Boss Katana Questions

bermudianbrit

Hi all,

So I'm seeing all these rave reviews of the Katana and I'm giving it some serious thought. I'd like to pick up the head, as I already have a 1x12 cab with a gold in it. My question is though, that I understand that some SS amps don't always get on with normal cabs - they're not designed for them and therefore sound a bit shit when plugged into speakers designed for valve amps. is this the case? Will the Katana work sufficiently well when plugged into my own 1x12?

Secondly, how good is the line out? Could I send this straight to a PA in a pinch? I'm going overseas soon and would like to practice with a few bands I know out there, but getting backline on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere...not that easy.

Thoughts welcome

Matt

Legionreturns

I've got the head, which I'm in the process of evaluating. It's a very clever bit of kit which I've tried with a couple of cabs so far and they've sounded great. You get the normal characteristics of the speakers in the cab. If I were you I'd take your cab to a shop and try it with the head. Only issue is power rating. It's 8ohms and up and100w although you can run it on 50 and that's plenty loud enough for gigging. If you decide you're going to buy one let me know as mine is a backup that I may not be keeping anyway. I'm buying a 2x12 with v30s in tomorrow to try it with. 

Grumpyrocker

Unlike some modelling gear the Katana combos use proper guitar speakers. There's some fancy stuff going on between the AB power amp and speaker that make it seem much more like an EL34 amp than  a modeller into an FRFR cab.

darthed1981

I'm thinking of getting a 100w to complement my 50w.

Essentially go "All Katana" for my amps and sell my baby Blackstars!

MagicPigDetective

How do they sound with headphones? 

Grumpyrocker

With the right impedance phones it sounds pretty good. The only downside is that it's mono only. 

Erjimipey

Grumpyrocker said:

With the right impedance phones it sounds pretty good. The only downside is that it's mono only. 

Which ones do you use? I don't have a Katana yet, planning to buy one shortly. My current headphones are Sennheiser 205, and I would really love them to work fine with the Katana... Which impedance is recommended? 

Legionreturns

Erjimipey said:

Grumpyrocker said:

With the right impedance phones it sounds pretty good. The only downside is that it's mono only. 

Which ones do you use? I don't have a Katana yet, planning to buy one shortly. My current headphones are Sennheiser 205, and I would really love them to work fine with the Katana... Which impedance is recommended? 

I've used my Sennheiser Urbanite XLs with the Katana and they sound great. No idea what the impedance is though! 

Grumpyrocker

Erjimipey said:

Grumpyrocker said:

With the right impedance phones it sounds pretty good. The only downside is that it's mono only. 

Which ones do you use? I don't have a Katana yet, planning to buy one shortly. My current headphones are Sennheiser 205, and I would really love them to work fine with the Katana... Which impedance is recommended? 

I'm not sure what the recommended is. But I've seen folks online saying there's sounded terrible and it's likely an impedance issue.  My POD HD is garbage with low impedance phones. 

Anyway. Sounds good to me with  my AKG 712 Pro headphones.

One thing I'm tempted to try is running the headphone out into my Zoom G3. Then just enabling one FX block on the the Zoom - the AIR Reverb, which creates a nice stereo space, makes it less like using headphones. Might make the mono Katana sound a bit better through cans.

MagicPigDetective

Anyone tried a Katana with an electro-acoustic? How does it stand up to dedicated acoustic amps? Having an good electric and acoustic amp in one would be a great thing. 

erky32

I've tried my K50 with my Godin A6 Ultra & my Larrivee L05 (with a WoodyXL pickup), and although I'm delighted with the electric sounds of the K50 for strats or HB guitars clean/drive/fx , I feel the acoustic channel isn't the best. Normally for gigs I use the Godin thru my Mustang 3 on a clean setting and its quite gig-worthy, and handles the acoustic better than the Katana. The Godin direct into an acoustic amp , I have an Ibanez T20 & Makie Reach, it sounds good acoustic, so that is the benchmark. But the M3 generally handles acoustic better (altho no dedicated acoustic input), I'd say the K50 is bottom of the pecking order for acoustic. It's disappointing because it was one of the main reasons for buying, ie to have both drive , effects & acoustic in one neat package ....the holy grail ! ...to good to be true!?. Dont get me wrong, the K50 is a keeper for me, I'm even toying with the idea of a K100-head for rockband gigs to replace a JCA or/& Marshall head. I haven't tried meddling with the K50 software yet, maybe theres some scope for tweeking the acoustic channel sound? - I dont know - look forward to hearing from anyone who has dabbled in there. I wonder if the speaker is too electric biased, but surely they would have considered that? I've only tried the USB hook-up once to my iMac, but it coudn't find the amp connected - need to go back and retry. But to me the acoustic channel sounds is very reminiscent of the Boss A3 simulator which I didnt like for its tinny mushy artificial sound. (I know the K50 acoustic channel is not meant to be a simulator, - but there is a questionable connection isn't there!?). I'm interested to hear of anyones views/experiences in this area. 

Trude

My Katana 100 combo does a great job as an acoustic amp. I think the better speaker might help here vs the 50

menamestom

I had the 100.  The acoustic sound was just about passable, but nowhere near as good as a dedicated acoustic amp. 

Grumpyrocker

I've found my 100 combo pretty good with my Yamaha acoustic too. There's also an effects block you can add for deeper tone shaping when using an acoustic. 

bermudianbrit

damn. So from the sense I'm getting from it, its unlikely that the Katana will do well going straight to PA. Any other suggestions which are fairly uncomplicated that will do this?

Legionreturns

bermudianbrit said:

damn. So from the sense I'm getting from it, its unlikely that the Katana will do well going straight to PA. Any other suggestions which are fairly uncomplicated that will do this?

Voicelive GT? 

bermudianbrit

Not looking for an acoustic solution - this is intended for electric.