In a nutshell, if you want to use an external looper pedal (TC Ditto, Boss RC series, Digitech Trio+, etc.) with a modelling amp, you really need an FX loop to plug it into.
And looper pedals are one of the highly recommended practice tools.
Cheers,
Keith
Iām a sheep and just follow the herd, so I acquired a second-hand Katana 50 (cheap) for my main amp and the Yamaha THR (expensive) lives discreetly and wirelessly in my living room, doubling up as a Bluetooth speaker.
The fx loop absence doesnāt bother me in the slightest, as itās easy to work around and I have a PodGo that I can just put in front of the looper if I ever wanted to tone-chase.
Katana for value, THR for neat luxury
Yes, what Keith said! If for example you had a distortion pedal and a looper but no fx loop you then end up looping distortion on top of distortion and itās going to sound bad. The FX loop allows you to separate them so distortion (or any other effect) only gets applied to your sound once.
You might not have plans to use a looper in the near future but whoās to say what you might want 18 months from now and youāre looking at a new amp if you change your mind
Yes this all makes sense! I do currently use a looper, and I have the problem you describe because I donāt have an FX loop.
Katana is good but not a modeling amp technicallyā¦
I ended up with a Fender gtx-100 and am pretty happy. Fx loop, tuner pedal built in looper and good range of amps it models.
Not as good as a Katana for metal but generally better for other stuff, more flexibility but more tweaking
Note the GTX-50 is great and cheaper BUT you dont get the pedal with it, which is very useful , and its usually cheaper to get the 100 over the 50 if you want the pedal.
I also love my Fender Mustang GTX100 (my initial reviews of it are here and here). Iāve had it since October of last year. Other than the bluetooth music streaming being wonky (I stopped using the BT streaming and just play music/backing tracks through my computer and monitor speakers which sound better anyway, but bluetooth syncing & backup, preset upload/download via wifi is great), I absolutely love this amp! I played both the Fender GTX and Boss Katana in the store (so canāt compare them for long term use), and personally preferred the Fender sound, controls, and features.
While Iāve bought way too many guitars, I stopped looking at amps since I got this one. Itās so versatile and sounds amazing. After messing around with tens of presets for months, Iāve now settled on just two presets that I created using the Fender Deluxe Reverb amp model. One preset for my Strat and another preset for my PRS guitars with humbuckers. Both presets have 5 pedals (overdrive, tubescreamer, EQ, delay & reverb) that I toggle on & off using the footswitch which give me a huge range of tones that satisfy the handful of blues, rock and alt rock songs that I play (I donāt play heavy metal so canāt judge it on that).
For my current level of guitar playing (just under a year), it more than satisfies and exceeds my needs, and I believe it will continue doing so for several years ahead.
Boss Katana 100 or Line 6 Catalyst 60 would be my recommendations. Both have effects loops for easy looper interface.
Hi Linda,
My comment is outside the box from others.
I āpersonallyā want to play guitar.
While I like different tone effects. I want to play guitar, not chase the next new deley, reverb, distortion tone.
Any of the amps I have would be good and meet your criteria sans the āādownload and explore presetsāā as none of them have that capability.
What they do do is sound good from lower than bedroom volume up to way to loud. Two of my amps are likely questionable for gigging though. Probably close, but may not be loud enough.
So, the amps Iām recommending are.
-Fender princeton reverb reissue. Only 12w (7 tubes) so may not be giggable, but is still to loud sitting next to it. It has no features at all other than reverb and tremolo, both are stellar sounding.
-Iām also very satisfied with my Supro blues king 12, now known as a delta king12. Itās only 15w (2 tubes), so again, may not be giggable, but is way to loud if ya turn it up while at home. It has a couple of switches for distortion, and boost. Itās a master volume amp which I like a lot as I can get much distortion at below bedroom levels, if thatās what I want, which I donāt usually want.
-Lastly a old peavey red stripe bandit. Old tech. But itās tones are stellar. It also has a couple distortion switches on it. Since itās a 2 channel amp, I use the clean channel. Itās a 80w solid state amp and this one is likely giggable, it will move your pant legs if your sitting in front of it. Itās plain loud and will rattle windows. It also goes down to bedroom vol. when ya set the vol. low, like 1-2. Still sound great though.
The prri is very pricey and all tube. 1500 new
The blues king 12 is mildly pricey, and while billed as a tube amp, I think perhaps it combines some solid state (the overdrive switches) and the tubes. $700 new.
The red stripe bandits are obsolete, so ya gotta find one used somewhere. They seem to be in the $250-$300 range generally. Bandits come in different flavors, teal strip, red stripe, silver stripe, the new one, cyclops. All good amps, but the red stripe one seems to be most sought after. I also like the silver stripe one which I also have but donāt use much since I like the red stripe one a shade better.
prri and blues king 12 are portable and weight in @ about 30lbs.
bandits are heavy @ about 50lbs and that one I donāt move about so much. The others I move occasionally.
This is just food for thought for you.
Sounds like ya want a modeler to me.
If I were going down that road and wanted all them features to be downloaded and explored. I suppose āmyselfā, Iād be lookin at that new katana 100. Seems like a respectable amp that many enjoy.
Just wanted to give ya that food for thought for just a plain amp that mostly just sound good and amplify, but thatās about itā¦ They suit my needs, but may not suit others needs. ymmv
Good luck in your decision.
The Boss Katana is the ādefaultā internet recommendation. But there are other options out there.
I have a Fender GTX 50 and itās great.
Itās worth trying a couple in store.
There is so many choices now.
I mostly play plugged into a computer at the momentā¦
I had a Boss Katana 50 initially, but when I wanted an effects loop, I got a Line 6 catalyst 60. I like more of the default amps on the Line 6 than I did on the Katana, but there are far less downloadable amps for the Catalyst.
Thank you everyone for your replies! I like doing my research and appreciate that I have a lot of suggestions.
@firasR I actually love the sound of Fender tones, so I may be leaning more into this direction. Iāll read your reviews for sure.
I ve been reading.a lot the forum about amps and the answer is almost always the katana , but Iāve never seen anyone talking about the " orange " amps , why ?
Orange amps donāt have the āfashionableā bells and whistles, theyāre just a simple amp. Their Valve amps are fantastic, but the clean tones can be a bit meah on the older ones and theyāre expensive!
The Crush series are solid state but are Analogue not digital, they have a very nice tone and touch sensitivity, and theyāre not expensive but they tend to be a bit heavier than some of their competitors but theyāre also really well made.
If it were me, I would buy a Orange Crush CR60 pro combo plus a Sonicake Matribox 2 multi fx; for around Ā£450 if you shop around.
Currently I use a Hotone 5W Mojo diamond (Fender Tweed style) with an Orange Cab and the multi fx I suggested. For my needs itās perfect!
I used to use a Harley Benton 10ā Celestion loaded speaker but I sold it to an offer I couldnāt refuse!
Well thereās a true comment, with good reason!
And up it pops 
Ohh thatās a hard thing to nail down. 
I play everything and anything that is rock nā roll. Bands from Pink Floyd, Gun n Roses, R.E.M., Radiohead, Green Day, U2, the list goes on. Classic rock, alternative indie rock, etc.
I would say the only style Iām not that interested in playing is heavier stuff like metal (except for the obligatory Enter Sandman).
just checked it on thomann , too bad it has no headphone plug ā¦
@LindaCas81 Definitely a modelling amp then with that variety of genres! 
Lots of love here for the Katana - I tried the Katana 100 but didnāt like it personally, gain was a bit āfizzyā to me but I have been told that the 50 sounds better. Blackstar Silverline sound much more realistic to my ears but you donāt get the endless effects and patches - itās got a very analog style interface.
Canāt recommend the Positive Grid Spark stuff highly enough - I recently downsized my gear ready to relocate and am currently using a Spark Go for practice. Tiny little thing, sounds outrageously good for the size and price. A Spark 40 (with one of their cabs) may suit what youāre after -Iāve had a 40 & it sounds amazing but not enough output for gigs. Enjoy the search!
