-- Boss Katana arrived , Awful high gain ? ----

the4thlast1

the4thlast1

Well-known member
I just received a new Boss Katana 50 combo to try out. Clean and mid gain tones are ok but high gain sounds really messy , Is it me ? Maybe user error ? Anyone have settings they can share for a good modern tone :)
 
Dude, I'm with ya. I played one for a bit in my local shop and thought it sounded god awful. I'm sure through a better cab it would have sounded better......but as it was it sounded like ass.
 
Yeah, I had the head for a few weeks and liked it through my cabs, but my nephew got a combo and that speaker made it sound pretty bad. I'd go for the head, or if you can run a cab with the combo..
 
100 watt head through a cab, crunch mode with gain around noon sounded pretty damn good for what it is.
 
I also have the head and run it through a 212 cab. It can sound pretty heavy that way.


Basically, you need to get in the software and turn on a booster in front of the lead or brown channel. I like "overdrive" or "tubescreamer". Also, turn on the Parametric EQ. Crank the low end way up, and scoop the mids around 500-800hz. Turn on the noise gate also. It can sound very chunky and modern.
 
MetalHeadMike":1j6yye2q said:
Dude, I'm with ya. I played one for a bit in my local shop and thought it sounded god awful. I'm sure through a better cab it would have sounded better......but as it was it sounded like ass.
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Funny seeing your Avatar, because I think my main sound I use is something like a Spiritual Healing / Human type tone. You have to use the software to tweak the EQ as I mentioned in the above post. I definitely think using the head and a larger cab helps.
 
Shask":3u34q31k said:
I also have the head and run it through a 212 cab. It can sound pretty heavy that way.


Basically, you need to get in the software and turn on a booster in front of the lead or brown channel. I like "overdrive" or "tubescreamer". Also, turn on the Parametric EQ. Crank the low end way up, and scoop the mids around 500-800hz. Turn on the noise gate also. It can sound very chunky and modern.
Click to expand...

Yep, that is what I was going to say. When I have tried these out in the store, I find the best option is to lower amp gain and do the boost like you mentioned.
 
Theres definitely some good sounds to be found in it. The head thru a food cab makes it sound waaayy better. Also the sneaky amp models have some great tones in there. Also agree with dialing back the gain and using the screamer effects. The combo versions I've tried weren't not all that awe inspiring. But for what they are and the price, still a pretty good bang for the buck.
 
Shask":3fn8qzcz said:
MetalHeadMike":3fn8qzcz said:
Dude, I'm with ya. I played one for a bit in my local shop and thought it sounded god awful. I'm sure through a better cab it would have sounded better......but as it was it sounded like ass.
Click to expand...

Funny seeing your Avatar, because I think my main sound I use is something like a Spiritual Healing / Human type tone. You have to use the software to tweak the EQ as I mentioned in the above post. I definitely think using the head and a larger cab helps.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I only played the little combo, and I imagine the speaker and enclosure on that thing are a major weak link. Man I love Chuck's tone! Have you ever heard Gruesome? They are sick and really bring that old school Death vibe. Awesome guitar tone/work and vocals.
 
I don’t like the onboard boosts at all. Trick with these is to watch the high end/presence, not a lot of gain, and run the preamp volume all the way up. These are bright, sizzly amps. I like mine better through my Redbacks than through my H75’s (sizzle city). This clip is through one Redback.

 
Played a 50 combo last week for a few minutes at a store and I too was disappointed. Gotta say though that I didn't mess around with it much, but first impressions for high-gain were poor. The Peavey vyper sounded much better.
 
xzyryabx":8k54t8ku said:
Played a 50 combo last week for a few minutes at a store and I too was disappointed. Gotta say though that I didn't mess around with it much, but first impressions for high-gain were poor
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yeah thats the impression I got when I went to get mine. turned it on in the shop and thought meh not really what I was expecting to hear, but I decide to take the gamble and get it anyway (the head version..so I was banking on it sounding better through my quad). Plugged it in when I got home and yes it was a little better but still underwhelming .... so i decide to plug it into the computer to see what was in tone studio and this is the truth I did not touch a single thing in tone studio (didn't want to go down that rabbit while that early in the game) but i unplugged it from the computer and plugged into the cab again and bam it sounded like a completely different amp. I have no idea what happened or why it happen, but now it is my favourite amp. My EVH just sits there looking lonely...well that was until I decided to run them together in stereo....now that is one EPIC set up :D
 
sytharnia1560":2tqlnvab said:
xzyryabx":2tqlnvab said:
Played a 50 combo last week for a few minutes at a store and I too was disappointed. Gotta say though that I didn't mess around with it much, but first impressions for high-gain were poor
Click to expand...

yeah thats the impression I got when I went to get mine. turned it on in the shop and thought meh not really what I was expecting to hear, but I decide to take the gamble and get it anyway (the head version..so I was banking on it sounding better through my quad). Plugged it in when I got home and yes it was a little better but still underwhelming .... so i decide to plug it into the computer to see what was in tone studio and this is the truth I did not touch a single thing in tone studio (didn't want to go down that rabbit while that early in the game) but i unplugged it from the computer and plugged into the cab again and bam it sounded like a completely different amp. I have no idea what happened or why it happen, but now it is my favourite amp. My EVH just sits there looking lonely...well that was until I decided to run them together in stereo....now that is one EPIC set up :D
Click to expand...


I have seen people say just doing a factory reset made it sound much better. It was like the settings got jumbled up or something, and needed a fresh install to sound like it is suppose to.
 
The Artist model sounds much better than the regular one as it has a better speaker and enclosure. Andy James is playing one but I think this clip is direct with USB.
 
Shask":267n5mz0 said:
I have seen people say just doing a factory reset made it sound much better. It was like the settings got jumbled up or something, and needed a fresh install to sound like it is suppose to.
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yeah I have read that was well ... weird thing is you have to physical do a reset and I didn't do that. I literally just plugged in the USB cable, downloaded the drivers and set up tone studio and then unplugged it. I supposed it could have updated in the back ground while it was plugged in
 
danyeo":1ii36lgl said:
The Artist model sounds much better than the regular one as it has a better speaker and enclosure. Andy James is playing one but I think this clip is direct with USB.
Click to expand...

But the head can't have a better speaker (don't talk about the little inbuilt one haha) or enclosure :D
 
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