Roland/Boss’s online international launch has seen four more models added to the Boss range – the Katana -Mini guitar amp, reverb and modulation pedals in the expanded 500 Series and a brand new bass effects pedal, the GT-1B.
Boss’s highly advanced Katana amp has impressed most pundits and reviewers since its launch in 2016 and Boss is now expanding the sub-brand with the new Katana-Mini, a portable battery powered version.
The Katana-Mini features a multi-stage analogue gain circuit that produces a wide range of highly expressive sounds, Boss says. Inspired by the flagship Waza amp, the Brown setting: ‘…delivers refined high-gain tones sought by the world’s greatest rock players. Crunch provides overdrive that’s ideal for rock rhythms and bluesy solos, while Clean offers crisp, sparkling tone with big dynamic response. Also included is a three-band analog tone stack for sound shaping, plus a tape-style delay for ambience’.
The amp weighs just under three pounds, sits easily on a tabletop or shelf and is equipped with a Phones/Rec Out with cabinet voicing. The amp is also equipped with an Aux In jack for jamming along with music from a smartphone or other playback device. The UK RRP will be £99.
Boss’s popular 500 series of effects is expanded with the introduction of the RV-500 Reverb and MD-500 Modulation, two new effect pedals with 32-bit/96 kHz AD/DA, deep programmability, and advanced features. The pedals share the basic design of the companion DD-500 Digital Delay.
The RV-500 features 12 modes and 21 reverb types, and all include sound-shaping parameters like modulation, ducking, and EQ. On tap is everything from standard reverbs to shimmer, non-linear, fast decay, SFX, and more, plus recreations of the classic Roland SRV-2000 and RE-201 Space Echo. Thanks to powerful DSP, players can access a full-featured digital delay with modulation along with every reverb, and even use two patches at once with Simul mode.
The MD-500 provides 12 modes and 28 different mod effects. Included are Boss’s famous chorus and Roland’s Dimension D, plus flanger, tremolo, phaser, vibe, slicer, ring mod, and more. Many effect modes include advanced Prime variations newly developed for the MD-500. Simul mode enables using two patches at once, while the Insert Loop function lets the user position mod effects around external pedals for the best sound.
Free editor/librarian software is available for both the MD-500 and RV-500, allowing users to edit sounds and organize patches on a computer via USB. The UK RRP will be £375 each.
Finally, Boss has something for bass players with its GT-1B Bass Effects Processor, a compact multi-effects unit for bassists. Equipped with Boss’s flagship-level sound engine, the GT-1B is a powerful mobile tone companion that gives players a diverse selection of pro-level preamps and effects for stage and studio playing, the maker says.
The GT-1B features 90 unique effects including 13 different pre-amp types, all specially tuned for bass. Among these are a selection of premium effects that use Boss’s advanced Multi-Dimensional Processing (MDP) to maintain an instrument’s natural character and response. A dedicated looper is included.
As an added bonus, Boss says that users can access the Boss Tone Central website and gain access to many free patch collections created by pro bassists. The free BOSS Tone Studio software provides a full-featured editor/librarian for the GT-1B, as well as integrated access to all the patch collections at BOSS Tone Central. The RRP will be £209.
Info:www.boss.info.