Andy, funny thing is this all started because of Yamaha. About 18 months ago I decided to treat myself to a new practice amp as I was getting a little tired of my Microcube which, for me, had only one usable sound. I was gobsmacked by the demos of the THR10 and went and tried one in GAK. I couldn't get on with the tiny speakers. I wanted something that I could use to jam with friends and the sound just wasn't 'big' enough. I should have gone home and re-thought things but, no, I was determined to come home with something. I plugged into a Blackstar TVP15 thought 'That'll do' and took it home.
Big mistake - I've never hated an amp as much as I did the Blackstar. I shudder to think about it. Sold it to some poor sod a few weeks ago.
I was also looking for a new gigging amp. I'd been using a Cornford Roadhouse for years and, as much as I loved it, it was single channel and I had started to crave a two channel amp which had fully independent controls for each channel. The tones of the THR10 continued to haunt me so when I heard a couple of great demos of the THR100 I was sold. What a great amp. The Cornford is now gone.
I was apprehensive about going from a highly regarded valve amp to a modeler but I was floored by the tones I got from the Yamaha. I was rehearsing last night and I still can't stop myself from thinking 'Is this really as good as tubes ?'. Well I like it a whole lot better than any of the Marshalls at my rehearsal space which include the Jubilee, DSL, JCM 800 and 900 - I don't like any of them but I love the sound of older Marshalls. Maybe a Bogner Ecstacy would beat it but I could never afford one. Plus, I'm sick of messing around with valves - no two sets sound the same and they wear out. The Yamaha is a joy to play, it does it's stuff at even modest volume levels and I keep finding little tweaks that make it sound even better.
So, I was looking to replace the Blackstar. The main thing I wanted, other than a great tone, was portability. I sometimes jam with my friend's band at my local and I wanted to be able to get there with a guitar in one hand, amp in the other. The Katana was attracting some attention and it was small and light so I ordered one without having tried one.
What a great little amp. As I said, the sounds aren't quite up there with the Yamaha but it's still really good. The response feels tube-like and the sounds aren't far off. Way better than any other inexpensive solid-state amp I've ever heard and better than some tube amps I've owned. As a practice amp it's terrific. It's so far ahead of the Blackstar it's ridiculous especially considering the laughably low price. The EQ is weird - I have bass, middle and treble all around 9 o'clock and these setting sound great. Pushing the treble and mids up produces some awful harsh fizziness but I'm told that this changes once the speaker has broken in - we shall see. Plus a load of effects (don't use them myself) and the facility to access all sorts of stuff online.
Boss are struggling to keep up with the demand for Katanas - sales have far exceeded their expectations. This thing is cleaning up and it deserves to. You could buy one of these and the entry level Yamaha Pacifica for less than 250 quid and have a perfectly decent gigging rig. As an old git of 59 looking back to the gear I had when I started out - what a load of cr@p! I would have sold my soul for something as good as this. Kids today don't know they're born.
