I've got a pair of late 80's, early 90's Korg A2 and A3
Same! My machine is the XL+ and only after 2 yrs with it I still only understand about 15%of it. That's less than what I "should" know I suppose lolI've been using an original AxeFX II for 7 years and barely scratch the surface of its capabilities.
I’m very happy with the Axe 2 xl+... I bought mind last year just before the 3 came out (wish I knew that was going to happen, I would have spran for the 3 ) I also bought the Ultra in 2008... no issues, and still use it for rehearsals. For me... as long as it can still be serviced if something should happen I’m good for years.
Maybe the h3000 from eventide. That had a great run.I would challenge anyone to name another electronics product (or any other product for that matter) that maintained its position as the uncontested "top of the line" of any device of its type for seven years straight, and only lost that position finally because its successor was released by the same manufacturer.
Not surprised... Just wish I knew it was going to happen within a couple of weeks after I got the 2 from Fractal. I would’ve waited, that’s all.Surprised you didn't know that would happen since you've had the Ultra and seen how that all played out, very similar to how the 3 came out and replaced the 2's including the Xl+.
I would challenge anyone to name another electronics product (or any other product for that matter) that maintained its position as the uncontested "top of the line" of any device of its type for seven years straight, and only lost that position finally because its successor was released by the same manufacturer.
I've got an A3 too, in near mint condition. Works great. Bought it from a guy who ordered it new, from a local guitar shop, back in the 80's when they first came out.
The worst thing you can do, with gear like this, is let them sit for long periods of time, without turning them on. Over time, the capacitors in the power supplies tend to leak. Very similar to how batteries leak over time, with lack of use.
Believe it or not, you can still find parts for the A3. I was able to find some old EPROM's that I used to rewrite the assembly language code to fix the issue the A3 had with forgetting the OMNI and MIDI settings when you power the unit off. I've also seen people selling parts from failed units, that may or may not have been repairable.
I'm sure, in the future, there will be parts available for the MK-I, MK-II, XL and XL+. It's like owning an F-150, there are so many of them out there, it's easy to find spare parts! I still have a 2000, F-150 that I've been able to keep on the road, thanks to readily available parts, either new or from the wreckers.
The iPod.
To those who wonder about breakdowns, I've got a pair of late 80's, early 90's Korg A2 and A3, who still work. If those old things still keep on working I'm not worried about my XL and XL+. If only because the Korgs look absolutely flimsy in comparison.
Didn't you sell those on a Edge guitar tone yahoo group? Somebody did, I think I even bought one of those. Haven't soldered it in yet, it's in my bag of IC components somewhere I think.
I will enjoy using my II XL as long as it still works. The amount of enjoyment I have received from this black box cannot be measured!
Not even close. Apple released a new iPod with upgraded cpu, features, memory etc. about every 18 months on average. The old classics used the same, or very similar ARM CPUs for most of their production cycle, but they were no where near the top of the iPod line by the end of that timespan.The iPod.