I found the process straightforward and intuitive, giving me a creative and exploratory environment that was easy to work in. Shifting focus to the Positive Grid Spark, a growing community of dedicated musicians supports this amp, always ready to share their bespoke settings and tones. It's all about experimentation and finding that perfect sound. Accessing and loading these shared tones into the amp is a breeze, opening up a vast landscape of tonal opportunities. It feels like being part of an international music club where you can continually learn and develop alongside fellow Katana users. They're always keen to share their experiences, pro tips, and custom tones online. The Boss Katana 50 MK2 comes with an incredibly supportive community of users from around the globe. I felt it demonstrated its weaknesses as a guitar amp when I dialed it up to serious volumes. While this amp is versatile and super smart, it does lack the power to gig in anything but the most intimate of venues. The lightweight design and compact size made it easy to carry and set up. They packed the Spark full of smart features designed to enhance your playing experience. It's a perfect tool for practice and recording sessions. The Positive Grid Spark shines brightest in a home environment. It's packed with features and might require a little patience to navigate initially. That said, be prepared to spend some quality time with the app. To add to its charm, the Spark app is mobile-friendly. It's like having a backing band and guitar teacher at your disposal, capable of generating tracks based on your playing style. These set the Positive Grid Spark apart as a practice amp. On the other side, the Spark truly stands out with its intelligent Smart Jam and auto chord features. However, it's worth noting that this app is computer-based, which might feel restrictive if you prefer tweaking settings on a mobile device. It's an impressive tool that turns your amp into a sound playground. I dug deep into the editing, customized presets, and even accessed additional effects exclusive to the software. The desktop application is like a personal sound lab, affording me the flexibility to fine-tune my tone to the nth degree. The Katana linked up seamlessly, by USB, with the Boss Tone Studio app on my laptop. Whilst this practice amp offers foot control, this only has 4 buttons. It's loaded with over 40 effects, enough to satisfy even the most curious sonic explorers like myself.Īdding to its charm, it includes a good number of amp modeling options to emulate those iconic tones. Switching over to the Positive Grid Spark, I found this nifty desktop amp to be no slouch in the effects department either. I did like the need to not have to carry and patch separate pedals for each gig. I enjoyed the physical inputs for tweaking on the amp rather than opening my laptop for every nudge of a control.Īdd to this the 5-button pedal board options and up to two expression pedals and this really is an all-in-one package. This gave me the freedom to layer multiple effects at once, opening up a world of tonal possibilities. Effects and Stompingīoss is the most popular stompbox manufacturer for good reason, and this amp delivers that quality in spades. Its bass reflex design makes it sound more like a good home audio device (Sonos, Denon Home) than an amplifier. I noticed a slight digital hint to the sound, particularly at higher volumes. It also did a great job of amplifying my PRS SE Paul's natural voice, getting the most out of the tonal variety offered by the twin coil-tapped humbuckers.īut, like all things in life, it's not perfect. Some that I enjoyed noodling with included Santana, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and James Hetfield. The Spark proved very accomplished at reproducing a multitude of iconic guitar amp tones. So, if you're a fan of warmer, bass-heavy sounds, it might not fully hit the mark. However, I felt it favors the brighter side of tones. The sound quality is top-notch and is clear even at maximum volume due to the 12” speaker and heavy cabinet. This quick tone functionality has really paid off in my ‘80s/’90s cover band, allowing me to quickly dial in the correct tone for a large quantity of our setlists. It was easy to emulate Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Albert Collins, and Dave Gilmour directly from the Boss Tone Exchange. Plugging into the Katana 50, I found this modeling amp to be the Swiss army knife of tone.
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