Zoom FP02M Expression Pedal

This pedal is cheap, nasty and over-priced for what it is. It's made from plastic and it's very light-weight. There is virtually nothing inside apart from a very small circuit board and a cheap looking potentiometer. I wouldn't expect it to stand up to much abuse. I definitely wouldn't gig with it as it's not a professional unit. I like ZOOM products and have been impressed by their multi-FX units. I've had the ZOOM G3 and the ZOOM G5, which are excellent units. I even bought their first multi-FX, the 9002, circa 1989/90, before buying the BOSS ME5 - what a pedal!

This pedal though is very poor, not what I expect from ZOOM, look elsewhere.

I've had the Zoom505II for a while and have found it to be a reliable workhorse of a pedal. I found that Thomann sold the add on FP02M Expression pedal so I decided to add this to get the most out of the 505.

Well I was really surprised that most of the 505 presets are pre-wired to use the expression pedal, either to toggle an effect like vibrato speed, or pitch, but failing that it would work as a volume pedal. It is also easy to assign the FP02M to custom 505 settings. Pretty soon I was waling away wahwah fashion like Jimi Hendrix.

What most impressed me, after a few run ins with inferior expression type pedals was the build quailty - this is a tough unit, solidly built and with the obvious intention of withstanding abuse on the road. A very good buy as an addition to my Zoom effects.

I bought the FP02 after using my Zoom B3 for quiet a while. While most effects are fine without an Expression Pedal, Wahs, different kinds of Filters and some delays really need the option to adjust them by this pedal. The pedal can be used to control either Vol Input, Output, Balance, or a special parameter of a given Effect. Unfortunately you can't choose which parameter, so Filters are often only Freq, while other options would be nice, too. But that's a feature the B3 is lacking.

The shipping happened fast, as usual, and it came in a little box along with a cable to connect it to my B3. The Pedal itself is made of metal (I often got told it was made of plastic, I got a Metal one), and reacts fast to my movements, doesn't seem to loosen up or causes any nasty noises. Slipping won't be any problem, as it has a rubber sole to stand on.