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Practice Amps Comparison


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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.

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On 7/7/2020 at 1:42 AM, RobB said:

THR all the way. The software is pretty cool, adds the ability to save presets without too much tweaking. Honorable mention for the Trademark10. 

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.

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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.

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4 hours ago, velorush said:

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.

Cool, good to know.

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On 7/6/2020 at 10:07 AM, silentman said:

 Boss Katana all day long. The 50 is great. Bigger footprint but songs great

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!!!

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On 7/8/2020 at 12:04 AM, Carl.B said:

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.

Killer

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15 hours ago, it's me HHB said:

Killer

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.)

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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;

 

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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. 

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4 hours ago, Kalessin said:

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.

 

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2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

One of the redeeming features of the Cube, THR and Spark amps is their compactness and portability. 

Indeed. They produce good tones, as well, and are just about perfect for living room noodling and  making demos like this one:

 

 

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On 7/6/2020 at 12:09 PM, bubs_42 said:

 

Its tubes for me, I am the type of guy that likes to just boost the amp and play with my volume, tone and pick attack. I have heard some really really great demo's of most of the amps mentioned above, but hearing it and feeling it are two different things. 

This is my vibe about amps after playing through a bunch of solid state practice amps over the years. I have a Soldano Astroverb 16 and both a Reverend Goblin & Kingsnake tube combo amps. I enjoy using my Fractal Audio FX-8 floor processor or throwing a bunch of stompboxes in front of the amps and getting the tone from my fingers/tone/pick attack. That being said, I wouldn’t hesitate playing through the new Roland Cube or Yamaha solid state amps, if I’m sitting on someone’s gig. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                Guitar George

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just ordered the Yamaha THR. Got the THR5, the 10w version because it’s pretty much going to be used with headphones while the wife and kid sleep. That, and Paul Gilbert uses that one as a practice amp on the road and who am I to argue with Pablo Gilberto....?

will review when it comes in...

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