BOSS KATANA-ARTIST II HEAD

PRICE: £591

ORIGIN: Malaysia

TYPE: Digital modelling preamp and solid-state power amp

OUTPUT: 100W RMS, switchable to 50 and 0.5W

VALVES: None

DIMENSIONS: 296 (h) x 631 (w) x 246mm (d)

WEIGHT (kg/lb): 12.4/27

CABINET: MDF

CHANNELS: 8 onboard presets in 2 banks of 4

CONTROLS: Amp Type, Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Booster/Mod level, FX/Delay level, Tap tempo, Reverb, Presence, Master Volume, Solo Volume, Contour select, Global EQ select, Power control, Cabinet Resonance, Line Out Air control. Bank A/B select, patch select x4

FOOTSWITCH: Solo footswitch, dual latching footswitch that changes between 2 channels and 2 banks, or GA-FC foot controller for full patch/effects and loop control, or MIDI

ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Switchable output power selection, speaker-emulated headphones/ recording and line outputs, aux in, series/parallel effects loop, USB, MIDI In, power amp in, stereo expand select,‘Air Feel’ select, 3 speaker outs (1x 8ohm, 2x 16ohm)

OPTIONS: FS-6 dual side-by-side footswitch (£75). For more control, there’s the programmable GA-FC foot controller (£106), or the new GA-FC EX controller (£134). If you want to use the built-in wah/whammy effects, the Boss EV-30 dual expression pedal is £106

RANGE OPTIONS: The matching 2x12 extension cabinet with 2 Waza G12W speakers is also £591. The Katana-Artist II is also available as a 1x12 combo (£671)

Roland Europe Group Ltd www.boss.info/uk

9 PROS Powerful pro-oriented performance tool; excellent Waza speakers in matching cab; great sounds; relatively affordable

CONS No MIDI out/thru; no balanced line out; cab is a two-person lift; Tone Studio app currently only available for Windows and macOS desktops (excepting Katana Air) – we’d like to see the mobile device version extended to cover other Katana amps