I remember when the Korg G3 effects pedal came out in the early 1990s… I thought it was the coolest thing ever because Dimebag Darrell (then “Diamond”) had an ad in Guitar World for it. Korg guitar effects have come a long way since then, and by today’s standards the G3 is a piece of shit! Haha, I had one so I can talk smack. At the time it was cool, and I bought it and messed around with it… even played a few gigs with it.
These days, Korg guitar effects have branched out to include modeling, which every manufacturer does now. Korg calls it Resonant structure and Electronic circuit Modeling System (REMS). Basically, that’s just their version of modeling.
Korg guitar effects can be divided roughly into two camps:
i. Handheld Multi Effects Units (think Pandora)
ii. Floorboard Multi Effects Units (like the AX300G)
Both sets of effects have tons of presets, and the hand held units have the ability to tie into computer software for editing and recording.
Some of the Most Popular Current Korg Guitar Effects -
AX3000G Review
Probably the coolest thing about this pedal is that you can control the parameters of just about every effect with the expression pedal. That means you can create some pretty radical and unexpected sound changes by manipulating effects parameters.
This won’t make you a better songwriter or guitar player, but it can be fun and might inspire a new idea. Or it might just annoy the hell out of your band mates.
I’m not gonna go into all the effects and parameters here, it’s the same old thing: a million presets. Seriously, what guitar player uses 100+ presets? Yes, yes, you can save ”96 of your own original programs.” If you do that, Mate, go ahead and let me know.
The bottom line is that the AX3000G is a good modeling multi effects board that’s got a nice metal chassis that will stand up well to serious gigging. You can find this unit used or new between $300 and $400, about what you’d expect to pay for any multi effects board unit.
Pros – Easy to use, tons of quality effects, has *knobs* (not menus), easily tweakable on the fly
Cons - Presets are so-so, it’s takes some adjusting to get it perfect. Knobs look fragile
AX3000B Review
The AX3000B is made for bass guitar. Hence, the ‘B.’ Genius work on the naming guys, pure genius. The AX3000B also has a bajillion presets, which I think is ridiculous for bass guitar, but hey, it must help sell these things.
You still get that expression control pedal, which I actually liked playing around with on bass. You can get some serious otherworldly sounds out of it. It’s also got a tuner, but any multi-effects board worth a damn has one too.
Pros - Easy to use, lots of effects, touch metal case
Cons – Too much going on, it’s red
Now, on to the “Hand Held” Korg guitar effects:
PX4A – Acoustic Guitar Effects
The PX4A is made just for acoustic guitars, and it’s part effects unit, part practice tool, and part mini-studio. You can
PX4D
PX5D
While Korg doesn’t dominate the guitar effects market like, say, Boss does, they do have a cool set of products.
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