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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Boss Katana amps?

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I've been reading reviews of the Boss Katana. Of course most are very favorable.... almost suspiciously so.

Any one here have one, played one? Some real world review is appreciated.

Happy Sunsets!

I've had one for a few months now and really like it. I wouldn't recommend it as a surf amp, but if you're looking for something to play around with for a lot of different genre's it's really good. You really need to use the editing software to get the most out of it.

I’ve played one, really good.
But I would prefer my Yamaha THR any time for plug and play bedroom amp.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

New Single is out!

https://waikikimakaki.bandcamp.com/album/rhino-blues-full-contact-surf-single

Waikiki Makaki

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Forum member Big Ryan posted some side by side comparisons on his 60 cycle hum channel.

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:15:21

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:15:08

Bought a Boss Katana 50 for small gigs and as a practice amp, it did well at both so I bought a Katana 100 for the cover band I play in. As noted not a good amp for surf, but it rocks hard and I've grown to love it. Here's the big thing: I hurt my back badly the summer before last, my 50 lb. amp days are over, this amp comes in at half that.

Yes, lugging a 50 pound amp around is a key consideration for a lot of us. Twin Reverb sounds great until you lift it up a flight of stairs....

Happy Sunsets!

I also have the 100 watt version. It has a few more options than the 50.
The clean channel can sound a little sterile and works better with a clean boost. The spring reverb doesn't sound that good at higher levels. I use a pedal in the effects loop.
I've seen the 50 watt versions for $150 used. Most of us pay that for a pedal.
Modeling has certainly come a long way from just a couple years ago. A lot of big touring players are using Kemper, Fractal and Helix for convenience.

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:14:36

Tqi wrote:

And yes - I realise there are use cases for modelling amps, like cover bands that need to be able to play All Along The Watchtower, Wake Me Up and Day Tripper back to back - but outside of that situation, I really don't see the point.

(Ex-owner of modelling amps.)

Bedroom practice is the only point, but these amps are unrival here.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

New Single is out!

https://waikikimakaki.bandcamp.com/album/rhino-blues-full-contact-surf-single

Waikiki Makaki

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

I had a Katana 50 for about a week hoping I could program some good drip for an office amp or next to the couch. It just couldn't do it. It's a decent little amp though but I have the original Vox VT 60 in the office and it does a better job modeling drip.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

I live in the city with lots of close neighbors. Running a tube amp at the hours I like to play just isn't going to work. I wanted something with decent headphone output, effects loop, quiet practice capability and the ability to crank it when I can. Oh, an aux-in port for backing track or digitech trio use. The Katana head checked all those boxes. Perfect? No. Neither is a tube amp at neighbor friendly volumes. The 5w or less small amps are designed to grind. I want clean.
First off, it's easy to dismiss the 5 amp choices. If you look, you'll see there are 28 other amps available to download online. It seems the Boss GT-100 has profiles that you can import. Of my 8 presets available on my control board, four are Fender and a "Twin" is occupying the #1 position.
I didn't consider the purchase as a stand-alone tool. I own a Guyatone FR-3000V outboard tank, so lots of drip on tap. I own decent delay and tremolo pedals and they are in the effects loop. The built in effects seem decent. There's a lot of tweak potential for the amp profiles and effects. Ive got a 13" laptop plugged in next to it and I can make changes on the fly until I'm settled in with it. The headphone-out quality isn't as good as I hoped, but the 5" speaker built into the head sounds great and quiet enough to make the headphones unnecessary. I have it all set up on a rolling cart - plug and play. I'll probably move out of the city in a few years and when I do, I'll buy another tube amp. While I really enjoy this setup, I know a tube amp sounds better to my ears.

I got a great deal on a used Katana MKIi and thought I’d see how it faired as a surf amp. I live in an apartment, so the line out and headphone recording options were a big plus. The big test however, was how it would sound with a Fender reverb tank and a few pedals plugged in. Overall, the amp sounds fantastic, but I noticed some major issues when I plugged in my effects pedals and reverb tank. First, I noticed that my BOSS CS-3 compressor sounded extremely spongy, even when the sustain was turned completely off. My TS9 and BD-2 sounded fine, but the compressor was useless. I then tried my Fender reverb tank and found that it also didn’t work anything like when I plug into a tube amp. The reverb seems to ring forever, even with the dwell turned down. It’s hard to describe, but it just doesn’t sound right. Something in the input stage of the Katana just doesn’t match up with the reverb tank. I wish it wasn’t so, because the Katana is definitely loud enough and clean enough, but it doesn’t handle effects pedals as well as some other solid state amps. I hear that Quilters are much more pedal friendly and used successfully by many surf guitarists.

Joe Jabon
Banzai Surf on Facebook

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Last edited: Mar 03, 2022 04:40:34

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