Much love has been given out to the BOSS Katana amp line since it was released and over time, it has gained many devotees; myself included. Still, there are those folks out there who will argue that it’s still just a solid-state amp and could never be as good as a real tube amp.
I get that. I have eight tube amps ranging in wattage from 5 watts to 50 watts. They’re all set up differently and each has its own distinctive characteristics. With my Plexi-style amps, there really is nothing like the high-end sizzle when the amp is cranked. My Fender Hot Rod Deluxe has a hauntingly rich and beautiful clean tone. And let’s face it: There’s really nothing like the power sag of a tube rectifier.
But despite all those great things about tube amps, my Katana Artist (v1) is my #1 amp for both stage and studio. Why? For one, simply because it has a sound and feel that speaks to me and I’m inspired every time I play it. But perhaps more importantly, it has a sound and feel that’s all its own. I don’t look at it as a digital, solid-state amp. I look at it as a great amp that gives me the tone and dynamics that I expect out of any amp that I call my own.
That said, historically, there is a justifiable reason for the stigma around solid-state amps not being as good tube amps. Twenty-five or so years ago, with just a couple of exceptions, solid-state amps were definitely the cheap alternatives – at least the ones built for electric guitar.
Acoustic guitar amps, on the other hand, tended – and still tend – to be all solid-state. To me, SR and Genz-Benz have been my go-to standards, and I still play through my SR California Blonde. It’s a 75-lb. behemoth with a 15″ speaker. Even as old as it is, I’ll pit it against any other acoustic amp. Sorry, I digress. Back to electric guitar solid state amps…
Back in the day, solid-state amps sounded horrible and felt even worse with little to no dynamics, and don’t get me started with their “overdrive” sound. They totally sucked! They were bad enough that they left a lasting impression and a stigma built up against them that lingers even to today.
And it’s really unfortunate because there are amps like the Katana and the recent Fender Tone Master amps whose sound quality and dynamics are just simply stellar. But where the Tone Master amps are copping the Deluxe and Twin, the Katana line, at least to me, have their own sounds, and not trying to copy specific amps. And that’s the thing that sold me with my original Katana 50 and now with my Katana Artist. They both have their own sounds. But because of that historical stigma with solid-state amps, lots of people still frown upon them.
But as with any amp, you have to take the time to dial it in with your playing style and equipment. When I got my Katana 50, I had to spend lots of time getting the gain, volume, and EQ dialed in for my guitars. Playing a Les Paul, I had to bump the mids and highs. With my Godin, I had to roll off the highs and bump up the bass. That’s not even taking into account the fact that I had to break in the speaker, which makes EQ adjustments a moving target!
The same went for my Katana Artist. But I spent even more time playing to break it in because that Waza speaker has just gotten better with time. I recently did a recording session with the Artist and at first, I was using the DI. But I noticed that the speaker sounded SO good that I ended up miking the amp.
The point to this is that no amp, whether digital or valve is going to sound great right out of the box with everything set in the middle. You have to invest time into getting it dialed in and broken in before you get a truly great sound out of it.
Now I realize there will still be detractors. That’s unavoidable. All I can say is this: You do you. But I’m willing to be that if a detractor kept an open mind and really spent some time dialing in a Katana, while they may not take the plunge and buy one, they may at least get over the notion that all solid state amps are bad.
I love my Marshall DSL40C, but it keeps blowing fuses and although I suspect changing the power tubes will help, I’m not certain – I’ve got to spend $50 to find out. A good solid-state amp is looking real appealing right now!
I LOVE that amp! A buddy of mine has one and even at lower volume levels, that amp has big balls! Hopefully, the problem is just the power tubes. I know it’s a little bit of money, but a matched pair of JJ EL34s should only set you back about $30.00. I’d just swap them out in any case.
It’s a fantastic amp! I do love the Marshall crunch. I splashed out on a pair of Mullard EL34s which should arrive tomorrow – fingers crossed they do the job.
Mullard! Nice. The NOS Mullards are awesome, but the newer ones perform very well.
To close the loop, the new tubes work great. My dad used to be an EE, so I texted him to brag about my electronic self sufficiency. His response: “Get yourself a transistor amp!”
OMG!!! Now THAT is hilarious! Thank goodness it was just bad power tubes.
Great timing to read this post, I’m just about to buy a Katana!
Awesome! Which one are you getting?
I’m thinking the 50w version, I have a young family and the neighbours don’t really need to hear my ‘classic 80’s rock riffs’ all day!!!! Any thoughts on the 100 vs 50?
Either will work. But what I like about the 100 is that it has a balanced line out. You can hook up a TRS cable to it and plug directly into a PA board -or- an interface for totally silent recording or jamming. I recorded the guitar parts for this clip at my kitchen table with my Katana Artist (which is a 100 at its base) while my family slept. https://soundcloud.com/goofydawg/artist-lp.
I gave my son the 50 and he has it set up in his room. When he wants to play late at night, he just hooks up headphones.
To be honest, I’ve very little need of a line out, I rarely record these days and I don’t play live now, it’s just for fun and distraction. I used a Digitech amp modeller/effects board for a good 10 yrs without an amp at all, just playing though headphones, then last year I bought a Blackstar mini amp that’s just too thin and nasal sounding, I’m looking for a quality sound at low volumes! Have you any other suggestions? It seems the Katana is heads above every other amp on its field, although I don’t need the effects I have an ever grinding pedal board! Thanks for reaching out, great blog 👍🏻
Then the Katana 50 is definitely the way to go! Though I “gave” mine to my son, when I’ve got a small gig, I just grab that amp. It’s still fantastic.