Katana v Code v ???

nick_s

So chaps, my Vox AD30VT went up in a cloud of smoke and flame last week, and I've been looking at a similar sort of modelling amp for noodling purposes.

Now, I would like a few features from the amp:

1) Enough to take out to practice with mates and band (so ideally 50w or more)
2) USB record (rules out the newer Vox VT's)
3) To be simple enough to operate (ie, zero option paralysis from the amp itself, software tinkering is another kettle of fish)

The Katana seems to fit all the criteria quite happily, the Marshall not too far behind.  What else of a similar ilk would the good people of The Fretboard recommend to consider?

To clarify, this is a secondary amp to noodle with, I have my Series 1 45 combo for my main amp.

TTBZ

I'm biased but I love the Code 50 so long as you like Marshall sounds. The problem with them is that most of the stock presets are awful. There's a firmware update that has new presets and they're way better so try one of those if you can. If not then my go-to is one of the plain JCM800 patches, turn off the prefx, turn the gate, presence and gain down and see how you get on. Or the JTM45 for a fatter more vintage tone. The usb recording is pretty decent as well, a bit thinner/twangier than you get through the speaker but could probably be dialled out.

paulmapp8306

Id go Katana - having heard one in the flesh I was VERY impressed.  Thats coming from using an AFX for years.

MattFGBI

Mustang GT has USB out. 

Jez6345789

I tried a Code because people here rave about them before I got the Katana and frankly happy think the Katana is that bit more flexible from a tones point of view. For the money difference I would go 100 watt just gives you an extra bit of grunt and more flexiable on control pedals etc. 

Plectrum

i absolutely love my CODE 50. Mostly live I use the JTM45 model most of the time. It's so responsive and expressive.

darthed1981

You could also audition the Blackstar ID Core 100 for a wildcard option, has a built in looper.

nick_s

Thanks chaps, wis to be awarded all round   I am 90% settled on the Katana, with the Code and ID Core coming in as options, with the Spider V holding up the rear.

grungebob

I tried the core100 and K50 side by side and i didn’t think the core sounded better on any setting. In isolation though the core sounded nice but once I had an a/b pedal set up to instantly swap there was just no comparison. 
The caveat being here is I was going off of TV volume levels as that is where 99% of my playing is done these days and the core was very difficult to control volume wise on this range. 

It could be as the volume increases he core comes into its own but I didn’t test it for long enough here to be sure. 

JayGee

I get to A-B my Katana against the equivalent Code on a regular basis because the other guitarist in my band has pretty much the direct equivalent code (they’re both 100 Watt 2x12 combos)...

Bottom line is that they both sound pretty good for the rock covers stuff we play, and which one to get probably comes down as much to the user interface as anything else.

The Code is very much a modeller, presenting you with a digital display, a whole bunch of specific amp and cabinet emulations, and a whole bunch of parameters you can edit with a multifunction knob.

The Katana is much more a “traditional” amp which just happens to use modelling technology under the bonnet to do its stuff with just a handful of generic “voices” and pretty much everything directly accessible through dedicated knobs on the panel with cleverer, more subtle, or more complicated stuff accessible through the Tone Studio app if you need it (which an awful lot of people probably won’t!).

I think the Katana is more instantly accessible (you really can just plug in and be off and running with it right away) and more “natural” to use but that’s just me and the Code, with its more sophisticated/complicated approach may suit other players better...

andyp

I had a Code 25 for about a year and really liked it. I just play at home as I'm a learner, but I eventually got fed up with it.

It sounded great to me using a crunchy JTM45 preset that I built myself, but I then quickly found that this setting was the only one I ever used. I found all the onboard presets to be pretty unusable (although some were great fun) and eventually I sort of fell out with all the millions of settings and just wanted a simpler amp. It could take a long time to get a sound I wanted from the Code and with so many options you could spend hours experimenting, which in the end wasn't what I wanted to be doing.

I was expecting to buy a Katana 50 to replace it, but I ended up saving enough cash to get something else altogether so my existing DSL5 has replaced the Code and I find that is much more what I want.

darthed1981

grungebob said:

I tried the core100 and K50 side by side and i didn’t think the core sounded better on any setting. In isolation though the core sounded nice but once I had an a/b pedal set up to instantly swap there was just no comparison. 
The caveat being here is I was going off of TV volume levels as that is where 99% of my playing is done these days and the core was very difficult to control volume wise on this range. 

It could be as the volume increases he core comes into its own but I didn’t test it for long enough here to be sure. 

At TV volumes you would be better off with a baby ID core like the 10 or 20.

No match for a Katana 50 those though, IMHO.

nick_s

Thank you all for your recommendations (and for the kind offer of a Katana at a very good price)

I had a whole bunch of loyalty points and gift vouchers to use up so the kind folks at Andertons pinged a Katana 1x12 and GA-FC footswitch my way.

Initial impressions are superb.  It's very easy to dial in a really nice bunch of sounds with just a few turns of a knob.  I've installed the Tone Studio (but not messed with it yet) - very chuffed so far.  It goes from quiet and serene on the .5w setting to down right obnoxious on the 100w setting!  I'll experiment sticking some effects through the loop, try some recording via USB (would have been nice to have the USB cable in the box, but hey, they're not expensive - and as an IT geek, I have stacks of them anyway) and before long get it setup in an AB situation with my main amp to see how it stacks up. 

I did come very close to getting the Blackstar ID Core 100 so that it would be familiar to the Series 1, but the Boss had something about it I couldn't turn away from.

Thanks again gents!

Telejester

nick_s said: 

Thanks chaps, wis to be awarded all round   I am 90% settled on the Katana, with the Code and ID Core coming in as options, with the Spider V holding up the rear.

Spider V for holding the door open