So today I finally tried a Boss Katana

Fuengi

I've had @munckee 's 50W Katana sat in my studio for a few days, he left it here on Tuesday afternoon. I find it extremely directional. With it sat flat on the floor and playing at around 45° to the cab it didn't sound great*. Tilting it back (very carefully against the wall Adam  ) and sitting in front of it a few feet it sounded pretty good, better on the Crunch setting than the Clean IMO. Not madly inspiring like some tube amps can be but decent enough and better than the Fender Mustang III amp which I once owned (utter junk). The effects are basic*.

Probably a decent enough gigging amp for some, but it's not a 'game changer' for low cost modelling amps as some of the rave reviews would have you believe.  

I aslo own a Blackstar ID Core Beam which is a useful home amp for music / guitar / bass / keyboard amplification for jamming with, but i agree that used solely as an amp it sounds horrible on its own.

 

* In a departure from the tone of the OP, I'm being extremely diplomatic here.

ICBM

p90fool said:

BeardyAndy said:

Just seems odd that there's so much love for the range yet ICBM has so much hate for the poor thing?

That's a very valid point, there's no way of knowing how the global EQ has been set by the owner without hooking it up to a PC with the relevant software. 

I don't think it's anything to do with the EQ. I could easily make it more, or less, bassy, middy, or trebly than I wanted. The problem is the fundamental quality of the tone and dynamics - hard, flat, grainy, harsh, grating, just nasty.

And I don't think this one was faulty, firstly because digital amps like this don't sound just slightly faulty - they either work perfectly or don't work at all, usually - and secondly because I haven't heard one single online clip where they sound good.

I'm not alone either - I've been talking to a friend of mine who has been playing in bands since about 1970 and is a far better musician than I'll ever be, who is of exactly the same opinion and said that its tendency to totally disappear in the mix could only be a good thing given how bad it sounds .

Philtre said:

Can we hijack this thread as a general "So I finally tried a ...." amp thread?

So I finally tried an Orange CR60 (well, it was two years ago) and I sent it straight back. The dirty channel was fizzy and the clean was...meh. Not a bad amp, but nothing to write home about.

I dislike those much less, but I was far less impressed when I tried one than I was expecting given the initial reports about them. It still sounded miles better than the Katana though.

It's not about price or snobbery - the Peavey Transtubes totally blow them away, in fact to me they sound better than most cheap to mid-priced valve amps. I could even get a far better tone out of an ancient Laney GC80R which has nothing sophisticated about it at all, is also much louder (albeit also heavier), and is probably worth all of £80.

DartmoorHedgehog

I'm surprised you thought it was that bad.  I've not used one myself but I've heard one being used in open mic nights a couple of times and it sounded "normal" to me - nothing remarkable either way.  This was mostly pretty clean sounds though, so I don't know what it's like more driven.

Sassafras

ICBM said:

I don't think it's anything to do with the EQ. I could easily make it more, or less, bassy, middy, or trebly than I wanted. The problem is the fundamental quality of the tone and dynamics - hard, flat, grainy, harsh, grating, just nasty.

Sounds like a lot of Marshalls I've tried.

stonevibe

I grew up playing guitar in the '80s and most amps sounded shit if they were under £200. And I mean REALLY SHIT!

The age of transistor amps was in full swing and they all sounded pretty shitty. I had a Session Award and that was passable, but even so. 

Players are spoilt for choice now and so I can see the Katana range being perfect for many musicians.

gubble

Wanted an amp for home use - tried a Katana and didn't like it.

Bought a s/h Line 6 Spider 75 and much preferred the sound.

I thought i was the only one with this opinion but it would appear there is another !

p90fool

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

 there's no way of knowing how the global EQ has been set by the owner without hooking it up to a PC with the relevant software. 

I don't think it's anything to do with the EQ. I could easily make it more, or less, bassy, middy, or trebly than I wanted. The problem is the fundamental quality of the tone and dynamics - hard, flat, grainy, harsh, grating, just nasty.

Well I was just mooting it as a possibility, you know what I think of Katanas anyway

darthed1981

To make theengs a leedle more interesting and move the discussion on...

Where would we find a benchmark tone, i.e. the tone the Katana does not live upto but it potentially should to deserve it's reputation?

I dont think even the most ardent Katana fan would expect it to match a 2k boutique amp, but what about a less than £300 amp suitable for home practice (actually, just "home playing" - lets call it that)?

A Vox AC4?  Blackstar HT5?  Marshall MG50...?

munckee

darthed1981 said:

To make theengs a leedle more interesting and move the discussion on...

Where would we find a benchmark tone, i.e. the tone the Katana does not live upto but it potentially should to deserve it's reputation?

I dont think even the most ardent Katana fan would expect it to match a 2k boutique amp, but what about a less than £300 amp suitable for home practice (actually, just "home playing" - lets call it that)?

A Vox AC4?  Blackstar HT5?  Marshall MG50...?

You haven't been listening Ed its so rubbish you have to burn it.  Even making a pretend guitar noise with your mouth sounds better : )

Hard to do a direct comparison, when I play it straight before/after a champ it sounds a little too polished and processed, the same thing is true of my THR.  If I just plug into it and play it, its absolutely fine.

NelsonP

This could make a good running series:

So today, ICBM finally tried a Helix, Kemper, Atomic Amplifire Axe FX etc....

darthed1981

munckee said:

Even making a pretend guitar noise with your mouth sounds better : )

Have you been hiding in my car listening to me....?  

darthed1981

NelsonP said:

This could make a good running series:

So today, ICBM finally tried a Helix, Kemper, Atomic Amplifire Axe FX etc....

Actual footage of @ICBM the last time he did a similar project...

midlifecrisis

just a thought but ive had a few decent valve amps, marshall, laney and while they sound great played in isolation,not in a band, ive found my katana 100 sounds better in the band. it cuts through the mix without being too loud.Ive done over 100 gigs with mine, i hardly adjust anything once ive set up and soundchecked. Maybe its the harshness or graniness that ICBM mentioned that makes it sound great (to me anyway) playing in a loudish band. 

BeardyAndy

BeardyAndy said:

I know little of the Katana, although I'd pretty much been talked into buying one as my next amp but on the basis of this my head could be "re" turned. But is it possible, that if the Katana was a used one, that the previous user could have installed a bad amp model and it need's a re boot?

Just seems odd that there's so much love for the range yet ICBM has so much hate for the poor thing?

darthed1981 said:

To make theengs a leedle more interesting and move the discussion on...

Where would we find a benchmark tone, i.e. the tone the Katana does not live upto but it potentially should to deserve it's reputation?

I dont think even the most ardent Katana fan would expect it to match a 2k boutique amp, but what about a less than £300 amp suitable for home practice (actually, just "home playing" - lets call it that)?

A Vox AC4?  Blackstar HT5?  Marshall MG50...?

Please don't, the HT5 was my other option. If ICBM starts on that i'm right back to square one!

Grumpyrocker

The thing that struck me when I bought my Katana was how easy it was to dial in loads of great sounds. Shows how subjective this all is. 

BTW @BeardyAndy the new HT-5 sounds fabulous, I prefer it to the Katana. I do have the HT-5 head though, running it through a pair of V30.

monquixote

Grumpyrocker said:

The thing that struck me when I bought my Katana was how easy it was to dial in loads of great sounds. Shows how subjective this all is. 

BTW @BeardyAndy the new HT-5 sounds fabulous, I prefer it to the Katana. I do have the HT-5 head though, running it through a pair of V30.

That last bit might be the most important.

When we had a meetup a few years ago I bought a really nice 2x12 with Greenbacks and it was really interesting hearing how almost any amp sounded great through it. Even things like the Bassbreaker 007 which is quite pants through it's own tiny speaker.

Marktigere1

Having stood in the croud of four gigs with my son using a Katana 100 combo (micced up) I can only say he sounded superb.  The last gig was Apex Bury ST Edmunds which is a large venue.

The caveat being he used it clean with his dirt coming from BD2, DS1 and SD1.

Modulation was all Katana.

I recognise some of the above points but not all.

Its what makes Guitar so fun, no one ever agrees!!! 

impmann

Wow, I thought the Katana was so good it could cure cancer...

;-)

Seriously, I just thought it sounded like an average, inexpensive modelling amp when I heard one - not very impressive and I'd agree with the harsh comments. They may be sub £200 but at that money there is *a lot* available secondhand that sound better... Transtube Bandit, anyone?

ICBM

BeardyAndy said:

Please don't, the HT5 was my other option. If ICBM starts on that i'm right back to square one!

I personally don't like the 'Blackstar sound' - although I haven't tried the latest series yet, which are apparently different - but I don't hear any basic problem with the sound quality of the amp, only that I can't get it bright and open-sounding enough for what I like.

BeardyAndy

Crazy isn't it @ICBM ;? The main reason i'm looking at the HT5 is because i have an HT1 and think it sounds so good, i was looking at the Katana because I thought it would save me on modulation pedals but it's taken me so long to decide that i got bored and bought some pedals anyway!

Most of my amp experience was in the 90s with solid state (Carlsbo Rebel/Peavey Bandit 112) so i guess I was starting pretty low, although I did have a Peavey Classic 30 for a while but that thing was an animal!