Boss Katana Head ......whadda we think?

snazza

appreciate this has just been announced - but does anyone have a view/hands on with these things yet? ..... looks intregueing ....and worryingly (am I really that much of a gear snob????) cheap!!

https://www.boss.info/us/products/katana-head/

ICBM

Controls on the top. Fail.

Maynehead

ICBM said:

Controls on the top. Fail.

That's because it's got its own internal speakers! Now that is VERY interesting... A light weight high power head that competes with the Yamaha THR10...

JDE

I'm looking to get one. Well, either the head or the 2x12 combo. Now I'm back to playing in mono the thought of a head and cab is more appealing to me for some reason. I'm so fed up of the gear rotation in my house, I'm seriously considering just using my jazz combo for, well straight ahead jazz and the Katana, a GT100 and just be done with it for heavier stuff.

guitarfishbay

ICBM said:

Controls on the top. Fail.

On a serious note how many non rock/metal bands still use anything as tall as a halfstack?  It still isn't the best idea (you'll likely get feedback having to get that extra few inches closer to tweak, and are in an even worse position for listening to changes vs bending down in front of an amp)... but other than that most people will still easily be able to see down to the controls I think

therose789

Ugly looking thing. 

JDE

guitarfishbay said:

ICBM said:

Controls on the top. Fail.

On a serious note how many non rock/metal bands still use anything as tall as a halfstack?  It still isn't the best idea (you'll likely get feedback having to get that extra few inches closer to tweak, and are in an even worse position for listening to changes vs bending down in front of an amp)... but other than that most people will still easily be able to see down to the controls I think

I have serious doubts that anyone rocking a full stack these days is going to use a £300 head. I think the Katana is meant as either a tabletop practice amp like the Yamaha or to be paired with a 4x12 at the most. 

bingefeller

After listening to the demos, it sounds good I reckon.  

guitarfishbay

I never said a full stack, they're almost completely extinct these days anyway, except for acts still trying to go for a certain look.

My point was most people these days are using smaller cabs so it is in theory easy enough to see top controls.  If you've got a taller setup, such as a 4x12 raised off the floor in some way (wheels etc) you might start having to lean over to see controls, which is obviously not ideal.  Personally I prefer two 4x12s side by side to a full stack anyway

JDE

No I was actually agreeing with you, I just didn't word it very well! Personally, I could see top mounted controls on a 4x12 better than face mounted controls.

ICBM

guitarfishbay said:

ICBM said:

Controls on the top. Fail.

On a serious note how many non rock/metal bands still use anything as tall as a halfstack?

Everyone who puts the amp at the correct height. If it's not as tall as a half-stack it needs to be on a riser of some sort - or tilted back, which makes top controls even worse.

They're OK for very small combos that you're most likely to use at home, or just maybe at a gig where you have a small combo raised up so the controls are then about right, but I can't think of any head that fits either of those.

Admittedly I didn't realise that this is in fact a combo .

TTBZ

Based on the videos I've seen/heard so far, it sounds bloody awful. 

Sassafras

Not sure I'd call it a combo. A 5 inch speaker, even at a 100 watts, isn't going to get you very far at a gig.

Cabicular

why does it have a 5 inch speaker?

ICBM

In this YouTube demo it does actually sound better than the Waza Craft.



It's hardly "the world's first BOSS Amplifier range", though… from the 80s:

http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/thumbs3/boss-mg-10-guitar-amplifier-469752.jpg

And it doesn't sound like the types of sound it's aimed at have changed much, even though the new ones does actually do them a lot better.

Fortheloveofguitar

You can guarantee that the overdrives will sound shite 

Sassafras

Actually, on the demo ICBM posted it doesn't sound too bad. Quite nice cleans.

earwighoney

Sassafras said:

Actually, on the demo ICBM posted it doesn't sound too bad. Quite nice cleans.

Agree. 

The distorted tones aren't the greatest but they still sound better to my ears than ones of Fender Bassbreaker Series which in the videos I have come across do a fine job of a valve amp producing distorted tones of a bad solid state amp. 

Maynehead

It might not sound the best but as a standalone lightweight practice amp with foot switchable built in effects, that's also loud enough to double up as a backup gigging amp, it does have a certain appeal. The £320 price tag makes even more enticing.

The THR10 was dubbed as "the third amp", this is the second and third amp rolled into one.

monquixote

Hmm not loving the sounds from that demo.

I don't get why these amps always have: "token clean channel", "channel with more gain than you will use in most non metal gigs", "channel of insane over gained metal", "channel of pure white noise and 15 chained metal zones".

Maynehead

It does have loads of pedal fx though so you could just put a emulated Boss OD pedal infront of the clean channel.