Boss Katana 100 or Fender Pro Jr. or something else?

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
Country flag
As I am getting older I’m increasingly loath to lug a lot of gear to jams. I have a couple of really nice vintage 15 watt amps but they are big and heavey, both over 50 lbs. Because of this I’ve being jamming with my acoustics for the last year. I’m missing playing electrics live. I’m in the market for an amp that is small, light weight, and can keep up with a drummer and bass. I’m leaning heavily towards the Pro Jr. It’s just under 23 lbs and with the ten inch speaker is quit small. I’ve used a Blues Jr with the same drummer so the wattage should be fine. I’ve never played a Pro Jr but the online demos nail the tone I’m going for. The Katana is a little bigger and a little heavier at just under 33 lbs. but it would be luggable compared to my existing amps. It is obviously a lot more versatile. I’ve never played the Katana either. The online demos seem to emphasize the cleans and the distortion so I’m not sure it can do the dirty blues crunch I like. I like that it is versatile and that it is solid state. I love the sound of tube amps but they do require more maintenance. I’m taking my SG to the city tomorrow shopping for an amp. I’d appreciate any comments from people that have played either amp or have something different that I should also try.
 
As a current Katana 50 owner I can honestly say the Katana will eat the Jr's lunch.
The Katana can be an acoustic amp or an electric amp. It's great clean, but also can get some descent overdrive going.
With the onboard effects you can leave the pedals at home.
The effects are also tweakable via online downloads.
And the 100 will have more than enough power to bury any little Pro Jr.
You also move up to a 12" speaker with the Katana.
Plus it's light. One hand light. Carry the guitar case in one hand & the amp in the other.
That is the main reason I bought mine. It's the perfect bar amp.
 
Hackmaster said:
As a current Katana 50 owner I can honestly say the Katana will eat the Jr's lunch.
The Katana can be an acoustic amp or an electric amp. It's great clean, but also can get some descent overdrive going.
With the onboard effects you can leave the pedals at home.
The effects are also tweakable via online downloads.
And the 100 will have more than enough power to bury any little Pro Jr.
You also move up to a 12" speaker with the Katana.
Plus it's light. One hand light. Carry the guitar case in one hand & the amp in the other.
That is the main reason I bought mine. It's the perfect bar amp.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I know the Katana is way more powerful but I have used 15 watt tube amps very successfully in bar settings. The sound I am going for is Albert King which I know I will be able to get with the Pro Jr. I'm not sure the Katana can nail it as well as the Pro Jr. I will find out tomorrow. I hardly ever use any effects except reverb so the fact that the Katana has built in pedal emulation is nice but not really necessary for me. If I can nail that sound with my SG I'll most likely be buying the Katana tomorrow.

This is the sound I'm looking for.
 
67plexi said:
It's over 50 pounds but Albert played this amp.

Roland - JC-120 | Jazz Chorus
Click to expand...

You'll see a lot of pics of him live using an Acoustic 270 also.

hqdefault.jpg


Probably depended on the size of the gig.
 
I have the Katana 100 head and I love it. It gets everything from clean to heavy dirt and gets it good.

I'm running mine through a 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30's. Even with that if I want a good sound but low volume I just lower the output of the amp...
 
I’ve been looking up the inventory of close by stores (gotta love the Internet). I’m going to look at Blues Cubes as well. A little pricier but I’ve heard one played live and was very impressed. The one I heard was a 60 watt. Can only afford the 30 watt Blues Cube Hot, not sure if a solid state 30 watts would be loud enough. Anyone have experience a newer Blues Cube?
 
The Pro Jr won out. It was hard to give them a good workout. All the audition rooms were full so they set me up in the middle of the store. It’s intimidating playing solo at gig levels in a store :) The Blues Cube and Katana were both good amps I could live with but in the end the small size of the Pro Jr and the dynamics of tubes running flat out won the day. I rented one of the new version IV Pro Jrs for a month to see how it works live. If I like it they’ll apply the rental to the purchase.
 
Kerry Brown said:
The Pro Jr won out. It was hard to give them a good workout. All the audition rooms were full so they set me up in the middle of the store. It’s intimidating playing solo at gig levels in a store :) The Blues Cube and Katana were both good amps I could live with but in the end the small size of the Pro Jr and the dynamics of tubes running flat out won the day. I rented one of the new version IV Pro Jrs for a month to see how it works live. If I like it they’ll apply the rental to the purchase.
Click to expand...
That is a brilliant way to try one in the real world, Kerry.
Great thinking there.
 
Rent to own great deal one thing on the Pro JR is they go through EL84's. If you keep the amp have a spare pair on hand.
 
Thanks for all the encouragement. When I got home with the amp I had to go to work for a graveyard shift so I didn't get much chance to try it out. After plugging in this morning all I can say is WOW!!!! this is one very loud 15 watt amp. It only has two controls, volume and tone. I love the simplicity. The one I tested in the store was a version III with a different speaker, different taper on the volume pot , and a slightly different tone circuit. It stays clean a lot longer as you increase the volume control. It doesn't have more headroom it just seems to have a longer adjustment of the volume before it starts to breakup. As you increase the volume the tone seems to have less and less effect so having more space with the volume before breakup allows you play with the tone in the clean range. The III started breaking up around ten o'clock on the volume while the IV starts breaking up around noon. So far if I set the volume around three o'clock and the tone around ten o'clock I can control it nicely with the guitar volume and tone controls. I get my Albert King tone. That said it is very loud at those settings. It definitely won't be getting much home use. I can't wait to try it at the local jam on Thursday. I really, really like the size and weight. I can make one trip from the car carrying my guitar and amp. I can't believe how much sound comes out of this little package and how full the tone is from a single ten inch speaker.
 
Thats a cool deal -- rent it -- play it --- BUY -- or RETURN -- no flip[ping --- craigslist B.S. to deal with ....hhhhmmmmm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top