The Keeley Electronics Katana had me the moment I read the name. Anything named after a sword wielded by ancient Japanese warriors is okay in my book. Not to mention, it’s a stinkin’ awesome sounding boost pedal!
To start out, with the volume knob pushed in, this pedal does exactly what a good clean boost should do: it allows you to boost your signal without coloring your tone whatsoever. Seriously, this thing is crystal clean. From my experience, there are very few boost pedals out there that add less to your tone while still significantly boosting your volume. Use it before your overdrive pedals to slam the front end and kick up your gain a notch, or use it after your overdrives to boost your volume and really CUT (like a ninja) through the the mix. Great for solos and leads!
Alternatively, you can pull the volume knob out, which increases the gain and gives the Katana a tiny bit of tube overdrive sound. This is how I typically use this pedal. I have it at the beginning of my pedal chain and use it as an always-on tone shaping tool. It adds just the right amount of warmth and fatness to my Stratocaster tone.
Another nice feature is that the pedal up converts the 9v wattage to 18v internally. That means more volume and more headroom. And although I haven’t tried this much, the volume knob being on the side should make it easier to adjust on the fly with your foot. Not sure if that’s actually the case in practice, but I think that’s the reasoning behind the somewhat funky design.
Bottom line: whether you’re looking for a super clean boost to up your signal or warmer boost to add some of it’s own unique flavor, consider the Keeley Electronics Katana as a major contender. Two thumbs way up.
Submitted by Jared L, Instagram
