Korg 104ds Hyper Distortion

easy to use after a little bit of fiddling.Might take longer to adjust than a typical boss type unit in a gig situation.

This unit is capable of some seriosly good tones.Easily nails sounds like creep by radio head or sorrow by floyd.Unfortunately it is equally capable of sounding like a wasp in a coke can if you dont dial in your sound carefully.The noise gate works well and cuts in a treat when you stop playing.The down side to this is that if you hold down a sustained note and let it ring,the end of the note will crackle as it fades because the gate cuts in and out.There is also a slight delay when stomping this pedal on.Only a few milliseconds but it is definately there. For all its faults and there are a few,this is the best sounding distortion pedal I have owned and I will not be getting rid of it in a hurry.

Although there is nothing actually wrong with my unit I have to say it does not give off an aura of solidity and dependability like some other pedals.I would definately have to use this quite a few times before I gigged with it.It just seems a bit cheap looking and light weight.

Dont know,never tried.

This pedal is a strange one.On one hand it can sound absolutely fantastic and make my weedy strat sound like a LesPaul on steroids.On the other hand it is not the kind of pedal you could quickly tweak between songs and would need a sound check all of its own to set it up.On balance the good definately outweighs the bad and for recording it would be the first distortion pedal I would reach for.It sounds absolutely superb if set up properly.I wish I could give it a 10 but that would be to overlook its faults.

easy to use after a little bit of fiddling.Might take longer to adjust than a typical boss type unit in a gig situation.

This unit is capable of some seriosly good tones.Easily nails sounds like creep by radio head or sorrow by floyd.Unfortunately it is equally capable of sounding like a wasp in a coke can if you dont dial in your sound carefully.The noise gate works well and cuts in a treat when you stop playing.The down side to this is that if you hold down a sustained note and let it ring,the end of the note will crackle as it fades because the gate cuts in and out.There is also a slight delay when stomping this pedal on.Only a few milliseconds but it is definately there. For all its faults and there are a few,this is the best sounding distortion pedal I have owned and I will not be getting rid of it in a hurry.

Although there is nothing actually wrong with my unit I have to say it does not give off an aura of solidity and dependability like some other pedals.I would definately have to use this quite a few times before I gigged with it.It just seems a bit cheap looking and light weight.

Dont know,never tried.

This pedal is a strange one.On one hand it can sound absolutely fantastic and make my weedy strat sound like a LesPaul on steroids.On the other hand it is not the kind of pedal you could quickly tweak between songs and would need a sound check all of its own to set it up.On balance the good definately outweighs the bad and for recording it would be the first distortion pedal I would reach for.It sounds absolutely superb if set up properly.I wish I could give it a 10 but that would be to overlook its faults.

There is only one sound and that is to distorted to use with a band. It sounds like a Boss DS1 with all the knobs on ten. People are giving good reviews, so they can sell it on ebay because they are all broken with severe problems. Why do you think korg doesn't even list ever making them on their web page.

I got mine for eleven dollars and feel ripped off. The volume always jumps from loud to soft and you can get this same distortion sound out of any korg effect.

They have really bad switching and volume problems. I don't think you could use it live. Maybe it's OK for some kid practicing on his solid state amp and his lotus guitar.

They're is no customer support. Korg does not even list on it's web page. No manual available from them either. It's like they want to forget they ever made such an unreliable pedal.

I'm glad I sold mine for $15.00, making a $4.00 profit. Thank you to the kid who took it off my hands. I'm sure the person who wrote the review before this really sold all those great fulltone pedals for this. That should tell you something.

This is a very easy to use pedal.

After I got this, I sold my fulltone '69 and '70 Fuzz pedals. It has a great sound and it is smooth. I can acheive the sound I've heard in my head all these years. I have had just about every distortion and this is my absolute favorite.

After using it for a year, it still sounds great. I have had no problems with this unit. It was used when I got it at a local music store. I tested it out and had to have it. It was very unique, giving me two separate sounds.

I don't think there is any customer support for these effects, but I think that there must be some effects tech that could fix it, if necessary.

I paid $95.00 used and made about $700.00 in all the effects I sold because I did not need anymore after I got this.

I find it very easy to get a good tight sound out of this pedal. There are two patches for editing, it keeps your setting until you unplug, then you have to start all over. Not hard to get back, but it would be cooler if the memory was more permanent. The manual is very well detailed and explains everything, I mean everything. Detailed pictures and all. I don't believe this pedal is in production anymore, it is truly a treasure. I practice at home with it always and would trust it at a gig with no backup. Unbelieveable tone, I could write on, and on, and on, but i will stop now. I'm sure you get the point.

I am running a Dean ZX Guitar into the following:
Ibanez LU10 Tunner into a
Dunlop Crybaby GCB-95 into a
Korg Toneworks 104ds into a
Boss BF-2 Flanger into a
Boss GE-7 Equalizer into a Randall 100watt Stereo Chorus
G2 Series Amplifier

This is my pedal board setup. Not noisy at all. I am always using the 104ds with the Boss GE-7. Sometimes I kick on the flanger for the "jet plane effects", but mostly not. Right now i am satisfied and that's saying something. I have a very "Shadows Fall - Art of War" sound that is working for me at the moment. This Pedal is my,"Distortion Holy Grail", if you will. you can get pronounced chords, or power chords just the same no muddy bull. I have currently used other distortion pedals in my line up like the Hughes and Kettner Warp Factor, and the Rocktron Rampage and this pedal beats the hell out of those two. No Comparison, Like two different worlds all together. I would definately buy another if ever needed to.

Seems well built. Brushed metal top and back. Plastic Bottom and sides though. I have only played at home and it is velcroed to my pedalboard, I believe it to be sturdy enough to gig with only limited drunken abuse.

I have never needed Customer Support but I would think it would be somewhat difficult with the pedal being discontinued and all.

I play everything from classic rock, to speed/thrash/death types of metal. This is definately a metal kind of pedal. I have been playing for 14 or so years off and on and I have never heard a pedal like this before. If it was stolen, or lost, ect., I would definately be on the hunt for another ASAP. None other could replace it. I love the sound that I haven't been able to find that is available here. I hate that there is no threshold control on the internal noise gate. Favorite feature would have to be the programmable patch that could only be better if it kept the program after it was unplugged but you can't have it all I guess. This pedal is definately the foundation of my dirty gain sound. I don't know how I got by without it. It is really that phoenominal of a device. Two Words: Love It.

This is a pretty easy pedal to use. With the toggle switch in the up Postion you can edit the Gain,Bass,Treble,Level. With The Toggle switch in the Down Postion you can edit the Mid Feq,Mid Level, Cabinet Size, Cabinet Depth. There are many options for sound/tone shaping, given the small size of this pedal. You can Save you Preset's. Once you have dailed in a sound you like, step or hold down the Program button and in 3-4 seconds it will start to blink a few times and then you Patch is Saved.

This is a killer Metal/Death-metal Pedal.
I've owned 2 of these back in the mid 90's and I liked them alot,but had had some troubles with them and had them sent off for repairs and then to be never heard from again. So I had store credit and started using Rack preamps.

Well I saw one used on Ebay and I thought what the hell, I've been looking for a good distortion pedal for Rehearsal ever since I had lost my other two unit's. Well $40.00 later I had one arrive this week. It kicks just ass much ass as i remember. This little pedal has plently enough Gain for any Metal application. With the Mid Feq selection Knob gives you endless array of Metal tones for any style. The Pedal has very tight low end characteristic's and has great Clarity. I think the Unit has some sort of Noise Reduction or Gate because the unit has very little noise if any at all.
The distortion reminded me of Exhumed " Anatomy is Destiny" album but with more clarity and a tighter edge to it.

I'm using it for Rehearsal and possibly as a back up.

I got it used of Ebay

I rate it a 6 because i've owned 3 of these unit's. The first two I had problems with Program button going out because of Saving my presets and changing between the two programs.I brought a thrid unit off Ebay for $40.00for being aleast 10 years old it was in great condition. everything works on it great and I'm Not having any trouble's at all.
If you have any problem with parts going out it's nothing that a you can't get from a local electronic's store.

It's easy to use, but I lost the manual years ago, and I think there is no way to save your settings once power is lost, so you just have to remember and re-dial them in. The two presests are all I use now anyway

For having to redial in your settings...a 6

I have had this amp for sometime, right now I have it hooked up in front of a Randall solid state 75W with a Celestion seventy 80, also use a separate EQ pedal and it just rips through the clean channel. I use an Epiphone Les Paul with Gibson p/u's and a Gibson SG.

This thing sounds so damn good, I sold my Tube amp and kept this setup. But I keep wanting that tube sound that everyone raves about so this past week I tested about 10 different tube amps in about a 5 hour time frame The only thing that could get distortion like this was the Mesa.

By that I mean, the distortion is brutal yet clear at the same time. It's not fuzzy, raspy, or muddy like most of the amps I played when trying to get a sound like this. The only way I could achieve a sound close was to go through the clean channel and run this pedal through it. But to be honest I couldn't tell that much of a difference between them and my Randall.

Has that cabinet resonator and noise suppression in which is huge.
For some reason though, it doesn't sound worth a SH** through my small 15W practice amp but my Sh**y zoom 505II does, go figure

Bought new in Japan back in 99, and haven't had any of the problems others have stated, may have a split second delay going from the bypass mode to the distortion, but nothing a singer, drummer, or bass player can't cover up live..

n/a

As I said earlier, I just can't get rid of the thing. I keep thinking and searching for an all tube amp that can get my close to this sound on it's own, and I haven't found it yet. Maybe some of the 1500-2000 dollar ones can, but hell I am not out on a 50 state tour or anything...

Try one out if you can find it, and if you don't like it, they still will sell on ebay from time to time

Without a manual, I can't really say if I'm using this thing correctly or to its full potential. With the input switch set to LO, all I got was feedback and squeal. Switched it to HI, problem went away. The noise gate works as it should, it does not abruptly cut off, it gradually fades out. But that said, the gain of this pedal is amazing. If you are trying to play delicate and use dymamics, I suggest you control the volume with your guitar volume pot if you can. Play with your guitar volume on 4 or so, and as you hear the pedal start to fade, turn up the guitar. The thing is, when you do this (and this is why this pedal shines above others) you still have GAIN coming from the pedal, and you still have room at the top end if you need it. For instance plucking the strings Ritchie Blackmore style, soft plucking yields a nice mellow tone, and harder plucking (i.e. really pulling the strings) will ramp up the distortion. It's pretty amazing for a digital pedal to do this. Even most of my playing with this pedal, my guitar is on 7.

I play a stock Epiphone Les Paul Standard through a Fender Super Reverb (4x10 40W tube amp) and before buying this pedal, my effects were a Yamaha FX550 and previously an FX500. The FX500 did not have very good distortion, so I bought the FX550. It had 2 distortion, 2 OD and 1 Crunch setting, so it was an improvement over the FX500, and could come closer to what I was looking for, but, after reading reviews of this Korg, I had to give it a try. The Yamahas I was using, like most digital distortions, are known for their poor-sounding attempts at distortion. This Korg pedal sounds more like a BOSS ME-5 if you have ever heard one of those back in the day.

The palm-muting thing that others have described basically sounds like a wall of sheet metal being grinded with a diamond blade saw two inches from your face (it's a good thing). Have you ever heard the muted distortion on Master of Puppets or And Justice For All...?
This is one louder. It also has a nice little squeal coming off the the palm mute when you stop playing. However, this only lasts the appropriate 1/4 second before the noise gate kicks in and its dead quiet. But as I said in the above section, I have not had a problem with the noise gate while playing expressive passages. As far as sustaining metal-type leads I have had no problem there. There is also a nice subtle tone modulation happening, you can hear it if you hold a note. Not for everyone's preference or style of playing, but I like it because it's similar to how Zakk Wylde uses a rotovibe or chorus (but it is not that drastic!).
Bottom line - if you do not want to sound like Metallica, Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Pantera or Shadows Fall then do not buy this pedal!!!! It will shear-your-face-off-like-a-747.

So far I have not tried it for recording or used the Line setting. I have only played it through an amp with the Amp setting. The recipe for success is: turn the amp up, turn your guitar down, and then adjust the pedal to taste.

I have had the volume drop-out problem when adjusting any of the knobs. Usually if you hit the program switch twice, then problem solved. But it would be nice not to have the problem in the first place. For live gigs, probably not a good thing to have to deal with.
I will give it a 5 out of ambivalence.

There is none for a product this old. Couldn't find an owner's manual on the Korg site or even with the help of Google. Come to think of it, manuals for these things probably fetch a higher price on eBay than the pedals themselves.

If you are going to play Sabbath, Pantera, (old)Metallica, Ozzy w/Randy Rhoads, Black Label Society, Shadows Fall, Halford or Arch Enemy, then this is a pedal worth trying out if you can get it cheap. I got mine for $26 on eBay.
For playing Rush, AC/DC and more melodic/clean/mid-toned music then I would recommend something else. This pedal is just too METAL.

Knobs have two functions you hold down the switch for about five seconds to save one of two programs red or green

I've got digitech zoom yamaha tech 21 tons of boss THIS EATS THEM ALL
UP!!!!!!!!!!!! You know how you try and adjust a distortion till
it's just right but you just can't quite get it right (such as with
metal zone for example) this korg sounds great no matter what the setting and it sounds great thru a big amp a small amp straight into the computer even good right in your home video stereo REALLY i've got about 58 distortion units and this is the BEST and it's so much better then the new korg REMS stuff and you get two sounds to save one for backing and one for solos

You have got to use ultra lithium or the most expensive batteries you can find normal AA batteries will only last about an hour before the unit emits a hum Also if you use an adapter you may have some of the reprogramming resetting volume changes that some reviewers are crabbing about but as long as I use STRONG AA batteries I LOVE it
and it is worth it

what?

I love it and will get more when I can find them the OD is wonderful also the OD has a HOT sound like scorching steam that has to be heard to be believed I truly believe that someone like Van Halen would like the sound of the korg ds or od

I read the manual once and lost it, but that was enough to figure out how to use it. If you have multieffects unit and can edit the patches, this pedal won't be a problem. Flip switch, turn knobs, press buttons with foot (or finger).

My setup: Strat w/ DG20 EMG system > Boss CS3 Comp/Sust. > Dunlop Crybaby > Korg Hyperdistortion > Boss GE7 EQ > Boss TR2 Trem > Amp.

Now, this category is where this pedal shines. First of all, the Hyperdistortion gave me MY sound. The DG20 EMGs are very picky and most distortions, ODs, and fuzzes don't sound good with that system. But the overdrive on the Hyperdistortion perfectly complements the DG20 and the sound I heard in my head was now coming out of my guitar.

Another plus with this pedal is the cabinet resonator feature, which allows my 1X12 amps to sound like stacks. Or I can play through my 2X12 Ultimate Chorus, decrease the cabinet resonation, and let the amp's natural resonance do the work.

Using a Les Paul, the overdrive AND distortion sound absolutely killer. The point is, with so much flexibility in tailoring the sound of this pedal, I haven't found a guitar or amp that it didn't sound absolutely great on. Yes, you gotta fiddle with the knobs to get it right with each guitar and amp you use, but it's worth it.

The folks who engineered this pedal did a superb job on the sound quality. I also think the noise gate is awesome. It works perfectly on my pedal, though some reviewers have complained their's sucks. I have no problem with sustain, but then I get my guitar to interact with my amp when playing legato phrases/soloing, which means the volume is up and I can elicit feedback when I want to (think Trey from Phish, for example).

One thing this pedal doesn't do is blues-type overdrive. If you want subtle breakup, this isn't the pedal for you. But for everything from hard-driven tube overdrive to scooped mid metal to death grind core, this pedal can do it.

I've never plugged the Hyperdistortion into the board, so I can't comment on that. I always mic my amps.

Okay, here's where the Hyperdistortion fails. As I said above, this pedal is MY sound. But since it can't be relied upon to gig with, what am I to do?

Luckily, I don't need to switch between overdrive and distortion (I only use the overdrive setting). However, I've had instances where after getting my OD dialed in just right, the pedal will change my sound on me when I switch from clean to dirty. I dunno. Maybe the vibrations affect the internal circuitry or the potentiometers or something. A couple times I've been playing and the volume would suddenly increase, or decrease. I've also had the midrange go up full bore.

I don't mind having to dial in my sound each time I plug in, but once it's dialed in I want it to stay there. Since I don't want to be playing in front of people and shatter their eardrums with a surprise volume spike (or blow out my amp), this pedal will have to be replaced with another one. I'll still use it for recording, however.

Another problem is that the input jack is a bit dodgy. A fantastic hum will bleet from this pedal if my patch cord isn't set in right. A bit of solder might help, but I've never opened the pedal to look inside.

Never tried. It's a multinational corporation that mass produces many products. I can't imagine Korg servicing this pedal, particularly since they stopped making it.

I play orginal rock with this pedal. I've been playing off & on for 20 years, and I'm just now getting back into playing more seriously after 10 years of hobby playing. If this pedal were lost or stolen I'd be upset, mainly because I'd be an idiot to lose it and I'd despise the person who had the audacity to take it without permission. Yes, I get my sound from this pedal, but I'm looking for a different pedal that will give me the same sound with more reliability.

I love the interactive nature of this pedal with different guitars, amps, and other effects. The sound quality is just absolutely marvelous. Sublime. I hate that it's not reliable. My favorite feature is the overdrive, but the distortion is great too for chunky palm muting type stuff. Scoop the mids and dime out the cabinet resonator and it's like, WHOA. This pedal will sound great with any guitar (though I'd stay away from the cheap single coils with this or any distortion pedal). I wish it had a reliable memory, sturdier knobs and switches, and 1/4" jacks.

I love the sound of this pedal, but for gigging it is unacceptable. Anyone out there find a pedal that can sound like this one with more reliability?