Korg 411fx Super Multi FX

not that hard, but it took me about a day to figure out what each knob actually did, but if u read the manual, it isn't that hard

i use a gibson LP studio through a bunch of fender amps, it bascically gives me any kind of sound needed to play mostly any kind of song. the effects aren't that bad, u can control ure EQ so getting a basic kind of sound out of the thing isn't that hard to do. for the distortion, u have like three kinds of distortion, 2 types of chorus, 2 types of fuzz, etc. the only bad thing that i c is that u can't control like the depth and range of like the flanger or chorus or things like that

well, i had one at first and while i stepped on it, one of the knobs got stuck in the down position, so i had to return it. that one also flipped out and the lights started blinking, it was really weird.so i got a new one, and this one only starts acting wierd when the batteries are dieing, which is quite often it seems.

don't know, havn't dealt w/ them

in my opinion this pedal isn't bad at all, its gets all the basic sounds im looking. but since my band is heading to the more metal sound, im probably gonna trade it in for a metal zone or something like that. but this pedal is pretty good for overall sounds

I found it very simple to get a good playable sound out of it, much simpler than any thing I have tried before considering you have no instant display in the form of an LED readout when switching between settings. Editing patches is very easy and you find yourself more inclined to tweaking to get your reqired sound, rather than seeing what sounds you can get on different number settings on multi fx with digital readouts. The manual is very small, it just tells you the basic functions to get you going.

The sound quality from this unit is excellent, I am using the unit at home with a USA standard Strat and a Gibson Les Paul Studio with two Park G15RCD's. One of the reasons I went for this unit is that it responded well to pick strength on both guitars when demoed in the shop. Although the delay effects are very good sonically I am a bit disappointed with the amount of control you have over the delay times, you only have a couple of preset times you can use, I was also led to beleive by the salesman that the times were editable. I suppose if you had more control given to you by KOrg you would not need to buy their 301d. After using the unit for a short time I have been able to get most of the sounds I like on both guitars I think the ranges of overdrive and distortions are excellent for a unit of this price, the important factor here is the fact that you have control over the mid frequencies rather than just the low and high offered by a lot of manufacturers. Summing up the sound quality of all the effcts I would say that they are all very good and I would tend to agree with comments made by previous reviews. But, I will add that you should not expect to have total control over your effects, Korg have put sound quality before features with this unit.

Strong and well made, no complaints.

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I originally went to try out the Boss ME 30 but found out at the shop that it is hard to get at the moment, I didn't bother to shop around for one as all other dealers are beaten on price by thirty five pounds by my local dealer and that was all I had to spend. So, after trying a few units, some of which I thought were not bad and others I thought were absolute crap I settled for the Korg. I would by it again mainly for the drives, although I still want to audition the Boss after reading user reviews in the database, and I think if I did purchase an ME-30 I would not part with the 411fx. The only reason I have not given it top marks for overall is because it does not do everything I need but there again you cant expect it to at the price I suppose. I have not been playing guitar that long and have not been a big user of effects as most of the people who seem to submit reviews in these pages, but if you are like me and you are looking at getting new sounds after getting bored of your usual amp sounds then I can assure you that you will not be disappointed with the quality of sound from this unit, for the price I don't think it can be beaten.
If there is anyone who would like to offer me any of their patches for the Korg 411fx emulating any of the great sounds of artists over the years I would be happy if you E mailed them to me. If I get a good response I am considering setting up a database for them, the idea came to me after visiting a similar site set up for Zoom 505 users.

I can't imagine a programmable pedal being much easier than this. The 10 is in comparison to all the other multi-fx units on the market. The manual is pretty minimal (unless you count all the languages it is in), but gives you all you need to get started. It doesn't say what each of the presets are supposed to be, but the way the effect works, you can figure out the settings for each patch. When you turn the knobs, the program light blinks when you've reach the point that the current patch is set on. That makes it easy to tell how the current sound was constructed and to make a new patch from there.
The first knob choses between 11 banks, which have two effects in each (toggle between the two with the program switch). The knob goes to 11 -- 6 preset (totaling 12 sounds) and 5 user-programmable (10 sounds). The second knob choses between 6 categories of effects (drive, tone, midrange boost, modulation, ambience, and level). The third know either choses which effect you use in the particular bank, or controls the tone if you've set the second knob to one of the tone settings. The last knob controls the drive, rate, volume, or whatever the selected effect is supposed to do. It doesn't take long to get the hang of this. You can get around it pretty quickly once you get used to it. Much better than any menu driven interface. You just twist the little knobs around as fast as they can go.

Very impressive, with a few compromises. Obviously, with a unit this simple and in this price range, you have to cut a couple corners. In this case, you cannot adjust the depth of the modulation effects, only the rate. So you'll want to listen to it first to see if you like the sounds they've chosen. Also, as the previous review mentions, the delays are also preset to incremential times, so you're limited there, too.
What they *haven't* compromised is the sound. Very impressive. Of course the presets are lame and you'll want to make your own patches , but that's where all the fun is anyway. The distortions are all lovely and since you can control the hi, low, and midrange boost for each sound, you've got a wide range of sounds at your disposal. There are many stand-alone distortion boxes that don't even have this many options. Plus, you get some great modulations. The 2 choruses sound nice and lush (not too 80's). The 2 phasers are very usable. The flange is nice, but here is where I wish I could really set the depth (you know how you can be playing and realize that all you can really hear is flange), but if you're really serious about flanging you'll get a stand-alone box. What I was really impressed by where three effects that I didn't think I'd use much: auto-wah, pitch shifter and the auto-rotary. I'd never even heard of an auto-rotary before buying this, but I like it. It's a chorus-like sound that responds to the strength of your attack. It sounds nice and thick. Like the auto-wah, I found it very responsive to my playing and can add new dimensions to rhythm or solos. The pitch shifter is great! You can go two octaves down (which is waaay down there), one octave down, one or two above, and then any step within the octave in which you are playing. The second tone sounds like a cross between a guitar and a piano and is not distorted or otherwise effected (unless you add distortion after the unit) but it still sounds nice. The tracking is superb, and it's polyphonic, so it can handle chords just fine. The delays and echos are great, except for the limited choices. The longes delay is 730ms, or around that, which is not bad. The room and hall reverbs sound great, but with one more limitation--you cannot use them and any of the modulation effects at the same time. Bummer.
The noise reduction keeps things very quiet. And it's definitely more quiet than if you were running through the for or five boxes it would take to replace this one. Once programmed, the switching between patches is quick and seamless.

Looks very solid. All metal except for the battery cover. I'd take it anywhere without fear.
It takes 4 AA batteries to run, so you'll want the wall wart. However, it doesn't burn through the batteries as fast as you'd think (I've had a set in for about five hours of use now and those little pink bunnies are still going). I'd say practice with the wall wart and then put some fresh batteries in for a gig. That way you you'll have one less plug to think about.

Can't say. Haven't been there.

This box sounds better than any other I've heard in its category, although the Zoom multi-fx box is the only one I've hear for any length of time. Zoom is far more digital sounding, which some people may like (really, some people like that). What I'm actually comparing it to is each of the separate effects as you find them in individual boxes, of which I've heard quite a few. That's a higher standard, I believe, and I think the 411fx rates very high next to them. Very warm, professional-sounding tone. Maybe you could spend another grand for digital virtual cabinet scultping or something like that, but that's a whole other ballgame.
Do not get this unit if you want to have full control over the modulation and delay effects. I have a an E-H Memory Man, as well as a phaser and flanger so that doesn't bother me. The thing is, even with the seperate pedals, I still don't use phasing and flanging all that much. So the setup I'll probably settle into is plugging my guitar (either my electric-acoustic or my homemade Gibson-like thing) into my DOD Juice Box (a preamp for a little more distortion and boost), then into this thing (for everything else), then my Memory Man, then my amp. My amp is a Tech 21 Trademark 60 (which I like very much, but have not written a review of yet). With that setup, I figure I can cover a lot of territory. I might throw in my phaser, and maybe the flanger every now and then, but that's just for icing. If I only could chose one pedal, it would be this one. It doesn't take up much space on stage, like those huge pedal boards, and gets a great range of sounds.
The unit is a lot of fun to play with all by itself with just a guitar and a pair of headphones. I've killed many hours tweaking the thing and getting all kinds of sounds out of it. Fun fun fun! Although it was a X-mas gift from my girlfriend (is that your ultimate fantasy or what?), I'd definitely buy one myself if it dies.
Nitpicky improvements I'd make: more user programs, less presets! A bigger bank-switching knob or some way to switch between settings with you're foot (okay, so you can switch between two sounds with the program switch, but I want more!), reverb that is useable at any time, toaster oven and microwave attatchment (just wanted to see if you were still paying attention).

You DEFINITLY have to read the manual. If not good luck. It took me about 2 hours to completely understand most of itsfunctions. The manual could me more in-depth. After you learn how touse it its quite easy to edit and save your own patches.

I use a Peavy Special 212 Combo and it sounds great. The distortions great (after a little tweaking). This is one mean box. In my opinion this box is a little noisy when i run it through my FX loop, no bigdeal, the peavy is to blame for some of it. All of the modualtion effects are just awsome, along with the ambiance section Clean and clear. The noise reduction is good too. The hi/lo gain switch on the back makesa large difference. The factory presets OK.... could be better...Once you make your own setting and store them its fine, just ignore the factory presets. The effects:Drive: 2 Compressors, 2 Overdrives, 4 Distortions, 2 FuzzTone: Low, HighContour (parametric mids): Frequency, GainModulation: 2 Chorus, 1 Flange, 2 Phasers, 1 Pan/Trem, Vibrato, Auto Rotary, Auto Wah, Pitch Shift (2 down, 2 up)Ambiance: 4 Delay, 4 Echo, 2 Reverb (room, hall)NR/Level: Noise Reduction, Master Volume

Never had a prob......unless you use batteries....Eats em up. Myadvice: GET THE WALL WART. Would use this onstage any day of the week without second thoughts.

Um...dunno yet

I love this peadal and i would buy it again if it broke. I comparedthis to the DOD FX7 and it blew the FX7 out of the water. The effectsquality was just plain better. The noise reduction on the 411 beatsthe noise gate on the FX7 by far. I play anything from Grunge/Altern toMetal and I find that its a good match. With a little knob twisting i think that you could find pretty much any sound you were looking for.Might be a little complicated to beginners...

Using the device is quite easy, but programming involved reading the manual. The manual was rather poor. Very brief description on how to use and gave no explanation as to what the presets are. But once you're there, its easy.

I think the sound quality is superior. Distortion is a matter of taste, but I liked them. There are several to choose from. Next, there is a trade-off. The modulations like chorus, phase, flange that are lush and clean. The problem is, however, if you like to tweak every little parameter, you may not like this processor. The patches are somewhat packaged, allowing you to only modify the speed of modulation (no real depth or mix control). Again, the delay is pretty sweet, but you are forced into increments. I have been able to get everything I need, so I really like it. Big thumbs up on sound, some concern on editable parameters.

The upper casing is machined metal (not stamped sheet metal) so I think you could fire a bullet at it without a problem. Switches are tough too.

Haven't tried it.

I decide to go with this over my ZOOM 3030, which I liked for the number of effects, and supreme editablity, but it was plastic, and the sound is not as good as the 411fx. I play a Strat into Fender's Hot Rod and I am very happy with the tone of my set-up. Sounds awesome, would buy it again. Great price too!