So today I finally tried a Boss Katana

ICBM · June 2019

BeardyAndy said:

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!

I like the HT-1 best of all the older Blackstars. The 5 doesn't sound as good to me, although it's obviously a lot more flexible and a fair bit louder.

BeardyAndy said:

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!

Now I will admit that the Rebel wasn't a good-sounding amp

. But the Bandit always was, and still is - the later Transtube versions are even better. I'm not a particular fan of the Classic 30, but that's more because unusually for a Peavey, it's not very well built.

You can easily pick up a Transtube Bandit for about £100 now.

BeardyAndy · June 2019

ICBM said:

You can easily pick up a Transtube Bandit for about £100 now.

I know, but my back isn't what it was!

Deadman · June 2019

Well. I'm overdue ANOTHER home amp purchase and this is putting me off (what was) my obvious choice.

Peavey Transtube eh? I might have to have a look for one on this basis as I kind of trust ICBM's opinion.

darthed1981 · June 2019

Deadman said:

Well. I'm overdue ANOTHER home amp purchase and this is putting me off (what was) my obvious choice.

I suspect the majority view is still positive, but search Katana threads on here, some people just don't like them, and that's fair comment.

You should try it, see how it fits your playing and what you want to do. you might love it, you might not.

monquixote · June 2019

Deadman said:

Well. I'm overdue ANOTHER home amp purchase and this is putting me off (what was) my obvious choice.

Peavey Transtube eh? I might have to have a look for one on this basis as I kind of trust ICBM's opinion.

You will find as many people saying they like them as don't. I personally prefer them to the Spider, Mustang and ID amps.

My suggestion is try one.

SouthpawMark · June 2019

I’d probably choose a Two Rock over a Katana.

Lebarque · June 2019

No valves = shite. Simples.

Creed_Clicks · June 2019

Lebarque said:

No valves = shite. Simples.

Valves v no valves debate ....

Cols · June 2019

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I'm gonna sound like a repugnant arsehole but I don't really look at that "class" of product these days. I don't need to in all honesty.

What I mean is - those cheap practice amps don't interest me .. small modelling combos don't interest me... the bottom of the consumer barrel doesn't interest me. So I never play them. Doesn't surprise me that it sounds crap though - coz all the blues wankers love them! lol.

You’ve never played one, you have no intention of trying one... why are you commenting on this thread? Or even wasting your time reading it?

Teacherphil · June 2019

I agree completely. They had one at Pirate studios in Leeds where we rehearsed last week. Katana 100. I just couldn't get a decent sound out of it. Good job I brought a real amp along. I was glad I didn't buy one when they were being hyped by every man and his dog.

uncledick · June 2019

I've owned and gigged several amps over the years including 2 Cornells, AC30/6, AC15C1X, Boogie Subway and MkV 90W, Selmer TnB 50 and what amp - every time i use it - do people praise when I come off stage?

That's right, my Vox DA-5! Either on its own in a small venue or miced up in somewhere bigger. Undoubtedly some of that is because when you play amongst other musicians - like open mic nights - they expect it to sound crap but it genuinely punches well above its weight.

FWIW I totally agree with @ICBM about the Katana 50. An over-rated door stop to go with the hyped up Yamaha THR10 series.

IMHO of course.

Spend time listening to people's favourite sounds and albums on the Music section here and you'll realise how varied our tastes really are. Music is about one thing for me - enjoyment. If you're getting that, you're doing it right.

richardhomer · June 2019

I attended the Fretboard Huddersfield jam earlier in the year, with no intention of playing (some really difficult personal stuff going on at the time) but was coerced into it - in the nicest possible way by @Modellista. I’m using his Jazzmaster/Tele hybrid, through his Boss Overdrive into a Katana set clean. I think it sounds pretty good (no rehearsal btw - so goes badly wrong in places):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=db54CLdBraQ

PhilW1 · June 2019

I have the katana 100 combo,
Sometimes I think it’s great and sometimes I think it’s shit and sometimes I think I spend too much time pissing about with settings rather than just plugging and playing.
That’s when I look at at Fretboard to see what small valve amps are recommended only to discover that everyone either thinks something is great or the same something is shit!

Creed_Clicks · June 2019

I remember there was a huge rush to
buy the Katanas when they came out. I never played one nor had any interest. I’d rather have a basic one or two channel solid state if I were to go down that road. I’d take a Quilter for the simplicity though for a non valve amp.

Voxman · June 2019

I'm with @ICBM - following all the hype I was hugely disappointed with the Katana 100w, much as I was with the Blackstar ID60. Neither were 'bad' but they took a lot of fiddling around to sound, well, average. Both just sounded lack lustre. My old 'blue Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX that I bought in 2004 kills them both and makes them sound like toys.

're newer modelling amps the Marshall CODE amps, Vox Valetronix, and the Fender Mustang v2's (Not the latest generation) again all sound so much better than either the Katana or ID60, and I was so impressed with the little CODE 20w that a friend of mine has, I'm seriously thinking of getting one for myself.

sweepy · June 2019

I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to amps and the Katana really isn't that bad, treat it like a single channel amp and you are sorted

Lodious · June 2019

I have one and I pretty much agree with @ICBM . It's OK for noodling with while watching TV.

I actually find the user interface worse then the tone. Why couldn't they make it so the buttons on the effects could turn the effects off after cycling round the different presets. I find programming a Helix far, far easier.

Grumpyrocker · June 2019

Lodious said:

I have one and I pretty much agree with @ICBM . It's OK for noodling with while watching TV.

I actually find the user interface worse then the tone. Why couldn't they make it so the buttons on the effects could turn the effects off after cycling round the different presets. I find programming a Helix far, far easier.

This is my main problem with the interface and one they could easily fix in firmware. What makes it worse is that as soon as you turn an effects nob many of the defaults return away from whatever custom settings you might have made in the PC editor. An off option definitely should be there in the cycle, mad that it isn't. (and if I'm been really picky they should have made the colour order green - yellow - red, instead of green - red -yellow).

Thankfully for GA-FC owners there's a way around that. I set up my patch, then use the footswitch to turn off the effects, then save the patch again. So those effects are exactly where they should be if I want to kick them in.

On the plus side there's a newer option to change what those effects knobs actually do. For example the default is for the knobs to do several things at once. But you can set them to do just one, or many. So I changed the boost knob to only change gain, and the delay to only do mix (delay length is set with the tap button).

Another thing I've found is that the modelled dirt pedals are very good. Some of my best tones have been these modelled pedals into the clean channel or the crunch channel on lower gain.

WiresDreamDisasters · June 2019

Nevermind - didn't have my cornflakes yet. You're right, I'll bow out.

darthed1981 · June 2019

I think a lot of people here are totally forgetting the market the Katana is made for, mostly beginners playing/learning at home, and other players who want a single carry-around box that can "do everything". I've taken my Katana to a few jams and every time it has done superbly well for me and others who have tried it as well.

Comments about how you can get a great used valve amp for £100 are fairly meaningless to BOTH groups. Buying used gear on TFB typically involves trust, no automatic right of return, and having to drive halfway around the country. For someone who isn't a longstanding guitar gear nut, this is not really a great option.

OTOH, if all anyone is saying is "you can get a better amp for £500 than this £200 one" - well, duh.

Most people who start playing quit within a few months, if anything I'd recommend get a Blackstar Fly 3 then upgrade to a Katana if you know you want to stick to it (or keep the Fly 3, they are fine for bedroom volumes).

Again, want to experiment with FX? Is what you want delay, reverb, chorus? Do you like a bit of flange (fnarrr...)? A modeller like the Katana is great for this before you start buying pedals that you will never use.

I'd say if you want an amp you can walk into a shop and buy for < £200 the Katana is still the king of the crop, but not the ONLY amp in the crop, lots of fun to be had trying.

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So today I finally tried a Boss Katana

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