Am I the only one who didnt dig the Katana ?

Telejester

I finally had a go on a katana, only one available to try was the 50 watt combo. I had beside it a 18 watt cornell amp to use as a tube amp reference. Guitar used was a custom shop 3 grand tele so i gave both amps a go. To say i was left stunned by the cornell is the understatement of 2017, jeezus what a sound from that amp !!! I unplugged and hooked up with the katana and got the thinnest, rattiest and most sterile tones by comparison. I thought something must be wrong so i checked the settings. Sadly it was more of the same. Where the cornell was fine dining at a michel roux michelin star restaurant, the katana was a lukewarm burger at mcdonalds by comparison. The katana was way cheaper at about two hundred quid and the the cornell was £1100, but tell ya what id pay the extra 900 in a heartbeat, the difference really was that obvious. Im kind of doing what shane diorio did when he gave his views on the mustang gt200 but there is no doubt in my head that cornell was the real deal and then some and the katana didnt even get close. The cornell was volume control and tone control and i just cant get that sound out of my head, i gotta say that katana, maybe the 100w or the head are different, did absolutely nothing for me at all. My 2cents and your view may differ.

midlifecrisis

when i play my katana alongside my laney vc30, i concur the laney is much richer and nicer sounding, but in a band mix there is not much in it. and the fact the katana weighs half as much, is half the price, im prepared to make the kat my go to gigging amp now. having gigged it 5 times in as many weeks im to like it more but do appreciate its short comings.

timmysoft

Thats like comparing the performance of a Kia Picanto to a Lotus Evora.

 The Katana is a good amp for the money, it'll hold up in most situations but i don't think it sounds as good as a good valve amp. It sounds better than most valve amps that sit around the same price point, but comparing it against a handmade amp is pretty ridiculous. 

ThePrettyDamned

My comment seems to have vanished, maybe the copy thread was deleted. 

You compared an apple to a chicken. 

A modeller that sounds great (if you couldn't get it to sound good, the problem isn't the amp) and is capable of cleans, crunchy cleans, crunch and heavy distortion with effects in a small, portable package... 

... Versus a hand built valve amp that costs over 5 times as much. What made you think they were comparable? 

I've heard the 2x12 katana in a rehearsal room and it sounded great. So good I had to poke my head around to see what it was I was hearing - it sounded like a good amp. 

That's not to say it'll compare to a hand wired valve amp, but you may as well have said, "the cornell was crap, it didn't even have a delay effect built in!". 

revsorg

I don't think it's ridiculous for Telejester to say "I'd pay the extra £900 in a heartbeat".  I totally agree. They are massively different products that solve different problems and require different investments but to my mind one is a local league footballer, the other is a player in the Premier league. 

Chuffola

All true but we can't all afford / justify a Premier league football's price or wages.

dindude

Problem is that there's so much lyrical waxing on such products as the Katana (it was the same when the original Fender Mustang came out) that it's easy to forget that every positive comment should be followed by "for the price".

Sassafras

If you make up the difference, I'm prepared to accept the Cornell.

Telejester

dindude said:

Problem is that there's so much lyrical waxing on such products as the Katana (it was the same when the original Fender Mustang came out) that it's easy to forget that every positive comment should be followed by "for the price".

Very true.

I will say that if somebody who had never tried an amp like the cornell plugged into a katana they would think they had won the lottery and be very pleased, however if joe soap then plugged into a cornell 18 plexi amp i feel all the katanas shortcomings would be under a magnifying glass and brutally exposed. " For the price" is definitely applicable when it comes to the katana.

Kalimna

When I was looking for a replacement amp last year, I spent a fair bit of time trying amps *around* the Katana price point and I gotta say I agree with you, I didn't get on with the 1x12 combo.

I'd spent maybe an hour or two in Guitar Guitar (with a gorgeous blue sunburst quilty Les Paul, with far too much chrome) trying the Katana against a Yahama THR10, a Blackstar ID15TVP and had wanted to try the Vox equivalent but they didn't have one. I discounted the Fender offering for no reason other than I didn't want a Fender (I know, no logic there at all).

I walked out with the Blackstar as I felt it was a lot more rounded in tone than the Katana, which to my ears felt rather sterile. My preferred amp would have been the Yamaha, but I didn't feel it was quite loud enough and it was more expensive though the tone superior.

I did like the Katana, and it was a fairly close thing, but I felt there were easier tones to be had with the Blackstar. Plus it felt more 'solid' in build quality.

My tuppence, anyway,

Adam

usedtobe

I simply can't believe that a £170 Katana didn't blow the balls off an £1100 hand wired valve amp. I feel cheated!

DulcetJones

I've got a Katana 50 and agree with all of the replies to your post.  I've gigged with the Katana playing with a 4 piece band including drums in a packed room of about 150 people with no problem.  The only thing going through the PA were vocal mic's.   My decision to buy this amp was based more on affordability and ease of handling(super light to carry) but I did make sure it could deliver a reasonable level of quality sound before I bought it.  I have no regrets.

ThePrettyDamned

Kalimna said:

When I was looking for a replacement amp last year, I spent a fair bit of time trying amps *around* the Katana price point and I gotta say I agree with you, I didn't get on with the 1x12 combo.

I'd spent maybe an hour or two in Guitar Guitar (with a gorgeous blue sunburst quilty Les Paul, with far too much chrome) trying the Katana against a Yahama THR10, a Blackstar ID15TVP and had wanted to try the Vox equivalent but they didn't have one. I discounted the Fender offering for no reason other than I didn't want a Fender (I know, no logic there at all).

I walked out with the Blackstar as I felt it was a lot more rounded in tone than the Katana, which to my ears felt rather sterile. My preferred amp would have been the Yamaha, but I didn't feel it was quite loud enough and it was more expensive though the tone superior.

I did like the Katana, and it was a fairly close thing, but I felt there were easier tones to be had with the Blackstar. Plus it felt more 'solid' in build quality.

My tuppence, anyway,

Adam

Indeed, taste accounts for a lot. 

I have no idea why the thr amps are regarded as sounding so good - I really didn't think they rated next to the blackstar id core 20 (which is still cheaper). But there are plenty of people who disagree with me, and it's not like they're wrong at all.

We live in a wonderful time for gear, a whole band can go through a Helix and have a brilliant sounding mix, or they could have a backline of entirely hand made boutique gear and have a brilliant mix, or they could have a £300 drum kit, a boss katana and an orange bass terror and have a brilliant mix. 

cbilly22

revsorg said:

I don't think it's ridiculous for Telejester to say "I'd pay the extra £900 in a heartbeat".  I totally agree. They are massively different products that solve different problems and require different investments but to my mind one is a local league footballer, the other is a player in the Premier league. 

Much like the type of footballers mentioned, the Katana will play regularly, earn it's keep and not spend it's entire existence wrapped in cotton wool.

monquixote

The reason people are excited about the Katana is it's the first affordable modeller that is: really easy for anyone to use, loud enough to gig and cuts through a mix and it sounds better than most of what has gone before.

It's a huge deal for a pub musician because it's an amp that won't screw up your back, you can be set up in 5 minutes with a whole set of versatile tones and FX, and you won't be suicidal if someone dumps a pint of beer over it.
Compared to the Cornell it's a hands down winner for a pub gigger even without comparing the price, but will the Katana sound as good as the Cornell?

Not a chance in hell.

Kalimna

Thats rather how i feel with the Blackstar. I know not everyone likes the Blackstar 'sound', but it seems to fill a very simillar niche to the Katana. And both their portability and 'dont care too much if it gets beer damage' aspect are absolute winners. Both amps sound a helluva lot better than they have any right to as well, especially for the price.

Adam

earwighoney

Telejester said:

 My 2cents and your view may differ.

Anyone who says this and doesn't use paragraphs isn't a reliable source of information. 

Chuffola

I kind of agree with the Katana is great "for the price" but I honestly think it's a bit better than that. I have the 100 (1x12) and I think it's pretty much the winner in the "up to £500" bracket - at new prices and depending on your requirements. I've had much more expensive amps that didn't sound as good where I use it - which is primarily home and occasionally jam nights. 

But, of course, a hand-wired amp is going to sound muc better. At least, much better at the one trick it probably has.

The Katana is probably the best "jack of all trades" there's been for quite a while - plus, it seems to like drive pedals too which is rarely the case for digital amps. 

Danny1969

Personally I think it's a good package for the price IF you need the built in effects and models, as you get all that for less than £200. 
Not a fan of the drive tones though, sounds kind of harsh to me. I prefer the sound of my Champion 110 with a tube screamer in front as a cheap solidstate gig'ing amp 
But what I really want is a Fender HRD 20 watt amp valve amp WITH a tubescreamer and recallable DSP built in .... That would be a great pub gig amp 

Sassafras

I bet the chorus and delay effects weren't as good on the Cornell.

beer

I have the 50w and since reading about having the master volume on full and controlling how loud you want it with the amp volume, it's sounded amazing on clean or distorted. Did you have the master on full when you tried it? It's a great amp for £190. 60's fuzz effect and fender tele and katana 50.......❤❤