Guitar recommendations

[elevatortrim]

@mc

they need to be run pretty loud

This is no longer the case for some modern options. For e.g. my HT20R has a button that makes it go down to 2W and it is still a great sound. HT5R goes down to 0.5W with the same button. Both also have a direct output which can be plugged into an audio interface for headphone usage or recording purposes.

But agree that it is an expensive commitment.

I would hesitate recommend Fender Champion (I used these at a course) to a beginner as the sound quality might be off-putting. Katana is probably a good middle ground.

[markr31]

@elevatortrim

I would hesitate recommend Fender Champion (I used these at a course) to a beginner as the sound quality might be off-putting.

I use a Champion 20 with my electric. Sounds okay to me, possibly two reasons: I just assume that anything lacking is because I’m just not that good, and I always use headphones, not the speaker, so as not to annoy my wife more than I normally do.

[elevatortrim]

Ah, I did not try it with headphones, that might sound better.

[markr31]

I’ve heard that the Champion 50XL has a much better speaker, in a larger cabinet (thus the XL designation) so it has a better sound quality. Price is quite reasonable too.

[markr31]

Here’s the 50XL review. If you’re like me, and prefer to set up the amp just using the knobs on the amp rather than messing with menus and downloading presets, you might prefer it to a Katana.

The Full Fender Champion 50XL Full Review - Better than the Mustang?

[Majik]

@markr31

If you’re like me, and prefer to set up the amp just using the knobs on the amp rather than messing with menus and downloading presets, you might prefer it to a Katana.

The Katana has knobs. It doesn’t have menus.

You can probably do everything on a Katana using the knobs on the top panel that you can do on the Champ or most other amps.

You need the Boss Tone Studio if you want to access the deeper effects, but that is optional.

Cheers,

Keith

[markr31]

I’ve not used either one, but have read a lot of different reviews for if/when I decide to upgrade from my Champion 20, and it seems to boil down to the 50XL being more plug and play, with the Katana having more modeling options. Depends on what you’re looking for.

[aaronmason883]

I got the Katata 50 mkII. Badass amp … an insane amount of power … cool effects … can’t wait to explore it a bit more

[Majik]

@markr31

it seems to boil down to the 50XL being more plug and play, with the Katana having more modeling options

The Katana certainly has more effects options,. especially if you dive into Boss Tone Studio.

But if you don’t want to get involved with that stuff, it works like a standard amp, and is just as “plug and play” as any tube or solid-state amp with similar controls: channel, gain, eq, and master volume.

Cheers,

Keith

[markr31]

Just going by what several comparison reviews said. Again, I haven’t used either. I’m guessing you’ve used the Katana; have you used the 50XL?

[Majik]

@markr31

I’m guessing you’ve used the Katana; have you used the 50XL?

I owned and used a Katana for a few years. I sold it about a year ago as I no longer needed it.

I have also owned and/or used a variety of other amps including modelling amps, solid-state, and valve (tube) amps.

I haven’t used the 50XL, but I have seen the videos on it, I have seen what controls it has, and I can read the online manual.

It basically has the same controls and workflow as the Katana, and pretty much every other amp out there:

• turn on
• plug in
• select voice/channel/patch <— here’s where the complexity often is
• turn up volume
• play
• adjust gain and EQ as needed
• optionally, set level of FX (e.g. reverb)

I struggle to see why any amp with similar controls would be any more or less “plug and play” than any other for basic use cases.

I do think that some modelling amps can be overly complex when it comes to selecting which voice and when selecting simple effects, and I’ve indicated this in the workflow above.

But the Katana isn’t one of these. In fact it’s almost the same as the 50XL.

I must admit, I prefer the simplicity of amps which have simple controls and a handful of core voices you can build from, rather than dozens of amp models and patches to wade through. The Katana has such simple controls and 50XL looks extremely similar with a simple baseline set of voices.

Obviously, if you want to “deep-dive” into the modelling capabilities to explore and tweak onboard effects or specific amp models a simple control layout doesn’t work. This is where the “menu diving” for many amps comes in, and I dislike that too. But the Katana does not have that.

Yes, the 50XL is a straightforward amp to use but, IMO, no more so than an out-of-the box Katana. The same applies to a lot of other modelling amps, including some from Blackstar which are equally as easy to use.

IMO, there are good reasons to prefer the 50XL over the Katana (or vice versa) but basic ease of use probably isn’t one of them.

Cheers,

Keith

[markr31]

Thanks.

[Majik]

@DarrellW

With this amp:

https://www.long-mcquade.com/55125/Guitars/Guitar-Amps/Orange-Amplifiers/35-Watt-Guitar-Combo.htm

I’ve not used that particular amp, but I have used a couple of Orange amps and have really liked how they sound. I have a Micro Terror which I think sounds great.

Yes, the Micro Terror has a valve (tube) preamp in, but I have heard good things about their solid state amps. And this came up on my feed this morning (bad language warning):

The Tubes vs Solid State Challenge!

Cheers,

Keith

[Lefteris]

@aaronmason883

I got the Katata 50 mkII. Badass amp … an insane amount of power … cool effects … can’t wait to explore it a bit more

Which guitar did you go for in the end?

[aaronmason883]

I opted for a bullet mustang

[Traveler]

Somebody stated it above, but if you go for the Boss Katana (a great choice), get the 100 not the 50. It will pay off later, especially when it comes to pedals and accessories. I wouldn’t be as picky about guitars, because of your journey continues like I hope it will, you will likely own many guitars. Ha.

[Lefteris]

I was just curious! Haha thanks!
Enjoy your new gear!!

[Pleasedodisturb]

With all the praise that Boss stuff gets for sound and quality and hardware, I remember I had katana 50 first gen and software Roland produces is 1986 Sega Mega Drive atrocious nightmare. I hope to never use Roland’s software again.

[Majik]

I disagree.

Boss Tone Studio is not the prettiest software in the world, but it exposes the, often complex, features of the amp very well, and it’s a lot easier to use than many others I have used, including Digitech, Zoom, Line 6 (Amplifi), and Positive Grid (Spark).

Personally, I like the dark theme which doesn’t burn out your eyes, and the fact they haven’t wasted screen space, caused unnecessary visual clutter, and made the interface clunky to use by doing some awful skeuomorphic design (I’m looking at you Positive Grid).

It’s simple, utilitarian, but it works well.

I’ve used BTS across several Boss products and it adapts well to the different capabilities of those products, and even works well as a mobile app for the devices which support it.

The biggest thing I dislike about BTS for the Katana is that there’s no Bluetooth app version. I suspect the mk 3 model will remedy that, and there are workarounds, including using the Airstep foot switch.

Cheers,

Keith

[Pleasedodisturb]

I don’t know how it looks these days, but back in the day (2019?) it was a QT port on Mac and it was quite low-res and felt outdated, patch uploading was weird. Maybe it’s different today.

I agree on BiasFx though, the superpolished gimmickness of the interface is irritating after a while.

Yamahas THR is a bit glitchy too with no resolution if error occurs.

I’m in general puzzled by the software in this industry (meaning amp-complementing stuff), it seems that if those companies spent more on design/architecture of the apps that would dramatically boost the satisfaction rate of the products themselves