BOSS Katana GO

[quadgear]

So apparently these are discontinued now. Was reading it may have something to do with chip availability and they will have to release a new version to replace. Pretty odd situation for a company like Boss - I’m glad I snagged one before they ran out. Looks like a few retailers still have some stock.

The very odd thing is:

• It looks like stores with inventory are not letting people buy it. If it was a part issue, they would keep on selling what they had.
• They took down the product page art Boss (and other sites). If it is was a part issue, would they just say it was on backorder?

Coincidentally, there are teasers and leaked specs for Katana III. I don't think they are related, but the timing is close.

 

[dbagchee]

Yes very unusual - if there is some kind of issue with the battery or something like that, hopefully more info is forth coming - it's a really cool product so hopefully they resolve whatever the issue is.

 

[Iron1]

One of my local GCs had one last weekend. May go by there tomorrow so I’ll look and see…

 

[norminal]

The unit I purchased was very sensitive to noise. Not sure if it was an isolated issue or not. I sent it back and got tired of waiting for it to be restocked, so I canceled the order.

 

[quadgear]

Time for rampant speculation:

Spoiler: Click here to read - Don't take this too seriously

What if the feedback issue with the Loopback setting on the GO (could) hurt someone's eardrums. Would Boss react the way they did and pull the device off the shelf with a convenient explanation.

Again this is unfounded and not a responsible thing to say in this forum.


Here's what I know about the Loopback Setting:

The loopback seems to feedback if you try to use it with a software modeler (Guitar -> GO -> usb -> Computer -> GO -> Headphones).

My guess is it changes the location the USB input (output from your computer) to come into the front of the signal chain. Unfortunately the USB output (input from the GO) is still the same as before, the fully processed signal. If both input and output are connected as above, you get feedback.

I think you could use it for reamping a dry sound: recorded dry guitar on Computer -> GO -> Headphones

That is not very useful. More useful would be to be a mode that sends the dry guitar signal to the USB and disables the GO's processed sound from going to the headphone out (and treating the USB return as a an aux signal).

 

[norminal]

Time for rampant speculation:

Spoiler: Click here to read - Don't take this too seriously

What if the feedback issue with the Loopback setting on the GO (could) hurt someone's eardrums. Would Boss react the way they did and pull the device off the shelf with a convenient explanation.

Again this is unfounded and not a responsible thing to say in this forum.


Here's what I know about the Loopback Setting:

Hmm… is that a common issue? Could in be something corrected via software?

My first speculation was that they’re in a trademark dispute.

 

[quadgear]

Hmm… is that a common issue? Could in be something corrected via software?

Almost certainly the loopback could be fixed in software ... and be made to be more useful for monitoring a daw/modeler.

I doubt this is the issue. Shame we can't use the Go as a true interface to a modeler.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Uh, that's pretty bad news, I still considered getting one of these. Well, there's still the Mooer P2.

 

[kartikg3]

Can't wait. Discontinued or not, here I come

 

[kartikg3]

Is it just me, or are the drive models on this unit just awesome! Ofcourse, none of them sound great when cranked all the way up (which is normal even for most physical drive pedals I am sure), but coming from the Helix family, the Katana drives collection just seems so versatile. The light overdrives are very touch sensitive, esp. the blues driver, warm od, tube screamer, mid boost etc. The distortion drives like dst+, distortion (Ds1 I think?), guv'nor, rat etc. are very good and get the job done, and the heavier ones are great as well for those styles.

The chorus and some of the other mods are the among best I have heard, the delays are awesome as well. Reverbs are good, but wish they gave stereo. All in all just having so much fun exploring and playing through this unit. Apart from HX Stomp, this is the best piece of creative, song writing and practice tool I have ever invested in.

 

[quadgear]

Is it just me, or are the drive models on this unit just awesome! Ofcourse, none of them sound great when cranked all the way up (which is normal even for most physical drive pedals I am sure), but coming from the Helix family, the Katana drives collection just seems so versatile. The light overdrives are very touch sensitive, esp. the blues driver, warm od, tube screamer, mid boost etc. The distortion drives like dst+, distortion (Ds1 I think?), guv'nor, rat etc. are very good and get the job done, and the heavier ones are great as well for those styles.

Reverbs are good, but wish they gave stereo.

The reverbs are in stereo if you turn off stage feel AFAIK.

I need to play with the drives a bit more. There's a variety of them, they do lead to different sounds, but there's something missing for me. Feels like they go to velcro clicks too easily or compress too much or something. I'm not the best person to rate drives....

 

[quadgear]

Was able to connect the MVave Chocolate footswitch via a Widi Jack to the Katana Go via wireless midi.

The Widi was set up with an auto group that will connect to any device that wants to connect.

The Chocolate can send sysex to turn on/off boost, mod, fx, and solo. I used the FxFloorboard project to find the commands. Details at the bottom. Note that the Chocolate's bluetooth implementation is pretty bad and only connects to other MVave devices and computers, and phones. Hence the Widi jack.

I was not able to use the app assignable buttons for the Boss FS-1-WL. Tried lots of things. Perhaps someone who has one can capture the midi from the FS-1-WL (or EV-1-WL). I tried what's documented as default in the manual but that's apparently not what it uses when connecting to a Boss device.

Note that while only one device can connect to the Go wireless via Midi, you can also connect via USB at the same time. This allowed me to use the Katana Tone Studio app at the same time as the footswitch. The app won't notice changes made by the footswitch, but otherwise it works.

Boost On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 00 01 2F F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 00 00 30 F7

Modulation On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 01 01 2E F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 01 00 2F F7

FX On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 02 01 2D F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 02 00 2E F7

Solo On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 01 50 00 01 0E F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 01 50 00 00 0F F7

 

[quadgear]

Was able to connect the MVave Chocolate footswitch via a Widi Jack to the Katana Go via wireless midi.

The Widi was set up with an auto group that will connect to any device that wants to connect.

The Chocolate can send sysex to turn on/off boost, mod, fx, and solo. I used the FxFloorboard project to find the commands. Details at the bottom. Note that the Chocolate's bluetooth implementation is pretty bad and only connects to other MVave devices and computers, and phones. Hence the Widi jack.

I was not able to use the app assignable buttons for the Boss FS-1-WL. Tried lots of things. Perhaps someone who has one can capture the midi from the FS-1-WL (or EV-1-WL). I tried what's documented as default in the manual but that's apparently not what it uses when connecting to a Boss device.

Note that while only one device can connect to the Go wireless via Midi, you can also connect via USB at the same time. This allowed me to use the Katana Tone Studio app at the same time as the footswitch. The app won't notice changes made by the footswitch, but otherwise it works.

Boost On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 00 01 2F F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 00 00 30 F7

Modulation On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 01 01 2E F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 01 00 2F F7

FX On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 02 01 2D F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 00 30 02 00 2E F7

Solo On/Off
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 01 50 00 01 0E F7
F0 41 10 01 05 0D 12 20 01 50 00 00 0F F7

Someone had problems using the Widi Jack, so here's a bit more detail on that part of the process. This is straight from memory, so please let me know if there are corrections or additions needed to the following.


Configuring the Chocolate:

• Choose Advanced custom mode and set it to send sysex (I think it may be called data). I use the toggle mode to send on on the first press and off on the second press.
• Click the expression/midi icon at the top and choose Midi. Note that some units get stuck where these settings don't change. IIRC this may be after updating the firmware of your chocolate.

Configure widi jack:

• I had to flip the TRS setting to the other type (I think type B) via the small slider switch. You'll know if the Widi Jack and the Chocolate are talking if the the Widi jack blinks when the Chocolate sends midi.
• Make sure the widi jack is in the default settings via the app: not peripheral only, no saved groups. Turn off bluetooth on devices in the area ... especially phones and laptops. If they attach first, the widi jack becomes a peripheral and won't be able to be a server to the Chocolate.
• Trigger autolearn in the widi app. Follow the instructions that tell you to exit app (and I turn of Bluetooth on the phone right away). Turn on the Katana Go and press the Bluetooth button. I had to retry this few times, but I think it was due to other devices connecting to the widi or the Katana first (so turn BLE off on those). Widi can be annoying sometimes. When the Go connects, the light on the widi will stop blinking and the Go will indicate that midi is connected by the less than obvious O symbol.

Interestingly the Chocolate can power the Widi Jack over TRS. Very surprising. If you connect via USB to a Widi uHost, you still need to provide it power.

You can use FxFloorboard in debug log mode to map out other message types. There's more on this on the vguitar forum site.

 

[0XI0]

Boss Katana Gone