A quick diversion from ukuleles on Got A Ukulele today to bring you an amplifier review. This is the Boss Katana Mini.
Why an amplifier? Well, I get asked for recommendations an awful lot when writing GAU, and there really is a lot to choose from - a dizzying range in fact. Those requests for recommendations probably stem from the large increase in solid body ukes coming to market these days, but equally regular electro acoustic players are interested too. Which model is 'best' does, of course depend completely on your needs and usage, but you will not be spoilt for choice out there from large to very small. Where I think a lot of new uke players get their choices wrong is to choose the ultra small micro amplifiers that are no bigger than a mobile phone. They tend to sound tinny, thin and lack any sort of power. In fact power itself is not the only important link in the chain. A lot of power into a small toy speaker will sound trashy. Too little power into a massive speaker - the same. I guess the micro amps are fine if you want to sound like a phone speaker on 'loudspeaker' I guess and technology is improving, but there is a reason amp speaker cones are a certain size. Still, maybe it's because the ukulele is small, buyers want their amps small too - I 'kind of' get that.... Ultimately though, small amp tends to mean small speaker - and that can mean small sound without much character in a lot of cases. In my experience, there is kind of a limit as to how small you really want to go with a speaker which will limit the size of a usable amplifier overall. This one crams in about as small as I would recommend into case that isn't much bigger.
I spotted some positive comments about this one, a mini amp, tiny in stature, brought to the market by Boss. That's a company part of the Roland group, perhaps more famous for effects pedals, but it gave me cause to take a look. Roland make SUPERB stuff that is extremely reliable, as do Boss. Could they pull it off?
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The Katana Mini is the smallest in the Katana range (which runs up to some 100Watt behemoths) and is a battery powered (6 x AA) amp with 7 Watts of output and a single 4 inch speaker. That's very small in amp stakes and about as small a speaker as I would consider. The case is not much bigger at 23cm x 18cm x 11.5cm. That makes it easily 'packable' for travels too. It can also be run on an AC power pack, but that costs extra. In comparison, that is more power than my much loved Roland Mobile Cube, though the Roland puts its power through two 4 inch speakers and sounds great for it.
The Boss is a very simple affair with a single input, master volume and gain control to crank up some overdrive distortion. You get three 'channels' a clean and two distortion channels (Crunch and Brown) which are kind of 'pre set' higher gain affairs. You also get the usual tone control section in which it is nice to see you get a middle knob rather than just relying on bass and treble. That can be helpful for dialling down the 'quacky' sound of piezo pickups in a lot of ukes. You also get a rudimentary delay section, but more on that later on.
On the back is the battery compartment and AC adapter socket. You also get a line in (to play along with your MP3 player or phone) and a headphone / line out that is cabinet voiced to give it a fuller sound than just a straight line.
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Other than that it comes housed in a very plasticky feeling case, and even the grille is plastic (though that WILL protect the speaker). I also don't like how flimsy the on-off switch feels either. Still, Roland quality and all that, it will still likely be bombproof and the handle is very secure (not that it is at ALL heavy to carry at only 1.2kg!). Still, it feels like if I dropped this on concrete it would likely crack somewhere. I say that because I HAVE dropped the Roland Mobile Cube on a pavement and it didn't really even suffer a scratch... Still, this is nice enough, and REALLY small - much smaller than the Roland Mobile Cube, without going into the 'toy' speaker sizes. It comes in at only £90 against the current price of £150 for the Roland.
In use - I found the clean channel is nice and uncoloured with a basic piezo pickup. The tone section will allow you to tweak that further, but I was impressed as it was. It's pretty loud too, though would not likely stand up to busking outdoors. Perfect for a uke jam though with a solid body electric through it. It surprised me.
The fun comes (if this is your bag) with the gain and crunch settings. These crank things up to RAWK level with some real fuzz going on on the Crunch setting and more screaming sustains on the Brown setting. Sure, they sound 'small' and very digital, but heck, they are a lot of fun. I would say that with a piezo pickup, fingerpicked melodies sound really odd and warbly on high gain, but that is as much a fault with piezo pickups and ukes - they don't have sustain to start with! Strummed though it's a hoot to play rock riffs. And then there is that volume. I recorded the video below two floors away from my wife in the house on a low setting and she mentioned it was very loud. Still, houses can be deceiving and I suspect it would be a bit lost outdoors, but it's certainly passable for home use.
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The feature which I feel is a bit pointless is the delay section. Sure you can get some basic repeats going but nothing more than that. The level didn't seem to change much for me and was either on or off, though the time delay does adjust it and it's more fun to my ears with a fast repeat. Still, it's no match for a basic delay pedal if this is your thing. The Roland Mobile Cube has a lot more on offer in the way of effects, adding in reverb and chorus too. Still, when space is reduced, something has to give.
All in all, I like it and am now using it as a matter of course on electric uke reviews because it is so small for my recording space and will not overpower mic too easily - it just sits tucked next to me and doesn't require more setting up and placement. It's just there, ready to go. So for me it works well. For you, if you are looking for a bit of fun, bedroom practice, small gigs (old-folks homes?) or just something to allow you to be heard with your new solid body for not a lot of money, it will likely serve you well too. I think I would still recommend the Roland Mobile Cube over this for a bit more oomph, a microphone input and more control (albeit without a mid control knob), but if all you want to do is make your uke a bit louder in a small setting, this is well worth a look.
If you enjoy this blog, donations are welcomed to allow me to invest more time in bringing you ukulele articles. Aside from the Google ads, I don't get paid to write this blog and for reasons of impartiality a not sponsored by brands or stores. Your donations all go back into the site to allow me to keep bringing you reviews, and in the end the ukuleles acquired are given to local schools and charities.Whether you’re performing around town, studio-hopping, or just short on free space at home, you don’t have to sacrifice sound quality or style when opting for a small guitar amp. Apart from being inherently compact and portable, small guitar amps have many creative advantages over their larger counterparts due to their ability to produce full-spectrum sound and ear-pleasing overdrive at lower volumes, making them a fantastic first choice for practicing at home or miking up in a studio. In this article, we’ll give you a quick rundown of our favorite mini amps for every task, big and small, to help you decide which of the best small guitar amps is right for your next creative project.
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We built this list of the best small guitar amps based primarily on brand reputation, favoring manufacturers with a long track record of creating high-quality musical instruments like Fender, Supro, Yamaha, and Boss. We placed a secondary emphasis on versatility and sound quality, opting for a combination of tube-based and solid-state amp designs to represent a variety of play styles and creative needs.
The feature which I feel is a bit pointless is the delay section. Sure you can get some basic repeats going but nothing more than that. The level didn't seem to change much for me and was either on or off, though the time delay does adjust it and it's more fun to my ears with a fast repeat. Still, it's no match for a basic delay pedal if this is your thing. The Roland Mobile Cube has a lot more on offer in the way of effects, adding in reverb and chorus too. Still, when space is reduced, something has to give.
All in all, I like it and am now using it as a matter of course on electric uke reviews because it is so small for my recording space and will not overpower mic too easily - it just sits tucked next to me and doesn't require more setting up and placement. It's just there, ready to go. So for me it works well. For you, if you are looking for a bit of fun, bedroom practice, small gigs (old-folks homes?) or just something to allow you to be heard with your new solid body for not a lot of money, it will likely serve you well too. I think I would still recommend the Roland Mobile Cube over this for a bit more oomph, a microphone input and more control (albeit without a mid control knob), but if all you want to do is make your uke a bit louder in a small setting, this is well worth a look.
If you enjoy this blog, donations are welcomed to allow me to invest more time in bringing you ukulele articles. Aside from the Google ads, I don't get paid to write this blog and for reasons of impartiality a not sponsored by brands or stores. Your donations all go back into the site to allow me to keep bringing you reviews, and in the end the ukuleles acquired are given to local schools and charities.Whether you’re performing around town, studio-hopping, or just short on free space at home, you don’t have to sacrifice sound quality or style when opting for a small guitar amp. Apart from being inherently compact and portable, small guitar amps have many creative advantages over their larger counterparts due to their ability to produce full-spectrum sound and ear-pleasing overdrive at lower volumes, making them a fantastic first choice for practicing at home or miking up in a studio. In this article, we’ll give you a quick rundown of our favorite mini amps for every task, big and small, to help you decide which of the best small guitar amps is right for your next creative project.
Best Solid State Amps 2024: A Fine Selection For All Levels
We built this list of the best small guitar amps based primarily on brand reputation, favoring manufacturers with a long track record of creating high-quality musical instruments like Fender, Supro, Yamaha, and Boss. We placed a secondary emphasis on versatility and sound quality, opting for a combination of tube-based and solid-state amp designs to represent a variety of play styles and creative needs.
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