Im looking in upgrading my ampeg 25 watt. Is anyone familiar with the katana or the rumble?
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I actually tried out the Katana 210 over the weekend because I’m looking for something more portable than my PF-50.
I loved it and I will definitely be getting that amp sometime in the not too distant future.
I’d say go with the 210 over the 100, though. There’s a switch on it that will drop the wattage and make it more suitable for home practice or you can set the switch to max and annoy your neighbors is the next suburb over.
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I canny speak to the Fender rumble anymore than the very good reviews I’ve seen, but I do own a Katana 110 and think its the richest, whole sounding amp I’ve heard.
I have four amps and the 110 is used 99% of the time, the others are only used when someone wants to hear a comparison or another bass player comes by.
You’ll likely get a lot of feedback on this subject… 
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I would advise playing each if you can since their designs are somewhat different.
The Katana’s power amp is an AB design producing 60w RMS continuous power through a 10" speaker. The Rumble uses a Class D power amp producing 100w RMS through a 12" speaker. In general a 12" speaker will produce a rounder more full bottom end vs a single 10" speaker which will be punchier and more mid focused.
Both are very well designed and built amps. You may find you like the added features the Katana provides over those of the Rumble but that’s all about personal preference. The Rumble at 22lbs is also significantly lighter than the Katana’s 37lbs. and the Katana is higher priced.
I’ve played through a Rumble 100 before and I do know something about some of it’s features that have their roots in Genz Benz amps which are among the best made. I’ve never played the Katana 110 but I have owned and played a 100w Katana guitar amp. They are excellent amps as are the Roland amps I’ve owned and played both produced by BOSS.
But there will be enough differences that I would still recommend to you play each of them before deciding which you prefer.
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Katana all the way. I own 2.
Don’t get me wrong Rumble series are terrific. Fender acquisition helps the company deliver expensive tone for little money.
Katana though, for the money you get a lot more for your money and the in unit expansion possibility is such a value added features.
Just for your reference my other main amp is 3 stack $2000 array systems.
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I think this statement rings true in theory but doesn’t represent the Katana 110.
The 110 has incredible bottom end, rich, round and wholesome sound like nothing I’ve heard in the price range.
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Give the differences in both the power amps and basic construction between the two amps that’s not surprising. My Genzler MG350 110 combo is also not short on bottom end.
But in general a 12" speaker will voice differently than a 10" speaker and since I have not played a Katana myself I can’t offer any specifics. All I have to go by is theory and previous experience.
This is why I suggested the OP play through each amp and make his own decision about which he believes works best for him. They are IMHO two very different amps in enough ways to justify that.
Personally I would more than likely buy the Katana since I believe it’s better features justify it’s higher price. But then I’m not the one buying the amp. Evan 8816 is.
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The 200 watt ampeg rocket with the 15" is on the radar aswell. I really dont care to much for the effects. I like pretty old school music. I started playing bass over 20 years ago but haven’t played much in the last 12 years. In high-school i used a fender cabinet and a peavey head that the school had. I had a 20 watt kustom combo unit that i used at home and up until 2 years ago when i got a ampeg ba 108. The 108 just isn’t enough to jam. We have recently renovated our house and i have a space now for more boom.
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I also have never jammed up until recently. Just solo at home or in a school band. The tiny northern Alberta town i live in does not have many other musicians. But now with social media ive connected with a few from surrounding area’s.
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15 will produce big boomy bass, 12 will have much tighter and tastier bass tone with great mid bass, but for me nothing beats high end 10” offers fast and exceptional definition. That’s why I love my pure BAs IEMs, they have the best bass tone. Take your Tens to any gigs people would stop and ask what kind of amp I use.
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Then the Katana may not be what you enjoy the most. But it also uses an AB type power amp vs a Class D type power module which will give it a little different feel and output. Either amp will be more than suitable for home use or light duty jams
When Fender bought Genz Benz it was to pirate some of the technology Jeff Genzler and Andy Field put into the Genz Benz amps and IMHO it greatly improved the Rumble product line. They’re very good sounding dependable amps now.
Happy hunting.
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I would have said “acquire” instead of “pirate” because they paid for it. That kind of thing happens all of the time. When Motorola split asunder in 2004, Google bought the mobile phone handset division for the patents, and sold the manufacturing part to Lenovo. That infusion of cash allowed them to buy me out and allowed me to retire at 53. That worked out as well for me as it did for the v3 Rumbles. I was happy with my 40 and 200 combos (sold when I moved to 230VAC land), and now my Studio 40 (I replaced the 200 with a GR Bass AT combo and cab).
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I have a Rumble 40 and 500, and they do everything I need them to do. I run my bass through a pedal board, so I couldn’t care less about the effects features of any given solid state amp anyway. I care about weight (Rumble wins) and price (Rumble wins). The Rumble 40 is perfect for home practice and even small room venues. The Rumble 500 is great in larger venues like churches, etc.
If I were a gigging bassist in loud clubs or a session bassist, I’d get a head (likely Genzler Kinetix or Magellan or Darkglass Microtubes or Alpha-Omega) and cab combo, but that’s beyond the scope of this discussion. 
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Semantics but OK. They bought Genz Benz and shut it down thereby taking a very good product line out of the market place. While Rumble bass amps benefited from the technology Fender acquired the market place did not end up better because of it. JMHO
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I live on a farm i can jam as loud as i want lol
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This isn’t semantics. Piracy is synonymous with theft, and that isn’t even remotely what happened.
Jeff Genzler sold Genz Benz to Kaman. Later, Fender bought Kaman and got Genz Benz as part of the deal. Fender didn’t need a second amp company and shut it down. Nothing nefarious happened. Jeff received a bunch of money, which he used to build Genzler Amplification.
This seems a bit disingenuous. The Rumble amps benefited from 70+ years of Fender amp building and what they learned from buying both Genz Benz and SWR (SWR being another company people make up all kinds of revisionist history about.)
I disagree. Genzler Amplification appears to be doing very well, and Fender gave us the best selling, fairly priced, lightest, line of bass amps in all of history. The Rumble v3 amplifiers have had a massive positive effect on the marketplace.
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There’s something to be said about clarity… and facts. 
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Eric, the wonderful thing about this world is so far we can all see it through whatever rose colored glasses we wish. You have your own take on history and I have mine. Yours may be more correct or it may miss some things. At least Fender benefited in ways that made Rumble Series amps much better than the pure junk they once were via some of the knowledge they gained.
Kaman’s acquisition of Genz Benz made them a more attractive target for their acquisition by Fender. Some corporations are more than willing to swallow the spider to catch the fly. Fender does have a history of buying up it’s competition as do many other companies. It’s not at all uncommon to benefit from it in many ways. Gibson has done much the same over the years. They now own Mesa Engineering.
But so far Mesa still exists whereas Genz Benz did not survive and we lost that product line for a good while until Jeff reemerged as Genzler Amplification. Andy of course is with Mesa and designed their Subway Series. But I stand by what I said. The loss of Genz Benz took some great amps out of the marketplace for a bit to now be replaced by Jeff’s new products which are also terrific amps, cabs, and effects.
If I’ve offended your Fender sensitivities I’m sorry. That was not my intent. I’ve actually complimented them on finally getting them right. But never believe they did all of that internally on their own. I also give them great compliments on their Tonemaster Series guitar amps. They’re finally able to build quality digital products the market enjoys. It hasn’t always been this way.
So you can stow your knife. I’ve been playing Fender gear for longer than many of those here have been alive. But until more recently their ventures away from tube amp and into the digital world haven’t always been as successful as the newer products have been. How they got better at this is part of the story but it doesn’t matter as much as they finally did. I just don’t over hype that progress. It was needed.
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I own the Rumble 100. I really like it and it’s light weight. It gives me the rumble I want. I only use it to practice at home with. I’ve had it for over 3-1/2 years and no problems.
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Only if you know ALL of the facts. Not just those published in the music media.
But to avoid more conflict about how to view things why don’t we let this drop. I’m not into pissing matches any longer. I’ve already said as many nice things about the newer Rumble Series amps as I’m willing to say including that I’ve owned one. Good enough?
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