Update.......My Katana died

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  • im giving it to a tech today, he says if its on the digital side theres not anything he can do, but if its on the other stuff it might be repairable. fingers crossed. looks like im gigging a peavey valveking this weekend.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357
    Pretty sure the Katana uses a TDA chip for the output, like loads of amps have done over the years. They don't like being pushed hard and often fail. That won't be hard to replace. You would be unlucky for the DSP to go wrong, it's all low voltage and low current ..... it is SM but not small SM compared to most of today's tech

    Anyone gig'ing one reasonably loudly would be wise to have some kind of backup as a failure at a gig is game over unless your carrying a spare Power I.C, desoldering gear and various other bits. 
    People think valve amps are unreliable and things like Katana's are vastly more reliable but I don't think they are and when they do go wrong you can't just swap the valves over in 10 minutes ....
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited February 2019
    Did you buy it new? If so, well worth having a chat with the store and/or Boss UK - stores can (in theory) be on the hook for up to 6 yrs under UK consumer rights. These have changed over recent years but well worth discussion.  I certainly wouldn't rush to pay a tech until I'd exhausted store & manufacturer support. 

    And did you register it for extra 2 yr warranty? Even if you didn't, Boss might still accept it:
    https://www.roland.com/uk/company/company_policy/warranty/

    WARRANTY PRODUCTS

    The following products receive a 3 year warranty

    • Boss recorders
    • Amplifiers / Monitors
    • V-Guitars
    • Roland Digital Pianos
    • Keyboards
    • Drum modules
    • Drum machines
    • Atelier
    • Sampling / Percussion / Dance / DJ machines
    • Audio Interfaces
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • @Voxman ; no, i bought it used but at a great price and have certainly had good use out of it. if it can be economically repaired by a local guy i know im happy to pay him rather than have to ship it off to boss.
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited February 2019
    @Voxman ;;;;; no, i bought it used but at a great price and have certainly had good use out of it. if it can be economically repaired by a local guy i know im happy to pay him rather than have to ship it off to boss.
    Sorry, my bad - I didn't read your OP properly when you said it was used ... silly Voxman    
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    ICBM said:
    TimmyO said:

    I wonder if if the savings these companies make by not having a sensible support setup (aimed at cutting purchase price) will ultimately limit people’s preparedness to buy them at all 
    It hasn’t affected sales of new TVs or computers.
    I take your point - but there aren’t people making TVs the old way that also deliver the same end experience as new tv tech provides. A traditionally ( or better or whatever we want to label it) built amp sounds good - TVs that aren’t as fragile screened as modern stuff (CRTs, Plasmas) don’t deliver a 4K HDR picture. 
    Red ones are better. 
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  • Buy from Gear4Music and take advantage of their 6-year warranty for a 2.5% fee.  Good value for stuff like Katanas.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    TimmyO said:

    I take your point - but there aren’t people making TVs the old way that also deliver the same end experience as new tv tech provides. A traditionally ( or better or whatever we want to label it) built amp sounds good - TVs that aren’t as fragile screened as modern stuff (CRTs, Plasmas) don’t deliver a 4K HDR picture. 
    Valve amps don’t deliver the same end experience in terms of flexibility and features of digital ones either, no matter how well they’re built or if they sound better.

    Lack of reparability is just the way modern consumer electronics is going, and probably at least 95% of music gear is ‘consumer’ quality rather than ‘cost no object’.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • just had an email from roland UKwho rather decently have agreed to repair it under warranty, and send a courier to collect it. Im impressed. i will update any further developments
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    just had an email from roland UKwho rather decently have agreed to repair it under warranty, and send a courier to collect it. Im impressed. i will update any further developments
    As I said, it's always worth talking to the manufacturer!  My experience of Boss service has been great so I'm not surprised!  I was told by Boss UK that provided gear hasn't been misused, they will always try to help - kind of like an unofficial lifetime warranty.  
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9551
    ^ Excellent news. Must admit I’ve heard mixed things about Boss/Roland after sales service so good to hear it’s worked out well for you.

    Also, as already mentioned in an earlier post, if you register your newly purchased amp on their website then you get an extra two years warranty.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • Likewise. I heard of a poor customer service experience from someone with a dead bluescube. Good to know they’ve stepped up to stand by their product. 

    They’ll still have some catching up to do to reach line 6 levels of customer service from what I keep hearing. Countless examples of going above and beyond. 
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  • rossirossi Frets: 1699
    They may well want some data on what goes wrong so they can  correct  it at a design stage so it works both ways but great news.Gives Boss a one up .
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  • 4 weeks later have now recieved my katana back.  They did advise it could be 6-8 weeks as awaiting spares so 4 weeks is better than i expected. I am really grateful and pleased as they repaired in under warranty when stictly speaking it was out of warranty and second hand. so that was nice of them, also they collected and delivered back free of charge so well done ROLAND. have reloaded my patches on and will have a good practise with it tonight, ready for gig tommorow
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  • JayGeeJayGee Frets: 1254
    4 weeks later have now recieved my katana back.  They did advise it could be 6-8 weeks as awaiting spares so 4 weeks is better than i expected. I am really grateful and pleased as they repaired in under warranty when stictly speaking it was out of warranty and second hand. so that was nice of them, also they collected and delivered back free of charge so well done ROLAND. have reloaded my patches on and will have a good practise with it tonight, ready for gig tommorow
    Did they say what the fault was and how they fixed it?

    It would be interesting to know whether they actually did some kind of component level diagnosis and repair or just said “Yeah, that’s broken alright” and just slung a replacement circuit board (or even set of circuit boards) in it...
    Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
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  • RobDaviesRobDavies Frets: 3062
    Fair play to Roland.  That’s exceptional service. 
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  • JayGee said:
    4 weeks later have now recieved my katana back.  They did advise it could be 6-8 weeks as awaiting spares so 4 weeks is better than i expected. I am really grateful and pleased as they repaired in under warranty when stictly speaking it was out of warranty and second hand. so that was nice of them, also they collected and delivered back free of charge so well done ROLAND. have reloaded my patches on and will have a good practise with it tonight, ready for gig tommorow
    Did they say what the fault was and how they fixed it?

    It would be interesting to know whether they actually did some kind of component level diagnosis and repair or just said “Yeah, that’s broken alright” and just slung a replacement circuit board (or even set of circuit boards) in it...
    Yes exactly, there was a job sheet enclosed that just said replace the main pcb and test. probably not worth their time testing components i would guess. still, great service.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    midlifecrisis said:

    Yes exactly, there was a job sheet enclosed that just said replace the main pcb and test. probably not worth their time testing components i would guess. still, great service.
    It's unlikely to have been economically repairable, if at all practically, at component level anyway.

    Great customer service - especially after reading some reports and some previous experience personally that they weren't so hot in the past. Hopefully this is not their standard practice, as it should be with any company making equipment that's too difficult to repair the old way.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • MoltisantiMoltisanti Frets: 1131
    Roland repaired a Boss dd20 I had years ago that was out of warranty, I was very impressed with them.

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