Korg G1 Guitar Distortion Processor

I had the manual and I had the thing mastered in a couple of hours.

I use the shred distortion most, and it's a killer distortion. I have to admit it's not as good as my Marshall half-stack ^_^ but it sounds good enough that I've used my Marshall as just a power amp when I needed to switch between a nice chunky distortion and a good clean sound.

I bought the G1 and the accompanying volume/wah pedal in 1996 and I've never had a problem with either one of them.

Never had to.

I play speed metal, rock, jazz, and anything else that catches my ear. I have a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies (welcome to the ranks of the under-employed:)
If my G1 was stolen or lost I would buy a new piece of gear.
The price above was for the G1 and the volume/wah pedal. I have a crybaby wah which sounds great, so I don't use the wah function. The volume pedal however is very high quality, with a bottem volume fully adjustable from zero to 100 percent. Very versatile tool. I use it for practice, recording, and gigs when I need a variety of sounds.

Never had the manual -bought it second-hand. It's generally very easy and intuitive, but I wouldn't find the noise gate if someone didn't tell me.

First of all it is very versatile - it covers mre or less all kinds of distorted sounds. I liked tube OD, shred and octafuzze most (tube OD was a real workhorse for me), but that's a matter of taste. The sound is nice, and the speaker simulator let's you record without an amp and microphone. The more distorted sound, the less dynamic range (louder background noise) you get, but that's the way with distortion (and the noise gate can be a bit of a cure for that). The tone control was somehow unsatisfactory to me - it consists of tone and contour knobs, and I would rather see the classic 3 band eq.

Had it for a couple of years, and the only problem was that one of the footswitches sometimes needed to be pressed harder. It didn't survive the fire in my friend's house, though. I really liked it, so maybe someone's selling?

No idea.

Overall, it was a trusty companion and a solid piece of gear. I miss it a lot (sob). I'm giving a serious thought to buying another one. It allowed to play and record, instead of digging through submenus. I used it most of all as a substitute for an amp when homerecording, but it performed well live (here comes the noise gate again). I just wish it had a bit more of na EQ section. The onboard delay is just a widget that can be used during practice, but for nothing else. Never had the chance to test the wah.

I got given my G1 by a friend, who bought it a while back and never really had much use for it, so I never had the manual but I managed to work out how to use it in about half an hour. There's still a few things I didn't know about, like the noise reduction etc but it's pretty simple- five knobs for the sound you want, three for level, and a save/compare button- press it once to compare the current settings to a patch you've already saved, then press again to save the patch. Easy.

I generally use it for practice, since I've not had any gigs recently so I use it with my Epiphone SG400 and a VOX practice amp. Most of the sounds are very useable- in fact, you can get fairly close to the tone of any of your favorite guitarists from BB King to Kurt Cobain to James Hetfield to Joe Satriani. Some of the effects- "Fuzz", "OctaFuzz" and "High Gain Dist" seem quieter than the other effects, even with the settings cranked right up, but a few changes on your amp settings can change that. "Shred Dist" is probably the most useful for Grunge, Metal and Malmsteen-style shred, the 2 Overdrive settings, while not all that different from each other, provide a decent rock/blues chrunch, and even the "Wah" settings can be useful, though I don't use them for Wah, I just use them as effects in themselves. The unit is very versatile for producing everything from a country twang to an Industrial growl. The Delay settings aren't all that useful unless you have a specific use for them- they're not much use as ggeneral effects.
Overall, this is an extremely versatile unit but it doesn't really specialise in any one area- if you have a very specific sound in mind you'd be better off buying the relevant stomp box, but for a compact unit with a wide range of sounds, this is the one for you.

It's pretty solid, made of thick plastic and it's probably really hard to break. If I was playing a gig where a load of different sounds were needed (but not more than 9!) this would be my first choice.

never needed to contact them.

I play all styles of music, and this unit has settings and effects for every style. I've been playing for about 25 years and I've amassed quite a collection of pedals, but this is probably the one I use most, just because it's less complicated than having a huge string of pedals to switch between. If it were stolen I'd probably buy it again, though I might have a look at some of the more advanced multi-FX units that have come out since, which are invariably more advanced and have more effects and patches to save. I suppose I wish it had a little more punch to it, and a few more spaces avialable to save patches- 9 is a little restrictive- but for an inexpensive, basic multi-FX board compromising between price and usefulness it's one of the best options.

Piece of cake if you read manual. Without manual, you really cant learn all the functions. But it doesnt take long to put it all together.

As mentioned before in other reviews, this unit is like having about 9 other stomp boxes --all in ONE!! I love the sound and Im going to sell at least 5 or 6 (maybe more) of my distortion pedals that are now totally unnecessary since I got the G1. Yes it sounds friggin cool!!

Plastic, but rock solid--heavy guage material. Buttons are tough too.

Korg has a cool website, but I never talked to them. I give them a high score just for the website being together. MUCH better than many mfrs.

I play rock, jazz, fusion, ambient, techno and just about anything. I use this puppy for guitar and synths too. Im givin it a 10 cuz it is going to save me hundreds of dollars---Im selling a whole pile of my old distortion pedals--probably worth about $500!!! Very cool!! I really like having so so many tones in one box instead of a whole bunch of different boxes. It has simplified my set-up immensely. Ive been playing guitar and keys for over 25 years. This G1 is a little-known Godsend for me. Im really surprised at how good it sounds and nobody seems to know about them, so you can get them pretty cheap (like $100). They sold for $350 originally. If it was lost or stolen, Id go find another one in a flash. Best $ I ever spent on distortion tones!! By far!!

the g-1 is a really great sounding distortion processor it is easy to get a good sound out of it just turn the knobs till you find something you like then save it I lost the manual shortly after learning how to save my patchs and I haven't needed it since

this pedal isn't a part of my pedal board anymore mostley because it sounds really heavy which was great when I was younger and loved grunge and heavy metal. but lately I have been playing clean a lot and when I want something a little more I use a fulltone soulbender. but when I played heavy music it did a wonderful job it sounds really thick and expressive it also covered a lot of bases because it could do fuzz which was good but not as good as the soulbender and it could do octa fuzz (really nice) and has a really heavy distortion. the overdrive and other distortions are useless and I did use the wah once and was so unimpressed that I never did it again. the echoes are cool but the doubling and slapback you can barely hear even when maxed out. I used it with a marshall 1978 super lead and a les paul standard. I would say it did a good job at sounding like black sabbath, and white zombie I know that the guitar player for white zombie used it or at least endorsed it, but thats not the reason i bought it, the reason was it was extra thick and sounded really good for the music I was playing at the time

I had one of the pedals on it go out on me (I think I spilled coffee on it) but it has two others so it was ok the pedals are just to pick patches so I just had one less. I don't play shows but if I did I would bring a backup something

never had to deal with them

now I play spacey music in the vein of space needle and pink floyd, but years ago when My favorite band was alice in chains this was the best distortion pedal I had ever played and it still sounds really good to me and when I need that sound I still reach for that pedal. I have been playing for 9 years some other gear I own is a boss ds 1 and a boss hyper metal pedal, a sovetech big muff, a digitech rp 10 dunlop fuzz face and a full tone soulbender If it was lost or stolen I would do my best to find another it sounds better than most of the other pedals except the soulbender but every one of my pedals I bought because it sounded different than most other pedals I have

Fast&Easy programming system, Easy storing by pushing single button

Im using a Marshall valvestate 60 Watt amp, the sound of the effect is too sythetic when used alone, in combination with tube amp ok, especially when using old tube amps in combination with the fuzz

I can depend on it, it has never let me down...

I play alternative Rock with seventies influenced sounds, bass dominated, works fine, I like the sound in combination with tube amps, If stolen, I'd buy a seventies fuzz and a crybaby... The delay sucks... I know a few guys who keep buying all those MIDI pedals and huge 19"racks and so on, of course the korg is no match... but those guys actually only use triple reverb so their sounds suck... I wish it had a better delay It definitely helps me making music, its the beginners effect...

THIS THING IS SO EASY TO OPERATE, I THINK A BABY COULD PROGRAM IT. EDITING PATCHES IS VERY SIMPLE, YOU DON'T EVEN REALLY NEED THE MANUAL. IF YOU DO HAVE TROUBLE WITH EDITING THE MANUAL IS VERY STRAIGHT-FORWARD.

I HAVE TO BE HONEST, I'VE ALWAYS PREFERRED NATURAL AMP DISTORTION SUCH AS A FENDER TWIN OR PEAVEY 5150 BUT THIS UNIT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO PURE TONE. WITH A LOT OF TWEAKING YOU CAN COP THE TONE OF BASICALLY ANYONE(WITH A FEW OTHER TRUSTY GADGETS, BUT THATS TOP SECRET)RANGING FROM CLAPTON TO VAI TO MALMSTEEN TO JOHNSON TO ED VAN HALEN TO R. RHODES. AGAIN IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR RIG SETUP AND GUITAR BUT THIS IS A VERSATILE LITTLE BASTARD. AS FAR AS CONSISTENCY GOES, YOU CANT REALLY GO WRONG IN THE DIGITAL REALM. THE G1 GIVES YOU THE WHAT YOU WANT EACH TIME YOU PLUG IT IN. AS FAR AS THE EFFECTS, SOME OF THE PRESETS ARE PRETTY COOL. FOR EXAMPLE - BANK 1 GREEN OR BANK1 RED. 1 IS A GREAT LEAD TONE, AT LEAST FOR MY TASTE(LIKE BUTTA!) AND 2 IS A KILLER BLUES TONE WITH A LITTLE TWEAKING(THINK ES-335 THROUGH A VIBROKING). TELL YOU THE TRUTH THATS ALL I REALLY USE ON THE THING. I THINK THE WAH ON THIS UNIT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS MADE BY FISHER PRICE AS WELL AS THE DELAYS AND SO CALLED DOUBLER. THE OCTAVE-FUZZ AS WELL AS THE REGULAR FUZZ SOUNDS PRETTY BEAT TOO BUT YOU 'VE GOT TO EXPERIMENT WITH THIS STUFF AND OTHER GEAR TO FIND YOUR OWN SOUND. I USE MY RACK GEAR WITH G1 AND COME UP WITH SOME PRETTY NEAT STUFF.

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT - HAD IT ABOUT 1 YEAR NOW. GOOD FOR GIGS ALSO, VERY STURDY AND CONSISTANT.

NEVER SPOKE TO THEM DONT PLAN TO

TO BE HONEST, I DON'T THINK THIS IS THE BEST PIECE OF GEAR IN THE WORLD, BUT IT CAN BE USEFUL IN SOME APPLICATIONS. MY MUSICAL TASTES RANGE FROM DIMEOLA TO EVH TO NUNO BETTENCOURT AND WITH THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TWEEKING THEIR SOUNDS CAN BE AN ARMS REACH AWAY. NICE CREAMY DISTORTION FOR A NICE PRICE. BUT I WOULDN'T USE THIS AS A DEDICATED CHORUS OR DELAY UNIT.

It took me a few minutes to master saving a patch, but afterwards, I was in shred heaven! A year back, I was trying to sell it, to move on to small battery operated stomp boxes- I'm so glad I didn't! Since my band has changed style over the last year, I thought I'd have a problem finding suitable sounds on the G1- I was wrong- It took me about half an hour to get a rich grungey-punky distortion that's great for solos and rhythm playing.

Great sounds- I'm using a Fender Jag-stang and Laney world series 120W head wiith a 4x12 Trace Elliot cab. It sounds perfect. The 'fuzz' setting is a little thin, but is sorted by using a hi-bass setting on my amp. The delay is useless to me really, but it can help to add an atmosphere to feedback. I use a Boss flanger with it, for the odd jet-plane type swoosh.

I've never had any trouble with it- apart from the mains adaptor, but that was an outside problem.

Never needed it.

Playing mainly grunge-influenced material, some might say a pedal board is unusual, but it suits me fine. I used to own a Boss DS-2, but I sold it as it just didn't cut it like the G1 does- it's a great distortion pedal which i hope to own forever.

THE easiest distortion processor I've found that can actually deliver more than one decent sound. Simple rotary knobs and an instant compare function. Only slightly more difficult than a stomp box, but WAY more flexible. If you can't work this thing, then you're a pea-brain who should just stick to just your guitar and amp. On the flip side, nothing this easy just happens in this world of ever-more complicated digital gear without having to give something up. In this unit's case, it's parameter 'tweak-ability'; there isn't much here! The folks at Korg must have done some statistical analysis of popular recordings and discovered that the four preset delay ranges provided in this unit will cover 95% of your needs, so that's all they give you: four preset delay times within which you can vary the delay level only. And guess what? They pretty much nailed it! Play along with your band, or a backing tape and tell me if among all the other noise you or anyone else would really notice any difference even if you could vary the delays by those silly mili-second differences other units provide you. Same with the distortion voicings: the first four settings cover 95% of the sounds you here in your head and each can vary 'contour' and 'tone'. So there you go; pick a voicing, add some delay, and wail away! EASY! By the way, I've got another Zoom processor which is infinitely more variable but I never use it anymore unless it's for the time-delay effects like flange and chorus (whgich the G1 doesn't have). The G1 womps it totally for sound quality and is infinitely easier to set up. The unit's only drawback is that there are ONLY NINE PRESETS and I wished I had at least 40!

This unit may be the best kept secret in all guitardom. I've owned in- numerable amps in search for awesome crunch and liquid lead tone and in fact currently own Marshall and Fender combos. Like you out there, I've scoured music stores and made sour many a salesman's puss while lighting up their various amps. The only amps I've played through that served up as juicy a tone were a Bogner and a Rivera; the others all needed to be CRANKED to the max to create killer tones. (oh sure, the Boogie's sing at lower volumes, but have too much mid-honk and sound fizzier in comparison). As an alternative, just run your guitar into the G1, then the clean channel of your amp, and proceed to dial in Michael Schenker tones, Van Halen, Satch and Vai and more. I don't even bother with my Marshall's dirty channel; I used to have to kick it with an Ibanez Tube Screamer to get close to these sounds! Are the sounds from this digital unit 'dead-nuts-on' to the popu- lar recorded sounds it tries to emulate? Of course not, but they're SO, SO close, and like I said before, you'll only tell the difference com- paring it one-on-one with the album's targeted guitar solo spot; when played in a live format, it kills. Better yet, it kills at ALL VOLUME LEVELS, so you can feel the same inspiration to chunk and palm-mute, and string scratch, and pinch artificial harmonics at bedroom levels as well as at concert levels. I find the 'softer' distortion mode (setting 1) to be a little weak; but levels 2 thru 4 ('Fender bassman breaking u'p thru 'hot rod- ded Marshall shred machine') really smoke. The factory presets are actually useable but lean towards the slightly over-cooked side. Start with those and experiment and in less than a minute you'll get where you want to go. Remember, this is a distortion processor with delay, not a 'multi- effects' unit. It is THE BEST all around distortion processor out there; don't even bother with those silly, one sound stomp boxes. Buy the G1 and cover most all of your bases.

It's solid state, and solidly built. Can you drive over it with Arnold's 'Humvee' and have it survive? I doubt it. Can you subject it to the normal perils of gigging with impunity? I'll bet money on it. I've had mine for nearly a year and it's not failed me yet and shows no such signs.

Sorry, haven't had to deal with them yet. (That's actually a good sign.... read the manual and you'dd be fine.)

When I first stumbled upon the G1 (November '96) stores were selling them for $269 and I thought it was the best bargain on the planet con- sidering the quality distortion sounds which were at your fingertips. I mean, I plugged an Ibanez into it, and it into the clean channel on a Fender, and I didn't want to go home! Several other guitarists in the store, who previously had ignored it, all came over to listen and then to ultimately wrestle the Ibanez from my hands so they could jam too! A week later, a big local music chain dropped the price to $109 and the unit became mine!! You see, as digital technology evolves, it drives prices down; Korg was introducing their 'Pandora' units, and the Korg had to be repriced accordingly, making it the best buy in the universe! Would I buy it again? ABSOLUTELY, if ultimate quality and ease of pro- gramming tasty distortion sounds was my goal. My goal now is to move closer toward the dream of a single amp and guitar combination that can 'do it all', and to that end I'm eyeballing the 'AXSYS' (Line6) and 'Johnson Millenium' (Digitech) amps. Until I decide on which of those to score, it's me, my G1, my Ibanez with Dimarzio pickups, and whatever combo I feel like playing through. P.S., anyone who says that this thing sounds shitty has a tin ear and probably plays out of tune too!

Really easy to use, if you have a half brain probably you know how to use it. I don't know how is the manual but I think its allright like the most Korg guitar processors.

All previous dudes said that it's incredible the distortion. But, in my opinion this unit sounds like a toy, as all other cheap processors like Boss Metal Zone, DOD Fx7 or Digitech RP-6 or other. I prefer Zoom 505 distortion the patch called "Metallica" but also sux, don't trust this things! The delay is a junk, really sux! The EQ is poor, get Ax30G or Ax300G for better distortion and more customisable settings and for EQ! The best thing you could do is to get real tube preamp.

It was made with a plastic, not very reliable for a gig. Use backup!

I don't know, in Argentina there aren't any representative of the product, means no guarantee and no nothing!

Well I didn't bought this thing but I tested it and I wouldn't buy it again, coz, it's a waste of money, GET real TUBE PREAMP, get a RACK or something expensive. When you get some expensive and good thing you 'll have the aparat for years and of course you'll notice the diference!!! But it's hard to find so one cool! But remember, don't waste of toys distortion! I said that because i'm angry with this shitty products! If you have any questions leave me an e-mail I probably help you!