Katana Tones

darthed1981 · April 2018

Whilst the forum has rebelled against them a little bit recently, I'm still the proud owner of a Katana 50...

I'm looking for a thread where people share their settings for them, for purely selfish reasons, I want to really learn how to really get the most out of it.

I'm thinking, what settings do you use for a nice woody-bluesy tone, one for an alt rock crunch? What do you all recommend?

I'm guessing these could apply across the board as well, the best tones, where to dial the EQ, and what FX to turn on or off, what pickup to use...?

Plectrum · April 2018

It's an impossible question to answer. So much depends on the guitar. You're unlikely to get a woody tone from a Strat and why would you want to?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · April 2018

There are some decent patches here - http://guitarpatches.com/patches.php?unit=katana

I'd be interested to know any hints and tips from others though,as I'm a complete dunce with the laptop tone tweaking side of things, so feel that I'm probably not getting the most out of the amp.

baldy · April 2018

I will be interested in the replies to this thread having just got a Katana 50 myself.

Flink_Poyd · April 2018

I struggle with mine to be honest. I've tried different patches, settings etc but either get something useful or total garbage. I'm thinking about selling mine as I get too hung up on getting everything set "right" and play less because of it. I don't need an amp as I'm delving into recording through the computer more and more.
I'm giving it this weekend for a last tweak session then deciding what to do with it.

Grumpyrocker · April 2018

I love my 100 combo. In the first week I did make a bunch of patches. But at home I just use it like a regular amp, tend to keep it in panel mode, and just tweak the sound depending what I'm playing.

I did change the various effects that were available on the panel mode though. So there's a wah there, a tube screamer too. Also made the third reverb a delay/reverb - if I want to be able to have a modulation but still have some delay.

Legionreturns · April 2018

I spent ages setting up patches when I had my 100 combo, then I got the head and haven't bothered. The fx in the existing channels, plus the panel, plus variations in cabinet / pa (if using that route) plus having my pod I just never seem to struggle to get a decent tone out of it just by using the knobs. Different guitars make a massive difference anyway so it's good to know how to tweak it on the fly. Haven't even updated it and connected it to ts

midlifecrisis · April 2018

ive got the 100 combo, i really like it. i havnt really experimented with a lot of tones, i have set up a clean chanal, which i use with and without reverb, ans a crunch channel with and without the built in tubescreamer, and a couple of other patches which are song dependent. Playing live i never need to change these, except the master volume but once set i dont change the amp for the whole gig, it seems very consistant.

Voxman · April 2018

For the last year or so I've been reading posts hailing the Katana as practically the second coming, the plethora for all a guitarists needs, and a revolutionary amp. But over the last few months it seems that the honeymoon period and all the initial hype has faded somewhat and I'm seeing a lot more jaded posts with folk now struggling to get their Katana's to cut through the mix in a band situation and with more used Katanas appearing for sale.

It's not uncommon and I remember the same thing happening with the original Blackstar ID60/100 with its as loud as valve promise.

I can't help wonder why this phenomenon seems to exist. Is it a case of 'the emperor's new clothes' in that the initial euphoria is from bedroom usage players. Or is it a genuine limitation in that once the volume goes up in a band mix that tonal problems become apparent? Or is it merely some users are struggling to adjust these amps for live playing and are using settings that sound great at home but are getting lost in the mix?

I'm reminded years back of a technical article on Fletcher Munson curves that Line 6 had on its website highlighting the need to adjust modelling amps by raising mids to help punch through the mix because they couldn't tonally adjust automatically with volume in the way that valve amps do. In essence settings that sounded great at home sounded poor in a live mix at volume, and settings that worked well live sounded dreadful at home. Is it all down to experience relating to setting live EQ I wonder?

grungebob · April 2018

The only change I made was to set one of the boosters to a RAT and added a compressor and EQ to one of the other effects slots.
Can get all the sounds I need now at very low volumes but if I can get the chance to turn the volume up to say TV levels I’ll plug my Orange dual dark 50 in.

Legionreturns · April 2018

@Voxman I think it's more that as people make noise about them being excellent at what they do for the price (which they are), more people go out of their way to try one but then compare them to thousands of pounds of boogie gear...

darthed1981 · April 2018

Voxman said:
I can't help wonder why this phenomenon seems to exist. Is it a case of 'the emperor's new clothes' in that the initial euphoria is from bedroom usage players. Or is it a genuine limitation in that once the volume goes up in a band mix that tonal problems become apparent? Or is it merely some users are struggling to adjust these amps for live playing and are using settings that sound great at home but are getting lost in the mix?

Well you can get a big heavy valve amp, a pedalboard and lots of wires and play live, and lug it all around, do your back in. The idea of a single box that does it all, weighs very little and costs bugger all must have inherent appeal?

I'd love an AC30 but I literally cannot lift one with one arm, weakling that I am, and none of them are exactly lightweight. Plus I only play at home and the odd jam so it would be like buying a sports car to get shopping.

The Katana can do home use really well, it does practices and jams, and lots of people use it successfully for small gigs.

Some people don't find it effective for gigs, but for really good reasons to do with the dynamics that a decent valve amp has that a Katana doesn't. The allure of the weight and convenience seems powerful enough people really try to make them work.

So it's horses for courses really surely?

Plectrum · April 2018

Voxman said:

For the last year or so I've been reading posts hailing the Katana as practically the second coming, the plethora for all a guitarists needs, and a revolutionary amp. But over the last few months it seems that the honeymoon period and all the initial hype has faded somewhat and I'm seeing a lot more jaded posts with folk now struggling to get their Katana's to cut through the mix in a band situation and with more used Katanas appearing for sale.

It doesn't really surprise me. To start with people seem to think the 50 or 100 somehow relates to the RMS wattage which is plainly ridiculous if you look at the maximum wattage drawn from the mains which is printed clearly on the back of the amp. I suspect the number relate to peak wattage. RMS wattage will be half that. So basically you're trying to compete with a drummer and bass player with a 25 watt solid-state amp.

Grumpyrocker · April 2018

Crikey I've gigged a Line 6 Spider Mk III successfully. I used to play live regularly with a Marlin 50C, which was a piece of junk but did the job.

A Katana is like a boutique amp by comparison, I'd have no hesitation using mine live (though haven't yet). There may be a backlash, but this is one fabulous amp. We've never had it so good with multipurpose amps like this.

Voxman · April 2018

I completely get the weight issue particularly because I'm an oldie now and I simply can't cope with the weight anymore. When I was young I could carry a 76lb Vox AC30. My AD120VTX Valvetronix rig is brilliant in a live mix but I simply can't carry it anymore up and down stairs and in and out of cars and it's only 58lbs but for best tones I need the 2x12 Extn cab (43lbs) and VC12 floor controller (14 lbs) and by the time you add cables, mini fx pedal board for the fx loop etc it's no longer practical for anything but larger gigs that I don't do anymore. Hence nowadays I've switched to a Vox Tonelab SE but I'm even struggling with the weight and size of that...with power supply, bag, cables, guitar stand, bottle of water etc its well over 25lbs on your shoulder. Hence why I was looking at a Zoom G5n on another thread.

I think a big issue with the Katana and many other current modelling amps is the speaker which is built to a budget. But the moment you stick in a good heavy magnet speaker like a Celestion Vintage 30 or Creamback etc you've added to the weight and cost and that doubles up if you go 2x12. And if you need a bigger sound in a band mix you really need more than a 1x12 which will always sound boxier by comparison.

So its a real compromise nowadays to get a sensible balance between tone, volume, versatility, weight and budget. I actually think amps like the Katana do a pretty good balancing act. But there's a serious issue with the 1x12 versions and it's the same for the Fender Mustang III and Blackstar ID60...they have no extension cab out. What's needed is the ability to add an extension cab and have the option to connect this in addition to or in place of the internal speaker. That way you could plug it into a 2x12 or 4x12 if there's one there or you could carry a lighter 1x12 extn cab with you to give you 2x12 fullness, push more air, and give you more spread in the mix.

Grumpyrocker · April 2018

I agree with that. An extension cab out would be very handy. I've seen a few folks on TGP have done a mod to add one.

Legionreturns · April 2018

I have the katana head, so I can't really comment on speakers. I've run it through a PA, a single FRFR, 2x12v30 cab, several 4x12s mostly Marshall and I genuinely think it sounds great through all of those.

darthed1981 · April 2018

Voxman said:

So its a real compromise nowadays to get a sensible balance between tone, volume, versatility, weight and budget. I actually think amps like the Katana do a pretty good balancing act. But there's a serious issue with the 1x12 versions and it's the same for the Fender Mustang III and Blackstar ID60...they have no extension cab out. What's needed is the ability to add an extension cab and have the option to connect this in addition to or in place of the internal speaker. That way you could plug it into a 2x12 or 4x12 if there's one there or you could carry a lighter 1x12 extn cab with you to give you 2x12 fullness, push more air, and give you more spread in the mix.

This is a feature the new Katana Artist 1x12 100w has, though also an in theory much better speaker.

It occurs a good upgrade for a gen1 Katana 100 would be the speaker from an artist, especially if people start ripping them out and putting their favourite speaker in, and selling the originals on eBay.

Legionreturns · April 2018

There's a fairly simple speaker out mod that many people have done for the Kat combos

JayGee · April 2018

The extension speaker idea is kind of tempting, however I gather that they’re picky about impedance and there are all sorts of warnings from Boss about going below the 8 Ohms of the standard speakers- this makes using one with an extension cab (in addition to rather than instead of the internal speaker(s)) somewhat tricky.

I’m actually giving serious consideration to pulling the electronics out of my 2x12 and turning it into a head/cab setup - if nothing else it’ll make using it as a backup for the big Blackstar easier...

Voxman · April 2018

Legionreturns said:

There's a fairly simple speaker out mod that many people have done for the Kat combos

But it invalidates the warranty - same with the Mustang III and ID60. Also the simple mod you're referring to I think cuts out the internal speaker rather than allowing switching options. A similar mod was available with the chrome & later Valvetronix.

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