Korg A3

Very easy to get a great sound out of.
Patch editing is very easy. Korg writes very user-friendly software for their units. Not like ROLAND, who is a company full of social misfits, and who don't know the meaning of the words "user-friendly".
The manual is a "non-problem". If you need one, which most half-brained guitarists DON'T, they're available online. Hell...I'LL even photocopy one for you. Email me.
If by the "firmware revision number", you mean the Hexidecimal numbers in the internal working, don't screw with them. The A3 is perfect the way it is. It has more flexability than any guitarist will EVER need. If a "guitarist" finds he needs MORE flexablilty, he should be playing the GUITAR MORE, and should be dinking around with EFFECTS LESS. We don't need to hear anymore wankers with soaking-wet, effects-laden crap...we need more real players.

My A3s are plugged into either a Neve strip, an Avalon, A Marshall Stack, an Ampeg V-2, with 8x10s, or an Boogie DC-5 with 4x12 Peavey Black Widows or Scorpion Plus IIs.
For live, the I use 2 A3s. One for "Clean", and one for "Dirty". They are "A-B-ed" with a small A-B box. I do that because A3s have a 500 millisecond glitch between programs. the A-B thing works PERFECTLY.
The effects always sound INCREDIBLE. The Distortion in the original 20 Chains wasn't usable. But the Distortions in the SPC-01 red Card...are THE ABSOLUTE BEST! I can record tracks with my Marshall, Boogies, or anything else...and the A3 sounds just as good as any of those. In fact, sometimes it sounds even better. Live...I don't ever wanna use anything else other than my A3s. if I have to, I'll still have a great time. But my A3s are THE SH*T, so why NOT use them all the time?

I had to do alot of work on my A3s to make them road-worthy. For starters, I replaced all the shitty black plastic female 1/4 plugs with RCA plugs. They fit in the spots the 1/4 inchers fit, plus the way I do it, they don't move around. I fabricated metal plates that were screwed to the metal carriages that the circuit boards the jacks were soldered to, so the RCAs DO NOT MOVE. They are wired to the appropriate contacts on the circuit board, and <<<voila>>! I have a patch bay in all my racks (5 of them...one with 2 A3s, 2 with 3 A3s, and 1 with 4 A3s) in order to relieve stress from the cables that run from and to the A3s.
Hell...I'll play through ANYTHING. I'm not going to turn down a gig if my rigs aren't reachable for a last-minute thing, but I'd prefer to use my A3 setups. The A3s had horriblt crappy and unreliable plastic jacks, that would f*ck up after little use. But that's a total non-problem after my fix-up. As well, I removed the "ears", drilled an extra hole in each one so that there was a "3-hole triangular" pattern, then replaced those dumbass little screws with thick brass bolts and double nuts with washers. I've never had a problem with them coming loose after that was done....never.

Korg? Friendly? lol What can we say about a company that totally disavows any knowledge of a product they once made, and denies their involvement with it as if it were Thalidomide?? lol Mind-blowing weirdness in my opinion. Likely management boneheads who, as is usual in this business, know less that nothing about music. They build something that is a freakin' wonder of the guitar-world, then like Big Brother, they go back in time to erase it's existence! lol They act as if it never existed! lol Very creepy! Why make something that good? Remember the 71-73 Olds Cutlass/Buick Skylark? Nuff said!
Korg's involvement with the A Series has flown into a wormhole...never to be seen or heard again.
I have a dozen A3s. I have one for parts, and the rest get used...all the time too.

I have been doing sessions for 25 years. I play anything/everything. But prefer Fusion.
Been playing 42 years.
I'd definitely buy more of these babies.
After my fixes, I love all of their features, hate none of them.
Other products? lol There AREN'T any "other products".
I think it'd be neat for it to have a "loop", so I could plug other effects into it, and insert them in whatever order in the chains that I desire. But that's getting too involved. I'm a guitar-guy, not an engineer, and don't WANNA be an engineer.
I think that it doesn't help, OR hinder my playing/creating. It would come out the same regardless...I just like hearing it A LOT MORE with the A3.
Nothing more to add, unless someone wants to ask me about how I convert the 1/4 inch female plugs to RCAs. Email me and I'll give you the info. I'll soon be drawing up a template of the metal plate, and writing instructions on how to install it with the RCAs.

Simple once you get used to it. Lacks the flexability of choosing your chain of effects, there all preset and stuck in place.

I use a marshall quad and a gibson les paul with seymore duncan pickups. I find the distortions lacking in bottom end and gain but the cleans are amazing with a bit of chorus. Also the speaker sims work well and a nice range of delays. It was great in it's time but put against more modern units it falls in the dirty sounds. Its slow to change patches sometimes leaving a noticeable and frustrating gap.

Like everyone elses my input jack welding broke and my battery went flat without notice losing all my long hours of work and putting it all back to default.

Korg are useless, where's the rom cards much needed? Thank god for the korgaseries site, they'll give you all you need to solve your delema.

It does the job for me and i've owned it for about 8 years now. If it were lost or stolen i'd probably go for a more up to date unit unless i found another one cheap which is unlikely. It's flexable in that it works with all instruments and vocals but tends to smother the original tone of my valve amp and les paul to much.

i bought this unit when the price was $799.00, i had started to buy the midiverb because a friend in my band had one and i liked the sounds that he had but the store clerk turned me on to the A3, and then i wanted the A-2 but, it was $1,159.00 then i wanted the 2 rack space A-1 but, was told it wasn't happening. So i stayed with this unit and the sound that comes out of this unit is my basic, puff up any instrument sound. I really will not be without it therefore i bought another one just in case (used of course). Editing at the time took a little getting use to, trying to set the numbers on the right parameter takes a very still and unnervous hand unless, you use the up and down buttons. the manual is so, so i ended up reading it a dozen times before really feeling it. and there is no revision for this machine only the A-2, and A-1 rack units, and then the floor units came out after that and that was then end of the Korg rack units. THE END

since i am using an Alembi F1X preamp, Korg A-3, TC Electronics G-Force, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Korg DT-1 Pro, all running to a QSC-2402 power amp, the A-3is my lead unit which i use to alter any bass or guitar i use even if it is a cheap bass like my Ibanez-905 and i dare not bypass it or you will know it's a cheap bass even if you're not looking. Without the other units in my rack the distortion would sound like some crap but, with the BBE and power amp and preamp, i can get that Santana sound with any guitar and a real funky Bootsy bass with it also. The chorus is what i really love especially in stereo(which is the only way i play in). this unit is very versatile, i have even written a scratch program in it where you can use your guitar or bass as if you were scratching a record like a DJ (sounds fuller on bass).

i can depend on it but, not depend on the blue screen which is on it's way out. Well, i had it for 11 years(i guess everthing must come to an end)so i don't really depend on it i have already set up my programs for all my equipment for every possible sound i may need, so i'm o.k. with continuous reprogramming. I use to play everyday for 11 month for 12 years except some sundays(which i used another unit for church)using this unit and it has never broken down since(changed the battery once and that's all). I also never had a problem with the jacks at all even when i was using it as a preamp everyday until four years later bought my Alembi F1X.

never needed to deal with the company. the unit never broke.

I wish i could be upgraded and had a better backlight fore the screen. and that's it. i was trying to get a 3rd one but when i tried it out in the store it wasn't working at all. but, i will keep my A3 and if i find another one i will get that one. Because if mine break i'm going to need another back-up.(like sex, i gotta have it)

It's extremely easy to use, but extremely boring to get a sound you want. Everytime you select a parameter, it takes 30 seconds to get the knobs where you want them. And everytime you have to go through the entire range of each parameter to get to the value you want.

It's pretty limited. You dont have total control over the fx chains. There are 20 in the factory presets and more in the rom cards (good think you can download them online).
The modulation fx are cool. The distortion fx are weak though...they sound very digital and fake, but sometimes that's what you might be looking for. The delays are ok, but nothing special. The reverb fx are fine.

The screen is very hard to read. It's almost completely faded, and new displays are $35, which I'm not going to spend for this unit.

THis unit is almost older than me!

I play electronic rock with some ambient elements. My goal is to get new sounds that arent out there yet. I had read that The Edge of U2 had used this processor to get a lot of weird sounds for 2 albums, and I figured if he got some cool sounds, I'd be able to get something new as well....but unfortunately the only few cool sounds in this processor are already in U2's repertoire, and as much as I'd like to come up with my own, I can't because I can't see the display!! If i didnt get it for cheap, I think I'd have sold it the same day....but I'll keep it for now....maybe if I put it in the fx loop of my amp, through an envelope filter, a whammy and a fuzz, i might be able to get something out of it!!

I found the A3 fairly simple to master once I had played around with the parameters, it took me awhile to get the hang of it probaly due to the fact this was the first processor I had owned.
The manual is quite easy to follow, but not needed once you have learned how to edit.

I play a strat with the David Gilmour EMG pick ups, through a Ernie Ball Volume pedal and Super cry baby an a old MXR distortion pedal, via the A3 into a modified Twin.
Effects I sue mainly are compression pitch delay and reverb (plate) I also use distortion. I found it was very easy to disclor the sound with to much compression. the distortion is noisy, but I can live with it on stage. The noise gate will quickly chop your sound on any setting past 2. other than that little complaint I like the unit, and i have tried lots of others, whick do even come close in sound quality, in my own opinion.

It is a fairly dependable unit,I have ,mine for about 5 years now. The battery went once without any warning, I had wrote down all my settings so reprogramming was not a problem. There is however a trick to bring back all your settings without doing this. With the unit shut down press the up/down channel buttons together and switch the unit on, and your settings should all magically come back.
The other problems are poorly designed in/output jacks they suffer from cold solder joints to breaking right off, and easy fix but a pain.
What I have done is to put remote in/out jacks in my rack and that eliminates the constant plugging in and out of the unit jacks. I also bought the remote foot controller. I have no back up for gigs

I have a card that came with the unit that gives a few extra chain effects and more chanels.
Never dealt with Korg.

I play classic rock to country, and have been playing about 20 years
It sems to work well for what i do and i also get a lot of good comments on the sound. I also use it through a 410 and a 212 blues DeVille and with a G&L strat.
If it were lost stolen or broke beyond repair I would probally buy a G Force to replace it as these units seem to be hard to come by now.

but!!!! go to http://www.korgaseries.org/ It's the site that Korg themselves point people to.

One of the easiest effects processor to edit ever! Simply push a button and turn a knob and you're getting it. The only thing that isn't so great is the Cards, if you want to edit the sounds in them you'll have to loose your previous sounds or get a hard to find temporary storage Card.

The effects are unique! Haven't found them anywhere else and I been here for a while, the preamp and distortions are out of date obiously but everything else makes it worth. Years ago I used for my electric, then as a effect module for recording, right now I use it with my Acustic and it's superb.

The knobs haven't failed, the buttons to change banks did long ago and so did the input and one of the output jacks, I changed them and the problem ended. Also loosed all my presets once when the battery died.

The soundcards are rare, and when I looked up at Korg they didn't know what processor I was talking about. But there's a lot of A3 loyal users online that can give you almost every info you need.

For clean sounds in any instrument is awesome!

Easy to use. Very simple chain/preset layout. Push button knobs are ingenious!

Preamp pretty much sucks. But this unit is known for its effects. The wah/phaser applications are amazing. I believe the Edge of U2 actually uses one of these units for "Mysterious Ways" and "Numb" as well as other songs off of Achtung Baby.

LED is infamous for dimming out. Mine is 75% there. Knobs are a bit fragile as well. Input jacks are known to break off circuit board too. Backup would definitely be recommended.

Didn't have to deal with them...yet.

Other than its fragile nature and led problem, this is a very high quality unit. The effects are to die for.

Easier than most other units i've tried.

Better cleans than dirties in my opinion.

Faulty input jack. Backup battery failed loosing all my hard work.

RAM cards hard to come by.

Well priced, fantastic for it's age.

EL SONIDO ES MUY BUENO PERO EN MI RACK EL SUSTEIN DE LAS NOTAS NO DURA MUCHO Y ESO ES UN PROBLEMA

EL SONIDO ES MUY LIMPIO AUNQUE AVECES SUENA MUY PROCESADO PERO SON MUY BUENOS YO LO HE USADO CON PLANTAS MARSHALL, PAEVY, CRATE Y LANEY
LOS CHORUS Y DISTORSIONES SON MUY BUENOS Y TIENEN GRAN VERSATILIDAD

Yamaha SE 350 guitar, Ovation guitar, Roland GR 33 Guitar Synthesizer.
I can get the sound of Hank Marvin, Chet Atkins, Al De Meola, Larry Corryell, Larry Carlton, Carlos Santana,and Pat Metheney.

YES

CITY MUSIC CO PTE LTD, SINGAPORE - Very Friendly

No repairs

Contemporary, Clasical, Pop, Neo Fusion,

This thing, for me, is very simple to use, you can get anything from calm to hardcore to ambient just like that. editing is a breaze just hit the param edit button and twist away. i briefly looked at the online manual @ korgaseries.org before i purchased this unit, it's used, just to see what the specs were. don't know about it, but it's got a new battery!

i use a peavey special 212 with ibanez guitars and a yamaha 12-string acoustic and a godin g1000, they all sound great. some patches i have created are a bit noisy at low volumes, but when you get on stage and your mic'd, it's goood, plus you can NS out alot of white noise at high volumes from the util menu. most of the effects aren't the best. the phase and the flanger dont really blow my mind, but i also have a dod phaser which i throw into the loop. i was a sound much like a mesaboogie dual rectifier. i have a killer disortion tone that uses my amp preamp with speaker simulation of the A3 alone with peq's etc.

i don't have it in a rack yet, i just got fined the the police, so it wont be in a rack anytime soon. but it's held it's spot and it's holdin together, the battery is brand new so that won't go for a while. the jacks suck, but i'll replace those, and i also cracked the UP button, but i was a floor controller anyway so it doesn't matter

never dealt with them, if they're as good as all the other ones i've dealt with, peavey, ibanez, dod, it's a 10

i play alot of limp bizkit, creed, rage against the machine, portishead, and it suits every need of mine because of the versitility. if it were stolen, i'd probably get something more up-to-date considering the A3 is about the same age as me, 17, i've been playin for almost 5 years, and i have 5 guitars and 3 amps
didn't compare to much, fooled around with crap in stores, but couldn't afford any of it, so i bought this used. you'd be surprised how much effects can encourage your music, every time i use the wah it blows my playing into extremes.
that's it......yea i'm done

Just a quick note to all Korg A3/A2 users. There is a Korg A3 user's group with a mailing list and www pages, where you can find info, the user manual, FAQ and (drum roll) all the ROM cards as SysEx files!
(There is also a shareware SysEx utility program.) The address is http://www.korgaseries.org

Enjoy!

Es relativamente sencillo encontrar el sonido con esta unidad. Los controles son buenos pero al no ser analigicos hace que falte continuidad en estos. El manual es facil de entender

Estoy utilizando la unidad desde hace 10 a?os con un Marshall 1959 y una Charvel 6 Japonesa con Pickup emg-81 y el sonido es mas o menos lo que busco. Creo que tiene una de las mejores Distorsiones sin valvulas que he escuchado.Lo peor es el ruido de fondo con sonidos limpios . La puerta de ruido hace que no haga ruido cuando no tocas pero cuando lo estas haciendo tiene un gran ruido de fondo. De todas formas es un gran equipo y muy versatil y se puden cargar todas las tarjetas desde el PC via midi como sysex.

Los Jack's son blandos como ya ha contado otra gente en este forum, los he tenido que resoldar varias veces pero no hay ninguno roto todavia.Los botones Up & Down tambien los he roto un par de veces pero he conseguido arreglarlos (No hay repuestos de esta pieza segun el distribuidor en Espa?a) El resto del Equipo es bastante solido

Queme la resistencia de salida de un canal y el circuito de Headphones por una mala operacion (Enchufe la salida de Altavoz del Amplificador a la salida del A3 y como no sonba subi un "poco" el volumen hasta que salio humo, !un desastre!) y el ditribuidor me proporciono el integrado , la resistencia puse una del mismo valor y mi oido no aprecia ninguna diferencia de un canal respecto al otro.
Del soporte del fabricante solo puedo poner la pega de no tener repuesto de la botonera (Quiza sea por el distribuidor)

El estilo de musica es Heavy Metal y he encontrado un buen setup para el sonido que busco. Levo 17 a?os tocando y utilizo esta unidad desde hace 10 para conciertos y nunca me ha dado ningun problema en directo. La he probado con un Previo Marshall JMP-1 y da tambien buenos resultados. He gradado discos con equipos mucho mas complejos y solo con el A3 consigo resultados igual de buenos. Creo que si se rompiera buscaria otro equipo igual o un A2

For me this unit is really easy to program. You can easely change parameters on stage. Just one bug, the manuel is unconplete about some advanced midi fonction like data transfer in sysex but the unit can do it. This effects prcessor is very flexible and versatile.

I try the unit in the loop of a mesa boogie or a marshall and it sound like crystal. Usually I use it in studio direct in the mixer and the sound is alway's perfect for traditionnal music or new expermental stuff. The negative point is that A3 have less of presence when you use it in mono. But the stereo is trip over the rainbow.

I use it for ten years and the big problems are the jacks fiability and the backup batterie who can shot down at any moment after fiev years. In general you can depend on it.

I play an experimental rock progressive like King Crimson, techno and jazz acoustic stuff and it's a really good match with A3. I play guitar for 17 years and try many units, boss, ART systems, lexicon, yamaha and Roland stuff and the new pedal boards, but they can't approach A3 in the sound quality and flexibility.
I have a problem, I want to find some FX rom cards or to dowload some of these in midi sysex PC format. If someone can help me, Iwould appreciate and Iwill do the same for other guys who seaching for it.

An excellent effects unit for real-time control-- knobs instead of buttons for control. I use it for dub-style effects in dance music. Very easy to learn.

I have my A3 running thru a Mackie 1604. The noiselevel of this unit is significantly lower than other units that were released long after. The reverbs are very natural sounding, and the delays are OK-- it's hard to fine-tune some of them, which are set in increments of 10. The chorus has a really mean tone to it when running with the delays.

As others have noted: the jacks suck. other than that, the unit has lasted through years of abuse.

Never needed it, other than to find a replacement battery-- it was nearly impossible to find a phone number for Korg. I had to call the local service center-- to find out that it uses a standard battery available everywhere.

I make dance music that is heavy on effects-- reggae and dub influenced. I have been creating music in this style for several years, and I have to say that the A3 has helped me develop my style. The A3 is as much an instrument to me as a guitar is to a guitarist.

Very easy to use. I hardly ever looked at the manual.

I have three of these units, one of them from my days in Europe, almost ten years ago( it runs on V220 with an adaptor ). Everything about this device is great, distortions, choruses, reverbs but to me, the real killer is the modulation delay. Nothing comes close. I'm a full time guitarist BTW, and even though I play many styles and use a lot of other gear, when it comes to my favorite style, jazz, this is what I'll use.

I agree with some of the other guys, the solderings on the output jacks break every so often. On my oldest one (It's so old, the display is so dim - you can hardly read it!), they got so bad, I had to replace them with the "direct out" jacks from the same device as well as from one of the other ones. Otherwise, I play full time and this was the only problem.

Never needed it!

This might be a collectors item! Once in a while, in the past 3-4 years, I'll try to see if I can find another one, and I'm surprised to see people still asking $400 and more to this day. Considering all the other advancements in the field against the age of the A3 (ten years?), I would have expected lower prices. This is trully a great unit and if you find one, let me know...

Very, very easy to use. Anyone with basic processing skills can skip the manual to program. I really love the card slot to load and backup programs!

I have my A-3 setup with a Alesis Quadraverb in the effects loop of my Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp. Sounds great. I use the +4 db switch. Some of the effect patches are a little hissy. Other than that I really like it.

I own two. My main unit had the problem with the output jacks of coming unsoldered. The other unit had a circuit go bad and I had to get it repaired. I have owned both for about 3-4 years

Has been good. You have to go to an authorized dealer. Korg would not allow me to send the unit directly to them. I found a great tech in St. Louis.

I have had trouble locating sound cards. Thank the Lord, after searching for a couple of years I think I have located someone who is selling theirs. It would be cool if the sound cards and blank disk (mcr-03) were priced lower. I love the A-3!! Gonna keep it a long time. PLEASE E-MAIL IF YOU HAVE CARDS FOR SALE!!

Very easy to use (once you've learned the functionality). Sound quality is VERY high. Much better than most processors in the same (or lower) price range. Manual is poor.

I use as a studio effect and as a guitar processor. Effects are great (especially the reverb, compression, and noise gate). Distortion patches are pretty good too.

Very reliable. Output jacks (1/4 inch) on back of unit begin to loosen after years. Could lead to problems.....

N/A

Very good machine overall. I wish more people owned it. I'd like to trade patch settings with others since KORG charges a RIDICULOUS price for addiotional sound cards. I highly recommend this unit. Fantastic with acoustic guitar. Also, great vocal effects.

The A3 is fairly easy to use. With 6 knobs on the front panel that map up the LCD display it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out but it does take a couple of button presses to change a parameter. You cannot see the name of the parameter at the same time as the level readout so you always have to jump between the knob name and the knob value screens as you make adjustments. With an extra RAM card there are 200 patches, more than enough. The manual is OK but as the unit is relatively easy to learn you never really have to refer back to it once you have mastered the basics.

When I first bought it I thought the A3 sounded great, however now that I have had it a couple of years, and also now that I have managed to check it against other processors I am less than happy with it. There is no question that it has a very poor frequency response which is especially noticable on low frequency notes, it chops the bottom off whatever goes throught it and it does this even in bypass so beware. Compared with valve preamps, that are now becoming more popular, the distortion algorithms are weak and highly compressed. The unit is alo very noisy again compared with more recent preamps like the GSP-2101.I have just moved to a Digitech GSP-2101 and didn't realize what I was missing in terms of lost clarity through the A3. As a second hand unit for a couple of hundred dollars it's OK but I would never buy this in preference to a real tube preamp.

For a gigging unit it is not that wellbuilt, the weakest point is the circuit mounted input jack that I have had to solder back on several times. My unit is also giving me problems with MIDI exclusive dumps and recall. If you gig with it then figure a way round the input jack problem. My unit also has a broken Up arrow key. And I treat gear with ultimate care.

They are helpful and I found quick to respond.

Four years ago it was a good buy. Nowadays don't waste your money on one, go for the real thing and get a valve preamp with digital control such as the GSP-2101

Very easy to use. Cool presets, I have the device since 1989 and still work with some. I only needed the manual for details about certain parameters.

For guitar, the sound kicks butt. Although, a Behringer compressor and a Lexicon reverb are what I prefer for vocals and stuff...

IMHO, it is reliable. I only have one problem: The output of both channels seems to differ slightly. Feed it with a mono-signal, bypass it and check the stereo-output...

For guitar, Yamaha FX 900/500 and Marshall JMP-1 also seem pretty cool. The A3 *does* help me make music, because of the ease-of-use.

The A3 is reasonably easy to use IF you have the extra sound cards for your particular needs. Of course, the studio whiz kids program their effect chains from the scratch, but the rest of us are more comfortable in tweaking a preset to suit.

When it works OK, it sounds great. But... look at the reliability dept.

As the others have said, A3 sounds good and is easy to tweak. However, I beg to differ on the reliability issue. I bought mine from a metal/funk band guitarist who used it in his live rig. No, he was NOT particularly destructive about it, but... The connectors are the big problem. They are soldered to the circuit board with no fastening to the chassis. That means that the solder connections WILL break eventually. I will replace all the connectors the day I find replacements small enough to fit in. At the moment mine has no front panel sockets for instrument input or headphones as they didn't function and caused troubles to the rest of the unit. Anyway, the A3 will stay as a part of my home studio setup.

It's a good box. I'd buy it again if the price is reasonable and the unit is in perfect condition.

The programing is great I can dial my perfect sound in minutes. I use a sound much like Randy Rhoads used in Tribute.

The distortion is great I can't tell the difference from the digital to my old anolog units. The reverb just rocks I can almost overpower my distortion with reverb. The overall sound is consistantly powerfull and crisp.

Solid Metal construction - very stout. I have had mine for five years and it has never let me down !!! What backup ? NOTHING replaces the A3 !!!

I Wish I could find another one. I love the sound. I tried severl other procecerss none gave me the sound I wanted. I would like one more RAM card location for more effects at one time. The A3 is my crutch I am my most creative when playing with it. I would really like to know why Korg discontinued this great machine.

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