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Korg AX3G

Summary
Price New Korg AX3G @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL http://www.korg.com/
Ease of Use 8.2 (18 responses)
Sound Quality 8.7 (18 responses)
Reliability 7.9 (12 responses)
Customer Support 6.0 (3 responses)
Overall Rating 9.2 (16 responses)
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Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 09/18/2009 at 10:56am by jtees4
Email: jtees4<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 10
I have had much more expensive units, both Boss and Korg. I bought this because I needed a small battery powered unit to go with my EH Freedom amp (Battery)...this way I can go completely cordless. Now I started using this my regular amps too. I do not use it for distortion...I specifically use it for compression and occasional echo. It sounds great!! It really does. And who cares if it's plastic, some plastic is more indestructible than metal anyway...and most more expensive units have plastic buttons anyway...and that's what usually breaks. It is easy to use, maybe not as intuitive as some others, but really not that hard...and I'm an old guy (51).

Sound Quality : 9
Great, really. Even the distortion which I don't use can sound real good with a lot of tweaking.

Reliability : 9
Yeah it's plastic, big deal. It either breaks or it does not. This is very sturdy.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
Perfect for what I use it for, works and sounds great, and super cheap. What more could I ask? In fact, I will pick up another as soon as I see one.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/03/2009 at 11:38am by Robert
Email: robidez<at>gmail dot com

Ease of Use : 10
Comparison to other multi-effects pedal this one is really easy to use.
Concise and straight forward.

Sound Quality : 7
Setup: fender strat and Classic 50
Flaws: It is noisy in one of the options of Drive/Amp mode
Effects: cuz i'm just using it at home i'm not really seeking any
specific tune with the device, but it can't really
get the tune the songs that i want to play, cannot control
the "phaser and wah" individually, in short terms there are
limited options in its functions but is good for its price.


Reliability : 7
I wont depend on it so much due to the material (plastic) i'll think twice before using it on a gig, however so far seems fine for home practice.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Refer to the manual

Overall Rating : 8
This pedal can pull out some jazz, blues and rock etc.
In the future i might consider to get another types of pedals but I would recommend people to use this effect pedal due to its ease of use. But what I hate is the reponse of the pedal, takes time, hard to play in an interval. I made this comment by comparing it to the zoom pedal G2.1 which proves harder to use rather than the AX3G.
With its affordability and the effects it provides i'm satsified.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 50
Submitted 03/02/2009 at 07:39pm by Mule

Ease of Use : 6
Not easy to use. Must learn to adjust, some standard settings are weak. Manuel not much help. It shines because the settings you worked on so hard to get perfect are save-able!!
I found this on the net for people to use. The poster stated this is the best he could do but may not be completley accurate.
Cab Models
c0 TWEED 1x8 open back Fender Tweed Champ cabinet with one 8" Alnico magnet speaker
c1 TWEED 1x12 open back 1953 Fender Tweed Deluxe 40 Watt cabinet with one 12-inch Fender Special Design Eminence Alnico
c2 TWEED 4x10 1959 Fender Bassman 50 Watt cabinet with four 10" Jensen P10R speakers with Alnico magnets
c3 BLACK 2x10 Fender Vibrolux Open back 40 Watt combo cabinet with two 10??? 8 Ohm Jensen P10R speakers with Alnico magnets
c4 BLACK 2x12 open back 1965 Fender Blackface Twin 100 Watt cabinet with two 12??? 8 Ohm Jensen C-12K speakers
c5 VOX AC15 1x12 Open back AC15 cabinet with a single 15 Watt 12" Celestion Alnico Blue loudspeaker
c6 VOX AC30 2x12 Open back AC30 cabinet with two 15 Watt 12" Celestion Alnico Blue speakers
c7 UK H30 Marshall 4x12 120 Watt cabinet with four 12" 30 Watt Celestion G12H speakers
c8 UK T75 Marshall 4x12 300 Watt cabinet with four 75 Watt 12" Celestion G12T-75 speakers
c9 US V30 Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Stiletto Traditional 240 W cabinet - four 60 Watt 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speakers

Amp Models
a0 BOUTIQUE CLEAN Dumble ODS 100 Watt Clean Channel
a1 BLACK 2x12 100 Watt Fender Twin Reverb
a2 AC15 VOX 1962 15 Watt channel 2
a3 AC30TB VOX 30 Watt Top Boost (Brilliant) channel
a4 UK 68P Marshall 1987X 50 Watt Plexi amp head High treble channel
a5 UK '80 Marshall JCM-800 2203 100 Watt amp head
a6 UK MODERN Marshall JCM-2000 Dual Super Lead 100 Watt amp head
a7 US MODERN Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier 100 Watt amp head

Drive Models
d0 TUBE OVERDRIVE Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-808
d1 BOUTIQUE OVERDRIVE Klon Centaur
d2 FAT DISTORTION Pro Co Rat
d3 ORANGE DISTORTION Boss DS-1 Distortion
d4 METAL ??? ???Simulates the metallic distortion of the 90???s??? Boss MT2 Metal Zone ?
d5 SHRED ??? ???Resembles the sound produced by a large amp stack??? Marshall Shred Master ?
d6 FUZZ Gibson Maestro FuzzTone
d7 OCTFUZZ Tycobrahe Octavia

Pre FX
f0 COMPRESSION MXR DynaComp
f1 PICKUP Humbucker/Single-Coil
f2 ACOUSTIC SIMULATOR
f3 WAH VOX wah pedals; the V847 and the V848 Clyde McCoy
f4 AUTO WAH Vox
f5 VIBRATO/PHASER
U1 UNI-VIBE Vibrato mode
U2 UNI-VIBE Chorus mode
or TC electronics XII Phaser
bL MXR phase 100
f6 CHORUS/FLANGER
f7 OCTAVE
f8 RING MODULATOR
f9 DRONE

Modulation
f0 CLASSIC CHORUS chorus and vibrato built into a Roland Jazz Chorus combo JC-90
f1 MULTI TAP CHORUS
f2 CLASSIC FLANGER ADA Flanger
f3 BI CHORUS unique to ToneWorks
f4 DUO PHASE Mutron Bi-phaser
f5 TREMELO models tremolo circuit in Fender Twin
f6 ROTARY Leslie stereo phaser
f7 PITCH SHIFTER
f8 RANDOM STEP FILTER
f9 FILTRON unique to ToneWorks

Delay/Reverb
f0 ECHO PLUS Echoplex
f1 MULTIHEAD tape echo unit Roland RE101 Space Echo?
f2 MODULATION DELAY Korg SDD-3000
f3 STEREO DELAY Korg DL8000R
f4 PP DELAY
f5 SLAPBACK ECHO
f6 SPRING REVERB modelled after Fender amps
f7 PLATE REVERB
f8 ROOM REVERB
f9 HALL REVERB

Sound Quality : 9
Learn to tweak it and you are on your way to inexpensive multi effects heaven. I used it through an Epi solid state and it sounded great. Used it through a Vox AD30 VT solid state hybrid sounded better. Used it through my new Super Champ Tube amp and a big WOW!! The sounds you are looking for for your studio, it's in there. The Police, Crazy Horse, Yes, No, etc.. etc.. all there. My fave, spot on ,is Robert Plant's "My Love is a Freeway". I owned it for a few years and I am still in love with it.

Reliability : 8
I bought it when it first came out about 3 years ago? and it still works perfectly. It is plastic so giging with it is possible. I would build a box for it and buy a backup in case you mistake it for your Fuzz Face and slam it like the gas pedal on your Mustang. I am looking for another one because they do not make these anymore.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never used them.

Overall Rating : 8
Due to it being plastic and the difficulty to learn, worth it, I do not give it a ten. I can't complain due to the price. I would replace it if it were stolen. It definitely helps me with my music. Recommended for the beginner to the pro. Something for everyone.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 50
Submitted 12/20/2008 at 12:15pm by fiestastrat

Ease of Use : 9
I rate this based on the $50 street price these go for. It was pretty easy to get going on it. I skimmed through the presets which as normal are overdone to show all the crazy sounds you can get. I pretty much started from scratch and build my own presets. The layout is pretty easy to figure out although the manual is no too helpful. The back has the various tweaks you can make for each effect. There is a lot of tweaking that can be done to dial in the sounds. They generally sound pretty good to start with though.
It is compact and fits in well with a small working situation.

Sound Quality : 9
I use very conservative old school tones for a jazz-blues band and similar for home practice. I use this pedal in two ways.
For gigs use I run it into fender tube combos and disable the modeling, so I am using it for effects and reverb only. The tone is muffled and poor sound when using the modeling functions, particularly the cab modeling. The rotary and u-vibe sounds are great as well as the reverbs.
For home use, I run it into headphones or into a home hifi system. I use the modeling features and get good ans sometime great sounds from it. I primarily use the fender blackface, AC3TB, 68 plexi and tube screamer (DO) and Klon (D1). I miss it not having any tweed fenders like some other Korg/Vox modelers. I think the sound quality is pretty passable and I think is better that what you would get from the real thing assuming you had to play reasonably quiet at home. This is why I have found myself using this quite a bit over real tube amps (I have several). The ability to throw in effects without digging through your analog pedal collection is a plus.
I have since compared this to a Digitech RP-150 and Vamp and these sound like crap for the tones I am seeking. I think those are better for heavy distortion sounds.

Reliability : 7
I purchased a backup in case as it could be crushed by a careless step. It is all plastic. Made in Japan surprisingly. I have dropped it a couple times without problem. I am sure some careless folks will need a more durable unit.

Customer Support : 7
No idea. The Korg website could use some updates but you can get manuals and such for their gear.

Overall Rating : 9
I have to rate this pretty high based on the price/performance factor. This was my first modeling unit that I purchased after reading a Guitar Player article on budget modeling pedals. I thought that I would give it a try. I was not impressed until I used it direct into an nice hifi system. I now use it for home practice and the effects part for gigs into a tube amp. I have thought about going direct sometime or buying a full range keyboard amp to run it through. But I still like my tube amps when I can open them up. I have since purchased an AX-3000g when they went on sale. It think this sounds 95% as good as that unit and has most of the functions and is more compact. It is easier to tweak settings on the Ax-3000g as it has more dedicated knobs. Unless you need that, I would suggest saving your money.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 06/25/2008 at 11:51pm by Jon Ingram

Ease of Use : 8
If you spend some time with it, it's very easy to get good sounds, and it it works well with other effects... I don't use the amp/distortion modelers because they don't sound very good IMO. They seem really muffled and lifeless, regardless of the different setting I've tried... They may sound better with a real amp, but I'm too ghetto to get one, so I play into a mixer going into my sound card. I would've expected the modelers to improve the sound at least a litte, but they don't do it for me... And I am NOT one of those complaintive, stuck up, "noting is ever good enough" tone snobs either! All the other effects are quite good, depending on how they are used (It's not hard to get a big, nasty digital-sounding mess if you want to, though!)
Editing/saving pataches takes a little time getting accustomed to, but it gets easier once you're familiar with it. Some parameters take a little guess work when trying to figure out how they should be set (Don't consult the AX3G manual for ANYTHING... It does not have any helpful info. at all!!! Aparently the AX1500G manual has the neccessary info. though.)

Sound Quality : 8
This unit is only noisy if you try to run it in a daisy chain (and GOD is it ******* noisy... all kind of hissing on several setting, and bleeps and bloops from the tuner when in BP...) There's little-to-no noise when using the corrdt adapter, though.
As stated above, the dist./modelers are pretty blah. The Wah sounds good and is very smooth, but if you like smooth "Whammy" effects, don't get this-- The PS is Chromatic, and it has some "artifacts", but only if you go to extreme settings. It's capable of very musical pitch-shifted effects though. The delays are really great for a cheap multi-effect, (I stress REALLY GREAT for a multi effect, not really great FOR A MULTI-EFFECT!-- There's a difference ;)) and so are the modulation effects. The Ring Mod leaves something to be desired, but is not all together terrible (It just seems pretty undynamic. not very "inspiring" to use.) The only effect on the AX3G that I still haven't gotten to really sound good was the "Drone" effect (A sort of Sitar simulation) It's an interesting effect, but it's a little bit confusing to set up to get a consistent sound (some notes ring longer than others, some seem to spike the output volume more than others... It's weird-- but in an annoying kind of way.)
If you're into Shoegaze, Post-Rock, and Dream Pop stuff, there's a lot of fun to be had. Using it's pitch shifter/delays in tandem with other delays/reverb/mod. pedals, you can get some great drones and what have you...
Oh, the tuner is quite handy too. It can get a tad confused sometimes, but it's still accurate.

Reliability : 9
It's plastic... Like, the whole damn thing seems to be made of plastic! That being said, the pedal is extremely compact, and has little "open space" inside that would make crushing it very easy. The plastic is thick and sturdy, and everything inside seems to be snug and secure... I believe it could really take a beating... I mean, you'd really have to want to destroy it to do so. Foot switches are snug and feel sturdy... They won't likely break from being stepped on, and the unit is incredibly light-weight. You could toss the thing like a frisbee.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No idea...

Overall Rating : 9
If you need a cheap, quality multi-effect, this is certainly worth looking into... I can't remember how much it was, but I think I payed roughly 40 dollars for it, so it's certainly more than reasonable, even if you only use the modulation/delay settings. Editing takes getting used to, the distortions are crummy, but everything else is quite good.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/01/2008 at 04:31pm by Sam

Ease of Use : 8
Takes a few minutes to get your head around the double functions of the controls but once the penny drops its easy. Editing is easy, but you dont get much information from the LED screen. But hey, you can get it for the change you take home from the pub. Manual is something you MUST read, its not great, but OK. The unit manages to sound good quite quickly. Pleasing little thing...

Sound Quality : 10
Guitars are vintage Gibson The Paul and modified affinity Squier. Can get noisy,) on high gain-level settings' but this is easy to put right. None of the effects are truly weak for the money, it manages to sound large and airy, but you MUST tweak! Presets are a no-no.
Amps are Vintage Roland hybrid and modern Bolt amps.
I bought this unit purely for modulation and portability, and its very nice for that.

Reliability : 8
All the knobs and switches are fine. It weighs nothing, but its made to be stomped upon, not used in a war. Will do fine. Backup always useful...
Works flawlessly, no glitches.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No idea

Overall Rating : 9
I would replace this, yes. Its a very handy thing to have around, at home or away. Its the perfect backup unit. But WHY still no separate delay/reverb functions? Will Korg never learn?
This little fella I'l keep.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 01/19/2008 at 12:52pm by KMarte

Ease of Use : 7
I wo'nt be using the presets at all.The unit is easy to use but the manual is'nt very good.They do'nt go into detail about the perimeters and they do'nt explain what the different effects are modeling.Google the manual for the AX3000g and it will explain everything much better.

Sound Quality : 10
I have found this to be a very interesting unit.I bought this to use with a crate power block and it sounds pretty darn good.The amp models work very well with a solid state amp .The effect pedal models do'nt sound that good through the Crate but they sound pretty good through my tube amps.I'll be using this when I'm lazy and just bring the power block to a gig but I'll still be using pedals for my other amps.Changing the cab sounds and the amp/line on the amp models really gets you some interesting sounds.The UK68P(plexi) sounds with the amp/line set on a3 and the cab set on c3 is worth the price of the pedal.I've also found the compressor to be very usefull.I've used it with Gisons with Humbukers'Fenders with single coils' and a Hamer special withP90's and they all sound good .The delays 'reverbs and other time based effects are nice but it needs a tap tempo.

Reliability : 10
It does'nt give much confidence with it's cheap plastic frame but it's made in Japan .My son has one of thoose plastic Zoom units that he's abused for years and it still works fine.

Customer Support : 10
I called Korg the first day with a few questions and talked to a real person who helped me out all in the space of 5 minutes

Overall Rating : 10
I play all styles of music,I've played for amost 40 years(since the summer of 69)For 29 dollars this was a no brainer.We're all so spoiled now days.I remember saving 39 dollars to buy my first pedal(a Cry Baby) in 1970.Thats like 300 dollars now at least.I would definitly buy another one.I think my Traynor with pedals sounds a lot better then this unit but when I took the AX3 to a jam yesterday all the guys I played with comented on how great my sound was.Go figure.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: 25
Submitted 12/31/2007 at 07:39am by AndyM

Ease of Use : 8
Got this for Christmas, and have been playing with it solidly for the past week, that's how much fun it is! (I think my wife is now wishing she hadn't bought it for me...) Have got sounds that I've really enjoyed without trying toooo hard, as a mainly acoustic player I'm not into fiddling with patches for ages. BUT I did have to read the manual, and even then I could only work out what was going on because I know my way around sound equipment really well. Shame, because otherwise I would unswervingly recommend it as a beginner's box (and that's not meant in any derogatory way, just as a beginner's guitar should be good, simple, work, and give you plenty of possibilities).

Saving patches is straightforwad and sensible, although no method I could find for comparing original and modified sounds before saving.

Plugged in an old volume pedal for volume/wah - worked fine. Wiring of the jack plug is tip goes to the 'hot' end of the pot, sleeve to the other end, ring to the wiper. (found by searching on the web for Korg pedal wiring.)

Sound Quality : 9
Using an Epiphone Les Paul straight into the pedal, then into a self built (clean) power amp and custom built 2x12" cab; playing folk rock, jazz, "Dad's rock", new age-y whiffly stuff, even some classical.

Only one or two of the distortions that I really liked, but that's ok. Basically I would need to modify all the presets that I would use to get the distortion I want and also to turn the bass down for my rig. For the money I'm impressed how quiet it is, perfectly usable even in an acoustic setting. It would be nice to be able to use more of the effects simultaneously, but given the price this is not a problem.

To get better control I will be experimenting going back to my Crate amp for distortion and using this box in the loop for effects.

Reliability : No Opinion
My first thought on unpacking it was how flimsy the case seemed. It's probably tougher than it looks but I would be nervous gigging regularly with it.

Can't give it a rating as I haven't tried breaking it!

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
30 years' experience playing keyboards, bass, sound engineering, and designing professional sound equipment. Took up acoustic guitar a few years ago, bought the electric for a bit of fun this year. Most effects experience is with high-end rack mount kit.

For the money much, much better than I expected. To be honest I got my wife to give it to me as a bit of a toy for Christmas, but having played with it am now looking at using it live and for recording. For the occasional guitarist I couldn't fault it, and yes, if it was stolen (or more likely, smashed) and I could get another at the same price then I would.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 11/28/2007 at 07:54pm by AM

Ease of Use : 3
It's not a very complicated unit but as with all multi-fx, at some point you will need to have a look at the manual to figure out what is what.
When this point comes..................GOOD LUCK !!!..............This unit comes with the crappiest manual in the history of electronic equipment. Until now I thought that Arion is publishing the worst manuals in the world. Until I had to read the AX3G's manual. It makes Arion's manuals look like literature masterpieces.

Sound Quality : 8
Man, I really like it. I just got it for late night practicing with headphones and to my surprice it's capable for much more than this. I'm not a big FX user so I'm happy with a few classic FX. Having said that, I want these few FX to sound good and be tweakable. The AX3G offers this.
Modulation and delay/reverb sections are very very good. The best I've heard in a small muti-fx box. Not separate delay from reverb though. It's either or. Tone control for the delays and hi and lo dump for the reverbs gives a lot of possibilities for fine tunning. Maximum delay time is around 500 ms and not 1 sec as some people believe. All delays sound very very very good!!!!!!!
I also managed to get a very sweet reverb setting to use with my reverbless amp. The tuner works flawlessly and allows silent tunning too. Big plus in my book.
The amp sims come handy for headphone practicing, direct recording, etc. I only use one of the clean sims and let my dirtboxes provide the crunch (or the fuzz, depending on my mood). What else can I say, very nice sounds and way more tweakability than Zoom and similar products.

Reliability : No Opinion
Ok, this is the funny bit. I'll start by saying that this thing is made in Japan!!!!! Yes, not China, not Taiwan, non of that. Good ol' Japan!!!!!! I don't even remember when was the last time I saw something made in Japan and wasn't some "vintage" Boss thingy having a ridiculous price tag or a high-end piece of gear having a ridiculous price tag. This alone gives me a good feeling about it.
Now the bad news. This thing is made out of cheap plastic. To bring the Arion comparison again into play.....it makes Arion pedals look like bulletproof.
BUT....Although I always try to be very careful with this pedal because it looks so flimsy, I ended up accidentally throwing it on the floor and kicking it around more than most of my other stuff. My Russian green Big Muff sets the standard for how much panishment a pedal can take and still be in perfect working order. This ain't that tough for sure. It's way tougher than it looks though.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Forget it.

Overall Rating : 8
I dig it. Before I bought this I tried everything in this category. This looked the less impressive of the bunch. Not as ugly as those Digitech RP units but less impressive that the G2 let's say. By the way, I owned briefly both Zoom G1 and G2 and they are the worst pieces of junk I ever got my hands on. I returned both of them within days. So the Zoom units were junk and the Digitech stuff were butt-ugly and didn't sound all that much interesting and were made out of cheap plastic too. By elimination of the competition I ended up trying last the humble and unpretentious looking AX3G. I'm glad I did. It has its shortcomings as far as quantity of amp simulations and construction but most of the FX which are packed in there are of very good quality and for as long as you don't forget that this is not an Eventine (neither costs as much) you will find enough room for tweaking things to your liking. Good job Korg! Not perfect, but very good.



Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 08/27/2007 at 06:17pm by strangevibe

Ease of Use : No Opinion

Sound Quality : No Opinion

Reliability : No Opinion
My main reason for commenting is that I'm having issues where it seems to get stuck on one patch/program. I still don't have quite enough experience to say it won't happen without it, but I now have the feeling that it may be a result of using a 3rd party (Roland) expression pedal plugged into the pedal jack. At first I couldn't get it unstuck by any means but power down/up. Later I determined that using the pedal seemed to bring on the problem, and in some cases the problem could be solved by pushing the pedal all the way in (in one case) or unplugging it.
However, I think I found one state where
The pedal generally seems to *work* as a wah/volume modulator, which makes this more frustrating.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I haven't gone through Korg yet to try to determine whether this is a problem with the particular unit.

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 08/18/2007 at 08:36am by Pedro

Ease of Use : 10
This unit is very intuitive and it's easy to create great sounds! You have many parameters for all effects, so you can do a lot of different sounds! You can combine some effects to. It has a great layout!

Sound Quality : 10
I really don't like to use artists sounds... I really like the exclusives, and in this unit is so easy to get them. I bought this to use specially the delays and the accoustic simulation, but I have a surprise when I heard the other effects. Specialy the filtron!!! I will sell my envelope filter after him!!! Rotary, Chorus, vibe, tremulo, flanger, the delays are all amazing... Only the distortions sounds like a Atari, but, they can be usable to make some eletronic effects, but don't expect hot vintage sounds!!! I use the unit with a transistored Fender, an it sounds perfect and hot to me!!! Not plastic effecst, except the distortions like I said before.

Reliability : No Opinion
I use the unit on stage, and it's perfect for me. But, the box seems so fragille... Korg could put in a better quality box, and the price could be the double. For the great sounds, it will be a nice price yet!!!

Customer Support : No Opinion
I don't use it.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
Like I said before, only the distortions sounds plastic, an the box is cheap, but, for the price, you buy a tube screamer or other analog distortion that you like, and you will have a great set!!! So, this is a great buy!!!


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 50
Submitted 02/23/2007 at 12:44pm by Ben

Ease of Use : 8
It's not a plug and play device. All of the presets are crap, as is always the case with any multi-effects unit. But, once you figure out how to program the thing, you start finding the good sounds. It's not that difficult. Just glance through the manual and you'll have it figured out in no time. There are 40 user presets and another 40 presents that you can't edit, and will therefore never use.

There are a surprising number of editable parameters, generally four or five per effect, sometimes just two or three. I had older Toneworks models back in the day that would only let you control one or two parameters. Much better.

Sound Quality : 9
I was really, really pleasantly surprised with this thing. It looks and feels cheap. It's very light, it looks like a toy. However, this has the basic sound engine of the AX3000G, a $300 unit. In fact, you can use the AX3000G owners manual (do a google search for the pdf) to figure out what the effects are supposed to be modeling, since the AX3G manual never explains it. The AX3G has 90% of the effects/amps contained in the AX3000G, but without some of the extra bells & whistles (pedal-controlled modulations, etc). So, don't judge it by its looks or cheap price tag.

At the very least, I can honestly say this is the best delay pedal out there for under $150 (this is $50). The delays sound phenomenal. You get self-oscillation, high or low tone cut, delay modulation ala Memory Man, and when you change the delay time on the fly, you get that wonderful dying turn table sound. You can get the The Edge, Andy Summers, David Gilmour, etc. no problem. I haven't had this much fun with delay in a long time. HCFX forum geeks, take notice. I ought to record some clips. I had a lot of fun last night with extreme high cut and feedback set almost to the point of self-oscillation. The only functions I'd add would be reverse delay, tap tempo, and the ability to go 100% wet.

The modulations are also extremely cool. The Boss CE-1 model sounds true to form, and even includes the vibrato mode. There's another vibrato in there too, in the pre-effects section (it's in the same bank as a chorus, a univibe and a phaser). There are like four different choruses and two vibratos, all good. The vibratos seem to be square wave - I wish they were sine wave ala the Boss VB-2 or BYOC Vibrato, but what can you do. Still pretty cool.

The rotating speaker sound is also very nice and fairly convincing, not to mention the univibe and the MXR flanger model. The tremolo is very good, as are the phasers. Really, outstanding work on the delays and modulations here. I have no complaints, and I was pleasantly surprised on all of them. I'm more of an analog guy, but digital can sound great for these kinds of effects. Any guitarist could conceivable use this as his/her main modulation/delay pedal, and skip the rest of the effects in favor of "real" amps and overdrives.

The reverbs are okay. The "spring" reverb doesn't sound like a spring reverb. They have some decent halls and more studio sounding verbs, but not very convincing spring.

I do like some of the clean amp models, which are nice for direct recording or playing with headphones, especially the boutique (Dumble?), Fender Blackface (Twin Reveb), and the two Vox models. They sound pretty good with a bit of grit too, but the more you turn up the gain, the less real they sound, at least so far as I have used them. Maybe I need to tweak them more. I've gotten some nice chimey sounds, and I use some OD pedals in front for dirt rather than from the AX3G itself. Not bad.

The stompbox dirt models range from okay to crap. The Tube Screamer model is okay, the Klon is okay, the Rat is okay, the Fuzz Face is okay, and the octave fuzz (Foxx Tone?) is kind of cool. The rest are crap, IMO. But then, so are the real pedals they are modeling (DS-1, Metal Zone, etc). The best of them sounded a bit muffly to me. I prefer my analog dirt boxes. Maybe they would work better with more tweaking, who knows.

The compressor would be nice, except it's a bit muffly as well. I haven't played with the acoustic modeler much, so I won't comment.

Reliability : No Opinion
Not sure. Everything about it looks pretty cheap. But, I had an AX1G kicking around for years, no problems with it. Even if this goes out in a year, though, I wouldn't be too upset. I'd just get another one for $50. Well worth it.

By the way, the sounds on the AX1G are 10% good, 90% crap. With the AX3G, it's the other way around.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
My setup is as follows:

Fender Telecaster
+
Custom-modded orange DOD compressor
Boss PS-5
Rehoused, "creamy dreamerized" Big Muff
Monte Allums SD-1
Monte Allums TS7 with some extra modifications
OLC Supreaux
OLC Professor Tweed
EHX Electric Mistress (Howard Davis'd)
Boss PS-3
Korg AX3G
+
Amps

Overall, it's a fantastic value. Just buy it for a delay/modulation pedal, you won't be disappointed. The rest is icing on the cake.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 49.99
Submitted 01/06/2007 at 12:58am by twicks926
Email: wicks at sssnet<dot>com

Ease of Use : 7
Generally easy to use-Ive consulted the manual several times for refining the sounds I'm seeking. Didn't take more than a few minutes. Several knobs have multiple functions when pressed in combination with another or when the dial is moved to be able to edit presets.

Sound Quality : 7
This doesnt have the sound quality of my small 15w VOX valvetronix amp as the amp actually has a tube. I purchased the toneworks ax3g hoping It would be close to my VOX (I know the Valvetronix is in many ways essentially a KORG amp now). I made my purchase to play through headphones and for portability. Im a little disappointed in the reverb, yet I really haven't heard a good reverb from anything digital or relatively in expensive. The spring setting is probably my favorite, yet Im still tweaking it. It really depends on other settings *great sound is greater than the sum of the parts (GESTALT). Many good options for any digital multi-effect pedal.

Reliability : 4
Im scared here-It really wouldnt take KORG much more $ to utilize better materials. This goes to most manufacturers out there-better materials could be accessed for a cents to few dollars. The jury is out here!!

Customer Support : 1
I e-mailed korg for settings for Vaughan Bluz from their site- Im still waiting!!!

Overall Rating : 9
I fluctuate with music style. I like Jazz, Blues, and some alternative stuff that integrates traditional vintage tone(s) with a new spin here or there. Im not looking for massive distortion (this clealy does not provide the tone of a muff!--or I haven't found the right settings!!) Essentially this is about what I expected and is better than other products in this price range. I would purchase it again-I still have the opportunity to return it for my $ or something else and IM keeping it unless another company releases something new in the 50$ price range. If I had $ Id probably look at Pandora or a higher level Korg product-I make plenty of $ but cant justify it when my kids need braces and take dance, lessons..... This is truly adequate! Guitar greats don't need expensive equipment to define greatness -Sound conme from playing and exploration-again the product is adequate-the greatness comes from us as players-or giftedness from our creator*!


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 50
Submitted 12/04/2006 at 06:16pm by me

Ease of Use : 8
A bit confusing if you stupidly try and figure it out without reading the manual like i did. :) Hey, i was anxious. But seriously, it's simple once you get it, which would take about 10 seconds to learn if the manual were written by someone who's 1st language was english. Otherwise maybe 10-15 minutes.

Sound Quality : 7
Having tried a number of modelers i always notice the same sort of digital coldness in the high end distortion tones, especially when playing open position chords or picking high notes. This is no different. I've heard better and i've heard worse. The RANGE of tones in the amp models isn't nearly as varied as some others i've tried. Overall tho not too bad thru a good tube amp on clean or in the loop. Make sure to set the cab simulator to LINE tho ! I think a lot of people probably make the mistake of using the cab sims thru a tube amp. Thats muddies the tone and just kills it. The cab sims are meant to be used thru a mixer or direct recording. Anyways, set it to line and tweak it and there are some decent sounds there. Nothing at all eyepopping or very inspiring tho.

I should have mentioned hat was all about the models. As for the effects, i'm not very picky about delay and verb as long as it's got tone perameters so i can take the brightness out of the wet signal a bit so it doesn't interfere. It does, so i'm fine with the verbs and delays. The rest are of. Decent chorus' and flange and all that. Nothing amazing tho here either.

The parameters for most models and effects are enough to get what you need from them, so no problem there. There is no EQ which i found kinda lame. But nothing else is really lacking as features go unless you're real deep into effects and tweaking. But it's got all you need if you're into simplicity like me.

I guess i should sum up by saying nothing about this box sounded real bad to me, and nothing sounded any better than i've heard in most other boxes. When i really think about it, most modeler/effects multis i've tried are really about the same with a few exceptions. This one isn't groundbreaking, but it sounds good in most ways and nothing stood out as horrible to me off the top of my head.

Reliability : No Opinion
It's inexpensive and built like it.....all plastic. It does feel pretty strong for plastic tho, and at the price it's fine with me.

Customer Support : No Opinion
don't know, don't care.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
Been at it since 71, played in cover bands for a couple decades and live i never could make any digital modelers/disortions work right. But i didn't buy it for that, and I think as much as this is far and away from being some sort of great magic tone box, you really have to consider it a VERY good deal. After all, for 50 bucks you get a tuner, a couple dozen amp models, and a bunch of effects. Considering any ONE of those effects alone in a pedal would cost about the same as this box ! So for example, i personally don't find anything special about the boss digital delay pedals. Yet they sell for 2-3 times as much ! So for much less money i got a delay thats much more versital than the boss because it has many different delays and verbs, but has models many other effects and a tuner ! I mean, these stupid plastic boxes nowadays are just rediculous values. If you want a delay, buy one of these and if at a gig your amp dies you have a device you can plug into the PA and save the nite for you, even if you don't care about the dozens of other effects and models. It's just a killer deal at $50 WHETHER OR NOT the models or effects kill. And while they don't, they are still plenty good. Only the models need some tweaking to get the best. Like with any digi multi you should know by now factory presets always blow.

I have a dynamic playing style so digital modeling isn't ever going to work live for me. I need to be able to control the amount of drive to clean with my guitar's volume and have lots of dynamics in the picking. No modeler will do that. They are meant to be used with the guitar volume on 10......it's a whole different world that i find fine for recording and practice. But live they will more often than not ruin the nite for you.

So if you just want a small light cheap box of sounds and a tuner, you just cant possibly lose with this. If you are looking for a box thats as close as digital modeling can get to real amp tone and/or killer effects with huge versitility in the parameters and routing, forget it. It's simple a dirt cheap tool that may or may not come in handy for you depending on what other gear you own.

In short, It sounds fairly to very good (depending on what model/effect you are talking about) and therefore is a stupidly great deal considering how much you get for so little $.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: USD 60
Submitted 08/24/2006 at 01:19pm by Gtrmando

Ease of Use : 9
Very easy - I would experiment with the amp you are using - Digital distortions rarely cut it but I recently used this with a Line 6 amp on Blackface with some Drive - The OD from the Korg added to that sounded great - with my Cry Baby it came very close to the Tube Screamer.
The menu is quite easy - so much so that I could even do quick adjustments at a show - There is overall level and as usual different patches have different volumes so for eg. the acoustic modeler should be high and a Fat Dist should be low.
I have not programmed everything and unlike some Korgs out there you have to scroll through to get to the sound - In a pinch I could use Wa Wa and this unit and get nearly all the sounds I need.
It is not clear what each Parameter controls and not so easy to hear the difference but even if you dont tweak the effect it defaults to the most common tweaking -
- Fender sounds is good - OD and Fat OD are great - Filter and T Wah are great - the delays are a bit too pronounced
CAUTION: Korg design flaw on all Korgs - Reverb not separate from Delays (when will these guys learn?)
Acoustic, Octaver, and others are just great - battery powered super light weight - take this to a jam and you will blow others away with all the effects at your feet.

Sound Quality : 8
The dist are digital but pretty convincing through an amp and probaly better direct - not as warm as a TS or sansamp but they sound really good with some saturation - amp models are pretty good - the array of effects are great since there are effects on the preamp, mod and ambience - there are many great combos
I recommend if you will use it with an amp try the effects while tweaking and see control the volume changes - this thing puts out way more than your bypass signal so if you want to bypass during a show - the overall volume of the unit should be low.

I use with a line 6 and some Fender amps and the sound is smooth enough that it does not interfere with my playing - I replaced a TS in the chain so I would have flexibility and many effects
GREAT FEATURE - other korgs claim that if you press 2 at the same time it enters bypass - but usually does not work - on this unit I can enter tuner mode fast and easy and get back to the programs in a second -
If you have say 20 programs for a gig it can be tought to scroll quickly - but a lot easier than bringing 5 or 6 pedals - works on batteries and weighs nothing - Havent h

Havent had many noise issues though at high gain I am sure you would use the NR
I havent used every effect but the weight, size and flexibility allow you to have many effects that sound great and tweak the mix

Reliability : 7
Not sure yet - did gig with it and I may buy another for backup or buy a higher Korg version (I have this, ax100g and the ampworks already) - I would not bring this to a gig withiout something else
It is plastic and light but seems very sturdy and well built - we will see

Customer Support : No Opinion
Not yet an issue

Overall Rating : 8
- I play Rock/Blues - Funk/Middle Eastern and Jazz
Playing 30 years - I prefer tube sound and warmth and this cant compete with a sansamp (the greaetes effect ever) or a TS - but through an amp and direct wyou can get some pretty smooth OD - or without OD the effects sound great with some nice surprises
Wish Reverb was separate from delay and that it had some looping function (even 5 seconds would be great)
Hard to scroll from 3 to 20 but just s few seconds - you can program this for a gig and use 3 or 4 default settings and even bypass it quite easily for a tuner and straight amp sound
AS WITH ALL - Dont just program the sound you want program relative levels - one program should have level 9 while Dist programs should be at 6
The Acoustic sound - did Over the Hills opening and just pressed a button for the electric part
OCtver, harmonizer, Filter,sound great - I will likely buy the expression pedal to see if I can sub my volume pedal or wa wa

Wish list - reverb separate from delay - default setting so I dont have travel from patch 2 to patch 20 - Synth sounds - ability to name patch (even 3 letters) -

Definitely helps make music - I bing it to rehearsal or for home and one scroll and I get so many possible effects - and battery powered - also sounds great with my other pedals - no interference and pedals are big (but plastic but they seem sturdy)
This is a great tool to have a zillion effects, battery powered, light and easily tweakable on the fly


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 08/04/2006 at 02:23pm by Alex

Ease of Use : 9
I got this because I wanted a floor tuner & I said to my self: Who knows,you might find one or two usable effects at an affordable price,
well let me tell you that I was very surprised to find this little unit very capable of a lot more than just that but only if you are willing to spend some time playing with the controls & trying different settings, is a "no pain no gain" thing because the presets are too exaggerated (same as with any other multi effect unit) you have to edit the patches you like to use or just create your owns.
The good news is after you learn how to edit the parameters & decide
what effect you like & dislike is very easy & now you will have up to 40 patches with your own selection of effects & amps .

Sound Quality : 9
I like many of the effects & amp simulators,it all depends on your style,I play Rock,Blues,some Country and for those I like the spring and hall reverb,the Echo & ST delay,chorus,auto Wha(very good with humbuckers)flanger,phaser,playing with the pitch shifter you can create a 12 strings effect,the clean sound of the BTQ amp is very good,also the crunchy AC30TB & AC15,the BLK2x12 for slow rock or ballads,the noise suppressor works very good,I don`t like the cabinets
simulation with some of the amps so with some of the patches I just don`t use the cabinets. The tuner works fine to me,that`s all I need.

Reliability : 8
I have the unit for a couple of months now and I haven`t got any problem,I`m using a power supply,don`t know about powering with batteries but I think the 9 volts last longer than the AA,is all plastic and very light,I just don`t stomp very hard on it just in case.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Do not know.

Overall Rating : 9
This is the cure for a bad amp,it makes my 25+ years old all solid state amp sounds like an expensive unit.I will replace it if lost.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: US $60
Submitted 05/06/2006 at 02:15am by Larry
Email: Ldente at aol<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
Once you get the hang of it, the AX3G is quite easy to use. The best way is to find a patch that's close to what you want and edit to suit your taste. Because there are only a few buttons to utilize, I'd recommend clustering together your patches in groups for ease of use during live performance. The manual while adequate, could have a little more detail in it. The only options to get are a 9 volt power supply (it will run on batteries).and an expression pedal which allows you to control volume or wah sounds.

Sound Quality : 9
Most of my use is going direcly into a mixing board. In fact I purchased the Korg to avoid having to lug around an amp. Considering the low cost, the AX3G is a steal. I was surprised at how good it sounded. Most of the presets are usable, and you have 40 user patches. I don't use all that many effects, but the phaser, flanger, chorus sounded very good. Most of what I play is classic rock, so you can get that nice gritty overdrive going without any trouble. Except for the really high gain settings, the unit is very quiet. The noise suppressor is very effective.

Reliability : 10
It's plastic, so I'd recommend a spare. Since it's so inexpensive that shouldn't be a problem. I've not had any problems with as of yet.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Korg has pretty decent support.

Overall Rating : 10
Like most of us, I'm a terrible gear junkie. This thing is a ridiculously good deal. I've put away my other stuff, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the AX3G. If lost or stolen, I would absolutely replace it. It doesn't have lots of bells and whistles, just what you need. The built in tuner makes it a complete package. I suppose it would be nice to have a more comprehensive screen display, ah but that's what pen and paper are for.


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: 100 (SGD)
Submitted 04/30/2006 at 08:05am by kamarozaman

Ease of Use : 9
Editing patches is easy once you get the hang of it. All parameters are greatly adjustable.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm using an american strat with a roland cube amp. The patches are naturally quiet however the heavily distorted ones tends to hum a little (single coils).
The effects are quite adjustable. U can select the depth or rate to your own taste.
I'm able to get sounds from switchfoot(stars), vai (for the love of god - sitar backing), satch(always with you), jimi (voodoo chile)///
Tears for fears (clean delay stuff) and U2 delay stuff.
Overall the distortion are real flexible...the delays are awesome as it allows about 1sec....who needs 10 seconds delay???

Reliability : 8
It's plastic....and is good thing as it's light.
Dun stomp the thing too hard....
I'm getting another one...try it on series...so i can get double the effect.

... and it is actually MADE IN JAPAN!!! Yes, the sushi country...

U dun see products made from this country anymore...even the AX3000G, AX1500G, AX1000G or the rest were made in China....

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never deal with the company before...however the local dealer that i bought from gave me a year warranty.
Good enuff.

Overall Rating : 10
I play lotsa stuffs ...mostly rock and alternative.
been playing for 8years and have used most multieffects...e.g. zoom 505, G2, GFX 4, GFX 5, Boss GT3 GT5 ME10 ME5, KOrg AX300G AX30G AX1G AX3000G, AX1500G AX1000G, and some others....

The reason why I got this is because of its light weight, compact body and great effects. True enuff there are other hi tech floorboards and claims to sound really good. If u play crap...u sound like wise. I dun need all the complicated nonsense that does not allow me to play music...I need something for heavy riffings and cut thru mix solos or live stage jams or clean strums...
...this one kicks in for me.

MADE IN JAPAN


Product: Korg AX3G
Price Paid: US $70
Submitted 03/20/2006 at 09:33am by Scott
Email: sculvestad<at>msn dot com

Ease of Use : 9
It takes a little time to learn the controls, But then you can get loads of very good sounds. Like I said learning to edit patches takes some time, but it's not bad, the manual is easy and helpful

Sound Quality : 9
I have many guitars and amps so I wont list them. It has noise reduction for higher gain settings, but over all noise is'nt a problem. Most of the effects sound great, keep tweaking you'll find lots of good tones and effects. I can get most any guitar artist sound out there with this unit. I have put aside many good single effect peddals and use the AX3G instead just because it equals them in quality. Not all the effects and modeling settings are useful, but that is true of any "digital effects unit".

Reliability : No Opinion
So Far it is not giving me any problems

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing 30 years. Mostly rock and blues and metal, but also a fair amount of acousic.I was leary at first and did'nt like a lot of the presets,but after doing some tweaking I really like this thing a lot. I would try to replace this if it were stolen with something of equal value and quality ( I'm not in love with it ). Lots of bang for the buck, I've spent hundreds and hundreds lining up effects. Great value, not to be taken for granted.

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