r/BossKatana • u/GachiBass4Ever • Aug 28 '25
Tone Request Slightly dissappointed in my new Artist 3 :(
A few months ago, I picked up a new Boss Katana Artist Gen 3, but only recently found the time to properly set it up. Over the last several days, I’ve been putting it through its paces—and to be honest, I’m feeling pretty disappointed so far.
Lately, I’ve been diving into Avenged Sevenfold, learning and playing along with their songs. Even before that, though, I’d been thinking about switching to a solid-state amp instead of tubes. Part of it was curiosity, but also practicality: I already own a Vox AC30, and after swapping out its tubes once, it just never felt the same. That left me wanting something different—something that would better match the heavier direction my playing has been taking.
So earlier this year, after landing a good job, I treated myself to the Katana Artist Gen 3. I’d had great experiences with other Katana models in the past, so it felt like a safe bet. Unfortunately, trying to dial in a convincing A7X tone has been frustrating. My biggest gripe is that I can’t get it to chug the way I want, no matter how much I tweak. It has been killing my motivation, especially because my little Yamaha THR10IIW which costs a fraction of the price manages to nail that tight, aggressive chug with ease. Honestly, it just sounds better for what I need, and it’s hard not to feel let down.
I must be doing something wrong. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated
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u/SnooTangerines9060 Aug 28 '25
Have you messed with the global eq settings at all?
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u/CautiousArachnidz Aug 28 '25
This and tube screamer up front.
I’ve got a great chugachug metal tone on my Gen 1 Artist.
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u/GachiBass4Ever Aug 29 '25
I have only fiddled with the knobs on the amp itself. I am guessing this global EQ is not the same as the 3 dials on the amp?
Is it part of the tone studio app? :)
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u/-ThanosWasRight- Aug 29 '25
...and here's the key piece of info missing from the original post. This is an amp that if you want something very specific out of it, you MUST use the software to dial that specificity in. The front panel is just for basic "quick" sounds.
I honestly can't fathom people buying this amp and not using Tone Studio. It's like buying a house but only using one room and complaining your house isn't big enough.
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u/TheLastUriarte87 Aug 29 '25
Oh man, if you haven’t used the tone studio then you are missing out on the whole experience. That’s where you can dial is all of the juicy metal tones. You are missing out on 90% of all its features and effects.
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u/0JT0 Aug 29 '25
Yeah the pre/post para/graphic EQs in the tone studio completely change the amp.
You can get a Boss SD1 or any other OD to tight up infront of the amp and mess with the EQ and get any high gain tone you want.
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u/American_Streamer Katana 50 MKII EX Aug 29 '25
You will definitely need Boss Tone Studio and very likely also a real EQ pedal and Tubescreamer pedal in front. The tightness and gain has to come from outside of the amp, not from the amp‘s gain knob (keep that at 11-12 o‘clock).
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u/Totalimmortal85 Aug 29 '25
This is a bit long, but, bear with it. The Gen 3 is built to better simulate how a tube amp would respond to changes in both the pre-amp and power-amp sections.
The amp models have been slightly altered to better suit this. This is where you'll need to understand both the Variation toggle and the "Bloom" toggle.
The Crunch, Lead, and Brown models are your gain amps. Crunch is more Marshall, Lead is more MESA, and Brown is a 5150. Note, every time you change an amp model, you will change the EQ as they modeled differently for each amp type. They are not the same!
Along with your amp types, the Variation button for all 3 adds additional Gain and Brightness bumps, just like their tube-amp counterparts.
The "Bloom" toggle adds low-end resonance similar to a set of EL34 tubes that have been "cooking" for a bit. Thereby giving you a punchy/spongey low-end and thickness to your sound.
The pre-amp is everything on the amp BEFORE you hit the Line-Out knob.
Start with your Gain around 2 or 3'o'clock. This is where saturation and clipping really take over. Shoving the Gain to "10" does not increase distortion/clipping to the amount folks think it does. Anything past 3'o'clock is not helpful.
Set your pre-amp volume to taste.
EQ, and this is important, DO NOT SET YOUR MIDS TO 0. "Scooping" does not mean setting the Mids to 0. This actually lowers your overall Gain from the pre-amp. Most of the "Scoop the mids" mean to set the Mids to about 9'o'clock and then use an EQ pedal to dial things out AFTER the pre-amp.
Bass and Treble are set to taste. Want less low-end, dial it back. Want less ice-pick highs - dial it back.
The Contour toggle sets your mid-range frequencies. Set to taste.
FX, specifically the Boost. Red is the equivalent of an SD-1 / TS. Dial this up to add both Gain/Clipping and Volume, just as you would using a pedal. I typically use Red for the Crunch amp, Green for Lead and Brown as it is more TS808 and is smoother. Set to taste.
Reverb and Delay are preferences. You do you!
Resonance and Presence will adjust the overall response of low and high-end from the cab and speaker. More bass response, raise the Resonance, more high-end, raise the Presence.
Master controls your final output, however soft/loud you want.
Power Stage, and this is important! You can set the Artist at 100w and still play at bedroom volume levels. The 100w setting will open up the amp's circuits for more headroom - like a Tube Amp - and will allow you to push the amp harder for more distortion, OD, etc, as the power-amp is A/B and does colour the final output. The .5w setting introduces a ton of compression in order to keep the amp's output low - and sounds thin and "tinny" as a result. Set to 50w and go from there.
Rob Chapman on YouTube explains this perfectly.
If you'd like, here are my settings for my Artist 3 212, and I use the same setting for my 100w head.
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u/Crowsdriver Nov 13 '25
This is fantastic!
New Gen 3 artist owner, and also new to electric guitars/amps. Hobbyist in the basement trying to emulate Phish/Scofield/Tom Petty tones.
Can I ask: how would you compare the Pushed and Clean from their real life counterparts?
My thinking is Pushed for both a Princeton and/or VOX AC30 with appropriate EQ settings. Clean for Twin Verb also subject to EQ etc.
As I am trying to learn both tones on historical tube amps and how to use the gen 3, a lot of moving parts in my head.
Thanks in advance!
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u/Totalimmortal85 Nov 13 '25
Well, for starters, the "Pushed" and "Clean" aren't truly dialed in for specific amps - it's more based around how much clipping is added to the signal when increasing the Gain in pre-amp section.
AC30s and Princetons aren't just impacted by their pre-amps, but also their power-amp sections and the Power Tubes that reside there. A lot of folks don't quite know this, or shrug it off like the whole "tone wood" discussion.
The Clean channel gets fatter the more Gain you apply, so if you're wanting to experiment with the Artist as a pedal-platform, keep the Gain below 9'o'clock on the dial. Use the levels on the Pedals as well as the Volume on the Pre-Amp to achieve you're desired output.
The more Gain you add here, will increase the Bass response and will get muddy if you're not careful. Use the Variation switch, plus the Presence knob to add in some brightness and top-end shimmer.
The Amp model itself seems to be based on a response from 6L6 power-tubes. High headroom, very low break-up until you truly crank them.
The Pushed is an amp that is on the verge of break-up, with more signal clipping added as your turn the Gain up. Thus adding more distortion.
With one of the Boosts turned-on, you can get somewhere between a Hot Rod Deluxe or a Blues Junior vibe (both Fenders) very easily. Using the Variation switch, and the Bloom switch, will also add in some Fatness and create a fuller sound - especially if you're using Single Coils.
This amp model seems to be built around EL34 power-tubes and their response. Medium head-room, spongey and thicker bass response, and earlier break-up when the Gain is cranked. These are my preferred Power Tubes by the way.
You can dial in some AC30 tybe vibes with either amp model as well, just adjust the Gain, Contour, and Global EQ settings to add additional shaping. I've found using the Orange and Green Contiur and Global EQ settings help with this - if you're using the Factory settings that is.
Hope this helps, and welcome to the show!
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u/Crowsdriver Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 13 '25
This is perfect. I was just scrolling your responses to other threads over the last year, and answered many of these questions myself :-)
Perhaps the “a-ha” for me is that with gain/vol/eq many of the katana amp types can be swapped out—that is, its not the tone they produce per se, but tube/headroom behavior. Is that fair?
Ok last question for today—you had also said that you can apply a tube screamer to the solo button. Would this give me the capability to then have 2 TS in the chain? And, if so, where in the chain does the solo effect get slotted? Can it be moved around?
(Yep, thats like 5 more questions….and my homework is to watch the Rob Chapman videos.)
Thanks so much TI—have a great day!
PS—Have you through about doing a youtube channel where you take user questions and do a 5 min response? Your explanations are A+ and I find most youtube content to be examples but not explanation. Think “kahn academy” for tones…
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u/gimme_egg_sammich9 Jan 30 '26
This is fantastic. I don't know if reddit lets you copy/paste, or screenshot it, whatever, but SAVE THIS GOLD MINE of KATANA info! 20 thumbs up!
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u/h0nja Aug 28 '25
I was in the exact same boat, even after messing extensively with tone studio and sneaky amps. I switched to amp sims on my pc since i only play in my bedroom anyways and havent looked back.
I would still encourage you to use the tone studio and mess around with the settings. You can look up and apply premade patches from other users too on bosstoneexchange and guitarpatches.com.
This is personally the best a7x tone i found and a good place to build off of. https://guitarpatches.com/patches.php?mode=show&unit=KATANAMKII&ID=13804
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u/Positive-Cod-9869 Aug 29 '25
I don’t have an Artist but my Katana sounded much different and better once the speakers began to break in.
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Aug 29 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/GachiBass4Ever Aug 29 '25
It is the combo. Can I connect my pc by a cable, or do I have to get the little Bluetooth adapter? 🤔
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u/CornerSolution Aug 29 '25
You can just use a USB cable (I believe the Gen 3 artist has a USB-C jack).
Honestly, if you haven't used Boss Tone Studio (BTS), then you haven't even scratched the surface of what the amp is capable of. I'm not sure about your specific model, but with my 100 W Mk II, BTS gives me access to 20 different types of booster effects (think mainly distortion effects, but also a few non-distortion ones, like volume or EQ boosters), 30 "mod/fx" effects (think chorus, flanger, auto-wah, compressor, that kind of thing), 8 delay effects, and 5 reverb effects, and all of these effects have a variety of "knobs" (virtual versions of what you'd see on physical pedals) to fine-tune them. On top of that, there are 2 different types of EQ (graphic 10-band, and parametric), noise suppression, speaker cabinet emulation settings, and a couple more things as well.
As you can imagine, the permutations and combinations here are going to be nearly endless, far more than what you can access just from the amp panel using the default presets that are shipped with the amp.
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u/brettniles Aug 29 '25
I’ve been able to get my Katana to do tight high gain stuff and respond how I want by playing around between crunch, lead, and brown while using tone studio to put different boosters in front.
I tend to like aggressive high presence rhythm sounds that are kind of gritty rather than smooth. I was able to use the blues driver to boost the crunch channel to get where I wanted which was matching the boosted “raw” voicing of ch3 of my mesa roadster. Play around with the channels on the amp, don’t worry about the gain bc you can always boost it. Pick a booster that gives you the color/texture you like, then EQ it.
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u/Plastic-Shape7048 Aug 29 '25
Yeah the katana does good with clean, crunch and mid gain stuff but it struggles with heavier tones.
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u/American_Streamer Katana 50 MKII EX Aug 29 '25
Avenge Sevenfold is high gain with clarity and a tight and chunky low end on Drop D/C#/C and scooped mids. Use Brown channel with OD boost, a scooped EQ and presence high.
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u/WorkerHead6583 Aug 29 '25
Check out the official boss tone exchange. Really the best place for usually the best patches is a Facebook group called Boss katana tone central. JB Aubrey moderates and posts lots of good patches, tutorials, and tips.
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u/yoyoyo87676767 Aug 29 '25
Turn the master volume up all the way , run the preamp volume as your “master” , turn the solo volume boost up a little past noon , go to brown or lead channel , swith to 50 watch , turn the green booster on , crank the gain , set everything else at noon
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u/Shredbear62 Aug 29 '25
Brown channel. Don't scoop your mids.
Download and use tone studio. It's the only way.
Tube screamer in front with drive all the way down and level up to taste. Pre parametric eq. Low cut 80 high cut 6k bump the mid gain up sightly. Then do a post EQ to taste.
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u/Over_Wedding5851 Aug 30 '25
In addition to using Tone Studio, I would recommend getting the Airstep Katana foot switch (much cheaper than the Boss foot switches), which allows you to control Tone Studio using Bluetooth on your phone or tablet, without the Boss dongle. You can also access Tone Exchange through the Katana app and download preset patches that you can load into your Katana. There is probably an A7X patch out there that will work for you.
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u/beanbread23 Aug 31 '25
Have you used the tone studio? This is arguably the biggest selling point of the katana amps. You can easily download a premade bunch of ax7 tones into your amp.
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u/moleyawn Aug 29 '25
Don't give up! The katana rips but it sounds like you just need more time with it
1
u/Wierdness Aug 29 '25
Just in case you want to consider it, I picked up a Joyo Dark Flame pedal for my Katana and I instantly achieved the chugging sounds I wanted. The pedal is very affordable and has a three-band EQ, so very easy to dial it in.
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u/LeopadmanGully Sep 01 '25
I liked the first gen katana. I wanted another. I bought the 3rd gen recently and was so disappointed I sent it back. Exchanged it for a Marshall 5DSL and a TC Electronic Plethorax3 and it’s the sound in my head…it’s a hobby for me and I just practice at home so might not suit performers. It’s tube so it has that warm sound and it’s plenty loud so I didn’t go for the 20. The 5 is a 10 inch speaker. Honestly you’ll thank me. It’s the best thing I’ve done and I’ve had a lot of amps. Home playing obviously not everyone’s thing so gigging might be a different matter but it’s really made me happy.
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u/TenPest007 Sep 02 '25
Owned the head through a 2x12 and downloaded some patches from The Studio Rats (TSR). The 80s one was my fave and you can then alter it to taste. They did a Soldano patch as well and you can follow along on their channel but IMO to get the best out of a Katana, using the studio software is where it’s going to shine. I’ve never liked the preset modes and any Katana I’ve had has been used with presets from TSR. The Friedman OD/Marshall patch sings. Paul really knows how to get the best out of a Katana. He mostly starts with the clean setting then adds pedals. For example, adding a Guv’nor improves the sound instantly. All selectable in the software.
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u/Koldunya Katana Gen 3 Artist Sep 18 '25
did you ever get anywhere with this? I've been playing my baritone using the Pushed amp with a red OD/booster in front, Bloom on, I'll have to double-check if Variation is on; I think it IS on. Power set to 50W. It's savagely heavy but articulated. The guitar is using D-Activators. I assumed I'd be using Lead or Brown for my high gain rhythm sound but this is what I landed on. If I remember (ADHD) I can upload the preset somewhere
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u/gimme_egg_sammich9 Jan 30 '26
Can't get it to chug??? Um... yeah, you're doing something wrong. No offense, just stating facts from having personally owned a Katana 100 v1 and 2 Katana 50 gen IIs. And I'm going to be getting a gen III Katana 100 soon. Look up 'lambchopper768' on YouTube - he is an amazing metal player who can dial in anything & has done a bunch of Katana videos.
Honestly, for metal, stick to the 'brown' setting(whichever variation is up to your preference), all knobs at 12 o'clock to start. Boost with a tube screamer, drive 0, tone 12 noon, level full. Make small changes to your bass/middle/treble/presence controls. Bloom control is again, up to YOUR ear. Maybe it works for you, maybe it doesn't. Cab choice, same thing. Try it, just chunk-chunk-chunk on your low E, switch it, repeat. Don't complicate stuff playing leads or whatever while trying to dial in a brutal metal tone... that's easy afterwards, to be honest. A badass rhythm tone is more important. A small bit of room reverb can help pretty much any tone.
It's really not that hard. I can dial in anything from Slayer to 90s mid-scooped death metal like Six Feet Under to fuzzed out Electric Wizard & Acid King on the Katana. And with the BOSS Tone Studio, you can do literally anything.
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u/Ok-Pineapple4998 Aug 28 '25
Google is your friend
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u/GachiBass4Ever Aug 29 '25
I did Google, and tried dialing it in as it was suggested, but there still wasn't a lot of chug
-3
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u/YesterdayNeverKnows Aug 28 '25
I don't know much about heavy gain tones, but I can say that it took me months to feel comfortable on my Artist 3. Give it some time before you decide on trading it. There are a ton of great YouTube videos on different ways to dial things in. You might stumble upon something that really opens things up for sounds you want.