AX10G Review

The new AX10G is a compact multi-effect processor that packs a ton of dead-on amp and effect models generated using Korg's highly acclaimed "REMS" modeling technology. Plus, it also comes with a built-in expression pedal for realtime control of your sound.

Ease of Use:	8.5
Sound:	7.5
Reliability:	7.7
Impression:	8.1
Overall rating:	8
Users rating:	5.9
Comments:	12

overall: 7

Featured review by: Dammit Missed T, on june 01, 2005

Price paid: $ 228.75

Purchased from: Music Shop

Ease of Use: It will take a good couple of weeks too get fully used to the controls on this pedal, but once you master them, it's pretty easy to shape your tone as you would like. The manual is pretty good, nothing special though, but generaly fairly helpful. // 8

Sound: I use it with a Kustom 10W practice amp or more often my Peavey Basic 60 Bass amp (which gets used with a normal electric). I usually use my Vintage Metal Axxe Razer with it, and it sounds pretty good to my ears in general, however if you are after very heavy distortion, don't count on this unit, it's pretty good when it comes to lower levels, but the stronger, more saturated distortion tones are fairly awful. The effects built into this pedal are pretty good - the chorus, phaser and pitch effects are the ones I use most often, and they're pretty good for a multi-effects pedal. The Wah is alright, but I wasn't all that impressed with it. It'll do to tide me over for a while, but eventually I'll be getting a Morley to get the tone I'm after. It's possible to get a wide range of tones here, such as Black Sabbath, bluesy crunch type distortion, or cleaner stuff like the Chilis. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I've recently found a problem with this - having had it about 10 months, it seems to have stopped working on batteries, I have no idea why, but I will email customer services about it. Apart from that, I've not had any problems with it. I wouldn’t probably gig with it, but as the backup, rather than without one. I would prefer to get a bunch of separate stomp boxes to get a better tone, but money is short! // 6

Impression: I play everything from System Of A Down to Robert Johnson, and this pedal handles most of what I do well, except the heavier end, for that I tend to use either a Russian Big Muff or a Boss MT-2. I've been playing about 14 months, and I've outlined most of what I have already. Apart form that, I have a Westfield Strat Copy and I'm borrowing a Spider II 212 from our bassist (had it a couple of months). I wish I'd tried out a few different pedals before buying the AX10G as I'm not too happy with the Wah's range, but generally for a Multi-Effects unit its pretty good. If it was stolen now I would not buy it again, as I don't need a lot of what is on it, and so I would probably just use the insurance money top get a couple of stomp boxes or something, and also, the tone is good, but not great, so I would look for something a little better. Overall I'm impressed by this, but I wish it had a better Wah Range, and a better heavy distortion, as the heaviest distortion on this is just too trebly for my liking. // 8

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: daralrmatic, on january 30, 2006

Price paid: $ 233.1

Purchased from: Key-music

Ease of Use: This is a realy easy to use guitar effect unit. The function button is also realy easy to use. The manual is very good, it describes all effects, there's also a guide in it about how to make a cool sound. // 10

Sound: I bought this effect unit to improve the sound of my amp, that it didn't really do. The effects are perfect but you can't really push more out of youre amp. So you need to get a good amp first and later the effects. What's brilliant on this korgax is that it hase noise reduction so you dodn't hear those buzz anymore, and you still have an insane distortion. The effects really sound brilliant much beter then the digitec guitar effect series (you can change speed, depth of each effect). // 8

Reliability & Durability: I would use it on a gig but first I would buy a new adapter cause the adapter I got with it sucks like hell. When you even bend the cable a bit the effect unit just cuts out of power. But the unit itself is really durable and reliable it let it fall, kickt it and it still works fine. What bothers me is that the pedal is made of plastic but it didn't break yet but I wouldn't put much weight on it. What also bothers me is that it takes a few seconds to start it up (when you activate it, it like first has to "warm up" and only after 10s you have sound) so when it falls out of power on a gig you are f--ked. // 6

Impression: I mostly play metal. But the good thing about this unit is that you can do so much with it. The effects really are the best you can get in its price classe. If it were stole I would electrify the person who did it an let him buy a new one for me. I sometimes hate that you can change so much on it so sometimes you have a bit to much options but then again you still have the manual that explains how you have to create your sound. But this effect unit is really good you can play music like it sounds on CDs from Jimi H. to Metallica to Pink Floyd to Lenny Kravitz. What you don't have to expect is support from Korg my adaptor was broke and they repared it but it's still broke. So don't overpay for a Korg adaptor when you just can buy a cheep adapter that probally works better. // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: AdamDK, on july 22, 2006

Price paid: $ 139.0617

Purchased from: Live n' loud (Local Store)

Ease of Use: The AX10G model is very easy to function with, and is easy to change the effects with. The Expression pedal is easy to use but can be annoying as it is plastic so you have to be careful when using it. The Manual is very detailed and describes quite a few effects which you can create using the AX10G. // 8

Sound: I'm using a Blaze Stratocaster Copy, and an Kustom KGA10FX amplifier. When I run the AX10G through my amp, I get amazing sounds. The delay feature is fairly easy to use, and has a great sound on it. There is though, a little too many pre-set settings which use rotary a lot, but just Switch off the rotary or change that effect and your fine. The chorus is fairly decent, but could be made better, and the Distortion on many settings is fantastic. I play a lot of Guns N Roses, Hendrix, and some punk rock, and I get great sounds for that. The delay can easily match up to the sound Slash has using his delay, and when you want to play Hendrix's material like Purple Haze, etc, put the amp setting on fuzz. However, the WahWah sound isn't too pleasing, and could be a lot better, but it does the job and that's what matters. All in all, the sound is very good. // 9

Reliability & Durability: You can definately depand on the AX10G for a gig. This would be my first choice for live gigs. Just save the settings you choose, then at a gig, you could easily change settings. I would probably take a backup incase the power tripped on the AX10G, although this hasn't heppend to me ever. // 8

Impression: The AX10G is definately a good match for me. Like I stated earlier, I play lots of Hendrix, GnR and some Punk Rock, and it just rocks. Even when I'm improvising I can get great sounds from the AX10G. I've been playing for nine months, and this is definately my best buy. The effects are outstanding. If my AX10G was stolen or lost, I'd definately buy another. I love the Distortion, Delay, and although it isn't too much of a good WahWah sound, the WahWah still rocks. The WahWah is an Vox I think, and I can get Hendrix style WahWah sounds from it, but it's not as good for my GN'R material, etc. I don't have anything I hate about it really, it's the perfect thing for me. I haven't compared it to other products but have heard some other products like a Boss Guitar Effects, and the AX10G, to me matched up to it, if not showed Who was "Boss". I wish that the AX10G had a CryBaby WahWah instead of Vox, and I wish there wasn't as many effects using Rotary a lot. All in all, this is a fantastic must buy for Guitar Players. It's the perfect box for a new guitar player as it is so easy to use. I give it 9/10 overall. // 9

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: Ibanez_90, on june 11, 2007

Price paid: $ 126.4

Purchased from: MusicStop

Ease of Use: Within 10 minutes of plugging it in and given the manual a glance, I had about 5 different patches saved and was playing away. It's a very simple Machine to use, regardless whether you know much about guitar effects or not. Editing patches is about as simple as it can get. Turn some knobs and press some buttons to get the sound you want and then just press write. The manual clearly explains what everything is and really you don't have to read, the thing is so simple to use. // 10

Sound: I'm running it into a 200 watt Fender Eighty-Five amp and I'm using an American Fender Strat and sometimes an Epiphone Les Paul. First when I bought the AX10G I only had a Jay Turser strat copy and with the cheap Pick-ups on it and everything, the sound wasn't very great, only on clean settings. The guitar upgrade really helped. It can be noisy at times(max comp, max gain, and using one of the distortion amp models). Some effects sound good such as the chorus and the u-vibe and a few others, but there should be more variety with them other than just depth and speed. The reverbs are good but I think the delays should be stronger, like the slapback. I pretty much play all Chili Peppers and it works decent with them, except for the Wah pedal, which blows. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had any problems with it yet but in all honesty it is made out of plastic. Just how can you stomp it until it breaks? If there's one part on it that I would worry about breaking it would be the expression pedal, it's not very sturdy. If you treat it good, I can't see where there would be a problem with gigging without a backup. // 7

Impression: I play altern rock and for the clean sounds, this pedal works pretty good and even some of the distortion sounds are what I need. I've been playing for about 7 years now and I've gone from Brad Paisley to Chili Peppers and now I'm in a cover band. The AX10G is the perfect pedal to start out with and figure out what several effects there are but eventually you will have to upgrade. I now have the AX1500G and I expect I'll follow up with the 3000G (might as well try all the korgs and then I'll change to Line 6 or something) Before buying it I would have asked if you could put more than one mod effect or more than one ambience effect on at the same time, because that aspect is very limiting. if it were lost or stolen I wouldn't buy it again because I have the 1500G. I love the fact that there is an expression pedal. I use it as a volume pedal alot. I hate the wah effect, it isn't of good quality. I didn't compare it with anything when I bought it because I was on a low budget and I'm only a student. All around good pedal though. // 7

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: Johnny Blade, on june 09, 2006

Price paid: $ 205.2

Purchased from: Buzz Music

Ease of Use: This takes a little bit of fiddling around to work out how to use everything properly but it dosn't take long and the manual is very helpful. It explains all the different amp styles and what they are. Very easy once you get the hang of it. // 9

Sound: At the moment I am switching between 2 SGs an Epipone Custom SG and a Gibson Tony Iommi SG. The amp is a Laney GH50L 4x12 cabinet. The only effect that I don't like in this unit is the wah effect. It is supposed to be the same as a Vox wah, but it dosn't sound like one to me. I play Black Sabbath and my own music, I only usually use the chorus and delay effects. I always use the chorus and a slapback delay on just about every song and extended delay for some solos. I have tested all the effects though and they are all very good except for the wah. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I can depend on it. I probably wouldn't go to a gig without a backup though just to be safe, this thing is only made of plastic and could be broken if dropped or stood on to hard. // 8

Impression: This has all the effects that I will ever need so I am very happy with it, and for such a low price you can't go wrong. I have been playing for 6 years now and own many other effect pedals. The only ones I still use are my Vox Brit Boost and a Zakk Wylde Wah. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another one for sure. I did compare this with a DigiTech unit but it was more expensive for virtually the same thing. I am happy with it. // 9

overall: 6.5

Reviewed by: glynicus25, on march 06, 2007

Price paid: $ 91.5

Purchased from: ebay

Ease of Use: This is both easy and hard to use. Choosing the right amp to model and right effect/ambience and combining them is easy, each has a dial. However editing them further is fiddly and not particularly user friendly. The manual is basic. // 7

Sound: I bought it to use with a Marshall-Park practise amp using a Westfield les paul copy and it obviously improved the sound. I bought it to replace a Zoom 505 mkII because that had broke and I wanted an expression pedal (bad choice, the pedal is superflous and) I wish I had bought another Zoom with an expression pedal. I have since bought a Vox modeling amp ADVT30 and this gives me the same amps/effects and a better sound, rendering this next to useless. The chorus and Distortion on this are particularly bad. Clean sounds also suffer, ESP acoustic emulator? // 5

Reliability & Durability: I wouldn't take this to a gig, if I do get round to joining a band and gigging again I'd buy something else, Line 6 POD maybe, another Zoom? It probably would stand up to the abuse as long as you didn't spill stuff on it. // 8

Impression: As I play a lot of stuff this doesn't give me enough sounds or enough desire to want to mess about any more with the patches. I've been playing for 13 years and had my Zoom for the last 8. I wish I had got another one or tried a Line 6 or Boss. Still the Korg was fairly cheap. The one thing I do like on this is the equaliser dials, if you are using an amp without them it it handy to have them. If stolen, I would shrug and plug straight into my Vox ADVT30. no-one else would notice it was gone. // 6

overall: 7

Reviewed by: boredretard, on december 06, 2005

Price paid: $ 189

Ease of Use: It has too many rotary sounds. The best effect for me is bank 61 which is distorsion but it's really hard. Mostly for metal. Doesn't fit my style but it's cool that you can edit the sounds and its really easy. The wah sux. I never use the expresion pedal. The manual is reety short and it doesn't have stuff about how to make effects but its really easy so you can figure it out for your self. // 7

Sound: It has lot of amp models (around 11). It has fuzz, recto, ac30, ac15, UK modern tone. It's really noisy. I play it through a Roland Cube 15 and I put the amp on 1 and it sounds like its on 7 or something. The wah is pretty weak. I don't use it. I really like the talking effect. The thing that sucks is that theres only echos for modulation and I don't like echoing. I really like Kurt Cobain's sound and I can't get it from the AX10G. I play with a Squier Strat (crap, don't buy, ever) the chorus is bad 'cause it doesn't do anything. // 5

Reliability & Durability: I never did gigs. I don't have a band (I really want one but in my school don't play any instruments) it never broke down. // 10

Impression: I play mostly Grunge and hard rock (Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Led Zep). I've been playing for bout a year now and I got this thing in august (I think). The thing is that it was so cheap that I bought it without tryin it out. Try before you buy it I dont recomend it to advance players. Only beginners. I wouldn't buy it if it were stolen or lost. I think I'm gonna sel it when I get a DS1. // 6

overall: 8

Reviewed by: Burpbelly, on august 02, 2005

Ease of Use: // 8

Sound: I use my Epiphone LP special II and a Zoom Fire 30 amp with this unit. I have also run both my Crafter FX 550 and my Peavey Milestone II bass through it into a peavey micro bass amp. I have no complaints with the sound although I find it is very difficult to get a uniform sound pattern throughout the different patches. I was impressed with the range of effects and they all sounded quite good. Again no real complaints. // 8

Reliability & Durability: // 8

Impression: I really like this effects pedal. It's my first pedal but I know about effects because I've had my Zoom Fire 30 for quite some time, and I can comfortably say that the effects of the amp are easier to use but the pedal gives more variety. I like the 'talk' modulation, which, if you set it up right is the thing Bon Jovi always use. The pedal is good value for money and since money was an object when I bought it I think I got a bargain. If it was stolen and I still had a tight budget I would probably get another one. However preferably I would get a few stomp boxes, because I don't use half the effects on the unit, as with playing mainly Oasis and RHCP you don't need that may effects. // 8

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Rattlehead666, on november 14, 2005

Price paid: $ 197.5

Ease of Use: It is very easy to get good sound out of it. You got this little knob that you can set certain settings on like UK '70s, UK '80s, Fuzz etc. The manual is the only reason why I can work this pedal. I don't know the firmware revision number on this thing. // 10

Sound: The guitar I'm using with this pedal is an Epiphone SG Special and the amp I'm using is an Traynor Reverb Mate 30. It can get a little noisy but thats if I turn the amplifiers distortion on to. The effects are great. I can get the sound of my favorite artist they are: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Exodus, Slayer, Diamond Head, Holocaust, Black Sabbath, Black Label Society, Metal Church, Kreator, Overkill, Sepultura, Testament. The two effects that to me work the best are flanger and phaser. the effect that works the worst is the Tremolo. The rest are okay. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I can depend on this pedal. I would definatly use this pedal in a gig without backup basically cause this is my only pedal. // 10

Impression: I play heavy metal, thrash metal and speed metal. This pedal is a great mtch for those genres. I have been playing for about two years and other hear that I own are planet waves cables. If this was stolen or lost I would find the person who took it then I would whack them over the head with the pedal. I don't hate anything about it. My favorite features would be the flanger, phaser, pitch 1, and filter. I compared this pedal with the DigiTech Death Metal. This pedal was better. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on may 31, 2005

Ease of Use: It depends on how you want to obtain the sound. You can choose to modify the sound from the presets, or you can make up your own sound from scratch. There are alot of different modulations, ambience and amp types to choose from. As I don't own the amps available, I wouldn't know if they sounded as good as the original. The manual is sort of helpful and it is in multiple languages. // 8

Sound: I use this effects pedal with the common squire strat. It may suck, but I guess the guitar doesn't make the player... Anyway, I also use a Fender Frontman with Overdrive. The pedal also has a volume knob, so you can double the volume of your amp, same with Overdrive, trebal etc. The effects sound excellent, especially the phaser and flanger, but there are some odd ones like the feedback and acoustic. it doesnt seem to make a difference and the acoustic sounds noting like an acoustic. more like a guitar with no bass, mid and heaps of trebal. It includes a control pedal for the wah which is 'supposed' to model the sound of a Vox Wah. There is a clever thing with the wah where you can set it to make the wah sound louder by the strength of your picking. Nice. The pedal also can be used for volume, modulation speed and ambience speed. you can easily get the sound of bands like powderfinger and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which are my favourite bands. It can be trouble banking up and down because you have to step on it with some force and sometimes it can hurt your feet if you are bare footed. Personally, I don't thing that there is enough room to place your foot. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The pedal can use either 4X AA batteries, or a 9V adapter. I would depend on it because it is my only pedal, but the banking is difficult and you cant be sure if you pressed up or down because of the inadequate space. If you are using it on stage, for a number of hours, or for everyday, I suggest you use the adaptor, because it can eat up the batteries pretty fast. // 6

Impression: I prefer to play rock and roll and funk - Red Hot Chili Peppers and Powderfinger. This pedal is excellent for them. I have been playing for 3 years and own a squire strat california and a Fender Frontman 15W amp. If this product was stolen, I would find the person and smash them. It would be along time before I got another pedal. I would probably get something else. This pedal is also a burden to carry around because of its shape. My favourite feature about this pedal is the many effects obtainalbe and especially the Wah. // 8

Comments

[joeyb]

luks like a bag of wank

[Danielj]

Its not bad, but the wah is a piece of shattt.

[ReeseKillsHIV]

joeyb wrote:

luks like a bag of wank

I'm with you on that one.

[wingedgopher]

Go Digitech or Line 6 for multi effects.

[maruel]

it's a steal for the price, cause it doesnt even have a distortion effect... i would sure get an AX5G instead of this "multieffects" or, if u save some money, get the AX1500G cause it's a greater deal...

[Landon54]

Overall I like that AX10G. The settings take a while to get used to, but they will eventually become easier to use. The Wah pedal isn't very good, but it does the trick for me (I play in a band which plays around town). You might think it looks bad, but it's built like a rock and actually looks good. One thing that can get kind of akward is that you have to scroll through the channels to get to different sounds, so this could be a problem for some of you.

[TCSC]

I have had an AX10G for over a year or so now. It would appear to have the potential to work well and make good normal guitar sounds. I'm not so impressed by its effects though. The problem with my assessment is that I'm not sure if I am operating it correctly. I have read the other reviews here and I can only think some of them have a different manual than me. The manual does not seem to contain all the information that I need and it is certainly not laid out logically or well. Also it does not have an index to find the parts I want to read, or a glossary to explain all the terms.
:
I specifically picked the AX10G because it had rotary knobs and tone controls that looked like a proper amp. Unfortunately there are operation and programming modes that are worked by the buttons, but it is not clear in all cases which buttons or how. I have only just recently got it back out of its box to try it again, after turning up to a practice gig (thank goodness it was only a practice!!) to find that I just couldn’t repeat the sound that I had spent some time at home finding. This was not a programming problem but a setting up problem. I was trying to use one of the preset sounds.
:
As I say I can not figure out how to set it up consistently because I can not understand the instruction booklet. I don’t like to slag off what appears to be a good bit of kit because of something I’m doing wrong, but if I can send a message to the designers of these things – THEY HAVE TO WORK ALMOST BY THEMSELVES!
:
The AX10G is almost intuitive to use but not quite, and I’ll apologise a bit to the Korg people because it is my finger trouble, but --- the frustration I am experiencing, is out of all proportion to what I am gaining from the AX10G, I’m afraid.

[TCSC]

I wanted to add to my reveiw on the AX10G for anybody thinking of buying such an effects type unit. The AX10G can not a professional device simply because it is too small! I can hardly read the dials in my bedroom, let alone in the poor lighting of a stage!

[simple rocker]

i had one and it f**cking sucked!!!

[simple rocker]

i bought it to replace my zoom 606 thinking it would be better i was wrong it's f**king horrible it easily broke may pedal is already bent the distrotion sucked the wah is weak i have one quesion for korg why the hell did you make this pedal it succked big time

[Vimanesba]

Actually is very good, perhaps not perfect, but for its size and price, is actually a nice pedal. I like the 84 for heavy playing, and for cleaner tones there's a bunch to choose from. I would give it a 8.5. It is very durable and works fine with any amp.

[wilkozade2005]

it looks alright, my friend has one but has no idea how to use it.