This Boss Katana Looks to Be Killer!

Sp8ctre

Sp8ctre

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This is new for 2017 and it's getting fantastic reviews! The head only version comes with a built in 5" speaker for practicing and the amp is power switchable fot 100, 50 and .5 watts! There are two combo versions one is a 1x12 and the other a 2x12.

The head is only $349 and the combos are $329 and $499...

One of the GREAT features is the ability to store 15 Boss pedal effects AND you can choose from all 55 Boss pedals when loading your favorite 15 in!

Looks like I may be off to Sweetwater...again...

Boss Katana Head - 100/50/0.5-watt COSM Head with Internal speaker
 
Some of you may remember a fella named RAIYN--- he has one--- loves it--- Says it truly is like buying 55 pedals AND an amp for one price--- 12" speaker is hard to beat as well.
 
I have the Katana 50. It's the best practice amp I have ever owned, hands-down, not even close. Actually better than a bunch of tube amps I have owned as well. The effects all sound like what they are: Boss effects. The "Brown" mode is insanely good for the amount of money they charge for these things, as is the build quality. If you get a combo you would do well to change out the speaker. They definitely saved some money there, so I put a WGS ET-65 in mine and it was a huge improvement. Amazing tone in the half-watt mode at conversation volume.

The 50 is not gig-worthy in my opinion, it gets loud enough "technically" but the power section is definitely losing its composure by then. Since you are looking at the 100 that is probably not an issue.
 
I was over at ETSG recently, one member has a weird buzz in his new Katana. If anyone can help, the link is here.
www.everythingsg.com

Followup on annoying buzz

Posted this subject 6 weeks ago and just following up. I'm not too concerned about this other than the fact my amp is still under warranty. I get an annoying intermittent buzz coming through my Boss Katana. Sometimes it's quiet as a mouse, other times the buzz is very audible. Only seems to...
www.everythingsg.com www.everythingsg.com
 
Sp8ctre said:
I had the 100 Head and it just wasn't that great IMO. I know people love them, but I wasn't impressed with the modelling.

Maybe it was due to my experience with Helix and Kemper? The best feature on the head was the 5" speaker.
Click to expand...
Yeah, for the price difference there should be a noticeable difference.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
I was over at ETSG recently, one member has a weird buzz in his new Katana. If anyone can help, the link is here.
www.everythingsg.com

Followup on annoying buzz

Posted this subject 6 weeks ago and just following up. I'm not too concerned about this other than the fact my amp is still under warranty. I get an annoying intermittent buzz coming through my Boss Katana. Sometimes it's quiet as a mouse, other times the buzz is very audible. Only seems to...
www.everythingsg.com www.everythingsg.com
Click to expand...

The buzz comes from a blown solid state part, such as an op amp, transistor or power amp chip.
It can be returned to Roland repairs or a tech shop...
It's not user serviceable.
But I think the idea is: throw it away and buy a new one.
 
Sp8ctre said:
I had the 100 Head and it just wasn't that great IMO. I know people love them, but I wasn't impressed with the modelling.

Maybe it was due to my experience with Helix and Kemper? The best feature on the head was the 5" speaker.
Click to expand...

I feel the Katana’s are practice amps, plain and simple. Not an inexpensive substitute for a pro-level gig-worthy amp. For practicing they shine, but expectations have to match the price point: I have pedals that cost more than the Katana. And speaking of pedals, I have found that the performance improves dramatically by backing off the amp gain and sticking a SD-1 in front of it. The input responds to an OD just like a "real" amp.
 
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gball said:
I feel the Katana’s are practice amps, plain and simple. Not an inexpensive substitute for a pro-level gig-worthy amp. For practicing they shine, but expectations have to match the price point: I have pedals that cost more than the Katana. And speaking of pedals, I have found that the performance improves dramatically by backing off the amp gain and sticking a SD-1 in front of it. The input responds to an OD just like a "real" amp.
Click to expand...

I find I can't enjoy playing through a "Practice" amp. I've tried a LOT of them and they all disappointed. I'd rather play a bigger, nicer, louder amp and turn it down a bit...or not. I'm in a
situation where I never really have to be quiet so these smaller less efficient amps just don't work for me.

I had the Fender Super Champ X2 Head and the Katana Head and that 50 watt NuTube deal and none of them lasted long. I also had the Yamaha THR10C which I hung onto a little longer.

Right now I play through the 50 watt Silkyn at the shop and the Kemper at home. I also play through the Twin Reverb at home, but not so much because the surgery happened. But I will when I heal!
 
Sp8ctre said:
I find I can't enjoy playing through a "Practice" amp. I've tried a LOT of them and they all disappointed. I'd rather play a bigger, nicer, louder amp and turn it down a bit...or not. I'm in a
situation where I never really have to be quiet so these smaller less efficient amps just don't work for me.

I had the Fender Super Champ X2 Head and the Katana Head and that 50 watt NuTube deal and none of them lasted long. I also had the Yamaha THR10C which I hung onto a little longer.

Right now I play through the 50 watt Silkyn at the shop and the Kemper at home. I also play through the Twin Reverb at home, but not so much because the surgery happened. But I will when I heal!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's funny that way. "Practice" amp to me generally means "beginner" amp or something you keep in another room for occasional jamming or even as an office amp.
My Mark 5 has the best master volume of any amp I have ever encountered (all Mesas do, really) and even at very low volume it sounds the same as it does loud, so for high-gain it crushes the Katana every time. Then, my Princeton (with Brake Lite installed) with a pedalboard in front is a much more articulate and rewarding lower-gain setup at low volume.

So, where does the Katana fit in? I pull it out onto the patio, or just noodle with it while watching TV, or plug it into the laptop to record an idea quickly. That way I don't have to fire up a whole rig and can just mess around when convenient. But the caveats are that the speaker change was absolutely necessary IMO, which kills the value proposition a bit, and it really only feels "amp-like" with an OD in front, which again lowers the value.

They are cool for what they are, and I maintain its the best "practice" amp I have owned, but the hype that blew up around them when they were first released wasn't completely justified from where I sit. However, those Katana Pro amps look very promising for the money and I would like to check them out, along with the Nextone amps - still looking for the relatively inexpensive grab-and-go all-in-one-box solution I guess, haha.
 
I really like the Super Champ XD Head. -- with 2, 6L6's and a 12ax7 --- its far from a "solid state" amp and trruly the best sounding HYBRID Ive played
The clean channel takes pedals very well--- the gain/modeling channel and Fender fuse software mean you can get a TON of TONE from this thing.
this is the combo-- but this guy does some good reviews.
 
eSGEe said:
I really like the Super Champ XD Head. -- with 2, 6L6's and a 12ax7 --- its far from a "solid state" amp and trruly the best sounding HYBRID Ive played
The clean channel takes pedals very well--- the gain/modeling channel and Fender fuse software mean you can get a TON of TONE from this thing.
this is the combo-- but this guy does some good reviews.
Click to expand...

I've been meaning to pick one of these things up for years and really don't have a satisfactory answer as to why I don't have one.
 
gball said:
I've been meaning to pick one of these things up for years and really don't have a satisfactory answer as to why I don't have one.
Click to expand...
get the head. The speaker is limiting in the combo

The thing sounds great --- FAR out plays a Katana
first off it ACTUALLY HAS TUBES-- 2 6L6's and a 12ax7 ve Katana -- no
the optional (free ) software at FenderFuse--I can send it to you (thanks @WavMixer ) gives you far more options for "models and pedals/effects" than the ones on board.

Sorry the Katana comes across to me as a plasticish toy amp, designed as a gateway drug for new players to get into BOSS pedals

the Fender is -- well a REAL MIM Fender -- made on the same line as the Princeton reissue -- the clean channel by itself is well worth the price of admission and sounds well like a fender tube amp
WILL IT CHUG ??? HELL NO (the boss will though) but you have MESA's so you really (I assume) dont WANT CHUG --
--EDIT-- the Marshall-- and MEsa models -- sound flubby and NON CHUGGISH-- the VOX and fender models sound EXCELLENT --so IMHO its like getting several fenders (wtweed blackface etc) and a couple VOXs for less than any one of them would cost alone)
The Xd is a very good product and can be had used for 250.00 or less for the head --- but get it NEW w/ warranty et all for 299.00 from sweetwater WITH CANDY
Boss Katana 50 is also 229.00 (much less used) ....no candy.... lol


Depends on what ya lookin fer there G man -- its a good B-day present that Fender ....I know first hand ;)


OH I will add the KATANA "SLAYS" in being able to use 5 (yes 5) pedals at once the Fender only allows 1 if only using the head--with the software however you can run up to 6 at one time---
 
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eSGEe said:
get the head. The speaker is limiting in the combo

The thing sounds great --- FAR out plays a Katana
first off it ACTUALLY HAS TUBES-- 2 6L6's and a 12ax7 ve Katana -- no
the optional (free ) software at FenderFuse--I can send it to you (thanks @WavMixer ) gives you far more options for "models and pedals/effects" than the ones on board.

Sorry the Katana comes across to me as a plasticish toy amp, designed as a gateway drug for new players to get into BOSS pedals

the Fender is -- well a REAL MIM Fender -- made on the same line as the Princeton reissue -- the clean channel by itself is well worth the price of admission and sounds well like a fender tube amp
WILL IT CHUG ??? HELL NO (the boss will though) but you have MESA's so you really (I assume) dont WANT CHUG --
--EDIT-- the Marshall-- and MEsa models -- sound flubby and NON CHUGGISH-- the VOX and fender models sound EXCELLENT --so IMHO its like getting several fenders (wtweed blackface etc) and a couple VOXs for less than any one of them would cost alone)
The Xd is a very good product and can be had used for 250.00 or less for the head --- but get it NEW w/ warranty et all for 299.00 from sweetwater WITH CANDY
Boss Katana 50 is also 229.00 (much less used) ....no candy.... lol


Depends on what ya lookin fer there G man -- its a good B-day present that Fender ....I know first hand ;)


OH I will add the KATANA "SLAYS" in being able to use 5 (yes 5) pedals at once the Fender only allows 1 if only using the head--with the software however you can run up to 6 at one time---
Click to expand...

I had the Head, not better than the Katana IMO, but everyone has different experiences. At least the Fender was an actual tube amp! Maybe my tubes were crap?
 
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That's the Princeton I have. It's ridiculously good, and is one of the best pedal platforms I've ever had. In his video you can really hear where the extra money goes.

I've modded it a bit: there's a Celestion Alnico Gold in it now, along with a Dr. Z Brake Lite attenuator -

IMG_0297.JPG

It's super-versatile and with the attenuator I can get it to break up at much more moderate volumes, though it's admittedly pretty damn loud at that point. It really shines with various dirt boxes and it absolutely loves delay.
 
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