Can anyone suggest Non-BOSS footswitch for my Katana 100?

[StolenBlackMesa]

I've just gotten the Katana 100 MKII and was looking for a footswitch that wasn't like BOSS's $130 GA-FC switch. That switch looks like it would be great but I'm not exactly looking to drop that much on the footswitch.

Does anyone have alternatives? I saw Fender has a switch with an effects switch and a channel switch but I'm not super familiar with how compatible different brand switches are with certain amps.

 

[LGOberean]

I remember seeing a video review of a BOSS Nextone Stage. The reviewer didn’t have the GA-FC so he tried what he had, a VOX VFS2 (2-button foot switch).

Plugged into the channel and boost jack of the Foot Control section on the rear panel of the Nextone Stage, he said it switched channels and either engaged or defeated the Boost feature on the Nextone.

So if that works on the Nextone, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work plugged into the rear panel of the Katana 100Mk II, one button for channel switching, the other for switching between Bank A and Bank B. Which also leads me to believe that other brands of 2-button footswitches (like the Fender you mentioned) should work as well.

Of course, a 2-button footswitch won't do everything the GA-FC can do. I supposed you could plug another 2-button footswitch into the GA-FC jack and run two footswitches to cover the variety of functions on the Katana. And that might still be cheaper than the $130 for the GA-FC. I don't know if other brands have 4-6 button footswitches that would cover all the functions of the GA-FC, or if they would work in the Katana, or what they would cost.

All that said, I freely admit I own neither a Katana nor a Nextone, so I’m not speaking here from personal experience. So I offer my reply as food for thought, a placeholder of a comment until someone else with hands-on experience chimes in here.

 

[SRHmusic]

The GA FC is a MIDI type of footswitch. There are some other programmable MIDI footswitches out there that might work. The one Blackstar uses runs at 2x the old standard clock rate IIRC, but I'm not sure about the Boss one. As @LGOberean notes, there may be an input or two for the simpler on/off switches, as well, but just for a couple amp settings.
Edit: Yes, these run over an instrument TRS cable.
Edit 2: the amp manual should explain what you can do with the simpler switches.

 

[SRHmusic]

Looking at the back panel, you can do bank a/b and ch 1/2 switching with a simple two footswitch to TRS cable.

 

[raito]

I paid about $70 for mine. Even retail was under $100.

 

[Geo]

The $20 Hosa dual-latching pedal is said to work fine but needs male/male TRS cables not included.