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In fact, the correct position is the one Leo Fender came up with as long ago as 1961 - on the front, but angled back so you can see them easily from either in front or above, and if the amp is tilted back they point straight up. In my opinion all amps should be like that really.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
However, on the old series the Presence and Resonance controls are essential (in my opinion) - far more useful and effective, and better-sounding, than the main EQ - and hence I would always choose the 60 over the 30. If the same is true on the new ones then the 100W is definitely the one to go for.
(Edit) Didn't realise at first that the 50 is the new 30, not the new 60... the new power ratings are probably closer to the true output power, which is how they made the 60W model sound about as loud as a 50W valve Marshall when I A/B'd them - hopefully you don't now need "100W" to get the same volume as a 50W valve amp.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I can't stress enough how big a difference having the full control set on the ID makes - without, the amps sound boxy and flat, and the EQ doesn't do a lot at all. With - on the 60 and 260 - I can get some pretty good sounds, although to do that I need both the Presence and Resonance nearly full up... but they are far more powerful and effective than the actual EQ.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It is bright if you're playing it in the house but it sits perfectly in the mix when used with a band.
Have they fixed the backwards ISF control yet?
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Try an HT20 Mk2, chap - seriously good amp, loud enough to gig but you can use it at low volume.
Spoiler alert.
Clean - the Silverline is more scoopy and the Katana has a characteristic lower mid push which I instantly recognised as the Katana house sound. Perhaps the Silverline is slightly more pleasing here although I'm sure you could EQ the Katana to get rid of the lower mids if you wanted, either using the amp controls or global EQ in the software. There's hardly anything in it.
Crunch - I didn't like the Silverline at all here, very nasal and lacking in body. The Katana is certainly fuller in the lower mids, and perhaps a touch of the "digital sheen" I've heard people talk about. They both sound slightly better after the EQ adjustments.
High gain - again, the Silverline is thinner and more nasal, the Katana being chunkier and sounded very Nuno-like to me, which gets the thumbs-up. The Silverline had no bottom end to speak of in comparison.
The Silverline is ridiculously compromised on the back panel I/O. The Katana has an effects loop, line out, power amp in, dual footswitch/expression inputs, headphone out, and a decent sturdy large USB socket. Unbelievably, the Silverline doesn't have an effects loop, or at least you can turn the line out into a loop, but then you lose line out functionality. A really significant problem IMHO. Also the Katana power scaling is very useful and notably absent from the Silverlines. The USB out on the Silverlines is a shitty mini one rather than the larger, more sturdy printer-type USB out on the Katana. The Silverline has a single footswitch connection rather than the dual switch/expression on the Katana.
Boss have loaded the K with all their effects, so it's a multi-effects unit as well, whereas it looks like the Silverline has just the basic mod, delay and reverb, although there is no manual available for the Silverline at present so there could be more hidden inside.
The Katana is louder.
Price-wise - through the Silverline range is 20w = £369, 50w = £429, 100w 1x12 = £579, 2x12 100w = £749. Through the Katana range, 50w = £214, 100w 1x12 = £329, 100w 2x12 = £439. The Katanas are almost half the price, and if you can find a Mk I, it will genuinely be half the price.
It all got a bit awkward when Rob Chapman obviously vastly preferred the Katana... not easy for Lee Anderton to tread a fine line of diplomacy between both of his brands.
Overall I think the Silverline is going for a slightly awkward middle ground between boutique-style appearance and reduced feature set (in terms of effects and in/out, rather than the multiple power amp simulations), whereas the strength of the Katana always has been and still is a straightfoward super-functional tool to fit into a myriad of different use cases at a more-than-acceptable level of quality. Apart from the Wife Acceptance Factor, I personally can't see much to advocate choosing the Silverline over the Katana unfortunately, although if the price comes down significantly in due course it's nice to have an alternative to the ubiquitous black box.
I don't want to be too down on Blackstar, I respect them as a UK-based company trying to compete with the mighty Roland corporation, and I realise they're going for a more upmarket segment than Katana. They do look smarter, I like the chickenhead knobs, and in theory there's more amp sounds inside than the Katana, which the above video doesn't explore. But they're significantly more expensive, and on the evidence of the above video they don't offer much more for the price. Indeed I'm a bit worried that they won't sell well and could be a bit of a loss-making exercise for Blackstar.
Large delivery just arrived in the warehouse, ask me how I know.