A lot has been said about it. It is a very good entry level Amp to enjoy Boss's vast array of tones and use with your first band situation. You can not go wrong, it is Boss Roland product.A tadd spikey in the face high frequencies. Use EQ to your advantage and noise gate a must for high gain to brown spund selection. Clean is reminiscent of JC120 and crunch is reasonable. As for its role as a practice Amp, it is not a match to THR nor Spark in so far as audio playback is concerned. Mushy, vague playback is not conducive to inspiring practice a long with playback backing.

For the money it's a no-brainer, really. Do consider whether you might want to splurge the extra for the added facilities on the higher models in the range but if this one has the functionality you need then I for one would happily recommend it. Only 4 stars from me as the instruction manual (in true Boss fashion) is next to useless, and the USB/tone central bit ain't all that bright either.There are some great sounds in there though. Home use/jam sessions/open mic nights all fine. I doubt I'd want to gig with it with a rock band (it's nowhere near loud enough, and you'd also probably wish for that additional functionality). But for what it is it's really jolly good :)

A tone monster - best modelling amp I've heard

In a nutshell, this amp sounds killer. Like any modelling amp, you need to tweak a little to your taste and your guitars. The "Brown" channel is a little bright. I dialed the treble down to about 11:00, and it sounds absolutely amazing. Nice selection of effects, just use the software and a laptop to access everything. I dialed in a killer clean tone with compression, a beautiful chorus from the Pitch Shifter effect, delay and reverb, and it sounds stunning.The only shortcoming is only 4 presets can be stored. But at this price point, I'll accept that considering how great this amp sounds.

Fantastic combo!

BOSS created the product like a boss, and confirms it's the boss on this market.I own the old 50 watt Katana and the Katana Mini. Both are great. Just bought the Katana 100 mk2, and yes, after whole day spent on setting and playing - I love it.Whatever you need - crispy or warm cleans, crunch or hi-gain sounds you will get it from this amp. Plus - lot of BOSS stomp boxes available as plugins (7 at a time, where 5 manageable by additional GA-FC foot switch).Bit ugly, but fully working BOSS Tone Studio software for setting each aspect of this amp and available effects).Total 9 presets (channel Ax4, channel Bx4 plus "Panel"). Combined with switchable effects quite ok to play a gig.Considering the price/value ratio this amp is an unbeatable champion on the ... MoreBOSS created the product like a boss, and confirms it's the boss on this market.I own the old 50 watt Katana and the Katana Mini. Both are great. Just bought the Katana 100 mk2, and yes, after whole day spent on setting and playing - I love it.Whatever you need - crispy or warm cleans, crunch or hi-gain sounds you will get it from this amp. Plus - lot of BOSS stomp boxes available as plugins (7 at a time, where 5 manageable by additional GA-FC foot switch).Bit ugly, but fully working BOSS Tone Studio software for setting each aspect of this amp and available effects).Total 9 presets (channel Ax4, channel Bx4 plus "Panel"). Combined with switchable effects quite ok to play a gig.Considering the price/value ratio this amp is an unbeatable champion on the market. I bought a week ago KATAlist from some multi-Line company, and I am sending it back. That thing is good only for couch, while Katana is great for practicing, recording and life shows (assuming you will buy the foot controller).To summarize:- great sounding- very flexible- very nicely priced- relatively small and lightweightYou can't go wrong buying it.

Fantastic!

I was a little intimidated by this amp. I'm a "plug and play" kinda guy, so didn't like the idea of having to tinker around with hooking up to a computer, and all of the adjustments you can make are a little overwhelming, but the tones you get right out of the box by just twisting some knobs are amazing! I've been cheating and connecting it to the internet and downloading patches that other people have created and shared. Piece of cake!! No spending endless hours trying to dial in the perfect sound. And the limited edition white is killer!! Glad I went with this one. Worth every penny!!

Great little amp for almost anything

I am a semi-pro guitarist who currently plays at church. I've had a tube Classic 20 head, and jumped into modeling early with a Peavey Transformer 212 and more recently the Yamaha THR. I have a Fender ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb which I absolutely love the clean and breakup tone of (great pedal platform), but don't always want to tote a pedalboard (MS-3 with TC drives and others).I bought the 50 mkII EX to try out for a small, portable church amp. I figured I'd return it but when I first plugged in I was impressed. This Katana fills the bill for its built-in effects, ease of use, configurability, sound quality and volume. Just a little setup with Tone Studio and I had the global EQ set to low-pass, high-pass and tune out anything I didn't like. The effects are almost ... MoreI am a semi-pro guitarist who currently plays at church. I've had a tube Classic 20 head, and jumped into modeling early with a Peavey Transformer 212 and more recently the Yamaha THR. I have a Fender ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb which I absolutely love the clean and breakup tone of (great pedal platform), but don't always want to tote a pedalboard (MS-3 with TC drives and others).I bought the 50 mkII EX to try out for a small, portable church amp. I figured I'd return it but when I first plugged in I was impressed. This Katana fills the bill for its built-in effects, ease of use, configurability, sound quality and volume. Just a little setup with Tone Studio and I had the global EQ set to low-pass, high-pass and tune out anything I didn't like. The effects are almost as good as the MS-3 (reverbs could be better) and I can set the effects order also. It also has a dedicated line out (speakers on) and can use the GA-FC EX controller which I highly recommend for live. Of note, 50 watts in this thing is loud enough for a drummer.The tones are good enough for working musicians and even recording. Even more so, it feels right. The response is quick and direct, most likely due to the fact that it is an analog pre/power amp. The digital EQ and effects seem to be where the modelling come from. If you are on the fence about a purchase, you won't regret it; however, do take the time to tweak and customize with Tone Studio. I had tried the original Katana and didn't like it, but the MkII and especially the EX changed that. The EX gets all of the upgrades except the effects loop of the 100W version. Awesome purchase!

I would buy the Katana Amp again without any hesitation!

It's a game changer. In over 5 decades, I have played with dozens of the greatest jazz musicians in the world. Because of the demands of the business, both in performance and travel, I have sought out amplifiers with a small footprint, power to spare, and built ruggedly for travel over the years. This amp fits the bill and more. I no longer use a pedal board; the effects on board are killer, and the ability to save settings is a critically important and practical feature; regarding any performance. The net? I'd buy it again!

Killer amp with a new 12" 65 Watt speaker from Avatar-Fane!!!

Before you buy this amplifier, order a Avatar-Fane M65 65-Watt 12" Cream Speaker, made in England by Fane Corp. This speaker is a killer for this amplifier. Or go read about the Avatar-Fane M65 12" Speaker! This Boss Katana-50 MKII 50 Watt 1x12 Combo Amplifier has so many features that it's mind boggling! Plus you can download new Firmware and tons of effects for it and it's easy to do. I am getting a very nice Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb sound out of this combo amp and that's just one setting. Like any modeling amp, you have to play with it and adjust it the way you want it to sound...and it does take some time to get it just right. But once you do, WOW, you will be amazed at what you come up with. This amplifier will crank it out too. But the clean tones are ... MoreBefore you buy this amplifier, order a Avatar-Fane M65 65-Watt 12" Cream Speaker, made in England by Fane Corp. This speaker is a killer for this amplifier. Or go read about the Avatar-Fane M65 12" Speaker! This Boss Katana-50 MKII 50 Watt 1x12 Combo Amplifier has so many features that it's mind boggling! Plus you can download new Firmware and tons of effects for it and it's easy to do. I am getting a very nice Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb sound out of this combo amp and that's just one setting. Like any modeling amp, you have to play with it and adjust it the way you want it to sound...and it does take some time to get it just right. But once you do, WOW, you will be amazed at what you come up with. This amplifier will crank it out too. But the clean tones are what I like so I sought out all the clean tones and versions I could come up with and the results were fantastic. The MKII does not have a 1/4" Speaker cabinet output to plug your favorite speaker box into. But there is a very easy way to modify this with a Boss Factory kit you can buy to add a 1/4" jack onto the back of this cabinet. You have to be mechanically inclined and know a little about changing out or converting various components, switches, and input/output jacks. But it's not rocket science! Anyway, this amp may be small, but man oh man it can kick your butt across the room as good as any 50-Watt amp, maybe even better than some you have most likely tried over the years. I have a lot of amplifiers, too many really, but this one has me hooked with the tone right now. At the price of this amp, you would be hard pressed to find a better one in this amp specifications/rating category! Oh, and you can pick this little amp up and carry it anywhere, it's that light. Happy picking folks!!!

The 50 is perfect for me...but go to the 100 for gigging

I am a long time Line 6 user and have had a Pod HD500 for several years. I had a Headrush FRFR to play it through but always found it complex to just dial in tones to play for fun. On a whim I saw the Katana and was intrigued to try it. These days I mostly play guitar for fun and with friends, so wanted something powerful enough to jam with as well as being simple enough to dial in tones. The Katana 50 Mk II does exactly what I wanted with a few limitations.Pros:- Amazing tone. It was super easy to dial in great tones on the fly. It isn't a tube amp, but close enough for my needs. Whether with a Les Paul or a Strat it is pick sensitive and can clean up or snarl with playing style or simple volume adjustments.- Love Boss Tone Studio - a much simpler way to ... MoreI am a long time Line 6 user and have had a Pod HD500 for several years. I had a Headrush FRFR to play it through but always found it complex to just dial in tones to play for fun. On a whim I saw the Katana and was intrigued to try it. These days I mostly play guitar for fun and with friends, so wanted something powerful enough to jam with as well as being simple enough to dial in tones. The Katana 50 Mk II does exactly what I wanted with a few limitations.Pros:- Amazing tone. It was super easy to dial in great tones on the fly. It isn't a tube amp, but close enough for my needs. Whether with a Les Paul or a Strat it is pick sensitive and can clean up or snarl with playing style or simple volume adjustments.- Love Boss Tone Studio - a much simpler way to connect the amp to your computer and adjust on the fly. I also found some very usable tones from their tone bank (although it is very limited). What I like here is I can either keep it simple or get complex (but complexity isn't required). I also love that I could change out the Boss effects controlled by each knob on the amp and then tweak the settings. So, when I want a compressor or overdrive I have it all preset and just dial in the amount with the knob on my preset.- Size and wattage - While I found the .5 watt really too little, it is great to use it at 25w and then jump to 50w if needed. Size and weight are perfect for my needs. great to grab and go.Cons: (note, these are really trade offs for getting the 50 vs the 100)- Footswitch options are really limited. No midi. All of these are available if you go to the 100w model. However, since I didn't by this to gig with I am ok with the FS-6 so I can change between the 4 presets. (Note the FS-6 is an additional purchase).- Firmware updating - I thought I was pretty handy with computers, but the process baffled me until I really went line by line and focused. Probably my ADHD, but this was a pain and took me 3-4 attempts to get it done. I figured it out, but it is a complex process that could be easier (like Line 6 Monkey...which also can be a pain).Note that I didn't ding them on number of amp models, etc. The reason for this is all the amp models in some other amps (cough...Line 6) really are overkill. If I were gigging this I might feel differently, but I get Vox/Fender cleans and a great Marshall JCM800 tone that covers my needs.All in all, this so totally fit my needs that I put the HD 500 in the gig bag and stored it, packed the FRFR to sell, and now just quickly plug in and play with a smile on my face! Boss really nailed it with the Katana's.

Why would you buy any other amp?

I bought this amp for my son who has only been playing for around 10 months but is already a guitar God. It is great! I feel the versitility of the amp is out of this world. You could think of any band and stand a good chance of replicating their tone. The wide range of tones can also be accessed and controlled on the Boss Katana tone studio which was easy enough to download onto a laptop. It doesn't matter if you're using single coils, humbuckers or p90s this amp can do all of them justice. Along side this, the acoustic setting on the app is great when you have either your electric or acoustic guitar pluged into the amp. The amp is easy to use and loud. So very loud ;) I have not used this amp for any gigs yet but I'm sure it will do just the job.P.S I can't ... MoreI bought this amp for my son who has only been playing for around 10 months but is already a guitar God. It is great! I feel the versitility of the amp is out of this world. You could think of any band and stand a good chance of replicating their tone. The wide range of tones can also be accessed and controlled on the Boss Katana tone studio which was easy enough to download onto a laptop. It doesn't matter if you're using single coils, humbuckers or p90s this amp can do all of them justice. Along side this, the acoustic setting on the app is great when you have either your electric or acoustic guitar pluged into the amp. The amp is easy to use and loud. So very loud ;) I have not used this amp for any gigs yet but I'm sure it will do just the job.P.S I can't really give a fair rating for reliability because I've only had it a few weeks although it does seem to be built well.