The Boss Katana : GO - Personal Guitar Amplifier / Headphone Amp is Back!

Most of you readers will be aware of the Boss Katana : Go story - where this superb Headphone Device originally launched in March of last year, but had to be retired not too long after - as Fender bought up all those remaining chips used - worldwide, and Boss as a consquence was unable to source more of the same kind. As a result Boss had to seek out an alternative chip which then required the device to be re-engineered to a degree- once the new supply was secured. All of this took time!

And here we have the replacement - which apart from the changed Chip has all those same internals and same tech specs, with identical output fidelity. Beyond the Chip - the differences are really just cosmetic - with the formerly large central volume knob moved to the side of the pedal, and the enclosure made a little more streamlined with more of a taper on all dimensions. All in all the new version is a little more elegant. I know there was competition between the Katana : Go and the follow-up Fender Mustang Micro Plus Model which ’borrowed’ certain elements of it. Also at the time of launch - the newer Fender one weighed about 15 grams less - so by further rounding those corners and removing the large knob - surely the Boss one is now as light as the Fender one!

In my recent Headphone Amps feature I covered off the 3 key competing products in that space - the Katana : Go, Fender Mustang Micro Plus, and Nux MP-3 Mighty Plug Pro - all are excellent, and each has its own advantages. I’m of course a Boss guy - and I know and love all those classic Boss Effects, and Katana Eco System - while I’m still a little envious of the Fender Graphical User Interface - which some find somewhat prettier and more intuitive than the Boss and Nux ones. All 3 devices can sound fantastic - the Fender is default tuned somewhat Brighter, Boss a little Darker, and the Nux somewhere in-between - while you can of course tweak and tune all those to your preferences - they’re all at a similar price point - the Nux being a little more affordable than the other two - but there is very little in it.

I did a pretty decent and detailed first hand account of the Katana : Go when it launched - and I see no point in regurgitating all those same details here - the two devices are near enough identical - bar those cosmetic differences - Battery Life and Tech Specs I’ve been told remain the same as before. To the extent that I’ve not been sent the new device - this 2025 replacement is pretty much the same story all over again - hopefully bar Boss running out of Chips! I would presume they have bought in copious quantities - the second time around. Of course all of this took a while to organise - as Boss had to find a replacement chip that could support its very significant demand on an ongoing basis!

Here below you can compare the two versions - the New one and then the original - as below :