Korg AX5G

I think a person with IQ greater than 80 find its programming logic easy understandable. I read its manual and started to experiment this toaster. I really enjoyed its way of getting what you want.
The four level of sound processing ( I mean the pre amp effect stage, the amp stage, the post amp stage andt the echo stage ) is fantastic idea to try catching the way of a guitarist thinks.
So... use your mind and manual. It's enough to handle this great stuff.

It contains very much type of effect, amp, and cabinet models. I always say that a beginner should start with a multieffect to understand how different type of amps and effects sounds like. Its very important to find your own sound and getting ideas what are the possibilities if you want to get a sound of your ideas.
This stuff helps you a lot in that. When I bought it, I spent two weeks to discover its possibilities and I was very impressed.
Although later when I started to use it on my band's rehearsal I find its weak sides soon.
1. The most painful weakness of this toaster is that all of Marshall amp modells and the Highgain modell are totally piece of ****. Very poor modelling. I've allways been marshall fan and I especially love the sound of plexies. The AX5G's plexi modell is too weak as the other marshall models either. The most important attribute of the Marshall sound with a Les Paul that it cuts through other instruments sound. The AX5G's marshall sound doesn't know this. Moreover these models have a very disturbing digital taste what I'm not able to bear it. So... half of the amp modells are useless.
Finally I found the modell what works very well in clean and overdriven mode. I use the Vox model for both. If I want a thick clean mahagony+humbucker sound I use the AC15 with gain on four. I do not use cabinet simulation because I have my own cabinet and a linear amp ( Crate powerblock). A little slap echo does its job.
Fur overdriven sounds I use pickup simulation single to humbucker in the first stage, I use Vox AC30 with max gain and Treble, midle, bass on ten, no cabinet simulation, no post effect, and a few slap echo. It cuts through. Oldies sound but goldies. It does its task.
The fender and vox and boutique clean amp models are very loud. The plexi and 80's marshalls are much lower in max volume and has digital taste. The modern marshall is loud but very digital and the highgain modell is quiter and very digital.
The effects quality are very good, generally better than what you found in analog boss pedals.

Although it's made of plastic it's very durable massive item. Of course you shouldn't jump onto it. I have never any problem with mine.

I have never dealt with them.

I play rock music on my Edwards LesPaul and Gretsch 5129. I found my sound in this toaster so I like it. It's the best value/price ratio multieffect ever. I highly reccommend it everyone. Very small, so I bring it in my guitar case. It's not noisy, has great noise gates, cabinet modells, has stereo output and effects. I use the pedal part of this as volume pedal so I can rise my solos easily.
It's very cheap but knows almost everything what the AX3000G knows. I do not like too much button and potmeters and other mumbo jumbo stuff because I do not have time to remember their functions while plaing on stage and singin to microfon paralel.
I need a volume pedal and two button to select what I want. This stuff gives me that. If somebody steals it I will buy a new one.

This thing is very easy to use, you just have to read the manual on it. If your too lazy for that you could also just use the factory presets which are quite good. The manual is pretty in depth I highly suggest reading it once you buy this product so you know how to work it from the get go.

I have used a number of different guitars with this and a Peavey 100w amp. On clean effects Gibson, Fender, and all the good brands preform the best, but when you are using heavy metal distortions and overdrives all guitars sound about the same.
It can be a bit noisy when you use batteries, definitely go for the adapter when you buy this.

This thing seems damn sturdy, I could maybe see my way to giging with it.

Never talked to the folks down at korg, but if mine broke I would call 'em up in a second.

I love all the metal effects on this baby the others are just an added bonus. I haven't been playing long and this is one of my first guitar effects but i've played with my uncle's RP350 and this seems to be everything that the 350 is. If it were to get lost I would not replace it just because ive had it for a long time and I would rather try out something else. One little thing about it before I end my review is, save ten dollars and don't get the one with the pedal on it. The pedal is pretty useless and looks sort of dumb.

It's not a three knob stompbox, it's a multieffect processor so you need a few hours to understand how it works 100%. but as i said just a few hours, for example 2..there is an instruction booklet which you can also download i pdf format from the official korg website. i plugged it in and played with it a littl but the day after i read the instructions and started to make my own effect programs, in fact there are already 80 effect programs which 40 are rewritable! if you decide to erase your own type of effcts and get back the factory ones you can also!
so you can take out great sounds immediatly just by playing with the factory ones!

I play an epiphone les paul 100 with a a fender 100watt 212r amp.
Incredible! the first times i played with it i couldn't believe it was so good..as i expected the modulations,delays and clean effects were great, but the distorsions also! i mean when you buy a multieffect you usally know that there won't be nice type of distorsions or amps but with this one it's not like that. i give it a nine because the wah sucks other than that it's a 10 in sound quality. i'm not going to describe each one because there is plenty of clips on the web, for example the ones on korg.com

When it arrived and opened it i saw it was made of plastic and had a metal plate under it and thought it wasn't very sturdy, but after weeks playing it i can say it is pretty dependable and won't break so easily, in fact i think that it will never break unless it falls on the street and a car will drive on it.

product always worked great, don't know how the support is.

i play any type of music: funky to metal, grunge to acoustic, pop to jazz and this pedal rocks in any style of music if you choose the right effects. i would definetly buy another one if it were stolen or broken. i compared it with my friends' behringer v amp II and xoom g2.1u and this baby won! other multieffects do not have such great sounding and various effects. not much to say other than, if you need a multieffect just buy this one, great price, great sound, great rockin! have fun!

This is an incredible pedal that (on the surface) is very easy to use. It has all the sounds and models of the expensive AX3000g (really, almost everything is here) for a fraction of the price. Almost all the presets sound great and work well instantly. Hidden in its simple format are lots of parameters for each setting that you can easily adjust once you understand how to do it. And...you can set this up as an amp modeler OR as a stomp box modeler with just effects. Plus it has 4 different output settings for 3 different amp types and one for PA, line or headphones. There is not a small, low priced unit like this on the market that has the editing parameters of this pedal (the review in Guitar Player Mag says as much). The manual is not the easiest to understand but once you do, it's all there. When you change amps or effects, the system defaults to an "ideal" setting for the rest of the patch and this usually is right on the money -- but you can still tweak to your hearts content. Even though the manual is just fair, there are lots of excellent Toneworks documents on the web that can be found in, believe it or not, Korg's UK web-site.

The tuner works great as both pedals are lit with large light bars across the top and when both glow steadily, you are in tune. The expression pedal is a bit smallish but if you want a wah wah, don't buy this pedal. It's fine for adjusting parameters (like rotary speed or delay time or volume) but is clearly not as good as the large pedals on full size boards. But you aren't paying $300 for this either and it is very portable.

As I mentioned this has all the sounds and models of the expensive AX3000g with just a few exceptions. Korg makes the modeling technology for the Vox Valvertronix amps which (IMHO) are by far the best modeling amps out there. The Pandora units are amazing as well, so I was not surprised that this pedal sounded so great. I A-B'd the pedal to Digitech and Line6 units and right out of the box, this is by far the best. I'm not saying you can't get great sounds from those others but you could buy this, plug it in front of your clean channel and play a gig within minutes. It also does what so many of the other fail at -- it has great clean tones and wonderful Vox sounds (no surprise here). You can go from sparkling, clean tones to shred with no issue.

The really cool thing for me is how easy it is to use this as a multi-effects "stomp box". You'll notice that all of a sudden the multi-effects makers are marketing units that they say work like a "pedal board". Well, Korg has done that for years with Toneworks stuff and the Vox Tonelab units. You can't switch individual effects on and off like the more pricey units but you can easily (as I have) set this up for a series of patches that will act like different stomp boxes. And using the expression pedal, which can control and turn on/off many of the parameters on the pedal, you can use this in place of an entire pedal board.

I use a number of different amps and set ups with this unit. As I mentioned, in one configuration I have a series of stomp box (mostly overdrives and distortions) only patches that lets me use this as a quick, easy and light substitute for my pedal board. I have a another series of patches that dials in about 10 of the best amp model patches that I can use direct into a PA or into a clean amp. I can play a gig with that set up as well.

As to which effects are best -- I like most all but the overdrive and distortions are superb (and I have compared them against the actual pedals that they model), the reverb and delays work great and the chorus and rotary are lush and cool. PLus it includes noise reduction, cabinet modeling, output for 3 different styles of amps (Fender, Vox and Marshall) and line out settings.

Finally, you can use this with headphones and practice with it. It sounds very good that way but really excels in front of an amp.

I have this as well as an AX3g (the same pedal without the expression pedal). I have never had any problem with it. This in not a heavy duty unit and if you need that, you should be buying the metal cased AX3000g or Tonelab LE. But mount this on a pedal board or use it in a practice or studio environment and it's fine. These don't cost a fortune and they are built with some compromises (lots of plastic) but treat it right and there's no reason to believe it won't hold up.

I don't understand where people gripe about Korg's customer service. I own a lot of Vox and Korg gear and when I email them, I always receive responses and have actually received phone calls to be sure my problem was resolved. There is actually a lot of Korg help on the web, but it does take a bit of skill to find it. Korg's own website has a link the their UK site. That web site has great support documents and data that is not on the USA one. I don't know why but it's very useful.

You cannot get anything that sounds this great for this price. They were cleared out by MF a while back at amazing prices (I tried to get an extra one and they "shipped" it to me -- only to have an empty box arrive at my house and MF could not explain to me what happened!). The chip inside has got to be the same as the AX3000g and has great tones. The other guys in my band are always amazed at what I can do with this pedal. I know it doesn't carry as much market appeal as a Line6 or Digitech unit, but I don't know why -- since it sounds so much better. You can use headphones with it and practice away in silence or put it in front of your amp and blast away as a modeler or stomp box. It's just a great pedal at an even greater price.

A little hard to understand, but makes better sense after a while. Manual is ok,nothing special.

I use Strats with Humbuckers in the bridge and single coils elsewhere. My amps are tube amps, Ampeg SuperJets mainly.I play everything from 1960 to the current. I also teach guitar and have over 20 students. I am an avid pedal guy, and like to have a wide variety of sounds available in my gear (I need to!!!).

I bought this as a succesor to the 411fx, which I liked alot but lacked flexibilty (I felt). But in some ways its better, but in other ways its not...dammit.
The 411fx has a mid tone control which isnt found here. That is a really important control when playing guitar..so I couldnt tweak EQ as much as I needed to in many,many instances.
I give KORG credit for making this unit a stereo device when used with a Y cord. This a smart feature that costs little to include, but means so much to those of Us who dabble with running 2 amps. Thank you,again KORG, for this feature.
Each of the effects is ok, but nothing amazing. Good at this price point, but processing has moved on..and I know Korg can do better. They make some amazing stuff.

I think ts dependable, but I havent gigged with it. So far its not as buggy as my 411fx. Apparently my 411fx had a hard life, it looks really bad and gives me trouble. This unit hasnt given me any trouble. I just wish it was as small as my 411fx and had a mid tone control, like the 411fx had.

I never had to work with KORG.

Im a rock-pop player. Been at it 25 years. Ive owned lots and lots of gear. I have been really lucky to know alot of gear. Some stuff is musical and some stuff isnt,imho. I think KORG does alot of things so well..but for whatever reason this unit doesn't work out for me. Its not as musical as I had hoped, its not intuitive to use, its kinda large (wont fit in the back of some combo amps),and it eats batteries.
I dont mean to be damning...but FOR ME, this just fails in the areas that mean so much to me. As a first Fx pedal, its quite ok...but if you get into expecting alot (and I know I do) its not what it could be. I own an old, screwed up 411fx and thats what I still turn to. Its smaller,cheaper, lighter sounds as good (imho) and is a littler easier to program. Oh yeah, its eats batteries, just as well..too!!!
I think Korg needed to revamp the 411fx and made this unit...I think they went to far...leaving all that was right and adding some aspects that were wrong (size,no mid contour eq etc etc).
For guitarists on the go, this pedal was just so-so. And again, this is just one guys opinion. If you love yours, please tell why,ok?

Getting sounds are pretty easy on this unit. If you are familiar with multi-effect units this should be a breeze. Editing patches are straight forward . It took about an hour after reading the manual to get up and running with full functionality. Just dial in each effect or model and then edit each parameter as needed. The presets will need some tayloring. The manual doesn't go into detail as it should. It just gives you a basic understanding of how to get around. You need to know some basics to understand this unit.

Sound quality is excellent!. In bypass mode you don't lose amp tone. In fact just shutting off each effect/model sounds pretty close to original amp tone. Wah takes some getting used to. The pedal is quite small, and the whole unit moves a bit when operating it. Amp models are excellent. Pre-effects good. Noise reduction descent and Cabinet models ok. I'm running this through a Marshall DSL100 head and it sounds good . I have the amp on the clean channel with the gain maxed. Seems to be the best way to set it. Noise is comparable to other units I guess. The only thing that doesn't sound right are the acoustic models. I'm still working with them but haven't been able to get anything close to an acoustic sound. Very disappointing since this is one of the things I was looking forward to.

This unit is made of plastic but seems to be well built even though. I'm very careful with all my gear so I don't anticipate any problems with durability. I would definitely gig with this unit without a backup.

Haven't dealt with them.

I play all kinds of music but mostly rock. I think this unit will be fine for what I need. I could see upgrading later on to maybe the AX3000G or maybe going to the Vox Tonelab. Been playing for 38 years and own a Marshall DSL, Mesa Mark III, Crate Vintage Club 50, an old Valco (which I love), and some newer Epiphone tube amps which are ok for practicing, etc. Pretty much all tube stuff. A bunch of Boss pedals which are also great. Stats and Les Paul's. The typical stuff. I would probably upgrade if this unit was lost or stolen. I love the size of this thing. Throw it right in my gig bag and go. Nothing too fancy and pretty user friendly. Don't really hate anything about this thing except very displeased with the acoustic models as stated. It's pretty much what I expected when I purchased it.