The Boss Katana is one of the best-selling amps ever, and dialing it in mostly comes down to the Amp Type knob plus a few EQ moves. Here are solid starting points for every genre.
Pick the Amp Type first. The Type knob is the biggest decision: <b>Clean</b> for sparkle, <b>Crunch</b> for blues and classic rock, <b>Lead</b> for modern and hard rock, and <b>Brown</b> for high gain and metal.
Metal / high-gain. Type <b>Brown</b>. Gain 7–8, Bass 6, Middle 4–5 (slight scoop), Treble 6, Presence 5. Turn on the Noise Suppressor for tight palm mutes. Do not max the gain — it just adds fizz.
Rock / hard rock. Type <b>Lead</b>. Gain 5–6, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5. Keep the mids up so the riff cuts; a touch of reverb adds space.
Blues / classic rock. Type <b>Crunch</b>. Gain 3–4, Bass 5, Middle 6–7, Treble 6, Presence 4. Ride your guitar volume — Crunch cleans up beautifully rolled back.
Clean. Type <b>Clean</b>. Gain 0–2, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, a little reverb and maybe chorus. Great for funk, pop and as a pedal platform.
Effects and Power Control. The Katana has Booster, Mod, FX, Delay and Reverb — set them on the amp or in the free Boss Tone Studio app. Use Power Control (0.5W/50W) for cranked feel at bedroom volume.
💡 Start with the right Amp Type, set gain lower than you think, and use the mids (not just treble) to cut. Brown for metal, Lead for rock, Crunch for blues, Clean for everything else.