Boss Katana 50 Owners, your Blues Sound settings?

[ChicagoNed]

I have the original, not the Mark II. I downloaded blues patches from the Roland Boss site but they don't sound too bluesy to me once on my amp. I'm using a Strat Player. and really wanted the Fat Lead sound, reminds me of BB. I've watched a lot of YouTubes on the 50.

Is any one here just using the panel for settings with tone knobs to get a bluesy sound? I am mainly an acoustic guy and new to amplification so I need to keep it simple. Also, are you using the neck pick up?

Thanks,

Ned

 

[artyman]

Blues sounds come in quite a few varieties, so can you give an example of what you are after. Using a different guitar is also going to affect your sound, so are you using a Strat, Les Paul, so many variables.

 

[ChicagoNed]

Hi,

I have a Fender Strat Player model. The kind of tone I like is more along the lines of BB, although I realize he used a different type. Are most of the blues players on this site who use a Strat using the neck pick ups?

Thanks,

Ned

 

[PapaBear]

Hi,

I have a Fender Strat Player model. The kind of tone I like is more along the lines of BB, although I realize he used a different type. Are most of the blues players on this site who use a Strat using the neck pick ups?

Thanks,

Ned

BB for the most part played pretty clean, nailing his sound with single coil pick ups will be tough, but with a clean amp patch you can get in the ballpark

 

[dwparker]

If a warmer, BB King type blues tone was my goal on a strat, I'd block the trem, would install an SD little 59 in the bridge, play Thomastik-Infdel flat wound swing strings in size 11, and experiment with different potentiometer and capacitor values until I found something I liked. Or sell the strat and use the money to buy an Ibanez as93.

 

[JohnHurley]

Yeah afaik BB King played Gibsons right hollow body ES 355s with hum buckers mostly?

So that's a challenge to try to get close on a Strat unless it has hum buckers ( some of them do ). But just play around with the clean sounds maybe throw a TS into the mix ( Ibanez tube screamer pedeal )?

Have fun and make some of your own sounds ha ha! I think Epiphone has a Lucille clone that's not too expensive?

 

[Rancid Rumpboogie]

Use the neck pickup, and steer clear of flat wound strings. And B.B. played 8's, not 11's. Yes, by all means use the neck pickup. And you might want to invest in a J. Rockett Dude pedal. You are never going to get a Strat to sound like B.B.'s Lucille, but you can get close enough. Even if you could, you will never sound like B.B. unless you can play like B.B. and very few if any can.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-audio-designs-the-dude-boost-overdrive-pedal

 

[ChicagoNed]

Thanks everyone. And B.B. played 8's? But the thing about the Boss Katana 50 amp is that you connect it to your laptop and using the Boss Tone Central, you can tweak the hell out of all the settings, many of the settings I never heard of (and I just retired from 44 years in the film/video/TV business), it's more in the realm of an audio studio engineer:

http://bosstonecentral.com

Knowing what I do about marketing, I bet that Boss saw the writing on the wall, worried about the future of their pedal sales. So this line of amps simulates their various pedals, one model allows a foot switch to be connected to it.

So in theory, and it's way over my head tech wise, you can buy a cheap guitar at a pawn shop and if you know how to tweak the settings in Tone Central, you can create the sound coming out of a Lucille, or any sound you want. In fact there's a Facebook group, and another one on Reddit, where famous guitar geeks offer for free or cheap "patches" to download to your 50 (and I'm still figuring out how to do it where it's saved) and that's how you get the sound you want of any style or famous guitarist. Of course I don't have BB's strong, big fingers for vibrato...Here's examples:

https://guitarpatches.com/patches.php?unit=katana

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/about-the-katana-patches-kp-000

https://www.reddit.com/r/BossKatana/comments/avw3wb/free_boss_katana_patches_and_tone_settings_for/

I just thought I'd post my question here on BGU figuring there'd be ppl who own the 50, but I will post it on FB (I hate FB) and look on Reddit. Perhaps because the 50 is more of a beginner's amp (under $300) there aren't a lot of owners here? But wow, it's powerful, it can even emulate tube amp vibes. I am losing my settings every time I power down the amp so I am leaving it on all the time!

Best,

Ned

 

[artyman]

You can store four settings on the Katana 50, to have more at your fingertips so to speak you need to use the Boss Tone Studio program and have them on there, alternatively there is an Android app called Katana Librarian which acts in a similar fashion.

I have four settings saved on my Katana 50, Twelve string simulation, Tremelo, Shadows Echo, and base settings for when I use a Blue Nebula pedal to get my Shadows Sounds, which also doubles up as my Rhythm tone.

 

[Iheartbacon]

Sorry, but the amp and pedals are only a small portion of the overall tone. The guitar plays a significant role, as do both your right and left hands.

There is no patch, pedal or magic settings that will make a Strat into a katana sound like Lucille into a cranked Fender.

That said, you can still get a “good” tone. A lot of blues Strat players use the neck pickup, but the middle is also frequently used for a more cutting solo. The BB sound and many others (SRV Freddy King etc.) are Fender blackface or silverface amps that are fairly clean, maybe pushed to the edge of breakup. You might consider a mid boost, like a Tube screamer pedal or patch with gain set low, or use EQ, to fatten things up a bit. Don’t ignore the tone and volume knobs on the guitar either.

One problem with replicating someone’s Fender clean tone is it is a very revealing signal chain, so your guitar, hand technique, and even pick selections are going to be fairly audible. Higher gain tones cover up a lot of things and can be easier to duplicate, but loud and clean is a bit like taking the stage naked. It’s going to be hard to fake it.

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

I have read a good deal about B. B. King, and must admit that I have a Epi Lucile Guitar, which I love!

Attaining various guitar tones is an admirable task, and it seems like it can be time consuming.

The Lucile guitar also has a Vari-Tone control, which allows you to change the guitars tone. I leave mine at #1. I do not like the sound produced at the other 5 positions.

I have read that B. B. King liked to crank up his amplifier to the max, and use his guitar volume control to attain the level he wanted.

Good luck in your quest to attain "that sound". Please investigate the suggestions given by artyman, and if you need more details, just ask!

Tom

 

[blackcoffeeblues]

I agree with Tom.----I also think that his "Lab Series amp" (Gibson) is not stock- and dialed in especially for his sound.--I think his sound is the hardest of all the Blues players to copy.-----He plays clean---I have seen him several times and never saw a pedal anywhere close. (not saying he never used one I just never seen one) sometimes when I hear him I get the feeling I hear a P-90---but again I got no idea--Good luck on your search----and if you ever figure it out please post it----I got a Kantana. 50

 

[ChicagoNed]

Hi Artyman & Blackcoffeeblues,

You two also own a 50 and I'd like to ask a question about how to save the settings, I don't think I am saving my Tone Studio settings to the 50 (Not a Mark II). I get a window that asks me if I want to REFRESH or go OFFLINE, but it won't let me refresh! I depress the Ch 1 & 2 buttons till they blink so I "think" I am saving, but not sure. I am on Mac OS 10.12.6, using Safari 12.1.2 with Tone Studio 2.1. I realize there is a v4 for Tone Studio but I installed it and went back to v2 (after doing an amp factory reset). If anyone can help me fix this I can then research which blues patches (BB King-ish) to get. Many thanks, Ned

 

[blackcoffeeblues]

I can be of no use....I do have the 50 but have only got to first base with it (turning in on and playing through it for a few minuets)--I have never tried to run anything through my computer---but I am going to try some day---I have the FS6 pedal but just ordered the TRS cable last week and it is suppose to be here today. If I come across any great revelations I will let you know. Sorry

 

[artyman]

If you are seeing that screen it means that your PC isn't recognizing the Amp, that's what the refresh button is for, to tell Windows to go and have another attempt at connecting to the Amp. I'm assuming you have downloaded the driver ! If you have then check your USB cable.

 

[Paleo]

Do you have the correct driver for your computer?

Mac OS 10.12

https://www.boss.info/us/support/by...drivers/f2184ae5-e01e-4469-99dd-1bbd580e6372/

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

If you are seeing that screen it means that your PC isn't recognizing the Amp, that's what the refresh button is for, to tell Windows to go and have another attempt at connecting to the Amp. I'm assuming you have downloaded the driver ! If you have then check your USB cable.

The worlds of Windows and the Mac can be so very different!

Tom

 

[ChicagoNed]

Thanks Paleo, that may be the problem. Your link says to download driver v1 and I had downloaded v2 & 4, ended up with 2. Perhaps 2 & 4 are for the newer model amp the Mark II? Or for a more recent Mac OS? So I will try your link tomorrow. I had done the usual things like swapping cables, factory reset, restart computer. And Artyman, I do know that the laptop was communicating with the amp, when I turned a knob on the amp it appeared on the laptop, it's just that the Refresh button was inoperable. I'll let you know tomorrow if it worked.

I would think that since the music world is of the creative arts that Boss/Roland would have made sure it works well with the Mac World.

Thanks,

Ned

 

[ChicagoNed]

Do you have the correct driver for your computer?

Mac OS 10.12

https://www.boss.info/us/support/by...drivers/f2184ae5-e01e-4469-99dd-1bbd580e6372/

That fixed the problem. Thank you!

 

[Paleo]