The Code is a great amp but you need to turn off the speaker emulation if you're using the built in speaker.

I have a Marshall code 50, at first I was influenced by videos like this one that made me feel I had purchased the wrong amp but after having it for a while I managed to get great sounds, and have never malfunctioned

This has got to be one of THE BEST comparison of these 2 amps Ive seen and heard. Most of the videos Ive come across here are more of a "look what I can do" rather then what the comparison Im looking for. Nice job, thank you.

GuitarGeek, well done, this is really really good content, thanks for doing such excellent videos.

A deciding factor for me were the foot switches. As far as I could tell, the katana offered an A and B bank switch for a total of 4 saved tones to switch among. My Marshall has I believe 10 banks of 3 for 30 saved tones. And by stepping and hold any of the 30, you enter a mode that allows you to turn off and on the distortion, modulation and reverb settings for that 1 tone. More like a true pedal board. That versatility sold me over the katana. Been happy with the code 50 for over a year.

In the early 90s, Marshall sponsored my band which meant they let us borrow gear and return it at the end of our 2 week tour of UK. I got a full Stack that went to 20(Nigel Tufnel edition) and someone had taken a black Sharpie and drawn lines on the gold plates for the sweet spot. So much fun to push so much air 1st night my ears were ringing. By the third night they stopped ringing. :0

Best comparison between amps I’ve seen online yet. Using a looper is a brilliant idea. I’m not sure where I land between the two amps yet, especially based on other’s comments, but nonetheless a great video that helps us all have a better understanding. Thank you!

Good review, and you equalized as much as you could between the with features, speakers, etc. Very helpful. Thank you!

I enjoy my code 50 and its my favorite practice amp for home and for concert it do a nice work

Got the code 50... fiddling with the presence / resonance is pretty important to give it the mid/high range it needs to sound lively, even with the big cab emulation on. Got very good tones once I realized that.

thanks for your review,keep them coming.

Awesome video. Its helped a lot in choosing my first guitar amp. I was pretty sold on the katana already because of the amazing reviews, but wanted to find out how it compared to a marshall in the same price range because of how much recognition they get, and the code reviews have been good as well. So thank you!

Boss is more clean but I personally prefer the Marshall sound

Just bought the Katana 50 2 days ago - its versatility, its ability to surprise with its subtle and not so subtle nuances, surprises me each time I play. It really allows each different guitar and each different pick up setting to stand out from one another, just as they should. I have lots of guitars, including a 2013 Fender American strat, but my go-to guitar is a simple Yamaha PAC012 Pacifica. When I play the bridge and the middle single pickups together on my Mustang II, I get a muddy sound that's nowhere good enough to be a humbucker sound. However, I can use this setting with the Katana 50 amp and get syrupy smooth and edgy tones that are really rewarding. Keep the vibrato up on the high end of the nexk, and the note will just keep ringing like a bell until you decide to stop. The Mustang II will expose your guitar's deficiencies by causing the note to embarrassingly fade away before it should. One the other hand, the Mustang II is quite a forgiving amp, in that it can mask playing that's not so perfect, which is great for most players, including me. The Katana exposes every note - it will reward the best players but brutalize the amateurs! Also, why no tuner on the Katana? Surely it was not to save money!

The Code 50 I have sounds nowhere near that muffled. It did take a few days for the speaker to break in though. And the noisegate has to be below 2.5 even on high gain tones or it sounds muffled and loses definition. It is a bit boomy and directional though. I have a Spider V60 too which is quite good for general purpose practice and works well as a computer speaker. The ASIO drivers mean you can use it with VST's like Scuffham and amplitube too. In the end, just when the Katana came out, I tried one and just bit the bullet and got a small 1x12 tube amp. (Wifes surprise Birthday present) costs 3x as much with a couple of good pedals, so not cheap. But blows all the modeling stuff away. Even if the modeling amps sound good in recordings, they don't feel as good to play. If you can't afford or don't want a tube amp. The Katana is probably a good bet for budget modeling. You don't really need a ton of presets, just 3-4 good ones will get you through most genres with minimal fiddling.

Excellent review. Thanks

A comparison between the Boss Katana Artist 100 and the Marshall Code 100 would be a great contribution using the way you do these great videos. Thanks a lot for your comparisons which are the best in KZfaq

Really dig the jazzy piece around 2:53, or so! Bravo ‼️

I tested the two for 2 hours side by side and ended up buying the katana 50, the katana is plug n play, the simulations are cool to feel the breakup of the speaker in the simulations clean and crunch and much definition and gain in the Brown and Lead channel , in the Code 50 test in some simulations it demands more time to regulate, and it seemed to me to have more scooped average like the DSL, but has an incredible power looks like a amp of greater power, I enjoyed the simulations of vintage amps and the American od and JVM , in DSL I did not get to good sound. Overall conclusion is 2 amps very cool!

Thanks a lot for posting this!

I have a code 50 and it’s amazing 😂I mean the presets aren’t the best but once you tweak it’s amazing.

That code has some character. The opening bit with hendrix....the code hell yeah

Great channel, you deserve way more subs 👍

Outstanding work dude, this saves me a tons of time. Thx & regards.

I bought the Katana after trying a lot of 100 watt transistor amp's including Fender and Marshall it really does deliver and the price doesn't matter it's not just good value for money it sounds as good as any amp I've tried.

I believe that the Marshall sounds quite muffled whereas the Katana sounds very clear but still lacks a bit of low end.

What a awesome review

Great video! I was split between the two, but ended up buying the Marshall yesterday. I was having the similar thoughts to the ones you expressed in the video while playing around with it today. I'm going to trade it in for the katana for sure.

The Marshall with the Washburn sounded pretty good, but for all the other loops the Katana sounded better to me. Thanks for putting this comparison out.

Had the Code 50 for a while, and just traded it in 3 days ago for the Katana 100. The Code sounded good for the most part but the katana so far sounds great. I'm happy that I traded.

Great video. Like always, a pleasure to watch. The Katana you are using does it 1 x 12 Speaker or the 2 x 12 Speaker? Thank you.

I ended up ordering the Katana 100. Wish I could have afforded the artist but what can you do. I cant wait!

i feel like these amp reviews dont do justice though, ive played through both and i think they both sound amazing in my opinion

i was surprised when i saw this video! Ive tried them both in store and the marshall sounded light years better! Dude 6:30 how did you even get the marshall to make that sound? Even the volumes are completely different! Anyway, i liked your video just thought after playing the code myself, i couldnt get a bad tone out of it and like i said, i thought of it as a few steps up from the boss

I just bought the Kata Artist Mark 2 and I must say I love it. What a fabulous amp.

This is the first of your reviews I've watched and I just loved it. I like the straightforward style and that there's no screaming hyped-up crazy person in front of me trying to get my attention.

I think its a good and fair comparing video. Well done and well played - thanks! 👍

mmm ... why don't you show the equalization of each amplifier? I just played the Marshall just like the katana.

CV Tele. One of my favorite guitars. It's such a great guitar. If I didn't know the price or the brand name, I would assume it was a much higher priced guitar.

Recommend the boss head highly! Great sounds, and tons of bass available. Cool vids!

Omg I was trying to compare these two amps to see which one to buy. I think I might go with the marshall code :)

1:20 WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CODE 50

Ive never played thru the Katana,but I do have a Marshall Code 50 and mine doesn't sound muffled like that at all. I've had it for a year and have never had a problem. Takes a little experimenting,but you can get some really great sounds out of it. Nice playing by the way.

TheGuitarGeek, where I live the Katana 100 costs twice as much as the code 50, plus I really like the app & sounds options of the code 50. would u recommend it for just playing at a small room at home?

The Katana is great amp for the money..... Top of it class in Price and Tone! I love mine. Katana Powah!!!!

Thinking of a getting a Boss amp. I've been playing guitar for 3 years now and I have a Squier Bullet Mustang. I painted the pick guard black on it because I wanted it to match a Stratocaster I saw at Guitar center.

Good Job. Thanks for doing that.

Wow, I have that same Squire Tele, except mine is a lefty. It's in excellent condition, even came inside a very premium, well padded, and compartmented gig bag for just 120$ USD from a pawn shop. I really love that Tele, and though it is not a Fender tele, now that I see you playing one, I feel even better because i know you have great taste in guitars. For me, it's my first, and only ever Tele, I'm late to the Tele game.It has amazingly good pickups, and tone. The maple neck is just gorgeous, and I was surprised by the quality of Squire in this one. Please let me know how you feel about that Squire Tele.

Honestly, most of the differences are a minor EQ’ing away from each other. They both sound pretty good to me. The Boss sounds like it needs a bit more low-to-mid boost and the Marshall a bit more mid-high. Otherwise, you’d be happy with either IMO. The Boss does have some impressive features though. Especially with the Tone Studio.

I have had the marshall code 50. It's wonderful. You can record on your pc with it also. Somehow the marshall just sounds better and has more to it. Also the phone app is really great.

I'm a big katana fan but I love my Marshalls too, TSL JVM, I liked the code more than I thought, it reminds me of a multi effects , all the presets are wildly over the top, but there's a sound for you in there somewhere Love your a/b setup, how loud is the code? I know from experience that the 100w katana is as loud as hell I've never used the 100w setting live The 50w setting is plenty

thanks for the video

A bit more bass on Katana and would be an easy fix so not sure comparison is accurate. To be fair guitar geek does mention issues with marshall and likes the Katana and Marshall has some weird phase warbling going on. Keep pushing Katana it's a great amp and love my valve amps but saving on tubes a great bonus. Had fender mustang and its fizzy but Katana is natural. If Boss can keep improving on this tech they are on to a long term winner. Bought 100 combo but suspect 50w could gig ok but 100w is plenty loud enough for any drummer.

Marshall sounds really nice, killer headroom. But I like the Katana better.

Both amps have very cool features, but I do prefer the code amp to the katana, with the low end and the greater emphasis on metal and heavy tones. The katana's high gain tones seemed a bit thin to me when i fiddled with one at a local music shop. I see the appeal to both, but had to go with the code (i have the code 25), but i did enjoy the shootout

I've since picked up the Marshall code 100 combo, you should review if possible, as the 100 has an effects loop and a speaker out option. BTW, the combo is a 2 x 12.

I have both of these amps. I personally prefer marshall code. You can't get any good sounds from it if you work on it for like 30 minutes. But Katana would give you the sound you want in a few minutes. However if you work on marshall for like 2 hours, it'll totally crush Katana. It takes some time to get the sound but when you get it only an original marshall amp could defeat it. So if you're in a hurry or just want to plug and play Katana is the right amp for you but if you want to take your time and experiment with your sound, like me, Marshall is the right amp. After like 2 hours or even more I got a killer stoner sound from Marshall that only a real JVM could defeat.

4:49 what song is this?

Thanks for the comparison. My initial reaction was that the Katana sounded a bit thin on that first riff, but in the rest of the video I thought it came across much than the Code 50. The Code 50 sounded muffled and too mid-bassy and "digital." To my ears, the Katana would cut through in a band, and the Code 50 would just kind of disappear. (That's my expectation, anyway.)

What’s better, Boss or Marshall? What to get? Any suggestions? Thanks!

On the cleans there's a few minor difference, but on the distortions, the Katana crushes the Marshall. The Marshall sounds all "tinny" like you're listening to it through a telephone.

Hey! You're right. When I bought the Marshall code I found it a little disappointing at first, not being able to bring out the tones I wanted. But with the application that comes with it I've learnt my way through. I believe I can totally bring out tones you demonstrate on the Marshall equally good if not better than the Katana. Yes it's true it's more work on Marshall but it can actually do much better than your demo here. The flaw with Marshall is that it gets you a choice paralysis.

Thank you mate! For being honest! Appreciate it. Maybe you should do a comparison between the Fender GTX 100 and the BOSS Katana 100.

As someone who plays Hard Rock/Punk which amp would be better suited for me? For my bedroom amp, I have decided to upgrade from my Fender Frontman 10G to something a bit better. Which amp would get me closer to that “90s Rock Tone”? Also not looking to gig with this, just to use as a practice speaker, as I already use a JCM900 for gigging.

I've got a Marshall Code 25 and have found some interesting findings. First, the built in speaker is pretty horrendous. Many people, even in this video, have commented that the Marshal is bassy, even mushy. There are 2 things going on here. First, nearly all of the default patches have too much bass on them. Second, the low mids on the stock speaker are pretty poor. I switched out the stock 10" on the Code 25 with a $45 Jensen speaker and there's a world of positive difference. Much of the woofiness goes away, and mids open up and sound livelier. Second, some of the higher gain models on the Marshall do have digital artifacts. These are reduced with the speaker change as well as they seem to manifest most prominently around the low mids and bass. Third, I also experienced several times when I saved a patch and the sound dropped out. So, giggable? No way. Reboots solved the issue, but there's really no excuse Marshall. Fourth, the Plexi and the JCM800 models on the Marshall are worth the price of the amp alone. They are spot on, and neither of those models manifest much in the way of artifacts. The DSL model, by contrast, is nearly unusable at higher gain settings because of artifacting. In fact, most of the time if I need a high gain sound, I take the JCM800 model and add in the Marshal G'uvnor pedal emulation that is stock in the Code in front of it. Even for clean sounds I wind up going back to the Plexi at a low gain setting. The fact that I can get real Plexi-esque sounds and not peel paint is very appealing at the Code's price point. Fifth, despite its flaws, I keep the Code around because it is a very good recording tool. I use the emulated headphone out to record into my DAW. The sound coming out is very good compared to many competing modeling amps (I've had most of them), and waaaaay better than the Code's USB interface, which I only use for modding patches. Last, the FX are of middling quality. But, the parameters are easily editable, and they are easily good enough for practicing. When I record, I do it dry and add FX in post, except for a bit of the spring reverb in the Code which I leave on all the time.

Is there really any comparison? Only takes a few seconds or maybe I am biased but I really enjoy the sounds of the Marshall.

Wow, almost 10k subs! Congrats!

Oh man, I just learned about the Marshall 100 today. I'm going to grab that this year. I was on the fence with the boss. Seeing this, marshall will always be my choice

Trust me I’ve had more amps than guitar offcenter, The Katana kicks major ass.

in my opinion the marshall is better. But it depends on what kind of music you like. I just think that the boss is too shrill and aggressive. the marshall feels warmer and bluesy

I have a code 100 but i an really confused to get the amp setting of slash from Guns and roses

I was looking for a new combo amp in the 200-500 dollar range! I tried lots of different amps out including the Marshall code 50 and I liked some of the tones but it didn't really sound that great at band volume! I've always been and still am a Marshall fan! Best amp I ever owned was a Marshall JCM 800 from the 1980's! I ended up buying a Boss Katana 100 2/12 it has the best solid state tone that I've ever heard ! Even at high volume levels! You could definitely use this amp in a band! I'm very impressed with it ! Way to go Boss!!!!!!

The Marshall CODE requires a LOT of tweaking and then it will sound great! Katana is more a plug in and play amp whereas the marshall is a actual Modeler. it can sound really good.

The Marshall just sounds flat all the way around. I'm glad I asked the wife for the Katana 212 for my 50th birthday.

Andy what do you think about the box valvtronix? I've tried the code, and the katana and I liked the box, I put the mother board in a Hughes and kettner cab, V30 and a tung-sol tube and What a difference it made

Since the Marshall code only focuses on Marshall amps, wouldn’t it be better to compare how both amps match up to the original sound of Marshall amps? If someone doesn’t really like Marshall amps, it may be hard to like the code. Just a thought...

just turn the cab off on the code 50 . done you're welcome

I'd say the Marshall has a bigger sound while the katana has a more dynamic sound

Im trying for the best of both.i have the katana 100w head already.just ordered the Marshall code212 2×12 slant cab to pair it with.

Cool Idea to Loop it!!! But why did you use a Speaker Simulation when you already used a 4x12 cab? I think the sim is only usefull for direct recording is´nt it?

Sounds like he has no idea how to edit the Marshall

You can't touch the Katana in clarity department, and it's more obvious in distorted sound. The Code sounds muffed with too much low midrange. Another easy win here :) I don't think there is a better buy than Katana 100 under 300,00 EUR at this point, maybe the Vox Vtx100 or a Peavey Bandit Red Stripe are the only competitors. Nice big muff sounds!

Katana 100, it's a great clean for the price of a pedal. A bit flat on the nose, and not glassy at all, but I run the front end full on and the master fairly low. Makes my tele round and bright. The effects are a bit amateurish but I just plug in a couple of strymons (Blue Sky and Deco)and the amp puts saturation in the fingertips. After 30 years of spending on tubes and service repairs, it's very nice to have a great clean for such modest money. My other amps are a Red Plate Black Verb, Magnatone 260 all original from 1962, Fender Super Champ 1982 and a daily use Fender BassBreaker 15 with the EL84's. BTW the Marshall to my ear just sounds like crap. Thanks for the vid.

IMHO, I think The Marshall has the edge, but I did enjoy the use of the looper which I don't believe you mentioned. Other than that, I'm not a clean tone player, I like my grit and distortion and I've heard some absolutely awesome demo's of the Marshall distortion models here on KZfaq. But there is evidence of some 'Booming' From the Marshall which I haven't heard before. I think it's just a case of going down to the shop and trying it out in person I suppose. Nice demo, very informative, thank you.

that Code will be drowned in a band mix - does not sound like a guitar amp

The boss sounds digital and the Marshall sounds ....Marshall.

Thank you for making these videos, they are amazing! I never buy any gear anymore without consulting your videos beforehand ✌️ A question - Which pedals would you recommend to complement the Katana?

I purchased the Marshall code 50 , I connected my fender player strat and I feel like it does not sound as I wish :C . I have seen a lot of videos trying to set the right config

Jesus the heavy tone around 6:20 coming from the Marshall is absolutely awful!

Marshall is selling like hot cakes for a reason. It does Marshall very well and some surf too. I was skeptical but the 50 was so cheap I jumped ............. its awesome ! its great at heavy sounds and clean too.Gain Can be controlled by volume on guitar which is important

Yip, I have the Katana 100 combo (and many valve amps)..... and what a lovely little peach of an amp. I'm not in a band right now, but suspect the Katana would perform admirably. I'm really intrigued by the Katana 2x12.... I wonder if that would sound even better....

thanks for the review. Just out of curiosity... did you record it using the marshal "cab" button toggled? i have seen it makes it sound way "boxy", and its a setting that comes as default in every preset. I ask because i do find it "boxy" and kinda muted in this video.

I owned a Katana and I thought it WAS OK but kinda thin and cheap....LOVE the Code way better...love ALL the different sounds and effects

I honestly think the Katana is a bit...thin and lifeless sounding? I own neither but have played through a katana. Just an unbiased opinion!

I have the code 100 2x12 and that shit it’s great makes me want to play more and more

Great fair review. I must admit I have noticed the nuances you get when you back off the volume with the Code, also when the note decays it leaves a weird fizz. It is possible to reduce it but not eliminate it. Its shame because the Code is 80 percent there. I may indeed look at Katana but I suspect I will go Orange when it comes to buying larger amp. I still use my crush 12 watt!!! when it comes to recording into my DAW, those high gain sounds are to die for.

Napoleon Dynamite plays guitar!

Sorry I don't agree. All the sounds from the katana to me sound thinner and not full enough. Just a sound preference I think. I enjoy my code 50 and wouldn't sell it for anything. No I don't work for Marshall. I just love the sound of my amp.

Hey, I like your informative reviews. The Katana sounds much more valve than the Marshall. BTW: do you know the Floorboard FX software for further Katana tweaking?