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Hey Kyle one of my friends picked that same amp up recently and made mention that after working with it with the app he was able to really dial in an incredible tone. I feel like the app is the key to dialing in a killer tone.
Pressing the green light above the boost knob (or any other effect) will rotate between 3 different preset boosts. And these can be changed in the software, along with more in depth boost pedal settings like level, bass, mids, etc. 👍 Sounded killer mic'd up. Nice job.
@@DanielS-zq2rr No doubt. But if you are going to review something, you need to actually show what it can do. Modelers and the Katana have a learning curve. You can't just plug-in and turn a few knobs. The Katana has a lot of really great features that set it apart from all the basic tube amps on the market. And never forget the super affordable price. Anyone can afford a Katana. Not everyone can afford to buy an expensive tube amp.
@@TheCyberMantis I agree, these things have a ton of features, and it’s nice to see them fully demoed. But it’s a Kyle Bull video so we’re not getting that lmao. What makes modelers so great is the versatility and feature set. Ironically it also makes them a huge pain in the ass, if you’re the type of person who gets paralysis by analysis, and spends more time tweaking than actually playing. There is a beautiful simplicity to a nice tube amp, if you can afford it of course.
You can't even get all the knobs from the panel, it's basically a requirement to use Tone Studio at least connected to twiddle all the knobs or just make your patches outright because with the amp you basically also bought access to Boss' entire tone print catalog which is arguably the largest and most famous effects library in existence. You can load a default setting or 100 that rule, but whatever was loaded in that thing from the factory sounds like [bad words] and it probably needs a firmware update too, which is important in software quasi-headless-driven gear. Imagine any Boss effect at your fingertips, available to chain in any order with any other Boss effect, et al. That's why I dig my lil Katana Air ;-) it's super easy and it's indestructible.
Hard Rock and Metal is my thing since about 30 years. Have you tried to play those licks on modulations and delays with a strat neck pickup? Try to do it PERFECT and April’s fool probably will smash in your face (or hands and guitar)
I raised two daughters by myself while working as a cook, after I quit pro music and got a day job, in the nineties. So there was no budget for a buncha gear. I've been into Line 6 gear since the early 00s. It has improved leaps and bounds, but some of it has been good the whole time. Just got my Flextone HD amp working for the first time in the 2 years since I got it, because I tracked down a short from the board to ground last night. 150 solid state watts per channel, 2 channels. So 300 watts with both cabs. Thing sounds killer. There's a million great options out there these days, there's no excuse to not be making music imo.
How good do the kids have it now? It’s more a question of the user interface being smooth than the quality of sound. They all sound amazing with a nice IR or if you have decent speakers.
@@TVoltG And women sure love to think that men are absolutely incapable of raising kids, especially their own. In my experience, it's women who aren't very good at raising kids on their own. They're too weak to stand up to their own kids, so they just act like they're best friends, and that doesn't actually work with kids. Guys can be weak, too, but not as bad as women can be. 🤷
I agree about low end. Solved it by dialing output Global EQ: +3dB low gain & +6dB 100hz with q=2. Low cut 40hz, High cut 8Khz. And left it always on. It just shapes the sound to where it should be IMO
Although I too am a tube amp guy, I’m actually not surprised by how good it sounds as modeling has made huge strides over the years and well, Boss does make great pedals and when it comes to engineering, they do it better than most
I’ve have the Katana mk2 head forever and it always blows everyone away. Plug it into the editing software and it’s like 100X better with some deep editing. Sounded awesome though with that baritone. You don’t need anything in the loop. It has 2 EQs in the software and everything else you ever would use.
Nice work, KB... Ive never owned one or even played one, but i always tell new guitar players to get one... To be able to access EVERY Boss pedal alone makes the price worth it...
Once you dive into the tone studio the tones you can get are really quite good. There's even a third party tone studio for it that unlocks some more hidden amp models including a dual rectifier and a Hughes and ketner triamp.
I have the Katana Artist Mk II. The Waza speaker in the Artist sounds a lot like a greenback with a fatter low end. I definitely don’t have any problems getting enough lows out of it.
I went through a bunch of tube amps over the last couple of years, learned how to build and mod them. Only to end up playing a Katana with an overdrive pedal. It’s a good amp, cheap, robust, and doesn’t need expensive red hot vacuum glass thingies. Works for me.
Awesome video Kyle. I'd suggest taking this to your band's studio and use it during rehearsal like you did with the EL34 Iconic. see how it actually sounds in a band mix.
Tone studio has a 10 band eq and a parametric eq on top of several boost/distortion options as well as a noise gate. There's so much that can be done with that amp if you get into the software
I boost the low end in the global EQ in Tone Editor, just a little bit, and it's epic. Also, don't forget that you can change boost types, you can choose from the SD-1, BD-2, and DS-1 (green, orange, red), I think I use the "red" mode (DS1?), and it tightens the amp up SO much
For what it costs, its pretty nice. I bought my girlfriend one as a practice amp to replace her small blackstar. It sounds significantly better for sure. And for as good as she is at guitar, I wanted her to have something that also sounded good.
Probably an essential amp to have. You have the most popular boss pedals in your disposal without needing to buy them. Great for those who want to experiment and find their tone. Also has variable power from 0.1 watts to 100 watts. I think this amp is worth every penny for any type of guitarist.
I have been using the 100w MKII head with a 2x12 Marshall cab for practice for the past 3 years and it sounds absolutely killer. It is even fine with a loud metal drummer. I mean it is no ENG Fireball but it is seriously impressive for solid state. Well worth the money. I do use a laptop for the BOSSTONE app. Much easier than fiddling with the knobs on top of the head. I really don't like how they put the controls on the top rather than the front. But the head actually has speakers in it which sound killer btw. Blows away alot of practice amps. Hats off to Rob Chapman for continuously recommending it even though he isn't sponsored.
I bought the 1st generation Katana 100 in 2017. Its still my main amp. What sounds really killer is my PRS SE Custom 24 with Mason Dixon ODR Hot humbuckers into my MXR FOD pedal into the Katana. It's such a lively, organic, brutal sound, I almost feel like I'm cheating, if that makes sense. Props for bringing out the inexpensive PRS. Even "budget" guitars sound great through this amp.
Glad you finally got a chance to try one out and see why so many myself included keep asking. If you get a chance another video idea I'd love to see is a power amp shootout between katana, quilter, and powerstage. Lots of deals on mk2 heads with the gen 3 out so I'm sure alot of people would be interested.
Turn off the variation off on the brown setting, it cuts the scratchy highs and gives you a lot more mids and sub >50hz. the variation is basically a treble boosted version of the amp. Pls try the other setting, and you'll LOVE it
Thank You Kyle you chug well I like the Katana to Ive got the boss katana gen three 2x12 and a mark two 1x12 100 glad you liked it keep on rocking and making cool videos man
The spiky highs are from the V30s. My Mesa cab does the same thing with my Katana. Change to my CL80 loaded cab and the spikyness disappears but the highs are still strong sounding.
Drummer buddy is a closet guitarist. He has a Katana head. Its not too shabby for what it is. I stop over his crib and plug in for jams and its passable. I wish I had one of these when I first started on the guitar in 1978.
I think you’ll like the Quilter Overdrive 202 or the 200 amps even more and those are the high gain amps with tone based on personal collection of a Mark IIC+ and a Dumble Overdrive that one Quilter employee owns.
The only other go to budget amp I think you could try is an Orange Micro Dark. I think it lacks low end even with a 4x12 but still a cool amp for what it is. It was my first amp and I still use it, it can even record silently using the FX Send if you make sure to plug a dummy cable into the headphone output and it can also work like a preamp pedal into another amp as well, either into the front or the second amps FX Return
Hey Kyle I’m a huge fan of your channel! I’m trying to get the high gain sound on a budget, because I just had my third back surgery so money is very tight right now at my house! I recently got a beginner ultra metal and a demonic 66 pedals. I’m running into a Fenfer acoustisonic 40 watt amp(tubed) someday I hope to get a 5150 amp . That’s my dream amp ! I have learned so much from you and I just wanted to know thank you!
They need to be fairly loud into a 4x12, the combos are real thin sounding IMO. But they sound great with a proper cab, I have a Marshall MG100 that sounds glorious cranked up, I just chug in drop B and it shakes the house
Gotta go into the software and cut those unwanted high frequencies down to around 5k. Kind of the beauty of this thing. You can go in and tweak the EQ however you want to adapt to different cabs and gear. There's also a tube screamer you can turn on in the software for punchier metal tones.
Great video Kyle. I love the channel. I happen to have a Katana Artist MK II I’d be curious to know what you think of that in comparison. Still waiting for them to release the Artist version of the Gen 3 head. I would love to see what you think of the Orange Super Crush 100 head in comparison to your tune heads since that particular amp and its predecessor the CR120 are all analog in both channels and use JFETs.
I use Artist head MK2 with Focusrite 4th generation and monitors 100W FRFR.Sounds amazing after dial in, and make adjustment on mics.Tone Studio is a must.The dsp from focusrite are disangaged it only ballance the signal.Compete with my Neural Plini plugin. This head is a threat.
In order to get the really good tones you have to play with the EQs in the tone studio. You can also enable the noise suppressor through the tone studio, which is actually pretty decent. After creating or downloading good patches, you can save them to the preset buttons on the amp, so you wouldn't always have to open up the software. The whole point of the amp is that you don't have to spend a bunch of money on pedals for it, they're all built-in to the amp.
I have the artist mkii 100w and I got plenty of low end. And endless headroom it’s actually insane for, when I bought it, $600. I almost exclusively use helix as I play mostly p&w (I use Tim Henson and John Petrucci NDSP archetypes when I’m traveling for work), but the katana plus tonelab is the worlds greatest backup rig. You can do almost everything you need for any type of music in the tonelab. And if you are good about being able to adjust on the fly, it takes pedals incredibly well.
I used to be like you Kyle all about tube amplifiers. But once I hooked up to a katana and dialed in some tones with the studio. There's no way I'm going back to a noisy ass hissing buzzing tube amp. Dive into the app tone studio app ad a compressor and mess with the EQ. You will get a better tone than you've ever had out of any tube amp. And I've been doing this probably longer than you've been alive so take that for whatever it is. The katana is the shit. Nice and quiet when you're not playing. You don't have to worry about your precious tubes. That have to be replaced just about every year.
The boss katana is great, but it's no tube amp. I jammed with my cousin. He bought my boss katana mk2, I have a marshall jcm 2000 dsl. He has a 4x12, me a 2x12. The boss can't compete, it gets blown away. And yes this is with tone studio. It's still a great amp.
RIIGHT NOW, HIDE YOUR FEATHERS ON THE BACK PORCH BABY!!!!! Oh yeah and the amp sounds kinda cool. The tones are kinda like the AMT Legends 2 series pedals. I dig it.
@@chaosandorderstudio I have both and there's a noticeable difference between the two. The Artist has a *lot* more tone shaping options on the front panel. Part of the equation is the Waza speaker of course but the Artist wins hands down every time.
really shocked how good this thing sounds for the price. jesus lmfao. i wouldnt personally ever use one of these but i get why this is like the ultimate beginner amp this is way better than the shit that was out when i started playing 🤣😂
*It's another pursuit of the Lee Jackson sounds from the 80's and 90's that came from Crate, Ampeg and every other brand he worked for.* Today, his achievements in performance seem to be the staple standard everyone sets out to achieve with their own designs and potentially do it in a different way to appeal to a different market of players. *If it handles pedals well, they've done their job correctly.* As far as the potential for superiority, nobody has bothered to take it the full distance the way it's done with valves which are a much simpler and altogether inferior technology. *Until someone takes the designs a different direction away from the Lee Jackson standard, this is the limit of what you're going to get from commercial brands producing digital and solid state equipment.*
Not sure if the Orange Supercrush deviates from the design philosophy in the way you suggest, but it has impressed me more than any solid state head in the past 20 years. Played Peavy Trans-Tube Supreme heads in the 90’s/2000’s and was able to get one usable tone at one usable volume from them. The Supercrush blows it away with versatility.
@@megalodon2875 what everyone typically does is replicate the solid-state sound of Lee Jackson where it has the raunch, sleaze and all around meanness most notable in pinch harmonics whereas valves are known by the opposite sound with the soft clipping and very limited bandwidth. In short, it seems to me as an engineer that a solid-state sound was established that many liked so rather than try to genuinely replicate that soft clipping fizz and glittery sparkle of tube distortion, they continue designs that are sleazy, dirtier etc. even though some have note definition comparable to very and I mean *very* finely tuned valve amps. They're maintaining solid-state division so there's two very distinctly different sounds even though each can be designed to sound identical to the other. In fact, I think some tubes with enough solid-state gain in the signal produce the sleazy and raunchy sound better than pure solid-state, and pure solid-state actually can produce that identical tube sound of fizzing, zinging and glitter but they can do it significantly better. If you watch The Light Bulb Conspiracy, that's my perception of what is in fact going on and is an unspoken formula nobody strays from because it creates a stable market and 2 consumer pools that enables us to generate mass amounts of sales. *For example, I have a 3 transistor fuzz I designed from the ground up that sounds identical to tube distortion like nothing I've ever heard commercially manufactured.* Not from Peavy, not from Ampeg and not even from Fender with the latter being the closest. In that circuit and similar circuits, I can ultimately produce a sound identical to valve that exists but I can tune the circuit so it sounds like valves that have never existed. Once you hear it and understand it scientifically you realize there's an intention behind commercial corporations never "crossing the streams". $$$$$ My circuit in it's current configuration can be built by hand for about $1 and whether your company makes the most sales off valves, solid-state or digital, nobody wants the general guitarists to have that as an option over all of theirs. Everyone *SAYS* their S.S. model sounds like a valve with it's tube emulation circuitry but they never do; it's intentional and the lie is on purpose. The fundamental scientific properties making a valve sound the way they do is not magical and it's not something impossible or for that matter, difficult to replicate for $1. *You should go watch The Light Bulb Conspiracy!*
The channel volume kind of works like another preamp gain, so when you pull down the master, you get some more saturation and life from the front end for sure. And like everyone said, the tone studio is useful. Also, the power section on the Katana is class A/B, which in this age of saggy, overrated Class D "300 watt" amps, plays like a conventional amp in a band setting. Been in several bands with them and it really works.
Hey, havent checked into this channel in a long time. Your micing skills have defenitely improved. I have been trying to mic a cab and it sounded ass. Are there any tips. What did you change over the years?
I have that amp but have also tried many as you have. To be honest, if dialed in with the tone studio software, IMO it is damn good and to be honest, sounds very good compared to many live local bands I have listened to. I have the mk2 50 watt I got used but looks new for $125. Very very cheap and the tones are pretty killer.
You just felt the blade. I own the Artist mk2 version. Tone Studio makes it the most versatile amp I have ever used. Throw it (1x12,) through a 2x12 Waza Craft cabinet, and the 3x12 makes crazy sounds. 5150 from the 90's and Dual Rec from the 90's are always going to be the kings, but this amp is not $5,000
i bought my boss katana head about 6 months ago i love it i run it thru one of my 1960 marshall cabs my only complaint is i wish they had put two speaker outs instead of one so i could use 2 4-12 cabs
I had the Artist Head MkII for several months. I did not like it that much. But for the price it was good. But I'm not into price per tone. So I got rid of it, and the GX-100. Sounded good for a practice or budget amp. Definitely not "replacing my tube amps" like all the fanboys say.
Hell yeah bro this sounded pretty good, have you tried the OR15? The thing smacks . I have one matched with a 4, 12 closed cap speaker cab and it makes a great stack. 🍊 ❤
I've got the 50watt combo and it's pretty nice. I only use the Green Booster (Tube Screamer) and have it set to 1.5 to 2. I keep the gain around 3.4. Brown channel with no variation. I do the channel volume, almost all the way to 10 and the master volume, I switch, depending on where I'm playing but for practicing, I keep it around 2 - when the power is set to 50 watt and it has the best "response" when set at full power. I like to use a smidge of the green reverb but not much and mostly for lead. Same with delay, green delay, super fast slap back, and for lead channel. Sometimes, I break the rules and use effects with rhythm, metal guitar...in that case, I have 2 channels, set up the same but one, lacking the modulation effects. I'm using a Schecter Avenger with a EMG 81/85 set of PUPs. I play a lot of stuff ranging from shred to death metal, metalcore, classic rock, alternative metal, so, I like the versatility of the Katana. It's not the very best but it's no slouch... definitely, value for the price. I do admit that I use Amplitube and Guitar Rig, at home, and I can get "better" tones but it's all relative and still, the convenience of the 50watt combo, is unbeatable (for what it does). If you're going to enjoy the katana to it's fullest, you will need to connect it to the ol' computer, install the software and fire it up. There are more tone shaping settings on there, that fix some of the lack of low end response. For example, the Cab Simulator switch is not on the 50watt combo, so you have to change it, in software, but you can still do so. There's also a noise gate, built-in, you can change it, via the software. That helps, clean the amp up a little and makes it, that much more useable. I'm looking to upgrade to the 100watt head but I really don't have the space, to get that loud at the moment lol.
I should add that the 50watt really starts to sing when it's set to full power and when the master volume is just beyond, "bedroom volume" and the channel volume is almost maxed out.
I had a Katana 100 and a Mooer 75, and I thought the Mooer had a better tone without needing to dig into the laptop to change stuff so I sold the Katana. And then I bought a EVH 5150iii and got rid of that Mooer as well. My only solid state gear I regularly use now is a Helix.
I think the FRFR speaker in the combo may have been why I hated mine so much. Always preferred to work the crunch channel with drives to get my high gain over the lead/brown.
I've got the MKII Artist combo, and brother...that thing is a friggin monster. Does it sound THE SAME as a tube amp? Probably not, but I've never had one so there's that. HOWEVER, my roommate plays drums in a couple bands, and this thing could easily go toe to toe with either of those guitarists' giant tube half-stacks. I've only played it on the 100w setting once, and it was so gd loud I had to play in another room, and that was with the volume at MAYBE 12:00 and everything sounded crisp and crunchy. You do have to fiddle with these things a bit to find your sound, but I haven't noticed any lack of clarity or wonky tones unless I'm farting around with the effects and I'm a rhythm guy, so all I want is chonky, punchy grit. I have a Schecter SLS E-1 Evil Twin, so those Fishman pickups are really shining through as well. I think I generally keep the amp on the classic setting, that pre-volume cranked all the way and then I'll lightly raise the master until I get where I want. I have to give special mention to the Waza speaker in the cab, because that thing is doing a TON of good work. Most combos I've ever played sound like ass because the speakers are actual ass. Not this one. It eats everything I've put through it for breakfast and you can tell it wants more. And it doesn't just sound like everything else, it definitely has its own flavor. I can't even imagine what a 4x12 loaded with those things would be capable of. I think they sell a 2x12 and I'm highly tempted by that. I think the head on the combo can push it's own speaker and a separate cab. Anyway, if you ever get a chance while you're out and about to plug in to one of the Artist variations, give it a shot. I think you'll find some of your issues resolved simply from the Waza speaker vs your Celestions, since it's all designed to function in the same ecosystem.
IMO the Boss Katana is best used on one of the clean or crunch channels or using the 'power amp in' as a pedal platform. The higher gain channels are mainly usable for leads and solos IMO, but they sound a little boxy and thin for rhythms to me, depending on the external boost pedal you use; the built-in boost is a little lacking, with too much low end, and needs an overdrive, anyway, but then that overloads the sound on the higher gain channels, making them sound overboosted and blown out, and the lower gain channels sound too crunchy. Of course, you can just pull back on the levels on your boosts, as Kyle shows. Just toy with the settings and different pedals and you can get a lot of very usable sounds.
I have the 100Watt artist but dont use the built in models at all. Joyo argos into fender pugilist into an joyo american sound/sunT preamp into the effectts return. Less spikey frequencies to deal with. Can still use reverb and delay from the katana. Can even use the global eqs 🤘
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Hey Kyle one of my friends picked that same amp up recently and made mention that after working with it with the app he was able to really dial in an incredible tone. I feel like the app is the key to dialing in a killer tone.
Pressing the green light above the boost knob (or any other effect) will rotate between 3 different preset boosts. And these can be changed in the software, along with more in depth boost pedal settings like level, bass, mids, etc. 👍
Sounded killer mic'd up. Nice job.
Unironically one of the best purchases you can make for guitar gear IMO
Dafuq does unironically mean?
@@Van020280literally means 'not' ironically.
@@Van020280it’s like if it was ironic, but it’s not.
Still doesn't apply to the statement made@@Coggler101010
@@Van020280Google's free my guy
The Parametric EQ in Tone Studio makes a world of difference.
He can't be bothered to read a manual or use software. So don't expect a proper review from this guy.
@@TheCyberMantis Maybe he didn't want to go through the hassle of setting the software up.
@@DanielS-zq2rr No doubt. But if you are going to review something, you need to actually show what it can do. Modelers and the Katana have a learning curve. You can't just plug-in and turn a few knobs. The Katana has a lot of really great features that set it apart from all the basic tube amps on the market. And never forget the super affordable price. Anyone can afford a Katana. Not everyone can afford to buy an expensive tube amp.
@@TheCyberMantis I agree, these things have a ton of features, and it’s nice to see them fully demoed.
But it’s a Kyle Bull video so we’re not getting that lmao.
What makes modelers so great is the versatility and feature set.
Ironically it also makes them a huge pain in the ass, if you’re the type of person who gets paralysis by analysis, and spends more time tweaking than actually playing.
There is a beautiful simplicity to a nice tube amp, if you can afford it of course.
@@jaredt3985yes and no, a clean/mid gain/high gain sound and build from there.
Tone Studio adds an entire new dimension. Importing patches and creating your own is so fun and easy.
Sneaky Amps & Dumble Amps are a must.
You can't even get all the knobs from the panel, it's basically a requirement to use Tone Studio at least connected to twiddle all the knobs or just make your patches outright because with the amp you basically also bought access to Boss' entire tone print catalog which is arguably the largest and most famous effects library in existence.
You can load a default setting or 100 that rule, but whatever was loaded in that thing from the factory sounds like [bad words] and it probably needs a firmware update too, which is important in software quasi-headless-driven gear.
Imagine any Boss effect at your fingertips, available to chain in any order with any other Boss effect, et al. That's why I dig my lil Katana Air ;-) it's super easy and it's indestructible.
@@JimThompson-i3uThe boogie is an excellent sneaky amp.
Hard Rock and Metal is my thing since about 30 years. Have you tried to play those licks on modulations and delays with a strat neck pickup? Try to do it PERFECT and April’s fool probably will smash in your face (or hands and guitar)
That drop c tone was awesome. You don’t need an eq in the loop. Open up tone studio for 10 band and parametric eq
the look when you first tried the drop tuning says it all you love this thing!
For April fools you need to make a video on chorus delay and reverb pedals. Low gain with a strat on the neck pickup. Playing John mayer licks 😂
Please KYLE!!!
He can't play JM licks, you know that.
I raised two daughters by myself while working as a cook, after I quit pro music and got a day job, in the nineties. So there was no budget for a buncha gear. I've been into Line 6 gear since the early 00s. It has improved leaps and bounds, but some of it has been good the whole time. Just got my Flextone HD amp working for the first time in the 2 years since I got it, because I tracked down a short from the board to ground last night. 150 solid state watts per channel, 2 channels. So 300 watts with both cabs. Thing sounds killer. There's a million great options out there these days, there's no excuse to not be making music imo.
Kudos to you for putting in the work to raise the kids! Keep on jammin!!
How good do the kids have it now? It’s more a question of the user interface being smooth than the quality of sound. They all sound amazing with a nice IR or if you have decent speakers.
Single full time dad raising two for 13 years now myself. Good job dad.
Thanks fellas. Agree, @notsure1135, way easier now. And keep at it @TVoltG, you're almost there! Props.
@@TVoltG And women sure love to think that men are absolutely incapable of raising kids, especially their own. In my experience, it's women who aren't very good at raising kids on their own. They're too weak to stand up to their own kids, so they just act like they're best friends, and that doesn't actually work with kids. Guys can be weak, too, but not as bad as women can be. 🤷
You can use the editor software, which has a 10 band eq, to get those lows
I agree about low end. Solved it by dialing output Global EQ: +3dB low gain & +6dB 100hz with q=2. Low cut 40hz, High cut 8Khz. And left it always on. It just shapes the sound to where it should be IMO
Yeah, I feel like a lot of my Line 6 shit suffers from that too, amps at least. Have to inject a bit more low end.
Although I too am a tube amp guy, I’m actually not surprised by how good it sounds as modeling has made huge strides over the years and well, Boss does make great pedals and when it comes to engineering, they do it better than most
I’ve have the Katana mk2 head forever and it always blows everyone away. Plug it into the editing software and it’s like 100X better with some deep editing. Sounded awesome though with that baritone. You don’t need anything in the loop. It has 2 EQs in the software and everything else you ever would use.
Has up to 5 eqs, homie. ;) Should be more than enough for anybody
Nice work, KB... Ive never owned one or even played one, but i always tell new guitar players to get one... To be able to access EVERY Boss pedal alone makes the price worth it...
Once you dive into the tone studio the tones you can get are really quite good. There's even a third party tone studio for it that unlocks some more hidden amp models including a dual rectifier and a Hughes and ketner triamp.
3rd party tone studio!? I love 3rd party transformers. Therefore, it stands to reason, I would enjoy 3rd party tone studios.
I have the Katana Artist Mk II. The Waza speaker in the Artist sounds a lot like a greenback with a fatter low end. I definitely don’t have any problems getting enough lows out of it.
I went through a bunch of tube amps over the last couple of years, learned how to build and mod them. Only to end up playing a Katana with an overdrive pedal.
It’s a good amp, cheap, robust, and doesn’t need expensive red hot vacuum glass thingies. Works for me.
Same here overdrive with my katana distortion amp
A boost into my solid state old Peavey amps is a must. Great for dirty clean and sending distortion into stratosphere.
Awesome video Kyle. I'd suggest taking this to your band's studio and use it during rehearsal like you did with the EL34 Iconic. see how it actually sounds in a band mix.
That reveal was executed with absolute perfection
Tone studio has a 10 band eq and a parametric eq on top of several boost/distortion options as well as a noise gate. There's so much that can be done with that amp if you get into the software
Using the software opens up a ton of tones. Especially with eq selections, really allows you sculpt the tone.
You have a 100 watt MK2 head there. You have to get into tone studio and get everything you need. The new Generation 3 is “Killer”
I boost the low end in the global EQ in Tone Editor, just a little bit, and it's epic. Also, don't forget that you can change boost types, you can choose from the SD-1, BD-2, and DS-1 (green, orange, red), I think I use the "red" mode (DS1?), and it tightens the amp up SO much
For what it costs, its pretty nice. I bought my girlfriend one as a practice amp to replace her small blackstar. It sounds significantly better for sure. And for as good as she is at guitar, I wanted her to have something that also sounded good.
blackstars are trash
I have the artist mk2 head and i like it. Its versatile, sounds decent enough, it takes pedals well, and its durable.
It shows once again just how important speakers and mic position are. I was still pretty shocked at how good this thing sounded...
I sold my Bugera 3XL head and Marshal cab to get a Karan MK2 2X12 combo amp plus foot switch. I have zero regrets. I love this amp.
The Leeway intro! Let's goooo dude!
Probably an essential amp to have. You have the most popular boss pedals in your disposal without needing to buy them. Great for those who want to experiment and find their tone. Also has variable power from 0.1 watts to 100 watts. I think this amp is worth every penny for any type of guitarist.
I have been using the 100w MKII head with a 2x12 Marshall cab for practice for the past 3 years and it sounds absolutely killer. It is even fine with a loud metal drummer. I mean it is no ENG Fireball but it is seriously impressive for solid state. Well worth the money. I do use a laptop for the BOSSTONE app. Much easier than fiddling with the knobs on top of the head. I really don't like how they put the controls on the top rather than the front. But the head actually has speakers in it which sound killer btw. Blows away alot of practice amps. Hats off to Rob Chapman for continuously recommending it even though he isn't sponsored.
Thanks Kyle, that was an excellent demo on an amp I wouldn't think about trying out.
I bought the 1st generation Katana 100 in 2017. Its still my main amp. What sounds really killer is my PRS SE Custom 24 with Mason Dixon ODR Hot humbuckers into my MXR FOD pedal into the Katana. It's such a lively, organic, brutal sound, I almost feel like I'm cheating, if that makes sense.
Props for bringing out the inexpensive PRS. Even "budget" guitars sound great through this amp.
Glad you finally got a chance to try one out and see why so many myself included keep asking. If you get a chance another video idea I'd love to see is a power amp shootout between katana, quilter, and powerstage. Lots of deals on mk2 heads with the gen 3 out so I'm sure alot of people would be interested.
Turn off the variation off on the brown setting, it cuts the scratchy highs and gives you a lot more mids and sub >50hz. the variation is basically a treble boosted version of the amp. Pls try the other setting, and you'll LOVE it
Thank You Kyle you chug well I like the Katana to Ive got the boss katana gen three 2x12 and a mark two 1x12 100 glad you liked it keep on rocking and making cool videos man
The spiky highs are from the V30s. My Mesa cab does the same thing with my Katana. Change to my CL80 loaded cab and the spikyness disappears but the highs are still strong sounding.
Drummer buddy is a closet guitarist. He has a Katana head. Its not too shabby for what it is. I stop over his crib and plug in for jams and its passable. I wish I had one of these when I first started on the guitar in 1978.
Wish I lived in Pennsylvania. Would be great to hang out with you,Kyle. Been a metalhead since I was 10 years old.
Sounds an awful lot like a Bandit with built in Boss effects to me. Not that that's a bad thing, Bandit's great!
I think you’ll like the Quilter Overdrive 202 or the 200 amps even more and those are the high gain amps with tone based on personal collection of a Mark IIC+ and a Dumble Overdrive that one Quilter employee owns.
I tried Katana 3 gen recently; those new channels bring tones to totally different level
The only other go to budget amp I think you could try is an Orange Micro Dark. I think it lacks low end even with a 4x12 but still a cool amp for what it is. It was my first amp and I still use it, it can even record silently using the FX Send if you make sure to plug a dummy cable into the headphone output and it can also work like a preamp pedal into another amp as well, either into the front or the second amps FX Return
Zombie
"I'm not weak..."
"I play riffs...badly"
Love it...belligerent as always! So relate...
;o)
Hey Kyle I’m a huge fan of your channel! I’m trying to get the high gain sound on a budget, because I just had my third back surgery so money is very tight right now at my house! I recently got a beginner ultra metal and a demonic 66 pedals. I’m running into a Fenfer acoustisonic 40 watt amp(tubed) someday I hope to get a 5150 amp . That’s my dream amp ! I have learned so much from you and I just wanted to know thank you!
I’ve gone through many amps over the last two years, but my Katana will never go away. If it dies, I’ll buy another one. They’re just so dang good!!
They need to be fairly loud into a 4x12, the combos are real thin sounding IMO. But they sound great with a proper cab, I have a Marshall MG100 that sounds glorious cranked up, I just chug in drop B and it shakes the house
Gotta go into the software and cut those unwanted high frequencies down to around 5k. Kind of the beauty of this thing. You can go in and tweak the EQ however you want to adapt to different cabs and gear. There's also a tube screamer you can turn on in the software for punchier metal tones.
Great video Kyle. I love the channel.
I happen to have a Katana Artist MK II I’d be curious to know what you think of that in comparison. Still waiting for them to release the Artist version of the Gen 3 head.
I would love to see what you think of the Orange Super Crush 100 head in comparison to your tune heads since that particular amp and its predecessor the CR120 are all analog in both channels and use JFETs.
Pretty dang good. Good enough to know that THAT is Kyle Bull playing guitar. It sounds like Kyle Bull to me! Must be a pretty good amp!
Katana's sound great as long as they're on a decent cabinet. The only Katana combo I like is the Artist model.
I use Artist head MK2 with Focusrite 4th generation and monitors 100W FRFR.Sounds amazing after dial in, and make adjustment on mics.Tone Studio is a must.The dsp from focusrite are disangaged it only ballance the signal.Compete with my Neural Plini plugin.
This head is a threat.
Best addition to any SS high gain head is a Guptech PDEQ in the loop for added low end heft and presence clarity.
Nice hat, Fury of Five. One of my favorite bands.
Leeway and man’s wearing a Fury of Five cap. Respect.
In order to get the really good tones you have to play with the EQs in the tone studio.
You can also enable the noise suppressor through the tone studio, which is actually pretty decent.
After creating or downloading good patches, you can save them to the preset buttons on the amp, so you wouldn't always have to open up the software.
The whole point of the amp is that you don't have to spend a bunch of money on pedals for it, they're all built-in to the amp.
Great video, the Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 is also awesome
Greetings from Germany
I have the artist mkii 100w and I got plenty of low end. And endless headroom it’s actually insane for, when I bought it, $600. I almost exclusively use helix as I play mostly p&w (I use Tim Henson and John Petrucci NDSP archetypes when I’m traveling for work), but the katana plus tonelab is the worlds greatest backup rig. You can do almost everything you need for any type of music in the tonelab. And if you are good about being able to adjust on the fly, it takes pedals incredibly well.
I used to be like you Kyle all about tube amplifiers. But once I hooked up to a katana and dialed in some tones with the studio. There's no way I'm going back to a noisy ass hissing buzzing tube amp. Dive into the app tone studio app ad a compressor and mess with the EQ. You will get a better tone than you've ever had out of any tube amp. And I've been doing this probably longer than you've been alive so take that for whatever it is. The katana is the shit. Nice and quiet when you're not playing. You don't have to worry about your precious tubes. That have to be replaced just about every year.
The look on your face after playing a couple riffs on it says it all !!!!!
The boss katana is great, but it's no tube amp. I jammed with my cousin. He bought my boss katana mk2, I have a marshall jcm 2000 dsl. He has a 4x12, me a 2x12. The boss can't compete, it gets blown away. And yes this is with tone studio. It's still a great amp.
Greatest practice amp ever.
The leeway riff on the opening!
Great video Kyle, thanks! The Katana Artist MK3 head with the clean class A/B power is the real gem. That'll go toe-to-toe with a tube head. Promise
It also has a "bloom" switch, which is a new feature for the Mk3.
RIIGHT NOW, HIDE YOUR FEATHERS ON THE BACK PORCH BABY!!!!! Oh yeah and the amp sounds kinda cool. The tones are kinda like the AMT Legends 2 series pedals. I dig it.
Katana Artist is on another level. That's the one to try.
Why?
The models are the same.
Yes it has some controls on the front that the regular version lacks, but overall it's the same amp
On the Artist combo the better waza speaker is an advantage but on the head, the artist is not worth the premium just for some extra panel controls.
@@chaosandorderstudio I have both and there's a noticeable difference between the two. The Artist has a *lot* more tone shaping options on the front panel. Part of the equation is the Waza speaker of course but the Artist wins hands down every time.
The Artist is better but it's not worth the extra money. Might as well go for a tube amp.
I like the built in speaker in the katana head that isn’t in the artist version. For me it’s cool
really shocked how good this thing sounds for the price. jesus lmfao. i wouldnt personally ever use one of these but i get why this is like the ultimate beginner amp this is way better than the shit that was out when i started playing 🤣😂
I forgot to mention that the key to success with this amp is the Boss katana app on the computer, it is truly magic!!
*It's another pursuit of the Lee Jackson sounds from the 80's and 90's that came from Crate, Ampeg and every other brand he worked for.* Today, his achievements in performance seem to be the staple standard everyone sets out to achieve with their own designs and potentially do it in a different way to appeal to a different market of players.
*If it handles pedals well, they've done their job correctly.*
As far as the potential for superiority, nobody has bothered to take it the full distance the way it's done with valves which are a much simpler and altogether inferior technology. *Until someone takes the designs a different direction away from the Lee Jackson standard, this is the limit of what you're going to get from commercial brands producing digital and solid state equipment.*
Not sure if the Orange Supercrush deviates from the design philosophy in the way you suggest, but it has impressed me more than any solid state head in the past 20 years. Played Peavy Trans-Tube Supreme heads in the 90’s/2000’s and was able to get one usable tone at one usable volume from them. The Supercrush blows it away with versatility.
@@megalodon2875 what everyone typically does is replicate the solid-state sound of Lee Jackson where it has the raunch, sleaze and all around meanness most notable in pinch harmonics whereas valves are known by the opposite sound with the soft clipping and very limited bandwidth.
In short, it seems to me as an engineer that a solid-state sound was established that many liked so rather than try to genuinely replicate that soft clipping fizz and glittery sparkle of tube distortion, they continue designs that are sleazy, dirtier etc. even though some have note definition comparable to very and I mean *very* finely tuned valve amps.
They're maintaining solid-state division so there's two very distinctly different sounds even though each can be designed to sound identical to the other. In fact, I think some tubes with enough solid-state gain in the signal produce the sleazy and raunchy sound better than pure solid-state, and pure solid-state actually can produce that identical tube sound of fizzing, zinging and glitter but they can do it significantly better.
If you watch The Light Bulb Conspiracy, that's my perception of what is in fact going on and is an unspoken formula nobody strays from because it creates a stable market and 2 consumer pools that enables us to generate mass amounts of sales. *For example, I have a 3 transistor fuzz I designed from the ground up that sounds identical to tube distortion like nothing I've ever heard commercially manufactured.* Not from Peavy, not from Ampeg and not even from Fender with the latter being the closest.
In that circuit and similar circuits, I can ultimately produce a sound identical to valve that exists but I can tune the circuit so it sounds like valves that have never existed. Once you hear it and understand it scientifically you realize there's an intention behind commercial corporations never "crossing the streams".
$$$$$
My circuit in it's current configuration can be built by hand for about $1 and whether your company makes the most sales off valves, solid-state or digital, nobody wants the general guitarists to have that as an option over all of theirs. Everyone *SAYS* their S.S. model sounds like a valve with it's tube emulation circuitry but they never do; it's intentional and the lie is on purpose.
The fundamental scientific properties making a valve sound the way they do is not magical and it's not something impossible or for that matter, difficult to replicate for $1.
*You should go watch The Light Bulb Conspiracy!*
The channel volume kind of works like another preamp gain, so when you pull down the master, you get some more saturation and life from the front end for sure. And like everyone said, the tone studio is useful. Also, the power section on the Katana is class A/B, which in this age of saggy, overrated Class D "300 watt" amps, plays like a conventional amp in a band setting. Been in several bands with them and it really works.
Hey, havent checked into this channel in a long time. Your micing skills have defenitely improved. I have been trying to mic a cab and it sounded ass. Are there any tips. What did you change over the years?
I don’t think Kyle realized the red light is off when the variation is off, not the other way around.
Gotta use tone studio to get the full experience with using the katana. Blew my mind when I got it
I have the katana go which I believe was pulled because it would have competed with the katana MK3. A great headphone amp, even if you need an app.
Good channel brother!
Any Line 6 reviews?
I have that amp but have also tried many as you have. To be honest, if dialed in with the tone studio software, IMO it is damn good and to be honest, sounds very good compared to many live local bands I have listened to. I have the mk2 50 watt I got used but looks new for $125. Very very cheap and the tones are pretty killer.
You just felt the blade. I own the Artist mk2 version. Tone Studio makes it the most versatile amp I have ever used. Throw it (1x12,) through a 2x12 Waza Craft cabinet, and the 3x12 makes crazy sounds. 5150 from the 90's and Dual Rec from the 90's are always going to be the kings, but this amp is not $5,000
Those Balaguer Espadas always look amazing.
I love my Boss Katana MKII 100w head. Just got it last week and a Laney 1x12 Ironheart cab! ❤
You're onto something with that Master volume. Mine sounded best with it turned all the way down.
Combined with a tonex one + November update = heaven
i bought my boss katana head about 6 months ago i love it i run it thru one of my 1960 marshall cabs my only complaint is i wish they had put two speaker outs instead of one so i could use 2 4-12 cabs
I had the Artist Head MkII for several months. I did not like it that much. But for the price it was good. But I'm not into price per tone. So I got rid of it, and the GX-100. Sounded good for a practice or budget amp. Definitely not "replacing my tube amps" like all the fanboys say.
Hell yeah bro this sounded pretty good, have you tried the OR15? The thing smacks . I have one matched with a 4, 12 closed cap speaker cab and it makes a great stack. 🍊 ❤
Hey kyle, I've got a question about your Bushido code tone since it's really great and I love it. I Wonder what amp did you use on the recording?
I’ve had this one for a couple of years, it’s a really good amp….for the price? ITS FRIGGIN’ GREAT!
Id definitely like to see you get in the editor, and really sculpt it to your liking.
Pair it with an OG 5150 Kyle. Do it. Use OS standard straight cabs.
I've got the 50watt combo and it's pretty nice. I only use the Green Booster (Tube Screamer) and have it set to 1.5 to 2. I keep the gain around 3.4. Brown channel with no variation. I do the channel volume, almost all the way to 10 and the master volume, I switch, depending on where I'm playing but for practicing, I keep it around 2 - when the power is set to 50 watt and it has the best "response" when set at full power. I like to use a smidge of the green reverb but not much and mostly for lead. Same with delay, green delay, super fast slap back, and for lead channel. Sometimes, I break the rules and use effects with rhythm, metal guitar...in that case, I have 2 channels, set up the same but one, lacking the modulation effects.
I'm using a Schecter Avenger with a EMG 81/85 set of PUPs. I play a lot of stuff ranging from shred to death metal, metalcore, classic rock, alternative metal, so, I like the versatility of the Katana. It's not the very best but it's no slouch... definitely, value for the price. I do admit that I use Amplitube and Guitar Rig, at home, and I can get "better" tones but it's all relative and still, the convenience of the 50watt combo, is unbeatable (for what it does).
If you're going to enjoy the katana to it's fullest, you will need to connect it to the ol' computer, install the software and fire it up. There are more tone shaping settings on there, that fix some of the lack of low end response. For example, the Cab Simulator switch is not on the 50watt combo, so you have to change it, in software, but you can still do so. There's also a noise gate, built-in, you can change it, via the software. That helps, clean the amp up a little and makes it, that much more useable. I'm looking to upgrade to the 100watt head but I really don't have the space, to get that loud at the moment lol.
I should add that the 50watt really starts to sing when it's set to full power and when the master volume is just beyond, "bedroom volume" and the channel volume is almost maxed out.
The mark of the squeal!
That Mesa cab made the katana .. combo doesn’t not sound like that
I had a Katana 100 and a Mooer 75, and I thought the Mooer had a better tone without needing to dig into the laptop to change stuff so I sold the Katana. And then I bought a EVH 5150iii and got rid of that Mooer as well. My only solid state gear I regularly use now is a Helix.
I think the FRFR speaker in the combo may have been why I hated mine so much.
Always preferred to work the crunch channel with drives to get my high gain over the lead/brown.
I've got the MKII Artist combo, and brother...that thing is a friggin monster. Does it sound THE SAME as a tube amp? Probably not, but I've never had one so there's that. HOWEVER, my roommate plays drums in a couple bands, and this thing could easily go toe to toe with either of those guitarists' giant tube half-stacks. I've only played it on the 100w setting once, and it was so gd loud I had to play in another room, and that was with the volume at MAYBE 12:00 and everything sounded crisp and crunchy.
You do have to fiddle with these things a bit to find your sound, but I haven't noticed any lack of clarity or wonky tones unless I'm farting around with the effects and I'm a rhythm guy, so all I want is chonky, punchy grit. I have a Schecter SLS E-1 Evil Twin, so those Fishman pickups are really shining through as well. I think I generally keep the amp on the classic setting, that pre-volume cranked all the way and then I'll lightly raise the master until I get where I want.
I have to give special mention to the Waza speaker in the cab, because that thing is doing a TON of good work. Most combos I've ever played sound like ass because the speakers are actual ass. Not this one. It eats everything I've put through it for breakfast and you can tell it wants more. And it doesn't just sound like everything else, it definitely has its own flavor. I can't even imagine what a 4x12 loaded with those things would be capable of. I think they sell a 2x12 and I'm highly tempted by that. I think the head on the combo can push it's own speaker and a separate cab.
Anyway, if you ever get a chance while you're out and about to plug in to one of the Artist variations, give it a shot. I think you'll find some of your issues resolved simply from the Waza speaker vs your Celestions, since it's all designed to function in the same ecosystem.
rob chappers best settings with the master dimed. and volume dimed, then controlling the volume with the gain.
Have you tried the spark amps? They are solid! And you kinda look like Adam from KSE
Tube amps and pizza. Awesome.
Lmao! Lung butter, a step up from lung clams
IMO the Boss Katana is best used on one of the clean or crunch channels or using the 'power amp in' as a pedal platform. The higher gain channels are mainly usable for leads and solos IMO, but they sound a little boxy and thin for rhythms to me, depending on the external boost pedal you use; the built-in boost is a little lacking, with too much low end, and needs an overdrive, anyway, but then that overloads the sound on the higher gain channels, making them sound overboosted and blown out, and the lower gain channels sound too crunchy. Of course, you can just pull back on the levels on your boosts, as Kyle shows. Just toy with the settings and different pedals and you can get a lot of very usable sounds.
You should hear the tone I get outta a Katana mini miked with an Aston Stealth mic put right up to it.
I have the 100Watt artist but dont use the built in models at all. Joyo argos into fender pugilist into an joyo american sound/sunT preamp into the effectts return. Less spikey frequencies to deal with. Can still use reverb and delay from the katana. Can even use the global eqs 🤘
I saw Fury of Five live in 1995 ortley beach NJ, Surf Club....awesome band