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Boss Katana Bass ...

#441
I have long been a fan of the guitar Katana amp, and sadly I had to sell my practically brand new Rumble for a fraction of the cost. Is the Bass Katana effectively as good for bass as the guitar one is for guitar? This is the amp that I want (probably the 210 combo) unless anyone or any facts put me off.
 
#442
Hi!
The Katana combos (probably the 210) caught my attention.

I’ve got a few questions:

- No problem handling high output basses? Some amps might struggle with a G&L L-2500 even with a padded input.

- Speakers are handling the low B well? No farting?

- I’ve heard about problems with the outputs (headphones, XLR) peaking easily. Is that an issue on those amps?

- They don’t seem to have a cooling fan, am I right?
 
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#443
Inconnu said:
Hi!
The Katana combos (probably the 210) caught my attention.

I’ve got a few questions:

- No problem handling high output basses? Some amps might struggle with a G&L L-2500 even with a padded input.

- Speakers are handling the low B well? No farting?

- I’ve heard about problems with the outputs (headphones, XLR) peaking easily. Is that an issue on those amps?

- They don’t seem to have a cooling fan, am I right?
Click to expand...

No problem with high-output basses that I've seen so far. In fact, you can plug a much higher output keyboard or synth into it and it'll work fine.
the 210 handles it no problem - that's what I have.
It should never mechanically fart out. But depending on the amp model you select, it may have a baked in drive simulation which could sound like it. There's a lot of DSP in the amplifier side that controls the total amount of sound it can make, including how much bottom end it creates. I haven't been able to make mine mechanically fart out yet.

There is no cooling fan. I don't know anything about outputs peaking on these - I've never experienced that. If anything it could be whatever people are plugging them into (interface, daw, mixer) ihave their input gains set wrong. Likely user error.
 
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#444
Inconnu said:
Hi!
The Katana combos (probably the 210) caught my attention.

I’ve got a few questions:

- No problem handling high output basses? Some amps might struggle with a G&L L-2500 even with a padded input.

- Speakers are handling the low B well? No farting?

- I’ve heard about problems with the outputs (headphones, XLR) peaking easily. Is that an issue on those amps?

- They don’t seem to have a cooling fan, am I right?
Click to expand...
I've had the Katana 210 for about four months.

I think what causes issues for people with this amp is that there is an Amplifier section with a gain and volume knob and there's also a Master section with a volume. If you jack up the gain and volume in the Amplifier section you can get the amp to distort even if the Volume in the master section is set to 2 or 3. If you set the Gain and Volume in the Amplifier section so the signal is clean, and use the pad if the bass signal is really hot, you can set the Master Volume very high and you'll still have a clean sound.

I have a bass with EMG 40DCX pickups. They're pretty hot. They will cause the amp to distort unless I use the pad and have the gain and volume (in the amplifier section) set pretty low. The preset I made for that bass has got the gain around 10 and volume around 25 with the pad on and the amp never distorts. With the pad off the amp will distort at that gain and volume setting.

My passive pickup basses all need much higher gain and volume settings to output at an equivalent volume and they never distort.

The bass with the EMGs is a 35in scale five string and the B sounds great. It's clean and punchy.

Before I bought this amp, I tested one at the local guitar center. I played a few different basses through the amp there and one of them happened to be a Tribute L-2000. The amp handled the signal well after turning the pad on and turning down the gain and volume.

On the XLR output you can set it for pre, post, or direct. I've not had any problems at all with output levels using any of those settings.

There is no fan. The amp runs very quiet. It does take a few moments after you've turned it on to be ready to go. So be ready for that.

I'm sure some people could use this amp and be happy with it without ever using Tone Studio but for me it's turned out to be mandatory, so far. However I do now have presets for each of my basses that I'm happy with so I could probably use the amp for band practice or a show without needing to have access to Tone Studio. It's very nice to be able to save your presets to a file that is stored on your computer.

I love this amp. It sounds great! It did take me about three months of reading the manual and working with Tone Studio to really get a sound that I am 100% happy with worked out. The Katana 210 replaced a Hartke combo amp that I had been using since about 2004. So there was a lot of new stuff to wrap my head around.

Hope that helps!
 
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#445
Thanks for the detailed replies I appreciate it!

2 other questions:
- Tonewise, are the 110 and 210 pretty similar? Local store has a 110 in stock and I think I’d need the power of the 210. I would order it, but I’d only have the 110 to demo before.

- The 1 watt option, does it sound good? I mean, is it the sound of the amp only quieter or does it sound muffled and tiny?
 
#446
Inconnu said:
Thanks for the detailed replies I appreciate it!

2 other questions:
- Tonewise, are the 110 and 210 pretty similar? Local store has a 110 in stock and I think I’d need the power of the 210. I would order it, but I’d only have the 110 to demo before.

- The 1 watt option, does it sound good? I mean, is it the sound of the amp only quieter or does it sound muffled and tiny?
Click to expand...

The 210 is deeper, more full sounding. If it seems too much, you can always dial it back. The smaller 110 is not as deep sounding.
The 1Watt option is totally usable. It also affects the response of the tube emulation and gets you a soft distortion a little earlier than it would at "full power" ... It's not actually altering the power of the output amp, it's changing the DSP values and response while it dials back the volume. It's very well done.
 
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#448
Ive had the 210 combo for a few years now.Despite what a lot of people on forums/websites will tell it has plenty of power and gets as loud as any other 300 to 500 watt class d combo.No cooling fan.Mine has never shut down or got too hot on me,stays fairly cool to touch.Comes with all the effects you will ever need.Has great compression.It averages about 10 lbs in weight more over it's rivals such as the Rumble 500 and Ampeg 210 combo.But considering all the extras the Katana 210B has over the competition I feel it's worth it and then some
 
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#449
One thing I forgot to mention is when you plug an extension cab in(4 ohm minimum) the speakers in the cab are shut off as they are a 4 ohm load to the amp already.Last Labor day weekend my band was playing at a Rib Off event and I plugged my amp into a pair of 210 cabs(4 10s total) and wow what a difference.The band that played before us was using a big Ampeg solid state into a single 15 and was surprised that the Katana with only 160 watts got as loud as it did
 
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#452
There are few foot controllers that will work.It all depends how often you want to use effects.So far I just use a little bit of compression and that's it.And if your going to have different settings for different basses a foot controller is recommended.I would probably go for the EX model to take advantage of everything the amp has to offer.
 
#453
Inconnu said:
Oh! I realize there’s 2 options for a foot controller on those, the GA-FC EX and non-EX versions. What’s the difference and which should one get (if I were to get one)?
Click to expand...
I don't have any of the foot pedals so I can't speak from personal experience but I've read online that the foot pedal support is maybe less than perfect on the bass katana amps. So, test it if you can and maybe look around online to see what limitations people are running into.
 
#456
BruceG68 said:
Only $500 for the Katana 500 head.Thats a great deal! They retail usually for $799.
Click to expand...
I know! I was shopping B-Stock and used when I decided I wanted to try the amp (my main amps are the Vanderkley Spartan, and a custom built Trinity Trip Top - search my name for the thread on it), and a Taurus Qube 450. I wanted to try the head, because I love my Waza Air Bass headphones.

When I saw this link: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I thought I would be killed by shipping - because Thomann will charge you $50 to send a pair of strings..., with $50 shipping arriving in 3 business days? I couldn't say no!

This doesn't seem to be a sale price, this seems to be their every day price too. So if anyone wants to get it at less than the $800 price tag, here ya go.

... and no, I am not being compensated for this statement.
 
#458
Acoustic356 said:
I know! I was shopping B-Stock and used when I decided I wanted to try the amp (my main amps are the Vanderkley Spartan, and a custom built Trinity Trip Top - search my name for the thread on it), and a Taurus Qube 450. I wanted to try the head, because I love my Waza Air Bass headphones.

When I saw this link: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I thought I would be killed by shipping - because Thomann will charge you $50 to send a pair of strings..., with $50 shipping arriving in 3 business days? I couldn't say no!

This doesn't seem to be a sale price, this seems to be their every day price too. So if anyone wants to get it at less than the $800 price tag, here ya go.

... and no, I am not being compensated for this statement.
Click to expand...
Let us know what additional fees you get charged after receiving your amp.
 
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