I'm getting into it and making more patches soon - have done one already - get it free over on my site - much more stuff coming soon, including song and artist patches and more tutorials on using Tone Central! www.justinguitar.com/modules/boss-katana
+ Jeff I know but can you load the patches onto the amp and use them without being connected to the tone studio? I mean can you add these new presets to the amp after you download them or do the patches only work wen you have the usb connected?
Jeff. Ahhh that's the answer I was looking for. So I can have 4 presets loaded without the usb. I was looking at the mustang gt because of the ease of use. But people are raving about the katana. Thanks
Hi Justin, I belong to a Katana group that shares free patches amongst our 6k members. Would it be ok to share your patches? If that's not cool of course we'll completely understand.
I chuckled when you kept referring to this as a beginner amp. I'm 63, been playing guitar for 52 years. .. not exactly a beginner! I bought a Katana 50 two Januarys ago, and in terms of bang-for-buck, it's the best purchase [musical] I've ever made. The clean tone with various amounts of boost is my favorite setting. Good vid!
You posted my thoughts, Rob! I played professionally from 77 to 95 and one off gigs since then. Had Lab Series, JC120s, Twins, Marshall, Mesa, Laney, and Peaveys. I have a 2 x 12 Katana and it's easily one of, if not the best amp I've ever had. Been playing 56 years. Glad I now have a "beginner" amp! lol
A tip for those amps is to turn the master up all the way and use the other volume knob to control how loud it is. It gives the amp a more natural sound
There is a volume and a master .... You say to turn the master all the way up and use the volume to control the amp's volume? I have had this amp over a yr and haven't even tried to dive into the patchs or the software. Just been pluging straight into it and using the basic treb mid and bass controls. Need to learn about this amp I got mine used so no user manual....
You mentioned briefly near the beginning of the video you might consider doing lesson-type videos on how to set up presets. I, for one, would find that very helpful! Thank you by the way for the time you put in to your videos, they are always informative, very clear and easy to follow. The Rutbuster series with Lee from Andertons have been probably the single biggest factor in my progression in the past few months!
Same for me for the rutbuster series, it really got me into theory, which I had tried to start learning before but never succeded, so thank you very much Justin (and Lee of course)!
Hi Justin, I've decided to start playing guitar again (after a 10 year hiatus). I bought the Epiphone ES 339 Pro, and, thanks to your review, and the recommendation from the music store, I also bought the Boss Katana 50. I love it. Thanks again, and I've subscribed to your RUclips channel and following your lessons. All the best from Canada!!!
On gigs I use my 50 with the master all the way up and then control the volume using the channel volume. This gives the amp maximum depth and "valveyness" and also allows you to save your volume settings as well tones etc on each channel. Very useful...can't imagine ever going back to valve amps now Katana's excist ..👍😎
Just getting to this now. I knew the second I saw it it would be a well thought review with normal, real world playing rather than obsessing on "brown sound" the whole time. Thank you so much.
Justin, thanks for sharing your immense talents and valuable time with us. I’m in my mid 60’s, retired and learning to play. I have been watching and learning from you for several years now. A few years back in 2015, you did a Knopfler brothers in arms lesson (SB-342) -FANTASTIC BTW! The tone you achieved with a Shur badger 30 was the best I’ve heard for this song. If you could re-create with the KATANA and share it...it would be much appreciated sir. Vr, Mike
Thanks for the overview! The overhead camera was great for seeing your settings while you tested the amp. I bought this amp a couple of weeks ago and am getting aquainted with it. I got to say I'm very impressed with this amp and yes it's beyond just a practice amp! I've been playing and gigging for decades. My next gig is soon and I plan on using this amp on a regular bases.The tones and effects are great and the reverb is outstanding! I'm going to check out your video on the Tone Center overview next. Thanks again for your explanations demo
Started playing guitar with the Boss Katana 2 years ago and I still use it because with the amazing tone studio it has sooo much to explore. Can recommend that amp to every beginner, especially if you are into harder stuff.
The Katana 50 is not a practice amp...or just a "beginners" amp!! Easily giggable and sound great for recording too!! The valve is no longer nescessary...for great guitar tone...
No... not for great SOUND.... but good SS and Digital have been there for years. The difference with valves is not the SOUND, but the FEEL... the way the amp responds to your playing. The Katana is closer than most, which is why it's been well-received, but it still doesn't have the same feel as a tube amp. Some players can tell the difference between tube and non-tube when they play through an amp, VERY FEW will tell the difference when someone else is playing... and certainly audiences can't tell. For quite a few years in my band and in the studio, I used a Boss GT10, then GT100 and audiences and producers/engineers loved the sound. However, when I went back and dug out my tube amps and pedalboard, I was PLAYING BETTER because I could feel the amp responding to my playing. The question is, if you DO feel a difference with a tube amp, is it worth the extra weight, fragility and cost? If not, I'd rather run a modeling pedal direct than lug an amp around and not get the feel. YMMV.
I see this all the time when people compare valve to SS - feel. Aside from the metal community, guitarists are some of the biggest purists out there and are obsessed with re-creating the sound from the blues rock / rock era when the quality of the early amps weren't even close to the working order of today's amps. People talk about how guitarists like Hendrix or SRV had a "feel" for the instrument (which is usually tied to another argument that theory destroyed creativity) but either ignore or are ignorant of the fact that all those classic rock / blues people experimented with their gear like mad and weren't completely and irrevocably married to X sound. Hell, BB King used SS amps at the end of his career. Valve amps are great and all, but they're not perfect and the technology they're based on is decades old. Is there a difference? Sure, but it's not a difference in "feel" because people doing blind-tests with, say, a modeling amp like a Kemper have an incredibly hard time telling it apart from a valve amp - and they crank them to get that power amp "feel".
Aristotilus - If you read my comment carefully I don’t believe that I ever said valve amps were perfect, nor that just anyone can tell the difference. I CERTAINLY never said theory destroyed creativity, nor was I referring to classic players and their “feel” for the instrument or their choice of gear. I’m simply stating that driven tube amps have a way that they react to ones playing which is much harder to replicate than their actual sound. Can a Kemper do that?... who the hell knows as few working musicians can afford one! I can buy a couple of great classic tube amps for the price of a Kemper, so why would I bother with a replication when I can have the real thing? I’m sure if you threw enough money into the project, you could digitally replicate the Mona Lisa. (also, for the record, I've heard synthesizer players who've NAILED great guitar sounds... where do you draw the line?) None of that was the point. The point was, the original commenter stated that valves were no longer required for great “tone”, to which I agreed... and stated that’s been the case for a LONG time. Again, you’re reading WAY more into my comment than was there. My final points were that A: even if you CAN tell the difference, the weight and fragility (and COST) of a tube amp may not be worth it for you, and B: if all you care about is the “sound” and either are willing to forego that feel or can’t tell the difference, I think I’d find it much easier to use a good modelling pedal (which is MUCH more flexible than a SS or digital amp, even the Katana) and run it direct (like I did for years, and still do in some circumstances) than to lug around a Katana or any other amp. In fact, for around the same money, my GT-100 sounds as good (or better) than a Katana, and as good as my expensive pedalboard and tube amps. Also, not only does it have a WHOLE lot more flexibility than either, it's a hell of a lot easier to carry around than either, doesn't need a mic on a cabinet, keeps my sound guy happier, has way more storage for different sounds at the press of a footswitch, doesn't require any additional foot switches or cabling to practically gig with, etc. So, if I don't use my tube amp, I'll take a good floor board any day.
When I bought my first electric guitar the shop recommended this amp to me as well. I have been using it and I certainly don't regret my purchase. What a great amp for this price range! Exactly what I was looking for. And the cool thing is, you can plug this to your laptop and DAW of preference as well, perfect for recording! Thanks for the amazing review Justin!
I have my son's. He left it behind when he moved out, together with his Pacifica. When he's got a bigger place perhaps he'll want it back. Meantime I've been playing with it. Without having read the manual. Randomly pressing buttons last week I suddenly found I had a chorus. I LOVE a chorus. Now I'm reading the book and checking out vids like this one to see what's possible next time I go over the local the the monthly blues jam. I could do with being able to improv on blues though. More practice needed. My usual axe is an acoustic and I generally haven't been doing blues. Thanks for the vid. Sorry it's taken me five years to watch it.
Being a novice when it comes to effects, could you talk a little about using pedals in conjunction with the onboard effects? For example how to build the chain, what pairings work well and what to avoid etc. Thank you so much for everything you do, you’ve been and continue be an amazing source of knowledge and inspiration!
Thanks for this Justin! Bought one about 12 months ago and, as a "jamming" beginner have experimented with the settings without using the Tone Studio yet. The output is plenty to play over drums in a pub gig.
This is fantastic. I'm a newbie (10 months) and I've just purchased a Katana 50 as my first real amp, so the further 'exploration' videos will be really interesting..
Words cannot describe how fortunate you are to have this amp as your first amp. If I had access to this thing when I started playing, I literally could've saved $50,000 in gear. It's one of the best amps ever made.
I got the boss katana 50 amp last year for my birthday and it is a great little amp. I immediately went out and bought a brand new limited edition Stratocaster to use with it.
I’m a beginner taking lessons and I like your comment to play around with it for different sounds and have fun. It’s the best video I have seen on the amp 😎
I have a 65 PRRI and I am definitely getting one of these Boss Katana amps. Great selection of effects and Justin does a good job of helping me understand what the effects controls are all about. Thanks Justin.
Great amp, not only for beginners, it's a good workhorse of an amp. I bought the foot controller too and I've been using it for 6 months now doing all sorts of gigs, mic it up and it sounds amazing .... you just need to take the time and hook it up to a laptop and poke around a bit to create some presets and using the foot controller you ca unlock all 4 channels ... I basically use it as a 4 channel amp to be honest .... and it's absolutely amazing :) cheers great review btw :) have a good one justin P.S: if you wanna share setting, the editor has a tone print section you can access and upload them there
@@stevenolsen3162 the 50 only works with the Boss FS-6 2 button foot switch, it doesn't work wiht the 4 button one for some reason, and it doesn't really have what you'd call 4 traditional channels. It has bank A1, A2, B1 and B2, but without the foot switch you can't access them, only if you hook it up to a laptop and use the editor to switch but in a live situation that is not ideal because using the editor to switch channel has a bit of lag. So using the simple Boss FS-6 is the better solution even though it requires a bit of tap dancing hehe because to access bank/channel A2 you need to step 2 times on the A button for example, but in any case it has no lag and it does the job, it's durable well crafted foot switch, and as all things Boss it will last a long time. Hope this helps :) if you have any more questions i'm happy to share my experience :) have a nice day :)
Your videos are excellent and so much appreciated. I just purchased this amp and am wading through the effects, master/gain/volume combinations, etc.... a video on how to configure the amp to mimic other amp types would be excellent.
Yup...I just made a huge mistake. Something posessed me to buy Id core instead of this one, and now after watching this I think i have to sell the core and buy Katana. :( The obvious next lesson should be about connecting the amp to a PC ( showing how it's done, because sometimes it can prove to be a little bit more complicated than you thought) and show how to use the software. I've played guitar for about 36 years now, but as you know it's sometimes tough to find time...I mostly play at home hence the small combo amp. I really enjoy your videos and the clear and precise way you teach; there's always a clear structure in your lessons. Greetings from not so warm Finland, and be well mate!
I've got the Boss Katana 50 at home Justin and it's the best amp I've found for the money. Even smallish 15 watt tube amps at home are overkill and barely get to the point of breakup before they're too loud for the neighbours. The attenuator is usable too. 25w for practice and then switch it to 50w for jamming with friends. Great video Justin from sunny Brisbane! Love your lessons with Lee Anderton also.
Justin, As to an answer for buying the guitar that is right for someone. I was once told that, "First guitars tend to be like first loves; Ill chosen, unsuitable, short lived and unforgettable. I had to throw that out there... Have a great day! John
Before you get too far along, check the Rob Chapman and Rabea Massad Katana 50 videos (if you haven't already. There's a lot of good info and takeoff points.
i dont like to stoop to name calling but when someone tries to censor someone like Rob did just to protect his profits from the internet is a punk move period.
So you have presets... (!!) I totally saved this video. You're a really cool down to earth musician who happens to be really good, so that's a great thing in itself. Throw in presets, and that's the payoff. In my experiences as a Kat 100W owner, anything the amp isn't capturing is all about user error. It has so many tone options. Boss created something amazing here.
love my 50 ! played live tonight next to a rivera , I had blues driver in it people complemented me on my tone all night !!! I bought 100 first but realized I didnt need it kept the 50 with my pedals
Purshased mine 4 months ago. Love it! Very wonderful review.... Fun discovery with an audience. You simply can't go wrong with this amp it fits any guitar style.
Great review! Love my Katana 50. I’m very much of a beginner and it works perfect for me. The only tip I would have on this video is, there should be a card in the box that you lay on top of the amp. It would tell you at a glance what each of the effects does for the various buttons across the top. I’m definitely interested in the presets you come up with. Going to have to make sure I’m signed up on your website.
I got one of those cards with mine bought from Andertons, but it doesn't go into the effects; there are too many options to list them all on on a card.... there are too many to have them all on one screen in the Tone Studio app, too, 50 Boss pedals all together, apparently. You can access three optionas at a time on the amp itself, and assign the effect to that setting in the Tone Studio from the much larger list. It doesn't take too long to get the hang of.
I agree, there are tons of effects. I just meant the card lays out the initial effects out of the box. Playing with all the options in the Tone Studio is fun. It’s amazing how much they built into this amp.
I initially bought the 50 then discovered there wasn’t an effects in/out so I immediately returned it and bought the 100. Best decision I made . It’s just the best amp.
Just found out about the sample couple days ago, and even though I play full-time for a living and use two bands, I’m surprised at how good this amp sounds when I’ve seen people use it on RUclips. This is the best review and demo I’ve seen for this amp, though. They seem like a good guy, I’ll subscribe! 😉
Hi Justin, Back again and still watching you demo this magnificent Boss Katana 50Mk11 AMP. I am retired and have been learning guitar for a few years and have a few guitars and acoustics as well and I have been following you for about 5+ years and have purchased a few of your courses. This demo has opened my ears so much on the various ways of setting up the Tones and effects. I find that this AMP has enough Tones and settings on it to not have to plug in my Boss ME 80 Effects Board which I have been using on my other AMPs, less gear to carte around. I will however use the clean to plug in my Digitech Trio Plus Band creator to add the Drums and Bass. But this AMP is very capable to takes to small events for sure. I love the simple way that you explain this AMP and your input has certainly helped me to get the sounds I want. Cheers and take Care from Downunder in Oz
I really appreciate you putting together this video of the KATANA. I purchased the KATANA 100 playing it while watching you and decided today to upgrade to the 100 artist the ARTIST sounds amazing plus a big decider was control's up front. Thank you again Terry
I use my 50 for band rehearsals and asa gig back up. It's pretty damn pokey! The crunch on it is great too! Perfect on the 0.5 setting for my flat too. I think Boss nailed these amps. Won't kill off my old DSL401 but it certainly holds it's own.
nice! as a beginner my self, I bought this amp and i think it will fulfil my needs for many years to come, especially with the effects and EQing it has... and it's speaker sounds huge! it would be great if you make the video on "how to get the sound you're after" out of it , while explaining what each thing you mess with does (essentially teaching us beginners how to use an amp)...
Hey I just posted this in another comment but Dave Simpson did a video kind of on this you might find interesting ruclips.net/video/ILAdY9sJvv8/видео.html
This sounds really great ! I play on a Marshall 8240 Valvestate S80 and love it - but the tone colors on this Katana are 'impressive' ! Thanks for this very pleasant vid. Cheers, Fil
I was up in the air on buying this amp or a Marshall Core 50. Typically I’m a Marshall guy, but this amp is amazing! In the end I chose the Katana 50 over the Marshall!!
Thank you Justin, What makes the Katana definitely worthwhile are the expansions that you can configure online. I myself have the Katana 100. This one has more possibilities. With the help of a USB connection, Boss software and a good online connection, you have a huge range of possibilities. Also to save for yourself for anytime use. I consciously chose the 100 over the 50 version, the 50 is somewhat limited in a couple of options. (For example in use with pedals en external FX-loop) Important to know is that the acoustic selector option is really a separate unit and not a modulated digital acoustic sound. Unique. In short, a lot of options. If you feel like it, you still have some videos to go.😁 Good luck and keep going. Cheers
@@O0onboardRacing Here's a comparison link from Sweetwater for the 1x12" 50w and 100w versions. www.sweetwater.com/store/compare.php?items=%28Kata50,Kata100%29
Nice review, Justin, much appreciated. Also, I think you could make a great lesson out of the bluesy improv when the overhead camera went out: transcribe it and then give a breakdown of what's going on throughout it in technical / theory terms.
Perfect timing Justin! My new Katana II 50 is still in the carton a mere 15' from my computer. I had heard great things about this amp and just went for it and now having heard your video I'm really glad I did. I'm one of those older guys who has attempted to play the guitar on and off over the years. A bit intimidated with the new amp but your video was a perfect first pass for me. Did your online instruction some time ago, even purchased the Beginner Songbook. Count me in for more of your experimentation/instruction on the Katana. Blues improv was amazing!
I love my Boss Katana 50. It sounds good with my guitars and my basses. Best amp for the money. Download the Boss software and hook it up to a computer and you have access to the sounds of nearly every Boss pedal ever made.
Christian Alexander - I play a six string bass with light gauge strings tuned E A D G C F, so it’s more like a guitar an octave lower, and I do a lot of two hand taping.
Great review, many thanks. What I would love to see is a tutorial on how to dial in popular sounds. Nothing fancy, just some classic rock or blues tones. Some howto guides on where to start, than adding parameters and fx.
I just bought a 50 and this video, as old as it is, has me very excited. Now, all I need to do is relearn guitar after a 20 year hiatus! My fingers are killing me.
So camera stops so decided to break out in a blues sesh... Love it.. Maybe do a tutorial on that blues jam 👌👌 I bought the katana 50 today and my god a great amp.. I play just at home and had the Roland cube g10x amp.. And this katana 50 kicks it's ass all day long massive upgrade for me.. Great stuff as always Justin.. Brilliant review 🤙🤙🤙
Really enjoyed hearing your take on this amp. I have the Katana 100 - sooo loud! I'm looking forward to any follow ups you do on getting the best sounds out of it.
btw Justin, the channel 1/2/panel is for presets you can use. Press channel 1/2, make adjustments to get a tone you like and it will save those settings. Panel just means it plays how it's currently set up.
I kind of like to ride the master up higher, then adjust the volume to suit me needs. This has been a solid little amp the 6 months or so that I've been playing through it.
Thanks Justin for Out of the Box demo. I have purchased this AMP BOSS Katana 50 MK 11 and I find it really good and with your help with the unboxing really gives it a good workout. It would be good for you to demo gear as it helps us all. Take Care from Downunder
Great vid Justin These amps work great with an FS-6 pedal. Might be worth checking it out, My suggestions for future vids would be to do an extreme variation like Metallica & Santana settings
your videos have helped me a lot to understands about EQ or settings for the katana amp thanks. I hope to keep learning, Love your channel very useful tips.
Hi Justin, thanks for the great demo of the Boss Katana 50, I have just purchased the same AMP but the MK11 in Sydney July 2023. The Dash Board slightly updated. Something I would like from you is maybe a selection of Pop Songs using different settings on the Katana 50 such songs as Buddy Holly Its So Easy, etc, Chuck Berry, Blues BB King, Up The Road Apiece etc.. also it would be a good idea to show on your screen for these tutorials a link to where we can donate as you do a really good demo of this AMP which was easier to follow than reading the User manual. I also think if you started to demo Gear like new Guitars, AMPs Effect pedals etc guitarists could use your demo as a reference to purchase the brand.
Justin: I have this exact amp, I love the TONE. I can get any TONE i want out of it. It has TONS of GAIN ( I love hi-gain). Sounds sweet w/my 56 CS Relic Mary Kaye, Sounds killer for Rock/Metal w/ my Charvel San Dimas (JB & 59). + all the FX.Cannot beat this little amp. I enjoyed your Vid. Cheers-ADR
Would really like to learn how you go about setting up an amp to sound like various guitarists. This video is great, just got a new amp myself and this gave me a lot of ideas, thank you :)
dave Simpson has a video Boss Katana 50 is it as good as they say, check out that video. H e also has videos on how to get the tones from different guitar players on his channel. I watched a video on his channel on how to get the Beano tone, Tony Iommi, He does it on an Orange 120. I hope this helps.
I had the boss katana 50 for about 4 months and I love it. But feel like you figured out the amp in your 30min video than me in that time. But keep up the vids, love to hear some tone patches
I have been looking at moving up to a tube amp , but my Boss Katana 50 has closed the gap between the two removing the need to go tube , and it doesn’t cost a fortune .
There is an option that you can fully customize the effects on this amp if you connect it to your pc. And you can change the effects with other Boss pedals.
The Katana 50 is great, it’s not just a ‘beginners amp’.....it’s totally gigable.....the audio here seems to have some phase issues, not representative of the normal dry amp sound...that said, always enjoy your content Justin.
Been using my amp for months and didn't realize I was using the effects knobs all wrong. Didn't know turning them halfway would be a secondary effect. Never even touched the buttons above the knobs. Maybe I should have read the instructions ;) Thanks my dude.
So true...many old school valve designs were also actually terrible.!!! I know...I've owned most over the years. In my experience a guitar needs to not only sound right for the player, but also sound good on the stage and out into the room. It also needs to "feel" good to play through...the Katana's tick all of these box's. The designers need a medal. They must have amazing ear's!!
I just got a boss katana 50 too.. And since I'm a beginner into learning to play guitar...and learning how to use a guitar amp. I'm trilled to hear you will be making more videos about how to dial in good tones on the amp. 👍😁
Awesome demo and really solidifying what I've seen elsewhere about the Katana amps. One thing that I would like to see is a comparison between the stompbox models on the amp and the actual pedals. For example, the Katana Blues Driver (I assume that's available) vs the actual Boss Blues Driver pedal. I mean, the amp alone is a steal, but if you are essentially getting a board full of Boss quality effects with it, that's just crazy!
I have the 2x12 Katana and it is a beast, more than enough amp for anyone, to the point where I don't really need anything else. The problem is, as digital, solid state amps and digital technology gets better, then people realise that the resale value on their old expensive valve amps will decline drastically, as no one will want buy them, so they come out against this great new technology, simply out of a self serving contempt, not for any real or practical reasons.
Lol, do you honestly believe that's why people dislike the Katana? Because it (supposedly) lowers the resale value of their Marshall JTM45? That's the answer you're going to stick with? The Katana is OK, but take away the bells and whistles (the effects, etc.) and it isn't any better than SS amps were thirty or forty years ago. My main problem with it is that it's a throwaway. It has a very short warranty, and after the warranty expires you'll have to pay somebody $80/hr to work on it. In other words, if something goes wrong you chuck it in the dumpster.
@@profd65 I don't think you're being honest that you heard SS amps that old being just as good. My 15 year old Fender DSP solid-state amp is hot garbage and the Katana sounds 100000x (not even exaggerating) better.
@@SynZ777 Are you fucking serious? Ever heard of the JC 120? (it appeared on about ten billion records) The Pignose 7-100? (click on the link) The Sunn Beta Lead? (heard of the Melvins?) ruclips.net/video/_q0nImsfMvE/видео.html
very good "discovery/review" video. I love my 100w Katana head. Now it is time to get into the software and plate with all 55 pedals :). Videos exist of the 100w head running neck and neck to sound and power to a 100W Marshall. Love your videos and enjoy them tremendously. Thank you for all the hard work i know you put into them.
I've bought my Katana 50 as a replacement for a Blackstar ID:Core Stereo 10 (V1) a year ago. As a beginner I'm quite happy with it clean and distorted as well :) Nice to have the USB-recording option and the 12" speaker definitely sounds much better to me than two 3" speakers of ID:Core.
Would be interesting to see a review of the Boss Katana Mini and/or the new Katana Air! Enjoyed this review, the Katana 50 or Air will likely be my next
This seems so much more user friendly than the $500+ dollars I spent on a Boss GT -8 guitar effects processor (which I bought back in 2006 and still have) which I ran through a $250 Peavey 40 watt envoy (which I had from 1999-2013) just to get that "sound". Now that I am trying to get back to playing, time to see if I can get any money off of the GT-8 (which I have barely used live) and use it toward buying a Boss Katana 50. :D. The days of dreaming of owning a heavy tube amp are over. The tech for guitar amplification/ effects is a lot better now than even 10 years ago.
I'm getting into it and making more patches soon - have done one already - get it free over on my site - much more stuff coming soon, including song and artist patches and more tutorials on using Tone Central!
www.justinguitar.com/modules/boss-katana
im confused Justin. Can the patches be downloaded directly to the amp?
+ Jeff I know but can you load the patches onto the amp and use them without being connected to the tone studio? I mean can you add these new presets to the amp after you download them or do the patches only work wen you have the usb connected?
Jeff. Ahhh that's the answer I was looking for. So I can have 4 presets loaded without the usb. I was looking at the mustang gt because of the ease of use. But people are raving about the katana. Thanks
Jeff. the ones on the panel are crunch,brown,etc? Thanks. I think you've convinced me to get the katana instead of the fender mustand
Hi Justin, I belong to a Katana group that shares free patches amongst our 6k members. Would it be ok to share your patches? If that's not cool of course we'll completely understand.
I chuckled when you kept referring to this as a beginner amp. I'm 63, been playing guitar for 52 years. .. not exactly a beginner! I bought a Katana 50 two Januarys ago, and in terms of bang-for-buck, it's the best purchase [musical] I've ever made. The clean tone with various amounts of boost is my favorite setting. Good vid!
You posted my thoughts, Rob! I played professionally from 77 to 95 and one off gigs since then. Had Lab Series, JC120s, Twins, Marshall, Mesa, Laney, and Peaveys. I have a 2 x 12 Katana and it's easily one of, if not the best amp I've ever had. Been playing 56 years. Glad I now have a "beginner" amp! lol
I agree that the Katana is an amazing amp. I think Justin is defining beginner amps with tubeless amps.
For cleans this amp is phenomenal. Not a big fan of the distorted sounds.
A tip for those amps is to turn the master up all the way and use the other volume knob to control how loud it is. It gives the amp a more natural sound
Oh thanks for this, ive been using it for ages and this makes some difference to my tone seriously good advice.
There is a volume and a master .... You say to turn the master all the way up and use the volume to control the amp's volume? I have had this amp over a yr and haven't even tried to dive into the patchs or the software. Just been pluging straight into it and using the basic treb mid and bass controls. Need to learn about this amp I got mine used so no user manual....
@@richardbrsdley8375 How are you doing with it now.
You mentioned briefly near the beginning of the video you might consider doing lesson-type videos on how to set up presets. I, for one, would find that very helpful!
Thank you by the way for the time you put in to your videos, they are always informative, very clear and easy to follow. The Rutbuster series with Lee from Andertons have been probably the single biggest factor in my progression in the past few months!
Glad you dig the rutbusters and yes I'll be trying to get into doing some preset vids and stuff soon!
Same for me for the rutbuster series, it really got me into theory, which I had tried to start learning before but never succeded, so thank you very much Justin (and Lee of course)!
Check out Rebea's video about it ! (don't remember how his name is spelt, but you must know him)
Adi Roxar Love the Rutbuster series!!!
Hi Justin, I've decided to start playing guitar again (after a 10 year hiatus). I bought the Epiphone ES 339 Pro, and, thanks to your review, and the recommendation from the music store, I also bought the Boss Katana 50. I love it. Thanks again, and I've subscribed to your RUclips channel and following your lessons. All the best from Canada!!!
Justin, that blues improv solo... awesome. I wish I had just a quarter of your talent.
On gigs I use my 50 with the master all the way up and then control the volume using the channel volume. This gives the amp maximum depth and "valveyness" and also allows you to save your volume settings as well tones etc on each channel. Very useful...can't imagine ever going back to valve amps now Katana's excist ..👍😎
When Justin says it’s good, I know it’s good. Bought this amp two weeks ago, and I absolutely love it.
Found a mark2 of this amp at a pawn shop for less than two hundred, I'm thinking I'm gonna get it
Not just a beginner amp. Great little amp with cool tones and lots of settings.
Just getting to this now. I knew the second I saw it it would be a well thought review with normal, real world playing rather than obsessing on "brown sound" the whole time. Thank you so much.
Wish id had this amp when I was 19 back in 1980
I really like your profile picture, it's so cute :3
Same here, I was frustrated to say the least and spent a fortune
@Jay Bee Amplifiers that were not suitable, like my first guitar amp HH 100 top which wasn't a practice amplifier at all lol.
Crunch, back the gain off to about 9 o'clock, add a bit of blues driver, delay and reverb to taste.
That gives a nice rock tone.
Justin, thanks for sharing your immense talents and valuable time with us. I’m in my mid 60’s, retired and learning to play. I have been watching and learning from you for several years now. A few years back in 2015, you did a Knopfler brothers in arms lesson (SB-342) -FANTASTIC BTW! The tone you achieved with a Shur badger 30 was the best I’ve heard for this song. If you could re-create with the KATANA and share it...it would be much appreciated sir. Vr, Mike
Thanks for the overview! The overhead camera was great for seeing your settings while you tested the amp. I bought this amp a couple of weeks ago and am getting aquainted with it. I got to say I'm very impressed with this amp and yes it's beyond just a practice amp! I've been playing and gigging for decades. My next gig is soon and I plan on using this amp on a regular bases.The tones and effects are great and the reverb is outstanding! I'm going to check out your video on the Tone Center overview next. Thanks again for your explanations demo
Started playing guitar with the Boss Katana 2 years ago and I still use it because with the amazing tone studio it has sooo much to explore. Can recommend that amp to every beginner, especially if you are into harder stuff.
The Katana 50 is not a practice amp...or just a "beginners" amp!! Easily giggable and sound great for recording too!! The valve is no longer nescessary...for great guitar tone...
No... not for great SOUND.... but good SS and Digital have been there for years. The difference with valves is not the SOUND, but the FEEL... the way the amp responds to your playing. The Katana is closer than most, which is why it's been well-received, but it still doesn't have the same feel as a tube amp. Some players can tell the difference between tube and non-tube when they play through an amp, VERY FEW will tell the difference when someone else is playing... and certainly audiences can't tell. For quite a few years in my band and in the studio, I used a Boss GT10, then GT100 and audiences and producers/engineers loved the sound. However, when I went back and dug out my tube amps and pedalboard, I was PLAYING BETTER because I could feel the amp responding to my playing. The question is, if you DO feel a difference with a tube amp, is it worth the extra weight, fragility and cost? If not, I'd rather run a modeling pedal direct than lug an amp around and not get the feel. YMMV.
I use mine when I play wembley stadium.
I see this all the time when people compare valve to SS - feel. Aside from the metal community, guitarists are some of the biggest purists out there and are obsessed with re-creating the sound from the blues rock / rock era when the quality of the early amps weren't even close to the working order of today's amps. People talk about how guitarists like Hendrix or SRV had a "feel" for the instrument (which is usually tied to another argument that theory destroyed creativity) but either ignore or are ignorant of the fact that all those classic rock / blues people experimented with their gear like mad and weren't completely and irrevocably married to X sound. Hell, BB King used SS amps at the end of his career.
Valve amps are great and all, but they're not perfect and the technology they're based on is decades old. Is there a difference? Sure, but it's not a difference in "feel" because people doing blind-tests with, say, a modeling amp like a Kemper have an incredibly hard time telling it apart from a valve amp - and they crank them to get that power amp "feel".
Aristotilus - If you read my comment carefully I don’t believe that I ever said valve amps were perfect, nor that just anyone can tell the difference. I CERTAINLY never said theory destroyed creativity, nor was I referring to classic players and their “feel” for the instrument or their choice of gear. I’m simply stating that driven tube amps have a way that they react to ones playing which is much harder to replicate than their actual sound. Can a Kemper do that?... who the hell knows as few working musicians can afford one! I can buy a couple of great classic tube amps for the price of a Kemper, so why would I bother with a replication when I can have the real thing? I’m sure if you threw enough money into the project, you could digitally replicate the Mona Lisa. (also, for the record, I've heard synthesizer players who've NAILED great guitar sounds... where do you draw the line?) None of that was the point. The point was, the original commenter stated that valves were no longer required for great “tone”, to which I agreed... and stated that’s been the case for a LONG time. Again, you’re reading WAY more into my comment than was there. My final points were that A: even if you CAN tell the difference, the weight and fragility (and COST) of a tube amp may not be worth it for you, and B: if all you care about is the “sound” and either are willing to forego that feel or can’t tell the difference, I think I’d find it much easier to use a good modelling pedal (which is MUCH more flexible than a SS or digital amp, even the Katana) and run it direct (like I did for years, and still do in some circumstances) than to lug around a Katana or any other amp. In fact, for around the same money, my GT-100 sounds as good (or better) than a Katana, and as good as my expensive pedalboard and tube amps. Also, not only does it have a WHOLE lot more flexibility than either, it's a hell of a lot easier to carry around than either, doesn't need a mic on a cabinet, keeps my sound guy happier, has way more storage for different sounds at the press of a footswitch, doesn't require any additional foot switches or cabling to practically gig with, etc. So, if I don't use my tube amp, I'll take a good floor board any day.
I apologize, you're right. I took out on you a frustration and it wasn't faire of me.
Happy that I bought this amp couple of months ago.
I got a warm recommendation from the salesperson.
Good value for money.
When I bought my first electric guitar the shop recommended this amp to me as well. I have been using it and I certainly don't regret my purchase. What a great amp for this price range! Exactly what I was looking for. And the cool thing is, you can plug this to your laptop and DAW of preference as well, perfect for recording! Thanks for the amazing review Justin!
Love these type of Katana demonstrations.
The knobs. The settings. The sounds ! Guy’s good.
Very AC/DC by the way ❤️
I have my son's. He left it behind when he moved out, together with his Pacifica. When he's got a bigger place perhaps he'll want it back. Meantime I've been playing with it. Without having read the manual. Randomly pressing buttons last week I suddenly found I had a chorus. I LOVE a chorus. Now I'm reading the book and checking out vids like this one to see what's possible next time I go over the local the the monthly blues jam. I could do with being able to improv on blues though. More practice needed. My usual axe is an acoustic and I generally haven't been doing blues. Thanks for the vid. Sorry it's taken me five years to watch it.
Being a novice when it comes to effects, could you talk a little about using pedals in conjunction with the onboard effects? For example how to build the chain, what pairings work well and what to avoid etc. Thank you so much for everything you do, you’ve been and continue be an amazing source of knowledge and inspiration!
Thanks for this Justin! Bought one about 12 months ago and, as a "jamming" beginner have experimented with the settings without using the Tone Studio yet. The output is plenty to play over drums in a pub gig.
This is fantastic.
I'm a newbie (10 months) and I've just purchased a Katana 50 as my first real amp, so the further 'exploration' videos will be really interesting..
Enjoy, I would have enjoyed this amp a lot more than the Spider IV I had when I started out lol.
Me too
the HD500x through a valve amp using the 4 cable method is unbelievably good
Words cannot describe how fortunate you are to have this amp as your first amp. If I had access to this thing when I started playing, I literally could've saved $50,000 in gear. It's one of the best amps ever made.
Please please release more videos on this. I'm a beginner and this is the amp I bought. I absolutely love it and we need more videos on how to use it.
I got the boss katana 50 amp last year for my birthday and it is a great little amp. I immediately went out and bought a brand new limited edition Stratocaster to use with it.
I’m a beginner taking lessons and I like your comment to play around with it for different sounds and have fun. It’s the best video I have seen on the amp 😎
I have a 65 PRRI and I am definitely getting one of these Boss Katana amps. Great selection of effects and Justin does a good job of helping me understand what the effects controls are all about. Thanks Justin.
11:25 holy shit, I had no idea Justin was such a fantastic lead player. That was amazing
Justin, I'm so glad you get getting all the subscribers that you deserve fot such awesome and informative tutorials!!
Great amp, not only for beginners, it's a good workhorse of an amp. I bought the foot controller too and I've been using it for 6 months now doing all sorts of gigs, mic it up and it sounds amazing .... you just need to take the time and hook it up to a laptop and poke around a bit to create some presets and using the foot controller you ca unlock all 4 channels ... I basically use it as a 4 channel amp to be honest .... and it's absolutely amazing :) cheers great review btw :) have a good one justin
P.S: if you wanna share setting, the editor has a tone print section you can access and upload them there
You have the 100?
@@stevenolsen3162 no, i have the 50, why?
I just saw the 'unlock' sentence. Can you access all four channels in a live setting?
It works with the 5 button foot
switch?
@@stevenolsen3162 the 50 only works with the Boss FS-6 2 button foot switch, it doesn't work wiht the 4 button one for some reason, and it doesn't really have what you'd call 4 traditional channels. It has bank A1, A2, B1 and B2, but without the foot switch you can't access them, only if you hook it up to a laptop and use the editor to switch but in a live situation that is not ideal because using the editor to switch channel has a bit of lag. So using the simple Boss FS-6 is the better solution even though it requires a bit of tap dancing hehe because to access bank/channel A2 you need to step 2 times on the A button for example, but in any case it has no lag and it does the job, it's durable well crafted foot switch, and as all things Boss it will last a long time. Hope this helps :) if you have any more questions i'm happy to share my experience :) have a nice day :)
Your videos are excellent and so much appreciated. I just purchased this amp and am wading through the effects, master/gain/volume combinations, etc.... a video on how to configure the amp to mimic other amp types would be excellent.
Yup...I just made a huge mistake. Something posessed me to buy Id core instead of this one, and now after watching this I think i have to sell the core and buy Katana. :(
The obvious next lesson should be about connecting the amp to a PC ( showing how it's done, because sometimes it can prove to be a little bit more complicated than you thought) and show how to use the software.
I've played guitar for about 36 years now, but as you know it's sometimes tough to find time...I mostly play at home hence the small combo amp. I really enjoy your videos and the clear and precise way you teach; there's always a clear structure in your lessons.
Greetings from not so warm Finland, and be well mate!
I'm a blackstar fan myself. Love my HT1R. But no contest between the ID and the Katanas my friend. Sell it and get a Katana. You'll be pleased.
I've got the Boss Katana 50 at home Justin and it's the best amp I've found for the money. Even smallish 15 watt tube amps at home are overkill and barely get to the point of breakup before they're too loud for the neighbours. The attenuator is usable too. 25w for practice and then switch it to 50w for jamming with friends. Great video Justin from sunny Brisbane! Love your lessons with Lee Anderton also.
The Blackstar HT1R combo is only 1 watt all valve/tube and works great with pedals.
Definitely the best introduction to the Katana video I have seem, great job.
From 28:40 the blues improv was sounding very Robben Fordish, which I absolutely dig. Very nice job, man. Thank you go that.
Justin,
As to an answer for buying the guitar that is right for someone. I was once told that, "First guitars tend to be like first loves; Ill chosen, unsuitable, short lived and unforgettable.
I had to throw that out there... Have a great day! John
Before you get too far along, check the Rob Chapman and Rabea Massad Katana 50 videos (if you haven't already. There's a lot of good info and takeoff points.
William Campbell rob chapman is a punk
i dont like to stoop to name calling but when someone tries to censor someone like Rob did just to protect his profits from the internet is a punk move period.
So you have presets... (!!) I totally saved this video. You're a really cool down to earth musician who happens to be really good, so that's a great thing in itself. Throw in presets, and that's the payoff.
In my experiences as a Kat 100W owner, anything the amp isn't capturing is all about user error. It has so many tone options. Boss created something amazing here.
love my 50 ! played live tonight next to a rivera , I had blues driver in it people complemented me on my tone all night !!! I bought 100 first but realized I didnt need it kept the 50 with my pedals
Hi, you have tips how to setup with analog drives and digital modulations reverb n felay pedals too.?U
Thanks
Purshased mine 4 months ago. Love it! Very wonderful review.... Fun discovery with an audience. You simply can't go wrong with this amp it fits any guitar style.
One of the best reviews I've ever seen, great job!
Great review! Love my Katana 50. I’m very much of a beginner and it works perfect for me. The only tip I would have on this video is, there should be a card in the box that you lay on top of the amp. It would tell you at a glance what each of the effects does for the various buttons across the top.
I’m definitely interested in the presets you come up with. Going to have to make sure I’m signed up on your website.
I got one of those cards with mine bought from Andertons, but it doesn't go into the effects; there are too many options to list them all on on a card.... there are too many to have them all on one screen in the Tone Studio app, too, 50 Boss pedals all together, apparently. You can access three optionas at a time on the amp itself, and assign the effect to that setting in the Tone Studio from the much larger list. It doesn't take too long to get the hang of.
I agree, there are tons of effects. I just meant the card lays out the initial effects out of the box.
Playing with all the options in the Tone Studio is fun. It’s amazing how much they built into this amp.
I took a picture of what each effect is from the manual. Extremely helpful.
I initially bought the 50 then discovered there wasn’t an effects in/out so I immediately returned it and bought the 100. Best decision I made . It’s just the best amp.
One of the best amp review ever made me a subscriber hope in the future you keep it up with other gear reviews
Just found out about the sample couple days ago, and even though I play full-time for a living and use two bands, I’m surprised at how good this amp sounds when I’ve seen people use it on RUclips. This is the best review and demo I’ve seen for this amp, though. They seem like a good guy, I’ll subscribe! 😉
Hi Justin, Back again and still watching you demo this magnificent Boss Katana 50Mk11 AMP. I am retired and have been learning guitar for a few years and have a few guitars and acoustics as well and I have been following you for about 5+ years and have purchased a few of your courses. This demo has opened my ears so much on the various ways of setting up the Tones and effects. I find that this AMP has enough Tones and settings on it to not have to plug in my Boss ME 80 Effects Board which I have been using on my other AMPs, less gear to carte around. I will however use the clean to plug in my Digitech Trio Plus Band creator to add the Drums and Bass. But this AMP is very capable to takes to small events for sure. I love the simple way that you explain this AMP and your input has certainly helped me to get the sounds I want. Cheers and take Care from Downunder in Oz
I really appreciate you putting together this video of the KATANA. I purchased the KATANA 100 playing it while watching you and decided today to upgrade to the 100 artist the ARTIST sounds amazing plus a big decider was control's up front. Thank you again
Terry
quite clever the way they did the "effects" selections.
I use my 50 for band rehearsals and asa gig back up. It's pretty damn pokey! The crunch on it is great too! Perfect on the 0.5 setting for my flat too. I think Boss nailed these amps. Won't kill off my old DSL401 but it certainly holds it's own.
nice! as a beginner my self, I bought this amp and i think it will fulfil my needs for many years to come, especially with the effects and EQing it has... and it's speaker sounds huge!
it would be great if you make the video on "how to get the sound you're after" out of it , while explaining what each thing you mess with does (essentially teaching us beginners how to use an amp)...
Hey I just posted this in another comment but Dave Simpson did a video kind of on this you might find interesting
ruclips.net/video/ILAdY9sJvv8/видео.html
Thanks! I'll check it out! Might save me a lot of time...
This sounds really great ! I play on a Marshall 8240 Valvestate S80 and love it - but the tone colors on this Katana are 'impressive' ! Thanks for this very pleasant vid. Cheers, Fil
Would love some more coverage of the amp, just bought the 100w last week and so far I'm really liking the sounds I get
I have the 100w head too im yet to get it of the 0.5w setting its plenty loud enough for home use into a 4x12 marshall cab.
I was up in the air on buying this amp or a Marshall Core 50. Typically I’m a Marshall guy, but this amp is amazing! In the end I chose the Katana 50 over the Marshall!!
Thank you Justin,
What makes the Katana definitely worthwhile are the expansions that you can configure online. I myself have the Katana 100. This one has more possibilities. With the help of a USB connection, Boss software and a good online connection, you have a huge range of possibilities. Also to save for yourself for anytime use.
I consciously chose the 100 over the 50 version, the 50 is somewhat limited in a couple of options. (For example in use with pedals en external FX-loop)
Important to know is that the acoustic selector option is really a separate unit and not a modulated digital acoustic sound. Unique.
In short, a lot of options. If you feel like it, you still have some videos to go.😁
Good luck and keep going.
Cheers
Could you elaborate on the differences between the 50 and the 100?
@@O0onboardRacing Here's a comparison link from Sweetwater for the 1x12" 50w and 100w versions. www.sweetwater.com/store/compare.php?items=%28Kata50,Kata100%29
@@O0onboardRacing Fx loop and midi in.. that's about it
Nice review, Justin, much appreciated. Also, I think you could make a great lesson out of the bluesy improv when the overhead camera went out: transcribe it and then give a breakdown of what's going on throughout it in technical / theory terms.
Perfect timing Justin! My new Katana II 50 is still in the carton a mere 15' from my computer. I had heard great things about this amp and just went for it and now having heard your video I'm really glad I did. I'm one of those older guys who has attempted to play the guitar on and off over the years. A bit intimidated with the new amp but your video was a perfect first pass for me. Did your online instruction some time ago, even purchased the Beginner Songbook. Count me in for more of your experimentation/instruction on the Katana. Blues improv was amazing!
I love my Boss Katana 50. It sounds good with my guitars and my basses. Best amp for the money. Download the Boss software and hook it up to a computer and you have access to the sounds of nearly every Boss pedal ever made.
Oletta Liano isnt it bad yo connect a bass to guitar amp? Just curious
Christian Alexander - I play a six string bass with light gauge strings tuned E A D G C F, so it’s more like a guitar an octave lower, and I do a lot of two hand taping.
You can also tweak the pedals using the software, it has all the controls for the pedals just like what would be on the real pedal
Great review, many thanks. What I would love to see is a tutorial on how to dial in popular sounds. Nothing fancy, just some classic rock or blues tones. Some howto guides on where to start, than adding parameters and fx.
hey Justin , Grest vid. More lessons on this amp would be amazing , its a great amp and lots to cover , Thanks for all your good work .
Just picked the 50 up as my first amp. Looking forward to your future videos.
Lol. "I'm not really a high gain rock and roller type." *proceeds to tear it up for 3 minutes*.🤣 Great great video. Love my katana 50 as well!
I just bought a 50 and this video, as old as it is, has me very excited. Now, all I need to do is relearn guitar after a 20 year hiatus! My fingers are killing me.
So glad I saw this. Having one of these delivered tomorrow and now I'm really excited.
So camera stops so decided to break out in a blues sesh... Love it.. Maybe do a tutorial on that blues jam 👌👌 I bought the katana 50 today and my god a great amp.. I play just at home and had the Roland cube g10x amp.. And this katana 50 kicks it's ass all day long massive upgrade for me.. Great stuff as always Justin.. Brilliant review 🤙🤙🤙
Really enjoyed hearing your take on this amp. I have the Katana 100 - sooo loud! I'm looking forward to any follow ups you do on getting the best sounds out of it.
btw Justin, the channel 1/2/panel is for presets you can use. Press channel 1/2, make adjustments to get a tone you like and it will save those settings. Panel just means it plays how it's currently set up.
Also you can press Panel longer and you get different effects
I kind of like to ride the master up higher, then adjust the volume to suit me needs. This has been a solid little amp the 6 months or so that I've been playing through it.
Thanks Justin for Out of the Box demo. I have purchased this AMP BOSS Katana 50 MK 11 and I find it really good and with your help with the unboxing really gives it a good workout. It would be good for you to demo gear as it helps us all. Take Care from Downunder
Great vid Justin
These amps work great with an FS-6 pedal. Might be worth checking it out,
My suggestions for future vids would be to do an extreme variation like Metallica & Santana settings
your videos have helped me a lot to understands about EQ or settings for the katana amp thanks. I hope to keep learning, Love your channel very useful tips.
Hi Justin, thanks for the great demo of the Boss Katana 50, I have just purchased the same AMP but the MK11 in Sydney July 2023. The Dash Board slightly updated. Something I would like from you is maybe a selection of Pop Songs using different settings on the Katana 50 such songs as Buddy Holly Its So Easy, etc, Chuck Berry, Blues BB King, Up The Road Apiece etc.. also it would be a good idea to show on your screen for these tutorials a link to where we can donate as you do a really good demo of this AMP which was easier to follow than reading the User manual. I also think if you started to demo Gear like new Guitars, AMPs Effect pedals etc guitarists could use your demo as a reference to purchase the brand.
Justin: I have this exact amp, I love the TONE. I can get any TONE i want out of it. It has TONS of GAIN ( I love hi-gain). Sounds sweet w/my 56 CS Relic Mary Kaye, Sounds killer for Rock/Metal w/ my Charvel San Dimas (JB & 59). + all the FX.Cannot beat this little amp. I enjoyed your Vid. Cheers-ADR
I have one of these, for playing around my house I always keep it at 0.5 watts and turn the master volume up a little bit and it is plenty loud
Excellent review. I now really now what this amp is capable of - a great deal ! I can understand why it is so well liked.
Great video and demo! Been hearing about this amp. Thanks! Would love to see more on this amp - the editing software, etc. Thanks Justin!
Would really like to learn how you go about setting up an amp to sound like various guitarists.
This video is great, just got a new amp myself and this gave me a lot of ideas, thank you :)
dave Simpson has a video Boss Katana 50 is it as good as they say, check out that video. H e also has videos on how to get the tones from different guitar players on his channel. I watched a video on his channel on how to get the Beano tone, Tony Iommi, He does it on an Orange 120. I hope this helps.
@@waterhead001 thank you . I will look for that.
I had the boss katana 50 for about 4 months and I love it. But feel like you figured out the amp in your 30min video than me in that time. But keep up the vids, love to hear some tone patches
I have been looking at moving up to a tube amp , but my Boss Katana 50 has closed the gap between the two removing the need to go tube , and it doesn’t cost a fortune .
There is an option that you can fully customize the effects on this amp if you connect it to your pc. And you can change the effects with other Boss pedals.
The Katana 50 is great, it’s not just a ‘beginners amp’.....it’s totally gigable.....the audio here seems to have some phase issues, not representative of the normal dry amp sound...that said, always enjoy your content Justin.
Been using my amp for months and didn't realize I was using the effects knobs all wrong. Didn't know turning them halfway would be a secondary effect. Never even touched the buttons above the knobs. Maybe I should have read the instructions ;) Thanks my dude.
So true...many old school valve designs were also actually terrible.!!! I know...I've owned most over the years. In my experience a guitar needs to not only sound right for the player, but also sound good on the stage and out into the room. It also needs to "feel" good to play through...the Katana's tick all of these box's. The designers need a medal. They must have amazing ear's!!
Fantastic as ever! You really inspired me re this amp Justin - great playing, and USEFUL information... Great stuff!
I’d been seeing amps review a lot, and I mean a Lot, this is the best way to review something a lot, tks!
Thanks justin.i was considering this amp and now i am sure this is the one I am going to get.
I just got a boss katana 50 too.. And since I'm a beginner into learning to play guitar...and learning how to use a guitar amp. I'm trilled to hear you will be making more videos about how to dial in good tones on the amp. 👍😁
Awesome demo and really solidifying what I've seen elsewhere about the Katana amps. One thing that I would like to see is a comparison between the stompbox models on the amp and the actual pedals. For example, the Katana Blues Driver (I assume that's available) vs the actual Boss Blues Driver pedal. I mean, the amp alone is a steal, but if you are essentially getting a board full of Boss quality effects with it, that's just crazy!
I have the 2x12 Katana and it is a beast, more than enough amp for anyone, to the point where I don't really need anything else. The problem is, as digital, solid state amps and digital technology gets better, then people realise that the resale value on their old expensive valve amps will decline drastically, as no one will want buy them, so they come out against this great new technology, simply out of a self serving contempt, not for any real or practical reasons.
Lol, do you honestly believe that's why people dislike the Katana? Because it (supposedly) lowers the resale value of their Marshall JTM45? That's the answer you're going to stick with?
The Katana is OK, but take away the bells and whistles (the effects, etc.) and it isn't any better than SS amps were thirty or forty years ago.
My main problem with it is that it's a throwaway. It has a very short warranty, and after the warranty expires you'll have to pay somebody $80/hr to work on it. In other words, if something goes wrong you chuck it in the dumpster.
@@profd65 I don't think you're being honest that you heard SS amps that old being just as good. My 15 year old Fender DSP solid-state amp is hot garbage and the Katana sounds 100000x (not even exaggerating) better.
@@SynZ777
Are you fucking serious? Ever heard of the JC 120? (it appeared on about ten billion records) The Pignose 7-100? (click on the link) The Sunn Beta Lead? (heard of the Melvins?)
ruclips.net/video/_q0nImsfMvE/видео.html
As always interesting, informative, detailed, straightforward & honest!
Thank you.
Sounds so much better than my Marshall 15gfx. Had it for 6 months and it quit working on me. This is my next amp
i am buying it. no second thoughts
How’s it going?
@@gerryattrik4410 i bought it and its better than a lot of fender amps its awesome
MaVida lotta tones available?
@@gerryattrik4410 yeah! Some definetly better than others, you can fake it till u make to get some iconic guitar sounds!
MaVida what’s the difference between this amp and using tonebridge? If what you’re looking for is mainly tones?
very good "discovery/review" video. I love my 100w Katana head. Now it is time to get into the software and plate with all 55 pedals :). Videos exist of the 100w head running neck and neck to sound and power to a 100W Marshall. Love your videos and enjoy them tremendously. Thank you for all the hard work i know you put into them.
David Tindall I’ll have to send you some of my patches. I have an excellent SRV
i have downloaded Sneakyamps and a few others, as well as set a few of my own. Love it!!
Using the octave to play 7 nation army is kinda fun, and one of the best things I've used it for.
Really interesting hearing your take on this amp. I have the 100 - it's LOUD!
I love my Katana 50! Thank you for the video!
Great video! I have the katana head and I love it!! The katana series is really great for all ranges.
I've bought my Katana 50 as a replacement for a Blackstar ID:Core Stereo 10 (V1) a year ago. As a beginner I'm quite happy with it clean and distorted as well :) Nice to have the USB-recording option and the 12" speaker definitely sounds much better to me than two 3" speakers of ID:Core.
I've not tried the usb recording thing yet - need to!
Georg Mierau tell me more ? I got one of the Id core ones but the usb recording broke and I'm considering katana 50.
What do you want to know? USB-recording on PC does work quite similar to ID:Core.
I have this amp and I will be enjoying your review! Thanks man
are you digging it?
Would be interesting to see a review of the Boss Katana Mini and/or the new Katana Air! Enjoyed this review, the Katana 50 or Air will likely be my next
This seems so much more user friendly than the $500+ dollars I spent on a Boss GT -8 guitar effects processor (which I bought back in 2006 and still have) which I ran through a $250 Peavey 40 watt envoy (which I had from 1999-2013) just to get that "sound". Now that I am trying to get back to playing, time to see if I can get any money off of the GT-8 (which I have barely used live) and use it toward buying a Boss Katana 50. :D. The days of dreaming of owning a heavy tube amp are over. The tech for guitar amplification/ effects is a lot better now than even 10 years ago.