Boss Katana 50 VS. Fender Champion 50XL 

Thanks for making this videos. They help everyone learn more. Being that said, one thing to point out is that the champion 40 has the speaker right in the middle of the cabinet while the katana has the speaker placed more towards the left (front view) and we can all see that both mics are placed in right in the middle of each amp...this means the mic placement on the fender is getting the brightest possible sound of the amp (full center) while the mic on the katana is getting a more darker sound because is placed in the middle between the cone and the edge of the speaker. It is not a fair test i think.

I’m liking the Fender but it might be a different call when I’m in the same room and playing through them. Solid video. Thanks for posting it!

hi, i have seen several reviews now and i like yours most. here i can really see a true comparison (as good as possible of course). Maybe if you had some time it would be great to see a direct comparison of the fender lower budget amps like the champion 20,40,50xl and the Mustang I. at least at the most common sounds. those amps are great to start with and quite popular, but it is difficult to find them all at a time for testing, especially when living far away from a bigger city. would be very helpful to see them all at a time. many thanks for all your work.

what a great review for those. Im subbing this glorious channel.

Great comparison. Thank you for doing so much work to compare apples to apples.

I was wondering why the katana sounded so bassy and muddy, then I saw the bass was almost at full setting...

thanks for doing this vid. *very* helpful.

That's funny, so far every one of your videos has started with "this is the video that everyone's been asking for" :)

Absolutely beautiful video... Thanks a lot, man. You have a new sub.

you can change the eq in the katana in the tone studio to match the fender sound .

You hit the nail right on the head with that opening statement...lol

Thanks for doing this. What you heard, much different than what I heard. Not the best way to Buy, but it helped.

They both sound good - just different. I'd be happy with either. I've got three low end amps: a Fender Bullet amp, a Blackstar ID Core, and a Marshall Code amp that I despise.

What about loud and clean, miked up in a live environment? I'd mainly use reverb and little gain/distortion....

I like the Fender speaker better, front facing controls preferred + agree bedroom amps. I never play my amp all the way up to me wasted test... Love BOSS, Fender, Marshall .. need one of each!

It's a shame everything is judged on how loud it goes with ultradistortion scooped metal sounds nowadays. Not everyone is interested in that.

I like the fact that you don't push us to choose a specific sound...you give us the right to choose what we like even if you don't like

Boss has a new MKII version out now and has improved it, I have a 50XL and seriously thinking of getting a Katana 50 MKII, both good amps, but Katana gives you more options for the same $

I have both of them and love them both.

Nice comparison, Ryan!

You could add a graphic EQ and adjust the presence in the Katana computer app. Helped me remove the brittle sound.

Awesome shootout. Hard to pick, I guess it's just down to preference in the end. I sorta like how the Katana is a bit more compressed overall. To me, the fender sounds like it gets harsh at times.

I bought a katana 100 watt 2X12 but here’s what I’ve heard that you’ll get the best sounds if you plug it into the computer and adjust all your petals accordingly and I’m guessing if you did that on both of them you would get almost exactly the same sounds. They are both great amps but they’re both a little different type of amps one you build the model the other is your copying model of another app. I used to build cabinets though with Celestion speakers and I used to tune the ports on them I actually built a electronic tool for doing that. I am going to try to make a thing for the katana to put a back on it with a tune port because some guys are saying they want the mid range punch of like a big tube amp, most of the people that buy these are buying them for practice in their bedroom and a little bit of playing out as an individual not necessarily a whole band. And also some computer recording I think it’s an all-around thing they were good for any of that but I could easily create an adjustable port or folded horn port in the back to give you a mid range bass thump out of the katana and I may do some experimenting with that to show people. Basically it would be a bolt on kit where you added a more of a semi closed back instead of the open back. But generally in today’s day and age we have so many electronics and many equalizer adjustments you can just about get any sound you want out of anything or pretty close I mean you might notice a difference in the studio but to the average guys ear I doubt it. Or it’s not enough to matter What I see on the boss is they designed that speaker to be the very best all-around speaker with that thing and it really is I’ve heard guys switch them out to Celestion and unless you’re after something specific it pretty much sounds better with the stock speaker. Roland did a hell of a job on that and they’ve been building them cube amps for decades and they had awesome power and sound so they already knew what the hell they were doing on this one. Fender has always been known as the best clean sound amps but they also responded with pedals. The wild thing they got on the katana hundred watt amps is you buy a stereo the stereo guitar cord and plug it into another one and then on the back you flip a switch to stereo and you have automatic programmed stereo amps. For a guy like me that just cool plays like parties for my buddies and stuff that’s kind of huge because you’re getting a lot of sound out or one person and a drummer or something like that. Great video thanks

Some amplifier very similar (or superior) to the Champion 50XL in sound quality??? Really, thank you! (PS I loved the 50XL sound).

Most of the reviews I have watched so far have favored the fender. The high-volume test made a big impact. The other previews that I have seen did not focus on the Flubber. Glad I watched this. Now I am back to not knowing what to do. Except of course spending $1,000 on a real amp.

That Beetronics Tee is so effing cool!

I'm new to the amp world and I love how we describe sound and tones with funny words like "farty, flubby, woofier..."

Thanks for this. By the way, any views on the Fender Champion 40, compared to the 50XL.

Someone should do comparison between a Orange crush 35rt & a Katana 50.... both are more similar to each other than the Fender. Plus, see which one has the better clean channel break-up sound and how they take pedals

"loud enough to annoy your neighbour" LOL I was blown away when I got my KTN 100. Even at the 0.5w setting that thing is LOUD. So punchy!

Very interesting. Would like to see the Katana against the 35 watt 1 x 10 Orange Solid State amp which people seem to just love.

If I just wanted it for electric guitar gigging, I'd go with the Fender. I like the basic tone much better. 50 watts is generally loud enough and you can always go through the board (very easily with either of those amps). If you want more, buy a second one and run stereo!. On the other hand, I do a lot of acoustic gigs also and the acoustic channel on the Katana is really quite good. So, for versatility, I'd go with the Katana. Besides which, both amps take pedals very well so you can get your tonal versatility there.

The one major item in comparison is this - you can tweak the EQ of the fender and/or add pedals and you'll be good. BUT...to have the Katana come alive and remove the "blanket" you hear over it...you NEED to hook it up to your computer and use Boss's tonebase to mess with your Katana Global EQ. Absolute must. You don't deal with that at ALL with the Fender. Plug n play. I have both amps and I have to say, although there can be some flubbiness...but...the tones are still quite clear without putting hours into computer stuff. So for me, plug n play helps me practice and create more. Sitting in front of the boss tonestudio is fun but sucks practice time. And at the end of the day, this should be about playing your instrument, not effing around with software.

Something's way off with the recording, both amps sound like they'd been covered with blankets. Are the mics too far from the cabs? (Also the limiter kills any tone comparison purposes of the recording, sorry.)

Do both have full range speakers designed to playback MP3 etc. through an aux in, as that results in a more versatile speaker design being used than a purely 🎸 focus speaker?

It's tough to come away with any kind of real opinion from watching any of these comparison videos. I think the best way to compare is to take your own guitar into the music store and plug in and try them out for yourself.Let your ears decide which suits you best.

This shows how difficult it is to objectively compare these amps. I think the EQ and other settings account for most of the differences, and with either amp, one could dial in and adjust the tone and distortion as desired. I think this shows that both amps sound good over a broad range of styles; these amps are properly seen as "instruments" themselves, and someone skilled adjusting the controls could get great sounds from either of them. So, thanks for this helpful demo.

kinda prefer katana because more mids fender is good but no mids knob kinda limits your options

Nice comparison, depend of us (what style) , the choice. M Thanks

The only thing I wish was different is I wish he used a humbucker guitar on the distortion, but that’s just me being picky not a compliant I love the video

I own Kat head but did have the 50. I find the cleans to be "sterile". Fender amps have that sparkly high thing and sound organic by comparison. Boss brown is nice though.

Fender easily wins true cleans (who would’ve thought). I feel the katana was at a disadvantage trying to EQ match it to the fender during the low volume tests but even still I think the katana is the clear winner. Good review though Ryan !

A GREAT VID WOULD BE STICKING A SUPER CHAMP XD OR X2 NEXT TO THESE TWO..

I think you may have missed the better heavy distortion setting on the fender. If you turn the dial slightly further past the "metal" option (red light) it turns to a green light and it is a much better sounding heavy distortion. If you turn further still it goes onto the octave setting (orange light). I definitely find the 'green light' metal option is the better of the two at high volume, seems to take all that flubbyness out. Just a thought people might like to try. Excellent review none the less.

They are both comparable. The problem (many people make) is that the boss is mired way off center. The speaker is to the left in the cab for some reason. Having said that, I'd love to see this again.

weird.... it must be my speakers or something ( maybe my ears) but to me the fender sounds brighter and thinner in all of them and the katana sounds darker and slightly muddy. but hey ho, enjoyed the review cheers.

The katana seems more versatile with it's own recording output and effects but the Fender just sounds better. I can't rig up a mic in my room though so I need an output. Guess the katana will do

Clean I much prefer the Fender. For drive the Katana slays the Fender. Just my opinion.

That Fender sounds sweet. It's much more full sounding to me. That's on both clean and gain.

What is the best for Jazz / Jazz Fusion ?

I have the Katana 50, and it was a great choice and for that price!! Awesome amp

I just feel like the eq was set up inappropriately. The fender tended toi have more highs dialed in and the bass a little low then the opposite on the Boss. I think eq at midpoint is the preferred setup toi compare because the eq differences were very obvious thorough the mics. And why peg out the master on the boss? Instead of riding the boss master lower with the volume set higher up? I have that boss I feel I get way better sound that way. There are no tubes toi saturate the sound with so it's pointless other than the clean setup.

I want to see the champion 50xl vs the Champion 40 because I want to hear the difference between the speaker and the amp models.

Good comparison and I agree At lower volumes I think I like the Fender. High volume, Katana is vastly better.

I have the Fender 50xl and I think the Katana has more "punch" to it. The Fender seems a little week or muffled at high volumes where the Katana seems almost happy to show you what it's got. Great video though. Thanks.

I saw another video about the fender amps & the "flubbiness" goes away if you dial the bass down a bit, apparently.

Complaints are often better than no one saying anything. Nice vid as always. Just one complaint. The Boss had the bass up to 3 O'clock and was too fat to sound similar while the Fender bass was kept at noon. Not sure why that was the case. The full volume was fair and nice, as you bumped the Boss bass back to noon. No preference between these two. Very different but both good... until the 12:00 mark. Then the Fender gave out.

Good, are those 50w enough for rehearsals and playing in small places or will it fall short? Which do you recommend to put pedals, fender or boss katana 50? Thank you

Pretty sick licks at 3:02 there!

50XL OR SUPERCHAMP X2 im torn betweeen this 2?

The Katana seems to have more tone cutting through. The Fender seems to have a ultra high-end hissy quality to the tones. My guess is that the Katana will cut through the band better in a live situation. This comment is for both clean/overdrive comparisons made.

Amen to people always complaining! You are doing this for free. Taking the time to do this FREE content. If ya don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it!

What I can chose for my Classic Vibe 50' Strat?

Ide like to here a Gibson les Paul or sg through them

I’ve been researching amps going to replace my Peavey Bandit with something , I am thinking the Boss is gonna be the one

Fender got that "scooped" thing goin', Boss got them "mids" goin'.

Would the amps cut it in a loud band situation if they were mic’ed?

The Champion XL 100 with two Midnight 60 Celestion speakers crushes.

These are shockingly good amps for the price. I’d use either one. I don’t like to play metal so...

Further testing shows terminal velocity is easily reached from the ninth floor. Lighter built vehicles are preferred recipient.

I was going to sell my Line 6 Vetta for a couple hundred bucks to pick up a smaller practice amp like one of these. After hearing this I'll definitely the Vetta

i watch this video on 2021 because i really confused to chose this two amp, i like fender but i want also the boss....thanks bro for this video

hi Ryan, I am not expert but I think the reason why the katana sound boxy than brighter sound of the fender is because of how you set the Bass and Treble. In the fender you set the treble high while on katana is lower and on fender's bass it's lower while on katana it's higher. Just my opinion.

@13:35 this guy made my day!

I have the Katana. Sounds great but HATE that the controls aren't on the front of the amp. If I play standing up it's aiming at my knees. If I play sitting down, I can't see the controls. I'm selling it and buying a Champion, which I like the sound of better anyway.

Try Anderson’s for a much better review of the Fender champ 50xl versus the Boss Katana 50. Both Pete & Rabea do a thorough >40 minutes review with excellent guitar playing. The FENDER comes out on top for greater warmth, shimmering cleans, room filling capacity and ease of use. The Boss can be connected to a computer so there are more downloadable tones. It’s more digital and better for distorted tones. The Fender is giggable and more plug and play without the need for excessive knob twiddling. It’s the Midnight Celestion 60 speaker with open back cabinet that gives the Fender the edge.

How do you play on 2 amps without changing cable?

Very interesting when you compare it to the video that Anderton's did, where the Fender sounded better in all scenarios (imo). Here the Katana blows the Fender away.

The amps are ok but love the guitar! What is it?

Good 👍

The speakers in the Fender Champion are awesome Celestion speackers, while on the Katana 50 and 100 there's a worse speaker (on the Artist and the 2x12 cab for the head there are upgradeed and better sounding ones). Personally I prefer the Katana for what it offers, the distorted tones and for the quality. Personally I would take a Katana Head pair it with a cab with Celestion speakers (that's what actually what I did). However if I had to compare the clean tones of the Fender Champion 50/100 XL and the Boss Katana 50/100 (combo), I'd absolutely choose Fender.

I chosed fender champion100 over boss katana i hope that was a good choice

Someone should compare a Katana 50 to a Katana 50! That way it would be apples to apples! 😜

They both sound good the Kitana wins form with the watt changing capabalities

I have an old princeton chorus, it gets farty when I turn the bass up. This is a great video, the katana sounds better to me plus no mid knob is a deal breaker

Fender sounded warmer, but both seem to be pretty good amps.

Just my opinion... the Fender sounds pretty good. The Boss sounds like someone put the Fender inside a cardboard box and started playing it.

What about the Fender Mustang GTX 100?

in your opinion, which is better for a good bluesey tone? i'm really interested in getting a telecaster. ( not sure which but most likely the player) ?

Wow, didn't expect this, but I didn't like the Katana much in either clean or crunch setting. Playing in a band I'd expect the Katana to be further down in the mix, and the Fender to be heard better. Of course, this is through you tube...

The Fender has a Celestion speaker...which is much better than any other stock speakers

Certain settings the Fender sounds a little better, however different settings the Katana sounds a little better. I think if you were to "play" with the settings a little more they could sound about the same. Either would work quite well in whatever situation...

I have a fender mustang lt25 right now. Thinking of selling it to buy the champ 50. Y’all think thats a good idea?

I have a compliant.- One of them seem to be a bit taller than the other.

What a mismatch!!! One is made by Fender and the other is obviously made by Boss. It says it right on the front!

Two fundamentally different sounding amps. I like the beefier sound of the katana

Man. I don't know if the upload is massively different from what you heard in the room or what, but in that back and forth between 4:25 and 4:35 right before you said the a fender sounded muddy, it was the Boss that sounded to me like it was covered in pillows and sealed in a cardboard box, while the Fender sounded quite good, clear but rich...

I was looking into the champion 20 but I know the katana is better but it’s $100 more and I’m having a hard time deciding

I heard a richer sound on the Katana than the Fender. I don't like the nasty sounds when they are distorted. That and the size and features of the Katana seem to be what I'm looking for.

I listened to another channel that did a review of the Fender Champion XL 50 and it sounded way better than this.