Boss Katana 25 settings
BOSS's compact Katana for home playing, announced in October 2026: 25 watts into an 8-inch speaker, the six Gen 3 amp types, 30 memories on a display and Bluetooth for playing along with songs.
⚡ Match a tone on this amp- Gain
- Volume
- Bass
- Middle
- Treble
- Effects
- Value knob
- Tap
- Master
- Power Control
How do you dial in a specific tone on a Boss Katana 25?
The Boss Katana 25 is a modelling amp, so a tone match here has two halves: which model or voicing to select, and where to set the controls once it is selected. Getting the second right on the wrong model gets you nowhere. Tonelify picks the voicing first and writes the knob positions against it, using the front panel this unit actually has.
Name the song you are chasing in the tone matcher and Tonelify returns the settings for this exact guitar amp, not the settings the original artist used. Those are two different things: the recording was made on gear most players do not own.
Settings for this amp only ever use controls it actually has, because its front panel is stored in our gear database. You will not be told to set a knob that is not on the amp.
Free download
Printable cheat sheet: PDF and PNG
The clean, blues, classic rock and metal settings from this page, together on one sheet with short tips. The PDF prints on white; the PNG is the dark version for your phone.
Starting settings on the Boss Katana 25
Positions on a 0 to 10 scale, with 5 at twelve o'clock. They are where to begin, not Boss's numbers: pick the amp type first, then move one control at a time from here.
Clean
CLEAN amp type, Gain 2 to 3, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6. Keep Gain low and set the level with Volume, so the sound stays clear when you strum hard. To pick the amp type, press the VALUE knob, turn it to CLEAN and press it again. BOSS notes that Clean can also be used for solos or leads with the Booster. The Katana 25 has no Reverb knob: press EFFECTS, turn VALUE to the Reverb block, press it, and turn it to set how much reverb you hear.
- Gain 2 to 3
- Bass 5
- Middle 5
- Treble 6
Edge of breakup and blues
PUSHED amp type, Gain 3 to 4, Bass 5, Middle 6 to 7, Treble 5 to 6. BOSS describes Pushed as a penetrating sound with a tonal color that responds greatly to your picking nuances, so play lighter for a cleaner sound and dig in for grit. CRUNCH at the same settings gives what BOSS calls a fat crunch sound. Every amp type has a second voicing, marked Var. on the display: try both and keep the one that suits your pickups.
- Gain 3 to 4
- Bass 5
- Middle 6 to 7
- Treble 5 to 6
Classic rock
CRUNCH amp type, Gain 5 to 6, Bass 5, Middle 6 to 7, Treble 6. Keep the mids up: classic rock sits in the midrange, and scooping it is the usual reason a rock tone sounds thin next to a band. For a solo, save a second memory with more of the Booster block rather than more Gain, so the rhythm sound stays where it was.
- Gain 5 to 6
- Bass 5
- Middle 6 to 7
- Treble 6
Metal
LEAD or BROWN amp type, Gain 6 to 7, Bass 5 to 6, Middle 5, Treble 6 to 7, with the Reverb block low or off. BOSS describes Lead as covering a wide range from crunch to high gain depending on the gain setting, and Brown as a lead sound with an edge inherited from the BOSS WAZA brown sound. For tighter palm mutes, add a boost before the amp instead of more Gain: in BOSS Tone Studio, put MID BOOST or T-SCREAM, which BOSS models on an Ibanez TS-808, in the Booster block with its drive low, and take the amp's Gain a step lower. With no Presence knob on the panel, take fizz out with Gain first and Treble second.
- Gain 6 to 7
- Bass 5 to 6
- Middle 5
- Treble 6 to 7
Add a boost from the Booster block before you raise the Gain.
Lead
Take the rhythm sound you already have, raise Middle by one step, add Delay and a little Reverb from the EFFECTS screen, and save it to a memory of its own, so the solo is one turn of the VALUE knob away, or one press of a footswitch. Press TAP two or more times in time with the song to set the delay time. In BOSS Tone Studio, the Booster's SOLO SW switches to a tone suitable for solos, with its own SOLO LEVEL.
Acoustic guitar
ACOUSTIC amp type, which BOSS describes as a dedicated acoustic guitar amp that supports connection of an acoustic guitar; its product page calls it an amp character tuned for acoustic-electric instruments. Start with Gain low, Bass, Middle and Treble at 5 and the Booster off, and take Bass down a step if the body of the guitar booms. In BOSS Tone Studio, AC. PROCESSOR in the MOD and FX list makes the pickup sound more like a microphone placed close to the guitar.
Saving a sound and quiet practice
Hold EFFECTS, which doubles as WRITE, for at least one second: the display shows Writing... and then Completed. An asterisk in front of the memory name means the sound has changed and is not saved, and turning VALUE to another memory or switching off loses it. The Katana 25 holds 30 memories, 20 factory presets and 10 blank ones that BOSS sets up for creating sounds from scratch, which is where your own settings belong. At home, flip POWER CONTROL to 0.5 W rather than turning MASTER almost off: BOSS calls the half-watt mode bedroom-friendly without sacrificing tone quality or feel. Headphones in the PHONES/REC OUT jack silence the speaker.
Boss Katana 25 amp types
Six amp types, the same six as the Katana Gen 3 amps, each with a second voicing marked Var. on the display, so twelve in all. BOSS names no real amp behind any of them; the only lineage it gives is Brown's, from its own Waza amp.
| Amp type | What BOSS says it is |
|---|---|
| ACOUSTIC | A dedicated acoustic guitar amp that supports connection of an acoustic guitar |
| CLEAN | A clean and natural sound, which can take a solo or lead with the Booster |
| PUSHED | A penetrating sound with a tonal color that responds greatly to your picking nuances |
| CRUNCH | A fat crunch sound that faithfully responds to the nuances of your picking |
| LEAD | Covers a wide range from crunch to high gain, depending on the gain setting |
| BROWN | A lead sound with an edge inherited from the BOSS WAZA brown sound |
Boss Katana 25 booster list
21 types for the Booster block, from clean boosts to fuzz, with the pedals BOSS says it models. The Booster sits before the amp, so a boost with its drive low and its level up tightens a high-gain sound rather than adding more distortion.
| Booster type | What BOSS says it is |
|---|---|
| CLEAN BOOST | A booster that also gives a clean tone with punch on its own |
| TREBLE BOOST | A booster with bright characteristics |
| MID BOOST | A booster with unique characteristics in the midrange, suited to solos before the preamp |
| CRUNCH OD | A lustrous crunch sound with an added element of amp distortion |
| NATURAL OD | An overdrive with distortion that has a natural feeling |
| WARM OD | A warm overdrive |
| TURBO OD | The high-gain overdrive sound of the BOSS OD-2 |
| T-SCREAM | Models an Ibanez TS-808 |
| DISTORTION | A basic, traditional distortion sound |
| FAT DS | A distortion sound with thick distortion |
| DST+ | Models an MXR Distortion+ |
| GUV DS | Models a Marshall Guv'nor |
| RAT | Models a ProCo RAT |
| METAL ZONE | Models the BOSS MT-2, from old style to slash metal |
| METAL DS | A distortion sound ideal for heavy riffs |
| '60S FUZZ | Models a Fuzz Face, a fat fuzz sound |
| MUFF FUZZ | Models an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi |
| OCT FUZZ | A fuzz sound with rich harmonic content |
| HM-2 | Models the BOSS HM-2, cranked-up distortion with compression |
| METAL CORE | Models the BOSS ML-2, for high-speed metal riffs |
| CENTA OD | Models a Klon Centaur |
Boss Katana 25 effects list
28 types for MOD and FX, which share one list, 8 delays, 5 reverbs, 3 pedal effects that need an expression pedal, and 2 EQ types, on top of the 21 boosters. BOSS says up to five effects run at once. On the amp you set how much of each effect a memory uses; the effects themselves are changed in BOSS Tone Studio.
| Effect | Block | What BOSS says it does |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS | MOD or FX | Two choruses, one for the lows and one for the highs, for a more natural chorus |
| FLANGER | MOD or FX | A twisting, jet-airplane-like character |
| PHASER | MOD or FX | A whooshing, swirling character, in 4, 8 or 12 stages or BiPhase |
| UNI-V | MOD or FX | Models a Uni-Vibe |
| TREMOLO | MOD or FX | A cyclic change in volume |
| VIBRATO | MOD or FX | Vibrato from slightly modulating the pitch |
| ROTARY | MOD or FX | Like the sound of a rotary speaker |
| RING MOD | MOD or FX | A metallic sound from the internal oscillator |
| SLOW GEAR | MOD or FX | A volume swell, the violin-like sound |
| SLICER | MOD or FX | Slices the sound into a rhythm backing phrase |
| COMP | MOD or FX | A long sustain from evening out the volume level |
| LIMITER | MOD or FX | Holds down loud input levels to prevent distortion |
| T. WAH | MOD or FX | A wah whose filter follows the guitar volume |
| AUTO WAH | MOD or FX | A wah that sweeps over a periodic cycle |
| GRAPHIC EQ | MOD or FX | Ten-band EQ |
| PARAMETRIC EQ | MOD, FX, EQ 1 or EQ 2 | Six-band EQ |
| GUITAR SIM | MOD or FX | Switches between guitar types, pickups and bodies on one guitar |
| AC. GUITAR SIM | MOD or FX | Turns an electric guitar into the sound of an acoustic |
| AC. PROCESSOR | MOD or FX | Makes an acoustic-electric's pickup sound closer to a mic near the guitar |
| WAVE SYNTH | MOD or FX | A synth sound from the guitar input |
| OCTAVE | MOD or FX | Adds a note an octave lower, for a heavier low end |
| HEAVY OCTAVE | MOD or FX | Adds one or two octaves lower, chords included |
| PITCH SHIFTER | MOD or FX | Shifts the pitch up or down within two octaves |
| HARMONIST | MOD or FX | Harmonies based on diatonic scales |
| HUMANIZER | MOD or FX | A human-like vocalized sound |
| PHASER 90E | MOD or FX | Models an MXR EVH-90 Phase Shifter |
| FLANGER 117E | MOD or FX | Models an MXR EVH-117 Flanger |
| DC-30 | MOD or FX | Models the Roland DC-30 |
| DIGITAL | Delay | A simple delay |
| PAN | Delay | A tap delay, the time divided across left and right |
| STEREO | Delay | A stereo in and out delay |
| ANALOG | Delay | A mild analog delay sound |
| TAPE ECHO | Delay | The wavering sound of a tape echo |
| REVERSE | Delay | A reverse playback effect |
| MODULATE | Delay | Adds a pleasant wavering to the delay |
| SDE-3000 | Delay | Models the Roland SDE-3000 |
| PLATE | Reverb | A plate reverb: metallic, with an extended high end |
| ROOM | Reverb | A small room: warm reverberation |
| HALL | Reverb | A concert hall: clear and spacious |
| SPRING | Reverb | A guitar amp's built-in spring reverb |
| MODULATE | Reverb | Hall reverb with a wavering sound |
| PEDAL WAH | Pedal FX | Wah in six modes, CRY WAH and VO WAH among them, modelled on a Crybaby and a VOX V846 |
| WAH 95E | Pedal FX | Models a Jim Dunlop EVH-95 |
| PEDAL BEND | Pedal FX | A pitch-bend effect from the pedal |
| GE-10 | EQ 1 or EQ 2 | Models the BOSS GE-10, ten bands |
What controls does the Boss Katana 25 have?
The Boss Katana 25 has 10 controls on its front panel: Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Effects button, Value knob, Tap button, Master and Power Control switch.
Boss Katana 25 specifications
- Power
- 25W, with a 0.5W setting
- Speaker
- 1x8" custom
- Voicings
- Acoustic, Clean, Pushed, Crunch, Lead, Brown
- Front panel
- Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Effects button, Value knob, Tap button, Master, Power Control switch
- Released
- 2026
What the Boss Katana 25 panel means when you dial it in
25W, with a 0.5W setting through a 1x8" custom. There is enough headroom to hold a clean setting at band volume, so the gain control does the driving rather than the master. There is no presence control on this panel, so everything above the treble band has to come from the treble control and the guitar's own tone knob. A setting copied from an amp with presence has to be rebalanced here. Gain and master volume are separate, so the preamp can be driven hard at a volume that is liveable. Where a tone sits between the two is part of the answer, not a detail. The selectable voicings are Acoustic, Clean, Pushed, Crunch, Lead and Brown. Picking the voicing comes before the knob positions, because the same numbers land somewhere else on each one.
Boss Katana 25 questions
What amp types does the Boss Katana 25 have?
Six, each with a second voicing marked Var. on the display, so twelve: ACOUSTIC, CLEAN, PUSHED, CRUNCH, LEAD and BROWN, the same six as the Katana Gen 3 amps. BOSS describes Pushed as a penetrating sound that responds greatly to your picking, Crunch as a fat crunch sound, Lead as covering crunch to high gain depending on the gain setting, and Brown as a lead sound with an edge inherited from the BOSS WAZA brown sound. BOSS names no real amp behind any of them.
Does the Katana 25 have a reverb knob?
No. Its knobs are Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble and Master, and the effects are set on the display. Press EFFECTS, turn the VALUE knob to a block, press VALUE, turn it to set how much of that effect you hear and press it again; OFF switches the effect off. Each memory has five blocks, Booster, Mod, FX, Delay and Reverb, and BOSS Tone Studio changes which effect sits in each one.
How do you change the effects on the Katana 25?
In BOSS Tone Studio on a phone or tablet, connected over Bluetooth. BOSS's app manual says its editor reaches the amps and effects that cannot be set directly from the Katana 25's panel: the effect type in each block, its parameters, the order of the chain, and blocks the panel does not show, such as Pedal FX, EQ 1 and EQ 2 and a second delay. The connection is made from inside the app, not from the phone's own Bluetooth settings.
How do you save a sound on the Katana 25?
Hold the EFFECTS button, marked WRITE underneath, for at least one second. The display shows Writing... and then Completed, and the sound is stored in the memory you are on: amp type, Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble and the effect amounts. An asterisk before the memory name means there are unsaved changes, and switching memory or turning the amp off loses them. Memory names and order are changed in BOSS Tone Studio.
How many presets does the Katana 25 have?
30 memories: 20 preset factory settings and 10 blank memories that BOSS sets up for creating sounds from scratch. Turn the VALUE knob to step through them; the display shows the memory number, its name and its amp type. With a footswitch on the FOOT SW/EXP PEDAL jack, the tip moves up one memory and the ring down one. More sounds can be downloaded from BOSS Tone Exchange in the app.
What does the Power Control switch do on the Katana 25?
It switches the power amp's output between MAX, the full 25 watts, and 0.5 W. BOSS says the half-watt mode produces bedroom-friendly levels without sacrificing sound quality or feel, so at home use 0.5 W rather than turning MASTER almost off. There is no Standby or Half position, which the Katana 50 Gen 3 has.
Can you use headphones with the Katana 25?
Yes, in the PHONES/REC OUT jack, a stereo mini jack. With a plug in it the speaker is silent, and BOSS says you still get a powerful guitar amp sound, just as if you were playing through the speaker. The same jack feeds a recorder or a PA. In BOSS Tone Studio, the line out setting picks REC, a distantly miked sound for recording, BLEND, or LIVE, a close-miked sound, or a custom setup with five modelled microphones.
Does the Katana 25 have Bluetooth?
Yes, for two jobs. Bluetooth audio plays music from a phone through the speaker or headphones: hold TAP until the Bluetooth screen shows, press VALUE, then tap KATANA-25 AUDIO on the phone, and the display shows Audio ok. BOSS Tone Studio connects separately, for editing, and its Session feature plays YouTube videos in the app and can switch memories at points you set in a song. Set the music level on the phone and the overall level with MASTER VOLUME.
Does the Katana 25 have a tuner?
Yes. Hold the VALUE knob down to open it, play one string at a time, and press VALUE to leave. It tunes to A = 440 Hz and shows the note name and how far sharp or flat you are; the correct note name is not shown when you play a chord.
Does the Katana 25 have a presence knob?
Not on the panel. BOSS's Katana 25 Parameter Guide lists Presence, Cab Resonance and Contour among the equalizer settings, so those are set in BOSS Tone Studio. On the amp itself, shape the top end with Treble.
What is the difference between the Katana 25 and the Katana 50 Gen 3?
The 25 puts 25 watts into an 8-inch speaker, the 50 Gen 3 50 watts into a 12-inch. Both have the same six amp types with a second voicing each. The 50 Gen 3 sets its effects on knobs and colour-cycling buttons and stores four sounds on CH1 and CH2 in two banks; the 25 has no effect knobs, sets the effects on a display and stores 30 memories. The 25's Power Control is MAX or 0.5 W, where the 50 Gen 3's reads Standby, 0.5 W, Half and Max.
What is the difference between the Katana 25 and the Katana Mini X?
The Mini X is the portable one: 10 watts into a 5-inch speaker on a built-in rechargeable battery, three amp types and its effects on two knobs. The Katana 25 runs from the mains, with 25 watts into an 8-inch speaker, six amp types, more than 60 effects, 30 memories and the BOSS Tone Studio app. Both play music over Bluetooth.
Can you record with the Katana 25 over USB?
Yes. BOSS calls its USB-C port a class-compliant interface for recording to a computer or mobile device, and the standard USB driver that comes with the operating system is the default. If latency is noticeable while recording, install BOSS's Katana 25 driver and set USB DRIVER to VENDOR in the system settings, which open when you hold the VALUE knob while switching on.
Does the Katana 25 have an effects loop or a line out?
No effects loop: BOSS's connector list has INPUT, FOOT SW/EXP PEDAL, USB-C, PHONES/REC OUT and AC IN, with no send or return. PHONES/REC OUT, a stereo mini jack, is the way into a recorder or PA, and it silences the speaker while it is in use.
What footswitch works with the Katana 25?
BOSS lists the FS-5U, FS-6 and FS-7 for the FOOT SW/EXP PEDAL jack, all used as momentary switches: set an FS-6 or FS-7 to FS-5U (MOMENTARY) mode, and latching switches such as the FS-5L cannot be used. The wireless FS-1-WL footswitch and EV-1-WL expression pedal pair from the Bluetooth screen. The expression pedals BOSS lists are the EV-30, FV-500L, FV-500H, EV-1-WL and Roland EV-5, for foot volume or the Pedal FX wah and pitch bend, and BOSS warns that other makers' expression pedals may cause the unit to malfunction.
How do you factory reset the Katana 25?
Hold the VALUE knob while you switch on, let go when the logo appears, turn VALUE to FACT.RESET, press it, turn it to OK and press it again. It takes about five seconds; when the display shows Completed. Please Turn Off., switch off. All the settings go back to the factory ones, your own memories included, so save any you want to keep to a liveset in BOSS Tone Studio first.
What do the knob numbers on this page mean in BOSS Tone Studio?
The settings here are positions on a 0 to 10 scale, with 5 at twelve o'clock. BOSS's Parameter Guide gives Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle and Treble a range of 0 to 100 in the app, so multiply by ten: Gain 6 here is about 60 there.
What are the best Boss Katana 25 settings for metal?
Start with the LEAD or BROWN amp type, Gain 6 to 7, Bass 5 to 6, Middle around 5 and Treble 6 to 7, with the Reverb block low or off and a boost such as MID BOOST or T-SCREAM in the Booster block with its drive low. These are starting points, not BOSS's numbers: move one control at a time from here. If it fizzes, lower Gain first and Treble second, since the panel has no Presence knob.
When did the Boss Katana 25 come out and how much is it?
BOSS announced it in a press release dated 29 October 2026, as available now at authorized BOSS retailers for $199.99, the US price at the time. It joins the Katana range BOSS introduced in 2016, as its compact amp for home playing.
Does Tonelify support the Boss Katana 25?
Yes, and its front panel is stored, so settings only ever reference controls this guitar amp has: Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Effects button, Value knob, Tap button, Master, Power Control switch. You will not be told to set a knob that is not there.
Sources
Panel, specifications and dates checked against these on .
- BOSS: KATANA-25 Reference Manual (PDF)
- BOSS: KATANA-25 Parameter Guide (PDF)
- BOSS: KATANA-25 BOSS TONE STUDIO Owner's Manual (PDF)
- BOSS: Katana-25 product page
- BOSS: Katana-25 specifications
- BOSS: Katana-25 press release, 29 October 2026
- Guitar World: Why BOSS might have just released the most beginner-friendly Katana yet (30 October 2026)
The three manuals are the files BOSS's Katana-25 support page links, read on 7 November 2026. The Guitar World piece is marked as sponsor content made with BOSS, and is used only for the names of the five effect blocks on the panel, which BOSS's manual screenshots show in part.