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Post by salteedog on May 3, 2017 9:37:38 GMT
Anyone here have a Boss Katana 50.? I don't need a new amp (who ever does?) but I read great things about the Katanas and I'm curious about how well their particular approach to modelling a tube power amp circuit works in term of replicating tube amp dynamics.
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Post by MartinB on May 3, 2017 11:49:05 GMT
As it happens I sold most of my gear to get a katana 50 and have some money left over.
For my needs it's superb, but I think that if you intend to gig and use any of the FX and so on you would need the 100. As I understand it the 100 can use a much better footswitch.
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Post by salteedog on May 3, 2017 12:13:22 GMT
Thanks MartinB. How does it compare to tube/valve in terms of feel? My tastes are clean/jazzy/edge of breakup so I'm not too bothered about high-gain performance. And although I don't gig...I usually find open-backed 12 inch speakers much better than 8 inch in terms of overall depth of tone. |
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Post by MartinB on May 3, 2017 12:36:07 GMT
It gives out a good sound, the little tilt jobby on the bottom is a nice touch. It doesn't quite have the same sound as any valve amp I've had (Blackstar HT-1 and Fender Blues Jr. II) but it's close enough for me, and it can do any of the effects I want, you can do a fair bit of editing to them on a PC. I think that for the price it's really hard to beat.
Fender are just bringing out a new version of their modelling amp though.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2017 12:48:53 GMT
I gave VOX VT 20+ and Bandit 112 a try. No thanks from me. Love my Bugera V5 though and will try to get the Bugera V22 at some stage. Great tone is Paramount  |
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Post by salteedog on May 3, 2017 12:57:08 GMT
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Post by salteedog on May 3, 2017 13:12:37 GMT
I gave VOX VT 20+ and Bandit 112 a try. No thanks from me. Love my Bugera V5 though and will try to get the Bugera V22 at some stage. Great tone is Paramount I hear you. I'd be tempted by the Bugera V5 too just to scratch that tube amp itch. But I also like the variety, versatility and tweak ability that a modeler brings. (And I like technology in general). The interface on the Boss looks really nice - minimum number of presets and by and large controlled via the usual rotary pots. Serious tweaking needs hook-up to a PC but that's ok as it minimizes the 'distraction' factor. |
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2017 17:53:06 GMT
Is the Fender Mustang just as difficult to tweak without PC hooked up? Must say I never hook my Blackstar ID Core up. I hate the way technology gets in the way of creativity. I can't count the number of times the capturing of an idea has been put on the back burner whilst some software needed a soothing voice.
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Post by salteedog on May 3, 2017 20:32:30 GMT
The mustang III is supposed to be straight forward enough. In fact it probably offers too many choices too easily. From what I can see the Katana is similar to the Blackstar - only a few amp models and effects available on the dials but many more under the bonnet. In fact it has the full suite of Boss pedals. Boss/Roland's pedigree in digital signal processing & audio engineering is second to none and they have been turning out great modern amps for years so thats another plus for the Katana. 50watts 12inch speaker in an open cab ...I reckon thats my birthday present sorted..
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Post by salteedog on May 4, 2017 9:37:28 GMT
Yes - the Yamaha's are very well regarded. ..But I'll never be completely convinced by 8cm speakers - albeit they are stereo.
Which isn't to say they cannot sound good as a practice amp - I've played a modelling pedal through a pair of old but good Harman Karadon Computer speakers and was surprised how big it sounded.
...in any case the Katana is calling my name..
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2017 9:42:38 GMT
All depends on what you are wanting to do with the amp, saltee. For recording, anything can turn out to be ideal. As our bassist quietly says to me whilst piercing my soul with a steady stare, "guitarists have a knack of filling up every available sonic space", so he'd probably love me to have an 8cm speaker that sits the sound where it should in the spectrum and then generously leaves a bit of room for others to play in.
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Post by salteedog on May 4, 2017 10:26:33 GMT
True.. the tone that sounds good when playing alone is generally not the tone you want when playing in a band or a mix.
Also - I was listening to a lot of old early electric blues (Muddy Waters/John Lee Hooker) in the last week. Amazing songs and performances but often the guitar tone is incredibly 'thin' by today's standards.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2017 11:59:03 GMT
True.. the tone that sounds good when playing alone is generally not the tone you want when playing in a band or a mix. Also - I was listening to a lot of old early electric blues (Muddy Waters/John Lee Hooker) in the last week. Amazing songs and performances but often the guitar tone is incredibly 'thin' by today's standards. True, and frequently very little sustain. Wrong tone woods probably. Or wrong capacitors  . Or perhaps they hadn't changed their pots to CTS and used cloth covered wiring  |
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Post by salteedog on May 5, 2017 12:14:28 GMT
Okay I jumped - just ordered the 50w. Was even tempted by a B-stock 100w for €70 more but they are out of stock now and anyways 100w is too much for my needs. There's lot of positive buzz about these amps (particularly compared to the Marshall Code which was also launched in 2016) and I'm intrigued about the new approach to power amp modelling that has already been very successful with the Roland Blues Cube.
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