Keeley Katana Boost .. how gritty can it get?

[nb_fan]

How much grit does the Katana pedal have when you pull out the speed knob for that extra hair? I've only heard a couple clips so far, but I have no idea if the grit is coming from the tubes being overdriven or the grit is inherent in the pedal itself. I know the pedal has been praised for it's remarkably clean and transparent boost, but I'm actually interested in it's transparency with the grit added.

Anyone have any sound clips of the speed knob pulled out? or have anything to compare it to?

I've been looking into the Katana clean boost for a while, but am not able to find a dealer relatively close to me that carries it in stock for me to try it out.

Thanks

 

[ecbluesman54]

I have been using my Katana with the pot pulled out, and I use it in front of a Keeley modded 808. It adds a bit of grit, and I have been very happy with it as a boost for awhile now. I have tried many others, and haven't found one that I would put in its place.

 

[kurt1981]

If you pull the knob on a clean amp, you get that sort of Brent mason tone, where you have the smallest grit in the sound, but it's still clean, so it gets a really nice lead tone where you can dig in and get some dirt, but back off and you're still clean. Works wonders as others have stated, I use it to push a carr rambler, or to boost my fx line.

 

[lennon08]

I was thinking of getting one of these also. I have a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL602 with the ext cab. Do think it would help? I am looking to warm up the chords. I am not much of a lead player so that doesn't matter to me. I have TS808 mod from Analog Man and I don't want to double up.

Any help would be awesome.
Thanks.

 

[Jack]

Can the Katana get a dark sound or is it inherently bright?

 

[papersoul]

I have an EGNATER MOD 50 and I want a pedal simply to boost volume and maybe add some mids for leads. This way, I can have channel B of my clean module set for dirty rhythm, channel A of my high gain module set for lower gain and module B set for higher gain. Then I can use the boost for solos on any channel. This eliminates the need to dedicate channel B of the high gain module for leads.

Would this be a good choice pedal? I know Fulltone, Xotic and some others have some good pedals but I have tried none of these. Thanks!

 

[drod2045]

i got a katana and doubt ill find anything to replace it. It makes my barber DDSS just so smooth and fat sounding for solos (eventhough the DDSS is already smooth). And it makes a clean channel real nice with slight breakup. Perfect for me!

 

[papersoul]

i got a katana and doubt ill find anything to replace it. It makes my barber DDSS just so smooth and fat sounding for solos (eventhough the DDSS is already smooth). And it makes a clean channel real nice with slight breakup. Perfect for me!

I have an Egnater Mod 50 and only want the Katana for leads. I don't want to find out that it sounds so good, I'll want it on all the time...then I'll need another boost...one for rhythm and one for leads. LOL!

I only want it for leads......is it good for that and better than a lot of others?

 

[drod2045]

some people leave it on all the time. I turn it on only for a solo boost. but sometimes in a softer bluesy sound, Ill use the katana with my low gain (Ibanez TS-7) and then when it gets time to be louder, ill kick on my DDSS with or without the TS-7. either way, after every show, someone always comes up and says "man, that was creamy!" the katana stacked with anything is tonal bliss!

ps: I keep the knob pulled out for that extra grit. It really cooks your tubes and pushes your amp and pedals that much more. Do it

 

[es125luv]

Can the Katana get a dark sound or is it inherently bright?

it sounds like this pedal is more smooth... I wish it added some sparkle... like a ZVEX SHO.

 

[dividedsky]

I actually returned the one I bought (a long time ago) because it added too much presence (what some call sparkle) for my tastes but if that's what you are going for I think this pedal definitely has it. And I didn't find that pulling out the knob added very much grit at all, less than the RC Booster for sure.

 

[Jason Lynn]

It is a clean boost for sure. Any description of adding grit from the pedal is so marginal it's not worth mentioning. To my ears...knob in equals very transparent boost (still sounds like your guitar) - knob out is a boost with some "voice" on it. If your looking for grit there are tons of OD's that will do a way better job for you.

That said, it's still a great boost for throwing your tubes or another pedal over the edge.

IMHO

 

[nb_fan]

It is a clean boost for sure. Any description of adding grit from the pedal is so marginal it's not worth mentioning. To my ears...knob in equals very transparent boost (still sounds like your guitar) - knob out is a boost with some "voice" on it. If your looking for grit there are tons of OD's that will do a way better job for you.

That said, it's still a great boost for throwing your tubes or another pedal over the edge.

IMHO

I'm looking for a very transparent and naturally sounding grit - kind of lightly pushing the amp when you dig in territory. I just don't want the associated increased volume when I get that tone. So would the 'grit' that everyone talks about make it to even that? (This is the pedal on its own here, through a nice clean channel). I just want something that will give clean single notes some definition and and depth to it while keeping the overall tone as close to what I hear before I kick in the pedal.
I hope I don't sound overly picky, haha.

 

[Jason Lynn]

I'm looking for a very transparent and naturally sounding grit - kind of lightly pushing the amp when you dig in territory. I just don't want the associated increased volume when I get that tone. So would the 'grit' that everyone talks about make it to even that? (This is the pedal on its own here, through a nice clean channel). I just want something that will give clean single notes some definition and and depth to it while keeping the overall tone as close to what I hear before I kick in the pedal.
I hope I don't sound overly picky, haha.

Nah, your not being picky...can't fault a man for knowing what he wants. I gotta be honest though. I still don't think this is what you want. If you have any stores driving distance that carry a lot of pedals you'd do some good to spend a few hours there. It does sound like you have a specific tone your looking for. I was about to say just dial in your amp so that it's on that verge of crunch and then set volume back 90% but your still going to have a little volume difference there.

My problem is I haven't searched for a pedal to do what your looking for so I can't suggest what would work for you. I just haven't looked for that characteristic in my pedals. I still think an overdrive is what you should be looking into though. Almost all of them can have the drive dialed back to nothing in fact that's how I use my Red Llama. It's set more as a boost and sometimes I'll add just a tad of the drive knob to add some character.

 

[C.SCAN3]

An important question is....What kind of amp do you have?

 

[nb_fan]

An important question is....What kind of amp do you have?

I've got a standard USA strat running into a DRRI - I know I shouldn't be complaining about cranking up the amp since I get that slightly overdriven tone at around 5 on the volume, but I'm in a volume sensitive housing situation at the moment - and 4 or 5 is pretty damn loud for such a small amp (even compared to my Marshall '79 JMP 100 watter that's residing out of town right now).

Regardless - I love the clean sound I'm getting out of my DRRI - it's got mesa 6v6 GTA tubes and GT 12AX7s in them, with a Eminence Red Ryder speaker. Just would like to add the slightest bit of edge to my clean sound.

oh, and my pickups are set pretty low/far from the strings, so the output isn't that strong either

..... maybe I should just suck it up and turn up the amp

 

[BillyK]

The Katana is the top of the heap for me. Way more "natural" than the RC that I used for years - it's not cold/sterile like the RC. Plus the Katana has dynamic headroom that no other booster can touch.

It def adds "sparkle", but that presence provides such note definition, that it's on 100% of the time for me - even when doing jazz chord melodies. It's outstanding.

 

[JUSTJOB]

The Katana for me does add just a bit of grit as if the amp was on the verge of breakup. It is very tone neutral, eg. what goes in is what comes out tonally, especially so when in clean mode. When pushing the amp the Katana has what it takes to push the power tubes like nothing else I've ever tried, real natural sounding. I primarily use mine in the front of my pedal chain, and primarily use a Strat Pro running into a Carvin Nomad. I get great sound and tone with this setup, and use mostly the clean channel.
The Katana will take the pristine clean at lower volumes with DRRI and WILL add a touch of edge to the sound with the knob pulled. So yes, it seems like it would definately fit with what you describe. The Katana adds EDGE with the knob pulled, to anything, period!

+1 BillyK! That is my feeling as well!

 

[Jason Lynn]

I agree it's a great pedal but you guys are saying you can get grit out of a Katana (not the amp) without boosting the volume of the amp? Maybe I need to give mine another listen. I'm still unpacking from a move so the Kboost has been away for awhile.

 

[drod2045]

just pull the knob out and turn the volume up on the pedal. That thing can be extrememly loud!