Jazz Sound on a Boss Katana

[Karlos]

Hi, I have a Boss Katana mk2 with a Yamaha sa2200. I would like to obtain a jazzy, warm, soft sound. Could you tell me how to best adjust my Amp and the Tone studio program? Thanks and sorry for my language.

[gianluca]

I’ve been using the katana 100 (first series) for a couple of years with Gibson big boxes (Check my youtube channel for some example): it was pretty warm and deep even in flat position.
I used the studiotones for effects (delay, octaver, overdrive…).
do you have any video with your tone?

[Karlos]

Hi, no I don't have a video, I'm just starting out with jazz guitar, before I played classical. I don't understand if I can improve the sound even more through more in-depth adjustments.

[mr. beaumont]

On modeling amps, no matter what brand, my method is usually the same.

I look for a Fender-style model. On amps with a smaller speaker, maybe a "vox" style model. Not sure how BOSS labels theirs...

I set the gain high enough so that the loudest notes I hit have a little "grit" to them. Not fully distorted, and just the hardest played stuff.

For EQ, every room is different. Generally, I like to find what "flat" is for the amp and go from there.

For an amp with a 3 band EQ, turn all three down. Play the sixth string open, and turn up the bass knob until you hear the volume come up. Mark that spot, turn back to zero.

Set your mids with the 4th string and your highs with the high E. Then turn your EQ knobs to the three places you marked. That's true "flat" for that amp.

Then you can adjust from there. Generally, I like my mids boosted a bit, and my treble cut slightly, but not too much. Bass is always to taste and will really depend on the room.

[rolijen]

Exactly, Jeff. Though the Katana is not per se a modeling amp, the “Clean” Amp Type is a great foundation. For home, set Power Control to 0.5w, then set the Master volume, then Amplifier volume for the loudness you want. Then play with the Equalizer and Gain to get a warm, edge-of-break-up tone. Once you dial in the sound you want, save it to one of your presets. It took a bit of trial and error, but now I hardly ever need to touch anything. Just plug in and play. For gigs, the 50w Power setting is more than enough. I find my Katana Artist to be a very capable Swiss Army knife amp.

[Karlos]

The Artists has WAZA 12 inch, this should be better than the traditional Katana mk2, maybe I will switch to artist, the sound should improve.

[Gitterbug]

Your guitar has probably the original Sah-Saig pickups. They are quite hot, in order to serve also in the single-coil mode. Try lowering the neck PU further away from the strings. I had mine swapped for Seymour Duncans (Jazz for neck, JB for bridge.) That mellowed the sound and removed a slight "sawtooth" that annoyed when playing chords in particular. But the single-coil mode became useless.

[Karlos]

Ho i pickup Alnico 5

[Karlos]

The strings I currently use are the tomastik FLAT, maybe I'll try with d'addario Chrome flat and see the difference in sound.

[Karlos]

Your guitar has probably the original Sah-Saig pickups. They are quite hot, in order to serve also in the single-coil mode. Try lowering the neck PU further away from the strings. I had mine swapped for Seymour Duncans (Jazz for neck, JB for bridge.) That mellowed the sound and removed a slight "sawtooth" that annoyed when playing chords in particular. But the single-coil mode became useless.

Sorry, do you have a yamaha sa2200 with Seymour Duncan (Jazz?

[Gitterbug]

Sorry, do you have a yamaha sa2200 with Seymour Duncan (Jazz?

That was many years ago. I regret selling the guitar.