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After selling my wonderful Evans AE100, I needed something for a gig this weekend, so I took another chance on the Quilter Mini 101 head. Ordered it, got it in overnight, worked with it diligently for 3 hours and found I still can't get the tone I want. Decided on the Fender Mustang III as a replacement and headed off to the local SA store for a trade. While waiting for the paperwork on my return, I saw a BOSS Katana 50 sitting off by itself and decided to give it a try. Knowledgeable salesman (a rarity these days) ran me through the features, dwelling mostly on the clean sounds that I requested and SHAZAM!, I was sold. He got me a new-in-the-box unit out of the back room, refunded me some $$$ from my previous purchase and I was out the door. Got it home, unpacked it, got my sound in about 30 seconds - I'm a happy camper! Always wary of non-USA equipment but after buying my Squire Tele awhile back, decided to give it go and I'm not disappointed. Construction quality seems good (typical BOSS) and it has a bunch of features. I'll gig with it tonight and see how things go, but if it performs anything like it has so far, I'll be totally satisfied. true, it has a bunch of features that I'll never use, it does give me the limited number of tones that I require. Please don't write this amp off due to the quality of the 'wild-eyed rock n roller' demos you see on You Tube, but go to the store and check these things out - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I'm already thinking of adding a class D power amp to my old 1x12 cabinet to use as an external speaker should I ever need it.
**UPDATE**
Gigged with the Katana 50 last night and enjoyed every minute of it. It's the first time in a while that I've been able to actually play and not have to worry that the amp tone 'wasn't quite right' - this thing nailed everything that I asked of it. I work a duo with a singer and tracks, some of which already have guitar parts and I just have to blend in and some that I created with BIAB where I actually get to play lead guitar. We're, basically, an 'oldies' act doing everything from Hank Willliams to 50's pop to Billy Joel to Santana to Merle Haggard to surf to Allman Brothers and just about everything in between. This amp nailed it and I never got off the 25w setting. I do plan to set up some custom presets for a couple things I do a lot (Chet, surf and chord melody) but for the most part, the factory presets are perfectly adequate for my purposes. Real nice amp, super price point - you can't ask for much more.Last edited by Skip Ellis; 04-09-2017 at 10:14 AM.
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04-08-2017 12:45 PM
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Guess I lost the hunt here, Skip, but why would you sell a Evans and replace it with a Boss? I would find it difficult to part with my JE200, I love the damn thing even though it's no lightweight to move around.
Anyway, congrats on your new amp!
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I hated to part with it but I needed the $$$ to pay some bills and with what little I play out, I just couldn't justify having that much money tied up in the Evans. I was able to free up some money and get a (what I feel) real usable amp in the process. The Katana seems like it'll do everything I need, plus, I've got first refusal on the Evans if he ever decides to sell it (which I doubt).
Originally Posted by SierraTango
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Got it. My Evans gets a lot of work, it's a match made in heaven with my Benedetto. In fact will be on stage with that rig tonight.
Those Katana amps look interesting, and seem to be getting some love here. Enjoy!
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I've heard nothing but great things about the Katana. I just wish they made a 1x10 version.
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Yeah, I'm a 10's fan, too but nobody seems to want to build them into an amp these days. I've slowly gotten used to a single 12 over the years of using the MB200, so this seems pretty natural and it's got more possibilities than the MB200 (which I dearly love). Took me about 3 minutes to dial this in and it's ready to go to the gig tonight. I'll post a followup to see how it works out. Oh, and it's pretty light, too. I'm putting a 150 watt class 'd' amp in my old 1x12 cabinet to use with the line out in case I need to get stupid loud (which I doubt). Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Update bump
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Many thanks for the review.
I think these things are becoming a serious prospect for a lot of us !
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Just mentioning that Fender is soon going to release a new line of Mustang amps (v3??). This may be another cheap modeling amp worth considering. Perhaps like the katana, Fender has learned to provide great modeled sound for little cash.
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Possibly, and I actually went to the store to buy a Mustang III, but after demoing the Katana, I felt there was no comparison between it and the build quality of the Mustang I I used to own (for about a week). It'll be interesting to see what Fender does but it would have to be over the moon to make me give up the Katana. Originally Posted by maggles55
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Just to be clear: The "Mustang III" that Skip demoed is a v2 model (~5 year old technology). The v3 I mentioned has not been released yet. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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The new ones are on Amazon. The GT-40 is a 2x6.5 with 20 watts per channel stereo. The biggest is the GtT-200: 2x12, 100 w per chnnel stereo. In betewwen is the GT-100, 112 ith 100watts, stereo out and headphone. Originally Posted by maggles55
I have a bit of gas for the GT-40.
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Wow...These are not up on the fender.com site yet! Originally Posted by Alder Statesman
Cool stuff: GT-40 (40 watts) = 17.3 lbs
GT-100 (100 watts) = 31.1 lbs.
I sure hope these sound good.
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Don't see these on Amazon....
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Not to hijack the Katana thread, but a couple European websites had it listed last night, but they do not appear now. Amazon does have them listed for preorder withe Fender as the vendor.
The info available is a general overview, but they do sound cool. In many ways they are similar to Line 6's AmpliFi line that you can stream using Bluetooth for a home stereo. The aestheitics are similar.
I am looking forward to hearing them.
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You are correct...It looks like these listings were just pulled from Amazon. Originally Posted by boatheelmusic
Perhaps too good to be true
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Shucks. Like the European websites, they are "gone" now. Originally Posted by boatheelmusic
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Details here: Fender Mustang GT 40 << Guitar Amp
Seems cool.
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+1 for a Katana 50 watt 10" model. Failing that there are 12" to 10" speaker adapters. Better still I wish they'd make a 50 watt head, then the speaker size is my decision.
Last edited by GNAPPI; 04-10-2017 at 03:17 PM.
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The 100 watt head has a 50 watt mode. Originally Posted by GNAPPI
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Yes it does, but it's bigger than a 50w head would be, and more expensive than the 50w combo by ~$150. I'm tempted to get the 50w combo and pull the speaker and hack off the bottom. :-) Originally Posted by TedBPhx
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I think Boss are pulling tricks with the way the amp and speaker interact and would be wary about swapping.
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I played a 50 watt Katana at my local GC and was impressed with the clean tones. Unfortunately, without the line out, I have to pass. My "vintage" cube 60 still sounds great and has the options I need.
I do love the tone of the Katana however. With a direct out, I would probably jump at it.
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The recently discovered "sneaky amps" sound even better than the default amps. See my post in the main Katana thread for a link to the instructions.
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Originally Posted by rsclosson
I miss my old Cube 60s! I still see them for sale sometimes but the ones I seem to come across are always dirty from years of use. That being said, my Katana 50 sounds better!
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