Boss Katana-100 MkII 1x12 inch 100-watt Combo Amp Reviews

I have owned a small Orange app for a while and used it for my main rig. I was looking for something that was a little brighter in sound so I can start playing some more jazzy music on my new semi-hollow body guitar. After reading lots of reviews I opted for this amp. I love it. It has a clean, clear sound, lots of features, and very clear controls. I also like the fact it has 3 power settings so I don't blow out my ears in my basement :-). I had a fender mustang before, which I gave to my kid. This is similar, but honestly I like it a bit better. It also takes to my pedals well. Haven't used a lot of different amps, so it is hard to compare beyond the above, but I am very happy with this amp. Highly recommended.

I just received this amp today. At first look I think the build quality is fantastic. The only thing I have found that I don't think is great is the power control feels a little soft, no definite click between settings. This amp is easy to use and thats good for an old guy like me. So far I've only played it in my bedroom but I am extremely blown away how good this amp sounds. I am waiting for the foot controller to show up. I have not hooked up to the computer yet but will write a review soon. I think I will buy another for my son. I'm looking forward to play with the band. This is money well spent

The Boss Katana 100 MKII amp is an exceptional product for anyone looking for an amplifier that sounds good with both electric and acoustic guitar. The different amp models all sound very good, and the different tones and effects are all very good and usable. Overall, this is an excellent amplifier.

I can't say enough about the mark II Katana, I own two and run them in stereo with a GA-FC foot switch. The core tones are great, and easy to use, but using Boss tone studio and dialing in some additional parametric EQ, assigning effects, and using the foot switch, I have everything I need for studio recording, and live playing!! This amp has been a godsend for a guy like me who's never wanted to tweak endlessly with modeling solutions. Plus, with the class AB power section, she's a real amp!!!

very nice amp 2 thumbs up !!!!!!

The new katana 100 Mk2 is a excellent Amp,Can be used as a practice or on stage Amp. Very satisfied with this unit and the sales guy Jordan Garrett stayed in touch with me and was there to answer any questions I had.My hats off to Sweetwater for running a good operation and I will be doing more business with this company in the near future.Thanks Sweetwater!

Pure home enthusiast of 25+ years and absolutely thrilled with the Katana-100 MKII. Great out of the box but once I hooked it up to the PC a whole new world was unlocked. Feel any tone you could wish for is attainable with this amp through the app. The ability to play at the lower wattages and attain those killer sounds is spectacular for home use when others are around. Once again a huge shout out to Sweetwater for amazing holiday prices and my sales engineer Ariana for service like no other.

I want to thank Caleb Lowery and Sweetwater for a great experience purchasing my 50s Les Paul and Katana amp. It was truly a pleasure dealing with Caleb as he was very helpful and put my mind at ease about my purchase online. I will definitely be using Sweetwater for my future purchases.

If you are looking for a budget friendly amp that is reliably loud enough and sounds decent enough for gigging or practice, look no further. At this price point, in my opinion you cannot buy a better amp. HOWEVER, if you are looking for something with more tone quality and is worthy of recording on a hot mic, save up for the 800-1200 range and get a tube amp.

This Katana 100 is the most amazing amp I have seen or used. What makes it so amazing isn't the 5 amp models built-in or the 5 effects built-in or even the ability to access an additional 60 effects in the online library. What makes this amp so amazing is the fact that the sound at the 0.05 Watt low power setting is exactly the same as it is at the 100 Watt full power setting. Absolutely nothing is lost or changes when dropping the power setting from 100 watts to the 0.05 watts lowest power setting. The only thing that changes is the volume, nothing is lost by reducing the power. There isn't a tube amp built that can do that. A tube amp does not sound good at all at low volume. Tube amps don't start sounding good until you get the volume up to 7 or more and the tubes get hot. At low volume tube amps sound brittle and just plain not good. But not the case with the Boss Katana 100 MKII. It's the most amazing amp I've ever seen. I absolutely love it.

I used to own a boss katana MKI 1x12 100watt and served me well. Now I use this one all the time! It has become the best version by far. Better controls and newer features. It is easy to dial down to the specific settings you will ever need.

I'm a early 40's dad who is still trying to live the dream in his local bar scene. I play covers in a garage band. I've been chasing tones for 25 years on guitar. One thing that stands out to me over the years is owners of bars telling us were too loud. For nearly 2 decades I had to go out and buy tube amps similar to what my heroes played because I wanted to chase the tones of my youth. What a lot of people don't realize is in the studio most of those great rock albums you love was probably a small low wattage combo amp. Any way for all this time I was searching for the perfect pedal, or the perfect pickups, or the perfect amp. All that resulted was a lot of debt.
It all came to a head at a gig this past February when I had my Vox AC30CH set to the tone and volume I was happy with. I felt like I could play anything from Blues Rock to Country (no metal I'm just not that guy.) Anyway with my perfect tone, the one I hear in my head, I'm asked to turn down. Being a good band mate I did. The tone went from fluid and dynamic to just plain sterile. It was no longer a pushed amp anymore, it was a cranked preamp with no Power amp distortion.
I finally had enough. I sold my Vox and bought a Katana 100. The 50 would have done the job probably but I wanted the direct out IR sounds of the 100watt MK-II models. For me this amp was a no brainer after I got it. Mostly its a plug in and play amp if you so choose to do that. But with the footswitch it opens up a lot of options for you to play with. I'm pretty simple so I just want a little boost, an effect like tremolo or chorus, delay, and reverb. I could live without the footswitch as I'm just playing classic rock and backing off the volume on the guitar gives me enough clean sounds to get the job done. Sometimes you want a classic rock sound, and then go into a hard rock sound and for me that's where the foot switch is a must. I get 8 presets to play with and I probably only need 2 or 3. But its better to have options and not need them than to have no options and need things.
Like I said I can go direct with this amp so no need for my SM57 anymore. It can whisper or it can crank up as loud as any 50 watt tube amp. Its lighter weight than all my tube amps. Also at low volumes I'm getting better tones than I had with tube amps and my pedal board. In fact I don't use pedals that much anymore because everything I wanted was included with the digital effects!
I play one gig a month for the most part. I don't need 50-100 pounds of amp to haul in to the gig. I'm a minimalist and I don't like making lots of trips to the car. I can bring my amp and my guitar along with a bag with my cables and I'm done with setup. The IR's are the volume you program them and they are consistent everywhere you play. Traveling light is the only way to fly and my Katana is better any tube amp I've had in the last 25 years.

I absolutely love this amp! First time owning a Boss Katana and I'm hooked! I highly recommend this amp and also highly recommend Sweetwater! I've never had a bad experience and look forward to buying from Sweetwater again. Jimmy Hart from Sweetwater is the best! Thank you once again Sweetwater!

There's only one thing I can say . Just get one.

I was looking for a solid state amp to have so I would be able to just plug in and go with. I normally play through either a Peavey ValveKing 112 or a Marshall DSL 40, both being tube amps. This solid state amp stands right next to my other valve amps in sound, tone, and volume. I am well pleased.

I did a lot of research on this amplifier before I made the purchase. It had the best reviews of any in that price range. I was not disappointed by the quality of the amplifier. I chose the Sweetwater outlet, because of their customer service. Which is outstanding. Thank you Sweetwater team.

I own a guitar school and needed a good knock around amp that has fun modeling and can be audible with irresponsible drummers.

This thing can get loud. For what you pay, you get a ton of stuff. It's a great practice amp. The amount of effects that you get with this thing when you plug it into a computer is worth way more than what you pay for this. The footswitch is a must have. Makes switching channels simple. I also use an effects processor sometimes through the effects loop which works great as well. Very happy with this purchase.

To the listener wanting to go out and catch a band at their local club, the sound difference, if there's any at all really, is indistinguishable. To the bank account, it's very noticeable. Highly portable - I'm 67 and I can lift it fine. Why bother with pedals, they're all inside and they're all Boss; Distortion +, Tube Screamer, Chorus - all those - saving even more. I do recommend the foot switch, even if you're just at home. It's easier. A lot of really cool youtubes out there to tap into as well. It's a great gig amp and a cool thing to play and mess around with if you never leave your living room, like me most of the time.

Very fast shipping. Arrived a day early. Very happy with amp.

I also own a Fender Deluxe Reverb which is great for studio work and live playing, but what I needed most was a practice amplifier with modeling capability. The Katana MK2 100 fit the bill perfectly. I am blown away with the different tones I am getting and have yet to even get to the Boss Tone library that has more downloadable tones for this amp. I added a Airstep Kat footswitch and this added such a nice feature to being able to control via my foot when playing. I only buy equipment from Sweetwater and my engineer Tom Maxwell who have always pointed me to the right instrument for my needs.

I have two tube amps (marshal JCM800 and EVH5150iii) with a nice pedal board. I play Les Paul's so you can have an understanding of the sound I like from my rig. I bought the Katana after hearing great things and trying it out at a local store. I wanted an easy thing to take out of the house to a show or practice and that can give me Mike Cambel (Petty) crunch to all out Van Halen rock and skeal. At my first practice I only had the amp on 50W and it was plenty loud with a 5 piece band. But you dial it to .5 watts and it's whisper quiet. No pedal board with me. I set up by plugging in. So easy. We ripped through a bunch off songs and the amp was a shinning star with the group. It sounded big, beefy and easy to play. It's versatile, light in transport, easy to set up and it rocks and that's what matters. I definitely recommend it as an alternative to lugging around the full set up. It falls in the category of my JCM800 and my 5150iii to my ears and that's what I was hoping for. However you can get excellent light bluesy tube amp tones on the crunch channel. Check out Rob Chapman's demo on YouTube and see why he uses the amp as his main rig for touring now.

Love this amp. Simple and the tones are very good. This amp makes you want to play more. Downloaded some patches tweaked them and have 8 presets that cover what I need. Tried the Fender GTX100 also. Great amp but the drive tones sound to digital to me.

I have been an acoustic player most of my life and recently purchased an electric set up. I chose this amp as my go to and it does not disappoint! There is a selector switch to choose between 0.5, 50, and 100 watts of power output so I can practice with minimal volume in my apartment at 0.5 watts and fill a whole gymnasium with 100 watts (I bet 50 watts would do it!). The effects are so awesome to have and the GAFC foot switch really makes the functions of this amp far more intuitive. You can make due without it, but man is this amp so much more with it!. A great purchase and I have Candace Irizzary (Sweetwater rep) to thank for the awesome set up I have!

Wow. I am really impressed with this amp. I gig a lot and got tired of dragging around literally thousands of $ worth of equipment to have tubes blow or my extremely unreliable Helix not work so I thought I'd buy this and if it was disappointing, at least I'd have a bang around amp to rehearse/practice with. I was so wrong about that!! I took the time to dial in sounds using the Tone Studio and never looked back. I dialed sounds for a gigging situation - staying out of the bass frequency, heavier mods and not biting treble. I also bought the GA-FC foot controller. Now my pedalboard is a tuner, wah and the foot controller. Using the line out to the board and getting really rich cutting tone at low stage volume. Believe me, it's got LOTS of headroom if needed. I'll probably sell my tube amps and pedals now.

I run a Line 6 Pod Go for worship services. Most of the time I am running direct to the soundboard but when we play other venues I use this as my powered cab. The "power input in" jack in the back bypasses the pre-amp and the only thing that works is the master volume which is exactly what I wanted. This is a FRFR powered cab and a great guitar amp with some great built in effects. Very versatile.

The power selection is really nice for practice without the added volume that you want on stage. The variable voices are the best feature, with the turn of a knob or two, you can dial in whatever sound you're looking for. A little more low, scoop the mids, dial up the presence, different amp sounds, the sky's the limit. Lightweight and powerful. Great little amp for the money. Expecting to get the foot controller soon as a convenient way to switch between voices and effects

I really like this amp. I've only had it for a few weeks, but I'm impressed. Even without accessing anything via a computer, the features available on the amp are worth the money.
It sounds great and is easy to use.
I've played 2x12 tube combos for a long time and looked at this for a few months before buying it. My only advice would be if you're used to a 2x12 combo, spring for the 2x12 version.
The .5 watt feature is awesome if you don't want to disturb anyone while practicing.
As of right now, Jan 2022, this amp is not compatible with the iPad. It does work with Mac, just not the iPad.
If you're someone who's getting back into guitar and you don't want to spend a ton of money on effects pedals, this is for you. It's all right here.
The footswitch is a must, don't get the amp without it.

I've learned over the years there's a reason many people gravitate en masse to certain products for a reason. And it's usually because it lives up to or exceeds their expectations. Just as in this case with the Katana MK II 100. After pulling mine from the box, plugging it in and playing I was immediately surprised how rich it actually sounds in so many different styles of playing. Classical, jazz, blues, rockabilly, country, rock.....personally I was sold on the speaker tones. It's not rocket science to easily dial in a good tone in any style you want with this amp. And even if you want to tweak it to your personal taste the USB plugin for Tone Studio gives you that flexibility without complications! I would have liked to have seen a digital display (only) so you can see the options or changes you've made instead of trying to memorize up to 15 different settings but it would've increased the cost of an already great amp.
After a week of playing I chose to also buy the seperate foot pedal to have even more flexibility at a touch. It's not yet an exact replacement for tube amps but it's definitely the closest I've heard yet and with a huge boost in reliability and less weight. No worry about warm-up or cool down time either. Finding "the perfect amp" is always subjective to each and every player but for me this amp hit ALL of the marks I want and expect for my money and even exceeded it. I've adopted the fact that tube amps are no longer the future and their existance is limited. Like it or not, that's a reality.

Super easy to get whatever sound you want. Certainly a change from 30 years ago. Can't wait to continue exploring what all it can do.

I've been trying a lot of modeling amps lately and this one is getting alot of attention. If I had infinite resources when I started playing guitar in the 80's, I would have bought most of the pedals represented in this amp. I am now playing out my youthful rockstar fantasies with all of those sounds I wanted to hear eminating from my amplifier back then. Funnily enough, my favorite thing about this box is the 0.5W setting. I'm not that kid back in the 80's cranking the volume up after school. I'm now a mature adult with a respect for the people around me and this setting gives me the ability to get that cranked up sound without the insane volume. If you're touring and playing arenas, you're not going to be using this amp on stage. But if you're practicing backstage or in your bedroom at home, this effects filled combo should be everything you need.

Clean, Dirty and Heavy all in one..could not be happier with this amp for our home studio..If you happen to deal with Parker Denny on the phone/online you are in good hands...

Great amp with ALOT of different tones available..
Can't go wrong, especially being money friendly..

I consider myself an "old school" musician who likes to listen to and create/reproduce "old school" music. I make "old school" gear choices to help me create my "old school" music. I'm a "tube amp" guy.

1. There are some places that I do not want to bring my tube amps do to fear of damage or theft.

2. I've lately found myself in a few situations where I'm making more modern music.

I was in the market for a "do-it-all amp." My sales engineer, Bob Mondok, is THE BEST. He's never steered me wrong. He and his team suggested Boss Katana. That was enough for me. Also, I recently read an article, where Premier Guitar's John Bohlinger talked about gigging life in the Nashville music scene and briefly spoke of bringing his Boss Katana along when necessary.


First impressions were not so good. I was initially NOT impressed.

1. There was this horrible hum/hiss/buzz.

2. I was not able to manage the effects as easily as I thought.

I was ready to send it back. A quick google search revealed that both of my complaints could easily be fixed with the Boss Tone Studio. I quickly felt overwhelmed and even more ready to send it back, but decided to give it a try. It was MUCH EASIER THAN I THOUGHT. It DID NOT TAKE LONG. It was also FUN. Now, I have a "do-it-all" amp that is set up to my personal preferences and current needs that I feel comfortable taking anywhere. Nice job Roland/Boss and Sweetwater. Cheers!

I've been test-driving and agonizing over which Amp to buy for my hand-carved jazz archtop guitar for the past 3 years. The bass response from my guitar just blatted out every amp I've tried. Just this past year, I realized that what I needed was an acoustic amp, because that in fact is why my guitar is, albeit with a floating humbucker. I went online and watched videos of people playing various amplified acoustic guitars and came across the Boss Katana 100. It replicated acoustic tones beautifully and was 1/3 the price of the Schertler I had my eye on. I was put off a bit by all of the videos which showcased the metal crunch voicings and distortion variations on the Katana amps, as I was after a pure clean sound with a hint of reverb.
Today, my Katana arrived and I immediately plugged in and switched on the amp acoustic channel. Without much trouble I dialed in the sound I wanted on the panel and it is perfect!
So here's a shout out to all the carved archtop players out there looking for that amp that treats your guitar well. I don't need all the bells and whistles that this amp offers, but it is well worth its weight in pure jazz tone!

Besides TJ and Greg being so helpful with my purchase, this amp is great!!! I am having so much fun going through all the tones and effects and it is so simple. I wish I had bought one sooner

Light weight, sounds great and priced right. A lot of versatility in sounds and Fxs but easy to dial in on the amp itself or the Boss Tone Studio Software. The ability to go line out for recording is much appreciated as well as for FOH applications. Since the overall Master control controls the output at the speaker it can also be used as a "monitor" on stage while feeding a robust signal to FOH or local mixer. Expectation met and exceeded Boss hit a home run with this one.

I researched these type amps for some time and finally decided on the Katana the price was the clinch, a little complicated at first but not hard to understand after a few minutes or so, tones are a bit shrill but it's not hard to carve the edges off and actually the speaker has a pretty good set of balls in low ends, the string definition is awesome not all muddy like most solid state amps, then to have all these effects on board by a company like Boss, what a money saver ! Playing the amp is forever inspiring, you create as you experiment then with a push of a button it's saved for a later time. So many different tones hard to settle on a single one and say yeah, "that's my tone." The Equalizer is super responsive which it is also nice to have bass, middle and treble instead of just bass and treble like on a lot of newer solid state amps. I am a hobby player, no longer gig unless with some friends on the weekend, this amp can do all that as well with three power settings and headphone capable if you have really picky neighbors. At 100 watts it can cut through the loudest drummer I ever played with ! Its hard how to express how good it feels when you know for certain, your money is well spent ! Thanks for the Candy too Sweetwater !

Bought a Marshall tube amp and love that one . Bought also the MK 2 100 watt unbelievable sound and clarity . I have them both by side and constantly go to the Boss love it. Especially with tone central to program the pedal is easy. Sounds are great love it and recommend it , wish I got one with 2/12 but It works

I've been playing the electric bass for more years than I care to mention (think decades versus years). The events of 2020 resulted in me deciding to learn to play guitar in early 2021 since I basically finished every house project from what was an extensive list. After playing through a Roland micro cube amplified using a PA, which worked great for my purposes for a couple of months, I decided to upgrade my guitar amp. Consulted my brother who's been an avid guitarist for significantly longer than I've played bass. He's owned many different brands of guitar amp's and has played through countless more. His recommendation came as two options... the Katana MKII in either the 50 or 100 watt combo. We discussed a couple of other brands I'd been looking at, however, due to the decades of jamming together I trusted his opinion which basically came down to him liking the guitar tone he gets out of Roland/Katana products I opted for the 100 watt mainly due to it having an effects loop and better foot switch capabilities. So after playing through the MKII 100 for four months I couldn't be happier with the purchase. I mostly play on the .5 watt setting, but when I'm home alone or when I want to chase my wife and dogs out of the man-cave side of the house, either the 50 or 100 watt setting does the trick. It has so many built in effects I'm not sure I'll ever use the effects loop, but it's there if needed. While the 100 watt MKII has 8 tone slots, versus 4 on the 50 watt version, I'm only using 4 and at this point and don't think I'll need more anytime soon. I'm glad I got the 100 watt version because it's fun playing at concert level, but honestly the 50 watt would have worked just fine and the 50 watt setting is still ear splitting in a decent sized room. I'd recommend giving the MKII amps a look if you're in the market for a moderately priced amp with great sound and a full host of features.

This amplifier is great, and it makes it easy to create the sound you want from your guitar. When it arrived I plugged it in and discovered for the first time how good my guitar can really sound. I had decent but limited amplifiers before owning the Boss Katana. I haven't even plugged a foot pedal into it yet, and it blows me away with the different sounds that are built-in. Discovering all of the new sounds I can create is a lot of fun.
A very useful feature is the ability to change the wattage...it sounds amazing even when it's operating in the half-watt mode, and it can make the walls shake in a small room when set at 100 watts.
I am really pleased, because it really elevates my expectations for my guitar's sound, and elevates my guitar playing experience. This amplifier has become the heart, soul and center of my mini guitar studio.
I'm not big on making recommendations, because I believe that product satisfaction is something for an individual to discover on their own, but for this amp' I'll make an exception...you won't be disappointed if you buy this amp'.
If you've got GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), this is good medicine. I am a happy camper!

Got this amp about 3 weeks ago mid may 2021. Love it right out of the box it sounded great. Took a bit to connect to tone studio. But for a techno dope like me. hey if I can do it without tech support you all should be good to go. I got the GA foot controller and an expression pedal So good bye pedalboard For me and what I use it for this is the Perfect amp.If it was stolen would iI buy it again. I do love this amp.

Great amp, great service thanks Dan V!

this amp rocks, with the different effect settings and the tones you can get out of it, and it even sounds great at low volumes if you have neighbors that are close.

This was awesome I was able to do so many songs from my favorite bands. A well priced amp with good quality. Would highly recommend everyone hop on it

Even as a supposedly easy to operate unit there are so many different sonic configurations one might find many and miss more.

I've owned the Boss Katana-100 watt MkII for roughly a month now and it's exceeded my expectations for a practice amp, hell I'd probably be fine gigging with it as long as the venue has the proper PA setup. The quality of the different channels straight out of the box are surprisingly good for the price and the fact that it's a solid state amp. In the past I've owned a Line 6 Spyder (not the greatest tone I've had lol) and this amp blows my perception of what solid state amps are capable of! Add on the ability to craft your perfect tones in the Studio software that comes with the amp and you've got an amazing deal for those getting back into guitar, just starting, or needing a practice amp for home purposes.

Big shout out to my sales rep Nate Burkhardt for the great service in upgrading me from the 50W to the 100W (I couldn't pass up the FX loop and foot switch option) and Sweetwater as a whole for being an awesome retailer!

I am a 63 yr.old "Touring Guitarist" (Idle since Covid wiped out large audiences), I Used all the huge 'stacks" in the 1970's Now, going the direction of the Kemper,/ Helix direct through the massive provided PA systems of today, the big amps are no longer a part of my setup. I wanted a small, LIGHT WEIGHT amp, I could easily carry, to run as a side-wash/backline monitor, along with my wedge in front, that could also double as a back up, if my FOH setup(Helix) goes south. This amp does it all. I can run my floor unit, directly in the power amp in jack, and completely bypass the preamp (effects etc), or, run direct in to the input, without having to carry a pedalboard. This will be my stage amp for the 2021 season. Hats off to Tyler Moore and the the Sweetwater team, for the lightning fast shipping and their professional product knowledge.

The Amp is versatile with manual adjustments and pre-sets I've created to move from song to song. Laptop interface makes everything easy to adjust and tweak. Sweetwater shipped the Amp quickly and I've had a lot of fun with the various tones, whether in clean or crunch mode. A great value for the amount of options to add to your playing routine. This is an Amp to consider.

Wow been playing since 1972. This amp for ANY money is unbelievable!!! I own a fender blues deluxe, Marshall dsl 40 and others and WHY I ask myself. This amp weighs only 32 lbs, sounds probably better than any of them, and who really cares these days if it's a tube or a stage name like fender,Ext. Louder than all of them and TOUCH sensitive as hell at any volume. I put the cover on my DSL and put it in the corner and put this in it's place . I will bring the Boss to band practice and not kill myself carrying it in and out. What about the 60 effects that boss puts in this amp. Hell I've got 4 boss waza effects that alone cost twice what the amp costs practically so I will keep them at home also. WOW AGAIN!!!!

I've had this amp for over a year. I'm a rhythm player in a cover band that plays classic rock. It was okay out of the box, but once I started playing with the software (pedals, equalizer, compression, reverb, delay, etc.) it got mind blowing. The equalizer is the most important part. Once I got it eq'd for my SG it was heavenly. I recommend YouTube. Especially Studio Rats. I gig with it about six times a month and it is reliable and weighs almost nothing. I also recommend the foot switch. I'm going to buy another one in a couple of months to have at home because mine stays on the band trailer at the drummers house. I can't say enough good things about this amp or Sweetwater.

Don't get me wrong, I got rid of my 1st generation 50watt and bought this 100 watt Mk2.it is an awesome amp .and I needed an amp with an effects loop.I have the Boss rc5 loop pedal and this way I can get a clean loop now.I also like the features this amp has,60 effects what more do ya need? My old Katana proved itself every time I took it to a gig.I never had a problem with it,the amp is built very good.and the sound is fantastic. It cuts through the mix with no problem and now with 100 watts,I can play it at bigger venues(if my band will ever get back to playing).I still own a tub amp and I love it.but I always had to take a backup amp just in case .I guess I'm going to have to buy the footswitch next so I can get full use out of it. My only complaint I have is I wish the amp controls could be on the front of the amp like the artist does,but who knows maybe the Katana MK3,if thereis one will.buy this amp!!! You won't regret it. Also a shout out to Randy Poteete for sending it out so fast.thanks Randy.just another reason I only buy my gear from Sweetwater!

Love It. It is a little heavy. I say that because i am 60 yr and only 130 LB.. Don't let That Fool You. I am very strong for my size and age to a reasonable amount. Now back to Boss Katana 100 MK II 1X12 Guitar Combo Amp It is a Nice Amp. This Amp will carry it Own Weight once you Plug in. i am not a pro joe guitarist, when i was plug in from my small amp and then I plug in to this Boss Katana 100 MK II 1X12 Guitar Combo Amp. I was amazed of what i view on Sweetwater website about this Amp and Now my Guitar Sounds Out of Site it So Cool... Sweetwater representative have Got me the Prefect setup. Thanks

I played lead guitar in a little garage band back in the 60s (we called ourselves Graphic Delusion). We were really good but all I had was my electric guitar so I was forced to rely on the kindness of friends who would loan me their amps. Now, I'm almost 70 years old and some birthday and Christmas money came in so I decided to treat myself with something I've always wanted so I got this amp.

One of those amps I borrowed back then was a Sears Silvertone and if you hit it just right, the spring reverb inside would rattle around and make a terrible sound. This amp will not do that. This amp is very solid and if you take care of it, it should last you for years to come.

One amp I borrowed just had a volume and a tone control. This amp has lots of controls and will do all sorts of stuff. If I had had this amp back then, I would have been a rock star with all sorts of women licking by toes. Now, by grandchildren giggle with delight when I play silly songs for them (which is much better that having one's toes licked).

I like this amp very much. Do not wait fifty years to go after your dreams.

Shout out to my sales engineer, Jed! He treats me like I was a million dollar customer.

I haven't played guitar for many years because I got burnt out when I was younger. I used to play for 8 hours plus a day trying to play Van Halen songs. I decided to get back into it and continue my guitar music loving journey. I needed an amp and did a bunch of research before finally deciding on the Boss Katana MKii. This amp is awesome with flexibility galore. I decided on the 100 watt because it had the extra features such as the effects loop, which I will someday use a loop pedal for. This amp is loud and I mean loud. It puts out the volume with very little effort. I have it set at the .5 watt setting and people are still telling me to turn it down. I have cranked it up to 100 watts a few times and the walls of my house shake. No doubt the 50 watt would be plenty loud enough. The quality and flexibility of the sounds is perfect for me. Boss has created a fantastic amp for a great price. You can get great tones straight off the amp, or hook it to a computer with the Boss Tone Studio. A great feature is that you can download created patches that sound great, that other people have created. It is easy to get a wonderful sound out of this amp. I have my 8 presets loaded on the panel of the amp, and cycle through those depending on what I am playing. Last, I wanted to point out the fantastic service I have been given by Perry Davis and I do believe he needs a raise or a bonus. He has done an outstanding job of communicating and supporting me throughout my purchases. He has reached out to me repeatedly about my purchases and has been extremely supportive. Everything I have bought from Sweetwater has been shipped promptly and overall I have had outstanding service. Without a doubt, I will be using Sweetwater and Perry Davis for my future purchases. Good Job Sweetwater and Perry Davis!!!

Check out all the review videos online of this amp and you'll see people rave about this amp. It's great for classic tones, and it has built in effects (up to five Boss pedal sounds), so it's literally a great grab and go amp. It's also light, so if you're doing coffee shop or bar gigs this is easy to grab and go. You can port the sound out through the PA, which the sound person will like, or just use it from the stage. At 100 watts, it's loud.

I had the 50 watt Katana version 1, which was nice for bedroom and practice. I recommend the 100 watt, version 2, because it sounds better at 100 watts than the 50, and it also has the ability to be a powered speaker for your modeling gear (like a Strymon Iridium or Kemper).

Do I still want a Milkman JHS Loud is More Good amp? Yes, very, very much. Will this Boss Katana 100 (ver 2) keep me happy until that glorious day when Santa makes my dreams come true? Also very much yes. Haha

Seriously, this is a great amp with a lot of extras and it lets you focus and playing. Get one if you're thinking about it. Alden at Sweetwater helped me out and he was outstanding as always, thank you, Alden!

I plug-in my violin and tested every knob on the amp. It sounds great, clean and also I can turn the volume up and sounds great.

I think the key to understanding the Katana's popularity is that it exceeds expectations. I avoided them for almost a year due to its resemblance to other well known small amp formats. Happily, these rise far above the pack and for budget prices. Katana has a character and a voice that is charming to begin with. The layers of available parametric eq, noise gate, direct cab sims, stacks of available Boss FX ... and a few surprising additions all add up to one of the most feature packed devices of it's kind. The MK2 version just hammers that home with more useful sounds and features. At its price point, nothing else comes close to doing the jobs this can. There are at least a dozen ways to rationalize getting one. Do it.

This amp is totally fantastic. I'm 1000% satisfied with every part of it. John Tonello was my salesperson and he recommended it for me and it was exactly what I needed.

I am an admitted tube snob. If the amp doesn't have tubes in it, I'm not interested. Digital amps all sound "plasticy" (if that's a word). That is until I played with this one for a few weeks. I'm getting kind of old and I was looking for something a little lighter than my AC15 and cousins to haul around to practices so I bought this after reading the reviews, and messing with it a little. I am sold. This amp is outstanding in almost every way for what I do with it in praise and worship. I use it on the clean channel almost exclusively with my old school pedal board and couldn't be more pleased with the tone and depth of sound I get out of it. Works great with both single coil and humbuckers. It also has an acoustic voice which rivals the Loudbox series in sound quality in my opinion. I don't typically use the crunch, lead and brown voices except to play around. If I don't want to haul my pedal board, the on board effects are OK. These are not my favorite, sounding a little "plasticy" (that word again) to my ears. But when all is said an done, I can get reasonably close to my AC15 sound at half the weight. As I said, if you can only have one amp, this is a very solid candidate. It has enough bells and whistles on it to keep anyone busy who is seeking a custom tone. I have not tried the BOSS software that is available but that would give you infinitely more possibilities to work with if that's what you're after. And as always, outstanding service from Sweetwater and my man, Sean Geyer.

I have had my Boss MKll amp for just over a week now and this is the best non-tube amp I've ever heard. I was able to dial in a sound output that is nearly the same as my Fender DeVille 2/12 amp. I play in stereo and I can get a very rich tone using either amp separately or together. I mean for the money it's hands down outstanding. I spent months researching this amp along with many others, glad I made this my pick.

The only thing better than one Katana MKII 100 combo is two Katana MKII 100 combos played in stereo. Just amazing and fun. Sounds unbelievable. You have to play and hear it to really appreciate it. Check out the YouTube demos.

So many things I love about this one nut the main two. a) Direct amp input b) 3 different power settings

This is the first amp I've purchased in tandem with my first guitar. I've been using it for over a month now and it's nothing short of amazing. Intuitive design and no-frills set up but as the title of my review says, plenty of room to grow. I'm still learning the basics of guitar (open chords, strumming patterns, etc.) but after each practice it's really fun to play around with the effects. The presets have everything you need to get started chugging along with The Black Keys or play along with Bruce Springsteen. Once I get the basics down I'll begin to play around with the software and start to mix my own patches but from some surface level research there are a TON of existing presets from your favorite guitar gurus (i.e. Justin Guitar :) ).

The last thing I'd like to add is if you're wavering between the 50 and 100 watt do yourself a favor and go with the 100. The 50 is a great amp but the additional power and functionality of the mk ii 100 is well worth the extra money. Great job Boss, this amp is a winner.

Ok, here's the thing. I'm a living room musician. I don't think I even qualify as a garage band musician because I don't know my scales. I have a little Peavey Rage that started to die on me. I thought about digging into it and fixing it until it occurred to me that I've had that thing for over 20 years. Then I thought, 'you know what, 20 years on one amp? I think I can justify a new amp'. So I begin browsing, and I see this one. Does a living room musician need a 100 watt amp? No. But it has some features that the 50 watt doesn't. And I really liked that this one has a switch to shut down the higher amplification, the idea being that you can get better sound out of it at lower volumes doing that. And I don't know if that's the why, but definitely this amp has superb sound at living room volumes (and truth be told, it continues to have great sound when I crank it up enough for the neighbors to hear ;) ).
This amp is amazing. I love its full range response, and I love the punch it has on the low end. I have never heard a G chord out of one of my guitars sound so sweet. The modeling is cool and it's easy to program. It has breathed new life into my playing; I'm playing more and I'm starting to stretch some more. Maybe I'll go ahead and learn those scales.

I play accustic and a telle.
I'm a rhythm player. This amp does it all. I have played on and off for 40 years. This amp sounds as good or better then any amp I have ever played.
I wish I had this years ago. The money I could've saved. Whether on .5 watt or 100 watts this thing pumps out the feelings. At its price their giving it away.

Meets, and exceeds, all of my expectations. Very versatile and you can access all the Boss effects offered by their pedals via a laptop. Impressive for the price! I MUST mention Sweetwater's service. Their ordering system couldn't have been easier. Their phone rep, "Ruben", was extremely helpful. And delivery was extremely fast, was packed very well, and was on-time! GREAT SERVICE. I will be a return customer!

First I want to say that the customer service from Sweetwater is exceptional. I wasn't expecting friendly personal follow-up on a minor purchase.

Now about the amp.
...I have purchased an amp that has functionality for practice (.5 watt mode or 50 watt with master at 2), recording(compact size and line out, speaker out, stereo options) and gigging (this thing gets super loud even at 50 watts).

The included and intuitive software gives you access to 60 digital models of popular boss pedals. These effects are tweakable on the knobs and the program from your connected PC. Unlike many modeling amps, it's not overly technical and overwhelming.

The pros - Great clean channel sound, delay effects, loud, ease of use, customization

Cons- Low end tightness with heavy degrees of distortion, wish there was a noise gate option

The Boss Katana gets great tones right out of the box. I mainly use clean and crunch. The crunch channel cleans up with a little turn of the volume knob. Sweetwater and Ryan Clapper are definitely the way to go.

I have both a Fender BDR and Tone King Imperial. Great amps. But I wanted a smaller, lighter amp that still sounded good, but I could move around the house easily, plug in headphones, etc. I think this amp sounds great. The cleans are amazing. Wearing headphones, I'm hearing tones out of my Strat that I've never heard before. For the money, I'd love to have one for every corner of the house. If I were new to guitar, this is the amp I would buy. Even still, if I had to start over with my equipment, I'm not sure this wouldn't be my first choice. Love it. P.S. I made the mistake of letting my son take it for a spin. It's now in his room and has been claimed as his own.

Excellent amp. It's loud so if you are a bedroom player like me it you'll have to adjust the volume. The crunch and OD on the amp is really good. I love the built in reverb and delay. I am a pedal guy but this amp comes with effects and they sound amazing

There's not much to say that hasn't been said in other reviews, but I am so happy with this amp that I felt compelled to tell you I agree with what others have said. It sounds fantastic, it's very responsive, and it fits my needs (playing at home, jamming, small gigs) perfectly.

Not much to review waiting on my guitar to arrive.
I'm excited about this amp become I plugged in a Bluetooth in the auxiliary port and used my IPhone to play music.
The sound was awesome. Can't wait to plugin my guitar and experience all the options this unit has and also the 100 watts is plenty of power.
Great product.

I first ordered the 50, then changed my mind mid-order and thank Drew for catching it and swapping it with the 100 MKII. After seeing some of the differences in YouTube videos, why not.

I got this about two hours ago, unboxed, blasted on the latest firmware update, which was straight forward and easy to do.

I then plugged in the new FS-6 foot switch, my Ibanez, and started to experiment. WOW! Every single pre-loaded tone was outstanding. I auditioned each of them and absolutely loved them. I had the power at the lowest possible setting 0.5w, and the volume down and it was still very loud. I will have to wait until the wife is out of the house to see what it will actually do, but extremely loud. I skipped playing with the amp directly and jumped directly into Tone Studio on my Mac and began playing with the settings, as well as downloading some sounds from others. Even though the amp was under my Roland keyboard, I was able to do all the changes from the computer screen, so probably will not need to actually touch the amp in practice. Clicking anything on the screen is instant, and you can download an entire list of tones from others and just click to try it with your own playing, then if you like, drag and drop to a preset. And don't get me started on the amount of settings in Tone Studio!

This amp is way under priced, but Shhhh, don't tell Roland.

Sweetwater and Boss FTW again!

Digital gear has come a long way. I'd heard a lot of great reviews about this amp and due to the convenience of a "grab and go" combo that had everything I needed, I thought I'd give it a try. I was totally surprised! This thing sounds and feels great. The volume it puts out is impressive too for a solid state amp. I actually had to turn it down to the 50-watt setting because it was simply too loud at 100-watts with my band. It really cuts through well. You have to get the GA-FC which makes this the perfect go-to combo. The only thing is after I got this, Boss announced the Katana Artist Mk II which has a better speaker and a solo boost, in addition to the ability to plug in external cabs and some other cool features. So now I'm debating whether to exchange....this is a great time to be a guitarist.

I didn't purchase this puppy at Sweetwater but I buy much of my guitar gear from Sweetwater. When it came I was as excited as kid on Christmas day. The amp is really a plug and play. There isn't any guess work required. You can dial in the tone your looking for with ease. I purchased the KTN 100 not the MK II. The KTN 100 comes with the same 5 great five tones in the MKII, Accoustic, Clean, Cruch, Lead and the very hot Brown Sound. Yes it is very California Metal. The lows are huge,tight and musical. The tracking on this guitar amp is unbelievable. It plays fantastic. This amp can do everything. If you turn the tone knob to lead and turn the gain to half way you get an amazing bluesy rock tone, that is crisp and punchy. Great for modern blues hard rock. Of course everyone wants to know about the Brown Sound. This of course is aptly title from the man himself Eddie Van Halen. This tone has the Wow factor you've been looking for. If you want the tightest lows, best crunch, super musical mids, liquidy highs for those rock solos, look no furhter. This amp is amazing. It sounds like my Peavey Valve King even better. There is none of the modeling over processing to it at all, there is no modeling or digital tones that sneak in there. Pinch harmonics for days. This amp is taking music industry by storm. Most talked about amp on the market today. Many guitar players including me will be playing this bad boy live. It sounds so much like my Valve King, I can't believe it. This amp is a winner. The price will amaze you.

If your thinking of buying this amp but wondering "Can a solid state amp really sound as gooda as real tube amp?" Do it. You won't be sorry. You'll go you know that guy that recommended that amp, he was right. It's a winner.

I haven't used it for a gig, yet, but, the amp really lives up to the hype. Affordable, not heavy like my old twin, yet it gives a very satisfying sound. Even on 0.5 watts, the sound is great. Easy to program and I just can't stop playing. Get it, it's worth every penny.

This is a great amp, easy to use, Mac setup was easy to folllow. My sales engineer Chris Moseley is the best. He always calls me to see how things are going with my new gear and answers all my questions. This is my 4th or 5th purchase from Sweetwater and it won’t be the last.

First I have to say, another A+ for the staff at Sweetwater, that’s 10 gold stars... fast shipping, great price, now on to the Boss Katana 100 mk 2. I love it I have the katana 50, and it is also really nice. But I like the new controls on the mk2 so much better, this thing sound amazing, I have Bugera 22watt tube amp, and the solid state boss amp really sounds just like a tube amp to me, with all the features that boss has it can be adjusted to simulate a tube amp with out a bunch of pedals, although I really want pedal that is compatible for the Boss amp, if you are thinking about a new amp, make it easy just order one from the great people at Sweetwater It’s the only place to buy from!

This amp serves a number of my needs, at church I Play BASS GUITAR, ACOUSTIC GUITAR,an Now I can Use My Stratocaster for Lead run! Boss really did a great Job with this one. Having one amp for both Acoustic and Electric needs without Buying another one is Great, and it really sounds Great through the House

My feelings about this amp. I was playing a Fender GT 25. The Fender GT 25 is the smaller version of the GT100. It really doesn't have tons of high gain tones, not enough to satisfy metal players or hard rock players. Its a little small to gig with. I had heard some good things about the Boss Katana. So I thought I'd give it a try. When I plugged in and turned the knob to 100 watts, I was blown away. Never in my life have I heard such power and clarity in solid state amp. This amp tone is special. I play hard rock, metal, rock and this amp does it all. It's great for those emotional, soulful lead rock solos. Riffs have a perfect bite and crunch that is missing on most Solid state amps. The gain is very articulate and playing is a breeze. It does not have the same hit you in the chest lows that a tube amp has, I won't lie, but it's about as close as you can get for under $500.

I tried the boost out to add even more gain. I was not disappointed.

If you want a great practice amp at an affordable price, this is your go to amp if your a rock, metal, hard rock guitarist. The speakers sound excellant.

I play a Jackson SL2Q HT Mah Pro Series guitar with Duncan Distortion in the bridge and neck, and this amp is a match made in heaven.

...I recommend playing this dude.

I only got a chance to play with delay, and boost. But I am sure that Boss making this amp, that effects are excellant.

Enjoy.

Just received this amp today based on a classic rock gigging friend of mine's glowing review. He told me this amp is plenty loud enough to gig with and then some. This amp is LOUD! I have not flirted with anything above the 50 watt setting and it truly peels paint off walls. In all honesty, the 50 watt version is probably adequate but I may want to run this one in stereo. I've only tried my Player Strat with Alnico 5 pickups but this inexpensive strat never sounded better. The tone shaping flexibility alone is amazing and lets you dial in your guitar's pickups to your preference. The acoustic setting is really sweet sounding too, even through my strat. I'll probably use the clean and lead with some boost setting most of the time, but to be fair I have not spent much time experimenting with the other settings yet. So far I'm totally satisfied. If you close your eyes and noone told you, you'd be hard pressed to say this isn't a tube amp. I've had the following amps to compare: Marshall Valvestate 80,Peavey Musician 100, Fender HRD, Vibrolux and SS-22, Rivera Clubster, Budda SD-30, Traynor YCV30 and Vox AC-15. It sure can hang with any of these ss or tube amps I've had. I haven't even plugged in my Tele Deluxe or my Les Paul in yet. Can't wait!

If you liked Boss's first iteration of the Katana, you'll like this one. If you thought the Katana mk i was lacking, than youll probably still like this one. The Katana mkii kicks it up a notch with upgraded hardware and features. The new amp models combined with the old will gurantee you find something inspiring to push through the speaker. Combine that with an effects loop, great price, a power amp in (which works perfect as intended), 60ish really great effects, and 100 LOUD watts that you can dial down to 0.5 makes for a great products. There's a reason that the Katana is a great seller. No matter your skill level, the Katana Mkii has something for everyone.

Love the tones and it's simple to use, edit and setup!

This amp sounds great. Its effects are good, but pedals work better than the equipped effects. I am upgrading from a vox mini amp, and this works so much better. If you are going to get a katana, get a 100 watt. It has the 50 watt and a .5 watt setting for those quiet practice sessions. 4.5/5 - great amp

I originally bought this as a pedal platform performing amp because it had a really good neutral sound, but when I finally started to play around with the Tone Studio software, it opened up a completely new world for me. The software turns this into a very powerful stage and studio tool and has a very generous array of classic Boss effects. This amp can honestly sound like anything you want. It is essential to get the GA-FC footswitch though (more on this later). Once I figured out how to program the amp, I ditched my pedalboard and now I travel much lighter with less hassle and no compromise with tone or effects. I even use this as an acoustic amp and can easily switch back and forth between modes during a set. This is truly an amazing guitarist's tool and one of the best amp purchases you can make at any price. My only gripes are about the footswitch: 1) It should come as standard equipment even if it increases the cost of the amp, and 2) The Boss-branded GA-FC footswitch you can buy (if you can find one!) is labeled incorrectly and this is a known issue. Boss will apparently send you the "corrected" labels as stickers, but I just resorted making my own labels and sticking them over the labels. Boss also needs to be MUCH better at promoting Tone Studio and making it the primary focus of the Katana lineup, while also supporting the latest OSs as much as possible.

I got this to replace a Deluxe Reverb which was just too loud for the house and not practical for home recording. The software interface is very intuitive and simple to use, especially for an old fart like me. I had my main dirty and clean tones set up in less than 30 minutes from the time I connected it.

I took off a half star due to the lack of the USB cable which I had to pick up elsewhere.

Overall, you'll be hard pressed to find a better bang for your buck.

Disclosure - I've only been playing electric for 1 year. Acoustic for 25+.

I have used a blackstar fly and was really impressed with the sound, really liked it. Wanted to go bigger so went with the Fender Mustang LT25 - I tried to like it but I hated most of the presets, didn't like the process for adjustment (no reverb knob?!). A big plus for the Mustang is the USB-B out that my tablet could recognize the signal. Started watching Youtube videos and zeroed in on the Katana 50. I wanted to do a lot more research because I'm stuck with the mustang (purchased through AMZ, too late to return) and I didn't want to make another bad purchase.

The reviewers were gushing about it, and I decided to go with the 100 because of the live sound out jack and the easier ability to adapt pedals.

Needless to say, I am blown away - I love the sound, I love the controls - so many options, so intuitive. I haven't even used the Boss tone studio yet because I'm still getting so much out of the basic settings.

Buy it you'll love it.

So crunchy. So, so, crunchy.

I am still exploring this amp but i have to say it has a ton of options.


I'll start with my honest dislikes about it.

-100 watt mode is too much for the home:
I feel like the majority of time i will not get the full benifits of this amp.

-headphones have to be plugged and unplugged from the back of the amp:
My precious amp had a standby mode that uou could play with headphones, allowing you to leave the headphones plugged into the back.

-Too bassy:
Good news is you can scale back the bass but it definitely hits hard on the bass. Some people may like that, so i suppose this is a personal Nuance.


Postives:

-Everything else. I was worried i wouldnt gwt good cleans out of a digital amp. I was wrong. It has great cleans.
-Boss Tone Studio: this program makes this amp so versatile if you wanted to carry just your amp you can. There are thousands of patches out there with great settings to choose from if you're not too keene on setting our own eq options
-.5 and 50 watt choices
As the 100watt is too big for my home, having these other options is great. Some other amps cutting the watts will kill tone. This one does a pretty good job of keeping solid tone with less power.
-Takes pedals well: I've found new use for my pedals as i relearn what settings work with them the best. Amp takes pedals well, but it's really not too necessary with all of the other tone options. However, If you have something you just can't live without, you shouldnt have a problem intergrating it to this amp.


Overall you can't go wrong with this amp. Really good value for the price. I am still learning this amp and its settings.

Solid practice amp. I tend to play at home 99% of the time and it's perfect. The master volume knob is a godsend.I find the 50w setting with the master turned down sounds better(adjust both volumes to taste), but even at .5w it sounds good and isn't gonna blow your ears out. What I noticed though is the headphone out is really not that great unless you go into Tone Studio and change the line out to "Live" from "Rec". Something to keep in mind if you do plan on using phones at some point. Tone Studio is great to deep dive and tweak to your hearts content, but you can dial in good tones just straight from the panel. I tend to use the clean channel and add OD/Distortion or any effects and go from there and it works pretty well.

The Katana 100 MK2 is awesome, I had the 50 v1 and it was great...but the mk2 with the ability to dial in muor effects at the same time is awesome. Plus the power amp in option so I can run my helix right into it is an Amazing feature.

First, I'm a tube amp guy. My main set up is 2, carvin legacy 100 watters in master/slave stereo.

Picked up this amp to have something smaller when needed. When I first received this the clean sound was great but omg the crunch and distorted sounds were absolute trash. So thin and ice picky. Nearly returned it. Couldn't get the tone lab app to open, called my guy Will at SW and he hooked me up with support who had the issue fixed immediately.

In tone app I was able to click a couple buttons to change the tone and wow. What a difference. Why would boss ship this amp in the worst possible tone settings is beyond me. Could save a lot of returns here.

This amp sounds glorious to record with and also low volume practice stuff. I did crank it up and it doesn't sound good at drummer volume IMHO. I would compare the 100watt setting to a 15watt tube amp, although not as dynamic or complex.It does not sound better at higher volumes like a tube amp. It sounds good at low volumes. At high volumes the amp sounds woofy and boxy.

I would think a different cab all together would help this little amp out a lot. I think my biggest detraction would be that the headphone output is mono. Odd. The USB output is gorgeous stereo to the DAW.
At times there is a very subtle high pitch noise audible through the speaker even with then usb unplugged. I can't hear it but the wife can :)

Pleasantly surprised. Performs real well for my original intended use, stand alone cord and guitar, lower volume practice amp. I have now taken it on several jam sessions, and once again it performed well, better than I expected. I was able to find a nice sweet spot with iit, jamming with a bass player and drummer. I am an old school guy, who is also older, and although I do still prefer my tube amps I found this amp very usable. I don't use the computer stuff, I just use as is. Basically I just use the panel. I locked some presets in, but for me I prefer just using the panel. Also ,it seems to me anyway, no matter what volume you are playing at ,the 50 watt setting sounds best. Straight out of the box, the chorus, reverb, and delays sound pretty good. Maybe you could get some of the other effects to be more usable, by doing the computer dive. The only other thing I noticed was I found a great sweet spot jamming, but as the jam became A little more rambunctious, and volumes and intensity increased, it was necessary to roll the highs and lows down a little, while pushing the mids. This enabled me to stay in that warm sweet spot as opposed to a more brittle solid state sound. Also I was amazed at being able to get that nice harmonic feedback very much like a tube amp. Plenty loud, even at 50 watts, for many applications. Really good value for the price. Shout out to Sweetwater! Thank you.

This is a fantastic stand alone amp. The included Boss effects and access to the Boss Tone Studio gives you infinite options. The sky is the limit!

Ive owned a lot of amps, Fender, Marshall, Mesa, Rivera, ultimately sold them all, when I found this amp, I could not believe it sounded as well as it did for such a low price, nice cleans and nice gain tones plus all the Boss effects, I still like to check out other amps, I like the Fender cleans but their so much money, even much more money now. So far I still havent found anything that beats this amp for the money! Kudos to Roland and Boss!

Great amp sounds great the only thing I have a problem with is the noise it makes when you are not playing at all that is the only complaint

I am the chair of the guitar area at SIUC and having this type of amp and being able to share settings with students has been a game changer. I bought the Katana as a toy to sit in my living room before I started to take it to concerts or requesting it on my ryder while touring. The ability to assign both graphic and parametric Eq before and after the preamp allows you to voice this amp to get just do just about anything from edge of JC-120, edge of breakup, high gain leads, Jazz and even to amplify acoustic instruments such as classical guitar and steel string acoustics.

My only issue with it is that I find it incredibly foolish to include a mono "Rec Out". It is nice that you can use the stereo imaging options with the USB out when going into your DAW. Why not include the alternative in the Rec Out for brining the stereo imaging on to stage? I know the stereo expand is meant to do that however for most people it is not practical to be hauling around two amps hence why modeling has taken the electric guitar by storm.

This amp sounds good, is just missing a bit in functionality. However there is nothing like it at this price point. I would suggest:

1) Stereo Rec Out - Still keep the stereo out through the USB and the Stereo Link function, just add this for live playing.
2) Stereo Delay function - While the ping pong delay is good having separate delays with modulation running left and right has been a required function since the 80's. It is still a common resource for the modern guitarist
3) Upgrade the resolution of the time based effects
4) Boss & Roland are rightfully so famous for building nearly indestructible products but their guitar devices tend to be overly bright constantly requiring the guitarist to dial out the fizz. Why not voice the products a bit more flat? That way you give the player more control as to what type of sound to pursue.
5) The next tone amps were a good idea too however the Katanas are still way more flexible, this is the product to develop further.

My sales engineer, Alex Jasiak was awesome in directing me to this amp that has all the features I needed and more. I wanted an amp that would be a good clean pedal platform, that I could play at low volumes at home, or gig with more loud, that has an effects loop (because pedals!) and that was affordable (budget small...because pedals!) This amp checked all those boxes. It turns out I'd need a newer laptop to access boss tone studio, but it doesn't matter, the amp is great just using the panel. The only thing I miss is I'd like to access the tone studio's noise suppressor for high gain with single coils but I might just buy that pedal too.

When I first got the amp it had a strong "new" smell... it was offgasing chemicals, so I had to put it in the garage for two weeks because I'm sensitive to that stuff. It might not bother you, but if it does, I have found that it fades pretty quickly. That's the only reason I didn't give it five stars. That and because it frustrated me that they don't have the tone studio for my iphone or mac tablet. Come on Boss, tablets are a thing! I have read that there is a third party ap for android tablets called Katana Librarian so if you have android maybe that would work for ya.

It has some nice onboard effects stock from the factory. I love the different amp voicings; there is a lot to play with. I did buy the GA-FC foot control and I'd recommend it strongly.

I needed a better amp than what I've had for the past 20 years which was a Kustom 30 this Katana sounds great and is easy to dial in the sound your looking for. I haven't used most of the features yet but this will serve me well I'm sure for years to come until I get the ich to buy another amp but I probably won't.I was sceptical because I just spent so much on pedals and felt i just wasted the money if I bought this but I did anyway knowing I can still use them and bypass the built in effects on the amp.Anyway great amp and shout out to Chris Moseley sales rep he's a good man and knows his business thanks Chris and Sweetwater always been good to me.

I debated for quite a while and did a lot of research before buying this amp. I'm very happy with it so far. I also picked up the footswitch controller.

Both my son and I play(he's a much better player than me). I picked up a Marshall Code 50 a while back, and honestly, I hated it...so he ended up with it. He loves it.

I'm just getting to figuring out all the in and outs of this amp. While there is a library online to download into the presets, I was a bit disappointed in the amount of patches that are available via the Tone Studio. While there are some good patches, I thought that maybe there would be more from users like Marshall has. It's not a deal breaker, but a little underwhelming in my opinion.

I have everything hooked up, but I'm also running some other pedals. Nice that I can use the send/return on the amp. I also picked up a new guitar. I only found one place that actually had it in stock, so I jumped on it. It's not a high-end guitar, but I love it.

Now, if I could only play guitar a bit better....lol

Sweetwater was and is a good site with great customer follow through, so five stars to them. However, as of late January 2021, be advised that Tone Studio is unavailable for current Mac OS 11.1, which I installed months ago. Oh, and make sure you own or purchase a long USB A to B cable so you can hook up to your computer, regardless of OS.

This is a great amp, especially for home use. The .5 watt attenuator lets me play at home without complaints or any appreciable degradation of sound which is impressive. And the 50 & 100 watt settings are loud and clear. The default effects are fairly robust to start, with the caveat concerning the software. Incidentally, the Acoustic setting works great with my LRBaggs equipped Gibson, through my Baggs Para DI.

As I said before, I await the Tone Studio upgrade for the MacOS Big Sur (11.1). Sadly, this also renders the Effects Channel inconvenient/unusable for a looper since the default setting seems to put it in the wrong sequence for playing with the instrument plugged in up front. If that's not true, then I can't find any information to the contrary either in the rather weak manual or Boss's confusing web site.

I was considering buying the foot switch, but put it off as without access to my computer, it would be unusable and other pedals are functionally compromised.

I purchased the amp a few days before Christmas and was impressed. The versatility and tone are really good and the amp controls are intuitive for me. I've been playing back and forth with a 30 watt tube amp using my Strat and Les Paul. I still prefer the tube amp tone if I'm completely honest but my tube amp is nowhere near as capable or inspiring if I'm not in the mood for blues or rock styles. The amp is pretty bright compared to the tube amp (expected that from other reviews) but it can be dialed in pretty well with the amp and guitar controls. Worth the money for any level player and beats any current competition near its price range!

I always have a cheap solid state amp along side my high end tube amps. Now I do not use this amp for anything serious...I have it hooked up to my PC and i use the Tone studio software and usually use it to jam to backing tracks on youtube. Any thing serious...for me it just won't cut it. However....

Sometimes to don't want to fire up a tube amp because i'm gunna be playing for less than 30 min...or I'm jamming along with you tube and it works great with that. In this regard..this amp is great! USE THE TONESTUDIO! Yes do yourself a favor and use the controls on the software (I hardly ever use the knobs)...definitely adds to the versatility and tone potential. I did buy the foot switch for it and it works great, but I hardly use it.

I run this amp at low volumes in the .5W settings because turning it up make me want to stop playing. I don't really like the way it sounds turned up...It kinda loses its tone. Again this won't apply to you if you are not a super picky about your tone. To me it sounds very shrill and thin at high volumes but you may not think so.

I have lots of boutique effects to compare this to. This amp is none of that...BUT it does get by on its own when I'm jamming along with Youtube.

For what i use it for it does it's job well. I just wish it had better tone, but that probably is too much to ask for at this price point. Still it is a good overall value for the hobbyist shopping in this price range.

They showed no acoustic guitar side of the Boss Katana 100 Mark 11 like he promised. I was really looking forward to that.

I bought my Katana from Sweetwater a couple of years ago and I'm just getting around to reviewing it. Beautiful and solid, when I pulled it from the box the weight of the amp reassured me that I made a good purchase. It is very handsome and the knobs are solid. I was a bit worried when I played through it the first time - the sound just didn't appeal to me until I started turning knobs. Once I dialed in my clean tone and saved it I knew I was keeping this amp - warm and smooth. The Tone Studio Software has killer presets that are easy to assign to each channel, and you can customize the onboard effects. The Brown channel definitely sizzles but, to be honest, I just really love the clean channel and it pairs great with my Fender Pugilist overdrive. This amp is VERY loud and can move lots of air even on its lowest power setting. The footswitch is a must and I really dialed in a killer slapback and a warm, subtle boost. The reverb is lacking to my ears so I bought a Zoom G3Xn with the intentions of running it through the effects loop for reverb. But It turns out the magic really happened when I ran the Zoom into the frontend. Both units really complement each other. How lucky was that? I'm extremely happy with this setup. I am disappointed in the USB though. I tried recording with it but couldn't get the level loud enough. To be fair though I'm an old man who isn't the most "software savvy". Looks like version 2 has a ton of new features. If you love a warm clean channel and need an amp that takes pedals and processors like a charm, try one of these.

First off a big shout out to my SE Jeff Rohlfing. Always helpful and really knows his stuff! Thank you sir!

I had a MKI a long time ago as a practice amp and really liked it at bedroom volumes. I'm always in search of tone, and now that I'm older convenience and easy transport matter too. I've been lugging around a hefty tube amp and pedalboard for a while and had it with 80+ pounds of gear. Grabbed this a few weeks ago in hopes of replacing my Blackstar for practice sessions. I've done plenty of tweaking with Tone Studio and still have a little too much digital fizz at gig/practice volume for my tastes. I play mainly higher gain rock, not metal or drop tuning. Clean and crunch it sounds really great, just can't quite work out the higher gain stuff. It could be my ears, my age, or I just don't know what I'm doing but everyone hears things differently. I briefly thought about returning it but thankfully the MKII has a power amp input and is a great companion for my GT-1000. My patches sound great through it. So at home it's a great low volume all in one practice rig, and in the band room it's a power amp for my MFX. Not a bad deal at all for such a portable and reasonably priced amp.

Every bit as great as the orginal. The addition of the power amp in feature made it the perfect addition to my rig.

There are a lot of options in this amp. Maybe too many. I'm an older guy (60's) and like to keep it simple. Took a bit to learn (and I'm still learning after a couple months). I find myself tweaking and revising settings when I probably should just be playing. The settings (patches) one can download from various on-line sources are a good head start, but a lot of them are disappointing. That is not Boss's fault --- just an observation. As far as value for the money, this amp is probably 5 stars. No complaints on the sound, once I dial in on something. And plenty of volume. I also bought the foot switch --- good investment and very convenient --- I recommend you consider getting it if your budget allows.

I am an acoustic guitar player that want to venture on the journey of electric guitars. The Katana is a decent amp but to be honest I was not very impressed with the sound options. Maybe is not my style since I was looking for only clean tones and just a little bit of grit. The katana is only good on the clean setting(for me) but when you use the lead, crunch and the other mode from waza it gets very artificial. I think it would work ok for heavy metal and other players. I didn't even bother using the Boss software because I felt like I was just going to waste so much time trying to figure it out and knowing that I did not like the initial sound.
I ended up returning it and instead I bought the Quilter aviator cub. That was love at first strum. I am very happy with the cub. Day and night clarity compared to the katana. I think the Katana is priced ok for all that it does. Good luck if you end up buying it and I hope it works for you.

My buddy Tom at Sweetwater (awesome knowledgeable professional rep)suggested I try the Boss Katana MKll 100 digital amp because I was thinking about downsizing my guitar rig by getting rid of pedals and maybe another amp. It was a great suggestion so a Tube amp-loving guy like me could try the latest in digital amp technology. I gave it a good 3-4 week try-out. I currently use 2 amps, a Blackstar Artist 10-AE for great rock and lead tones, and a Blackstar Red Tolex Artisan 10-AE for clean and Brit tones. I use an MXR A/B Switch to choose between amps or to blend them both together.

I have played mostly rock, funk, and blues throughout my career. The bottom line for me with the Katana was the tone. After going through tons of sounds for all types of music in the amps effects panel I just didn't find a combination I liked, most sounded thin. Also, the MKll 100 has no external cabinet connection. However, the Metal tones were amazing. I think part of the thin sound is the speaker that comes in it. Also, I found downloading the correct software driver for the Tone Editor kept crashing my Win 7 Pro ThinkPad. I have used Boss products for a very long time so I know they put out quality stuff. For me, I'm gonna stick to tube amps a little longer and maybe add a new effects pedal or 2.

So far I have no complaints about the sound or features. The built-in effects reduced the amount of gear to haul and the size and volume was just right for a small setup. I would give it a 4.5 if it were not for lack of ground isolation on the USB port. In my home studio, I loop it through a StudioLive Series 3 and connect the USB to my Mac. I can't even explore the USB features. When I connect the USB cable, I get huge ground loop noise through the USB port and into the audio path - even when I completely disconnect all analog audio cables! I'm guessing it's coming through the shield although I haven't cut any cables yet to test that theory. It's like the design engineers just shorted the USB shield and ground pins to the amp's ground with no filter or choke! It really makes me question everything else about the amp's electronics after such a engineering 101 type mistake.

Can I give the amp 5 stars and Boss's documentation/connection process zero???

This amp is everything you here about on YouTube. It absolutely amazing. Getting it to talk to your computer can be a nightmare. I don't want to think about how many hours I wasted trying to connect it to my computer(s). 4 Win 10's of different vintage and updates, 1 Win 11, and 1 Mac. I finally figured it out when I downloaded the Mac Tone Studio version and the documentation mentioned the amps firmware. It's running on my Win 11 machine.

Bottom line: If you get a driver error and can't connect, its probably a firmware problem. Get the firmware and then get on YouTube and find a good video showing you update process. I figured this out the day that my sales guy Charlie Kim, who is awesome, called me about something else. I told him my problem and he said he'd have someone call me. The next day a Sweetwater Tech support guy called. I had already figured out the issue but the call really showed me how much Sweetwater cares.

I really don't click with this amp at all. The panel seems to be useless for generating tones, the app is a pain, and updates are a nightmare. Worst of all though, is the tone, The tone is thin and feels sterile. I've owned multiple digital modeling products and solid state amps that blow this thing out of the water, even in a similar price bracket. It doesn't even sound that good as a powered cabinet for another modeler nor does it take pedals that well, no matter what I put in front of it the sound is just ok, not inspiring and not something I'd gig with.

I really wanted to like it, it ticks a lot of boxes I was looking for but between the software being awful and the tones being ok at best I really just think the Katana isn't for me. Unfortunately I took too long trying to like it and I'm guessing the return window has closed, so I'll be selling it, likely to get another Quilter.

Seemed promising, but interface is a hassle. You either. Each effects category has three options, signified by a different color light (green, amber, red). Meaning you have to memorize up to 15 different effects and their corresponding colors (3 boost, 3 mod, 3 fix, 3 delay, 3 reverb), or just trial and error like crazy. Compounding the problem is the foot switch is abstractly labeled as possible providing no clue as to what tones (out of 8) are stored where.

Finally, if you have a Windows 10 laptop, chances are you'll have a hard time (if not impossible like me) connecting the amp because Roland has not updated the driver and Windows security blocks it. Roland's big tip: turn off the security so Windows will accept our crappy hardware driver. This has been a known issue for years.

I give it two stars because through sheer brute force and willpower, you can come up with some cool tones. But for an amp that sells itself as do it all with ease, it falls fall short.

I am unable to get the Boss Tone Studio to work.
This is after hours and hours of effort.
I tried to get Adobe Air, but that didn't work.
The drivers are not installed automatically.
No good instructions exist for Adobe Air.
The drivers for the amp to connect to the amp are not automatic, and no good instructions exist to get them where they are going.
The Boss tone studio loads, but it doesn't really do anything.
Somewhere there are accurate instructions, but each source skims over some steps, so it doesn't work.
The amp needs a firmware update. No good instructions exist to do that safely.
That's right. If you make an error here, your amp software is destroyed.
Hundreds of angry customers mean nothing to these guys.
By the way, on the instructional video from Boss, the guy thinks it's funny.
Very funny.
Now I have a brick.
I was hoping for a software program that works.
But nothing works. Each stage fails.
I would never have bought this amp if I knew how bad the software issues are.