The BOSS Katana Series of modeling amplifiers was launched in 2016 by BOSS/Roland, the famous Stompbox/Synth maker from Japan. The Katana series has since grown massively to include multiple models of compatible amps designed to appease a certain market. LIke a lot of modern modeling amps, the amount of "tweakability" of the device relies heavily on the user's willingness to use a PC or an app on a phone to make configuration changes and adjust to taste.
The line is currently on it's third generation (Gen 3), and the previous generation is a frickin' steal used (mkII), and the initial generation (mk1 as it's often referred to as) is out of support but still a fine piece of equipment. Most models however, should be roughly the same whether you have a mk1 15, a mk2 KATANA-HEAD like I have, or a Gen 3 Artist Pro head model.
Manual Preset Editing
Manual preset editing is very similiar to BLackstar's IDCORE interface, but a bit more improved. Patches and banks are represented as "Channels" and "Banks". Some models only have one bank of four presets, two banks of two, or two banks of four (mine is 2 banks of four). These presets are dialed in via analog knobs for gain and volume, and a 3 band standard low/mid/high gutiar EQ, and PResense knobs. Effects are handled similar to the Blackstar IDCORE as well, except with a few to a handful of concentric knobs used to control each effect type from the top. Different models have extra controls on top for wattage, cab impulses, and what have you, but overall, roguhly the same across the board.
Here's the Controls and what they do in a table...(NOTE: This is based on my Boss Katana mkII Head, I may expand later as I find more controls)
| Control Name(s)
| Control Variations
| Associated Controls
| Further Description
|
| Amp Type
| - Acoustic (Simulates Acoustic Guitar)
- Clean (Clean guitar tone, can get "driven" if the gain is pushed)
- Crunch (Think a cranked Marshall Plexi or JCM800)
- Lead (Think of a more modern Metal amp like a Mesa Boogie or Diezel)
- Brown (Obviously a Van-Halen Reference, think a JCM800, 5150, or Soldano)
| Variation, EQ (Low/Mid/High), Presense, Master....
| Basically, picks the basic, general, amplifier sound you are looking to achive. Unlike something like a HD500 where each amplifier model has a specific make/model built around it, all of those specific makes/models can be condensed down to basic "types" of amp. Acoustic amps are typically high-fidelity and designed to pull a similiar response to a bare acoustic guitar but with the benefit of effects and volume for performing. Clean would be something like a Fender brown/black/silver-face amp from the 60's-70's - designed to be CLEAN, sparkly, and twangy. Crunch is more like your typical late-60's to early 1990's rock guitar type sounds. Lead is a "lead tone" form that era, or the higher gain sounds that became popular in metal in the 1990's. Brown of course...the "Brown Sound" - the Van-Halen tone of much myth and lore - basically something like a 5150 or Soldano. That said, there are "hidden" or "Sneaky" amplifiers in the Katana's firmware not accessible from this panel.
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| Variation
| Basically, it's a "Bright Switch"
| Amp Type
| Basically, it makes the amplifier tone brighter or darker depending on the model selected.
|
| Gain
| Aka. "Distortion Level"
| Amp Type
| Controls the amount of "Distortion" or "Overdrive" created on a channel. Clean gets up to a bluesy "Singing" kind of sound, while the others all get more of a awesome, biting, hard rock/metal guitar tone turning this up. Think of it as a sort of push/pull effect with the "Volume"
|
| Volume
| aka "the Volume of the Amp Type"
| Amp Type
| Controls the "volume" of the amplifier channel. This is handy for two uses, first off, to make all amp models the same volume between changes, so that when you switch to clean, or acoustic, you don't suddenly hear a sudden drop in volume.
|
| Low
| aka. "Bass" or low frequencies under 250Hz
| Amp Type
| Controls the "low end" of the guitar's "tone" through the amplifier. See my pages on "Amps" for "beginner level" details on what this does.
|
| Mid
| aka. "Midrange" or 250-4000Hz - aka "the control amateurs hate using" aka. "the guitar's natural sonic range"
| Amp Type
| Controls the group of frequencies a aforementioned range. See my pages on "Amps" for "beginner level" details on what this does.
|
| High
| aka "Treble" or 4KHz+ frequencies
| Amp Type
| Controls the high end of the frequencies, see my pages on "Amps" for "beginner level" details on what this does
|
| Booster (outer), Mod (inner)
| A concentric knob that controls the booster (ie Distortion/Fuzz/Overdrive) built-in effects, and the Modulation (Chorus/Flange/Etc) effects
| Overall Sound
| Allows one to cycle a parameter of each by defaul. All the way at "0" is "off", does not allow as fine a control as software does (obviously)
|
| FX (inner), Delay (outer)
| A concentric knob that controls the "FX" (ie chorus/delay/reverb/synth/etc) patches, and the Delay effects on the amp
| Overall Sound
| Allows one to cycle a parameter of each by defaul. All the way at "0" is "off", does not allow as fine a control as software does (obviously)
|
| Reverb
| Controls the level of whatever preset Reverb type is on the amp
| Overall Sound
| Allows one to cycle a parameter of each by default. All the way at "0" is "off", does not allow as fine a control as software does (obviously)
|
| Tone Setting
| Aka "Patches and Banks"
| Overall Sounds, allows you to select different "Patches" on your amplifier to get the specific sound you want - pre-programmed or what you programmed in using ToneStudio or the panel
| On the BOSS Katana mkII Head, there are two banks of patches and a "Panel" setting that utilizes whatever the current knobs on the amplifier's panel are. THe panel button doubles as a way to switch patches by pressing it until flashing and then selecting the patch on the top (A/B/C/D) to select.
|
| Presence
| aka. how "in your face" sounding the amp is
| Overall Sound
| Basically a Fender invention that allows the amplifier to have the high and upper-mid frequencies be more "present" or a bit "harder" - ie, more defined and sharp
|
| Master
| aka. "Volume for the whole amp"
| The whole Amp
| Basically, silent all the way to "summon the local police for a noise ordainance violation" volume on 100 Watts with a 4x12 cabinet or two
|
| Power Control
| Turns the internal "Power Amp" on and off, and changes it's wattage to be apropriate to the situation: Standby (off), 0.5 Watts (practice, jamming at home), 50 Watts (rehearsals, small venues), 100 Watts (maximum power. ie outdoor festival)
| Maximum Volume and the tonality of the amplifier a little bit
| It's a rotary switch that allows you to tailor your Katana to the apropriate volume range for the venue/location you are playing at. BTW, when using a KATANA-HEAD with an external cabinet detached, it limits the output to 30 Watts maximum to protect the little 5" speaker inside the amp head.
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| CAB Resonance
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Just like the Blackstar, due to the limited controls, editing is better done through the software than through the guitar amp itself.
Software Preset Editing
For software editing of the Katana series, you have two options...
Windows/MacOS has the offical BOSS Tone Studio software, which is specific to your model of Katana Amplifier (hence why I don't have direct links to any one specific version).
For Linux you have the FxFloorBoard software, which is a bit more flexible but also has different versions depending on which amplifier you have. Only downside is it looks like the developers created a symbolic link, but no installer. They want you to run it from your desktop, which makes it prone to deletion if you're someone like me whose a little...uh...nitpicky about having garbage all over my desktop. Some people whine about the outdated interface (in their minds) but to me it looks and works great.
For Android/iOS - there's some official software there too, but if you have a mkII or older amplifier you're limited to editing over USB using the patch librarian, or I think there's a wireless way using a XONIC Airstep KAT, but I'm not experienced in using these yet.
Footswitch Options
Quite possibly the one thing the Katana fails at that all other amplifiers, including a lot of modeling amps, excel at, is having a footswitch at purchase time. No Katana model comes with the footswitch bundled with it, they all require purchasing a separate option.
Individual Footswitches & Expression Pedals - The most inexpensive option are individual footswitches, whcih an be bought for between $20-80 depending on if they are wired, and how specialized they are. BOSS of course suggests their own, but pretty much any footswitch with a stereo connection should work for most functions of the BOSS Katana in limited measure.
GA FC & GA FC EX - The factory suggested option(s) for msot Katana amplifiers are BOSS' "GA FC" Series footswitches, which are a five button footswitch that plugs into the back of the amp in it's GA FC port. They all have different labeling on them, the originals using the GA FC, the mkII stuff using a GA FC with some re-labeling, and the Gen 3 makes use of the GA FC EX.
MIDI Footswitches - If you have a head, Artist model, or any other model with an actual 5-pin MIDI port in back, then you can use a MIDI controller instead of the suggested footswitches. I did a lot of shopping for these and found the MeloAudio MIDI Commander and Behringer FCB1010 as the final choices. I then found a FCB1010 at Guitar Center for like, $92 with a case and all of the cables. Well, it turns out that it was broken anyway....or so they tell me. So I decided to try the next option.
Combined control, of MFX w/ MIDI - this is the route I decided to take because I already had a good Line6 HD500 in my midst, and felt like it wasn't really improving my scenario much by limiting myself to a MIDI Controller.
The one I'm currently looking at the most for my mkII head is the Behringer FCB1010 - which is a programmable MIDI Foot controller with 2 expression pedals, 12 footswitches, and while quite large, it should be programmable to control the entire head as I intend to. I also know there's some OpenSource software for editing it as well as Behringer's own.
PATCHES
Individual Patches
Created on BOSS Katana-Head MkII
| DOWNLOAD LINK
| DESCRIPTION
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Livesets (Collections of Patches)
Created on BOSS Katana-Head MkII<
| DOWNLOAD LINK
| DESCRIPTION
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MIDI Information
The BOSS Katana Amplifiers are all MIDI Capable, though certain 50 watt models require a MIDI to USB Converter, some can be controlled via USB, and even the GA FC pedals use MIDI Messages it seems.
| MIDI MSG
| Description
| Parameters/What It Does
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| PC#1
| Bank A, Patch A
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| PC#2
| Bank A, Patch B
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| PC#3
| Bank A, Patch C
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| PC#4
| Bank A, Patch D
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| PC#5
| Panel Control Settings Active
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| PC#6
| Bank B, Patch A
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| PC#7
| Bank B, Patch B
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| PC#8
| Bank B, Patch C
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| PC#9
| Bank B, Patch D
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| CC#15
| Bypass All Effects
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| CC#16
| Boost Footswitch
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| CC#17
| Modulation Footswitch
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| CC#18
| FX Footswitch
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| CC#19
| Delay Footswitch
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| CC#20
| Reverb Footswitch
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| CC#21
| FX Loop Footswitch
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| CC#22
| Pedal FX Footswitch
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