Man o man, do we live in the golden age of gear! Growing up in the 90's, I worked all summer for a Washburn electric guitar and a Peavey renown. Just having 2 channels and spring reverb was awesome. That still cost me $1000
I had a hideous magma finish neon blue and pink Washburn with 29 frets (EC29?), it sounded as hideous as it looked, i ran it into a Roland JC120 with a BOSS Heavy Metal pedal… haha, it got some really gnarly sounds if you cranked up the Distortion knob on Channel 2.
Went to see Level 42 this week and Nathan King’s rig was just a Kemper Stage Profiler with a Boss Katana. Had a chat with him after and he was saying he just uses the Katana for stage monitoring. Super simple rig and made me think maybe I’m over complicating things for some gigs,
The year is 20232: all life is extinguished. The world is barren and dark. Only two beings remain - the boss katana and the line 6 catalyst. For millennia, the two have battled relentlessly, both fighting to be dubbed the best modelling amplifier of all time and space. Alas, out of the ashes of humanity, one British bloke with crazy chops wrestles the two beasts, bending them to his will as if they were mere extensions of his body. Sparks fly, gears grind, and fingers bleed, but the beasts have been beaten. A victor is named. Satisfied with his work, the British bloke packs up his instrument, documents his research in a video, and sends it back in time to the year 2023 - in hopes of saving the world from the devastation to come. Excellent work as always John.
I've been waiting for a Catalyst update! I still use mine every day, I have the 60.. that being said what you say about the speaker+cab is 100% without a doubt in my mind the biggest part. If you have a cab you like, just get a head. I had a cab I really like, but since getting the Catalyst+HX Stomp and it having no speaker out, the cab sitting unused. I did a speaker swap just for curiosities sake (its an Eminence Private Jack speaker). While I prefer it, the the cab i removed the speaker from was a bigger sized closed back cab and even with the same speaker its completely different. I got more bass out of the Catalyst so im happy enough to leave it in there for now. Between the Katana 50 combo and the Catalyst 60 combo (I've tried both), id say the Catalyst sounds better to my ears, but as soon as you pair the Katana head with a GOOD cab and a good speaker, the Catalyst doesn't really stand a chance in my opinion. edit: I forgot to add that I had a Katana 50, i hooked it up to my fav cab and it was transformed. It was a completely different amp, it sounded epic. I recommend buying a good cabinet that you can just use going forward on your guitar journey.
Had Katana Artist and now a Catalyst 200. You have to take the time to really dial in the Catalyst in my opinion. Clean and especially drive with low end, the Catalyst sounds better to me. Effects and overall looks of the amp are superior as well.
I agree, and as you said to have an IR loader would be great. That is one of my issues with it plus the lack of a dual left/right delay and a stereo out. Imagine how awesome it would be to monitor yourself on stage through the cab and send a stereo signal with a proper IR to the front of house. I like that you mentioned Allan Holdsworth. The way these are set is not too different to what he would do with the Yamaha DG amps.
The Katana 100mk2 head is a great practice amp, a capable backup amp or pedal platform and just great value. I use mine with a Marshall 1912 1 x12 cab. Doesnt suck!
Thank you for the great comparison. What do you use for recording the audio of your videos? Do you mic the speakers or do you use the line outs of the amps (that have line outs)?
Which is better in 2023? The Axe FXIII Mk II Turbo, with 12 button footswitch, and expression pedal for $7,193 AUD. I am a right or am I right!!! What do I win John?
I've had the Katana MkII EX 50 watt (or whatever it's called - it's the 50 watter with footswitch capability). Out of the box it's way too bright, but after some tweaking of the global EQ and contour it can sound great. At times I'll plug in and use one of my saved sounds and need to tweak it, but I'm always able to find something that sounds really good, if not excellent. I play mostly clean or edge of breakup, not high gain at all. Also, while Katana (minus the sneaky amps) doesn't have specific amp models, there's so much flexibility with EQ, boosts, drive, etc., that you can tweak to get whatever sound you want, within reason. I will also add that I've never gigged the Katana, but wouldn't hesitate to do so. It's a Swiss Army knife of an amp that is easy to tweak if you hook it up to a computer. That's not my favorite thing to do, but I've found a handful of sounds that I'm really happy with and don't need to tweak that often.
The Catalyst was never aimed at being a power modeller. It was meant to be a simple amp that sounds good, with just the amp controls. It really depends on a person's use case imho. I've had both, at the same time. I even upgraded my Katana with the WAZA Speaker. More amps is good IF they are good am models. I had both the Katana 50 and 100, and just thought the 'Sneaky Amps" sounded bad, old modelling tech with a ton of artifacts. I' also speaker swapped the Katana, and the Catalyst, and truthfully, my personal findings as well as ever vid I saw doing the same, unless you wanted to lose it's versatility, the amps, both, suffered from a speaker swap. I also HAD to tweak via the software on Katana to get good sounds, where I could get satisfying presets quicker just from the amp on the Catalyst. Lastly, and this killed the Katana for me, once I had a good Acoustic preset on my HX Stomp, is the HX Stomp sounded MUCH better into the Catalyst Power Amp in, than the Katana.
I have been using the boss katana for around 4 years as a pedal platform, I recently purchased the Marshall jtm 45 , into a 2x12 , now that is my new pedal platform, leaves the katana for dead. So good to hear an amp that pushes air again.
@@TheCyberMantis It was $2500. Best amp I have owned in 30 years. Don't see how that is crazy, the sound is epic and puts a huge smile on my face, takes OD's and dis pedals, reverb really well.
@@TheCyberMantis You hjave never used one I am guessing, don't get fooled by the old circut, its clean sound is amazing, head room for days. Also it is simple, no bullshit. Just a great amp and I recomend ytou try one out, you will be surprised.
@@sgtcaco Way out of my price range. I do like the DSL100HR tho. I also like the BadCat LYNX, but it is too pricey for me. My Boss Katana is fine for me.
Personally I like the Catalyst over the Katana ! I've tried the Catalyst out and was surprised at how good the drive tones sound even at loud volumes.. The Katana is good for cleans but the drives at gig levels are a little brighter and harsh to my ear !
GUYS, If there was one AMP that was the obvious better one, then the other brand can close shop, pack their bags and go home. It's still about what sounds good to your ears, price in your country and the features you like (for example all Catalysts having Effects Loop). Take all the wisdom from this video and others but make your decision after trying both of them in person. The opening jam was awesome on both the amps!!
Love my Katana for every reason you mentioned, John. And loved your revisiting the GT1000 Core. All the Roland/Boss love is giving me goosebumps. Keep up the great work, brother. Always look forward to a new vid. Peace
Truly a golden-age for musicians’ choice. I love my Katana, so much so I bought a 50W for in the house and a 100W for band practice. Tone Studio does indeed seal the deal. It’s by no means perfect, but a great introduction for people like me learning about signal chains and experimenting with new sounds after many years of being happy with a basic setup. And the pedals BOSS offers with the Katana is very generous. I don’t want to waste time - I just want to practice and not be faced with huge barriers with the tech. Katana fulfilled that dream for me.
I support the idea of choosing the Katana Mk II 100w head. I have it for one year now and will make the same choice this year. And I have paid for it 😊. Thank you for the comparison
Trim on the top control panel of my Catalyst 60 fell off too. It was just assembled with a bit of double-sided sticky tape, so no big surprise. Couldn't get it to stay on, so I just left it off. The trim serves no purpose anyway.
I'm in the market for a combo amp. If the choice were between the Catalyst 100 and the Katana Artist MKii which would you choose? I'm considering either the Catalyst 100 + HX Effects or the Katana Artist MKii. I won't be plugging into an external cab. I'm strictly a home player. Thanks!
I bought a Catalyst 60 after owning a Katana Mkll for years… I sold the Line 6 after gigging it a few times… It was ok but in my opinion my Katana sounds better
Hi John. Thanks 👍 for the video/info, your playing is amazing I was trying to work out what key you were playing in I'm not very good at tracking fret board hand movements. I bought a Boss Katana 50 about two years ago but I'm sorry to say I couldn't for the life of 😢 me Obtain a sound that I liked, spent about a day trying. In the end I gave up and sold it cheap on Gumtree. Nevermind, I suppose it's a subjective thing that everyone has a different sonic objective. There's. Best Regards. John.😊😊
I bought a Katana 100 Mk II combo as an affordable amp when I got back into playing live after about 30 years' break. I was amazed just how good it was, and it fitted well with the tones the other guitarist in the band was getting. It couldn't compete in the "cool factor" though, because he was using a '60s Selmer! 😉 I'm now using a Laney Cub-Super 12 live, which I do find more expressive, but the Katana is a very useful part of my recording set-up - and it's great to have as a back-up if anything happens to the Laney.
Can’t go wrong with either I don’t think. Had a katana MKii 50 and now have a catalyst 200 that I picked up for like $300. Would have gone for the katana head but couldn’t turn down the deal on the catalyst.
@@johnnathancordy you know, the stuff you do: big washy ambient washiness; glitchy delay; guitar that sounds like a bass; synth-like sounds; pads; mole-people conspiracies; tea in your coffee. Penguin laundromats. That sort of thing. I just can't find any examples of what all the sneaky third-party 🥳🥳🥳 software offerings actually make possible, because everybody just shows the amps and drives
Hi John, can you help me and suggest me something? I play in a 30 instrument band (a lot of brass !!), we play some funky and jazzy and bluesy stuff. They put me behind near the drum and I'd need of an amp with a lot of headroom to play a lot of clean sounds with a touch or wha or chorus.... I'm thinkin' to buy a Catalyst 200W 2x12...In your opinion is this a good idea??? Thanks!!! M.
@@foxmeisteruk yeah but I just want to use the catalyst or katana as a speaker basically. And use the amps on the helix since I'm happy with what is on the helix
I really wanted the head, but I found a deal I couldn’t refuse on the MKII 50 combo. I did replace the stock speaker with an eminence which was a drastic improvement. I also found a thing called a combo amp extender which pretty much lets me use it as a head.
Hey john, whats your thoughts on the catalyst 200 with something like a two notes opus or ir-200 as a cheap but upgrades sound? And plugging straight into amp vs its power amp section at rear
I still gig with my Katana Artist as my main. For what it is and what it cost, it's really hard to justify a heavier tube amp that in a mix will sound nearly identical. As for the Catalyst, I've owned the 100 for a while and just don't get on with it nearly as well as I do the Kat. Sounds good at home, but not good at band volume.
I scored a catalyst a couple of weeks ago. There are thing about it that i really like but find it incredibly harsh and rattly with higher gain. It needs some really aggressive treble cut. Ive heard some talk of speaker break in. Im kind of on the fence awhether its a better option than the hx with my poxy headbrush frfr with its stupid tweeter.
aqui veo muchos comentarios de gente que compro katana en los ultimos 5 años pero CATALYS TIENE POCO TIEMPO EN EL MERCADO EN LA ACTUALIDAD 2024 CUAL COMPRARIAS REALMENTE SALUDOS KATANA O CATALYS SALUDOS
I would put any other modeling amp above the Boss Katana. It immediately sounds fake to me. The only reason it's still a bestseller is the power of the Boss brand. Even a Vox VT40X or a used Fender Mustang II V.2 (or any of the low-budget Chinese floor units, like Hotone, Valeton, Sonicake, Mooer, NuX etc.) are better purchases than a Katana.
And believe me, when katana came out i thought it was a toy. And then i compared it to my expensive pedalbord setup with Quilter amp and Katana sounded much better.
That's not been my experience at all - having experienced some of the NuX modeling and so on, and actually doing an AB with a Fender Vibro Verb, the Katana totally held it's own in a clean comparison?
I have the Katana MK II and the Catalyst 100. There's no contest. The Katana sounds like a real amp in the room and the Catalyst sounds fake, boxy, not present. The Catalyst is trash, in my experience.
I get it. However I don’t think that it actually is a question of tubes or solid state. There are many modellers and solid states that really sound phenomenal. Anyway, I also never really got the Katana-Hype. Just not my cup of tea.
Nice - but does your tube amp have remarkable sounding effects, multiple voicings, presets and tone studio? All for like...two, tree fiddy? I'll settle for 85% of the thump with all them bells and whistles.
I personally play as a hobby, not professionally, like many of you out there, I prefer 1 hour of playing than circling through presets, four basic sounds does it for me: jazz rock blues reggae, you can not replace creativity with presets and guitar pedals.
When you play on stage like I have with my HX Stomp through a cab and listen to the other player with a real VOX amp and pedals, it cuts like a knife. Separates man from boys
I don’t quite understand why Yamaha makes those two products that are probably competing hardest with each other. Aren’t they cannibalizing their own sales?
Man o man, do we live in the golden age of gear! Growing up in the 90's, I worked all summer for a Washburn electric guitar and a Peavey renown. Just having 2 channels and spring reverb was awesome. That still cost me $1000
Saved paper route dollars for a Washburn too. And a DOD distortion pedal. And thought I was king of the universe.
@handyc77 I had the Thrash master.
Love it! @@ogmakefirefiregood
I had a hideous magma finish neon blue and pink Washburn with 29 frets (EC29?), it sounded as hideous as it looked, i ran it into a Roland JC120 with a BOSS Heavy Metal pedal… haha, it got some really gnarly sounds if you cranked up the Distortion knob on Channel 2.
Saved paper route money around 1970. I got a used Kalamazoo amp and a used Kay electric guitar for $15. I still have both.
Went to see Level 42 this week and Nathan King’s rig was just a Kemper Stage Profiler with a Boss Katana. Had a chat with him after and he was saying he just uses the Katana for stage monitoring. Super simple rig and made me think maybe I’m over complicating things for some gigs,
I love Level 42! How do they sound live these days?
awesome @@angrybuzzy
The year is 20232: all life is extinguished. The world is barren and dark. Only two beings remain - the boss katana and the line 6 catalyst. For millennia, the two have battled relentlessly, both fighting to be dubbed the best modelling amplifier of all time and space. Alas, out of the ashes of humanity, one British bloke with crazy chops wrestles the two beasts, bending them to his will as if they were mere extensions of his body. Sparks fly, gears grind, and fingers bleed, but the beasts have been beaten. A victor is named. Satisfied with his work, the British bloke packs up his instrument, documents his research in a video, and sends it back in time to the year 2023 - in hopes of saving the world from the devastation to come. Excellent work as always John.
Loved it! Hahahah
I've been waiting for a Catalyst update! I still use mine every day, I have the 60.. that being said what you say about the speaker+cab is 100% without a doubt in my mind the biggest part. If you have a cab you like, just get a head. I had a cab I really like, but since getting the Catalyst+HX Stomp and it having no speaker out, the cab sitting unused. I did a speaker swap just for curiosities sake (its an Eminence Private Jack speaker). While I prefer it, the the cab i removed the speaker from was a bigger sized closed back cab and even with the same speaker its completely different. I got more bass out of the Catalyst so im happy enough to leave it in there for now.
Between the Katana 50 combo and the Catalyst 60 combo (I've tried both), id say the Catalyst sounds better to my ears, but as soon as you pair the Katana head with a GOOD cab and a good speaker, the Catalyst doesn't really stand a chance in my opinion.
edit: I forgot to add that I had a Katana 50, i hooked it up to my fav cab and it was transformed. It was a completely different amp, it sounded epic. I recommend buying a good cabinet that you can just use going forward on your guitar journey.
I compared both and agree the Catalyst Combo sounds way better. I have a 60 watt Catalyst too and love it.
I made a simple speaker out for my 60. Sounds fantastic through a 4 x 12!!
Had Katana Artist and now a Catalyst 200. You have to take the time to really dial in the Catalyst in my opinion. Clean and especially drive with low end, the Catalyst sounds better to me. Effects and overall looks of the amp are superior as well.
I agree, and as you said to have an IR loader would be great. That is one of my issues with it plus the lack of a dual left/right delay and a stereo out.
Imagine how awesome it would be to monitor yourself on stage through the cab and send a stereo signal with a proper IR to the front of house.
I like that you mentioned Allan Holdsworth. The way these are set is not too different to what he would do with the Yamaha DG amps.
The Katana 100mk2 head is a great practice amp, a capable backup amp or pedal platform and just great value. I use mine with a Marshall 1912 1 x12 cab. Doesnt suck!
Crazy timing on this video. I was just looking into these two.
Thank you for the great comparison. What do you use for recording the audio of your videos? Do you mic the speakers or do you use the line outs of the amps (that have line outs)?
In this video I was using the Line outs - but in most of my other videos I'll be using an HX Stomp mostly
@@johnnathancordy thanks for the reply! Is good to know how the line out of amps sound directly into an interface.
Both sound good for a solid state amp, but the Katana seems to have a wider dynamic range than the Catalyst, which I prefer more.
Which is better in 2023?
The Axe FXIII Mk II Turbo, with 12 button footswitch, and expression pedal for $7,193 AUD. I am a right or am I right!!! What do I win John?
I agree, I thought it was easier to get a good tone out of the Boss compared to the Catalyst.
John thanks again for answering my email with this video!
I've had the Katana MkII EX 50 watt (or whatever it's called - it's the 50 watter with footswitch capability). Out of the box it's way too bright, but after some tweaking of the global EQ and contour it can sound great. At times I'll plug in and use one of my saved sounds and need to tweak it, but I'm always able to find something that sounds really good, if not excellent. I play mostly clean or edge of breakup, not high gain at all. Also, while Katana (minus the sneaky amps) doesn't have specific amp models, there's so much flexibility with EQ, boosts, drive, etc., that you can tweak to get whatever sound you want, within reason.
I will also add that I've never gigged the Katana, but wouldn't hesitate to do so. It's a Swiss Army knife of an amp that is easy to tweak if you hook it up to a computer. That's not my favorite thing to do, but I've found a handful of sounds that I'm really happy with and don't need to tweak that often.
The Catalyst was never aimed at being a power modeller. It was meant to be a simple amp that sounds good, with just the amp controls. It really depends on a person's use case imho. I've had both, at the same time. I even upgraded my Katana with the WAZA Speaker. More amps is good IF they are good am models. I had both the Katana 50 and 100, and just thought the 'Sneaky Amps" sounded bad, old modelling tech with a ton of artifacts. I' also speaker swapped the Katana, and the Catalyst, and truthfully, my personal findings as well as ever vid I saw doing the same, unless you wanted to lose it's versatility, the amps, both, suffered from a speaker swap. I also HAD to tweak via the software on Katana to get good sounds, where I could get satisfying presets quicker just from the amp on the Catalyst. Lastly, and this killed the Katana for me, once I had a good Acoustic preset on my HX Stomp, is the HX Stomp sounded MUCH better into the Catalyst Power Amp in, than the Katana.
What are you trying to say?
I have been using the boss katana for around 4 years as a pedal platform, I recently purchased the Marshall jtm 45 , into a 2x12 , now that is my new pedal platform, leaves the katana for dead. So good to hear an amp that pushes air again.
Are you talking about the 30-watt JTM 45 re-issue head that costs $3-grand? That one? If so... you must be crazy.
@@TheCyberMantis It was $2500.
Best amp I have owned in 30 years. Don't see how that is crazy, the sound is epic and puts a huge smile on my face, takes OD's and dis pedals, reverb really well.
@@sgtcaco Yikes. Good luck.
@@TheCyberMantis You hjave never used one I am guessing, don't get fooled by the old circut, its clean sound is amazing, head room for days. Also it is simple, no bullshit. Just a great amp and I recomend ytou try one out, you will be surprised.
@@sgtcaco Way out of my price range. I do like the DSL100HR tho. I also like the BadCat LYNX, but it is too pricey for me. My Boss Katana is fine for me.
Personally I like the Catalyst over the Katana ! I've tried the Catalyst out and was surprised at how good the drive tones sound even at loud volumes.. The Katana is good for cleans but the drives at gig levels are a little brighter and harsh to my ear !
I definitely have enjoyed both! At the gig I played the Katana with (not using external drives) I'd actually set up my tones way too dark...Whoops
GUYS, If there was one AMP that was the obvious better one, then the other brand can close shop, pack their bags and go home. It's still about what sounds good to your ears, price in your country and the features you like (for example all Catalysts having Effects Loop). Take all the wisdom from this video and others but make your decision after trying both of them in person.
The opening jam was awesome on both the amps!!
Video espectacular magnifico desempeño!
Boss products are robust, flexible, good quality, and still reasonably priced.
They are great.
Love my Katana for every reason you mentioned, John. And loved your revisiting the GT1000 Core. All the Roland/Boss love is giving me goosebumps. Keep up the great work, brother. Always look forward to a new vid. Peace
Truly a golden-age for musicians’ choice. I love my Katana, so much so I bought a 50W for in the house and a 100W for band practice. Tone Studio does indeed seal the deal. It’s by no means perfect, but a great introduction for people like me learning about signal chains and experimenting with new sounds after many years of being happy with a basic setup. And the pedals BOSS offers with the Katana is very generous. I don’t want to waste time - I just want to practice and not be faced with huge barriers with the tech. Katana fulfilled that dream for me.
I support the idea of choosing the Katana Mk II 100w head. I have it for one year now and will make the same choice this year. And I have paid for it 😊. Thank you for the comparison
WELLL, that intro was pretty great
Trim on the top control panel of my Catalyst 60 fell off too. It was just assembled with a bit of double-sided sticky tape, so no big surprise. Couldn't get it to stay on, so I just left it off. The trim serves no purpose anyway.
Lovely intro dear John! Not super into gear, but super into your music!!Thanks!
Great video as usual, John! Please compare that Katana head with the Spider V 240 HC. That wound be a fun comparison! 🔥🔥🔥
Catalyst for me ❤❤❤❤
I'm in the market for a combo amp. If the choice were between the Catalyst 100 and the Katana Artist MKii which would you choose? I'm considering either the Catalyst 100 + HX Effects or the Katana Artist MKii. I won't be plugging into an external cab. I'm strictly a home player.
Thanks!
GREAT viv John. Question, would you perfer the mark 2 head over the mark 2 artist head ?
Have you tried the Katana Artist head?
Very nice composition on the intro. Great ideas and quite creative. Thanks. 😎🤓
I bought a Catalyst 60 after owning a Katana Mkll for years… I sold the Line 6 after gigging it a few times… It was ok but in my opinion my Katana sounds better
Hi John. Thanks 👍 for the video/info, your playing is amazing I was trying to work out what key you were playing in I'm not very good at tracking fret board hand movements.
I bought a Boss Katana 50 about two years ago but I'm sorry to say I couldn't for the life of 😢 me Obtain a sound that I liked, spent about a day trying. In the end I gave up and sold it cheap on Gumtree. Nevermind, I suppose it's a subjective thing that everyone has a different sonic objective. There's. Best Regards. John.😊😊
When are we going to see a shoot-out between a DUMBLE Steel String Singer amp and a Gorilla GG25 amp?
I bought a Katana 100 Mk II combo as an affordable amp when I got back into playing live after about 30 years' break. I was amazed just how good it was, and it fitted well with the tones the other guitarist in the band was getting. It couldn't compete in the "cool factor" though, because he was using a '60s Selmer! 😉 I'm now using a Laney Cub-Super 12 live, which I do find more expressive, but the Katana is a very useful part of my recording set-up - and it's great to have as a back-up if anything happens to the Laney.
Everything you play sound awesome what ever amp etc… you play 😉
Can’t go wrong with either I don’t think. Had a katana MKii 50 and now have a catalyst 200 that I picked up for like $300. Would have gone for the katana head but couldn’t turn down the deal on the catalyst.
I havw katana but I would be happy with any of those tbh (home practice)
Having played both, the Katana sounds superior in the room
? Could you perhaps do a little mini-series on that Katana head? I'm especially interested in seeing if it's possible to get more out-there sounds
Define out there for me??!
@@johnnathancordy you know, the stuff you do: big washy ambient washiness; glitchy delay; guitar that sounds like a bass; synth-like sounds; pads; mole-people conspiracies; tea in your coffee. Penguin laundromats. That sort of thing.
I just can't find any examples of what all the sneaky third-party 🥳🥳🥳 software offerings actually make possible, because everybody just shows the amps and drives
Damn nice playing man ! 🧑🎤🎶🕺
Hi John, can you help me and suggest me something?
I play in a 30 instrument band (a lot of brass !!), we play some funky and jazzy and bluesy stuff. They put me behind near the drum and I'd need of an amp with a lot of headroom to play a lot of clean sounds with a touch or wha or chorus....
I'm thinkin' to buy a Catalyst 200W 2x12...In your opinion is this a good idea???
Thanks!!! M.
So I have the Helix LT, which one would you the prefer? Since the helix has the amps already installed etc.
The Helix (currently) doesn't have any of the amps that are in the Catalyst.
@@foxmeisteruk yeah but I just want to use the catalyst or katana as a speaker basically. And use the amps on the helix since I'm happy with what is on the helix
I really wanted the head, but I found a deal I couldn’t refuse on the MKII 50 combo. I did replace the stock speaker with an eminence which was a drastic improvement. I also found a thing called a combo amp extender which pretty much lets me use it as a head.
Hey john, whats your thoughts on the catalyst 200 with something like a two notes opus or ir-200 as a cheap but upgrades sound? And plugging straight into amp vs its power amp section at rear
How are both paired with a helix ? As used instead of an frfr.
Do you use the Katana foot controller?
Having mini speakers in the head is such a great idea.
John my guy is there a BT for this on the Patreon?
I still gig with my Katana Artist as my main. For what it is and what it cost, it's really hard to justify a heavier tube amp that in a mix will sound nearly identical. As for the Catalyst, I've owned the 100 for a while and just don't get on with it nearly as well as I do the Kat. Sounds good at home, but not good at band volume.
I had to replace the speaker in the catalyst 200 and still not 100 satisfied with the high end
Have you tried running the HX Stomp into the power amp in?
No! That would open a portal to hell!!!
@@marcohoxha2769 HAHAHA 😂
Which would you prefer as am amp in for a modeler both are cheaper than the Seymour Duncan and orange pedal baby
I scored a catalyst a couple of weeks ago. There are thing about it that i really like but find it incredibly harsh and rattly with higher gain. It needs some really aggressive treble cut. Ive heard some talk of speaker break in. Im kind of on the fence awhether its a better option than the hx with my poxy headbrush frfr with its stupid tweeter.
aqui veo muchos comentarios de gente que compro katana en los ultimos 5 años pero CATALYS TIENE POCO TIEMPO EN EL MERCADO EN LA ACTUALIDAD 2024 CUAL COMPRARIAS REALMENTE SALUDOS KATANA O CATALYS SALUDOS
Now Gen 3 is out and you have to do it all again 😆
Is it the MkII or the Artist MkII?
I’d love to know what you do to dial in a lead tone.
Bought catalyst 100. Brilliant but sketchy build quality
A better comparaison would have been with katana mk2 100 and fender gtx 100 because for me gtx wins in many situations
I don't have a GTX! DO they make a head version? And also as said in the video - I specifically would choose the Mark 2 head, not the combo
Which is more pro?
The one you earn more money with.
Ya, I just wondered what Cordy would consider more pro as he use to talk about what is more pro in his vids.
Katana still king for mine
I would put any other modeling amp above the Boss Katana. It immediately sounds fake to me. The only reason it's still a bestseller is the power of the Boss brand.
Even a Vox VT40X or a used Fender Mustang II V.2 (or any of the low-budget Chinese floor units, like Hotone, Valeton, Sonicake, Mooer, NuX etc.) are better purchases than a Katana.
I think in a band mix katana shines, it has good midrange and presence. Other modeling amps often have problem staying in the full band mix
And believe me, when katana came out i thought it was a toy. And then i compared it to my expensive pedalbord setup with Quilter amp and Katana sounded much better.
That's not been my experience at all - having experienced some of the NuX modeling and so on, and actually doing an AB with a Fender Vibro Verb, the Katana totally held it's own in a clean comparison?
No contest here. Katana runs tonal circles around the Catalyst.
I have the Katana MK II and the Catalyst 100. There's no contest. The Katana sounds like a real amp in the room and the Catalyst sounds fake, boxy, not present. The Catalyst is trash, in my experience.
To my ears Katana and Catalyst sound flat and thin compared to tube amps, I’ll stick with my Fender for the next 10 years
I get it. However I don’t think that it actually is a question of tubes or solid state. There are many modellers and solid states that really sound phenomenal.
Anyway, I also never really got the Katana-Hype. Just not my cup of tea.
Nice - but does your tube amp have remarkable sounding effects, multiple voicings, presets and tone studio? All for like...two, tree fiddy? I'll settle for 85% of the thump with all them bells and whistles.
You really can't teach old dogs new tricks.
I personally play as a hobby, not professionally, like many of you out there, I prefer 1 hour of playing than circling through presets, four basic sounds does it for me: jazz rock blues reggae, you can not replace creativity with presets and guitar pedals.
When you play on stage like I have with my HX Stomp through a cab and listen to the other player with a real VOX amp and pedals, it cuts like a knife.
Separates man from boys
I don’t quite understand why Yamaha makes those two products that are probably competing hardest with each other. Aren’t they cannibalizing their own sales?
The Katana is made by Boss, not Yamaha.
Ah. I mixed it up. Boss is a Roland Brand, not a Yamaha brand.
Question answered, I guess.