Boss KATANA Love?

Re: Boss KATANA Love?

I have had about five days with my 50. Working mostly in the brown trying to get the break points: clean; overdrive; distortion. Been easing my way through .5, 25 50W which is a very handy option to find the marks. It is plenty loud for what it is going to be used for on its own - no mic required. Clean sound (Brown with guitar volume down) pretty lifeless, nowhere close to my 6V6 amp, overdrive it gets a little closer and outright distortion is good. Heard about speaker breakin to get the thing to sound better so I'm going to swap in a Cannibals Rex I have and see how it wrks at .5 and 25W with a well used speaker. Bottom line it is a good amp with a ton of features I haven't even looked at.
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

EAProwlerB said:
Heard about speaker breakin to get the thing to sound better so I'm going to swap in a Cannibals Rex I have and see how it wrks at .5 and 25W with a well used speaker. Bottom line it is a good amp with a ton of features I haven't even looked at.
Click to expand...

Curious how the speaker swap turns out!

I'm still torn on whether I want a basic 50W or whether I want to grab a head for a few dollars more.

I wish they offered a matching 2x12 cab already. The "WAZA" is technically a match, but $1K for a 2x12? No way!
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

masta' c said:
Curious how the speaker swap turns out!

I'm still torn on whether I want a basic 50W or whether I want to grab a head for a few dollars more.

I wish they offered a matching 2x12 cab already. The "WAZA" is technically a match, but $1K for a 2x12? No way!
Click to expand...

The CRs sound much better! Clean tone has more depth, not as robust as my tube amp but I have to admit it is close enough that I have been using the Katana regularly even at home. Part of this is because the software interface provided is fun to experiment with.
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Ive heard that the 50s 12" magnet is smaller than other 12" speakers so replacing the speaker can be hard or impossible due to not fitting to tight spacing on the back. Does the Cannabis Rex fit okay in place of the KATANAS 50w stock speaker? I am close to pulling the trigger on one as long as I know it can fit!
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Guitarmaster3000 said:
I am close to pulling the trigger on one as long as I know it can fit!
Click to expand...
I've read a lot of threads regarding the Katana and majority of them said the 100w speaker doesn't need to be replaced, sounds better than the one in the 50w. The 100w model might be cheaper than the 50w + new speaker.
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

donaldr said:
I've read a lot of threads regarding the Katana and majority of them said the 100w speaker doesn't need to be replaced, sounds better than the one in the 50w. The 100w model might be cheaper than the 50w + new speaker.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I already bought the Katana 50w. The speaker is okay and sounding better the more it's broken in but could defiantley improve a lot with a well rounded speaker. Anyone have success in fitting a speaker in its place?
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Guitarmaster3000 said:
Unfortunately, I already bought the Katana 50w. The speaker is okay and sounding better the more it's broken in but could defiantley improve a lot with a well rounded speaker. Anyone have success in fitting a speaker in its place?
Click to expand...
Would you happen to know ohm rating on a katana 50 w speaker. I can't find that info anywhere

Sent from my SCV33 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

I saw these for the first time at the Tacoma Guitar Festival. Not my thing, but I was impressed with the demos I heard.

Bill
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

I wonder how these would compare to the new Fender Mustangs coming out....
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

donaldr said:
There will always things better, one after an other :-D
Click to expand...

So I caved and bought the Cannabis Rex and installed it in my 50w. Wow much smoother high end and brought down that spiky high mid jump. Gave a lot more bottom end and thickness too as it weighs probably twice as much as the stock speaker. Only thing is, is that the speaker BARELY fits in that small space. I'm sure the 100w wouldn't have any issues but man it's metal on metal back there. But it works perfect and sounds better than ever. Makes the clean sound fuller and smoothed out the brown sound. All around a great upgrade and can't wait to see how it brakes in. Made a quick little YouTube vid of it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9afD19Q6dz4
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Guitarmaster3000 said:
So I caved and bought the Cannabis Rex and installed it in my 50w. Wow much smoother high end and brought down that spiky high mid jump. Gave a lot more bottom end and thickness too as it weighs probably twice as much as the stock speaker. Only thing is, is that the speaker BARELY fits in that small space. I'm sure the 100w wouldn't have any issues but man it's metal on metal back there. But it works perfect and sounds better than ever. Makes the clean sound fuller and smoothed out the brown sound. All around a great upgrade and can't wait to see how it brakes in. Made a quick little YouTube vid of it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9afD19Q6dz4
Click to expand...
How does it sound in the acoustic setting?just wondering

Sent from my SCV33 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Just picked up a Katana 100w this weekend. Not at all what I was hearing from youtube videos.
I tried first with my Strat (single coils). 0.5w output. Clean and crunch channels. The sound was shrill, 2 dimensional and like a cheap solid state combo. A lot of highs even with presence control all the way down. Brown channel was not really better.
I then tried with my Les Paul, a bit better but still lifeless. My Roland Micro Cube in the Blackface setting is warmer and more inspiring to play.
Tried 50w and 100w setting: same sound just louder.
I don't think giving a breakdown period to the speaker will help that much either.
Was expecting a lot from this amp but I'm disappointed :-(
Other suggestions to 1) replace my Micro Cube as practice amp (1-2watts) and 2) small grap and go combo (15watts) for jamming with friends?
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

I'm certainly no pro player (REMEMBER THAT), but I've had great luck with my Katana 100 combo amp. I swapped out the stock speaker for a WGS Liberator 80. I know the WGS is only rated at 80 watts, but I've never had to play this amp at higher than the 50 watt setting as it's really loud. Even on the 50 watt setting I normally have the master volume at around 1/4-1/3 volume. I do have the GA-FC foot controller (hard to find) that I use with the amp and I've hooked it up to my computer to try dial in the settings for my effects and boost pedals.

Here's a few videos of me playing some different guitars through the amp using the built-in Tube Screamer and also using my Biyang X-drive (TS clone) to show it takes pedals well.

https://youtu.be/JO5o5DQiZTU

https://youtu.be/UUjFkZBPwK4

https://youtu.be/Ix4q27c5O1E
 
Last edited:
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

donaldr said:
Just picked up a Katana 100w this weekend. Not at all what I was hearing from youtube videos.
I tried first with my Strat (single coils). 0.5w output. Clean and crunch channels. The sound was shrill, 2 dimensional and like a cheap solid state combo. A lot of highs even with presence control all the way down. Brown channel was not really better.
I then tried with my Les Paul, a bit better but still lifeless. My Roland Micro Cube in the Blackface setting is warmer and more inspiring to play.
Tried 50w and 100w setting: same sound just louder.
I don't think giving a breakdown period to the speaker will help that much either.
Was expecting a lot from this amp but I'm disappointed :-(
Other suggestions to 1) replace my Micro Cube as practice amp (1-2watts) and 2) small grap and go combo (15watts) for jamming with friends?
Click to expand...

There are 2 things that will defiantly help with dialing in the clean channel especially. 1: run the channel volume down low and run the master volume up a bit. Noticeable dynamic difference that way and helped with that lifeless feel it can have. 2: keep it away from the .5 sweeping as the 50w will really help it breath. New speakers will also sound a bit sterile as they are tight and take some hours to unstiffen. Even with the better speaker I still prefer pedals in front of it clean rather than using any of the gain channels. Hope this helps!
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Thanks for the info, but I returned the Katana. I might try the Katana 50 instead of the Katana 100. My main goal was to replace my Roland Micro Cube using the 0.5w setting, and have a grab-and-go combo for little jams with friends when there's no PA for my Eleven Rack (that's why also I tried the Katana 100 as it has an effect loop to connect my 11R when no PA but result is only "usable").
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

Something to think about also is that there's hidden amp models in the amp that you can access via the computer.
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

T-Bone-BBQ said:
Something to think about also is that there's hidden amp models in the amp that you can access via the computer.
Click to expand...
Correct. You can pretty much tweak the channels themselves with the software.

Sent from my SCV33 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Boss KATANA Love?

donaldr said:
Thanks for the info, but I returned the Katana. I might try the Katana 50 instead of the Katana 100. My main goal was to replace my Roland Micro Cube using the 0.5w setting, and have a grab-and-go combo for little jams with friends when there's no PA for my Eleven Rack (that's why also I tried the Katana 100 as it has an effect loop to connect my 11R when no PA but result is only "usable").
Click to expand...

Thought about trying omen of then new mustang GTs? I have a GT40 and am really happy with it. Lots of great tones and tweakability.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Masta' C
Boss Katana First Impressions
Replies
1
Views
2K
Diego
Diego
P
Van Halen's Tone : breaking the sound barrier
Replies
9
Views
2K
Pat_rocks_and_rolls
P
JeffB
A long drawn out amp review-
Replies
7
Views
766
Yngwiestein
Yngwiestein
Back
Top