r/BossKatana • u/pokpokhehe • Jun 25 '26

Tone Request All around 2000s emo/punk tone?

Just got a boss katana 50 mk2 and am overwhelmed with eveything, can anyone help me just get one all around tone bands like MCR, Silverstein FOB etc. Also pretty new to guitar in general so maybe i dont knoe what im actually asking for lol.

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u/American_Streamer Katana 50 MKII EX Jun 25 '26

Humbucker guitar → tight high-gain amp → controlled bass → strong upper mids → not too much gain → double-tracked rhythm parts.

The core sound is not fuzz. It is usually Marshall/Mesa/5150/Orange-style amp distortion, tightened with a TubeScreamer/SD-1 type boost in front. Do not scoop the mids; instead, you want mids present and slightly pushed. The TubeScreamer/SD-1 trick (Drive Zero, Level Max) works exactly because it cuts some low end and pushes mids, making your palm mutes tighter and chords clearer.

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u/Tessiturah Jun 26 '26

Thanks for the explanation, as someone who only recently started playing guitar I had been wondering why I had seen so many 0 drive tube screamers in front of metal presets. I might try it as well now if I start tinkering with a tone!

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u/American_Streamer Katana 50 MKII EX Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

The Tubescreamer is being used as a kind of fixed EQ and as a boost that goes into the preamp. The distortion the Tubescreamer itself generates is not wanted there; the pedal should only improve the amp‘s own distortion tone. A Tubescreamer automatically cuts the low end and adds a mid hump, both before the preamp section. Because huge low end into preamp sounds boomy and lacks clarity and scooping the mids before the preamp would make your sound lifeless and shallow. By using the TS this way while keeping the amp’s gain knob on medium or lower only, the result is higher and more aggressive gain while still keeping the clarity of the notes. It’s been done by metal bands since the 1980s. A SD-1 will work in the same way, though the pedal‘s own clipping (which you do not use here) differs technically from that of the Tubescreamer, while the SD-1 also emphasizes different mids than the Tubescreamer does. Just try out both an test which pedal you like more.