KORG

collapse expand iconDescription

The Korg EK-50 U keyboard features inspiring styles and sounds focused on classic and modern American popular music. The 61-key EK-50 U builds on the success of the original EK-50 by adding authentic American styles ranging from jazz and modern country to alternative, dance and rock music. The EK-50 U is simple to use and allows your musical ideas to evolve effortlessly into complete, ready-to-play songs with auto-musical accompaniment that follows your chord changes. Styles provide an entire backing band as you play the keyboard, and high-quality sounds inspire you to add phrases as they come to mind.

The EK-50 U includes sounds with a focus on electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses, brass and drum percussion kits. With a total of 51 custom drum kits and a complete MIDI GM2 sound set, the EK-50 U is a capable instrument no matter where your music takes you. Calling up any of the 200 factory Keyboard Sets allows up to four sounds to be played at once: three layered across the upper keys, and one split to the lower keys. A high-fidelity PCM sound engine and two stereo effects processors make the EK-50 U capable of creating expressive music with motion and depth. There is also a convenient Grand Piano button located on the main panel, which means you can instantly recall a beautiful acoustic piano sound at any time. Simply put, the EK-50U is an Arranger Keyboard with American flare that you can enjoy on any musical level.
Open Box KORG EK-50 U 61-Key Arranger Keyboard Level 2  197881192563
Open Box KORG EK-50 U 61-Key Arranger Keyboard Level 2  197881192563
Open Box KORG EK-50 U 61-Key Arranger Keyboard Level 2  197881192563

collapse expand iconFeatures

  • Total of 727 sounds: 662 sounds from the original EK-50 + 65 sounds specific to the EK-50 U
  • EK-50 U features sounds with a focus on electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses, brass and drum percussion kits
  • Total of 51 Drum Kits: 33 from the original EK-50 + 18 kits specific to the EK-50 U
  • 288 effect styles included 88 effect styles added for EK50-U
  • Styles include favorite American genres such as Alternative and Modern Rock, Southern and Latin Rock, Country, Blues Reggae and more

collapse expand iconSpecs

  • Keyboard: 61 keys (velocity sensitive)
  • Touch Control: Soft (light), medium (standard), hard (heavier), fixed
  • Sound Generator: Stereo PCM sound generator
  • Maximum Polyphony: 64 voices
  • Keyboard Sets: More than 170 sets
  • Accompaniment part: 2 stereo digital multi-effects
  • Keyboard part: 2 stereo digital multi-effects

collapse expand iconReviews

4.15

185 Reviews

81%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend

Most Liked Positive Review

4

A very cool guitar, if you're into the 1980's shred thing!

I have been in the market for an 80's style shredder for a few years now. As a big fan of George Lynch, in particular the stuff he did from 1985 to 1990, I've been looking for a used ESP Skulls and Snakes model. That said, they are hard to find on the used market, and they command a premium price. Enter the Friedman Cali model. With its high-output humbuckers, Floyd Rose tremolo, and single volume knob, it's got similar specs as the Skulls and Snakes, and with a much lower point of entry. So, I jumped on it, and I am glad I did. I've spent the last few days getting to know my new Friedman Cali and I can say with confidence this is an excellent guitar for the price. That said, it does have some minor drawbacks that I will gladly look past given how amazing the guitar feels and sounds. My particular guitar was a scratch and dent, which in my case means pre-owned. I say this because when I took delivery of the guitar, I noticed a tremolo stop had been installed, poorly I might add. I confirmed with Friedman they did not install these at the factory; hence my opinion the guitar was previously sold to another customer. In any case, there are no other blemishes or visual imperfections to speak of other than, of course, the factory relic job. After my initial inspection, I put the guitar back in the case to chill out for 24 hours to acclimate to the environment. After that, I remove the old strings, cleaned and polished the frets, lubricated the hardware, applied contact cleaner to the pot and switch, put on fresh strings, and gave it a proper set-up. Some things I noticed during the whole process: the b-string tuner doesn't seem to work as smoothly as the other tuners. These appear to be Hipshot open gear locking tuners, similar to what I have on my Tyler, and I know they usually work very well. Next time I change strings, i will pull the tuner and take it apart for inspection. Another thing I noticed is the screw-in style tremolo bar on the Floyd Rose. This is simply an antiquated design and needs to go the way of the rest of the dinosaurs: extinction. I much prefer the convenience, feel, and adjustability of the drop-in replacement bar, so that is what I installed. Now the tremolo feels expressive and smooth, and the bar drops in quickly. Once I got the Cali set up, I was amazed how comfortable it is to play. Let's first talk materials and craftsmanship. The relic job on the maple neck and fingerboard, combined with the rolled fret edges and slick fret crowning, make this guitar feel like you've been playing it for decades. It's really quite special and something you have to play to understand. because of the compound radius and excellent fretwork, I am able to set the action very low without excessive buzzing. I use 9-gauge strings, and two tremolo springs are sufficient to ensure the tremolo sits parallel to the body while keeping low tension on the strings. Bending is super easy and very smooth, and the tremolo feels so expressive. The guitar just feels slinky and rather addicting to play. On the tone front, it's an absolute monster. The Friedman Classic pickups feature Alnico 5 magnets, which happen to be my favorite for hard rock tones. The bridge pickup sounds thick with gobs of sustain, while the neck pickup is round and fat. Both pickups are articulate and clear, and allow single notes in complex chords to shine through. Rolling back the volume knob will clean up your tone nicely, especially with a good tube amp. These guitars were a collaboration between Dave Friedman and Grover Jackson. Unfortunately, they are no longer working together, and Grover has moved to the Nashville, TN area. I do believe Friedman guitars will be hitting the market again soon, made by someone other than Grover. With that said, the Grover-era are pretty amazing guitars, and may become harder to find. So, if you are in the market for a 1980's super-Strat style shredder, I'd recommend checking out a Grover-era Friedman while you can.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

3

Amazing bass with a major flaw

Being mainly a guitarist, this bass is perfectly ideal for what my needs are. A great bass with a great sound/tone for recording, and many option with the knobs to fine tune and tweak that sound to my preference. However, my biggest gripe is that the string action is ridiculously tight for this bass. I like to play with ticker gauge strings, as I typically go for lower tunings, but this bass is (ironically with it being a 5 string) is simply not made for it. The action towards the neck of the fretboard makes thicker strings unplayable. They make contact with the fretboard at around the 2nd-3rd fret, and raising the bridge to compensate isn't enough. To make matters worse, the screws that are used to raise the strings on the bridge are very easily stripped, and I'm struggling to find any sort of replacements for them.

Filters

Best Uses

  1. Practice4
  2. Recording3
  3. Metal songs1
  4. Rock songs1
  5. fun. and looking cool shredding for the normies1

Cons

  1. None5
  2. Poor Quality2
  3. Virtually no low end warmth.1
  4. Kind of expensive1
  5. Shipping box arrived damaged1

Describe Yourself

  1. Beginner2
  2. 74 years old, been playing 60 years.1
  3. Jazz, rock, classical player for 60 years1
  4. Metal,hard rock and instrumental rock1
  5. Retired 64 YO beginning amateur1

Pros

  1. Sound4
  2. Attractive3
  3. Stays in Tune2
  4. Stays in tune2
  5. Tone2
  • Sounds really good

    5

    submitted14 days ago

    byTrenton

    fromGladwin county

    This pedal sounds quite good. It is quite customizable. If you do buy this, if you do not have the cord used to power it, there is a battery adapter under the actual pedal part. you just put the black pins on the pedal in and take the pedal off. anyways, really good sound if you want a proper rock or metal distortion/overdrive for an affordable price.

  • Not too bad for the price

    3

    submitted23 days ago

    byJeff

    fromNashville TN

    Typical Chinese bling, the sound is lacking.

  • This drum is just like the vintage ones

    5

    submitted24 days ago

    byJeff

    fromSeattle, WA

    Play with freelance jazz and rock standards groups. All kinds of gigs and shows. I want to buy one of the sets.

  • Love this guitar.

    5

    submitteda month ago

    byLarry

    fromMinnesota

    Love this guitar. Easy/Good tuning, very playable, thin neck is fast.

  • Its so good it fits my church setting well

    5

    submitteda month ago

    byjordan

    fromHamilton, new jersey

    This product is the best drums i've ever played on because the shells are a nice color and when you tune the drums up, it sounds so good. When you play it in a open space it fills the room and when you play it in an enclosed space it sounds even better. All Im saying is that this is hands down one of the best drum sets.

  • 23862 SYCAMORE DR

    1

    submitteda month ago

    byETHAN

    fromMission Viejo, CA

    Electronics are really good. Was going to use it for jamming and professional playing. However, I could not lower the action due to stripped saddle screws

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