OK, so what about the Zoom 504 II Acoustic pedal?

[gerardo1000]

I am a novice as far as amplification is regarded. My guitar (a beautiful Emerald Opus X-30 Jumbo all carbon fibre guitar, made in Ireland) has a Baggs Acoustic Timbre on-board pre-amp and a Baggs LB-6 pick up.When plugged to my Yorkville A 100, the sound is good but a bit harsh with a little bit of quack. I posted a couple of threads asking questions about Baggs Para DI, Fishman Pro Eq, and also the expensive (for me) Mama Bear and Fishman Aura. Got many useful tips and suggestions.
Among them, a few people suggested to experiment first with a less expensive equipment.
So what about the Zoom 504 II acoustic pedal ? It costs
less than sixty dollars and has a "de-amp" and "air"
effects that are supposed to make the guitar's sound less
"quacky" and more natural.
Does anyone have any experience with this device ?

Thanks ! gerardo1000

[Nelson]

I bought a 514II about 3-4 years ago. It's a neat little gadget to start out with. You get quite a few presets and combinations. THough they are a little troublesome to adjust and save. Now I am using separate boxes, a Boss CH-1 and a reverb pedal. I also have EFX on my Ultrasound amp.

I find that only about 5-7 of the effects are to my liking. The others are too wierd or sound too similar to each other that it's sometimes hard for me to tell the difference between them. I have about 4-5 preset on my pedal and moved then all down to the "A" patches.

The 504II is a good first pedal but you'll out grow it after a while. There are better sounding effects gear out there. The benefit of the 514II is that it has so many combined into one unit. It's more like a processor.

[Eastmeadow Mike]

I have I will sll you. It is in perfect condition. I just don't use it much.

It's a good pedal for the $$$$$.

[deltoid]

There are a couple of presets on the unit that I find useful, especially when I blend the onboard PU with a mic. For recording purposes, I use it more than my Boss AD5. I think it's ok for the money. You won't loose much by giving it a try.

[franchelB]

Originally Posted by Nelson

I bought a 514II about 3-4 years ago. It's a neat little gadget to start out with. You get quite a few presets and combinations. THough they are a little troublesome to adjust and save. Now I am using separate boxes, a Boss CH-1 and a reverb pedal. I also have EFX on my Ultrasound amp.

...

The 504II is a good first pedal but you'll out grow it after a while. There are better sounding effects gear out there. The benefit of the 514II is that it has so many combined into one unit. It's more like a processor.

Ditto. That's the thing about multi-fx boxes. It offers alot of "bang for the buck", but many of the patches are way over the top (of course, it's programmable, but it's quite the chore to tweak), and one will find that most of the effects are unnecessary.
Go to the local music store and ask the clerk if you can try out their guitar pedals with an acoustic guitar...you might find one or two "essential" pedals more to your liking.
Individual pedals are more expensive, but it gives you a more organic sound compared to the multi-fx.