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Boss KatanaDistortedSoloRock

Hotel California on a Boss Katana

Eagles

Written for the Katana 50 MkII and the Katana 50 Gen 3, which share these knobs. The Katana 100 adds a Presence knob, and its value is given under the panel.

Hotel California Boss Katana settings: a starting point

On a Boss Katana, select the Crunch amp type and start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6 and Reverb about 2, with the neck pickup for body, bridge if the lead needs to cut.

Crunch amp typeHotel California on the Katana
  • Gain 5.5
  • Bass 5
  • Middle 7
  • Treble 6
  • Reverb about 2

The Katana 50 has no Presence knob. On a Katana 100, set Presence to 5.

Positions on a 0 to 10 scale, with 5 at twelve o'clock. These are Tonelify's starting points for the Katana, written from the documented rig and BOSS's manual. They are not BOSS's numbers and not the settings on the record.

Picked by gain range

Which Boss Katana amp type for Hotel California?

Crunch. Don Felder's part is a 1959 Les Paul into a narrow-panel Fender Tweed Deluxe, turned up, with nothing between the guitar and the amp. BOSS names no real amp behind the Katana's types, so pick by behaviour. Crunch is its fat crunch that follows the nuances of your picking, and the drive should come from the amp type here, as it did on the record, rather than from the Booster.

On a Gen 3, try Pushed first: BOSS describes it as the gain of a clean combo driven into saturation, which is the idea behind a cranked Tweed Deluxe.

Pick the amp type first: it changes the gain structure more than any knob does, so the same Gain position gives far more distortion on Lead or Brown than on Crunch. Gain sets the amount of distortion, Volume the level of that sound and Master the overall volume. Neither Katana 50 has a Presence knob, so on a 50 the top end is the Treble's job.

Boss Katana effects for Hotel California

Booster
OffFelder used no pedals on his parts: the drive is the amp alone.Leave it out.
Reverb
Plate ReverbA little room around the solo's long notes.Green on a MkII as shipped. Knob about 2.

The Katana runs five effects at once, one each on Booster, Mod, FX, Delay and Reverb. Each button cycles green, red and orange, and each colour holds its own effect. The colours below are the ones BOSS's MkII manual lists from the factory. On a Gen 3 the factory effects differ from channel to channel, so check what a colour holds before you rely on it; BOSS Tone Studio, over USB, can change any of them.

Does it sound off on your Katana?

Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn on the Katana from the settings above, and how far.

What the Katana cannot do for Hotel California

The closing solo is two guitars with two sounds: Felder's Les Paul answered by Joe Walsh's Telecaster. One Katana sound gives one voice. Store Felder's on CH1 and a second on CH2 for Walsh's lines, or change the pickup between phrases.

How to store it on the Katana

Hold CH1 or CH2 for one second. It stores every knob and button except Master, so use Volume to balance stored sounds and Master for the room.

What Eagles used on Hotel California

Don Felder's 1959 Gibson Les Paul plugged into a narrow-panel Fender Tweed Deluxe, which he describes as just kind of cranked up, with nothing between the guitar and the amp; Felder starts the closing solo and trades it with Joe Walsh, who played a Telecaster through what he remembers as a Roland Cube, a humbucker against a single-coil because, Walsh says, two of the same just turned into a guitar wall; the intro's 12-string is a Takamine with a DeArmond pickup, the miked acoustic in the middle of the mix and the pickup sent through an Echoplex and a Leslie in stereo in Felder's account, or through a pair of small Orange amps in producer Bill Szymczyk's; the band cut the song three times, twice at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and finally at Criteria in Miami, the solo took Felder and Walsh about three days, and the released version is spliced from the best takes, with 33 edits on the master tape.

Rig sources: Guitar World: the gear behind Hotel California, Guitar World: Don Felder answers readers' questions, Premier Guitar: the Don Felder Hotel California Les Paul, Wikipedia: Hotel California (song)

Boss Katana facts checked against BOSS's own documents on : BOSS: KATANA Mk II Owner's Manual (PDF), BOSS: KATANA Gen 3 Reference Manual (PDF)

Eagles' rig and the generic five-knob settings for the Hotel California tone →

A different guitar, or pedals in front?

This page sets the Katana on its own. Name your guitar and your pedals and Tonelify rewrites the settings for that whole rig, pickup position included. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.

Match Hotel California to my rig

Hotel California on the Katana: questions

What Boss Katana settings do you need for Hotel California?

Select the Crunch amp type and start at Gain 5.5, Bass 5, Middle 7, Treble 6 and Reverb about 2. On a Katana 100, set Presence to 5. These are Tonelify's starting points for the Katana, written from the documented rig and BOSS's manual. They are not BOSS's numbers and not the settings on the record.

Which Boss Katana amp type is closest to the amp on Hotel California?

Crunch. Don Felder's part is a 1959 Les Paul into a narrow-panel Fender Tweed Deluxe, turned up, with nothing between the guitar and the amp. BOSS names no real amp behind the Katana's types, so pick by behaviour. Crunch is its fat crunch that follows the nuances of your picking, and the drive should come from the amp type here, as it did on the record, rather than from the Booster. On a Gen 3, try Pushed first: BOSS describes it as the gain of a clean combo driven into saturation, which is the idea behind a cranked Tweed Deluxe.

Which Boss Katana effects does Hotel California use?

Reverb: Plate Reverb. A little room around the solo's long notes.

What can the Katana not do for Hotel California?

The closing solo is two guitars with two sounds: Felder's Les Paul answered by Joe Walsh's Telecaster. One Katana sound gives one voice. Store Felder's on CH1 and a second on CH2 for Walsh's lines, or change the pickup between phrases.

Does it matter for Hotel California that the Katana 50 has no Presence knob?

Not much. Neither the Katana 50 MkII nor the Katana 50 Gen 3 has a Presence knob, so the Treble at 6 sets the top end on its own. On a Katana 100, which has the knob, set Presence to 5.

Is there a Hotel California patch for the Boss Katana?

Tonelify does not offer a patch file. The settings on this page are dialled in by hand, which takes a couple of minutes and needs no computer. Hold a channel button for one second to store them.

What if you have a different guitar or pedals in front of the Katana?

These settings assume the unit on its own. Tonelify's matcher rewrites them for the guitar, pedals and amp you name, pickup position included. Your first match is free with an account and needs no card.

More for the Katana

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