Korg Toneworks AX1G Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI bought this at the Academy of Music, Brisbane for A$300, down from $350. I bought it because I had reached the stage of playing where I was listening to artists who used clean and distortion tones in their music and I was sick of walking over to my amp and flicking the overdrive button on and off. I went into the Academy and began talking to one of the storepersons, with the original intent of buying a straight distortion pedal. Instead, he suggested I go for something like the AX1G as it a variety of different effects, had more parameters to sort through and had a wide tonal variety.
The AX1G has a total of sixty-nine effects on board, up to seven of which can be used at once in any of the thirty user programs on the processor. It also has a built in preamp, so you can plug straight into a tape or hard-disk recorder and make your own music. There is also an advanced cabinet resonator with thirty different amp sizes, so you can record straight off the pedal and still have the "air" of an amp. Use is easy because of a simple interface. There is also a built in expression pedal which controls a variety of effects, such as wah, tremelo, chorus, flanger, and volume, but also operates the sampler and scratch generator. With patience, almost any sound can be created.
Unfortunately, modulation effects like chorus and flanger are separated into different effects depending on their particular parameter i.e., Chorus 1 is chorus with variable depth, Chorus 2 is chorus with variable speed, etc. Because of this, effects can't have two parameters operating at once. You get used to this and it doesn't become too much of a problem. The cabinet resonator is somewhat vague. Insteading of saying something like "Stack" or "Combo" when scrolling through it, it reads "Size 1", "Size 2" through to "Size 30". If the user isn't concerned with a definite amp sound to record with, this too is not a problem. The resonator tones vary quite extensively through the different sizes, and the numbers are fairly self explanatory. The only real problem is the Noise Reduction. When on a high setting, particularly on clean sounds some of the signal is lost, and this is a nuisance when playing leads on the solo strings, especially if your guitar has weak pickups, such as a Danelectro.
Although built entirely from plastic, the AX1G is a very solid, durable unit, and will stand up to the challenge of the most brutal player.
This really is a great unit, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy their first effects pedal. For a low price, it offers a wide variety of effects and is very easy to use. To prove my point, let's make an example (being Australian, everything will be in Australian costs; for Americans, or any other nationality who want to further explore and analyse my example, hop along to www.stgeorge.com.au and go into the foreign exchange calculator; it's simple to use). Basic distortion pedals start at about $160, and these are about the cheapest that are available. For $350, you will get two of these. In the case of a chorus pedal, you will get one, if you find a cheap one. For $350, the AX1G gives you about 30 pedals in one simple to use unit. Buy one and you will definitely get your money's worth.
Stuart War rated this unit
on
2001-06-26.
