-
I have the 50 and the 100. Bought the 100 to use on some gigs and the 50 to use for teaching.
Hard to beat. Got the two of them for $400 total (used)
They sound great for jazz or rock. Don't know if they'll hold up in the long term but the boutique solid state amp makers need to do some refactoring on both price and tone. The katanas just sound great right out of the box for jazz with virtually no tweaking. No weird middy tones or strange eqs.
I think the power ratings are a bit optimistic though.
-
08-31-2017 07:29 AM
-
Nice! I took the plunge too and got the 100w 1 x 12" version. I'm impressed. For $280 (used the Labor Day coupon at MF), it's hard to pass up. Using the clean amp sound with gain at 9 o'clock, vol at 3 o'clock, bass at 11 o'clock, mid at 12 o'clock, treble at 9 o'clock, and master set for whatever volume you need, my 175s sound thick and rich. Can't speak for the other amp models or the effects other than the reverb. Reverb is just ok in my view. Not great, not bad. All in all, it's a great amp. In fact, I'd recommend it to any level player. I like it way better than my Roland Cube 80 which has a sealed cabinet. The open back on the katana is worlds better for my taste. Interested to hear how it has delivered for others....
RoliLast edited by rolijen; 08-31-2017 at 08:59 AM.
-
the one complaint I have is the lack of overall volume. the 100 watter really has the volume of a 30w amp unless you crank the gain up to about noon. When you do that it probably has the volume of a twin. It has just a light bit of edge with the gain up that high but it's barely noticeable. Not as much as the early benson records for example...
I hated all the other channels. The brown amp sounds nothing like any brown amp I've ever played. It also sounds great with pedals. And the price is ridiculous on it.
-
And I will add that I like this amp better than almost any dedicated jazz amp I have played. Much more transparent and similar to a fender sound if you like that sort of thing...Haven't tried to get the dark clarusy Bruno/later Martino sound.
They make 4 versions of this amp. A battery version, the 50, 100 and a 100w head. All very inexpensive.
Oh, and the reverb...I think it's fine. nothing special though. Not going to make someone think you're playing through a tube reverb but it sounds great in context with everything I've thrown at it. I have tried the effects and was not too impressed with them...
-
I agree--it isn't super loud. It's fine for my use. And beats lugging my super reverb around any day. Kinda wondering what the 2 x 12" version feels like. But then, you're in tube amp territory, weight-wise.
Originally Posted by jzucker
-
Katana amps are a great value for a lot of amp, and agree with most of the above review. I still find it not in the same quality of the Quilter Aviator for Loud Clean tones. But that said it offers a lot more versatility and a very usable overdrive channel.
You definitely have a Best Buy in these amps!
-
The more I tweak mine the more I like it.
You can use it straight out of the box or dig into the amps and effects hidden in the firmware. As far as wattage goes I seem to remember reading that maximum output of the Katana 100 should be in the neighborhood of a 60 watt tube amp. Of course, since the Katana is designed to emulate the response of a tube amp, it's not going to stay clean as gain is increased.
One of the product managers posted some info on another forum about maximizing Master and Volume, then adjusting Gain as you would use the single volume knob on a tube amp. Then you can select a different wattage on Master depending on your environment and use Volume to set final level and/or match levels between patches.
For added headroom speaker swaps are an option, although space is pretty cramped, especially on the Katana 50 from what I've read. I swapped mine for a custom 100 watt WGS 12C/S and like it quite a bit.Last edited by wzpgsr; 08-31-2017 at 11:33 AM.
-
I would easily take this amp over the aviator. I love quilter but the katana is much more fender-like than the aviator and has better reverb and a more natural gain as well. I tried everything I could with the aviator including swapping out speakers and never found a sound that wasn't middy. I think their newer design with the fender preamp would be nice to get into the aviator but I understand that's not coming soon... Originally Posted by jads57
-
Jack, have you abandoned your Axe and Kemper in favor of the Katanas?
-
Not at all. I did sell the kemper a while back in favor of the axefx though. But the axefx blows the doors off the katana. It's just that for jams and guitar lessons, the axefx is too bulky to lug around. plus, the used prices on the boss amps is ridiculous. I paid $135 for the 50w version! Originally Posted by Jabbarn
-
yesterday , one of my advanced students thought it was a tube amp!
Last edited by jzucker; 09-01-2017 at 06:21 PM.
-
I am thinking of buying a Katana to leave at the conservatory I teach at. They have an old Polytone but it becoming really unreliable. I am wondering how loud the 50 is - if you had to place it into a playing situation, how loud could it handle? I assume it would be loud enough for small groups without drums but could it work with a mid volume drummer? Loud enough to compete with horns? Play in a small club?
I am just wondering since you are saying the wattage estimate is practically under what they claim. I don't mind going up to the 100 but the amp has to be able to be used for group classes so I am wondering in real life what kind of group the 50 would be able to be used with.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
-
i doubt the 50 would have enough oomph to handle electric bass and drums unless the drummer were playing mostly with brushes.
-
That's very good to know - thanks. The student drummers don't always have the lightest touches so it sounds like I should be looking at the 100.
-
+1 on the 100w version being the right one.
-
I just bought the 100 1x12 and I'm pretty impressed with it. Though tweaking the stock settings works pretty well, downloading the sneaky amps takes it to another level.
The clean channel has virtually no detectable idle noise, which I really appreciate. For $280 on sale, I can't imagine having more amp for the money. I won't be getting rid of my '68 CDR anytime soon, but this is certainly more versatile and covers more sonic ground.
JP
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
-
tell me more about the sneaky amps. I haven't hooked either of mine up to the computer yet.
-
Just a lot more options available to you. Useable jazz sounds in both the Clean and Crunch category can be had. You can't assign a sneaky amp to the rotary dial but you can save presets with the sneaky amps in tact. If you use Gumtown's floorboard editor for Katana, you can access all of the sneaky amps, including a Custom amp type that allows you to essentially design your own amp. (It's very much beta software but generally works pretty well.) Originally Posted by jzucker
Here's a page that explains how to access the sneaky amps:
docs/use-28-amp-types.md at master * katana-dev/docs * GitHub
Take the amp names with a grain of salt. I make no claims that the Twin sounds just like a Twin, but I do like how it sounds.
-
If you don't use the floorboard editor and you can't assign a sneaky amp to the rotary dial, How can I access them?
-
The link I posted above has a zip file containing a file you can import into the stock software editor.
-
I understand but if you can't overwrite a setting available on the rotary dial, how is it useful? Maybe you misspoke? Surely you can assign the sound to some position on the dial. Otherwise, is it only useable when you have it connected to the computer?
-
No, it's just a bit of a hack because the sneaky amps are not officially supported. You dial in the settings in the software then save to one of the presets on the amp. You can call up your saved sneaky amp presets from the preset buttons on the amp itself--no need to connect to the computer. Once called up on the amp, you can tweak the EQ, Gain, etc. for the preset on the amp as well, BUT if you select an amp from the rotary dial it will switch to that amp. However, you can just recall the preset and the sneaky amp preset will still be saved. It sounds more complicated than it is.
-
thanks for the explanation. So you think the sneaky twin is better than the default clean amp? And do the sneaky amps work on both the 50 and the 100?
-
I wouldn't say better, just different. They do work with both 50 and 100. I don't play squeaky clean too often and tend towards a slightly saturated mid range. Lots of nice options for that in the sneaky amps. A few tweedy sounds, the twin, a "natural clean" you might like.
Last edited by wzpgsr; 09-09-2017 at 04:15 PM.
-
I downloaded the floor board editor but haven't figured out how to get it to work yet. Anybody have any links to tutorials for that?
I busted out the "Hotel West Coast" amp last night and tried to put on my best Don Felder
It has a little phase shifter thrown in that gets it pretty close to the live recording. This thing is pretty fun. Major time suck!
JP
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
anyone selling an ibanez pm120?
Today, 01:33 PM in For Sale