BOSS IR-2, Soldano Mini didn't jive. Ordered a Katana head

romanianreaper

romanianreaper

Well-known member
I don't know if my ears are shot or if I have "Tone" loss but both the BOSS IR-2 and Soldano Mini SLO head completely bewildered me. They both sounded like equipment that would make me put down the guitar and take up clarinet. I can't explain it but both were harsh, tin can like, etc. I just couldn't gel completely with them.

I ordered a BOSS 100 watt Katana head. Compact, can record with it, and most of all, a quick backup if my tube amp has issues at a gig. Just a cheaper solution that I'm familiar with and have played thru and heard before.

I think i was trying too hard to incorporate my Quilter amp eith some type of preamp pedal. I might dig deeper into that solution some other time. For now, I'm going with the Katana.
 
I hate the katana for gain sounds, but it makes sense to me as an emergency backup for sure.

Solid, reliable, takes pedals well.

They can sound quite good with a nice preamp type distortion pedal like either of the Diezel ones, bogner blue, LPD 74 or 87, revv g3 or g4, etc etc.


I'm surprised the IR2 sounded that bad to you, i've heard nothing but good things about it - I've not played one myself though yet.
 
I hear you. Congrats on the katana I actually like the waza rack head that boss made that was dumb expensive. It actually sounded really good and I played on one for many hours.

I’ve been thinking about getting a blackstar stage mkiii lately just to jam on. In recordings they don’t sound that great compared to other amps but in person I had a lot of fun jamming on a mkii head a long time ago.
 
I know what you mean...

I love the ir-2, personally. I found trying to use it as a high gain sim to play along to something it's pretty much recto channel or bust - and that doesn't lend itself too well to a lot of stuff. It records and layers really well doing it like you would in a studio setting though. After trying a shit tonne of boosts on it, I really like it with a sparkle drive. Boosted or not, that slo sim sucks imo. I really prefer running my amp into the suhr rlir if I'm jamming to something, but the ir-2 does pretty much the same thing for recording. I haven't tried a katana yet, hopefully it works out better for you.
 
My son got me Katana MKII 100 watt head for Xmas. Im just now getting around to really seeing what it does.
I did have it hooked up to a old marshall 2X12 with scumbacks. Hooked it up to a EVH 4X12 cab last night.
First impression is its too dark with that cab. Going to mess around tonight to see if I can change that.
 
JackBootedThug said:
I have one of the newer pv vypers…. Solid little amp.
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I used to have a VIP2 model 10 years ago. I loved how it sounded. Problem was the digital controls stopped working. The bass knib anyways, it stopped working. I read it was a common issue with those. I wonder if the electronics have improved with the new version. How long have you had yours?
 
cragginshrd said:
I gave up on super cheap gear for bedroom rehearsing and went with an FM3
Own 2 and use one live mostly despite having killer 100w tube heads :m17:
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As a past Fractal user, I almost snagged one of those instead. Even considered a Helix, etc. Im sure down the road I'll finally give one of those a whirl.
 
MetalThrasher said:
Curious about the IR2. What are you running it through?
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I started with factory settings and went into my Quilter power amp into an EVH 1x12 cab. With my Keeley pedal and a boost it sounds amazing so I thought the IR-2 would sound even better. So then I turned off the IR cabs and didn't seem to do anything. So then I went back to stock and played thru the headphones and didn't sound right. I typically love all things BOSS so I was surprised.
 
Metalhex said:
I used to have a VIP2 model 10 years ago. I loved how it sounded. Problem was the digital controls stopped working. The bass knib anyways, it stopped working. I read it was a common issue with those. I wonder if the electronics have improved with the new version. How long have you had yours?
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It’s my son’s friend’s amp. He’s had it about a year or so.
 
romanianreaper said:
As a past Fractal user, I almost snagged one of those instead. Even considered a Helix, etc. Im sure down the road I'll finally give one of those a whirl.
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FM3 and ToneX are the only things I have really liked into a computer monitor setup.

The Katanas are pretty cool amps, especially the head with a good cab. The trick is to get in the software and tweak the EQs.
 
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