The Boss Katana 50 Mk2 guitar amp packs a lot into a fairly unassuming package. Are you curious about the Boss Katana 50 Mk2, whether it’s well-suited for beginners or experts (or both)?
I’ve owned this amp for two years now and have put it through a lot. I’ve seen how it performs in a variety of situations, and I’m ready to share those observations with you.
Here’s my full Boss Katana 50 Mk2 review! I hope it will help you decide whether this is the right amp to add to your gear collection.
Boss Katana 50 Mk2 Overview
The Boss Katana 50 Mk2 is a second-generation solid-state amp from Japanese maker Boss. The company is best known for its effects and only recently launched out into the world of amplifiers.
This is a compact 50-watt combo amp with plenty of versatility and tonal adjustability — even more than the first generation Katana, which already had a lot for an amp in this tier.
The Katana 50 is a 1x12 combo amp, meaning there’s one 12-inch speaker in a cabinet that integrates the speaker and the amplifier. As a result, this amp is decently portable, making it a frequent choice for guitarists who need a quick way to set up just about anywhere.
The Katana 50 Mk2 sells for $249 at most music and gear retailers, putting it at a very reasonable price for a 50-watt amp — especially when you consider the tonal flexibility included here. This balance of price to performance explains part of why the Katana 50 is such a popular choice for less experienced guitarists and those building out a studio or gig setup for the first time.
Let’s get a little deeper into the technical specs of this amp.
Check current prices on Amazon for the Boss Katana 50 Mk2
Technical Specs
As mentioned above, this is a 50-watt combo amplifier (hence the 50 in the name), but it also offers 25-watt and 0.5-watt settings. There are three inputs: a quarter-inch instrument and a quarter-inch power amp input, as well as a 1/8-inch aux in for bringing in music from an external device like your phone.
There’s also a single quarter-inch out that serves both for phones and rec out, plus one dual-channel foot control input. You’ll also see a standard power input and a USB port (used both to update firmware on the amp and to control it via external software).
The amp weighs in at just under 26 pounds and measures 15.6 inches by 18.5 inches by 9.3 inches, making it appropriately portable without being exactly lightweight.
No footswitch is included with the amp, but it supports dual footswitches. Note that this model doesn’t support the six-switch GA-FC. You’d need to move up to the 100-watt Katana for that.
Impressive Control Over Your Guitar’s Sound
The killer feature of the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 is the level of control you gain over your guitar’s sound. It isn’t necessarily surprising that Boss would lean hard into this, given the company’s background and legacy as a gear maker. What’s surprising is the sheer amount of control crammed into an amp at this price point.
There’s a standard three-band equalizer here, which is no surprise at all. You can also choose between five amp types or characters:
- Clean
- Crunch
- Lead
- Brown
- Acoustic (for acoustic-electric guitar)
Whichever of the five you choose, you can also experiment with a variation on each (which tends to be a bit bite-ier or British in sound). There’s a gain and volume knob for the amplifier itself, in addition to a master volume control over by the power switch.
The Boss Katana 50 Mk2 offers five customizable effects on the unit, as well. At first glance, this is a bit confusing because there are only three knobs. But look closer, and the first two knobs are actually dual concentric knobs that control two settings apiece.
The five stock effects are these:
- Booster
- Modulation
- FX
- Delay
- Reverb
And each of these offers three variations or modes. The three modes on the FX dial are tremolo, octave down, and an envelope follower.
Another really interesting feature on this amp is Variable Power Control. Essentially, this function lets you reach cranked-amp tone without turning the volume up to 11. If you’re working in a small home studio or simply just practicing in a garage, you don’t always want to blow the doors off — but you do want that cranked, distorted sound. That’s what Variable Power Control lets you achieve.
This well-rounded feature set would already be quite a lot for an amp at this price, but Boss didn’t stop there.
Even More Flexibility in the BOSS Tone Studio Software
For guitarists looking to push or control their sound even more, the included BOSS Tone Studio editor software is worth a look. It includes another 60 BOSS effects that you can load onto the amplifier in place of some of the original five.
The scope of these effects is really impressive. Most things that you might want to do with a Boss effects device? Now you can do them directly on the amp.
Of course, navigating into the software to switch effects on the fly mid-gig might not be the most practical thing. But in a studio environment? You can explore the full range of these effects to your heart’s content.
Brown Settings Are Worth Exploring
The first three amp voicings are all very nice, exactly what you would expect from clean, crunch and lead. But Brown is a standout for sure. It’s derived from the BOSS Waza amp from years past. It’s a high-gain amp sound that’s fuzzy and delicious, sounding like exactly like what those 80s hair metal bands were doing several decades back.
Of course, you can do more with it than hair metal. In my opinion, it can be a great addition to almost any genre you may play - pop, alternative, folk, emo, punk, the list goes on!
The Sound
It’s a little hard to write about what an amp sounds like — you kind of need to hear it to really understand, after all. And that’s especially true of an amp that offers such incredible control over the output. In a sense, the amp sounds like what you make it sound like.
Still, we have to try, right?
The overall sound of this amp is very good — assuredly a significant upgrade from whatever cheaper amp you’re using now. The quality of the sound impresses even more when you consider what this amp is and how much it costs. Sure, you can get better quality in a $1,000 tube amp — but that’s not exactly a fair comparison as the Katana 50 isn’t in the same ballpark on price and isn’t even the same kind of amp.
Low and mid ranges are especially present and clear, and you’ll easily fill a decent sized room with the output. Volume-wise, you’ll be OK with a Katana 50 as a first gig amp. If you’re playing larger venues, you might want more wattage, but this should be enough for most non-pro guitarists.
Great Price-to-Performance Ratio
When you consider all the flexibility included here, I value the Boss Katana 50 Mkii as having a fantastic price-to-performance ratio.
You can certainly do some of these same things for less money. And you can find amps that sound better than this one for more money (sometimes a lot more). But this much flexibility in a 50-watt 1x12 amp with this good of a sound? You’ll have a hard time finding anything that quite compares.
Who Is the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 Amplifier For?
So after all this, you may still be wondering whether the Boss Katana 50 MK2 amplifier is right for you. Sure, it’s a great amp for some guitar players. But is it right for you?
Another way to ask this question: who is the Katana 50 amp for, exactly?
The short answer is “anyone who wants one.” Really, it’s a great amp. But I’ve narrowed down two use cases where the Katana 50 Mk2 makes especially good sense.
Players Still Figuring Out Their Sound
If you’re new to guitars in general or to playing electric at a level requiring this size of amp, you might not know exactly where to start. There are hundreds of amps to choose from, and the differences between them in terms of sound can be hard to quantify.
If you’re still figuring out your sound — specifically, what kind of sound you want to get out of your next amp — that’s OK.
In fact, the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 is an ideal choice for someone like you. The sheer number of combinations between amp voicings (including variations) and effects will give you a near limitless palette of guitar amp colors to choose from.
As you find what works best for your sound and style, you could eventually upgrade your amp collection — for example, you could add in more limited, higher-end amps that suit your now-defined style.
Players Looking for Enhanced Sonic Versatility (at an Approachable Price)
Maybe you’ve already figured out what you want, sound-wise — and what you want is more flexibility. Again, the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 is an ideal amplifier choice for someone like you. If you’re constantly tweaking your guitar sounds and effects combinations, adding an amp with exceptional onboard versatility lets you take that experience to the next level — and take it wherever you go, too.
Instead of relying on a whole bunch of different amps, you can get many of those sounds out of just this one.
FAQS About the Boss Katana 50 Mk2
You might have questions that I haven’t quite covered yet, so I’m including a short FAQ section to answer them.
Is the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 Any Good?
Yes. It has an excellent ratio of price to performance, enough power to fill a decent-sized room, and a deeply impressive level of tonal flexibility. It’s a solid all-around amp for musicians at many levels.
Is the Boss Katana 50 Mkii Loud Enough?
“Loud enough” is a subjective thing, of course, so the real question is “loud enough for what?”
Compared to other 50-watt amps, the Katana 50 Mk2 is on par with their volume levels. It’s enough to fill a decent-sized gig space, too, and can crank out a significant amount of volume.
That said, it isn’t the bulkiest amp out there, even within the Katana line. If you’re playing a large show or with a band that cranks the volume, you’ll need more than the Katana 50 can push.
Does the Boss Katana 50 Mk2 Take Pedals Well?
Yes, ish. It takes Boss’s single and dual footswitches well (or an expression pedal), but no more. Those six-switch devices out there won’t work with this amp.
My Final Thoughts
Honestly I've been nothing but happy with this guitar amp and I think it's perfect for beginners, as well as those that are more experienced. The versatility is amazing and so valuable - high quality sound but still easy to shift from clean to dirty and vice-versa. I'm a big fan of it and think the only people it may not make sense for are those that are extremely picky about the sound they want and already know exactly what amp will give them that sound.
If you end up getting it, let me know what you think in the comments below!