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?

Read below for features.

I need to add that considering its limits stated in reveiws below you may consider this a perfect StudiO pedal. Not such a partygoer, more of a homebody.

Easy enough but many ppl may benifit from the manual rather than shoot blindly just to get it perfect and then loose the patch.

Thats ok tho you may find a better one. Hatebreed or way deeper. I thought the same thing as other reviewers"$1000+ amp".

Sound quality has to be witnessed to be believed. Sounds huge. The cabinet resinator or whatever is kinda like a bad ass mini manual(locked) flanger with depth and freq control. My lord this thing does things soundwise never done with one pedal. One rack maybe. I run it thru a 70 watt ampeg ss 112 and a BCRICH w super dist. and its crushing. I wish I had a full stack. Any stack.

Mine seems ok. No back up. Um not after what I hear from others, but my amp has killer dist too so no backup for me.

Never dealt with .

Buy one if you are needing a break from the MT 2. It satisfies. Two different animals. The korg is more versatle, you get what you pay for.

I wonder if those $200+ pedals sound this good? I never tried one. I don't see how it can get any more brutal. Great for low volume bedroom stoner grind heads like myself.

I would be fn pissed if this died. Would I buy another? Probably not until something happens to my metalzone. Buy then these will cost 300 used cuz they beat buying the amp it simulates and or beats the crap out of. And there were only about 500 made. Just kidding, I am still waiting for an answer from Korg on that one. There weren't many tho.


Palmmute heaven baby.

it's pretty easy editing patches even without the manual. sounds great to me.

funny as it sounds, i use a karaoke amp that i wired up for room practice. for gigs, I usually end up using valvestates or jcm 900s. the 104d has a bit of a warm sound to it, underneath all the chunky gain. the delay switching from clean to heavy kinda kills it though. i'l probably have to save up for an a/b switch to fix this. i had an mt2 but the 104d has a more tubey sound for soloing so that kinda sold me. i play rapmetal. I know it's out of date, but i still dig it so fuck you for caring.

the clean switch kinda got screwy with me. but contact cleaners kinda did the job. I don't have a back up. just sold my mt2. if it dies on me onstage i'll just switch my set up to straight jack. better to be quick on your toes than just stand there crying like a cockmonger when things fuck up.

fuck the company, takes too long. i just get whiz kids to fix it for beer. whiz kids like beer... they better.

if it's chunky and tubey, that's all i need. after all, it's never about the equipment, it's about the hands, the ears, and what's in between. as for sustain? it kills only when you roll down your guitar's volume knob. other than that my notes ring out fine. if it still chokes then it must be your fingers, check your vibrato. stop passing blame and improvise.

easy to use, never read the manual

i use gibson studio with it connected to a marshall jcm 900, and i totally love the sound, when i want it to be heavy it can be as heavy as i want it,when i play alternative stuf it can also be as warm as i like it

can't depend on it that much though, the little switch in the middle looks like its gona give way, and according to the other reviews the knobs and switches arent that tough

no trouble as of yet

when im with my band we play stuf like sepultura, wolfgang, razorback, and alot of funk rock, and i can use this pedal for all of them. i have been playing for six years now, i back this up with a art xtreme multi fx and a vox wah, sounds great with the wah. what i like about this pedal so much is that unlike other pedals, it doesnt have that sound which sounds like hard rain when you put the bass and the gain up, this pedal was refered to me by the guitarist of eternal now a band that plays dream theatre stuf.. i just hope it had a little more sustain in it,

Getting a good sound out of it is really easy, getting a few excellent sounds is relatively easy with this thing. Using the controls may be too much for an average retarded musician: there are
four knobs and a switch for 2 different modes for each knob, plus 2 footswitches labeled program and bypass. Confusing?

I have used this pedal with 2 ESP guitars (A Horizon & K-500), either
through a Marshall EL34 50/50 or directly into my computer's hard disk via the Line In.

The pedal is not noisy at all, although it can amplify cable hiss/hum (like every distortion box on earth)if you use cheap cables.

I sold my SansAmp PSA-1 because of this pedal. The sound is that good.

THERE IS ONE DRAWBACK THOUGH: THIS PEDAL EATS SUSTAIN! I'M GOING TO GET MINE FIXED SOON.
The distortions are very versatile, and the pedal does not eat the bottom end of your sound like most others do.

Never gig w/o backup with ANY piece of equipment..

No contact yet, no opinion

This is perfect for metal, except for one thing: the pedal eats sustain because of the internal noise gate. That is the only thing anybody into metal could possibly hate about it. There should at least be the option to tune the sensitivity of the gate trigger..

AS TONS OF PPL SAID: IT SUCKS DUDE!
SPECIALLY CUZ WHEN SWITCHING FROM CLEAN TO CRUNCH ON THIS PEDAL, HOWEVER, THERE'S A SLIGHT DELAY BEFORE THE DISTORTION COMES ON! I REALLY DON'T CARE IF IT'S BUILT LIKE A TANK, CUZ I KNOW KORG PPL WROTE REVIEWS HERE (NO JOKIN') IT'S WORTHLESS!

MR. SADAO FUKUSHIMA, U MUST WARRANTY US A GREAT PRODUCT AND TEST IT BEFORE IT'S SELL TO PEOPLE! I REALLY DON'T THINK U CARE ABOUT WE AS
CONSUMERS!!!

IT SUCK! PPL WHO AGREE W/ME AND PPL WHO DON'T (SPECIALLY KORG PPL) FEEL FREE TO MAIL ME.

I just want to add to "Jonitals" public service announcement below. Mine started to crap out on me, changing EQ settings. I pretty much just took the whole thing apart, unplugged and re-plugged the little clips with wires coming out and then put it back together. It seemed to work, for now. I think the problem is the little switch that flips you between the function of the 4 knobs. Either the switch itself or where it connects to the insane circuit board. It glitches, and if say the "MID" knob is set somewhere other than where it's preset is, it will go to that. Because I was setting the "LOW" on full, then it would glitch and suddenly the "MID" was cranked(they share a knob). The "MID" preset was more like 1 o'clock. If it does it to me again I'm going to try "Jonitals" suggestions.

Pretty easy to get used to, but not totally self-explanatory. Read the little manual sheet once, and you should be ready to rock.

I use this in my bass rig, a 1992 Ernie Ball StingRay (w/ active elctronics), into a Kustom KB200 w/ a 2x15 cab. I also use a DOD FX27 Envelope Filter (iffy) and an old Boss phaser, all set up in a custom FX chain w/ a mini-mixer for separate wet/dry signal control.
I get a great "Tony Levin/King Crimson" bass fuzz out of this doohickey. I mangage a pretty good overdriven tone, but the heavy-duty muck is where it really shines. There's no denying that you can get this pedal to spit out some garbage, but on the whole I find it pleasing if a little noisy. Definitely needs a wall wart -- batteries bring ugly hum. AndI could never use this if I didn't also run clean bass signal along with it -- eats up ALL the bottom end (as most dist. pedals do on bass).

I do rely on it, and I have never used a backup. But that's because I'm lazy, not because I don't need one. The switches are flaky at times, other than that it's been pretty dependable for several years now.

Couldn't tell you. I've never had a problem that I felt warranted contacting them. At least until AFTER they discontinued the product....

I've been playing folk, classic/prog rock, jazz, fusion, some R&B/hip-hop, etc. for about 14 years. This is not my first distortion pedal and it probably won't be my last, but it's served very well. It has the flexibility I need to provide 2 different distorted tones, plus easy adjustment on the fly, plus a wide variety of possible sounds. And keep in mind, I'm using this in a bass rig. If I lost it somehow, I'd probably not fight too hard to get another one -- surely there are other possibilities (my late lamented DOD American Metal pedal was AOK for several years.....).

read the instructions, it isn't that hard, just a little longer than that of a 3 knob pedal. the patches are a cinch, just set and hold down the switch for 3 seconds.

i am using a esp/ltd mv-100, and a dean avalanche 7 string. my rig is guitar/dunlop crybaby/boss superovedrive/korg hyperdistortion/danelectro milkshake chorus and a crate vc head and a marshall 4x10 cabinet. not noisy at all, it has a built type of noise gate. i can get anything that i would ever need out of it, i play everything from steely dan to metallica and pantera. also it holds the bottom end of my 7 string very well, i do like korn. the good thing is you can set each channel for different settings or set them the same and set one a little louder so it can be a volume boost for leads. love the damn thing.

i have seen that some people have had problems i haven't had any and i have had it for almost a year. i don't gig anymore so i haven't used it live.

n/a

i mainly play heavy rock and nu-metal. when i want to play some older stuff i use my amp distortion and my sd-1. this thing is great and versatile it just takes some time to get your own liking out of it. i think it can do anything that the metalzone can do and more. this is one phat ass pedal.

JUST READ THE MANUAL!!!

Great Sound. A little loud, but yep, GREAT SOUND!

I already used it on several gigs and....well...it's f*ckin' nice but it depends on the amp you R usin' cuz it don't fit at everyone. That's y the soundcheck before the gig it's necesary.

Nope.

I play INCUBUS'S songs and this dist. fits perfect as Mike Einziger's. As he does; the pedals synchronization is essential as his dist. so it helps me a lot (most of all the 2 dist.) (His Rotosphere costs about $420, but this shit sounds similar)-anyone who enjoy INCUBUS so crazy as I do, just mail me!!-

I'm going to skip this as my sole reason for this contibution is to help all the poor souls that bought one or more of these much maligned pedals.

Keep reading....

As you already know,these pedals all have a severe problems with the switches that manifest themselves as dropouts, even total silence.The problem can be addressed, however by opening up the units via the six Phillips screws, then pulling up the right side first guiding the PCB past the two metal lugs.You might as well disconnect the battery holder ,while you're at it, because all these pedals hum like a mother
without a PSU.
Now, see that plastic clip that clamps the PCB to the footswitch?It is almost certainly putting undue pressure on the cheap nasty footswitch,causing the contacts to be misaligned.You can remove the clips by squeezing them with pair of needlenose pliers,however the circuit board then might flap around and the LEDS will fall into the body.The thing to do then is undo the footswitch collar and reseat the switches in such a manner,that thereis nop pressure on the switch itself. You do this by lowering or raising the footswitch in its hole
by rotating the nut on the inside of the chassis.You have to gauge this by sight, and you might have to do it more than once to get the footswitch to catch everytime,but it worked for all three of my pedals.Do this to both switches in the unit then give 'em a blast with DE OXIT or WD40 for good measure.In the event you still have a problem
replace the footswitches with a pair of Carling or Fulltone switches.Although this requires major surgery these boxes(except the multi effect)are worth it.I'll try and answer any questions (tykey@ix.netcom.com),but I am not a representative of Korg,so don't hassle me.This information is free and it's a pantload more than Korg ever gave us.
THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

If Korg made cars there would have been a class action suit already.
Hello,Jacoby and Myers?

Korg sucks

It's definitely not a Distortion+ in terms of simplicity but thanks to these reviews & a bit of fiddling around I quickly figured it out(no manual).

It sounds good, no denying that but I wouldn't say it's the best sounding ever. It's very versitile. I can get GREAT sounds straight into a mixer with the cab resonator feature. Lots of ways to shape your sound, almost too many options because you can get caught up in programming instead of playing. It didn't sound great with every amp I tried it with, my 1980 Marshall 2204 didn't like it. My Marshall Artist & my old Randall sound good with it. I'm going for insane high gain sounds. I plug this into already distorted channels, not into a clean amp. Seems to have a built in noise gate, no adjustment for it that I've found. When the effect unit is bypassed into a clean amp or mixer the volume difference is apparant. The Hyper Distortion isn't as loud as bypass. Kind of sucks. Also, when bypassed there is a strange digital hum emitting from it, very evident into distortion channels. This is with batteries. I plugged in an Ibanez power supply and then it stopped. I'm going to try to find a Korg power supply.

I had the sound switching randomly problem. It suddenly got all high ended. But it happened right before the batteries died on me so I think that has something to do with it. You'll know your battery is dying when the effect just starts cutting out, in a steadily increasing rate and the "Program" light blinks slightly.

I've been playing about 23 years, I play rock, pop rock, hard rock, whatever. I just like distortion a lot. This is not the greatest distortion ever but it's a good one. My Rat and XXL will still be used. The 2 saved distortions is a cool feature. I wish the bypass was better(less noise, equal volume). If I were to put this in a pedalboard I would buy an effects loop type switcher and have it in a loop so that annoying hum wouldn't be going all the time when it's off but maybe an actual Korg power supply will solve that.

not as ordinary as other pedals..but almost same controls except for the toggle switch

Great sound quality..people who reviewed this pedal were right.." it makes your small-cheap amp sounds like an expensive Marshall or Mesa.

THIS WILL END THE SHOW FOR THIS PEDAL...

1) It Reboots by itself..all presets will be lost in the process.
2) At times, it will not make any sound for no reason at all.
3) The volume just fades out or you just cant control the darn thing.
4) the volume from this pedal is always LOWER in the BY-Pass mode.

korg is as witty as hell, after the stupid release of this product..they just PHASED-OUT this darn thing. DID THEY TEST THIS PEDAL BEFORE LETTING IT SPREAD IN THE MARKET? DO THEY HAVE QUALITY CONTROL DEPARTMENT?

A suggestion to KORG... Just continue the digital quest and justleave the ANALOG area alone..

nice sound but crappy mechanism...WORTHLESS!!!!

At first it's a little intemidating but once you get the hang of the controls and the toggle switch it's not so bad.

The sound quality of this pedal is fucking spectacular!!! It sounds like a $1,000 amp. I play mostly hard rock and metal and this pedal is perfect for my tastes. Never gotten a better sound anywhere.

I have had some problems with my pedal fading in and out or sometimes just dropping out totally. I have found that sometimes if I unplug the unit and then plug it back in it kinda reboots it self. But the last few months the problems just keep getting worse.

I contacted Korg about my problems with the pedal and was informed since the pedal was out of warrenty then they would charge me $65 an hour to fix it. I said FUCK DAT!!! I will just buy another since it only cost me $135. Then I was informed that they don't make the pedal anymore so now I'm screwed.

Sound quality is fantastic but it doesn't do me any good if the pedal doesn't work properly half the time.

Read the manual first before anything else..not the ordinary stombox you used to know..

The BEST DISTORTION EVER...NO noise what so ever...better than MetalZone,Sansamp GT2 & DOD Deathmetal.GREAT for all heavy metal riffs and leads .FAT and HEAVY!!!

NO problem whatsoever..I'm using it for about 2 years now. 1-2 gigs a night. Use Lithium battery or better yen use an adaptor for better performance

DISTORTION pedal at its finest

well, it was basically a plug and play thing as far as i was concerned, it was a case of connecting up and away i go, the sound that i think sounds best is the factory settings, they suit me down to the ground

it sounds great, when it decideds to work, ive also got a ps 2 with it, and i can seem to get a nice thick phase yet, it sounds cool on overdrive but not too hot when using the thick distortion

funny story, true story, we went on stage the other night, we opened our first song was i fought the law (the clash) and after the first chord i dropped my pic and since i was singing as well couldnt bend down to pick it up, so i ended up strumming using my fingers, anyway point is, i stomped the stomp pedals and the program selector jkust jammed! and i was stuckk with thick distortion and a clean, which sucked cos i needed the overdrive for certain parts of the set. i have never been so pissed off in my life. all it needed was some oil on it, ill tell ya, im gonna get the metal zone pedal as a back up now.

i got my dad to fix it

we play punk ska and rock, so i need an overdirve sound, if its gonna keep sticking, then its going in the bin.

It's very easy to use. Just a glance at the instructions is necessary. Storing patches is easy too.

I'm using an Ibanez RG, an Aria 7 string and a Strat, with a Marshall Valvestate, and nothing else. I love the sound from this pedal.

There are 2 big probs with this pedal. 1 - the switches are dodgy. The program switch on mine broke, making the pedal un-useable, cos it was switching between patches about 5 times a second, and the effect switch is on the way out now. 2 - the pots sometimes decide they moved when they actually haven't, changing your sound without warning.

Had it repaired once, no prob.

Good pedal overall. Other than reliability, pretty much perfect. I play heavy rock, verging on metal, and it suits me completely.

very very easy~~~~~~

easiest distortion~~~~~~~~~~~very good

i use gibson lespaul standard...and marshall dsl2001 with

hyperdistortion and i use prs welborland custom

oh my god........ the best distortion in the world...

very heavy sound but smooth........,,mmm and never noisy~~~

very nice distortion~~~~

i only use 104 hyper distortion with dd-3......

i will no change this effect.....sound is excellent

no alternative~~~~~!!!

mm, i dont know.....

very very hard case.......so not break.....

excellent distortion

this rack in a stomp box~~~!!!

i recommend this effect all over the world~~~~~!!!!

very nice distortion

this thing is real easy to use. i won't go into how to do it since all the other reviews do and so does the manual.

i played this thing through a crappy fender princeton combo amp, which was usually very tinny sounding, but this pedal added significant balls. pretty good for smashing pumpkins and failure and chunky stuff like that. it adds nice low end without sacrificing note articulation or mid range. sucks when the distortion level is low but then again it's not an overdrive pedal, it's meant to be used in a hyper fashion. heh.

i bought this thing used from a music store so i'm assuming it was a demo model... after about 6 months one of the switches crapped out, rendering one setting useless, and now i get no sound out of it whatsoever. i would not use this for a gig at all, for reasons explained in "overall rating..."

never tried it

ok. this pedal sounds reel nice, but there's one thing that renders it useless to me: the music i play has alot of sudden dynamic changes. i often switch from clean to crunch very quickly and without warning. when switching from clean to crunch on this pedal, however, there is a slight delay before the distortion comes on. talk about being anti-climactic. there is no delay when switching from one preset to another, but only when going from clean to crunch. so if you're playing all distorted all the time, go for it, but if you can't live with this like me then don't bother at all.

Just twist the knobs, and play with the buttons.

I compared it to my boss metalzone, and ran it through my Marshall Valvestate amp, and my Mesaboogie Half stack. The distortion is very deep heavy crunch. Not treble heavy like the metalzone, and smoother sounding. If you know the song Mine are the eyes of god by the band Corrosion Of Conformity, then thats what this sounds like. You can even make the sound deeper if you want. I like it.