Boss Katana 50 Reviews: Is It Worth It? Let’s Find Out…

best practice amp for beginners

The Boss Katana 50 is an extremely popular amp. Stage-ready with 50W of power, this insanely clever and useful guitar amp has everything you need to create huge sounding tones. But is it worth it? Let’s find out


The Boss Katana 50 is one of those amps that you hear about a lot, and with good reason too. The Boss Katana 50 is used and abused by hundreds of thousands of players, professional and amateur alike, all over the globe. 

Based in Japan, BOSS has quickly created some of the best guitar amps on the planet. And the Boss Katana 50 is, arguably, one of the most popular options, thanks to its agreeable price tag and deep and rich features set. 

With the Boss Katana 50, you literally have everything you need – from five unique amp characters, five independent effects options, support for footswitches, a super-loud 12in 50w speaker, and a built-in recording tech in the form of BOSS Tone Studio, so you can run the amp directly into your computer. 

This means the Boss Katana 50 is great for playing live, recording, and practicing. It has all the trappings of a classic amplifier, something truly special, and like the Spark Amp from Positive Grid, it is focussed on smart features and connectivity with your computer for recording demos at home and in the studio. 

Boss Katana 50 Reviews – What’s The Word Online? 

We’ve already listed the Boss Katana 50 inside our pick for the best practice amps. It placed really high too. And the reason is simple: whether you’re using this at home or in the studio to demo and/or practice, the amp has everything you need to get the job done.

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But that’s just the basic stuff. The really cool stuff is to do with the Boss Katana 50’s tone and its effects. If you know your way around its settings, you can craft truly amazing, unique guitar tones – tones that are good enough for recording. I know this because I have used this amp to record loads of stuff.

Inside my review of the Boss Katana 50, I cover off what makes this amp so special, why it is worth the asking price, and why it is one of the most useful pieces of guitarist can own in 2021. But what did everybody think about the Boss Katana 50? Let’s take a look at some reviews from other reviewers to find out…

Even though the Katana falls into the “budget” category when it comes to price, this amp would be a great value at a higher price point. This amp doesn’t do one thing well…it does it all.

While it’s easy to dial in any sound you want using the faceplate controls, it is even easier to just plug it into your computer and edit away! The Boss Tone Studio software makes it easy to make your sound whatever you want it to be.

There is a reason why so much hype is built around the Katana series. They are a dream for anyone that is trying to sound great on a budget or just wants a killer amp sound right out of the box.

The amp can even connect to the Boss WAZA Bluetooth headphones for quiet practice. Not feeling fancy? You can also use the regular old headphone jack. You can even use the software to customize the headphone settings!

But if you want to go digging even further in the software, you can change just about anything about the amp or your effects chain. You can dial in popular pedals, set the EQ curve, and even go into an “advanced options” mode that lets you fine-tune everything.

ELECTRIKJAM

As with a lot of modern modelling amps, it’s easy to forget it’s so cheap. The Boss Katana 50 retails for around $250 new in most places, and around $150-200 used.

All in all, I don’t see anything bad about this combo. It’s affordable, it sounds good, and it’s got lots of features. Everytime someone asks me what the best affordable guitar amplifier is, I always respond with the Boss Katana.

KILLER GUITAR RIGS

This amp really does sound remarkably good, but there are a couple of issues to navigate first. The lightweight fibreboard cabinet feels solid enough for the price, but the two rotary switches don’t click into place with any confidence and the concentric pairs of controls sometimes stick together. Also, the whole control panel of our review amp has an intermittent habit of shutting down when you adjust the FX knob, requiring a restart.

GUITAR

I still can’t believe the original price-point of around £160. Only about 5 years ago I was resigned to the fact I’d need to drop at least £500 on a new, gig-able amp. The BOSS Katana’s have since had a slight price increase, which I don’t blame BOSS for at all. They’ve delivered pretty much a perfect product and sold it by the truckload at a price point that is helping guitarists to get out gigging.

It was and still is the best guitar-related purchase I’ve ever made, so hat’s off to BOSS for pushing the boundaries of technology in a scene dominated by history and tradition.

ADAM HARKUS

The Katana 50 appears to be very well engineered and importantly maintains tonal quality even at lower volumes. The amp type feature is great for those who just want to plug and play and the Acoustic type is really great for those who might use it to perform with both their electric and acoustic guitars. The on-board Boss quality effects are a bonus, as is the ability to refine tones and download directly to the amp using Boss Tone Studio and Boss Tone Central.

COMPLETELY GUITARS

Boss Katana 50 Specifications & Features

As you can see from above, the Katana 50 is generally beloved by everyone that comes into contact with it. With respect to value for money, the Katana 50 is perhaps one of the best budget amps on the market right now – you just get SO MUCH for hardly any money at all.

BOSS Katana 50 Video Review

And because it is so versatile, the Katana 50 fits into any kind of workflow – from gigging and playing live to recording and quietly practicing at home. And for less than the price of an expensive pair of boots, this is the #1 reason why BOSS has enjoyed so much success with its Katana 50 amp.

Want to know what you get with the Boss Katana 50? Here’s a breakdown of all of the Katana 50’s core specifications, features, and dimensions.

  • Type: Solid State
  • Number of Channels: 5 x Amp Types
  • Total Power: 50W (25W, 0.5W settings)
  • Speaker Size: 1 x 12″
  • Reverb: Yes
  • Effects: Modulation, Delay, 60 BOSS Effects (Tone Studio software)
  • EQ: 3-band EQ, Tone control
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4″ (instrument), 1 x 1/4″ (power amp), 1 x 1/8″ (aux in)
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4″ (rec/headphones)
  • USB: 1 x Type B
  • Headphones: Yes
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4″
  • Footswitch Included: No, FS-6 sold separately
  • Computer Connectivity: USB
  • Construction Material: Black Tolex
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 15.6″
  • Width: 18.5″
  • Depth: 9.3″
  • Weight: 25.6 lbs.

BOSS Katana 50 Pictures


BOSS Katana 50 Price

How much does the BOSS Katana 50 cost? Given all of the above, you’d imagine it’d be pretty expensive, right? Well, the good news is that the BOSS Katana 50 is NOT expensive. In fact, it is downright cheap for what this amp delivers. You can pick one up for $250 in the US and £211 in the UK.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a motherfuc*ing STEAL…

Absolute Beginner? No problem.

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