For anyone who is a fan of guitar pedals, BOSS is a company that needs no introduction. They have lead the way in making sturdy and affordable pedals used by both beginners and professionals throughout the years. However in 2016, when amp modeling started to really rise and get more attention outside of just the Line 6 Spider series of amps or the Roland Cube home practice amps, Boss Released the Katana series of solid state amplifiers that are not only on a budget, but also sound great. In 2019, they went a step beyond and created the MK:II series adding more versatility and sounds to the amp and continuing to dominate the world of amplifiers. Now the series has an amp Head, a mini version, two 100 Watt versions, an Artist version for touring acts, and what I am going to talk about today and one of the best selling amps in the market, the 50 watt combo.
Now, I have owned this amp since 2020 and have played my old Schecter Solo 6 standard in Drop C# tuning, as well as my Gretsch Streamliner Centerblock that I previously talked about, and many others back when I worked in retail selling guitars and amplifiers. No matter what I used on the amp, I always got a good sound out of it. The amp has 5 different amp settings, Acoustic (Which turns the amp into a Preamp for Acoustic/Electric guitars), Clean, Crunch, Lead, and Brown. Each setting adding more gain with the Brown Amp being the highest form of Gain and Distortion without using the effects. On top of that comes Volume and Gain knobs for adjusting, plus your standard, Bass, Mid, and Treble that you find on most amplifiers, and five extra knobs each one for designated Boost, Mod, FX, Delay, and Reverb. Each of these also come with additional buttons for selecting the different type of effect from the knob set up with three colors: Green, Yellow, and Red. For more versatility, the MK:II added a Variation button with the amp styles to add more tonal options to the amp type and gain setting by switching the voices on the amp with the button.
With all this in mind is a Master Knob to also help tone shaping, and a wattage control for 50, 25, 0.5, or Standby mode for power from the amp. at 0.5 watts, this is a perfect bedroom practice amp that can be used without bothering anyone you live it and going up to 50, makes it possible to play with a drummer and get plenty of volume. Also added was a Power Amp port on the back, so you can add a Power amp and get even more volume out of it's 12 inch Speaker. The Standby mode keeps the speaker off, but with the headphone jack in the back of the amp, it keeps it perfectly quiet and you can play without anyone hearing you.
Along with a standard Panel mode, are also 2 savable channels, where if you find a sound you want to go back to, just hold the button down until lights start to flash and it saves the setting you can go back to, until you save over it with something else.
With the USB port on the back, the amp can be plugged into a computer, accessing all the built in effects, further tune the sounds you want, and even record your own tracks, given you have the most up to date software. The Updates are free on the Boss Website for anyone that may need it in the future. This specific model runs for $269.99 via most retailers and it is also possible to get a demo model or a used one for a little less, but it is a lot of amp for not a lot of money.
While using this, I also put my pedal board in front of the amp and it accepted pedals far more than other Solid State amps I have used in the past, my experience being the Randall RX120, Marshall MC50, and Peavey Bandit. This even takes more aggressive sounding pedals like Fuzz and Distortion. Even using something as subtle as an EQ made a massive different. I was genuinely impressed by how well this amp took pedals.
While a footswitch port in on the amp, the Footswitch is sold separately. So, keep that in mind, if you are looking to use the footswitch. The last thing to mention is while some beginner amps do have a built in tuner, this amp does not. It isn't a major thing with clip on tuners being so affordable, but some people might have an issue with it. There are some competitors that do offer it, but I always found those to be unreliable at times.
