Moving up from Katana

[RidiculousWonk]

I’m looking to move up from my Boss Katana. I play mostly at home now, but will also play at church when the pandemic slows down. I don’t use the built in effects, except for reverb. I have an ODR-1 for dirt (and am hoping Santa brings a TS!) I am looking for nice cleans and good blues and classic rock tones. I was thinking about the Boss Nextone or Blues Cube series, Fender Tone Master, and BluGuitar Amp1. You’ll notice that I don’t have any tube amps on there, as I’ve had a bad experience with the one I previously owned. (Needed preamp tubes way sooner than I though was reasonable and was too loud for playing at night with the kids in bed.) I guess a low wattage tube amp isn’t out of the question, but I’d like to look at these SS options first. (DI or line out is very useful at church.) The stores near me don’t have these amps in stock at the moment. What’s your experience been with these amps? I’m especially interested in your opinion if you’ve had more than one of them. Also, is there anything else I should be looking at?

 

[nickmsmith]

Here's a question I have to ask myself often:

What does your current amp lack, that another amp will do for you?

The katana 50 has been awesome for me, even in gigging situations (running line in to the board) and every time I've thought about something else, I realize that the amp I have does just about everything I need it to do, and then some.

But I'm sure Boss' upper level amps are outstanding, too.

 

[IMadeYouReadThis]

The Roland Blues Cube amps are great, and a welcome improvement in sound over the Katana, but they are a little pricey. The Tone Masters are around the same price, but are lighter and more Fender Blackface-ish (as you would expect). You can't do wrong with either one. For church gigs, the I would chose the Tone Master. It should be good at home, too, because it has an "attenuator." Equally as good (again, if it were me) would be the Blues Cube with a Sparkle Clean tone capsule. The tone capsules are expensive, though.

 

[11 Gauge]

So, let me see if I understand you correctly:

• You currently have a Katana 100
• You don't want something with tubes
• You need a good clean tone
• You need a good blues/classic rock tone
• You don't use the built-in effects, except for reverb
• You've got an OD pedal that I'm assuming you're currently happy with, with another on the way

I've got a Katana 50, and with a modest pedalboard, I'm happy with the clean and dirty tones that I'm getting. I don't play blues per se, but could probably do a range of acceptable blues tones, depending on what's needed.

Personally, I'd give that Kat 100 a shot, when we finally get out of this pandemic-centric situation. It sounds like it should have everything you need. Only if it didn't work out for some reason, then I'd consider something else in your list.

 

[RidiculousWonk]

Here's a question I have to ask myself often:

What does your current amp lack, that another amp will do for you?

The katana 50 has been awesome for me, even in gigging situations (running line in to the board) and every time I've thought about something else, I realize that the amp I have does just about everything I need it to do, and then some.

But I'm sure Boss' upper level amps are outstanding, too.

Fair question to ask. When I had the tube amp, it filled the room and was more responsive to my playing. My Katana 100 can certainly be loud, but it just isn’t as warm and full. I know that I can’t expect the full tube experience from a SS amp, but I’m hopeful to improve the playing experience by getting a better SS amp.

 

[Hpilotman]

I like these amps. Get a Lightweight 1x12 speaker cab and you are in business. I use to own this amp and they sound great. I sold it to a friend and moved up to the 202 Tone Block.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/101Reverb--quilter-labs-101-reverb-50-watt-head-with-reverb

 

[driver8]

If I were going to get an SS amp (I'm not, but if I were), I'd get one of those blues cubes. They sound surprisingly good. A lot of people seem to like the Tonemasters, but to me the Blues Cubes sound better and more tube-like. TMs are lighter tho, if that factors into it.

 

[Jakedog]

If you want/need the line out feature, and you like the style of the Katana (simple, straightforward modeler) I’d stay with that style. Tubes aren’t necessary for a great clean and OD tones anymore, and depending on what you’re after, can make it hard to have fun and get nice, full spectrum sounds a very low volumes. Like you need to do when kids are in bed.

My beef with the Katana, is that I just didn’t think it sounded good. I couldn’t get a sound out of it that I didn’t think was, for lack of a better word, “hard”. It was just angular and clang-y sounding no matter how I set it. I felt the same way about the little Blues Cube “Hot” amp.

The larger blues cubes I like a helluva lot. Those things sound beautiful. As do the new Tone Master amps, if you’re into traditional Fender voicings. I think either one would give you a major improvement over the Katana, based on my experience auditioning amps from all three families. I’ve also gotten extremely impressive sounds out of the Vox modelers I’ve tried.

I haven’t tried the Nextone amps yet, so I can’t weigh in on those.

 

[Robert H.]

My Blues Cube Stage is my go to amp. My '75 SFPR is fine, but never leaves the house.

 

[MilwMark]

I think it’s hard to beat a KTN100 honestly.

The are super responsive and LOUD.

Have you tried turning the MIDS up to at least 3 o’clock? That really fills out the sound. As does turning the Channel volume all the way up and using the Master as the volume/level control.

Finally, try the Lead and Brown channels with Gain maybe 9 o’clock. Great bluesy “cleans”.

 

[RidiculousWonk]

My beef with the Katana, is that I just didn’t think it sounded good. I couldn’t get a sound out of it that I didn’t think was, for lack of a better word, “hard”. It was just angular and clang-y sounding no matter how I set it.

YES! That’s the best description I’ve read of how the Katana can sound. It’s a great amp for what it is, but I want to step up to the next level.

 

[Twang Deluxe]

Get a Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. You won't regret it

 

[bgmacaw]

My first suggestion would be to stick with the Katana.

After that, my suggestion would be to get a Roland Jazz Chorus, most likely the JC-40. You can get great clean tones from it and, when you want heavier sounds, you can use your choice of modeling unit/pedal in front of it. That's what I did for years with my Peavey Bandit 65 (Bandit is another suggestion, but I'd lean more toward the Jazz Chorus if you're buying new.)

 

[brookdalebill]

Nextone Stage and/or Blues Cube Stage!
Great sounding, dependable stuff!

 

[Chud]

I have the Tone Master Deluxe Blond, so can vouch for that one from your list. I've been hearing great things about the Blackstar Silverline series you might want to check out though.

 

[Zepfan]

The Katana 50 makes an excellent home amp and I've been happy with the effects. I keep mine on the 25watt setting, the 50watt is overkill for the house and the .5watt setting sucks. For a larger room stage setting it may benefit from a speaker change.

Every Boss Cube amp I've ever heard talk about their amp is happy with it.

Still love my Tube amp with onboard Tremolo. When I'm playing it, I don't feel like I need anything else but maybe a Wah pedal for that "Cocked Wah sound". I get fantastic clean that can be overdriven for some shimmer and It's got a great grit & dirt channel. I can also choose both for that Oh Yeah Tone.

 

[SRHmusic]

I have both a Blues Cube Stage and a Blues Cube Artist. The Artist has "bigger" overall sound, and is better for high gain leads when needed (not metal, but like Santana's saturated distortion); that and the effects loop and flexible channel and boost switching make it better for gigging for me. The clean channel is very good on both. The Stage is great for our band practices, and it is awesome for edgy clean tones, like a big Blues Jr, Blue Deluxe or even a clean Deluxe Reverb type of tone (I think it's better than a DR).

 

[aging_rocker]

The Katana 50 makes an excellent home amp and I've been happy with the effects. I keep mine on the 25watt setting, the 50watt is overkill for the house and the .5watt setting sucks...

I ran mine on the 50w setting once. Only once...SWMBO wasn't keen on that idea, for some reason. There was profanity...

 

[tfarny]

I have owned the K100 and the Blues Cube Stage (and a couple of the tone capsules). I've A/Bed them pretty extensively, and I think you can get the Katana to sound just about exactly like the Blues Cube if you want to - but the Katana has other options.
I only played the tonemaster deluxe briefly at a music store, but I did like it a lot.

 

[Mike M]

I can totally recommend the Tone Masters, they are amazing