When I first saw a teaser for the Neural DSP Nano Cortex I thought it was an interesting idea - but one that I wouldn’t necessarily get along with. For instance - because the Source Audio compacts offload a lot of the pedal control to the Neuro App - that has entirely managed to put me off those devices - I love the larger One Series pedals - Ventris, Nemesis, Collider and recent Artifakt - which you can entirely run off the surface controls - but I’ve never really gotten on with any of the ...

You can instantly feel that the new amp is more immediate, tighter, and responsive than before - with more snap and punch to its output, and deeper soundstage projection. It benefits from additional expansive controls and output options, and now is much more controllable via direct Bluetooth App control with the Boss Tone Studio App. I would describe it as overall significantly more articulate and dynamic than before.

And I really love the new ’Pushed’ Amp Type - which I’ve switched over to...

Somewhat serendipitously - Boss’s Katana Series was birthed in the same year that Guitar Pedal X first started - 2016. From that first MKI Series I very early on acquired a Katana 100, which of course was a long term favourite of mine. Then in 2019 Boss introduced the improved MKII Series - with the quite superb Artist MKII arriving a year later - that was to be my second Katana Amp. And now in 2024 Boss has released the Gen III Series, NOT MKIII, as this release is far more significant than a ...

I’m totally in awe of the technical prowess presented on this killer dual analog amps in a pedal format.

It’s actually a very compact device at just 125 x 105 x 65 mms, and carries so many advanced functions here almost entirely in the analog domain. There’s not a single sub-menu here - this is surely WYSIWYG perfection - while it does use every available surface to cram in all the technology that is needed to support all those features.

At first encounter this all seem wholly intuitive...

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 ...

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 ...

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...