More horsepower
More fun
It's a stage guitar
The idea here is to cram as much amplifier into a lightweight, slim design as possible without unwanted feedback. The Boss does the job despite the challenges.
The first one is the sheer size of the Boss Katana, even though it is a Mini. I built it into a project using the enclosure before I robbed it for its circuit and speaker. It's a killer mini amp but it's too big and heavy to be practical on a guitar that is meant to be played on-the-go.
The next problem to solve was the knobs and controls. To fit a PCB this large inside of a viola body, I decided to relocate the potentiometers. It took a few tries to make the wiring work but it turned out to be worth it. Volume, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Effect Level, and Decay all on the front of The Boss. The only control that I was not able to move is the 3-stage gain setting slider but you don't need that while you are playing anyway.
When I had time...
The reason for the plastic panel on the back is for mounting the separate PCB the Katana has for the headphone jack and auxiliary input.
Last, but not the least problematic aspect of getting The Boss on the road is the fact that its circuit is a real Power Hog. None of my trusty Lithium 9v. batteries could serve up enough juice for the demands of this hungry monster so I eventually solved this by installing a 12v. lithium security camera back-up power supply and now she is singing like a bird.
out of many, one.
E Pluribus Unum was once the motto of the United States of America and references the fact that the cohesive single nation was formed as the result of the thirteen smaller colonies joining together.
Materials:
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Neck
ES-335 type set-neck dessign. I scored it on eBay. Someone had it made for thier project, but then they bailed on the project. -
Beam
Aged wine barrel staves. -
Body
16" viola Solid wood, carved tone plate, and back plate. -
Bridge
Tune-o-matic® -
Pickup
Matched set of splittable humbuckers wired to a stacked 5-way Superswitch® for all the tone combinations. -
Amplifier
Boss Katana Mini 7-watts, 1x4" speaker 3 Amp Voicings 3-band EQ Delay Effect Line/Headphone Output