BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Tue May 14, 2019 12:37 pm

I won’t argue with that Steve, for 99% of players around here that would more than suffice.
The problem for me with the Zoom G3x was the noise when scrolling through the patches if I had to go past the distortion sounds to get to another patch, because as you press the button to scroll, there are pops and rasps that come through the amp quite loudly. I suppose careful patch planning on my part would help though. I might re-visit the G3X, they are cheap enough and I loved my patches that I still have in a file somewhere on an old laptop. :)
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby David Martin » Wed May 15, 2019 7:35 am

[quote="dave robinson"]
Getting back to the Katana and extra programming from the computer, I’m looking at setting up an external Tone Bender and Volume pedal, so that I can do a show with the eight choices that can be stored on the Katana pedal. That would make the Helix redundant, but whether or not it is doable remains to be seen, as I also need an acoustic option too. With the amount of stuff I need to cover, there is only room for one Shadows patch, so maybe the Hall & Collins may come into play at some point. I started this today so it’s all new.
[/quote

It's actually possible to have many more than 8 stage accessible sounds on the Katana, using the GA-FC foot controller like this...
Using, for example, using button 1 (and this works for every channel button), set up the basic sound you want using the software amp knobs, and write it to the 1 location. Now, on the foot controller, push Effects. All the lights are now out. On Tone Studio, click Effects, and for each of the software Effects buttons there are dropdowns. Let's get Dave his Tone Bender. Distortions and Boosts can be found in the dropdown associated with software button one. Scroll through the choices, select your weapon, click it and using its controls make it do what you want. When you are happy, write again to , location 1. You should now see FC button lit red on the floor controller. Switch it off... Then programme each of the FC buttons in turn with modulation, or reverbs, or delays. Do it one FC button at a time, writing it as above after each step then clcking the newly programmed FC button off. DON'T FORGET TO WRITE AFTER EACH STAGE! :D (Note also that you can use FC buttons to switch in two different EQ pedals - Graphic and Parametric, so, if you wanted to, you could create a radically different sound within each channel.)

So, to use this in a stage context ... Provided that you wrote the patches as above, Switch on the amp, and select button 1 on the FC. You should hear your basic, dry, sound. Click FC Effects... no lights. But when you click each of your programmed FC buttons, their sounds are recalled... So that's 4 sounds per channel. 16 overall, and there's even a way of getting a 17th...

I hope this is clear... I found it hard to describe! :shock:
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Wed May 15, 2019 9:42 am

Thanks David I did consider that possibility but wasn’t certain I could do it.

I was programming the 2 x 12 yesterday and noticed a harshness that has alway been inherent though tame-able, so I connected my 2 x 12 Celestion Neodymium cab and what a massive improvement, which leads me to understand why people are talking about the newer Katana Artist 100 combo. The difference is a better, plywood baffle with a quality speaker and bigger cabinet, providing more warmth. The amp is almost the same, except for some physical switches for speaker simulation that are in the software.

That said, this morning I’m going over to Ellesmere Port to pick up a Katana 100 head to use with my single 12” Boogie Cabinet with the Eminence Lil Texas Neodymium speaker on small gigs, whilst for larger gigs I have a 2 x 12 cab with Vox livery containing Celestion Neodymium speakers for lightness. I figure that should fit the bill rather than buying the Katana Artist, giving me a split amp and cab option and better choices.

The next few days will be interesting and exciting as I get stuck in to doing as David suggests and programming switchable effects on all the necessary channels, giving more choices once again. Thanks David for arousing my curiosity and sharing your experience. :)
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Wed May 15, 2019 3:53 pm

I’m back from picking up the head and have just done a quick comparison and the better quality cabinet and speaker does make a big improvement. I’ll report more as we along and after I’ve gigged it on Thursday. :)
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby David Martin » Wed May 15, 2019 6:00 pm

Also, rummage around in Tone Studio, and you'll find a Global EQ which you can use to tame the inherent harshness. As the name suggests, it is applied to EVERY patch, so that should do the trick for you...
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby David Martin » Wed May 15, 2019 6:09 pm

And the 17th voice? Click the FC panel button briefly, then use the software knobs to create another sound, then WRITE it.

WHEN YOU'VE DONE ALL OF THIS, CLICK BACKUP ALONG THE TOP LINE OF TONE STUDIO which saves the Liveset you've created to the Library inside Tone Studio, then to be doubly sure, click Export to put it on a USB stick or at least into a separate folder on your computer.

Fun and games... :D
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Wed May 15, 2019 9:08 pm

Yesterday I had a second delay to use that came from the REVERB control. This afternoon I set up the head with the laptop and everything works except the second delay, though it did work briefly.
I have put it down now as I began to get slightly irritated . . .
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Wed May 15, 2019 10:57 pm

I had another look at the missing echo problem and it seems to work on BANK B, which is accessible only via the software, but at least I can programme a patch with two heads/taps if I wish. :)
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Thu May 16, 2019 2:23 pm

I’ve put five sounds - ROCKABILLY, TWANG (Duane Eddy) , GARY MOORE (Parisienne Walkways) , an ethreal echo/flange and and acoustic patch to take my Gordon Giltrap guitar. With the FX on/off switches in place, those cover most of what we do.
The second bank of five are four Shadows patches and a straight through sound. I need to remember to use the FX on/off switches to make it work.
I’m going to gig it tonight with just a volume pedal attached, no Helix - let’s see how I get on. :)
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Re: BOSS Katana amps-the next best thing?

Postby dave robinson » Fri May 17, 2019 7:38 pm

Well I set up the newly programmed Katana 100 head through my 1 x 12 Mesa Boogie cabinet at our gig last night and the results were very satisfactory indeed. Using the Boss GAFC pedal I was able to get all the tones needed to do the gig, with the addition of just an Ernie Ball volume pedal, replacing the Line 6 Helix.
It’s early days yet, but since exploring the possibilities of the Boss Tone Studio, it has opened up some excellent possibilities and reduced my set up time by a half. I now need to explore the DI possibilities, as we are heading that way to make gigs easier for us as we become less able to carry heavy kit around. We already did a couple of gigs with guitars & bass DI’d but we now have the electric Roland V-Drums to factor in.
I guess many will scoff at the idea of doing things this way, but it is working and sounding damn good, though not aesthetically pleasing, but it opens up great possibilities for getting a great mix in tiny venues, which can be problematic with Vox amps and live drum kits. :idea:
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