Korg G1 Guitar Distortion Processor

Way easy to use, and practical too (tuner out, line out, amp out, normal psu, knobs for everything, input adjustment is GREAT).
Digital, but doesnt sound so (hybrid gain structure is printed on the unit).

Mine came with the delay section not functioning, ebay...
So I use it as distortion unit, and it shines. The sound is very direct while not cold, has a nice detail in the structure, I enjoy it. Just be sensitive with the gain, as always.
The overdrive is way transparent, while the shred distortion is quite organic, a pleasure to play.
The thing sounds so good, I am missing the delay section (it would have been the only unit between guitar and bassman ri then).

Other than the delay it still works well, and I don't know who had it before.
Normally delay issues in multifx unit comes from a wrong psu plugged in at one time (my dod G10 had the same problem).

Reminds me of my OD105 Korg, same type of sound quality. Better than my AX3G which is thinner and colder. None of the boss stuff I checked through the years can match the G1, nope.
So now I have to find another G1 with a working delay...

This product was made when real virtuosos where performing out there (becker and co) and good tone was not just an advertisement thing...

It's literally idiot proof! was able to get the sounds that I want within a couple of minutes, the only thing that I need to know is how to set this baby on bypass mode. Anyone who has any idea how to use bypass on this baby or have a free manual that I can download just for reference please put some info here. Thanks!

Wicked distortions and overdrive! I've got a Korg Ax3000G which is sweet but the G1 has a more analogue sound. We must bare in mind that this is a OD/Dist processor, so for those people who are not quite satisfied with other fx on this unit you have to understand that those fx are just bonuses. What you guys need to focus on is the sound of the distortions and OD in this baby. I play progressive metal and power metal and this baby does it all. don't need anything else, I'm actually planning on selling my Korg Ax3000G and buy a guitar synth since I dont really need it anymore as long as I have my Korg G1.

Can't complain, drop it a couple of times and still works perfectly!

didn't need to contact them , and thid baby is so old that I know they don't support it anymore

If this thing got stolen or broken I would definitely look for another one. So far the best sounding dist/od I've ever heard on a unit!

now this must be the most flexible and easiest distortion pedal in the world to get a good distortion of..its a distortion processor with three
channel switches,one bank switch and about 7 pots and two buttons,this unit is in a red rugged plastic casing.it also has delay/reverb built in witch is sweeeeet for solos as a mo******cker.it got wah waw in,headphones,amp out and line out.when a sound is to be stored just hold edit button for 2 sec.and then push once more.i remembered a add with Dimebag in the early 90`s with this unit,and someone did also mention white zombie..this unit can and will provide you with any distortion/fuzz ore overdrive you can imagine..including the o so mighty shred distortion..now this is the rawest head ripping,tightest,punchiest distortion ever..i promise.and be shore to take it from me.i have tried and owned about any pre amp,floorboard,pedal,top and combo there is to find this for over 20 years.and just not to hurt this baby too much cos of age,i use a line 6 pod xt live with metal pack installed,but its no way near..

i have tried this unit on everything for almost two decades now,it ain`t
noisy,it never fails.and the sound is absolutely pure metal times two.i can even plug it right into pa without any noise reduction ore D.I ore eq ore anything.any amp,any mixer,pc ore hi fi.blends nicely with other units as well.be shore to give a **** in the line out and see to use amp out,for stereo use use a y splitter.

now this is the only thing i used for maaaany years,while more expensive and fancier units just collected dust and sounded crappy.and for over 10 years,i never even thought about backup,and i did not need it.now i have been stompin this box for so long,that i have it in a glass mounter and bring it to the studio whenever i shall record the tightest most distinct and punchiest metal,with crystal clear solos thats just beyond inspiring.

never needed to contact them,and i bought the one i use now in the early 90`s used..he he.

for any metal and beyond,technical metal,tight and punchy and fast metal,any metal,any rock,as its got a sweet crunch and tube gain,a good fuzz distortion for that grunge ore just plain O.D.but most of all and finally one with so big balls that it sounds like a sledgehammer crushing concrete,and the solo sounds because of the amazing built in delay..if i can find ten more i would buy them all.you cant help falling in love with this,and if anyone says anything else..poooor pooor guys..
it has been compared with anything on the marked for all years..for what its supposed to do..it just does a hell of a lot more..this unit will always help you make good technical metal with crystal clear sound.this one is my everything,and it has made me cry several times,cos i can hear clearly now..

I bought this pedal used, without a manual. After a few minutes of trial and error, I think I figured out the basics. But after a couple of months, I'm still not sure I understand everything.

The knobs are laid out in a logigal way, and everything seems clearly labeled. But some things are still a mystery. For example - I've heard that these pedals have built-in noise reduction. Where is it? And how does the wah work?

The tone and contour knobs are a little hard to get used to. Is "contour" a mid boost/cut? That's what it sounds like to me.

MOST of the distortion types sound good. A few sound great ("Tube OD", "High Gain" and "Octafuzz"). One ("Fuzz") sounds absolutely awful. But 90% of guitarists could probably find a useful sound in here. It covers everything from a slight bluesy breakup to full-scale death metal.

My favorite setting is the Octafuzz, with the gain set fairly high and the tone and contour around 12:00. It's a heavy, grungy sound, but has a certain depth and sweetness to it. Power chords have just a hint of the upper octave floating above them. Single note leads just sing.

It also has a built-in delay. It's digital, but not overly cold or harsh. The way it works with only one knob is pretty clever. The first quarter of the rotation gives you doubling (from subtle to full). The next 25% gives you slapback. Then a medium delay time. Then a long echo. Despite only having 4 preset delay times, it covers all of my delay needs nicely. Since you can't bypass the distortion to get a clean echo, I've created a patch with the tube OD turned all the way down. It's mostly clean unless I really slam the strings. Nice.

I've tried it with a variety of guitars (Tele, SG, Strat and BC Rich) and amps (Fender Champ, Lab Series L5, a Pignose and a Peavey Classic 60). It sounded best in front of the Peavey, but great with all of them.

I should mention that it has 3 banks that hold 3 patches each. So you can program and choose between 9 sounds. However, mine has one broken footswitch. So I can only use 6 patches. Still, that is enough.

Not sure. It's survived for about 20 years and still works. But as I said above, one of the switches has already failed.

I bought this thing as a backup for my POD XT Live, but I doubt I'll ever need it. The XTL is bomb-proof. But *IF* it ever dies, I can get through a gig with just distortion and delay.

But the G1 sounds so good that I'd like to use it more often. So I'm conflicted.

I searched Korg's site, and found nothing. They don't list an email adress to contact, so I tried a few guesses. No luck.

There is a third party on the web that sells manuals, but they want almost as much as I paid for the pedal.

At home, I play everything from Blues to Surf to Metal to Western Swing. My band is basically hard rock. This pedal is a good match for my style.

I should mention that the red plastic case and black plastic knobs make it look like a toy. But I don't care. It has a number of great sounds.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd move on. But as long as it's around and working, I plan to enjoy it.

Easy to operate and easy to get great tones from this thing. Will drive an amp into insane levels of gain or just a little depending on the distortion you choose. This is still the best stand alone overdrive-distortion box out there in my opinion. It has everything you'd ever need from crystal clean bypass to o-my-god-we're-all-gonna-die death metal. I can't get a poor sound from it. This is the TS 9/OD1/TS808 of digital distortion boxes. Decent delays, too.

You can get anything from it. For oldies to classic rock, blues, heavy and hard rock, shred, metal, nu-metal and everything else, it just kills and keeps on killing. This is still the best stand alone overdrive-distortion box out there in my opinion. It has everything you'd ever need from crystal clean bypass to o-my-god-we're-all-gonna-die death metal. I can't get a poor sound from it. This is the TS 9/OD1/TS808 of digital distortion boxes. Decent delays, too.
There are some slight digital artifacts in the patches but not enough to be problematic. The dynamics are lacking but not entirely missing, either. What do you want from a box that came from the early days of digital? even with these shortcomings, tonewise there is nothing on the market that could replace this, even in 2006. For whatever reason, Korg did everything perfectly when they dedicated their processor to making distortion in the G1. It's all I ever use for gigging.
I'm using it with Les Pauls and Ibanez shred guitars. Fender Princeton, 90 watt SS amp and that's all I need. Guitar, G1 and amp. I use a JimiHendrix wah sometimes...that's it.

Tough as nails. Light as a feather. Simple 9 volt PS.

I've been playing a long time, almost 40 years as a guitar player. Over the decades I've kept my eye out for good gear. THIS is one such item. Doesn't matter what style of rock n roll you play, this will serve your needs.
I compared this with ZOOM, Digitech and BOSS products of the era. Hands down, the Korg blew the competition away. I also have a new ZOOM G2 for headphone practice (nice unit) but the KORG G1 is my live rig. I have owned BOSS ME series pedals, Digitech pedals, Rack mount stuff and an assortment of different amps over the decades. Now I use the KORG G1 with solid state amps for gigs. This combo gives me the most bang for buck and it's lightweight, which is important when you get up to my age.

This product contains more knobs than a conventional pedal and has 3 different pedal banks that your settings can be stored on. Because of these extra awesome features it does take away some from the ease of use catagory. Manuals can still be found online across the web for free. It really is not needed if you are already familiar with a pedal system. Most players with previous pedal experience should be able to jump right in with this and start shredding!

There is nothing I have found yet that is comparable to the sound of this distortion system. It can easily be used to dial directly in on numerous tones from Pantera, White Zombie, and other 90's metal bands. There are 8 different distortion types to choose from and lots of knobs and whistles to allow you to control the tone and feel. I have used this pedal now for over 10 years and currently use with it with a Marshall Mini Stack along with a Toneworks G3! The sound is phenominal.

I have used this pedal nearly daily for years off and on and every function on it still works. In the time I have had it, it has had the chance to take a good beating and it just keeps on trucking. You can definatly depend on the original Tone Works Pedal Series by Korg. It's a wonder that they don't still make them. Their new pedals just suck.

I have never had to use support for this product.

If you like to play any type of 90's style medal this pedal is for you. This pedal can also be combined with a few other effects devices to create some interesting sounds. I use mine in conjuction with a Korg Tone Works G3 Guitar Processing System and I wouldn't give either of them up for the world. If they were stolen or damaged in some way you bet I'd be on EBay buying replacements! New style Korg effects systems just suck and are horrible to learn how to use. If anything, I wish this also had the effects of the Korg G3 system so I could have everything I love in one pedal.

Very easy to get a good sound from this little red box. Editing is easy enough that any idiot can be creating and storing patches in just minutes. (I should know, I'm an idiot.)
As for the Korg G1 manual: " Yo...I don't need no stinkin' manual, meng!" Seriously easy to use...great sounds.

I've used a Roland/BOSS ME 5 for years for my overdrives and distortions. Hey, it's a classic, excellent box that does multi-effects and distortions, plus compression and it has a cool noise gate. When I read the review by Kayd Mon (see below) I just had to try one of these so off to E-Bay I went. Wow. This little red box has a whole lot of potential and it really does sound perfect for slightly gritty blues to screaming, "KILL EM AAALLLL..." metal. Like the Kayd Mon, I use the overdrive and the Tube overdrive settings mostly. Taking Kayd Mon's sage advice, I also created a nice crunchy rhythm patch using the High Gain setting. Muchos Zesty, mengses! Very tasty tones, indeed.
So..take it from me and Kayd Mon...this thing will do you proud, every time. Ridiculously easy to use and portable, too. Awwww...it's so cuuuute! :D

Just for fun I ran my 18 wheeler back and forth over it 100 times. Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin! Okay...it's ABS plastic, just like most car interiors these days. My car doors have never failed me so I expect the G1 to follow suit. Seems sturdy enough.
What's a backup? Oh, my ME 5 is a backup, now. I wouldn't use the G1 as jackstand for changing my brakes but it seems to be of average-to-slightly-above-average quality for a product produced at the end of the 20th century.

"I don't need no stinkin customer support, meng!"

I'm heavy into 17th century Hungarian folk music these days. Just kidding. I'm a rhythm / occasional solo player in a 4 piece band. I've been playing old school for a long time. Yes, I AM a 54 year old geezer.
We do old school stuff, a little jazz and some covers of Zep, Boston, Cream...the usual suspects. We also do a respectable British Invasion thing with Beatles and Who tunes. (WHO?...yeah)
Surf tunes round out the repertoire-crowd pleasers for geezers (takes one to know one!) This box covers it all and has a bypass for just doing it clean. By the way...we have a killer solo guitarist who happens to have the handle "Kayd Mon." True story...he's in the band.
He has excellent taste in equipment, I'll have to admit. Probably buys his amps and guitars from a cool older guy who gives him tasty deals on zesty equipment. :D
This is a great box. Glad I bought it. Thanks for the steer to this thing, Kayd Mon...see you next Tuesday at rehearsal...

very good pedal...i love it!!!

love it so much...the sound kick ass, with the right combination guitar pick up such as seymour duncan 'invader' or dimarzio 'dropsonic'

once it got rain on it, let it dry for two days or you can use hair dry-er it's done :)

perfect!!! since i have so many tube amps such as mesa, orange, marshall, HK, Krank...this stuff gives me what i need... :)
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The controls are self-explanitory and easy to figure out without using a manual (I don't know if I still have mine). It takes a few minutes to figure out the tone controls if you're used to the standard bass/treble or bass/mid/treble. It is quite easy to get a good sound out of this thing, and editing patches is just a matter of some simple knob-twisting.

For guitars, I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a maple-neck Fender Strat with Texas Specials, and sometimes an Epiphone Dot. For amps I use either a Fender Blues Jr. (all stock) or a Peavy Ranger 212 (speakers and tubes non-stock). In the past, I have used this with a 50-watt HiWatt half stack and a reissue Fender Twin Reverb.

As you can see, I have used this pedal mostly in front of tube amps. This pedal has a really great sound on top of an expressive clean channel on a tube amp. I'm no shredder - I mainly use the Classic OD and Tube OD modes on this pedal. I will sometimes use the High Gain Dist for a very cutting, sustaining solo sound. The Classic OD has a great crunch that is not too harsh and does not cover up any of the notes you are playing. The Tube OD is a little dirtier, but still retains a wonderful sound true to your playing style. The High Gain Dist has great sustain and cut (as mentioned before), and it works well for a hard rock rhythm sound (especially power chords). I never use the Shred Dist because it really shreds. Total metal sound - great if that's what you play, but not for me. The Fuzz and Octafuzz are interesting, but for me, they are only useful for playing around. I never use the wah settings, as I like my Crybaby 535, but they can give a cool filter effect (I have used it before, but not for a while). The delay is minimal (hey - this is a distortion pedal), but it is perfectly usable for adding some beef to some solos, and the doubling delay sounds pretty cool.

I usually set the gain channel for my amp with low pre gain and boosted post gain to combine for more solo power. Combining the amp's gain channel with this thing on gives you a sweet solo boost.

This was my first stompbox of any kind 10 years ago - it has been through a lot, and I'm still playing it. The only problem I've ever had was a few sticky pedals - they would still work, but they were stubborn. This was only due to the fact that we practiced in a garage where some kitty litter would sometimes get on the floor and eventually into my pedal. After blowing that dust out, I have had no problems whatsoever. No backup for a gig? One can never tell the future, but I would be pretty confident with this pedal.

Never dealt with them, never had to.

I've been playing for 10 years. This pedal was my bread and butter when I used to play grunge, and it's still with me as I play alternative, prog, classic rock covers (including blues rock), and sometimes even pop rock. For distortion-only pedals, I have a Boss DS-2, and a Boss HM-2. For multi effects with distortion, I have a Digitech RP-7 Valve, and a Line 6 POD 2.0. I prefer this pedal over all of those. I even prefer this over a lot of amp distortion. I like to use a stompbox for distortion so that I can click to the amp's clean channel. If I lost this, I would cry and then buy a new one. This pedal has the sounds that I want, and it perfectly matches my playing style. Stamp of approval.

I just love simple and effective things and this unit is just as simple as a wooden pick. I don't think I can add something new for the other reviews: imagine a simple programmable stompbox with 4 pedals that you can learn to operate in 30 seconds. The only trick is activating the noise filter (press & hold 'bank") but that's the only hidden trick. It cannot be much easier. Now'days BOSS produces a dual OD/DIST simulator pedal called OC20 Drive Zone with the same clear-minded, well designed simplicity.

The 6 different distortion modes offer you great versatility and some extraordinary, cool individual tones if you know what you want to hear. Overdrive and fuzz modes I could not use for anything besides some fun. Phew, I play metal so 6 of the 9 presets are set to kill using shred mode#4. I love hi-gain mode#3 and the delay. Of course it cannot beat expensive rack delays but hey it's pretty practical for live use. I have a JH1S Cry Baby so I never used the wah mods. The noise reduction is quite effective, even with nutshaking volumes I can hear my amp operating buzz only. It also helps you control unwanted feedback that is pretty useful for loud club venues.
The only negative thing is some almost not noticable but omnipresent digital sizzle you can't kill without external EQ (I use a BOSS GE7 for that purpose) - but hey it still can beat any digital thingies I tested. With the GE7 linked, I would send it to duel with any distortion unit around.
I like it very much but I like better the tone of cranked tube heads. Tubes are tubes. That's why it's but 9. The next usable digital distortion thing comes to my mind continues the line with 6. :)= You can see, good little unit is that G1, alright.

It's ultra reliable. In the last uhh let's say 8 years I was on the road. Despite it's funny red coat (less smarts mind sometimes declare it a toy until it begins to scream) The G1 survived hundreds of gigs and 3 bands. Only the adapter wire worn out but it's normal after high abuse I guess (vomiting people, drunk stompers, different killer liquids, metal gears rollin' through, plugs torn off etc).

I still have my superb old BOSS DS1 for backup but after a year of no sign of problems I rather A/B switched it for instant mild analogue distortion. It was, let's see, 7 years ago. Hm.

It was durable as human race stupidity. I never had to deal with KORG co. Anyway, some keyboardist fellows told they have an excellent support here.

It was a 3rd prize (with some cash, a Yamaha 1500BB bass, some cymbals I don't know and some other useful gadgets) in a band competition and I put my hands on the G1. It was the best 'gift' I was given ever because it brought such heaviness in my tone that I always wanted before. I needed mere minutes to find the exact setting I'm using right now - and years to forge it into the exact tone that I had in my head but it's done. I just had to add some gadgets and change some others. There are some exact types of expensive tube heads that do the thing better - I did not use it when we recorded our album since it could not compete the good old tube distortion and I had the opportunity to use great - but until the time I can afford them, for venues this little distortion unit will be a good companion for making them pre-historic battered tube heads o' mine sounding 95% like a $2000+++ modern rig.

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!

As easy to use as any distortion/overdrive/fuzz -box, but I actually had to look at the manual about how to store a patch (it was easy to find, so I guess the manual is pretty good too).

Great, although the wah is crap (as everyone else has said). 9 different distortions, of witch 3 use wah (not auto, and therefore useless).

Plastic, but seems really sturdy. No backup needed with this baby!

Never had to deal with them.

If your looking for a dist-box try this one out. The pedals are too close to each other, but that's a problem with every floor-unit anyway.

the nobs on this pedel make it very easy to fine tune your own sound.

the presets are great!!! the shred is a massive dose of death and the high gain is a zombie like scream. the wah has a little bit to work on though...it sounds awfull! just go get a crybaby and the G1.

altough made of plastic i have had no problems with it. the pedels are sturdy enough for a good stomping.

never had to deal with them

would i buy it again? OF COURSE!!! this thing is great...not only does it give me the monster tone i require, but it is easy to program and recall patchs. it sounds even better if you run it through a tube amp on clean...the tubes give it even more fire than it already has.

Piece of cake for even the fledgling musician. Manual is very helpful. Explains all the distortions, etc.

It's not too noisy. The effects are not weak at all. My favorite one on the thing is the fuzz setting. It's great. The shred distortion with a big Muff on at the same time almost produces a wah effect. Other effects include the High gain distortion, classic distortion, and tube overdrive, which has a warm feel to it. Very nice for Classic rock.

I've had mine for 4 months now. No probs as of yet. It's plastic, but if you're not too rough, it'll be alright.

Never had to deal with them as of yet.

I would definantly buy it again. It was just what I was liiking for. It's like 9 stomp boxes in one.

Korgs done a great job of making this box one of the easiest multi-effects proccessers out there! Not only are the presets great, but by putting in nobs instead of buttons, they give you incredible freedom to create your own patches. The only annoying thing is the fact that there are only 9 presets. It comes from the factory with nine already programmed in, so if you want to put in your own, you have to write over the factories.

It's easy to get a fat sound out of this pedal. The classic distortion is beautiful, but a little bit bland for my taste. Howver, kicking it into the tube overdrive mode, the sound became just perfect. By tweaking a few of the nobs, you can get anything from a twangy surf guitar style sound to a classic british overdrive. Shred distortion is perfect for metal, but high gain distortion gives you an incredible, fat, clear sound even cranked way up.
My only real complaint is the wah. Not only can you not change the wah setting without a $60 expression pedal, but the wah sound horrible. This really is just a souped up distortion box! My reccomendation is to buy a crybaby when you buy this box.

Even though it has a plastic case, I've found this unit to be nothing but reliable. The footswitches seem pretty durable, and the L.E.D.s are easy to see even in a dark playing situation.

I've never had to deal with this issue.

This is a fantastic distortion petal with an awesome delay function. Like any effect, if overused or used badly, it sound horrible, but when used in moderation, can provide a huge improvement.

To make additions to the above review: A good sound was very easy to get out of the unit. Matter of fact, I didn't move much outside the presets for the first few days. Programming is very easy. Still, the input control is really touchy. There is a thin line, it seems, between good distortion and horrible overload. There has to be a compromise made. Still, there is plenty of gain in the unit. Enough for Dimebag-heads, easily. The one odd thing I've found is the weird way the Tone setting acts on the Shred channel. If you set it at max (all the way clockwise) after your turn the unit off and back on again it Tone is set one notch back. Not overly irritating, but weird. Also, there is no knob for the noise reduction. You have to stand on the Bank pedal and toggle back and forth in the settings [1-8]. And that is for the whole unit, mind you, like most other multi-effectors. The manual was clear and concise though the ease of operation of the unit renders it rather useless. I haven't really cracked mine since the first ten minutes I owned it.

The unit is very quiet due to the noise reduction. Note that it is REDUCTION not a gate. It does take a bit of your sound away when your use it. Setting both the NR and the gain lower is better sounding than having both cranked, to me. But still, there is something to be said for those that prefer a compressed sound, too. The classic OD can be set low for clean sounds, and is very fat. The Tube OD is even fatter, with a real Retro flavor to it, (Think "Paranoid".) The HiGain OD is my personal favorite, nice harmonics and touch response. The Shred is very much what it says. It will shred your eardrums. It is very scooped and a tad bit too harsh and brittle for me, but this is a solid-state unit after all. I cannot comment on the wah since I have no expression pedal. But it is not an auto-wah, it sits in one position and really doesn't sound that great. Spend a little more for a real wah, like I did. The fuzzes are good, though a little low-gain by nature. Don't expect geranium-class fuzz, either. These are more like a Rat. The Octafuzz is fun, though, for Hendrix-heads. The delay is worth the price of this unit, for sure. It is lush, and sounds great. Of course, there are no tap-delays or adjustments down to the millisecond. This is a distortion pedal with a couple extras, after all.

Dependable. Having some problems with the AC hookup (wall-wart) connetor but that is probably from just my own use. Other than that, it is dead-on reliable.

I think I would buy this again, if an AX30G was not available. But, that's apples and oranges.