Boss Katana-Artist MkII

I use this amp at home, so sometimes at high volume and sometimes low volume. I initially wanted to stick with a tube amp, but I was concerned with the necessary high playing volume to get the best out of a tube amp.

I chose the Artist version essentially for its front panel access. The top panel would have been difficult to access when practising.

Pros:
+ Front panel
+ Possibility to play at any volumes without sacrificing tone
+ Endless possibilities
+ Ability to nail your tones and effects and store it in 8 memory channels so you can be consistent with your playing tones
+ If 8 channels isn't enough, you can store them in your computer in limitless patches
+ So glad Boss didn't try to emulate famous amps in the dials
+ Price! With that amount of possibilities.

Cons:
- Not the prettiest amp around, but simple enough
- Too many adjustments to choose from. This is a pro and a con. On the negative side, you will either ever use only 10% of the amp's capabilities or you will spend your life fiddling with the adjustments as opposed to making the best out of a particular amp tone.

Considering all the built-in effects and diversity of tones, it's just a really great amp. It takes a little reading up before you can use all of the features and I'd really recommend getting the pedal as well. I've mainly used this one with a Harley Benton CST with P90's and I have to say, with all dials at 12 o'clock, this can sound pretty darn incredible.

At this price range, I kind of feel like I do have to compare it to the cheaper tube amps though. I just went to a store that had an H&K Tubemeister Deluxe 20 ready for a test, and in the end, none of the tones on this Katana can compare to the juicy crunch of the Tubemeister. Yes, you'll have to get your own effects, but I decided to get the H&K anyway and sell this one.

All in all, I think Boss has made amazing progress in the field of solid-state amps, but it still can't compare to tube crunch, and I'll still pay a few bucks extra for that.