Korg Pitchblack Custom (Black)

The Korg Pitchblack Custom is a pedal tuner from Korg: a floor unit you stomp to mute your signal and tune, with ultra-high +/- 0.1 cent precision¹. It sits in the signal chain like any other pedal, and its true bypass switching, in Korg's words, "prevents any coloration or loss in the sound" when it is not engaged¹. It was launched in March 2016 and sits in Korg's "Custom Shop" series, which the maker describes as "a mark of ultimate quality"¹².

This page covers the standard black version. Korg also sold the Pitchblack Custom as a limited edition in vivid red, bright blue and sophisticated white, each with its own page here¹.

What it does

The Pitchblack Custom is a chromatic pedal tuner: plug your guitar into it, step on the footswitch, and the display shows how far each note is from pitch, to a detection range of +/- 0.1 cents⁴. That is a level of precision Korg describes as extremely accurate, and Premier Guitar's reviewers agreed on its practical value: "In terms of accuracy, you'd be hard pressed to do much better than the Pitchblack Custom's +/- 0.1 cent spec"³.

Because it is true bypass, the pedal drops out of the signal path entirely when you are playing, so it does not load or color your tone the way a buffered bypass can¹. The aluminum die cast body is built for the floor, and it provides a DC output that allows parallel connection for powering other effects pedals¹.

The display and its four meter modes

The Pitchblack Custom offers four types of meter display modes, so you can pick the readout that reads fastest to your eye⁴. Korg also widened the lower side of the meter, the lower-pitch side, giving "a broader range of pitch... to an easier tuning experience"⁴.

Premier Guitar's buying guide summed up the display in its "The Good" list³:

Powering it, and powering other pedals from it

The pedal runs on batteries, with an operating life of approximately 15 hours when using zinc-carbon batteries¹. Korg says the high-efficiency, long-life design allows approximately three times longer operation than the previous model, a figure Gearnews also reported at launch⁴².

The DC OUT jack is the practical extra. When you run the Pitchblack Custom from a separately sold AC adaptor, the jack can supply power to another effect unit, and because a dedicated power supply circuit serves the DC OUT, Korg says it provides stable and noiseless 9V 200 mA power¹. That is enough headroom for a typical analog pedal, though not for a whole board.

Where it came from and where it went

Korg launched the Pitchblack Custom in March 2016 as part of the Pitchblack line, which also includes the compact Pitchblack mini announced in February 2016 and the Pitchblack Advance announced that November². Gearnews covered the launch and noted the tripled battery life and the UK recommended retail price of £82².

The circuit has since traveled beyond Korg. One Control's LX Tuner with BJF Buffer uses the Korg Pitchblack Custom circuit, licensed by One Control from Korg, Inc. for that unit⁵.

How it compares in the range

Within Korg's own line, the Pitchblack Custom sits between the original Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner and the later Pitchblack Advance, with the compact Pitchblack Mini (Black) as the small-format option. Its limited edition siblings in red, blue and white are otherwise the same tuner in different finishes¹.

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