Korg AX1500G

[@UberDistortion]

Fun fact : this multi ( also the previous model ax 1000 ) at early 2000s was so popular in Indonesia, almost every rent rehearsal studio & many beginner to pro player used it.. But as i knew not many american / west people famous player using this model for their youtube video

[@LeonTodd]

That's really cool to know. What part of Indonesia are you from?

[@msaifi8540]

Gitaris dangdut pasti punya ini sampe skrg bang 😅

[@putra.wolutelu7848]

sepakaatt

[@wartimekillers]

True

[@pauly51]

Nah. Digitech RP 1

[@kbcarroll]

I bought one of these when they were brand new. It was my first "effect" ever into my solid state marshall mini stack. Once I graduated to tube amps I found it too noisey so I sold it. 20 years later after so many years of vintage, analog, and boutique amps and effects, I bought one again for $40. It was truly never that bad.

[@spkoftdvl]

If you know how to set everything, you can make it sound really really nice.

[@KevStevens-Music-Drums-Art]

Great review, Leon. Thank you. I was actually given one by a guitarist friend a few years ago and after spending hours exploring it and editing the patches, I love it now. It does take a while to reprogramme the patches to your own individual tastes and skipping over the ones that you'll never use but it's a great peice of kit. After watching Gabriel Knights playing the entire Selling England By The Pound concert on KZbin last night, I have been looking at 12-string simulator pedal reviews and decided to see if I could recreate one on the Korg. I am pleased to say that yes, it's possible. Using the pitch shifter to double the notes and adjusting the parameters, I have managed to create a decent 12-string effect. Their guitarist has a very sophisticated and convincing 12-string simulator, but I am happy with what I have created, so if anyone is after that and can get hold of one of these, it's well-worth the effort. All the best.

[@richharris2864]

Can you post the exact settings?

[@KevStevens-Music-Drums-Art]

@@richharris2864 Sorry Rich. I wish I could but I didn't note them down. I started off by using patch 4.1, adding the acoustic guitar simulator, adding the pitch shifter to double the notes and after a bit of 'fiddling around with the knobs' (I apologise for my lack of clarity) it finally sounded close enough. It doubles the high E and B strings as well as octaves but when picking arpeggios sounds lush. Then I renamed it 12STRNG. I will try and recreate it on a different patch that I will never use and pay closer attention to what I'm doing.

[@chiefbucknell]

Woah! I bought one of these about 2 years ago, because my very first pedal was a Korg AX1G (which I still have), and the momentary switch (under the treadle) broke on my AX1G, so I couldn’t mess with its (very limited and lo-fi) looping/sampling. Enter the 1500G! The 1500G’s Phrase Trainer can also do freeze and time stretched loops-maybe kind of silly or lo-fi, but still fun. I “completed the collection” by importing an AX3000G from Japan to USA a few moths ago (no looping on that one, but it has other cool stuff). Any of these used units can be dirty and a bit faulty, in my experience. Buyers might need to expect to do some cleaning or to have a broken LED here or there (possibly damaged in transit)-just fair warning to anyone interested in these. I have two H9 and plenty of other more “pro” kit, but I have a soft spot for these dated multi-effects.

[@realguitarshredder]

Ahh great times. My first guitar processor bought in New Delhi in 2003-2004 and left it in england in 2010. Those years were awesome.

[@AceGibson1959]

I bought the AX1500 some 30 years ago. I still use it as a daily driver. The newer multi effects units have more flexibility and more bells and whistles but for my money, the AX does everything I needed it too and the sonic quality is enough for what I am doing.

[@LeonTodd]

If it ain't broke...

[@JoeR203]

I still have my AX1000-G. Over 20 years and still going. Hook a 7 band BOSS EQ to it and those amp/cab models will sound much better.

[@Pe6ek]

The trick with the Korg AX-Gs was that you had to spend some time fiddling with the knobs. Then you could get some truly wonderful drive and cabinet combinations.

[@russtyruss_i-Invest]

Bought this brand new around 2003ish still like new and still blows a lot of other stuff off the stage lol

[@stephenfry9057]

The talk effect on this was pretty cool especially for playing living in prayer, I gigged with this pedal for years , I would use the drive of my marshal amp and the fx from the pedal , worked pretty well

[@TheSilverGate]

I recorded an alt metal record with this effects pedal, everybody loved the raw sound of the distorsion

[@johnnytwo-shoes9798]

I have an ax1000g but with broken footswitches and recently gave away the ax3000g. Great sounding units in my opinion and the 3000 had a built in step sequencer which could have the number of steps controlled by the expression. Soo much fun. US modern amp and cab and set to AP 2 in global through the front of any clean platform amp sounded awesome. Strangely turning on the cab Sim even though it's going through a real cab too would place an eq curve on these older units that would smooth out the distortion and make them sound like magic. I never used it direct to desk + always sounded horrible. But using the amp+cab as a distortion pedal effect or "amp in a box" pedal IN FRONT OF A REAL AMP (the OD FX were bundled in the same knob which kind of implied to be used as a glorified distortion pedal) is how I think this and multifx of its era were designed. That's how I got my best results anyway from all the units Digitech, boss GTs , boss MEs, zoom and TC Nova system. It was the trick to fix the fizz with gain to turn on the units cab emulator going into the front of an amp. The first unit that this counter intuitive approach stopped working for was the L6 HD500 for me - even the gt100 needed it. The global settings of the HD500 would have an eq setting for different front of amp options or direct output settings and the cab Sims only sounded good in the direct output setting. Previously I always had cab emulation on when going to the front of an amp but the L6 worked as described - granted I only like 1 cab but it worked for everything for me - the XXL V30 4x12 with sm57 off axis mic or with 409 or u87 for different flavours.

[@thammananchaiyanon3633]

This is legend effect

[@hartlee1160]

My first multifx. It was epic at the time forsure. Headphones was..good enough and my parents were happier. The peavey amps I had were "too loud"

[@NeonTetrahedron]

Summing up at 16:15 is spot on. Got one of these and rarely turn it beyond the Tube OD setting. The effects, though, are great fun and there are some seriously weird ones in there to explore

[@mixmixture7049]

This effect had real sound like analog, like boss gt for sure.

[@ianturley502]

This bad boy can make any guitar sound good, on any amp.. I am living proof of this fact..

[@ianturley502]

I got a c-giant practise amp that came free with a rip off strat copy, And even my cheap ass Westfield sounded mean on it.. If you can't sound good with this, you are doing it wrong...

[@GoodbyeMyGhost]

Bought the AX3000G flagship and waiting for its arrival. Even more effects and a unique pedal built in. I like that it has midi as well. Will see..good review

[@luminousswan560]

I still have my AX1500G and my AX3000G, for nostalgic purposes only, but I have written Korg a couple of times urging them to get back on the guitar FX modeler train. I think they were the only ones on the right track with the form factor back in the day. They were very good as FX units as you demonstrated; convenient, midi switchable and excellent sounding. Although the AX3000G was a little bit better, it was still too early for finite element electronic circuit modeling and impulse responses to be used for amp/cab modeling and I couldn't get a decent high-gain amp tone either; but me thinks they could nail it now ...

[@LeonTodd]

It would be cool to see them roll their nu-tube series of pedals into an "all in one" modeller. Also, didn't Korg buy Vox a while ago? Were the valvetronix kinda based on this?

[@luminousswan560]

@@LeonTodd Exactly! They have some promising tech to work with. Korg does own the VOX brand now; I've been using their keyboard tech (X5) since my first paying gig. I now have a Kronos and its truly an amazing sounding keyboard. I think valvetronix is a solid state circuit that emulates tube properties (used in the VTX series) while nu-tube is a miniature device that derives from fluorescent lighting and, when inserted into a solid state circuit, creates the tube circuit vibe (used in the Cambridge). Both models use Korg's version of discrete component modeling, which they call Virtual Elements Technology, so they are positioned nicely to produce an all-in-one modeler for sure. Are you tempted to test drive a Cambridge or a VTX?

[@johanneschristopherstahle3395]

@@LeonTodd Valvetronix uses a 12AX7 replicate the behavior of a tube power amp. In their newer amps they replace the tube with the nutube. In my opinion the old ToneLab units (SE+LE) do sound fantastic. The newer ones do feel more like toys though.

[@madmancaudiogear]

Thanks for your video Leon and showing what this can do! Never really seen or heard these, I have a lot experience using Korg synths/modules over many years and always found them decent so reckon this will be decent especially if your good self finds it useable, just put a bid in on a used one in the UK at £30 and winning!!! If I win at that price I’d be happy if only the multi-head echo/delay effect was the only thing that worked on the unit but supposed to be all fully working. Your video and opinions definitely made me hit that bid/buy button. Nice one cheers Steve, that Uni-vibe also sounds great. Don’t want it for amp & cabs only the effects, suppose it’s a good job!!!

[@svenzia]

I agree fully. Used this since i bought it dirtcheap maybe 2008. One can even get som decent ampsounds but oh well the POD 2.0 is so much better.

[@davedagreat69]

Enjoyed the bit of Porcupine Tree at the start.

[@richharris2864]

Sometimes I plug in my old Yamaha Pacifica, my Peavey Audition 10, and this to go back in time to when I started playing. Other than the gains, It always sounds better than I remembered, lol.

[@wolfsdenmusic9404]

I swear Leon, with your love of the wet, lush clean sounds, you were born in the wrong time. :)

[@Kemezh]

They say that there is a legend ...... If Leon Todd turns on the guitar in the refrigerator, then even it will sound)))

[@hummer222]

The real secret hides in the AX3000g. The delay algorithms are based on Korg’s original SDD-3000 and their sought after DL8000R. Best delays I've heard in pedal format.

[@LeonTodd]

Been close to buying a dl8000r for a while, didn't know that about the 3000. Verrrry interesting

[@hummer222]

@@LeonTodd took me by surprise too! The amp tones still suck on it but it's a sleeper solely for those delays. You can look at the manual for the different types and references to their classics. DL8000r is on my radar too ;)

[@johanneschristopherstahle3395]

I do own the VOX ToneLab SE. It's based on the AX1500/3000 but it's modeling does include some tube wizardry. I love it for it's delays, reverbs and modulation effects.

[@hummer222]

I have the Tonelab SE desktop version with valve. Wonder whether it has the same delay algorithms as the AX3000. Also not sure of the differences between the Tonelabs.

[@thedeadxtras9927]

Thanks for your demo Leon, I’m a sucker for the old gear! Thought I’d take a chance just won one on EBay UK for £30 don’t think I can really go wrong at that price. Only want it for a few modulation & Multi-Head Echo FX, not really any drives or cabs, but you never know might get used. also use of the Expression pedal will be a bonus. Pretty sure I’ll be able to create some interesting sounds when hooking up to plenty of other gear. At the end of the day I’d spend more going for a few pints on a night out on the piss in Manchester, England, hopefully the AX1500G won’t give me a bad head like a few beers would. Cheers Leon enjoyable video as always mate, cheers Steve

[@LeonTodd]

Bargain! Way cheaper than a night out on the town

[@spiritofrocknroll]

Hey Leon, love your channel since I found your video on Schenker. I've owned one since 2006 and I still go around playing shows on it. Mine looks battered from years of gigging but still works great.

[@LeonTodd]

That speaks volumes!

[@spiritofrocknroll]

@@LeonTodd Yeah it just can't die for some reason. Although I am in the market to look for a replacement!

[@KrayFish4Ever]

You have to try the Vox Tone lab LE or SE. I'm interested to see what you can get out of those!

[@algrundau9441]

To this day I think the ToneLab Le from Vox is one of the BEST sound Multi FX/Modellor's EVER!!!....They are amazing. I have no idea why Vox stopped making them. It was a joint venture thing with Korg. In fact the layout of the boards are quite similar.

[@jackalegegeg]

I still use mine after 20 years, but I had to add a compression pedal in front of it in order to get a good clean tone

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Mornin' Leon! Nice bit of budget gear eh! Thanks for sharing and Be Well All!

[@aleksandrrostovtsev]

My first guitar processor)

[@InfinityEnterprises]

8:33 Natural Science? Lovely review!

[@felinekaiju4517]

I used to have the 1000G. I loved that unit!. I screwed around with the all the effects and managed to make a violin sound that worked with the expression pedal unfortunately, it did.t save and I couldn't recreate it. I'd buy one of these and I forgot how bad the amp andncab modelling was.

[@juliusserrano5217]

I've had this unit laying around for some years. Now I'll go get it and make use of the modeling, pedal and ambience effects, that I never really understood! hahahaha XD Now I have a good idea 'cause your vid, Thanx a lot! =D

[@LeonTodd]

Awesome!

[@1334sugar]

I have a question. What is the variable resistor on the back for? Don't you understand?

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Ah yes... My smallest usable rig is a Gallien-Krueger GK-10 with the original Korg Pandora neatly velcro-ed to the back. Said my jazz mentor, used to carting 88-keys and heavy Roland keyboard amps, “That’s your rig???" Funny moment. The pedalboard format is much more versatile, me thinks. 😂 Cheers, D

[@LeonTodd]

Hahaha I love that. Good old pandora!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

@@LeonTodd Not "GK-10." Gallien Krueger ML "S" 206. No-effects version, thus need for serious outboard. ;-)

[@cassandralesh8536]

I have the korg ax1g it has just preamp clean, overdrive and distortion. it screams and has a general speaker simulator. I tried the ax5g that has the same Amp modeling and never could get a good sound. I keep the ax1g

[@stevehawthorn8733]

Greetings Leon from England, hitting the like on your videos is a given, question do you have any settings or a video for a great Sykes/80s tone for Bias Amp2.?

[@valterbeicinha9633]

this is my first pedal and i have just recovered from my stash. is it worth it to experiment and train on it tho?

[@LeonTodd]

Of course! Explore and have fun

[@rockr8840]

How does with boss gt 100 or boss GX 100/line 6 pod go/hx stomp XL???

[@yonikeynan]

Great review. Great resemblance to Ralph Fiennes

[@christopheranderson2158]

Soooo many cool and usable sounds in a nice simple package!! What’s not to like?! Multi-fx boards like this get a bad rap in my opinion. Not everyone needs an AxFx full of every amp in existence.

[@LeonTodd]

Exactly, this gets so many of the basics done well enough

[@russtyruss_i-Invest]

Totally agree, still love mine, bought new a while back, comes as close to anything Bob Schultz (Boston) invented, the Rockman, which was hard to find in the same price range back then, and still today.

[@MrSeeker42]

Singer-songwriter here faced with two choices: either I buy this Toneworks or the Line 6 Pod 2 for Home studio use only. Which one of the two should I get and why? I want something with great guitar tones but without wasting time finding them. Thanks!

[@svenzia]

Well i have both. POD 2.0 has better amps and cabs. Even the effects are good. Its just a more complete platform. I still use the POD to this day trough studio monitors. Very easy to learn. I never do patches: 32 ams and 16 cabs. There is a reason they still sell those units at Thomann and many other shops. Only in a smaller format(Line6 PocketPOD) You can get the original real cheap. Edit: 16 effects as well. LOL i took it out now and started to build patches. So fun and easy. Check it!

[@MrSeeker42]

@@svenzia agreed. You ever check out the Johnson J-Station from that same era?

[@svenzia]

@@MrSeeker42 I have not had the chance. They are very hard to find in Europe, but many swears by them to this day and i know its Scott Groves favorite amps. Very versatile. BTW, the Korg got a test run yesterday as well. I will keep it because i would only get tops 25 Euros (30 USD) hihihi. I will try it in a effects loop of a head i have and try using the verbs and chorus maybe - otherwise it sounds digital and very hard getting a decent sound imo. Or one could use the wah only for example.

[@MrSpike7590]

Your Shirt is Hilarious!!

[@donsmith5385]

Hey Leon! Great video! I hope you try this unit with on overdrive, it brightens up the amp models.

[@ncurses]

Hey leon! Can you test vox tonelab ex?

[@javasundaland]

Amazing demo mate! Auto subs! The Modulation is awesome here! The Boss Multiprocessor is also best in modulation, which one do you prefer? (On the same price range, ofcoz)

[@LeonTodd]

Thanks for the sub! BOSS do great stuff too, get whichever is cheapest!

[@batmandeltaforce]

Korg makes cool stuff:) I wore the paint off a Korg A3:)

[@LeonTodd]

I've got one in my rack, really underrated unit! Did you get the expansion card?

[@batmandeltaforce]

@@LeonTodd No I didn't. There was one amazing feature I have never seen on anything else. It had an oscillating pitch shift effect, where you could set the pitch change interval, rate, and how quickly it shifted. Man you could set it to a major third, do some crazy tapping, and WOW:) It was like tremolo, but for pitch. You probably know what I am talking about:) hahahaha

[@johanneschristopherstahle3395]

@@batmandeltaforce I guess you have the AX3G, the small floor multi fx. It's quite different from the A3 rack unit. The pitch shifter of the A3 can only shift up to a semi-tone. So you can use it as a doubler (chorus-like-effect). Those old multi effects are just so much fun to play around with. I just re-discovered my old AX300G. :)

[@batmandeltaforce]

@@johanneschristopherstahle3395 Nope, I had the A3, rack. It had an effect that would shift the pitch, and you could set the pitch interval, the rate, and how quickly it would shift. So you can shift a major 3rd, at a rate you want. I used a major third, set to about 500ms and a sharp curve... like a square wave... dude that was some KrAzY Kool stuff, ESPECIALLY if you do some tapping on a minor arpeggio:) I don't know what a AX300G is:)

[@batmandeltaforce]

@@LeonTodd No sir, I always wanted it though:)

[@wakjob961]

Ah...I remember those sounds ;-)

[@djabthrash]

01:41 Porcupine Tree "trains" mockup riff ? :)

[@LeonTodd]

:D

[@pauly51]

5:06 def leopard?

[@msaifi8540]

once again give tips on how to assemble a pedal recording so that good results like this can sound clean and chungky

[@austinfailz]

I'm pretty sure I had the successor to this, the 3000G.

[@lifeinsaltlakecity4001]

PSA for high gain/metal players - this video is not for you. I watched it so you don't have to.

[@Yupppi]

The exterior and visual design of it is like a $50 behringer, imagine this design being the flagship back in the day! For that $100 you could buy a brand new neural dsp slo100 with two drive pedals, a compressor, a nice chorus, brilliant delay and reverb. Something Mike Soldano was proud enough of to make a cameo on the release video. Digital today is ridiculously cheap if you compare to physical items. I had harder time coming up quickly what you'd buy for $100 for physical unit. Perhaps a used GT-6 or GT-8 by Boss? Some Line6 unit? I'm not very well informed about the physical multieffects board or similar units of today.

[@MrSeeker42]

Between this or the Line 6 Pod 2.0, which one do you think I should get?

[@dennisneo1608]

You can't stick a patch in front of an amp in your bedroom.

[@BadBanana]

I think I got lucky as I found one in a guitar shop for £15 The lock on the pedal is broken so it's always fully up unless I step on it but that doesn't even bother me This thing can be battery powered Omfg Bargain

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah can't complain at that price!

[@ssdravidian]

Please make a video on the Line6 M13

[@LeonTodd]

I owned one for a while that unfortunately broke down. Love the M series though, should try grab another one

[@JRFarmercom]

Snuck some Porcupine Tree Trains in there!

[@LeonTodd]

I'm glad you noticed that one! What a song /album/band!

[@silviopimentel7247]

100 rubles? That expensive for a 10 year kid would probably complain to the parents!!

[@EdvinLaura]

the problem with it is that it eats sound, makes your guitar sound worse

[@nicopoppe4838]

gosh they sounded like shit... as I can remember... I bought it for 80 at the time.

[@Pe6ek]

Because you have to know how to program it 😝

[@nicopoppe4838]

@@Pe6ek I did... to an amp an di too

[@silviopimentel7247]

Its way to big for a varanda door stop.

[@viniciusr.sartorguitartech8085]

like two.....

[@idanshahar]

DON'T BUY THOSE You'll spend more money fixing the switches after a short time. They just stop working.

[@jamiehill7407]

Just got one of eBay uk £30 bargain

[@LeonTodd]

BARGAIN

[@Hello_there_obi]

Distortion sounds are pretty weak

[@csabaambrus1708]

Hát... Nem győzött meg ez a cucc.

[@TheCyberMantis]

I was not impressed by this thing. I wouldn't even spend $100 on it.