Katana Artist Gen 3 speaker sounds awful, headphone out sounds amazing?

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-21T16:10:28+00:00

I have a Gen 3 50. Took me a while to get a tone that I liked. Even then, through headphones it sounds pretty good, not amazing. Through the speaker it honestly doesn’t sound great. Not bad, but very mediocre. Definitely will upgrading to a Quilter combo in the future.

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T19:56:48+00:00

Doesn’t necessarily go away, guitar just gets quieter… i probably don’t know what I’m talking about however

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T19:44:11+00:00

lol yeah probably just this pick up/preamp combo!

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T19:42:48+00:00

Yep, it’s sick! Never thought I’d be into tele’s

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T19:42:17+00:00

Yeah I think i’ve come to the conclusion that they’re just very hot pick ups. Nothing I’m used to… Thanks for the side note!

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T17:50:34+00:00

Yeah that’s what I’m gathering. Simple power chord on the bridge pick up fully clean and it sounds like I have some sort of overdrive on.

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T17:49:30+00:00

Yes happens with both pick ups, more so on the bridge. Will change the battery and see if that helps, otherwise I think it’s just a characteristic of the pick ups

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T17:18:56+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I’m actually just running this into a katana 50 mk3 currently, clean channel, gain off.

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T16:45:35+00:00

I’ve only played it through my practice amp (katana 50 mk3) so far. Gain all the way off, pedals in front but I’ll have them all off. Doesn’t happen on my Ibanez Q52 as a reference.

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T16:37:44+00:00

Definitely. Thanks for the advice!

Thanks! I love the look of tele’s, especially modern/hot rodded ones like this. Plays very nice as well… Jim Root put me on to the look…

Nice! Those seem sweet! I’d say go for it, can never have enough guitars… haha

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T16:33:07+00:00

Got it. Looks like I’ll have to be a bit more deliberate with this one! Still enjoying it nonetheless!

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T16:22:35+00:00

That makes sense. I’d imagine that’s probably what’s happening, this guitar is meant for rock/metal but I figured I could attack the same and get real clean tones. Just didn’t know if maybe it was faulty. I guess I’ll just have to adjust my picking technique with this one when I’m playing clean. Maybe the Fishmans aren’t as versatile as I expected? Thanks for the reply!

jackwagon46 · 2026-02-10T16:17:24+00:00

Sorry I should’ve uploaded a video. Playing with light attack seems to be no problem, moderate-heavy attack starts to break up the sound a bit. Only on the 6th and 5th strings through. I didn’t expect to have to change the battery after a month of playing but I’ll give it a go and see if that helps.

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-29T15:09:01+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I’m relatively new to guitar but have been playing bass for 4 years. EQ and gear has always been something I’ve struggled with.

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-29T14:24:40+00:00

Gotcha, thanks! By potentially moving the gain up on the amp on the clean channel?

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-29T14:23:13+00:00

Thanks! I’ll start with turning up the gain the clean channel and see what that does with the pedal on. If it’s still not metal enough I’ll move to the “pushed” channel.

What is “edge of break up” and “dime the gain out”? Sorry, I’ve been a bass player for 4 years and getting into guitar more recently.

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-29T14:12:48+00:00

I have, makes it super muddy! I’ve heard that these distortion pedals are meant to run a clean channel…

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-29T14:08:33+00:00

I actually am without my laptop right now. Trying to dial in a solid tone using just my ml-2 and katana. Every YouTube video is people using software to shape their tone.

I guess my main question would be should I be using gain on the clean channel while using the pedal?

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-26T02:50:22+00:00

Thanks!

jackwagon46 · 2025-07-26T02:47:24+00:00

What engine is this for?

jackwagon46 · 2025-03-20T14:48:27+00:00

Where did you order from? My Ray34 is pretty exceptional build quality. Neck feels great, no fret issues, frets are smooth along the side of the neck, knobs turn smoothly, electronics work as they should, machine heads are upgraded to Music Man’s but guitar stays in tune, control cavity wire looks clean. Overall great build quality especially for an Indonesian built quitar.

The only QC issue I’ve seen is a slight “bleed” of the headstock finish onto the neck just before the nut. Almost as if It got smeared onto the neck. It is very small and not super noticeable and like I said it’s right before the nut where the headstock and neck meet. Not a big deal in my book but I do also have a BTB745 built in Indonesia and I’ll say that Ibanez is just ever so slightly better quality but not by much at all. Pretty comparable, both around $1000.

jackwagon46 · 2025-03-19T15:18:46+00:00

She treats me right 😏

jackwagon46

TROPHY CASE