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Hi Scott! Do you know it Gen 3 supports all the great MKII tone patches that you've created? I have a good deal to get a Gen 3 but I want to play with as many MKII tones I've found online.
Hey , i have a request if your really interested, i was wondering if you could find a similar tone to wes borlands on the chocolate starfish album (specifically my generation, my way, boiler, full nelson,) thanks,!
Considering I have a Mk2 Artist, and the only thing I would really gain is the 'Air' and pushed amp type, I'll be passing. Even if I sell and buy new, that is a substantial cash outlay for those 2 little feature adds. SPECIALLY since it pisses me off, that they don't offer a firmware upgrade providing the new stuff, granted accessible only from the App, and thus in presets). Line 6 didn't abandon Catalyst owners like that when the CX came out. They gave it all to existing owners via Firmware.
I know this guide is older but I just ordered an MK2 artist and with this tutorial I am beyond excited to start tinkering with this platform. I’ve always been a “tube amp or bust” person. But as I don’t play live anymore, it was just to much amp for bedroom/home applications. I sold my Tubemeister 18 and most of my pedal board(although I sometimes feel regret for the pedals, this amp packs a LOT of pedals in the software that I think I’ll be content for awhile). Thanks for the detailed tutorial on the software. I feel that the purchase is the best bang for you buck in terms of what you get with this. My biggest question, do you feel with having the GA-FX foot switch is enough to keep your from “needing” other pedals, or do you still find you like the adjustability/having a pedal board more then using the built in FX?
Thanks! As a fellow bedroom player, I feel that the GA-FC or the XSonic Airstep is enough, unless there are other FX pedals that you particularly like. I do have another pedal board that I use with other amps, but 99% of the time the onboard FX are more than enough. Have fun with it.
I am preferring FX Floorboard because it lets me position my effects send/return anywhere I want. I have several preamps on my pedal board that I use to get the tones I want. I also have an EQ and an ancient Maxon OD-808 overdrive and a looper pedal on there. Also on there is the footswitch pedal for my Boss Katana 100 Mk2 head. So the pedal board creates the tone, it goes into the effects return which is positioned AFTER the Katana preamp and EQ but before all the effects and power amp. So I get to create my tone with various preamps, bypass the Katana preamp and tone controls, and then use all the great effects onboard the Katana. This actually works very well except for one thing.... No matter where I put the onboard noise gate, I cannot get anything through it. I have adjusted it every which way I can but I can never get anything through it. What am I missing? I had it in the signal path before when I was using the somewhat limited chain selection in the Katana Studio and it worked fine. On FX Floorboard I was trying to put the noise gate right after the effects loop return so basically right after the EQ and preamps. No joy. Nothing through it no matter how I have it set up. I tried different locations; in the middle of the effects, after the effects... no go. I have to shut it off completely to get a signal out.
I am preferring FX Floorboard because it lets me position my effects send/return anywhere I want. I have several preamps on my pedal board that I use to get the tones I want. I also have an EQ and an ancient Maxon OD-808 overdrive and a looper pedal on there. Also on there is the footswitch pedal for my Boss Katana 100 Mk2 head. So the pedal board creates the tone, it goes into the effects return which is positioned AFTER the Katana preamp and EQ but before all the effects and power amp. So I get to create my tone with various preamps, bypass the Katana preamp and tone controls, and then use all the great effects onboard the Katana. This actually works very well except for one thing.... No matter where I put the onboard noise gate, I cannot get anything through it. I have adjusted it every which way I can but I can never get anything through it. What am I missing? I had it in the signal path before when I was using the somewhat limited chain selection in the Katana Studio and it worked fine. On FX Floorboard I was trying to put the noise gate right after the effects loop return so basically right after the EQ and preamps. No joy. Nothing through it no matter how I have it set up. I tried different locations; in the middle of the effects, after the effects... no go. I have to shut it off completely to get a signal out.
I just tried with the latest version of FX Floorboard and I'm not getting the same results as you on Windows. That makes me think you either need to update or you have something else going on in your signal chain.
I think part of the "problem" are the default channel settings from the factory. The disparity in volume from one channel to the next is jarring. I bought a MKII 100W head for my brother. We connected it to his cab, and I was trying to demo it using the GA-FC EX Foot Controller and factory settings. I broke out in flop sweat 'cause the sound was so bad, or so loud. We fiddled around with the knobs and set the channels to his preferences and all was good, but the out of box experience was not a good one. I have a MKI 100w cab that I really like.
I agree 100%. It's been awhile but I think I may have mentioned the factory settings in the video. Might have been another video. If I hadn't done any research and just played the factory settings in a store, I probably never would have bought this amp.
For a better video on the GA-FC and GA-FC EX, check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OzNM3sPSjJc.htmlsi=xvRLQLqADHuMgeVJ
A couple things I should have mentioned about this particular model. It doesn't come with speakers, so you'll need powered speakers or an amplifier. It does support Bluetooth connectivity and easily syncs with a Bluetooth speaker. It also comes with a Audio-Tachnica AT3600l cartridge.
True vintage! It is a shame that you couldn't play music on it. RU-vid, you don't let us have nice things! I have a Hermes 3000 and Hermes Baby Cyrillic typewriters I can send for a review 😝 A legit question: Between vinyl and cd, can you hear a difference? With amps going to 11 as a kid, I am not sure I can appreciate the subtle anymore.
I had some Chuck Berry playing during that blackout and the first time I uploaded it, it was flagged and they required licensing to play it and it was only like 15 seconds of the beginning. I've never been one to say that I like vinyl because "it sounds better", because It doesn't. CD definitely sounds better, but I enjoy the nostalgia of vinyl and the the way it pops and crackles a little.
I can definitely appreciate the pop and crackle. I listened to lo-fi regularly and that pop and crackle gives a unique character. I had a ghost story on vinyl that was really good. The noise took it to a whole new level of creepy. I bet if I hear it now, I'd probably laugh at the cheesiness. 😂
Something inherently Heavy about Gibson guitars, Gibson SG will always be the original standard for heavy metal, the shape the sound, the attitude. classic. Even early BC Rich models were founded with those aesthetics in mind.
@@Guitarnivore Hell yeah, we can expect more heavier vids then xD No seriously, you should play some Carnivore on that thing. Retaliation and self titled have some of the most crushing Iommiesque tones ever, especially the intro of Armageddon..Do it lol its only logical given the channel name who knows might even inspire a tutorial video haha
Hey Scott! Thanks for doing such great videos!! You really do a thorough job-really appreciate you! I'm a new Katana MKii EX user, and have both the GA-FC EX and the standard GA-FC linked. I've been using the Tone Studio, but I'm having a helluva time matching the amp volume across all the 8 patches I have loaded. Also, I'm having trouble getting the settings right so that when I change between channels, they always default to having the Boost off. Would really appreciate some guidance, particularly on the 1st issue. I've had trouble finding any good reference material to help me with this. Thanks a ton~!
So addressing the volume. I set my master at a specific point and then use the editor to get my patch volumes to match and then save them to the channel. Once you do that, you may want to drag them back into Tone Studio after saving them to the amp and overwriting the old one. As far as boost, set the bosot you want to use and then turn it off and write it to the amp. Then drag it back to the liveset to overwrite the old file. Now when you load it on the amp, you should be able to toggle the boost on/off, with it being in the off position at first. I hope that helps.
@@Guitarnivore Awesome - hope to have some time tonight to test this out and reload all my patches - I'll let you know if I get it nailed - thanks so much for the speedy reply! ☺️
So true, anybody that criticizes the amp, obviously doesn’t know how to fully dial it in, and it’s not easy to someone that’s not computer literate. I love the katana so much that I bought the Gen 3 head, even though I love my MKII head.
I use mine mostly with a pedalboard for small gigs and pretty much jammy , blues and classic rock tones .., go figure. I’ve found it to be versatile and was used to tube amps in the past. I utilize the tone studios and onboard effects at home but it works for me with his, it’s loud enough and really light
The Katana Artist is probably the best combo amp ever made. The others are meh to me. And I totally disagree with your opinion. You shouldn’t need to have Tone Studio to make and have killer tones. Right out of the box it should be stupid easy, and sound great. Ppl are sick of spending months in a computer just to play guitar. I have Kemper, AxeFx, ToneX, MX5 and Helix. Scrapped ALL of them for a BOSS ME90 and a Katana Artist. Best decision I EVER made.
I've had the MK2 Artist, 100, 50 and head. Software wise all of them are the same, but the extra features on the back of the Artist and the Waza speaker are definitely worth the price, especially if you gig. My opinion was if you want to unleash the Katana's full potential, Tone Studio is where it's at. You don't have to spend months. You can download patches and load them and once you learn how to dial things in with Tone Studio, it comes pretty quick. The parametric EQ really opens up the tones. The ME-90 is nothing short of awesome and like the Katana, has a lot of features you can't access through the panel, but with the bluetooth adapter, you can access them with your phone/app. At least we can agree that the Katana is awesome.
@@Guitarnivore no time for phone apps and computer software anymore. The worst thing to EVER happen to guitar. I did it for 10 years and was miserable with all of them as far as setting them up. It’s amazing to me the guitar players have been brainwashed into believe they need all that stuff.
@@Guitarnivore they’re definitely brainwashed. I speak from experience. 99% of them don’t even understand what they’re doing. And 75% of them can’t even play guitar. I think you may also be brainwashed.
Thanks for the in-depth review and tutorial of the Spark 40. Now that we have all this information, we're looking forward to your video on the new Spark 2. I should live so long as to check out all these and the new features of the Spark 2. One thing about Spark, if you don't like the sound you hear, you can always "pick" your own!
Unless Positive Grid sponsors a video and send me a unit or I get one from zzounds for review, I'm not sure that it'll happen, but I am impressed with what I've seen so far from the Spark 2.
I don't have problem connecting the Katana Gen3 with the USB cable but when I try to connect it using Boss Bluetooth Audio MIDI Dual Adapter, my laptop can't find it. It works with my iPhone but not with my laptop... Is it only working with iPhones & Tablets but not with laptop?
I hope you dig it. It's a great pedal. As cool as that Tonex One is, I think the Boss will last a lot longer and probably hold its resale value better.
@@ducktruck-pr8jp The Vox sounds great and the mobile and PC interface is pretty easy to use, but the Katana is ions ahead of it when it comes to both sound and features. Some of the features are easier to use on the Katana and the panel on the Vox can be a bit complicated to switch and save user presets. If you're tech savvy, the Katana is much better option, but you can find those Vox VTX amps pretty cheap these days.
Hi Scott, just came across your videos and have been loving them. I wanted your opinion: On the first BLS album, Zakk has a heavy, crushing tone on songs like Hey You and Peddlers of Death (Sweet Leaf riff!). At first, it almost sounded like he was using a fuzz/stoner-type sound. But then sometimes I think it might be hearing a distorted bass. What do you think about this?
In Hey You it sounds like a bass fuzz, but in Peddlers it sounds like it's coming from the guitars, unless he used a bass fuzz with a blend because the bass on Peddlers sounds clean, but if it's blended, we may be hearing both.
@@Guitarnivore I appreciate the response. I messed around with some of the built-in fuzz pedals and I like the Rat. It gives a mild fuzz effect without being overpowering.
Appreciate the reset info to you know I wanted the first ones and I need to upgrade the firmware in it so this is very helpful my friend. I appreciate it.
Leave the clipping of the SD-1, you may want to try the best mode in (my opinion), remove all the switching components, diodes, transistors, caps and invest in a 3pdt switch to turn on the circuit directly, you may loose the flip flop switching function, but the tone, volume and overall clarity of the pedal is huge plus you get true bypass and eliminate the "leaking" issue this pedals have
I don't seem to have a system folder for my Katana and therefore cant access the files(KATANA2.BIN and ROMINFO.TXT) I need to eject. How can I find or install them?
I just installed them again in my Strat with 300k audio pots. Also wired up a blender pot . Thought I'd see what the 300k pots are like since I've never used them before. Slightly brighter than 250k. Nice pups for the money, can't go wrong with Wilkinson. My guitars all have Seymour Duncans in them except my Gibson LP. So, I'm used to more expensive pickups. These are decent, and can be wired for single coil cuts, parallel series switching ect.
