BOSS Katana 50 Combo

ninjaking67

ninjaking67

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Gents,

I have a BOSS Katana 50 Combo that I purchased for use at rehearsal as I was tired of carrying my Line 6 Flextone III combo. It weighed a f'n ton!
The BOSS sounds pretty darn good and can be loaded with virtually ANY BOSS pedal. It has a "specially designed" 12" speaker.
My question is whether any one here has tinkered with one of these and whether replacing the OEM speaker with maybe a WGS Green Beret or similar might make this good sounding amp great sounding?
 
I have one that I have changed the speaker in. I installed a WGS ET-65 very soon after getting the amp as the stock was was immediately deemed useless. It did not make it a great-sounding amp (and TBH probably nothing can at its price-point, and I wouldn't expect it to be a great sounding amp at that price either) but it did improve it substantially. The speaker change allowed it to at least have a chance of being useful for a jam at higher volume. It'll never be a giggable amp in my opinion, the power section just doesn't have enough muscle for that and the cabinet is frankly a joke and is in danger of collapsing at high volume, but as a grab-and-go jamming amp or even a larger practice solution its pretty perfect since you don't have to take any effects with you and there is a fair amount of usable gain. So anyway, yeah, I can highly recommend a speaker change in this amp. The amp itself is a heck of a nice package for the money and the speaker does vastly improve it.
 
gball said:
I have one that I have changed the speaker in. I installed a WGS ET-65 very soon after getting the amp as the stock was was immediately deemed useless. It did not make it a great-sounding amp (and TBH probably nothing can at its price-point, and I wouldn't expect it to be a great sounding amp at that price either) but it did improve it substantially. The speaker change allowed it to at least have a chance of being useful for a jam at higher volume. It'll never be a giggable amp in my opinion, the power section just doesn't have enough muscle for that and the cabinet is frankly a joke and is in danger of collapsing at high volume, but as a grab-and-go jamming amp or even a larger practice solution its pretty perfect since you don't have to take any effects with you and there is a fair amount of usable gain. So anyway, yeah, I can highly recommend a speaker change in this amp. The amp itself is a heck of a nice package for the money and the speaker does vastly improve it.
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I have never personally played one but have heard some great things and tones by those that have and who have tried them out in store!
Cheers Mitch
 
Mitch Pearrow SJMP said:
I have never personally played one but have heard some great things and tones by those that have and who have tried them out in store!
Cheers Mitch
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There's been an awful lot of wild internet waxing-hyperbolic about these amps. They are good for what they cost, arguably the best thing you can lay your hands on for the money, but you have to factor in the fact that it's a budget modeling amp and adjust your expectations accordingly. When they first came out people were making it sound like you could ditch your Mesa or Marshall half-stack and replace it with a light $200 combo, and that is just really not the case at all.
 
gball said:
There's been an awful lot of wild internet waxing-hyperbolic about these amps. They are good for what they cost, arguably the best thing you can lay your hands on for the money, but you have to factor in the fact that it's a budget modeling amp and adjust your expectations accordingly. When they first came out people were making it sound like you could ditch your Mesa or Marshall half-stack and replace it with a light $200 combo, and that is just really not the case at all.
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I do understand that aspect of it all , and what I did hear personaly
I liked, damm shot better than the amps that where cost constricted in the 70’s
 
It really is great to be able to grab it and go. I have 4 different settings footswitchable and a 5th if you include the panel settings. It is great for rehearsal as I don't have to lug around my pedal board, etc.

GBALL thanks for the advice about the speaker. I will keep my eye out for something suitable.
 
ninjaking67 said:
It really is great to be able to grab it and go. I have 4 different settings footswitchable and a 5th if you include the panel settings. It is great for rehearsal as I don't have to lug around my pedal board, etc.

GBALL thanks for the advice about the speaker. I will keep my eye out for something suitable.
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The WGS speakers are a good match in my opinion. I went with an ET-65 (12" ET65 - 65 Watts | Warehouse Guitar Speakers) because I felt the sound of the amp leans toward a more modern overall feel, both the distortion and cleaner tones, and I didn't think the old-school honk of a Green Beret/Greenback would bring out its best. The midrange in the 65 is very tight and percussive and I think it works really well with the more controlled high gain sounds that the Katana does.
 
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