franzbassist

Morning all Sorry for the delay in coming back on my rehearsal experience with the Katana 500. I was at my sister in law's funeral yesterday so a bit distracted Set up for rehearsal was me on bass with the Katana into an 8 ohm FMC 1x12 cab with no tweeter. Guitar, keys, electric drum kit and four vocals into a stripped down version of our gigging PA (i.e.no subs). I calibrated the cab to the room before we started, and the guitarist commented that it tightened up the bottom end nicely. The amp kept up just fine, volume-wise: I have no concerns whatsoever that it won't be loud enough to gig with. It sounded great! Really big sound, lots of body and presence to the tone. I liked "amp feel" set to "modern" best, with a little light compression and all EQ set flat. A little LPF dialled in too. The effects sound lush, really clear tracking octaver, watery chorus, loads of different drives. It'll be fun exploring them for sure. That said, I think using the effects live will be a work in progress, especially if I try and switch between presets, because as they take all the settings you saved on the front panel (gain. eq, compression etc.) if you've changed away from them in your setting up they may not sound optimal in the room, if you follow? So for now I am going to concentrate on just getting the "live" settings on the front panel right in each venue. Once I have set eq I will then have foot-switchable compression, drive and a single effect available to me (I can also have two other effects stored in the memory, but would need to change them on the panel rather than the footswitch). As I get to know the amp better I am sure I'll be able to work out the best way to make the three presets work in a live setting as well. EDIT: Just realised if I add the bluetooth adapter I can switch between settings from my phone!

First rehearsal with it tonight. Will report back later.

Nope, but it does have a phones out and a master volume knob!

Honestly not sure how it works but yes, it sends a range of test signals through the speaker. You can use it on the entire frequency range or just the low frequency range (no specs on this in the manual). I've only tried it once so far, on full frequency, and it just seemed to tighten the cab up and make it more articulate.

You can do this on the head too. You're limited to three presets and whatever is set on the front panel, but it's still a tidy solution.

Not very 👍🏻

Yes, "Katana, to slice through any mix"! 😄 As to a tuner, I noticed there is a "reserved" slot in the FX list, so maybe that is for a tuner? 🤞 Sorry Ped, edited your post my mistake when I meant to quote it! (I need more coffee!)

A few more thoughts. Why no tuner built in? With so many LEDs surely they could have found room for one or three more? You can change the frequency centres for two band mids from 20Hz up to 10kHz, but not the bass and treble The editing software is glitch free and easy to use You can choose the signal path so you have fx before or after drive section I would highly recommend the footswitch so you can switch between what's set on the front panel and the three presets, mute, and also turn on/off the switch drive/compression/fx channels individually The fan is quiet The amp is loud Speaking of effects, this is what's in the amp: on the "comp" control 7 compressors and 3 limiters on the "drive control" 13 drive/fuzz/distortion on the "fx" control: graphic eq / parametric eq / chorus / flanger / phaser / touch wah / octaver / pitch shifter / harmonist / bass synth / auto wah / heavy octaver / slicer / uni-v / tremolo / vibrato / rotary / ring mod / slow gear / humanizer / enhancer / bass simulator /defretter Should keep folks busy.

So far, only my FMC 1210UL. It's rated 600 watts at 4 ohms. (Stock photo)

Yep, it's very loud and there's an amazing weight to the sound. Best digital power section I've used (and I've used a lot!). There's so much going on I'm a loss to know where to start right now, but I'll try and review in a few days. The cab calibration is amazing. The effects sound lush and are endlessly tweakable using the software. Low and High pass filters. Preset shapes. Vintage and Modern tones. I bought the footswitch as well, which will be a game changer for live use. I was giggling like a kid at Christmas when I started playing!

I bought one. Arrived today. It's amazing.

So, if I am reading the manual right, you have four possible tone settings? Firstly, whatever is set "live" on the front panel and then three presets? And then you also have three effects you can add in, combining as many as you like at one time?

I like the look of this.

Do you mean Martin Turner? Ted was one of the guitarists. EDIT: Sorry, that sounds very pedantic! Wasn't meant to be.

I can play my socks off, in fact the band can play their socks off, but if the audience aren't up and dancing it's a bust for me.

This just feels like it should be in the for sale section 🤔

Here's the latest iteration of my pedalboard. Much simpler than my previous one as I decided to just build presets in the MS-3. The only exception to that is the Wampler mini, as I didn't want to sacrifice one of the four effects in the Boss on a compressor. I've also added the Bright Onions DFM2 to facilitate easy switching. I've kept my trusty Providence Dual Bass Station (powered by the Gigrig 12V adapter underneath) as I always take and play two basses to each gig. I went for a Rockboard Tres 3.0 so I could add the Mod 2 patch bay, which allows for the basses to be plugged into A and B and then sent to the amp via D. The USB allows me to charge the Rockboard power supply fitted to the tray underneath. All neat and tidy

Playing a five clicked in my head back in 1989, and I have played them pretty much exclusively ever since. They are my goldilocks "just right" bass.

eBay's the same. Must be a new requirement since the law came in, as I've had a Reverb account for a few years and not had to add a VAT number.

At the very least!

My line for "Love Shack" is way groovier than the original, even though for many years I thought my line was the original! 🤣 I also cannot emulate the sloppy playing on "Maggie May".