Katana MK II 100W - too loud? Need quick info

[effzee]

Hey there

I'm going to buy a Boss Katana, exclusively for home use for the foreseeable future. Will mainly be used to accompany my daughter when she sings.

The 50W would already be far more powerful than required, but the 100W has better features.

Long story short, a 100W Mk II just came up for sale for a very good price, 290€ delivered, with invoice, meaning I'd have 22 months warranty.

My only concern is that I won't get decent tone at living room volumes. I've searched and watched YouTube reviews but do not see solid info on this. It has the 0.5W setting, but how good does the thing sound at low volume?

Being a digital amp, I would expect the tone to be the same across the sound spectrum.

Other benefits of the 100W would be the fx loop and the big Boss pedal.

The thing is, I need to decide quickly, before this one gets away.

Thanks for insights!

 

[naveed211]

It sounds good at the 0.5 watt setting.

Actually that’s typically what I go to when I demo pedals in a store.

I see advantages to getting the 100 watt just in case you ever decide to play it out with a band at a rehearsal space or anything in the future. The fact that it comes with a foot controller is a plus.

I don’t think anything sounds great at only conversation volume, but if that’s all the decibel level I could play at forever, I’d get a Katana.

 

[INFANT]

^^^^^^
This

 

[effzee]

@naveed211
@INFANT

Awesome, thanks for the quick feedback. I'm gonna write the guy now.

These are the pics from the ad. It's only two months old.

 

[unixfish]

Modelling amps - yeah, the Katana is slightly different - are especially good at getting a decent sound at low volume. I think the 100 would be fine.

I have a 100 watt Mustang III that I normally have to use at sub-TV volumes. I find I can adjust settings to make it sound fairly good at those volumes.

That Katana should be very similar in abilities.

 

[BobbyZ]

Should be fine with a 100 watter. It's not like say a stock Marshall 1959 plugged straight in, you want dirty you turn it up, really really loud.
These things have all kinds of circuitry to simulate loud amp sounds at manageable volumes. Probably still gonna sound better louder but that's the way everything is.

 

[7171551]

If its anything like the mk.1 Katana head it will be fine. For best results try to get the power gain, volume and power settings up as much as possible and control with the master volume.

 

[effzee]

If its anything like the mk.1 Katana head it will be fine. For best results try to get the power gain, volume and power settings up as much as possible and control with the master volume.

So, like my tube amp then. I'm sure I'll be asking about settings once I get it

Except for the Rolad Steet Cube I've been using with my daughter, I've only had tube amps in the past, so this will be new territory for me. But I think it's all pretty simple.

I had bought the Street Cube thinking it would be a good solution for us playing together. The vocals sound good but the guitar, not so much. It doesn't sound like my guitar. It seems like you could plug any axe into that thing and it would sound the same.

 

[effzee]

BREAKING: NAD announcement pending!



He only put it up for sale yesterday and there were 70 ppl following the offer. I wrote and told him I'd pay as soon as he sends me the email address for PayPal. He wrote back and siad ok, paid is paid; there was a guy scheduled for tomorrow to come by and test it but the seller cancelled him, and sold to me. It really is a great price. The price is €275 + €15 shipping. That's typical for Germany, ppl only charge the actual postage cost.

I'm really looking forward to this one!

 

[Axegrinder77]

I suspect that being digital, the higher wattage might even sound better at lower volume.

100 watts isn't that much anyways. Others here probably know the math, but I think it's like 20 watts tube.

With the added features and versatility, and the fact you found a deal, I'd go for it.

Might be easier to sell if needed too. You might get the itch for tubes!

 

[Ted Witton]

A fine amp - great at low power setting, earsplitting at 100 watts. Digital has come a long way and is very close to tube but lighter weight and more flexible - and cheap enough to throw away in the unlikely event that it fails when out of guarantee. The only snag is potential resale value: tube technology reached its zenith many years ago, but digital is still advancing and models quickly become obsolescent. But then, a few of us continue to play through 40 year old Peavey Bandits - solid state if not digital - so there is always a market for a good amp.

 

[effzee]

I suspect that being digital, the higher wattage might even sound better at lower volume.

100 watts isn't that much anyways. Others here probably know the math, but I think it's like 20 watts tube.

With the added features and versatility, and the fact you found a deal, I'd go for it.

Might be easier to sell if needed too. You might get the itch for tubes!

But I've got tubes, a Hughes and Kettner, 20W combo and I do love it. I'm looking for more sonic variation now, for accompanying my daughter on a variety of pop songs, and I don't want all the pedals etc.

I tried modelling amps a good ten years ago and they all just really left me feeling flat. I think the technology has made leaps and bounds since then. Well, I'll be able to judge for myself soon. It'll be in the mail tomorrow and should be at my house Saturday at latest

 

[richey88]

It sounds good at the 0.5 watt setting.

Actually that’s typically what I go to when I demo pedals in a store.

I see advantages to getting the 100 watt just in case you ever decide to play it out with a band at a rehearsal space or anything in the future. The fact that it comes with a foot controller is a plus.

I don’t think anything sounds great at only conversation volume, but if that’s all the decibel level I could play at forever, I’d get a Katana.

I was gonna say this. I have the V1, really been a trooper!

 

[DeepDangler]

The 100 is a great amp. It’s not as loud as a 100 watt tube amp. Maybe 15-25 watts at most. The 100 is large enough to play small venues where as the 50 is more of a practice amp. Enjoy your amp!

 

[tfarny]

It’s a good amp for the price with, to me, serious user interface problems if you try to actually use the features it comes with outside of a home setting.

 

[effzee]

UPDATE: got it delivered on Wednesday (paypal'd the seller on Monday, he sent it Tuesday and it arrived on Wednesday, wow). First thing I did was factory reset. It has the newest software version. I tested it by using it in panel mode, clean, all effects and delay off, everything at 12 o'clock etc to get a kind of base idea of what the AMP actually sounds like.

Dialed in a little gain, a little boost (which I'd read is a good enhancement to the clean setting) dialed the tone controls to my liking, treble up, mids down, bass middle. Simple stuff as though it weren't a modelling amp at all, and, gotta say, not bad at all. It's honestly a lot better than I expected. The dynamics, the reaction to my attack on the strings, feels not too far from my EL84 H&K.

Now I'm going down the modelling patch rabbit hole, there's a whole world out there I wasn't aware of, like discovering intelligent life on Planet X.

Anyway, initial opinion is definitely a big thumbs up, especially at this price point.

 

[effzee]

Oh also, to my original query, y'all were right, the 0.5W sounds exactly like the 50W and 100W settings, to my ears, just quieter. That's pretty darned impressive.

 

[buster poser]

Two years with mine now (late-run Mk I 100-1x12), it's only ever been on the half-watt setting (hooray zero property line); line-out to my interface and I listen via JBL monitors, only occasionally over the amp's speaker.

I'm no tone connoisseur or anything, but it sounds nice to me at low volume. I will say unless you connect it to a PC you're missing probably 80% of its value, but it's infinitely tweakable once you're in the software. Some screens below, just the distortions/boosts, all pretty serviceable imo.

 

[effzee]

Two years with mine now (late-run Mk I 100-1x12), it's only ever been on the half-watt setting (hooray zero property line); line-out to my interface and I listen via JBL monitors, only occasionally over the amp's speaker.

I'm no tone connoisseur or anything, but it sounds nice to me at low volume. I will say unless you connect it to a PC you're missing probably 80% of its value, but it's infinitely tweakable once you're in the software. Some screens below, just the distortions/boosts, all pretty serviceable imo.

Nice

I've got the software installed and have twiddled with it. Downloaded a set of patches, Fender sounds, to replace the stock channels and stuff, just playing around. I'm going to need a good full day alone with the stuff to really get anywhere.

I also got the katana library app on my phone now. Just need an otg adapter to connect my phone to the amp.

Bluetooth would be a nice upgrade!

 

[buster poser]

Nice

I've got the software installed and have twiddled with it. Downloaded a set of patches, Fender sounds, to replace the stock channels and stuff, just playing around. I'm going to need a good full day alone with the stuff to really get anywhere.

I also got the katana library app on my phone now. Just need an otg adapter to connect my phone to the amp.

Bluetooth would be a nice upgrade!

Yeah, I believe there is or was an "Air" version with a very small 3" speaker and Bluetooth out. If you only need the interface/engine of the thing, that seems like a great value. I got the 100-112 because the 50 and Air don't/didn't have the effects loop.

Anyhow, to me it feels like a much newer (and better) version of a GT-6 with a speaker; probably helps I bought the pedal and the FC for it. Oh, and I use it for my Mustang PJ Bass too since I'm not worried about pushing the speaker, handles bass tones well too.