Katana - Using the Roland GA-FC Controller

Started by spmartin, February 22, 2017, 09:01:55 AM

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spmartin

I would love it if someone could point me to more information about using the Roland GA-FC foot controller. Thanks!!

Elantric

#1
Inside the Katana Head / 100 combo box there is a sticker you apply to the GA-FC Footswitch
The GA-FC Foot Switch connects with a 1/4" TRS cable to Katana Head / 100 combo / Artist
(GA-FC is NOT supported on Katana 50 112, AIR or MINI)

On the far Right the "EFFECTS" switch toggles the GA-FC operation modes.

GA-FC Foot Switch Default mode is
* Channel Select Mode (selecting the 5 channels on Katana 100 / Head)
(CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4, Panel (manual settings))

or


* FX Select Mode  - toggle FX On/Off ( Booster/Mod, Delay/FX, Tap Tempo, Reverb, FX Loop )


Also you can add two Roland EV-5 Expression Pedal to the GA-FC Footswitch for Volume (Master Vol) and FX (Wah or Preamp Vol)




On each of the 8 presets you can edit your desired FX  for

* Booster/Mod

* Delay/FX

* Reverb

and toggle each on/off using the GA-FC Foot switch
And for each of the 8 user presets use BTS of Gumtowns Katana Editor and edit each preset for the specific Booster/Mod, Delay/FX, Reverb effect you desire.


Here is a comparison:
Gumtown's FxFloorBoard vs Boss Tone Studio:

FxFloorBoard vs Boss Tone Studio (BTS):
30 Booster types (including 8 custom sub types) vs BTS 20 Boosters,
35 MOD effects (plus Harmonist custom scales) vs BTS 27 MOD effects,
11 Delay types vs BTS 6 Delay types,
37 FX types (including TeraEcho and OverTone) vs BTS 27 FX types,
Chain configuration (any effects order) fully customisable vs BTS 3 fixed Chain selections,
11 items/effects can be used at once in the signal chin vs BTS 8 items (can't use Booster/MOD or Delay/FX at the same time).

Gumtown's Katana FxFloorBoard Editor
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=20625.0

Katana FAQ
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=19048.0





spmartin


ma9ick

A suppose Roland EV-5 is not the only expression pedal GA-FC supports. Katana's spec mentions Boss FV-500L and FV-500H - would those pedals work fine with GA-FC as well? What about Boss FV-50H or FV-30H?

Since I already have GA-FC, FS-5L or any other Boss footswitch will be pretty much redundant, but could it be utilized in any way together with GA-FC?

Elantric


waterpicker

I've been having a weird problem.
100 combo.
Normally using the GA-FC with an EV-5.
Works as expected...
But when I use the amp without the GA-FC, it sometimes stops making sound.
Sometimes it plays fine until I move any knob and then there is no sound.
Really messed me up on a couple of gigs.
Now I just always bring the GA-FC and it will restore the amp to working condition.
Is this a known bug?

Idgolfguy


Elantric

QuoteI've been having a weird problem.
100 combo.
Normally using the GA-FC with an EV-5.
Works as expected...
But when I use the amp without the GA-FC, it sometimes stops making sound.
Sometimes it plays fine until I move any knob and then there is no sound.
Really messed me up on a couple of gigs.
Now I just always bring the GA-FC and it will restore the amp to working condition.
Is this a known bug?


When EV-5 Expression pedal is connected , There exists internal flash memory that stores the current volume level based upon the last known EV-5 position

However should you power down the Katana while the EV-5 treadle is heel down (low volume or muted  ) , this value will be automatically written into the current preset ("CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4") and remain in flash memory.

As you discovered , only way to "recover" is reconnect the EV-5


Prevent this occurring by moving the EV-5 pedal full Toe Down ( max volume) prior to turning off the power on the Katana.

jwhitcomb3

Quote from: Elantric on March 22, 2017, 07:54:11 AM

When EV-5 Expression pedal is connected , There exists internal flash memory that stores the current volume level based upon the last known EV-5 position

However should you power down the Katana while the EV-5 treadle is heel down (low volume or muted  ) , this value will be automatically written into the current preset ("CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4") and remain in flash memory.

As you discovered , only way to "recover" is reconnect the EV-5


Prevent this occurring by moving the EV-5 pedal full Toe Down ( max volume) prior to turning off the power on the Katana.

That's important information! Does this affect the EV-5 plugged directly into the amp, or just when the EV-5 is plugged into the GA-FC?

Elantric

#9
Either scenario


QuoteThat's important information!

Explains why we will soon have 20,000 members ;)

waterpicker

#10
YIKES!
That is a seriously important thing to know.

Many thanks to Elantric for the info!
Is this published on the Roland site somewhere?

I was burned 3 times by this hidden "feature"...  Imagine me very sweaty on gigs, not knowing why the Katana was not making sound.
Or soundcheck was fine and then time to play and... no sound.... sweat and major stress...  turns out if you move any knob when in this crash mode... the whole thing mutes.
Kind of a big deal.

Are we sure that the toe down on shut down will always fix this?

What if I forget, or imagine that I forgot to do the toe down at shut down...

Is the solution to always bring the GA-FC with at least one EV-5 to every gig....?  or power up the amp at home before a gig to be sure I don't need the GA-FC...?

Even then, my confidence has been severely shaken.

The EV-5 plugged directly in to the Katana doesn't resolve the issue.
It requires GA-FC with EV-5



















Charles Beatty

#11


I'm a little confused.  Does the GA-FC Controller have the same function to engage different effects on the Katana-50.



Elantric

QuoteI'm a little confused.  Does the GA-FC Controller have the same function to engage different effects on the Katana-50.

If you own a Katana 50 watt -many features of the Katana 100 watt models are not possible - like using the GA-FC Foot controller  = not possible


jwhitcomb3

Quote from: Elantric on March 22, 2017, 07:54:11 AM

When EV-5 Expression pedal is connected , There exists internal flash memory that stores the current volume level based upon the last known EV-5 position

However should you power down the Katana while the EV-5 treadle is heel down (low volume or muted  ) , this value will be automatically written into the current preset ("CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4") and remain in flash memory.

As you discovered , only way to "recover" is reconnect the EV-5


Prevent this occurring by moving the EV-5 pedal full Toe Down ( max volume) prior to turning off the power on the Katana.

FWIW, I could not reproduce this problem using the EV-5 directly plugged in to my Katana 100 1x12.

admin

#15
QuoteFWIW, I could not reproduce this problem using the EV-5 directly plugged in to my Katana 100 1x12.
However it remains  a rampant problem for many folks at TGP

Its a result of using the EV-5 ( or wrong Expression pedal type  - like a Mission Pedal ) connected to the GA-FC foot pedal,

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/23651194/
Quotemjross said: ↑
Sorry for the bother but can someone help me with an issue I'm have with my Katana 100. It is kind of hard to put my finger on it but every now an then I turn the amp off and when I turn it back on, I get lights but I get no sound no matter what I do. If I do a factory reset, it comes back but I loose all my presets. I just got the Roland GA-FC pedal and I'm trying to isolate if that may be the issue. However! This seems to be intermittent and the damn thing just shuts down when it wants to. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.


Can anyone expand on this? Is there a problem with using specific types of expression pedals with the Roland GA-FC? Are Mission Engineering pedals not compatible? Are all expression pedals (other than Roland) not compatible? Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.



The Katana and the GA-FC is designed for a Roland Expression pedal = an Expression pedal with a 10K ohm Linear POT that must be wired like an EV-5

jwhitcomb3

I was just responding to the previous post that indicated this problem also affects the EV-5 plugged directly into the amp. It doesn't.

waterpicker

Quote from: Elantric on March 22, 2017, 07:54:11 AM

When EV-5 Expression pedal is connected , There exists internal flash memory that stores the current volume level based upon the last known EV-5 position

However should you power down the Katana while the EV-5 treadle is heel down (low volume or muted  ) , this value will be automatically written into the current preset ("CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4") and remain in flash memory.

As you discovered , only way to "recover" is reconnect the EV-5


Prevent this occurring by moving the EV-5 pedal full Toe Down ( max volume) prior to turning off the power on the Katana.

Just to clarify this issue.

This only applies to folks who are using the amp with the GA-FC and EV5 and then try to use the amp without the GA-FC.

Example... I just want to use the amp with no GA-FC.
Example.... at a gig where one expects the amp to make sound.

I am loving the Katana 100, but have had several times when it went silent without the GA-FC.

I usually bring the GA-FC with the approved EV-5,  but several times I thought I could just bring the amp without the GA-FC.
The Katana was dead or made sound until I turned a knob and then was dead.
I tried restoring sound by plugging in the EV5 to the back... NO sound.

It turns out that you need to have the GA-FC with an EV5 to get the amp up and running in this specific situation.  (flash memory as described above)

I'm thinking this applies to a very small segment of the users of the amp, but it sure messed with my gigs.

Bottom line....

WARNING
For Katana users with GA-FC and EV5 pedals.
If you are using GA-FC with EV5 on Katana, always bring these pedals.
If you attempt to use the Katana without these pedals, it may work fine, but if you failed to store the toe down volume position at shutdown, the Katana may be silent at restart.
The EV5 won't bring the sound back unless it is connected to the GA-FC.








gumtown

#18
Does leaving the last position of the EV-5 pedal in max volume help,
as opposed to leaving the EV-5 in minimum volume then switching off the amp... ?

I'm guessing the last thing you do after using the EV-5 is set it to volume min/off position before powering down the Katana.

Sounds like a firmware over-sight, they should have the Katana 'look if the GA-FC is missing' from last use,
and change the EXP pedal value to max volume on start up.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Elantric

Actually last thing you do after using the GA-FC with EV-5 is set EV-5 volume to Max On (toe down )
position before powering down the Katana.

This prevents the Mute condition that might occur next time you use the amp without GA-FC

waterpicker

Thanks Elantric.

You got it right.

Press the EV-5 to toe down when you turn off the Katana.

In my case, at the end of a gig, I'm often thinking about other things and the toe down position of the EV-5 is far from my mind.
And even if I did it, I'd still worry whether I did or not... or if the Katana got the message and stored it.

Again, I know that my case is very specific and will not apply to most users.

I was bitten three times before I figured it out and it was a very stressful experience.

I assumed that I could plug my guitar in and get sound.

Beyond that, I'm loving the sound of the Katana and using it on many gigs.
Always with the GA-FC and EV-5.... Gotta have those to be sure it will be able to make sound.

Funny, first time I've ever had to worry about an amp in this way.

First time at an awards ceremony and it just went dead.


fificap

Quote from: Elantric on March 11, 2017, 01:47:11 PM
read this thread for compatible expression pedals

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33.0

Hi, i've read the thread for compatible expression pedal but i have to confess that i'm a little lost (not enough expert on electronics  :P).

I bought a second hand FV-50H thinking that it was the old model of FV-500H. Now i understand that it's not really comparable as the 50 series is a volume pedal when the 500 serie is volume+expression pedal, at least the impedance seems really different !

My questions are:
- Can i use it (FV-50H) with Katana head directly in the "sel ch1 ch2 / exp pedal" to
control volume? effect like wha? drive level for boost?
- Do i risk to break something by trying it?
- I should receive my GA-FC footswitch this week, can i use it (FV-50H) with it?

Thanks for your help,
Philippe


Elantric

Not much you can do with Katana and  FV-50H

could run Guitar>  FV-50H> Katana Guitar Input 

fificap


bob303

Quote from: Elantric on March 22, 2017, 07:54:11 AM

When EV-5 Expression pedal is connected , There exists internal flash memory that stores the current volume level based upon the last known EV-5 position

However should you power down the Katana while the EV-5 treadle is heel down (low volume or muted  ) , this value will be automatically written into the current preset ("CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4") and remain in flash memory.

As you discovered , only way to "recover" is reconnect the EV-5


Prevent this occurring by moving the EV-5 pedal full Toe Down ( max volume) prior to turning off the power on the Katana.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I could not figure out what the hell was causing the Katana to go silent everytime I moved the pedal or knob.