Boss Katana 100 MKII

I moved to the Katana after my starter pack of Fender Squier with the Frontman 15G. I was pretty happy with my Frontman, but I decided to try and expand my possibilities with the Katana.

Buying the Katana was a great decision that allowed me to evolve as a guitarist and learn about tones. I moved from the two channels (clean / overdrive) of my previous amp to all the different amp modes of the Katana (4 with variation + acoustic) and all the effects it includes. I think this is a great option for exploring possibilities and checking out how different pedals / effects sound for those who are not very familiar with tone crafting. At this point I have to say that the sheer number of possibilities can be daunting, but you can always start from the presets or third-party tones available in online communities.

PROS:
- A lot of effects and amp modes with endless possibilities for different tones, which allow trying new sounds, especially useful for beginners.
- You can connect it to your computer for recording or to manage the tones through the GUI.
- 8 patches can be stored in memory, allowing to switch between different tones quickly without using the computer. For this, the switch pedal sold separately is great, allowing to switch while playing.
- The effects loop comes in quite handy for my looper pedal.
- The amp sounds great to my inexperienced ears.
- The power switch allows to play indoors without the neighbors having to call the police.

CONS:
- With the huge number of possibilities it might be a daunting task fiddling around with all the options to find the tones you like. Also, the official tone patches were quite limited last time I checked, relying heavily on non-official communities.

Overall, I am really happy with my purchase and would never think about going back to my Frontman after this, I think it's great value for the money. I would recommend buying it with the switch pedal for changing channels while playing.

Using the Boss Katana with a GA-FC and Expression pedal really opens up access to a variety of tones and effects from the amp.
I have not enjoyed the sound or experience of modelling amps until I tried this one. The tone is good, most of the effects seem to be near perfect emulations of the actual pedals.
The software to edit amp settings really allows for a wide tonal palette for your amp but can be a bit tricky to learn and set up (i spent the first 2 days just creating/editing tones & patches for the amp). But it is worth it.
The amp itself is also not the heaviest. It is a comfortable weight to be carried by the handle. (something I noted as a gigging musician)
The power adjustment (0.5W, 50W, 100W) is exremely useful going from apartment, to practice space, to the gig.
This is by far the most versatile jamming & gigging amp I have come across, but it is essential to have a footswitch (and expression pedal) to exploit the amps features.
As an added bonus the software allows you to assign quite a few footswitches and expression pedas to give you very detailed control of your sounds & patches from your feet.
It is definitely a great foundation for a customisable rig!

this amplifier is seriously worth every penny. I was reluctant to buy this as I love my fender Blues Junior and Vox ac 15, both being valve amps.
I thought I'd never appreciate a solid state amp but after hearing them at live shows and using my friends Katana i was blown away with the quality and sound and had to get one. Ive now had it for a little over a year, pre corona virus I have gigged with it and no complaints at all. Its the perfect home studio amp with its power control options you can set what wattage you need for your surroundings which is a vital feature for a home studio... I find the tone setting one of the most important features because you have 4 chanels where you can save the EQ, effects amd ampliefier settings to each chanel so when you come back to it its not lost if you found the perfect sound! so handy

I find the Pros of this amp are the four chanel selections that you can save for your own personal tones and sounds.

four different amp types all having a different variation and an additional acoustic amp which sounds absolutely brilliant

the ease of use

CONS

it would be nice if BOSS supplied a foot switch and a cover, other than that its a must have for any music enthusiast, session musician, home studio, gigging musician

Thomann as usual provided amazing efficient service and had the amp sent to me in very short time which was an added bonus

I move to this amp after my starter amp, a little (and also great for what it is) NUX Mighty Air, and I'm very happy with the much it provides for my specific use cases.

I use it mainly for practice at home, for practice with friends and it is very versatile.

The power switch allows me to use it at home and until now none of my neighbours called the police, so it works as needed. If you need more power there you can do it.

If you do not use the app at all, it could provide nice tones using only the physical controls on the amp. But you can unleash all it's real power connecting the amp to your pc and using Boos Tone Studio to change the things as you wish, at least I'm very satisfied with all the functionality provided and for my noob ears it sounds fantastic.

Is heavier compared to the Katana 50 (that was the one that made me buy this bad boy), but the extra power provided, the support for 8 patches made me go for this one.

The only "negative" thing is that the official patches library is very limited, but this is not a big deal you can find many community sites with tons of patches.

The software can be overwhelming for noobs like me at start, but I encourage anyone to go mees with it as in my opinion, mess around things is the better way to learn and this unleash the full power of this great amp.