My Katana woes.

grungebob

I bought a Boss Katana 50 two weeks ago as a replacement for my Mesa Rectoverb. The Mesa though a fantastic amp can’t be played quiet enough for my needs now. 
I mostly play of an evening when everyone’s gone to bed so the Katana seemed a great choice. Initially I didn’t like the amp and I thought it would be returned but after a bit more tweaking I got some really nice tones out of it and I was a happy man. 
The irony of today though is that everyone went out and I got to crank it, box of bees! I couldn’t get any low end thump out of it and either I had to settle for too much treble or there was this mid frequency I just didn’t like.  It didn’t help that I had a final go on the Mesa cranked and it sounded immense. 

So my dilemma is what can I get that does both the quiet side but will still give me some gratification on those occasions I’m left home alone?

currently I’m eying up a line 6 DT25 as I’ve had one before and liked it and I’m also looking at the Blackstar ID core 100 as it’s got the looper and effects that I’ll miss with the Katana going. 

What say you wise sage’s?
need an amp that’s quiet but sounds good, can sound good loud and has an easy recording feature. 

guitarfishbay

Have you considered just using plugins for practicing and playing quietly?  That'd work for recording too.  Then you could keep your Rectoverb for when you can play loud.

TTony

grungebob said:

So my dilemma is what can I get that does both the quiet side but will still give me some gratification on those occasions I’m left home alone?

2 separate amps?

Having heard a Katana, I'm more surprised that you could get a decent quiet practice sound of it it, than I am that you couldn't get a decent loud sound.  Do you need to do some more knob-twiddling?

Teyeplayer

Your katana shouldn’t be seen as a replacement, more a second amp that supplies decent bedroom tones. Sorry dude but you honestly can’t/shouldn’t compare a high end valve amp and a solid state modelling amp. 

darthed1981

Another poster said that they needed to change the global EQ in the Boss software to get it how they wanted.

As others have said, they are great for £180 quid, probably would be great for £350 as well, but they aren't designed to compete with the top end valve amps.

grungebob

@TTony  I get what your saying but usually there’s a compromise so like in your example above that’s why I’ve got a X6 xdrive 330d. 

ICBM

I’m really surprised that the Mesa can’t be played quiet enough given that it has both channel masters and an output level control, but if it really can’t (or not and still sound good) then the solution is simply an attenuator.

Cheaper than another amp, too.

grungebob

I don’t expect it to compete. I fully realise I can no longer use the Mesa and those tones are gone but it was a shock to find the Katana just sound truley dreadful and unusable for me on even the 25w setting. Surely there’s an amp that can sound decent very low levels but still sound ok a bit louder ? I’m not expecting boutique tones just useable. 

I dont want want to go plug ins as I’ve lonited time so anything I can just push one button and go on is a plus. Maybe I’m asking for the moon on a stick?

sw67

For me what worked was helix / headphones for quiet practice and helix / MJW 18w for loud practice and gigs. 

grungebob

ICBM said:

I’m really surprised that the Mesa can’t be played quiet enough given that it has both channel masters and an output level control, but if it really can’t (or not and still sound good) then the solution is simply an attenuator.

Cheaper than another amp, too.

Thanks, thought about that but it’s just has a background hum still that I can’t seem to ignore, you when you don’t notice something then someone points it out and now it’s all you can hear..... it’s like that. 

ICBM

If the hum is coming from the speaker and not a mechanical vibration from the chassis/transformer, then an attenuator will fix that as well, by turning the whole output down.

To save you asking ... THD Hotplate. Low-volume mode, deep/bright switches and noise reduction built in.

p90fool

I've been doing a bit more follow up editing on my Katana now I've done half a dozen or so gigs with it, including a few subtle tweaks of the global EQ. 

During that process I bypassed the global EQ just to give my ears a datum from which to work, and it sounded absolutely atrocious. I would never have bought it in a shop, it really is vicious. 

With the EQ back on it's passable in a gig situation depending on venue but I'm getting fantastic low volume tones out of it, it's genuinely the best home amp I've ever had. 

If you can wait until tomorrow I'll give you my settings to try. PM me to remind me in the morning, and I can call you and talk through what I'm doing if you like.  

Teyeplayer

@p90fool was it you that mentioned getting near Princeton reverb tones out of a katana in one of the many katana threads?

TTony

grungebob said:

@TTony  I get what your saying but usually there’s a compromise so like in your example above that’s why I’ve got a X6 xdrive 330d. 

Sorry, I edited my original post, thinking that if you weren't a car-ist, it probably wouldn't make too much sense.

Agreed, your X6 (or a Cayenne or maybe a decent Q7) would tick those original boxes that I used as examples, but they're all fairly expensive vehicles.  

A Katana isn't exactly an expensive amp, so perhaps it's not surprising that it doesn't tick multiple boxes as effectively as those vehicles?

grungebob

TTony said:

grungebob said:

@TTony  I get what your saying but usually there’s a compromise so like in your example above that’s why I’ve got a X6 xdrive 330d. 

Sorry, I edited my original post, thinking that if you weren't a car-ist, it probably wouldn't make too much sense.

Agreed, your X6 (or a Cayenne or maybe a decent Q7) would tick those original boxes that I used as examples, but they're all fairly expensive vehicles.  

A Katana isn't exactly an expensive amp, so perhaps it's not surprising that it doesn't tick multiple boxes as effectively as those vehicles?

No I guess it is a bit unfair but I guess I saw and heard good demos and reviews and expected too much. It’s a shame as as a low volume amp its killer but anything above TV volume and this harshness just swamps it.  

So with the recto going and not wanting valve would the blackstar or the DT be the way to go do you think? Tried the Yamaha THR’s and didn’t like them and staying this side of £500 The helix et al approach is out. 

TTony

grungebob said:

So with the recto going and not wanting valve would the blackstar or the DT be the way to go do you think? 

I have zero experience of either.

My playing is either through a THR (with various downloaded settings patches - not the originals!) or via iPad apps and headphones.

That said, I've liked the Blackstar kit that I have had through the years - but if you've got good experience of Line 6, then maybe that's your best option??  Try them!!

Telejester

OP have you tried a peavey bandit combo ?

2 channels, built like a tank and cheap as chips, i used to have one and they are great.

grungebob

Telejester said:

OP have you tried a peavey bandit combo ?

2 channels, built like a tank and cheap as chips, i used to have one and they are great.

I used to have one of those 2x12 chorus classics weighed a metric tonne if I recall

Telejester

grungebob said:

Telejester said:

OP have you tried a peavey bandit combo ?

2 channels, built like a tank and cheap as chips, i used to have one and they are great.

I used to have one of those 2x12 chorus classics weighed a metric tonne if I recall

you can get them ,1x 12, shane diorio in the blues yt channel has a lot of vids, check him out

mbe

Tried an Orange CR60? That could suit but you'd have to bring your own fx pedals.

Trude

If that was the first time you've played it loud then the speaker won't be broken in yet. I wouldn't pass judgement until you've done that. Or at least try it through the Mesa's cab & speaker so you can eliminate that from the comparison.