I Finally Gigged the Line 6 Catalyst 100 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

Something to bear in mind is that fletcher-munson curve wise, your ear is more sensitive to a slightly lower range of mids than at low volume. That means that if at bedroom volume you are hearing a peak at 800hz, at higher volumes you might find that becomes more like 600hz as the flat low- mid boost (which may be pushing everything from 600-1.5 for example) will be perceived by you very differently at gig volumes. Absolute ballache!

I've been strictly playing my catalyst 60 sense they released it. This amp is great! Not just for the price. It definitely doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Nice post , lovely to hear the phrase "load in" , as a gigging / jam night / open mic player it can make or break your evening especially as you get older (OAP here) , arm chair / bedroom warriors won't get it and wonder why anyone would use solid state / or hybrid etc over their fire breathing valve / tube combo / stack . Currently using a 1x12 lightweight DV Mark cab with 20 watt Orange Terror Stomp velcroed on top with some gain / modulation pedals ( also velcroed to top of cab ) and I can lift it with one finger , loud enough for pubs / medium clubs , for bigger venues just add another 1x12 cab to taste or run from amp sim out of Terror Stomp to fx return of my back up mk1 100 Katana , all super reliable and super light weight , best live set up i've ever used in nearly 50 years playing live , 😃👍

Great playing as usual John! Nice thoughts and thanks for sharing your experience with it.

Awesome opening thought, JNC! Looking forward to hearing the rest of the video on the back of that. 👏🏻

Wonderful playing as always, and fun to “ride along” to your gig! I’m very happy with my CX 60, mainly using the two clean amp voices and Aristocat but will definitely try again with the Grammatico based on your experience. With and without a Browne Carbon as blues breaker. (No other pedals as yet, and a Tumnus set to arrive tomorrow.) You mentioned a compressor but I missed seeing which you use…. Many thanks!

I used the 3 screws of the Catalyst logo to secure the trim round the panel 😊 And replaced the speaker for a light weight Celestion neo. Further more I advice to remove the power selector knob or transport the amp face down to avoid ruining it. But sound en price wise its a bargain. Special the old version. I love it.

That may be my favorite cold open for any guitar video. LOL John, you might have gotten a blacklist from a TPS appearance with that one if it weren't so funny. Mick would probably jump INTO a grave so he could turn over in it. 😂 Whatever works, whatever SOUNDS and feels right for the job IS right for the job.

I bought my Catalyst 60 almost exactly 2 years ago. I used it for one garden gig with my SE SilverSky. I thought that pairing sounded pretty good, but I used my board's delays and modulation pedals in front of it. I sold it for the Princeton Tone Master which I liked better, but still preferred my verb & trem pedal in front of that. So now I use a Milkman The Amp 50. My board got much smaller and I can still run sans cabinet if required. I'm glad I went on that journey! I'm grateful for all the options that are available. I ordered a Boss IR-2 from Sweetwater at the end of December and I'm still waiting....

Pleasure playing with you John!

I was impressed by a YouTube video about the Catalyst 60 so I bought one. Two weeks later I swapped it for the 100, both amazing Amps! I use it more than my new Fender hotrod deluxe. Thanks for your opinions on this great amp.

Your gig playing was amazing…and your tones were fine. I am sure all who heard you were impressed.

@John Nathan Cordy I just neatly drilled holes in that trim cover, got some finish screws and screwed mine back on. Kind of emulated the look of the new CX model. Otherwise, as far as being durable, The covering is not going to last as long as my Fender Princeton Chorus from 1990 with the original cover on it. I would suspect I will be changing the covering in the long run. Cheaper than a new amp. I think the construction of it should be fine. As far as the amp over all, it is a winner. I think this is more of a live players digital amp. I run mine in manual, do where ever I set the knobs, that is what I get. The main reason I got this amp over the Katana or the Blackstar. Another think I like about the Catalyst is the fact that it does not try too hard to emulate other amplifiers. Kind of like they made their own versions of the tones.

Some nice shredding there!

I’ve been using my Katana as a pedal platform and it works for me.

It's a shame your pedalboard died. I was grooving to today's improv! Excellent work. Went back and listened to it twice!

Tip for reattching trim bezel around ctrl panel: 3M auto trim adhesive tape. It's made to adjust to vibration/movement/extreme temp changes. Also, can just use small screws like the Catalyst CX, just need pilot holes in cab and full size holes in bezel.

When I checked out the Catalyst I liked it better than the Katana especially for the overdrive tones but the newest version of the Katana that you (John Nathan Cordy) recently reviewed sounded pretty killer so I might test drive the new version in person !

I've had a Cat 100 for a year and it's my go-to amp even though I have nice tube amps. I use it as a monitor for the Hxstomp, and it gives me loads of really good different tones. John's right, the build quality isn't great, but I take care of my gear and through a number of gigs and rehearsals it's worked flawlessly. The new update( it's downloadable for the original Catalyst) add some nice new amp models. I wish it had better footswitch implementation so I could leave the pedalboard home, but I don't think that's going to happen. It's lightweight, cheap, sounds very good, and if the Stomp dies, I have a plan B. That alone is enough to keep my 50lb amps at home.

Part of the honkiness could be the speaker. It looks like it has a wide cloth dust cover. Speakers with those tend to have a muffled 4~5kHz that can make them sound more honky. It may also not have a typical 1-2kHz dip of a classic Britsh speaker. Maybe that can be dialed in with a software eq? It should be last in the chain, if possible, as not to affect the amp sim sound