After trying and selling a yamaha thr10 +peavey bandit(both get rave reviews)im now on a boss katana 50...you know whats coming ..cant get good sound out of it ..im feel like giving up guitar because ive seen it said if you cant get a decent sound out if a peavey/yam thr10 nthen you are crap...well im crap and frustrated !!!guitars going through are vintage lemon drop ..classic vine tele ..gibson sg faded ..italia with wilko mini humbuckers..i swear to god if i got nrian mays /eddie van halens/foo fighters /stones rig and i pugged in it would sound shit ...i think/know ..ive got to practice more ...wake up call...anyone went through the same ? Hints tips ?
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Ive fired up my big expensive Valve set up and thought...... ahhhh that's crap.
How long you been playing? What tones are you trying to get?
Almost any amp amp can be made to sound decent if you have the patience to sit with it.
Given that hat a great number of experienced players on here rave about the Katana, I'd suggest spending a bit more time with it and try to hone in on what sound you are aiming for.
Had you managed to get a good sound out of a Yamaha THR10 you would be rightly hailed a genius....
Master volume on max. Adjust channel volume to suit location.
Then either engage crunch channel or leave on clean channel but add your preferred od from knob 1. Reverb on 10 O'clock ish depending on guitar / pickups. Tone locked in! I've done that on a 50, 100 combo, 100 head ...works every time. Yes there are other options but for a quick "something that sounds warm and fuzzy" that does the trick.
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Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youThe clean sound on these is actually really good.
It's the overdriven sounds they seem to struggle with, like every digital modeller I've played. Some have a few good settings, but mostly bad ones… some have only bad settings. Disclaimer - I haven't tried a Katana yet.
For the OP - what are you comparing your sounds to... what you hear on records? If so you may struggle more than you expect with an amp in a room. Try a multi-FX into a clean amp, or even into your hi-fi if you have a way if hooking it up. (Don't play to loud, the speakers may not like it.)
Or alternatively, if you're just trying to get a sound you really like in the room and aren't trying to compare it to anything, get a small - but not too small - *clean* valve amp, and some pedals. Although I like solid-state amps too, there is something indefinably 'natural' about a valve amp.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But not... something. Really difficult to put my finger on. To the point where on a recording I'm not sure I'd hear it. But in the room, it's clear, my valve amp just has something the Katana didn't, something that puts a smile on my face.
If you listen to many of the guitar greats (playing live) in isolation and at low volume they sound a bit pants. What makes them great is the excitement and intensity plus the 'soul/fingers/mojo' of the player.
Forget about tone for a moment and concentrate on making a single plucked/fretted note do it for you. Feel the touch (less is probably more) get some vibrato into it but start subtle and build as the note sustains. Any amp tone will do for now it's the player you want to bring through.
Play a favourite piece but with the intent to extract the maximum YOU from each note, play slowly with intent, repeat and bring it up to speed. After a while (days/weeks) you start to impart your musical soul into the notes and the amp tone is less important. Look for things like varying the pick angle, the length of the pick exposed, the hardness of the strike for different notes.
Listen to any world renown player with a cheap nasty amp and they still sound like themselves, you just have to find your sound and forget about speedy shredding for a while. It's not what you play so much as how you play it.
I definitely think you should give the Katana a little more time. I went for the 50 quite some time ago now, and absolutely love it. It obviously depends on what you are after and what your expectations are, but I found it very easy to get great sounds out of mine.
Ive also used mine in a full band situation, and it copes incredibly well.
How are you setting yours up?
Always more gain.
To be personally honest, big amps are better, they just are, and so is *some* volume. A mate lent me a little Vox modelling amp, it honestly has some good sounds in it at low volumes. Do I enjoy it? Fuck no. Not a knock on the amp, it does what it's supposed to very well. It's me. We get conditioned.
If it's still pants after that then simply you just need more practice, which is still no reason for quitting