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Boss Katana 500 head

Bigwan

By Bigwan,
in Amps and Cabs

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  • 3 months later...
franzbassist Grand Master

franzbassist

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I'm a few months in with this amp now and I must say I really like it.  It's incredibly versatile.  For live work I've settled on a core tone and three main effects in addition to the drive, which are chorus, octaver and auto-wah.  At first I switched between them using bluetooth, but now I just have them marked on the setlist so switch between songs.  It's plenty loud enough through my FMC 4 ohm 1x10+1x12 cab that's rated at 600 watts.

 

I feel like I've hardly touched the surface of what it can do, but it's a fun ride so far!

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Happypants Mentor

Happypants

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47 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

I'm a few months in with this amp now and I must say I really like it.  It's incredibly versatile.  For live work I've settled on a core tone and three main effects in addition to the drive, which are chorus, octaver and auto-wah.  At first I switched between them using bluetooth, but now I just have them marked on the setlist so switch between songs.  It's plenty loud enough through my FMC 4 ohm 1x10+1x12 cab that's rated at 600 watts.

 

I feel like I've hardly touched the surface of what it can do, but it's a fun ride so far!


Thanks for reporting back now you’ve had it a few months. I have the 210 combo and love everything about it apart from how heavy it is. Tempted by one of these but not sure it’s worth the extra cost to swap from the combo for my use.

BassBros have a second hand one (and matching cab) which I’m trying to avoid!

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/boss-katana-500-bass-head/

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  • 4 weeks later...
Bass Culture Experienced

Bass Culture

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Had an accident which resulted in cracking the (glass) front panel of my TC RH-750 last week, which inspired me to cast eyes around for a potential suitable replacement if it were not possible to replace/repair it.  Repair be damned - just seen that Thomann have reduced the Katana-500 Bass to £499, a price drop which I've found impossible to resist, even though I've presently no band!  But, hell, you can't take it with you, can you? 😁

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Duroc17 Experienced

Duroc17

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Thomann have reduced the Katana-500 Bass to £499 - it's still 20% on top duty to UK- hoping some UK shops will see this and make theirs sub 600£  - read a comment about the mute button doesnt mute the DI - which seems daft and the fan is a bit noisy - but still like the idea - as some of demo sounds have been great from Bass the World video

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Bass Culture Experienced

Bass Culture

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4 minutes ago, Duroc17 said:

Thomann have reduced the Katana-500 Bass to £499 - it's still 20% on top duty to UK- hoping some UK shops will see this and make theirs sub 600£  - read a comment about the mute button doesnt mute the DI - which seems daft and the fan is a bit noisy - but still like the idea - as some of demo sounds have been great from Bass the World video

Bought it from the Thomann UK website, which includes VAT in the purchase price.  I don't expect there to be import duties if it's from their UK site, but here's hoping I don't have a nasty surprise in that regard.

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Duroc17 Experienced

Duroc17

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1 minute ago, Bass Culture said:

Bought it from the Thomann UK website, which includes VAT in the purchase price.  I don't expect there to be import duties if it's from their UK site, but here's hoping I don't have a nasty surprise in that regard.

Let us know - but i'd double check - but if not that's a sweet deal and i might follow suit - tho - a new cabinet might be first on the list

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Bass Culture Experienced

Bass Culture

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21 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

@Bass Culture - hope you like it.  Make sure you download the app so you can tweak to your liking.  I love mine, and I would say £499 for such a versatile head is a great deal.

 

Thanks - the enthusiasm you and others had for it earlier in this thread certainly made an impression.  Quick question - which foot switch did you buy?  It looks like there's several options that are compatible (according to the Boss website).  I guess all I'd really want is to be able to mute the amp and call up the various (pre-programmed) effects as and when without having to refer to the front panel.  Any idea which pedal would offer the simplest way of doing that?  Thanks.

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franzbassist Grand Master

franzbassist

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23 minutes ago, Bass Culture said:

Thanks - the enthusiasm you and others had for it earlier in this thread certainly made an impression.  Quick question - which foot switch did you buy?  It looks like there's several options that are compatible (according to the Boss website).  I guess all I'd really want is to be able to mute the amp and call up the various (pre-programmed) effects as and when without having to refer to the front panel.  Any idea which pedal would offer the simplest way of doing that?  Thanks.

 

Glad to be of help. I use the GA-FC and it's perfect for that. You can use it two ways, either to switch between "panel" (i.e. what is set on the front of the amp) or the three preset channels, or you switch  it to control drive/comp/effect/mute on or off for one of the above.  

 

image.png

Edited by franzbassist
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franzbassist Grand Master

franzbassist

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Just remember there are no effects banks to scroll through on this head.  You can have three different effects (plus compression and drive, as they are controlled separately) on each preset, but if you do that it will also recall whatever the whole of the panel's settings were when you hit save (e.g. if you saved a preset with the bass EQ cranked it would recall that too, rather than what the front panel is actually showing).  As such, for live work I have my three preferred effects saved via the "panel" setting and then tweak the eq etc. to taste according to venue.  I have different combinations of effects set in each of the other three presets, so if the "panel" hasn't needed much EQ I can switch between them to give me a total of twelve effects.

 

Does that make sense?  It sounds more complicated than it is once you are using the unit!

Edited by franzbassist
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Bass Culture Experienced

Bass Culture

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19 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

Just remember there are no effects banks to scroll through on this head.  You can have three different effects (plus compression and drive, as they are controlled separately) on each preset, but if you do that it will also recall whatever the whole of the panel's settings were when you hit save (e.g. if you saved a preset with the bass EQ cranked it would recall that too, rather than what the front panel is actually showing).  As such, for live work I have my three preferred effects saved via the "panel" setting and then tweak the eq etc. to taste according to venue.  I have different combinations of effects set in each of the other three presets, so if the "panel" hasn't needed much EQ I can switch between them to give me a total of twelve effects.

 

Does that make sense?  It sounds more complicated than it is once you are using the unit!

That's really helpful - thank you.  It sounds complicated, but I'm sure it will make more sense when I have the amp and pedal in front of me!  Thanks for all the info. 👍

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Dood Grand Master

Dood

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2 minutes ago, Duroc17 said:

Nice one Dan 


Thank you! I’m the only reviewer who has had access to the Boss Katana designers and explanations of the technology behind Katana, so this one is a good’un!! 

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Dood Grand Master

Dood

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53 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

Nice work @Dood.  Just to add the specs I got from Pete at Roland that I don't think you mention and aren't in the manual:

 

bass = 70Hz

treble = 6K

 

shape

(green) -12dB at 500Hz

(red) +6dB at 4K

(orange) both green and red combined


Thank you, it was a fun review!


For the Bass and Treble EQ, the Amp Feel switch changes the behaviour including: Vintage mode is 70Hz peaking and 5kHz shelving, Modern and Off modes are 40Hz and 3Khz shelving. 

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franzbassist Grand Master

franzbassist

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14 hours ago, Dood said:

For the Bass and Treble EQ, the Amp Feel switch changes the behaviour including: Vintage mode is 70Hz peaking and 5kHz shelving, Modern and Off modes are 40Hz and 3Khz shelving. 

 

Yep, he gave me all the specs that aren’t in the manual, including "amp feel", but as he also listed the bass and treble settings I mentioned above separately I presumed they are the EQ points for those two knobs.

 

It sounds great whatever! 

Edited by franzbassist
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