Boss Katana 50, what a beast


Sore.fingers
Registered User
Joined: 07/15/21
Posts: 49
Sore.fingers
Registered User
Joined: 07/15/21
Posts: 49
08/29/2021 8:47 am

Hello, to start my guitar-journey, I bought the squier strat pack. It comes with everything you need, but after using it daily, for the past 6 weeks, the amp didn't really appeal to me. The guitar didn't sound as I'd imagined. Actually, the tones came out OK, but it sounded a little faint.

For my birthday, a few weeks ago, I got a gift certificate of my wife to buy stuff in our local music shop and decided that the amp needed replacement. I bought the Boss Katana 50. Now my guitar really sounds like an electric. I'm super happy. Even at 0.5 watt (25 or 50 watt is way too loud for practicing), I still get these beautifull sounds. I don't know how to use all the effects yet, but I'm quite confident that this will last for a few years. With this amp, I also noticed that the cheap Squier actually sounds well enough.

If I'd have to start over again, I'd still buy the Squier strat, but I'd buy a separate amp, like this Boss Katana 50. You get much more pleasing tones for about 100 euro more.


# 1
mjgodin
Registered User
Joined: 11/23/19
Posts: 455
mjgodin
Registered User
Joined: 11/23/19
Posts: 455
08/29/2021 3:24 pm

Congrats on the amp. There are quite a few of us on here who use the Boss Katana.

If you do a search on it you'll find a few threads. I wouldn't focus too much on figuring out all the tones. Let that all come to you as you learn. I usually just keep mine on the clean setting or acoustic if I'm playing that and yes .5 watt is enough for me, plus I have 4 preset settings that I downloaded from a patch site. Thats really the best way to get the sound you want is to download the patch from Boss website or you can find some public domain sites out there that have some custom ones. The directions are pretty intuitive on how to download and install them. And of course some of the more experienced players on here can help with any questions. I'm still a bit of a novice myself when it comes to all those tones.

Have fun,

Moe


# 2
William MG
Full Access
Joined: 03/08/19
Posts: 1,631
William MG
Full Access
Joined: 03/08/19
Posts: 1,631
08/29/2021 8:08 pm

Its a great amp. Like Moe said, there are many on the forum.

Enjoy!


This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!

# 3
andrew.colomb
Full Access
Joined: 10/07/15
Posts: 152
andrew.colomb
Full Access
Joined: 10/07/15
Posts: 152
09/09/2021 8:26 am

The best! Love it!

Only one issue not having a looper input on the 50.


# 4
Drake the Red
Full Access
Joined: 10/12/11
Posts: 352
Drake the Red
Full Access
Joined: 10/12/11
Posts: 352
09/26/2021 1:14 am
Originally Posted by: Sore.fingers

I bought the Boss Katana 50.

Good choice. I'm considering either a Fender Champion 50XL or something by Marshall.


Am I the only one who plays multiple instruments? Let's be inspirational and find our muses everyday!

# 5
Sore.fingers
Registered User
Joined: 07/15/21
Posts: 49
Sore.fingers
Registered User
Joined: 07/15/21
Posts: 49
09/26/2021 7:42 am
Originally Posted by: Music_Maestro

Good choice. I'm considering either a Fender Champion 50XL or something by Marshall.

I'm sure that both Fender and Marshall will have solid alternatives for the Boss Katana. I'v watched a video about a comparison between the Fender Champion 50XL and the Boss Katana (made by Andertons)... Fender came out as the "new king". As far as my headphones are trustworthy, I have to admit that the tone on the Fender was more appealing to my ears as well. However, I really love some features on the Katana, which makes it the best amp for me. The switch to control the output, a USB-out for recording and the vast choice of effects are some features that don't come on the Fender. I'm not really into the effects yet, but as I'll continue my journey, I hope to experiment a bit with it.

Let me know what you've decided eventually. Happy hunting.


# 6
Bowman_David
Registered User
Joined: 10/19/20
Posts: 23
Bowman_David
Registered User
Joined: 10/19/20
Posts: 23
05/09/2022 7:44 am

Hi, this thread hasn't been used in a while but I wonder if I can ask your advice on the Boss Katana (I have a 50 mk2). I have been playing (or should I say learning) for almost 2 years now.

I tend to play unplugged as I find when I use my Boss Katana I go down a rabbit hole trying to make it sound 'right'. Working through the 'Rock 1' lessons the Amp that Anders is using sounds so much brighter than the Boss on clean. My sound is quuite muffled. I then spend hours looking at presets and reading forums and waste time that I should be using to get better at playing. [br]Risking going down another rabbit hole.... I thought I would ask for advice here. To me, the amp sounds so much darker than Anders' videos. I know he isn't using the same amp, but I would have thought on Clean it would be somewhat the same?

I am happy to be told that I am being silly here. I openly admit that I don't know much about this stuff. [br][br]My main question is, could there be something wrong with the amp making this happen? that's my main worry and that I am chasing my tail trying to make it sound right. (happy to send audio sample if that could help)[br][br]Is there something easy that I can do to make it sound a lot brighter? I have tried the Eq's But It just still sounds so dark to me. [br][br]Thank you so much for your advice - If anyone sees this thread. [br][br][br][br]

-Cheers[br]David.


# 7
DraconusJLM
Registered User
Joined: 06/21/21
Posts: 360
DraconusJLM
Registered User
Joined: 06/21/21
Posts: 360
05/09/2022 8:57 am

I have never used a Katana, but different amps all sound different, whether on clean or gain settings.

This might be a silly question, but have you tried turning up the tone control on your guitar?

"Brightness" is usually in the tone settings.

Another thing to consider is that Anders is probably playing a guitar with much more expensive pickups, which will also affect the tone.


I wish this forum had a "block user" feature. Possibly I'm not the only one......

# 8
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
05/10/2022 3:12 am
Originally Posted by: Bowman_DavidWorking through the 'Rock 1' lessons the Amp that Anders is using sounds so much brighter than the Boss on clean.

Anders is likely using some kind of digital modeling system that is set up specifically to sound great on the lesson production. So what you hear as the end result on the lesson video isn't even necessarily what it might sound like in the room.

Having said that, I have a Katana & know what you mean. It has a lot of good presets but most of them are generic & need to be tweaked a bit.

One of the most important things about the Katana or any amp is that treble, brightness & good sounding presence often requires volume. You have to turn it up a bit to get it to sound really good. :)

If you want to keep it at a home friendly volume level, then set it on the clean amp, gain & volume about 50%, bass 25%, mids & treble 75%.

And here's the important part, select any Boost setting & turn it up about 50%. This really adds some presence & sparkle to the clean tone. Try the green button setting for a treble booster-blues drive type tone.

Use your bridge pickup for the most treble sound. Add some reverb for depth. That should get you in the ballpark of a clean-ish bright rock tone!

Check out this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t21xfDCPS8Y

Let me know if that works or we need to try something else. Hope that helps!


Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 9
Bowman_David
Registered User
Joined: 10/19/20
Posts: 23
Bowman_David
Registered User
Joined: 10/19/20
Posts: 23
05/10/2022 8:15 am

Amazing info thank you! I'll try that tonight


# 10
MARC_BOLAN_TREX
Registered User
Joined: 08/16/22
Posts: 2
MARC_BOLAN_TREX
Registered User
Joined: 08/16/22
Posts: 2
11/01/2022 3:48 pm

Hi there,


Congratulations, the Boss Katana 50 amp is a fantastic product, it is literally amazing, its power allows you to use it even at a gig. However I am going to land on the Boss Katana 100 MKII because this model supports the suitable footswitch Boss GA-FC. When you see this footswitch in action, you realize that it is a total must-have, gotta have it. It is a shame that the Boss Katana 50 does not support the footswitch.


Happy playing to everyone !


# 11
yarikbess1607
Registered User
Joined: 09/21/23
Posts: 3
yarikbess1607
Registered User
Joined: 09/21/23
Posts: 3
09/21/2023 3:51 pm

I haven't even seen this amp in real life, only online in videos. I know that this is a great product, but I wonder whether there is a simpler and cheaper option.


# 12
ijackreynolds01
Registered User
Joined: 01/31/22
Posts: 4
ijackreynolds01
Registered User
Joined: 01/31/22
Posts: 4
09/22/2023 3:22 pm

Bought the 50W earlier this year after having read the review on https://theguitarstand.net/boss-katana-50-mkii-a-comprehensive-review/ . Absolutely worth the money. Honestly, really hard to tell it's not a tube amp. Also, as others have mentioned, each of the effects lights can be pressed to changed to another type of that effect, with the lights changing color between red, yellow, and green.







edited
# 13

Please register with a free account to post on the forum.