Boss have built the perfect performance amp for Acoustic Singer/Songwriters while drawing on some smart technology to simulate traditional Amp Mic’ing setups and delivering it through a fully Immersive Stereo soundstage.

You have extensive controls to fine-tune both Vocal and Acoustic Guitar inputs - but there are none of the usual Katana effects and tricks here - this is intended as a more purist stripped down affair - letting the instrument and voice breathe and resonate pretty naturally ...

So in my recent ’Guitar Elements’ series it’s finally come to Amps now - where I list out what I believe are the most historically significant and therefore Iconic amps. A lot of you are still conflating Iconic with Vintage, and discounting some of the more recent models - while Iconic does not necessarily infer a long term history and provenance - just that said item or element is a major marker or step forward in the evolution of that device - whatever it may be.

I’m not the first to do ...

This new edition of Katana 50W Combo Amp simply brings in some of the features previously only available on the larger Katana 100 Edition. You’re essentially getting a more powerful feature rich version of the Katana 50 Combo.

So essentially the world’s best-loved practice Amp gets even better.

I am still of a mind that Boss’s Katana Range of Amps are the best option for home-play / practice amp - and deliver a combination of features and performance that no other brand has really ...

Following on from the unveiling of their Gorgeous unobtanium 50th Anniversary Jupiter-X-Gold synth, we now get the best looking version of the JC-120 amp - with cool Cherry Wood Grain Cabinet and Premium Dark Grey Net.

Only 350 of these will be made in total for worldwide distribution - and the most premium feel version of this amp obviously has a premium price tag in tow too - €1999 / £1689 and equivalent. Please direct your inquiries to your local Roland Dealer.

The Jazz Chorus is ...

I will start off with a little contextual history on Roland and Boss Amplifiers. Obviously Roland is Boss’s parent company and had the initial success with its JC Jazz Chorus amps. On the back of that success it then released a number of wedge-shaped Cube amps - essentially outdoor performer amps - which became the mainstays of journeymen buskers. If you’re out and about in London you will likely see Roland Cubes on every other leading tourist area street corner. So for the longest period it ...

Readers will know how big a fan I am of Boss’s Katana Amps - probably my overall favourite range of Amps - particularly in Artist editions. And now Bass players get their very own dedicated and precision-honed amps - the smaller is 60W in output with a single 10" Speaker, while the bigger one has 2 x 10" and outputs 160W.

Everything about these amps has been built from the ground up - the sound design is only peripherally related to the existing Katana Guitar Amps. The Katana Bass Amps have...

Boss’s Tube Logic Series of Nextone Amps somewhat failed to garner the same plaudits and support as the lower cost Katana Range - while the Artist edition Nextone contained some particularly clever circuitry - yet those amps did not resonate as well with their intended audiences as was predicted / expected. Meaning that the Boss engineers have expended some very significant effort in the interim towards getting the new Special Amp up to the level it truly deserves to be at.

The Nextone ...

So this is the amp a lot of us have been waiting for - and actually somewhat ahead of schedule really per my expectations. It of course carries over all the previous Artist advantages and benefits - including the front-facing control panel and superior Waza Craft Speaker - and marries those to the latest Katana MKII innovations - the Variation button on Amp Types, more granular Effects control via dual-concentric knobs, dual-amp stereo link - and of course the extended range of Effects and ...

Anyone who’s read this blog will be very aware that I’m a fan of the Boss Katana amps - I’ve had the now series 1 KT-100 since it first came out as my left-hand amp in my stereo rig, and had already decided that I would be transitioning to the Katana Artist - with its better speaker and it’s various included extras - amongst them the forward-facing control panel.

Now the MKII range has come out and it has in effect frog-leaped over the Artist in terms of overall...