Korg AX1500G

Controls are easy. Well labled once. I was able to create a custom sound from scratch in the store while I was trying it out and it sounded awesome through a cheap practice amp.

Manual is decent too but really not needed after about 10 minutes just playing around with it.

I'm using this in line with a dunlop 535Q wah pedal, boss stereo chorus pedal, and an Analog man orange compressor. Guitar is a Carvin DC135 with an Allan Holdsworth humbucker in teh bridge and a Fender Texas special in the neck. Amp is a Carvin MTS combo.

I'm not sure what these other guys who are bitching about the noise are doing because this thing is quiet as a mouse. The noise reduction is fantastic and with a little playing around with teh threshold, I got it to cut out just perfectly.

Effects are pretty nice. There are some usless ones of course like the gay ass ring modulator. HAHAHA What were they thinking!?

I can get a LOT of my favorite artist's sounds with this thing. It's almost unbelievable. Eddie's original sound from his VH1 and 2 albums are a piece of cake, Steve Vai is a snap along with the dire straights "money for nothing" les paul tone. With the texas special, I've pretty much nailed David Gilmore's sound from pink floyd's pulse album along with the Edge's sound from U2 (when we play "where the streets have no name" people swear that it's a recording of the song they're hearing!)

The distortions are all amazing. You really do need to sit down and spend some time playing around with the different parameters and also play around with different cab types and those settings also. They can make a big difference on how the sound comes out and I've noticed that the cab settings are the key to some of the signature sounds.

This has been gigging with me for the better part of a year now and hasn't let me down yet. It's definately THE main part of my rig. If I didn't have it, I'd have to go back to my old Korg G1 distortion processor!!

never dealt with them but their online support looks pretty decent.

I play everything from metallica to megadeth, tool, allman bros, phish, pearl jam, zeppelin, SRV you name it. This thing can do it ALL!

I've been playing for about 11 years now and this unit has helped me take my playing to new horizons with it's broad tonal spectrum. Steve vai and Joe Satriani use one. That's reason enough to go get one!

I'd definately have to have another if this one got broken or stolen but it's built like a tank so I don't forsee the first option happeneing anytime soon.

If any of you are interested in different parameter and program settings that I'm using, feel free to send me an email!

ANTES DE LEER ESTE "USER REVIEW", TE SERVIRIA MUCHO LEERTE EL MANUAL (lo puedes bajar en formato PDF de la pagina de Korg), YA QUE VOY A USAR TERMINOS BASTANTE ESPECIFICOS Y ES IMPORTANTE QUE TENGAS UN BUEN MAPA MENTAL DEL APARATO. LO QUE TRATO DE HACER AQUI ES PONER TODA LA INFO QUE (obviamente) NI KORG NI NADIE VA A PONER NUNCA EN UN MANUAL. :o) Esta advertencia no debe asustarte, lo digo ahora, pero se aplica a todas las categorias.
Este multiefectos es lo mas simple de usar que jamas he provado. En esta pagina uno se cansa de leer "con solo apretar un boton, la maquina te hace un cafe...(??)", pero en este caso es literal, LO JURO. Los diferentes tipos de efectos (que son 6: amp, cab, modulation, pedal, ambience y noice reduction/program level) estan separados en distintos botones de seleccion, cada uno con su respectiva perilla tipo "chicken head" para selecionar un efecto en particular y 5 perillas (knobs) comunes para los distintos parametros, por lo que si quieres agregar un efecto de ambiencia (ambience), lo puedes hacer apretando el boton de ese tipo de efectos, seleccionando el efecto que desees con la perilla tipo "chicken head" y luego usando las perillas peque?as para especificar los parametros.
La opcion del modo "INDIVIDUAL" es extremadamente util y facil de usar: esto te permite "entrar" en la configuracion del programa y modificarlo con los footswichs (es decir, puedes encender o apagar los distintos tipos de efectos independientemente unos de otros). Por asi decirlo, es como transformar la pedalera en una serie de pedales de efectos individuales, lo cual es muy util para "ahorrar espacio" y usar un programa por cancion en vez de tres, por ejemplo.
Lo que me costo entender al principio (y que tuve que deducirlo ya que en el manual no daban cuenta de ello) es que al pedal de expresion se le asignan EFECTOS, NO PARAMETROS. Esto es un tanto extra?o en una pedalera de este tipo, pero una vez que lo entendi, me termino sirviendo mas a favor que en contra. Esto significa que el pedal funciona independiente de los "bancos de efectos" de modulacion, ambiencia, amp y cabinet. Voy a poner un ejemplo a modo de explicacion: tienes un programa al que le quieres agregar un chorus con el pedal. Lo que tienes que hacer es apretar el boton "pedal", seleccionar con la perilla "chicken head" el efecto (chorus en este caso) y modificar los parametros con las perillas peque?as. De esta manera tendras EN EL PEDAL el efecto de chorus, que se encendera o apagara paulatinamente dependiendo del movimiento que ejerzas sobre el pedal. Esto tambien significa que no puedes tener un efecto de tipo modulacion en el pedal y en el "banco de efectos" de la modulacion a la vez.
El aparato cuenta con un footswitch para subir de banco y una combinacion de dos footswitchs para bajar. Lo bueno es que si estas tocando con un programa de un banco y quieres pasar a otro, no tienes el tipico tiempo limite de 5 segundos hasta que se vuelva al banco original.

La calidad del sonido de este aparato es bastante buena, realmente me deja muy satisfecho en este aspecto. En el "banco de efectos" de los amplificadores ("amp"), hay algunos que personalmente no me gustan, pero se los puede ecualizar de tal manera que suenen muy bien. Ademas tienes muchas opciones, ya que puedes combinar un tipo de amplificador con otro tipo de cabinet, mas todos los parametros y modificaciones que puedas hacer en tu guitarra (bajar tono, seleccionar tal o cual pastilla)... las opciones son miles.
Sin embargo, tienes que dedicarle mas tiempo a los canales limpios que a los distorsionados; como tienes muchas mas opciones del segundo tipo que del primero, hacer sonar exactamente como quieres los sonidos limpios es un tanto laborioso.

Si no me equivoco, esta es practicamente la unica pedalera del mercado CONSTRUIDA ENTERAMENTE DE METAL, incluso por abajo, esta hecha de un metal muy duro y pesado. Lo unico que no es de metal son las perillas, los botones y los footswitchs, los cuales estan hechos con un plastico especial de alta densidad que los hace indestructibles.
El plastico del visor es el plastico mas barato y facil de romper que jamas haya visto. Si lo presionas con un poco de fuerza sera mas que suficiente para que lo rompas, y ni quiero imaginar que sucedera si algo le cae encima. En este sentido, Korg ha dejado mucho que desear.
Volviendo a los aspectos positivos, algo que nadie menciona es que el aparato esta hecho de tal forma que su peso esta distribuido uniformemente en toda la pedalera (no es mas pesado el costado del pedal o viceversa), por lo que si tienes que tocar en un escenario o lugar con leves desniveles de suelo, no tienes que preocuparte por que se caiga para un lado o para otro, o de dejarla en equilibrio. Ademas, tiene 5 gomas antiderrapantes en la parte de abajo, por lo que no se correra de donde la dejes.
Otro aspecto positivo es que cada vez que la prendes, la pedalera comenzara a funcionar EN EL ULTIMO PROGRAMA QUE HAYAS UTILIZADO ANTES DE APAGARLA, por lo que en el caso extremo de que se desconecte en vivo, al encenderla no deberas "correr" a buscar el programa que hayas estado utilizando. Aun asi, cerca de la entrada de la fuente de energia hay un gancho para enrollar el cable, por lo que esto no sucedera.

Sencillamente, no he tenido que lidiar con ellos...

A modo de conclusion debo agregar que EN LO PERSONAL, esta pedalera me ha servido muchisimo. He leido otras criticas que hablan muy mal del aparato, pero esas criticas no tienen en cuenta que se trata de un multiefectos relativamente chico, no hace de todo, pero hace mas que suficiente para este tipo de aparato. La relacion precio-calidad es MUY buena. Mi consejo (tanto para este como para cualquier aparato que estes pensando adquirir) es que lo pruebes: no te quedes con la opinion que cualquiera te pueda dar. Solo trato de ayudar, pero es algo a tener en cuenta.

Cualquier duda o comentario, por favor no dudes en escribirme.

Pretty easy to use. I could use most of it features, without having the manual (it was borrowed from a friend).

Have been using it with a ESP LTD V350 (vith SD Custom-Custom and '59) and a Jackson Warrior XT (stock pups).

This thingy is NOISY AS HELL. I can't even see how you can actually get away with all that noise pouring over your sound, really.

Also, the distortion models are so weak - you can basically hear that it's cheap digital distortion. At one moment I thought I was playing on a Zoom 505ii with metal casing and expression pedal.

The effects are okay, I guess. But being so noisy makes the unit useless.

Also the acoustic guitar simlation is laughable at. They shoudn't have included it if it's so weak.

From what I can gather, this is a glorified Zoom 505ii in a metal case and with more options to add noise to your signal. Ah yes, and with an expression pedal attached (too bad the expression effects are weak).

My tip: Go A/B tis with a Behringer V-Amp 2. You'll see the difference. If you don't literally stampede your gear, I see no use for the metal case anyway.

Can't tell. Only had it for four days before giving it back.

No idea.

I play old-school rock, hard rock, metal, blues and even pop. Been doing it for some time, too.

First of all, I wouldn't buy this unit to start with. Korg should stick to making the wonderful keyboards and tuners that they do and not make a (gently said) half-assed guitar multi-effects pedal.

And yes, metal casings are totally over-rated - they shoulda invested in the R&D for better sounds and less noise instead of putting money in a 'nice' case.

Oh, and swithcing banks down is totally idiotic - how on Earth am I supposed to do that stupid tap-dance of pressing two buttons simmultaneously with my foot and then confirming my selection with another button press?!

Don't buy this online, go to a shop and A/B it with a Behringer V-Amp 2 or even a Zoom 707ii. I think you'll make your own mind afterwards.

Turning knobs to select the effects, then setting em with other knobs... yes its a very easy to use multi-effect. You don't have to spend 30 min to program your own effects, its pretty intuitive.

Some sounds are pretty good but others leak of quality. half of drive amps create or amplifiate noise and generate harassing feedback while i'm practicing with the band. The effects that use the expression pedal are not pretty good too, but the modulation effects and the echo/reverb effects are perfect. Theses effects are the reasons why i keep it.

Good for practicing and live, but not perfect for studio. You can't rely on the drive amps for a great studio performance... better buy a disto stomp box and let her do the job, and use the AX1500G for modulation, echo and reverb.

The korg ax1500g is extremely easy to use. Just flicking the switch, push a button and it's done. It has all the different options printed on it so there is no confusion of where to find anything. Editing on this is simple aswell, just turn the nob and save it. The use of a manual is really neaded unless your going to use the record function. This is the latest unit so has all the latest features. It is pretty much exactly the same as the previous one, the only difference is the appearance of it.

I use a Marshall TSL 100 head, custom made quad with JBL speakers. Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah and Jim Dunlop Gain pedal. The drive amp (distortions) sound extremely good. The only one i hate is the acoustic simulater because it has this ugly hiss to it. The cabnit options sound ok aswell. I don't really use these much though, only on 1 effect. The pitch shifters on here have a bit of a delay which i dislike aswell and the expresion pedal effect sound shocking aswell. The wah simulation is more like an on/off switch than an actual wah pedal. The echo and reverb effects are fine. I can't say anything bad about them.

This pedal is extremely reliable. I take this pedal everywhere i play because i know it can take a bit of a beating. I use a seperate power supply because i don't really want lots of power leads everywhere, it frees up space. Also with the power supply, the cable can get damaged. It swivels a bit on the actual power pack. I like the idea but i managed to damage this.

I haven't had the need to deal with the company so i can't really say anything here.

I play heavy metal / rock / blues and a little bit of pop (on the very rare ocation). This pedal covers all of them very nicely. I've been playing for 13 years. I am currently saving up for a wireless system and i'm going to buy a digitech gnx4 multi effects unit to replace my korg. The korg is really good if all u want is a pedal. If u want to record, use a drum machine or have extra outputs this is not the pedal for u. With the aid of a seperate expresion pedal such as my Morley Wah, the korg ax1500g is really nice.

Relatively easy. LAst time I used this type of processor was DigiTech RP-10. Two different approaches to editing presets.

I play ESP Viper and EC plus Ibanez RG-470L. Through HK Warp T or at home Marshall MG100DFX.

I use it mainly on "Individual mode" (every button is on/off fx than changung preset). Through amp, you can turn off the cab emulator.. Sounds better than way, at least for me.. With cab-emu it's great for straight to mixer recording after little adjustment..

Clean sounds are good after bit of fine tuning for one's own style..

With amp I use mainly chorus, delay, reverb etc. but sometimes slight distortion from Korg and some OD from amp. Gives nice buzz after bit of fine tuning.. ;)

Owned it only for few days, but it has already survived two dobermanns and a 5yr old kid. Nuke proof?

No need yet.

I play mainly metal; down-tuned, hard and heavy..

I bought the gadget for recording and have used it at home. I wouldn't take it to gigs. Even though the sturdy case, buttons are small and close to each other. I don't think it would survive a gig with us.. Still, even most stomp-boxes give up after a while.

It's very easy!!! I bought it 3 days ago, read the manual, and now I copy Vai's sound. The AX1500G resource on the net help me understanding patch on this thing a lot!! The patch like Queen etc is good but need extra tweaking on knob before you write it. No wonder, we are using different guitar and pickup, huh?
If someone said this thing is not easy: READ THE MANUAL and DO MORE GOOGLING!!!!

For my own sound: Washbur lyon => AX (Brit-stack + 4x12 vintage). Sometimes I use it with Stereo Amp (bedroom) and sometimes I use it with Blue Voodoo (studio). Little tweak on the eq setting, but still sound great.
I can do lead sound like Vai on "For The Love of God", very close enough to make my drummers perfect ear's amazed. Now I'm still working on Vai's Rhythm sound and of course working on my very own sound!
I'm still in love with Brit Stack and delay.

I'm agree with tother on this user review. This thing built like a tank.
For a Gig? I will give it a chance.

The dealer said this thing is 1 year guarantee and they are very-very friendly.

I played from Zeppelin, GNR, Purple to Helloween. This thing helps a lot.
I've been playing guitar for 7 years now. I owned washburn lyon with humb pickup. So if I can sound pretty close to Vai sound with this low budget FX, then this thing is very greaaat device!!!
How if it were stolen? I will buy another one.
I love the cabinet sound, but why the A/B channel just for drive amps and cabinet? Why not all 5 effect chain in whole A or B channel? I hate that... I wish it had intelegent harmonizer fx.
I do compare with GT-6 but don't like the price the dealer gave me. GT-6 is a cool device, so is AX1500G. Also tried Zoom, but don't like the distortion color. I'm low budget, so I bought this one (and it is perfect choice!). If I'm a big budget guitarist, i'll buy boss and morley pedals... :)

It's very easy to get a good sound out of it. Altough I'm not quite fond of the overdrive contained in this fx. I only use it for my delays, chorus etc.

I run my Korg AX1500 through the fx loop of a Marshall JCM900. Since I only use it for chorus and other modulation fx, it sounds great. Like said before, I'm not fond the distortion in the fx.
For distortions fx I'm using a Boss gx700 19"multifxunit.

There are a few things that are not so good,that's the adapter contained with the fxunit. I dropped it out of my hand one time and it din't live to tell the story.
Also one of the troubles I had, was that my wah turned lame on me, but after tightening the bolts again I've never had the problem again

I've never had to deal with this problem

My music style differs from blues to hard rock and metal. Once again I'm coming back to the distortion unit. It's doesn't quite make it to any of the musical styles. But if your only using the chorus, delays etc... It's great. If my korg should brake down, I won't by a new one. But that's just because I've got my eye set on an TC Electronic.

I must admit, it's not the easiest thing to know how to use. The manual doesn't explain things properly at all. Once you do know how to use it, the interface is good; not overly complex.

I don't know what some other people are talking about, but the sound quality of this thing is AWESOME! There are a few things to keep in mind however...
-Don't bother using the cabinet simulators through a guitar amp, it will sound like garbage. That's not what that feature is for.
-Nowhere on this unit does it say "Marshall" or "Vox". It does not sound like another amp, it has generalized sound categories which, in my opinion, are MUCH more useful. You get WAY more flexibility with this unit than something that simulates 10 different kinds of overdrive amps that all sound the same.
-This unit is super-wicked for the STUDIO. When using the ax1500g direct in with the cabinet simulators turned to the line in setting, you can get some AWESOME tone! If I could give it an 11 out of 10 I would.

It is a solid unit. It has NOT let me down with any goofy glitches or sudden sound squeels. The memory has always worked.

When I bought the unit from a store, the dummies lost the AC adaptor. We eventually found a BOSS adapter that worked, but when I tried to double check the voltage/current rating for the AC/DC input, I couldn't find it. Nothing in the manual, nothing on the website. That's the only time I had to use support.

This thing has been a godsend in the studio. It definitely helps making music a lot. I couldn't get along without it, I will always have one with me. It really is THAT good!
ONE NOTE HOWEVER
-It is awesome for the studio, but I agree with some other opinions here about how inadequate it is for live situations. I can't use this thing live. Buttons are too small, and having to press 2 buttons together to scroll down the banks is WAY too impractical. I'm also paranoid that someone will step on one of the knobs, and then I'd have to kick their ass.

It real easy to use if you have messed with things like this before. Editing patches is really easy, but changing them is a bitch! The pedals are small and to close together. I have stared to play in just my socks so I can change patches. When playing live in the mist of all the chaos it hard to put your big size 13 Boot on a little pedal thats 1/2 inch a way from the other one. I also do not like the 2 button step to bank down.

The sound quality is great(with a eq pedal after it). All of these people that are giving bad reviews (because it does not replicate good enough) need to realize that NOTHING is going to sound like a Marshall but a Marshall. It partly Korg fault for advertising that but buy now everyone should know what DIGITAL PROCESSOR ARE LIKE AND ABOUT. Anyway, The distortion are great for Metal and anything harsh or ballsy. If your looking for something thats warm and perfect this is not it. The effects are good but I do not really get to deep in the effects. The vox wah, I think is worse that other processors that I have heard but still is ok. The cleans sound great but im not that picky on my clean sound as I am on my gain.

Ive had mine for a year and it still running

Never had deal with them

If your looking to play Metal or something harsh it perfect. It does not modle anything that I can compare it to. It has its own sound and I was able to creat a sound for my band that is not comparable to most bands. I have owned the Zoom GFX 8 and i must say that the zoom has more option concerning midi and effects loop and stuff but your locked in to one tone. The korg has about 5 distortion that i like. Go with Korg