Anyone Own a Boss Katana?

[29er]

From the videos I've watched it seems to sound pretty good, but of course it is best to actually play an amp vs. watching You tube vids.. I did hear another player use one at a live gig and I thought it sounded great, very natural.

I like that you can store preset tones and the variety of amps models and effects. It's lightweight and affordable. I'd be using the amp in my home & rarely take it out of the house. Any thoughts/opinions?

[Aspiring]

I have a Katana head. I also have a Tone King Falcon Grande and an AXE FX III.

The Katana does amazingly well particularly through the Tone King cabinet and is incredibly versatile doing an amazing amount of stuff for the cost.

It's not the equal to either the axe or the tone king for overall tone and feel but it is also way less money.

However, to really get the Katana where you like it you are going to need to use the companion applications for either phone or computer. The stock presets are ok but all of the potential is unlocked by using the apps. If you are someone who just wants a gain and low / mid / high control and it sounds great this is not the amp you should choose.

If you are good with experimenting to find your tone they are an amazing bang for the buck.

I still use mine through my Marshall combo as my main looper playback and then typically use my Tone King for lead work to go over top of it.

If I am not using the Axe FX that is. I end up using it 85% of the time as it is unbelievably good to my ears with the ability to make just about any sound you want.

Originally Posted by 29er

From the videos I've watched it seems to sound pretty good, but of course it is best to actually play an amp vs. watching You tube vids.. I did hear another player use one at a live gig and I thought it sounded great, very natural.

I like that you can store preset tones and the variety of amps models and effects. It's lightweight and affordable. I'd be using the amp in my home & rarely take it out of the house. Any thoughts/opinions?

[GangstaPat]

I collect mini amps and have a menagerie similar to the one's I've seen some people make out of stuffed animals. Of all of my mini amps I feel the Boss Katana is easily one of the best sounding and arguably "the" best sounding of the lot.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

I have a Katana head. I also have a Tone King Falcon Grande and an AXE FX III.

The Katana does amazingly well particularly through the Tone King cabinet and is incredibly versatile doing an amazing amount of stuff for the cost.

It's not the equal to either the axe or the tone king for overall tone and feel but it is also way less money.

However, to really get the Katana where you like it you are going to need to use the companion applications for either phone or computer. The stock presets are ok but all of the potential is unlocked by using the apps. If you are someone who just wants a gain and low / mid / high control and it sounds great this is not the amp you should choose.

If you are good with experimenting to find your tone they are an amazing bang for the buck.

I still use mine through my Marshall combo as my main looper playback and then typically use my Tone King for lead work to go over top of it.

If I am not using the Axe FX that is. I end up using it 85% of the time as it is unbelievably good to my ears with the ability to make just about any sound you want.

Originally Posted by 29er

From the videos I've watched it seems to sound pretty good, but of course it is best to actually play an amp vs. watching You tube vids.. I did hear another player use one at a live gig and I thought it sounded great, very natural.

I like that you can store preset tones and the variety of amps models and effects. It's lightweight and affordable. I'd be using the amp in my home & rarely take it out of the house. Any thoughts/opinions?

Aspiring's response sums up the overall consensus if you were to read dozens of threads over a long period of time better than any I've seen. I think he nails it.

[29er]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

Aspiring's response sums up the overall consensus if you were to read dozens of threads over a long period of time better than any I've seen. I think he nails it.

I agree. Very well put and Aspiring may have changed my direction because I am surely not a knob or manual fanatic, I tend to prefer more simple plug & play amps. Thanks for the advise.

[BoneDigger]

I owned a Katana 50 for a while. Not a bad amp for the cost. As noted above, it's nice if you are into tweaking settings. I like my Princeton Reverb Reissue much better. But it also cost a whole lot more too!

[mtdmind]

A guitar player I had played with had one. His was 50 watts and I was envious of its light weight. Sounded good, too.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by 29er

I agree. Very well put and Aspiring may have changed my direction because I am surely not a knob or manual fanatic, I tend to prefer more simple plug & play amps. Thanks for the advise.

I have a Katana 50 Mkii.

Yes, to get the best sound to your ears, you need to use the program on the PC to tweak it to your liking. But, it's not like you need to do this every time you use it. When you first get it, you need to spend an hour or two adjusting the effects and things like the global EQ. But, after that it's just like a normal (but much more versatile) amp.

It's not as bad as it seems.

[blue]

Had one. Almost kept it for the acoustic/piezo aspect. In the end it simply did too much. Even without downloading things, the "What do I want to sound like today" dilemma took up more time than I wanted to spend, and dialing in that sound took up even more.

My solid state amp is a Blues Cube Boss Drive Special, which is supposedly voiced on the JTM45.

I turn it on. It sounds like a good vintage amp you can get a natural overdrive on. Hit "tone" button, and it adds some sparkle. Hit the "boost" button and it goes into early high gain metal territory a JTM45 would never reach. I don't regularly use those two buttons. On a dull neck pickup I might use the tone button.

So if you like being able to sound like almost any amp/artist on the planet, the Katana series has got to be the best value out there. And there is no rule stating you have to use any of the crazy patches that are available. You can pick a setting and run it with the knobs at 12 O'clock. As Paul Simon said when asked about if knowing music theory complicates your writing: "Simple is always a choice."

I highly recommend them to anyone who asks.

[Aspiring]

I can echo what one of the others said which is once you do have the tone you like (using the apps) it is actually easier than a normal amp as you can just save it in the presets and hit the preset buttons to recall what you did.

But, I still stand by the statement that to get the best out of it you will want to use the apps and take advantage of the patches that others have created out there that you can download for free.

Originally Posted by 29er

I agree. Very well put and Aspiring may have changed my direction because I am surely not a knob or manual fanatic, I tend to prefer more simple plug & play amps. Thanks for the advise.

[Dbone]

Any thoughts on whether the Katana Artist MII is worth it over the non-Artist units?

Is the Waza speaker in it that superior?

Other than the Waza speaker and a few more inputs/outputs aren’t they essentially the same?

[blue]

Originally Posted by Dbone

Any thoughts on whether the Katana Artist MII is worth it over the non-Artist units?

Is the Waza speaker in it that superior?

Other than the Waza speaker and a few more inputs/outputs aren’t they essentially the same?

What are you looking to do with it? That's what's going to answer the question for you. I personally think it's a while before live performance gear is a worthwhile investment. Right now I'd be on reverb looking for used standard in the size you need.

[Morrill]

I have the Katana 100. It's a great amp and has plenty of power and .5 watt mode makes it usable at living room volume. As others have said the app unlocks a ton of features but you can get some workable tones just from the presets as they are. The acoustic mode is pretty good as well. Versatile amp for the money. If I had to do it over I probably would have purchased the 50 and saved some money as I don't really take advantage of the additional presets or the added wattage.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Morrill

I have the Katana 100. It's a great amp and has plenty of power and .5 watt mode makes it usable at living room volume. As others have said the app unlocks a ton of features but you can get some workable tones just from the presets as they are. The acoustic mode is pretty good as well. Versatile amp for the money. If I had to do it over I probably would have purchased the 50 and saved some money as I don't really take advantage of the additional presets or the added wattage.

Why would your 100 be unusable at lower volumes even outside of the .5 watt mode of operation? I get how high watt conventional tube amps are not good for low volume listening, but for these type of amps?

I watched an Anderson’s video recently that suggested the same thing I’m suggesting here. I’d be interested in having more detail from you.

I’m in the process of deciding what I will buy for a first amp over the next while. I’m considering a Katana Artist, but generally I would not be able to play it very loud. I was more looking at it from the perspective of the effects it offers, the increased I/O, the supposed superior waza speaker etc...It’s at the top of the range for what I want to spend on an amp at this time, but they seem quite well received. I’d just like to know more about lower volume listening with them.

Cheers

[blue]

Originally Posted by Dbone

I’d just like to know more about lower volume listening with them.

Cheers

Probably makes the Waza speaker less important. It comes down to who you are with tech. Do you love the idea of the patches and everything? Are you going to "download" the boss pedals? If you are, get the most advanced Katana there is as long as you can afford it. If you're going to do some of that, but it's not a passion you really embrace, don't get the most advanced one.