Practice Amps Comparison
- Thread starter diablo175
- Start date
I grabbed a Boss Katana 50 Mk2 a few weeks back and am surprised and amazed at how good it sounds every day. Some minor global eq tweaks within the app were all that was required along with playing through it as much as possible to get that speaker moving right. For pickup testing it saves me a boatload of time and is just as revealing as my Carr Hammerhead, Twin, Marshall, Peavey, etc. and all I have to do is press a button and jump to saved bank-presets. Also, plugging a bass in and using the Blackface Deluxe "Clean" patch; with a few adjustments I can get remarkably Showman-esque recorded bass sound for tracking. I'm all about quality tube amps and will never sell the killer ones I own but dang it, I love the Katana! Affordable too.
I'll second this. I use the power amp in if I'm using a modeler, and that works well too. Although, the stock sounds (I go for more clean than not) are pretty great.
I've tried the Yamaha mini things more than once and have never been able to get something I like out of them.
I've run mine into the front of a clean amp and it works hilariously well. I wasn't expecting anything good but the Microcube delivered. Had a Cube 60 for awhile that was very good, too. Heard nothing but good things about the Katana line.
Anything with a decent headphone out is good for quiet practicing.
Love my THR-10.
This^^^^^
I had a Yamaha THR , took me about 15 minutes before I packed it up to return. For a few bucks more the Katana is much better IMO.
arniez
Carl.B
Active member
How does the 0.5w setting on the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 sound? Before the pandemic I was enjoying being able to turn up my SC x2 during the daytime as the wife was off at work. Now she is permanently working from home. So now if I get the itch to play it's either my Martin or playing thru headphones using my old POD X2. I hate playing with wired headphones.
I had the original THR10, sold it and bought the "boutique" THR10c. IMO, the original was a much better sounding amp.
On the software side, I really enjoyed the ability to tweak, but any time I used saved a preset, the preset went away if I tweaked any of the controls (for example, in a saved preset I decided I needed more treble. Moving the treble knob ejected me out of the preset and into the stock amp setting). Was that normal?
So far I am liking the Spark better than the THR in spite of the noise.
Update: I had (actually took, should have gone to sleep, instead) some time last night and tried out the Spark "play along" portion of the app. I linked it up with Spotify and tried out a couple of tunes: ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" and Chic's "Good Times." The program guessed the chords with about 75% accuracy on the Top tune and I'd say about 50%-60% accuracy on the Chic tune. Given Nile Rodgers' propensity to sneak extended jazz voicings into seemingly simple progressions, that's probably pretty good.
I spent only about twenty or thirty minutes, but it's a cool feature that adds another dimension to the practice amp concept.
I spent only about twenty or thirty minutes, but it's a cool feature that adds another dimension to the practice amp concept.
scottcald
Well-known member
it's me HHB
New member
Totally. I gig mine a lot ( like dinner music gig this afternoon ) its a practise amp that gigs. The aux in is great if you wanna do the shred over trax shot too. Beyond that the tones are fucking stellar!!!
it's me HHB
New member
Totally agree. I can use it by itself, or as a power amp for a modeler - in both instances it works great as a practice amp at home. (I haven't used it out, but we have a 100 watt one in the school's studio that sounds great when the students use it for parts.)
Carl.B
Active member
My deceased Katana has been replaced by a Peavey 158 EFX w/ an upgraded 8" Celestion (don't laugh, it sounds good).
Typically it stays in my kitchen, but I used it for a Facebook Live show in my bassist Garys front yard a few weeks back;
Typically it stays in my kitchen, but I used it for a Facebook Live show in my bassist Garys front yard a few weeks back;
it's me HHB
New member
Just made a quick 400 using the acoustic amp on my katana!
Kalessin
New member
This may be out of left field, but I'll throw it into the mix . . . I've never felt the need for a practice amp since adding a Neunaber Iconoclast at the end of my (small) board. A noise gate, a stereo speaker sim that's pretty much an EQ, and a headphone out, all in a micro package. If you'll be using your board anyway, it could be an option. Although i will say a board with tube pedals (I have a Kingsley Harlot and a TRex Roommate as the mainstays) seems to never get brittle in the way full-digital can when there's no tube amp at the end.
For those of us who want to travel with our practice amps, this doesn't seem like a feasible option. One of the redeeming features of the Cube, THR and Spark amps is their compactness and portability. I used to lug around a 1 x 10 Kustom on vacations, then I found the THR10 X and could stuff that in a small sports duffel with a few cables, strings and a Roland Dr 3. With the Spark, I don't even need a drum machine.
Biz Prof
Well-known member
Indeed. They produce good tones, as well, and are just about perfect for living room noodling and making demos like this one: