saturn Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 What up? I haven't been hanging here too much lately, but figured I'd share my new amp story with y'all. So, maybe some of you remember back before Christmas, I was having some amp issues. I got the Carvin Legacy working good again. Turned out it was nothing but another pre-amp tube gone bad and once I replaced that, the amp is back to sounding great. But I still wanted another small (probably SS) amp to use as a back-up and at smaller gigs and rehearsals/jams. I really liked the tones on my Roland Blues Cube, but that amp just up and died on me. After some research I had it narrowed down to 3 new amps. 1. Roland Blues Cube Hot 30 2. Tech 21 Power Engine. This is just a powered cabinet with no pre-amp. I could use it with my GNX4 in front. 3. BOSS Katana. This seems to be pretty much a Blues Cube with more features. Anyway I ended up choosing the Katana from Sweetwater and it should be arriving today. B) For now, here is Chappers and Captain giving a demo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 nice, gotta love a "New - anything - Day", looking forward to your review / impressions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 Well the amp arrived yesterday, but I worked late and only took it out of the box. Haven't played it yet. I also ordered the footswitch, but that's on back-order. I'm going down to Virginia for the weekend so probably won't be able to test it out until at least Sunday. Supposed to get together Monday night for a rehearsal/jam so maybe I'll take it there and experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 OK. Due to the overwhelming amount of responses to my new amp thread, I thought it's only right that I should give an account of my first impressions for everyone. After only playing it for about 10 minutes on Sunday night, at a very low volume because it was late. I took it to a rehearsal Monday night. On the 50 watt setting, it's plenty loud to keep up with a full band. And it still has the 100 watt setting available if 50 isn't enough. I still don't have the foot pedal, so I had to walk over to the amp to switch any channels which was kind of a pain. But I must say, everyone was very impressed with the sounds I got out of it. Like the Roland Blues Cube, it has a very tube-like feel even though it's a SS. I wasn't blown away by the built in effects like chorus, flanger and phaser, but to be honest I didn't spend too much time experimenting with them. I still used my Zoom CDR70 and MojoMojo in front and they worked very well with the amp. My main complaint was when I used the higher gain settings like Lead and Brown Sound. It got very noisy with hiss or hum. Turning the volume down didn't help. Once we start playing, it's drowned out, but I still don't like hearing that noise whenever we aren't playing. There's also a little "foot" on the bottom that can come out to tilt the amp slightly back. It's more gimmick than anything, since the tilt angle is so shallow that it makes no real difference. Overall, I was happy. I didn't spend a fortune and it will primarily be a back-up and rehearsal amp. It's nice and light and easy to transport. Plus the controls are fairly simple and very easy to learn. I also like that it has a setting for acoustic guitar which will come in handy since I have some acoustic gigs coming up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 does sound like a cool little amp. Strange how you didn't like some of the effects. But maybe if you hook it up w/usb to the PC you'll find a few you like. Kinda like the mustangs, where using a PC and FUSE Software opens up a lot of the delicious things the amp can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 OK. Due to the overwhelming amount of responses to my new amp thread, I thought it's only right that I should give an account of my first impressions for everyone... I've been very interested in hearing what you have to say about this thing. Roland has done well with amps in the past, I would guess this would be just as good. Light weight, buncha fex built in, seems it can't go wrong. I hate hate hate kn0bs on the top back. That's probably what would stop me from using one. Tell us more when you get a chance. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I hate hate hate kn0bs on the top back. That's probably what would stop me from using one. Ah then you'd LOVE LOVE LOVE this amp...!! my Gibson Goldtone GA30RVS, the good news is once you get the incredibly complex controls set where ya want em, you just do everything else with your guitar volumes and a pedal board. Great sounding amp, but you don't want to move it, it's 90lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Ah then you'd LOVE LOVE LOVE this amp...!! my Gibson Goldtone GA30RVS, the good news is once you get the incredibly complex controls set where ya want em, you just do everything else with your guitar volumes and a pedal board. Great sounding amp, but you don't want to move it, it's 90lbs. Oh I remember them well, and that sex machine Joe Perry using a wall of them. I was -><- close to buying one but passed. Beside the weight, them knobs were just out for me. Sounded great turned up though! rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Sounded great turned up though! Class A 30 watts, da sucka is loud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Class A 30 watts, da sucka is loud zactly. Prosonic was class A 30 watts, 2 10s on top of a 2 12 cab. It was too loud for my band, and that is saying something. Pants flappin goodness, I miss it. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Pants flappin goodness, I miss it. Ohhh yea... amazing we can still hear aint it? Back in the 80s worked with a bass player that had an Ampeg SVT head and TWO of the 8x10 cabinets.... jaysus... that was loud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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