Seriously – sometimes it’s the “little things” that make a product just right. I have used the Katana in a wide variety of gigs, from coffee shops to churches to cover band shows, and every time I’m impressed by its tone, portability, and versatility.Īnd it has a built-in kickstand. No, it’s not on par with an Axe-Fx or Kemper, but then again, those pieces of kit are in the +$2k range. While tone is obviously very subjective, I say without hesitation that the Katana 50 (and its big brother the Katana 100) are easily some of the best modeling amplifiers that I’ve ever heard. New options for the emulated output, global EQ, and cabinet resonance adjustments are also available.Įnough about that – how does this thing sound? It is a guitar amp after all. Reverb types included plate, room, hall, spring, and modulating.Īnd do make sure you update the firmware to v2 – you get expanded effects options (including some cool new effects like the Roland SDE-3000 and MXR Phase 90) including effects loop placement. Numerous delay effects are included: digital delay, SDE-3000, analog delay, tape echo, and modulating. Other effects include compression, EQ, limiter, octave, T-wah, and pitch shift. Mod effects include chorus, flanger, phaser, and tremolo. You’ll also find non-Boss overdrives such as Rat (Proco Rat), ’60s Fuzz (Fuzzface), and T-Scream (Ibanez Tube Screamer), so obviously there’s a bias towards Boss effects (not a bad thing), but the options are pretty massive. Numerous overdrive and distortion emulations are included, such as Blues Drive, Overdrive, Natural OD, Warm OD, and Turbo OD. Once you integrate the Tone Editor software, the effects options are opened up signifcantly. For example, you can design presets that use distortion and modulation effects simultaneously (not an option without the software). The Tone Editor lets you make presets that bypass some of the inherent limitations of the amp. While you can get a lot of mileage out of the Katana in its stock form, you want to make sure to incorporate the Boss Katana Tone Editor, which really opens up the options available for the Katana series. The “acoustic” setting turns the Katana into a dedicated acoustic amp (note: it’s not meant to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic, though if you have piezo pickups built in (like on my Ernie Ball Petrucci), then this setting works really well. Rather than modeling specific amplifiers, the Katana has general options that capture the most common amp sounds that guitarist need clean, crunch, and lead, though there is an EVH-esque tone with the aptly named “Brown” sound. Engaging the Phones/Recording Out defeats the internal speaker. On the rear panel, there are Aux In, Phones/Recording Out, USB, and Foot Control input jacks. The main controls include a 3-band EQ, gain, volume, boost/mod selector, boost/mod level, delay/FX selector, delay/FX level, reverb selector, reverb level, tap tempo, master volume, power control, and channel selector. It is a single input amp with a 1×12″ speaker. There are five modes available: acoustic, clean, crunch, lead, and “brown” (their take on 80s rock tones). The Boss Katana 50 is a 50W combo amplifier with selectable power ranges from 50 to 1/2 watt. Let’s take a look at the Katana 50 combo amplifier to see this in action. With the Katana series, Boss ups the ante with the balance of quality and price. Sure, every year someone claims to have a new revolution in amplifier modeling, but let’s not forget that the folks at Boss/Roland started amplifier modeling years ago, so they bring some experience to the modeling arena. I don’t think I’m overstating the case when I say that the Boss Katana amplifier series fits that description. It’s hard not to see the Boss Katana 50 as a major player in the sub-$500 practice/small gig amp market.Įvery once in a while a product comes along that makes you rethink the entire genre.
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