Korg AX1G Guitar Multieffects

This effects unit is fairly simple to use, though it is a pain to have to scroll through the menus to get to the disired effect to be preseted. I don't have much recollection of the manual, so I guess it is not that important to use this unit.

I play a Gibson SG Standard through an old Marshall Reverb 12 amplifier. The modulation effects are decent, and the delay effects are okay. The main problem is that if no drive is selected, then the level of the effect drops to minimal. If you want the effect clean, then you must select the compression effect on for it to be anywhere near audible, but the compression is awful. I don't notice any difference between clean and compression, accept for that the compression adds lots of digital sounding noise to your sound. The other drive settings (distortion, fuzz and overdrive) sound really bad. They do not give you the feeling that they are real at all, and sound very grainy with way too much high frequency in them. This box has the some of the worst sounding distortion I have ever heard on it. The wah and volume functions using the expression pedal are not very good either.

This unit is very reliable. The only problems that I have had are when I plug the cables into the wrong jacks (i.e. Guitar into the "output" jack) by accident...

I have never used the customer support.

I play pretty much all styles of music, but this unit is not much help for any of them. It mostly gets in the way of my sound. I have it looped into another switch box, and use it primarily as a tuner. I am pretty sure that they do not make this unit anymore, so I doubt any one will be buying one anyways, but if you are thinking of purchasing this unit, you may want to reconsider.

Quite easy considering how much stuff is in it. The manual is good. Editing patches is very intuitive, simple really.

Well, as with all multi-fx pedals, this one will have things to praise and things to boo. In all fairness, it is not the top of the line, $400 multi-fx unit of today. It's low priced, and a bit out-dated, like your computer you bought in 2000. But it gets the job done.

For what it is, it's actually a nice little unit. Surprisingly good. I like Korg's multi-units much better than Digitech's.

Overdrives are tasteful, Distortion 2 is good, fuzz is bad until you EQ it right (heavy on the bass), otherwise it will split open your ear drums.

The compressor is very good.

I found the chorus to be tasteful and rich, the phaser gives good EH and Boss emulations, and the flanger has an interesting tone... a bit thin, but still good... it doesn't really sound like other flangers I've owned (Boss, EH).

The expression pedal is short on travel, but it does the job. It's great for whammy (very smooth shifting), but the wah leaves something to be desired. I believe the word is "balls."

Tremolo and vibrato are nice too...

I think this is a good choice for anyone, really. Some of the effects may not be to your liking, but for the price, it's a solid little pedal (plastic casing notwithstanding).

Pretty easy, even for a multi-effect pedal. I have the manual, but didn't need it to figure out how to edit.

The travel on the expression pedal is pretty short.

Most effects are good. The chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and vibrato effects are particularly good-- very smooth and tasteful. Overdrive is good at low setting (great for solos), but I found it more difficult to find a pleasing, high distortion setting. It can be done, but it takes some tweaking.

The fuzz, also, with enough tweaking, is good. I can make it sound ALMOST identical to my Big Muff, though there was something missing... probably some particular notch in the frequency.

Echo effects are tame and not particularly useful... good thing I have a seperate echo pedal. Reverb is okay.

Pitch shifting is surprisingly good... more realistic than the Boss PS-3... smooth transitings with the whammy function.

The filter is good... not moog good, but good nonetheless. I enjoy the ability to control the filter, modulation effects, echo and other perameters via the expression pedal. W/ the flange, you can manually sweep from high to low w/ said pedal... cool! There is lots of fun stuff to explore.

The scratch function is fun, though I haven't found a use for it yet. The sample and reverse sample are also fun, but too short.

All in all, this is a nice multi-fx unit, for not much money.

3 years, no problems.

I play various kinds of rock and pop. This unit gives me all sorts of sounds and options. I would recommend this to anyone, beginner or advanced. I use it in conjunction w/ various pedals, but one could concievably get along w/ just the Korg and a good delay pedal. Plus, it's not huge like some other multi-fx units... nice.

I learnt quickly how to change the patches, maybe the pedal-controlled functions took a little longer. But it's easy to use, a good multi-effect for the beginner. The tuner is alright, too. It's useful to have it in the box.

The lead distorsion fits me very well, and maybe the other "dist 1" too, but i can't get any decent metal sound, and I think there could have been more different distorsions in it.
Some of the effects are horrible, some are great. It has some great clean sounds, but I never use some of the other effects. I'm using a Fender Strat with my 30-watt amp. I feel that the Korg gives me some variation, the amp-distorsion is too boring.

It's plastic, but it feels and looks OK. But two of my three transformers have broken during use, I don't know why.

Never dealed with them.

It's good for a beginner, but I plan to buy a zoom gfx-5 instead of this, I'd like more features and distorsions.

It's pretty intuitive to use. I did look at the manual to figure out the loop/sample/scratch thing though... which is the beginning of my review: it sucks.

I have a Jackson explorer-body guitar. I cannot remember the model - fortunately it's not cheap enough to have it stamped on the neck or something ;). Stock Jackson humbuckers still in place. I run that into an Ibanez P7 phaser into a Danelectro Blue Paisley overdrive pedal (great pedal, btw) and into the AX1G. I have a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal on the way because I refuse to use the garbage distortion in this AX1G. All of that goes into a 15-watt Marshall paperweight that distorts much better than the A1XG.

When this disposable plastic box arrived, I was quite disappointed. I am a Korg fan (on the keyboard end of the biz) and I'm shocked that they treat their guitar players like this! There is little pedal travel, and what little there is - is too stiff. The wah and every other pedal-controlled effect, IMO, is unusable due to this.

Distortion is very weak. Overdrive is weak. The pitch effects are... wait... I'm going to have to say the whole damn thing sucks.

I spent more time trying to find a decent use for this thing than learning how to use it. Okay, the chorus is nice. The delay is okay. I did finally find a use for it: a noise gate. The 'noise reduction' is pretty good. I dialed in a setting that works for me and it silences all my pedals, line noise, etc.

It should be noted that I am a novice guitar player. But I am a senior production engineer for (I'll omit the name). I know quality and I've turned this box inside out looking for it. I would never (shudder) record with this.

If the build quality is even 1/2 that of Korg's synthesizers, it will last. Korg is sticking it to you real guitarists in sound quality though.

I've not dealt with customer support. I've dealt with Korg on endorsements and the like and its made up of some great people. And as long as they keep sending me free gear, I'll keep thinking that too. Maybe Korg has come around with guitar stuff lately, I really only know about the synths and this one guitar device they made.

Again, I'm shocked at Korg. Apparently its resources are funneled into its synth line.

It was my first Multi-Effects Processor which was made in Japan.I bought it in 1999.And I still use it for practice although I'd had the GNX 3 and Behringer V-Amp 2.To edit the tone is so easy that I could adjust it without looking it.I read the manual when I used it for first,but soon I put it away.

My rencent setup are an ESP Eclipse FR!?and an old Charvel Strat into a Conquest T65R Combo.
The Chorus effect is so good,so is the overdrive.Usually I'd like to close the cabinet modeling when I play the AX1G 'cause I connect it into the effect loop of my amp. It sounds smooth.
Distortion needs to be more crunch,I mean is not so HEAVY for me.Maybe it's enough for guitar solo but ain't so good for metal rhythm!
Wah Wah is not bad.

I know I've play it for so long,but I still want to say that some buttons of my AX1G need to be prepaired.5 Years is not a vacation,but not a decay too......

Never contact with them.

I play Progressive Metal and Thrash Metal.And I'd like to play some like jazz or blues in common.This material is suit for different style---but suck for record.I've played for 5 years,my first guitar is a solid green Samick guitar(somehow like JS...but I really don't know the name of it...) ,and I had a GNX3!?a Metal Master,and a V-Amp 2#?they all worked amazing!The next one that I will buy might be the GNX2,'cause it's good for live and recording---by the way,I need the Whammy badly!
I think the Tone Works and the Tonelab are collided.I don't need the ring effect but really need more Amp modeling.That's what I want to say.

Its a verry easy beginners panel.
Also works great on-stage (used it in a little ballroom for over 200 people). The distortion's are verry good and I never had problems with adjusting the pedal for my own great sounds!
I never used the manual, so I don't rate it.

I'm mostly using my room amp. It's an Ibanez 15 watt's bass amp. reset to a guitar amp. I can get a real great whah with this amp and with the adjustible bass you can get a real metal/gothic distortion (dist. used by Korn/Soulfly/Cradle of Filth).

I was tuning my guitar once on the pedal and forgot to turn it back in effect mode. When i smashed the strings the pedal went off but a couple hours later it worked again! I was stunned!

Never used the C.S.

Mostly I play Blues/Rock/Metal/Grunge(Nirvana, Pearl Jam, NIN).
It's perfect for playin' Nirvana shit!

Very easy to use. I didn't need the manual.

Good clean sounds, as everyone says. The chorus is nice. Flanger and phaser are good too. I enjoy the whammy effect ... good w/ distortion for a My Bloody Valentine "Loveless" sound. Good compression. I didn't think the distortions were that bad. The fuzz and Distortion 2 are good, overdrive is good... it all depends on how you eq it... if you don't eq it right, it will of course sound like merde. That goes with all distortion effect... all sounds in general, really. EQ editing on the pedal is nice. Backwards sample is fun but short. DJ scratch is fun, as is ring modulator. The filter effect is awesome!

Wah is okay, but a little weak. Trebly for my tastes.

I've had it for several years with no problems.

Very nice little multi pedal. I use it with various other effects... I wouldn't use it as a stand alone, but even just as a compressor it's worth the money... cheaper than, say, a boss compressor, less noisy, sounds better, and plus you get a bunch of other fx with it, some great, some rather fetid, but those is the breaks.

Very easy to use. Editing is a bit slow, but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. I really hate changing the name of patches, because you have to cycle through the ASCII character set, which is slow. The manual is fine and useful for reminding you of the stock settings if you're looking for ideas.

Actually, the sound quality isn't bad, if you use it right. I think the stock settings are pretty bad. They sound cheesy, thin and generally lack luster. They do catch your ear the first time you hear them, but you tire quickly and get annoying.

However, I've come across a way to use this pedal that really is great. I don't use it as a direct box, but to drive a Kustom Tube 12 (two actually -- in stereo!) It sounds really great. I've created a couple of patches using the Line DS and Line OD and through the Kustom, man, it sounds really great. The Kustom adds warmth that is missing from the direct out signal and the AX1G is capable of driving things so that some really nice and natural break up happens with the tube preamp. I typically have the Kustom set like this: bass - 9, treble 5 or 6 and the thing totally rocks. When I run into 2 Kustoms, I get a really nice live stereo sound that really sounds great. I would highly recommend this set-up as it's cheap (AX1G ~ $50, Kustom ~ 70) and very lightweight. For $180 you have a very useable tube-sounding set-up. The AX1G provides everything you need for effects and the Kustoms give you that tube warmth. My rating is pretty high with this set-up. I plan to post the specific settings of my patches on a website TBA.

Others have had problems. I haven't.

Can't say.

Overall, I'd give a fairly high rating for it's flexibility. If you drive a tube amp -- even a small one like the Kustom -- you can get some really great sounds for practice, recording and doing small gigs. I got the idea to use it this way from the Kustom 12 reviews here, and it was a good thing to do!

It's very easy to use. There are tons of presets to choose from, and you can easily edit them to make your own settings. I got this when i first started playing, and I had no problems figuring it out. It even has the presets listed in the manual in case you need to get one back.

My setup is a 1988 Charvel Model 4 into a Peavey 5150 combo. I originally used this pedal with a cheapo Marshall MG10CD. It was fine for when I was first getting started, but I would never dream of using it with my Peavey.

I tried using it for recording recently. It was the first time in over 6 months that I had used it. I had forgotten just how bad the sound from this thing was. I was running straight from the pedal into the mixer.

Clean sounds are actually decent. My clean setting that I had logged with a little bit of chorus and delay sounded quite good, and was noise free on the recording.

The distortion on the other hand, is just aweful. It is impossible to get a semi-full sounding low gain distortion out of this box. And the high-gain distortion just sounds like a chainsaw.

Effects that can actually be used on this pedal are chorus, delay, and (kind of) distortion. The wah is useless, along with just about everything else.

I gave it a 3 and not a 1 simply because of the clean sounds.

My first AX1G was defective, and I had to go back to the guitar shop to get a new one. That one works well most of the time, but it will randomly cut out, even with new batteries.

I wouldn't gig with this without a backup. I would'nt gig with this period if I had a choice.

Never dealt with the company. Just returned my defective pedal to the guitar shop.

I play a very wide range of music. I'll play lots of thrash such as Slayer, old Metallica and Megadeth. Then I'll move on to progressive stuff like Dream Theater and Symphony X. I even try my hand at shred songs once in a while. With one band I play a mix of punk and metal, and the other softer stuff, sometimes using an acoustic.

I've only been playing for about 2 years now. I don't use any effects right now; I just go straight into my 5150.

If it was stolen, I'd make a half-assed attempt to get it back, then give up. If I could find a buyer, I'd sell it any day.