects are terrible. The amp simulator causes waves in the tone, but that's probably because I'm monitoring it through a crappy amp.

Reliability: 10
The 1010 is a very reliable processor. I've used it for everything since I got it, and it hasn't failed me once. Not even when lightning struck the electrical lines during band practice...

Overall Rating: 9
I had really wanted the Zoom 4040, but I just couldn't afford the extra $200. I found an article in a guitar magazine for it and bought it 2 days later. It was the best thing I ever did for my guitar. It turned cheap, crappy equipment into a beautiful, fully operable unit. I just wish it had some form of rotating speaker effect or pitch modulator on it.

Submitted by Nathan Mason at 05/04/1996 23:33

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy ,crisp sound, with relatively no practice. Switch overs are a little slow,but it is definitly worth every penny!

Sound Quality: 10
Not to noisy with proper use of the noise reduction settings.If you have a shitty guitar like me set it to 5.All effects are as strong as they get,Try a fuzz/chorus combo,it'll blow you away!

Reliability: 7
So far I have never had a problem. It is not a stomp box however, and it is made of plastic.

Overall Rating: 10
I love it! I would buy it again in a second. I recommend it to anyone who does'nt want to throw their money away on like five different pedals when they can get the best of everything for less than the price of two!

Submitted by Pat Manley at 04/30/1996 18:53

Ease of Use: 10
This is extremely simple to use. I learned how to operate it in ten minutes. The manual is clear and concise.

Sound Quality: 9
The effects that came pre-programmed are cheesy with a few exeptions. The self programmed ones that I've put in however sound fantastic! This pedal has the same sound as others for much less money. The overall effects are great except for the wah (need to buy a separate pedal for that).

Reliability: 10
It's very reliable. I've beaten the hell out of it and it works great still. Looks small and weak, but is built rugged.

Customer Support: 9
I originally ordered the DOD-FX7 but they were all out so the store called Zoom and asked for this as a loaner for me, when I got the two next to each other, this one clearly beat out the FX7...and I bought this one from Zoom. They were very good about giving it to me just to try out though, so I consider that very good customer support.

Overall Rating: 10
This is a great buy for the money. It has every sound you'll ever need and they all sound great.

Submitted by Robert Aiken at 02/09/1996 14:53

Ease of Use: 9
I generally don't care for buttons and would rather have knobs, but this is very easy to use. The manual is straight forward and clear. The grid on the unit lets you know what module and parameter you are performing what function to at all times. It's as "Plug-in and Play" as you can get. I got fantastic sounds out if it in minutes.

Sound Quality: 9
Surprisingly good!!! I thought I would just use it for the Chorus, Flanger, Delay, and Reverbs. But the distortion is the best digital distortion I've heard since the Korg A-2 (which I also have). But the A-2 is noisier. The ZOOM Noise Reduction puts an accurate clamp on entra noise, without clipping off reverb tails! A big plus! The best results can be acheived by running the 1010 into a tube amp. The tubes give the digital distortion enough warmth and depth to pass for analog.
The Chorus, Flanger, Delay, and Reverb are classic ZOOM quality. The compressor and wah aren't the best and I generally don't use them (I have an Alesis 3630 Comp. - see my entry on that great unit!; and a Vox Wah for those tasks.)

Reliability: 7
I'm still not sure if it will outlast my metal stomp boxes, but for the money it saved me (replaced 4-5 of my units), it is worth it. Good construction and sturdy enough for normal use.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
The best effects unit for the money that I have ever owned. I am replacing my Korg A-2 with it. And the Korg is considered the best digital distortion out there (if you can get your hands on one). That's how happy I am with the ZOOM 1010. Simple, good quality, sounds that make you really want to play. Take my word for it!

Submitted by Anonymous at 11/21/1995 11:51

Ease of Use: 9
Very easy to use. Comes with both a standard owner's manual and a quick start comic book which pretty much explains all you really need to know to get started & teach yourself the rest. I really wanted to keep the comic.

Sound Quality: 7
It seemed a little bit hissy, but I like that, I have an old tube Dynacord Super Echocord tape loop that I patch into my effects loop just to add hiss I don't have to play as many notes that way. The presets all seemed "metally", but that's what you have to expect from one of these things. Sounds about the same as a 2020, not the best but for the price.......

Reliability: 8
It got to me working, it seems sturdy, if it gets baqck to Musician's Friand in working condition I's say it's reliable.

Overall Rating: 7
I was really hoping this would have a headphone jack. If it did I would have kept it. $169 for a bunch of effects plus a built in tuner seemed like a great deal, why they didn't put in the headphone output I'll never know. It probably wouldn't be something for the "Pro" musician, but it would be perfect for all the "Bill, Ted, Wayne & Garths" out there playing in their basements & garages. Did I mention I wish it had a headphione jack?

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/19/1995 04:41

Summary Price New Check at zZounds.com Manufacturer URL http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/ Ease of Use 8.9 (63 responses) Sound Quality 7.4 (62 responses) Reliability 8.3 (56 responses) Customer Support 7.6 (13 responses) Overall Rating 7.8 (61 responses) Submit a review!