Bad Cat Amps

KaTaan · March 23rd, 2008, 10:12 AM

Anyone have one or played one? Looking a their 5 Watt model. I will get a chance to play one in June.

Thanks.
Steve

rhinocaster · March 23rd, 2008, 10:21 AM

I've played a bunch of Bad Cat amps, and they're really not my thing. A bit stiff sounding across the board. Of course, this is only a relative observation when compared to the loose and raw sound of the tweeds I play.

I did own a Mini Cat for a while and had fun with it. The master volume was enjoyable, as was the 2 knob tone circuit. I didn't bother to read the instructions at first and I wondered why that little amp had zero bass response. I finally looked at the supplied info, and the bass knob works in reverse! Things got much better after that!

Ultimately I sold the Mini Cat, but it was fun.

KC · March 23rd, 2008, 12:20 PM

got a black cat 30 myself and it's a big, heavy, very loud amp, extremely well-built and great-sounding to my ears. Complex in the mids and stays articulate even with a fair amount of preamp distortion. By the time you get to power-section & speaker distortion, the neighbors are calling the cops, even in half-power mode.

This probably doesn't have much to do with the 5-watt mini-cat, though, except that I feel like their quality is really good. If I was shopping for an amp in that range, I'd hunt down a GA-5 if you still can -- might turn up on ebay or mf scratch-n-dent or maybe even turn up again on their site if they find a new batch of old stock. Comparable to the bad cat in terms of quality & a heck of a lot cheaper.

Michaell · March 24th, 2008, 12:48 AM

what does " complex in the mids " sound like?

what does " articulate " sound ike?

fierce_carrot · March 24th, 2008, 07:20 AM

I've owned an original Matchless and two badcats and to be bluntly honest, they are vastly over priced and over hyped. I place these amps and the Soldano's as the biggest mistakes I've made when buying amps over the years.

BrutherBill · March 24th, 2008, 10:23 AM

I have a Black Cat 30R and what KC said is true...well built, great sounding, very loud, and stupidly heavy. I think my 1X12 Bad Cat is heavier than my 2X12 AC30.

The Black Cat is based on the Matchless C-30 and they are similar sounding but not exactly the same. The Bad Cat sound thick, glassy, and harmonically rich. It has a little bit more mids and bass response that the DC30 I've played, but neither I'd say is better, just different. Even listening to clips of these amps doesn't do them justice because their tone and feel is hard to describe.

Bad Cats are really expensive. But you're paying a premium for a hand made, hand wired amp, built like a tank and of quality components, and made in the USA....all things which jack the price up.

tweedtone · March 24th, 2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michaell

what does " complex in the mids " sound like?

I always take it to mean a more Vox-y chime as opposed to Marshall-like bark.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michaell

what does " articulate " sound ike?

To me, that means you can clearly hear individual notes and their attack, particularly with chords, as opposed to an indistinct smear of sound.

KC · March 24th, 2008, 10:51 AM

assuming you really want to know, and not just trying to make me look like an idiot (never that hard) for using wine-tasting descriptions on an amp . . .

what does " complex in the mids " sound like?

to me this means you hear a lot of harmonically related overtones and by-products in addition to the root note; it sounds "thicker" or "smokier" or something. Compare, say, to a Tech 21 where you hear mostly the root note when clean and a lot of one-dimensional distortion when you fuzz it up.

what does " articulate " sound ike?

To me it means that you can hear the root note clearly even when playing with a fair amount of sustain / distortion. Think of the difference between a Gibson sound and a Fender sound; play a chord on the Gibson and the notes sort of mush together into one sound, while on a Fender they stay more separate. The Bad Cat is more like the Fender.

Hope that helps. And while I agree 100% with Mr. Carrot that these are not amps for everybody, I don't think they're overpriced -- open one up and you can see where the money goes. Just another flavor of amp.

Steve McGinnis · March 24th, 2008, 10:56 AM

I thought it was a fantastic little practice or home amp. I stupidly sold it and got a Bad Cat Cub IIR which also sounded great, but not as portable or suitable to around the house playing.

I am going to get another Mini Cat. I just purchased a GA-5 and found it inferior to the Mini Cat. I returned the GA-5.

They don't have much "sag". If you are looking for a tweed champ kind of sound I don't recommend the Mini. If you like the Matchless or Bad Cat sound, the mini is a nice version of it in a small package.

Steve McGinnis · March 24th, 2008, 11:52 AM

Just an FYI, there are two versions of the mini cat. The Mini Cat II has a 12" speaker and the Mini Cat has a 10" speaker. I believe the Mini Cat II is the only one currently being made new, and the 10" version is substantially cheaper used. I had the 10" version and I liked it fine.

Michaell · March 24th, 2008, 12:27 PM

KC,

Thanks.

I have an especially hard time describing sound ( especially musical sound played on guitars , not tones in a scale , tonal color as it were ) with words.

I appreciate the effort.

On my Gibson hollow body ( carved top solid spruce ) ES 446 with humbuckers, I especailly like the way that guitar delivers the unique timbre of each string. One of the main reasons I bought this. ( clean straight into clean amp ).

an A played on the fith string 12th fret sounds "different" in tonal color from the same A ( pitch played on the 4th sting 7th fret and so on to notes wioth pitch 3 places on a guitar! ))

So then my next question becomes : Which contributes more to these tonal attributes we are discussing; the pickups , or the amp ?

Thats a whole new thread really.

cheeseman · March 24th, 2008, 05:22 PM

"...talking about sound is like dancing about architecture..."

not sure who said it, but i like it!

Dacious · March 24th, 2008, 06:20 PM

I only have experience as a listener (apart from trying out a friend's Hot Box) but I have to say, I'm usually not much on boutique amps and don't tend to like Mesas but I like the Bad Cats I've heard.

I agree, if you like Tweed the sound is far more controlled - sort of Hi Watt with an edge. Not too much flubby bass. I think a lot depends on your gutiar and what you are going to play through it.

The Hot Box my friend has, which is a tremolo also makes a great smooth compressed overdrive just by fiddling with the gain, yet is never noisy nor produced unpleasant buzzy distortion. Really impressed with it. It uses a proper secondary hi-voltage power supply to feed the tubes, not the starved low-voltage type like many 'tube' pedals. Built like a tank from medium-thick gauge stainless sheet, too.

March 23rd, 2008, 10:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
KaTaan TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Alaska Posts: 37	Bad Cat Amps Anyone have one or played one? Looking a their 5 Watt model. I will get a chance to play one in June. Thanks. Steve

March 23rd, 2008, 10:21 AM	#2 (permalink)
rhinocaster Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oregon Age: 44 Posts: 1,163	I've played a bunch of Bad Cat amps, and they're really not my thing. A bit stiff sounding across the board. Of course, this is only a relative observation when compared to the loose and raw sound of the tweeds I play. I did own a Mini Cat for a while and had fun with it. The master volume was enjoyable, as was the 2 knob tone circuit. I didn't bother to read the instructions at first and I wondered why that little amp had zero bass response. I finally looked at the supplied info, and the bass knob works in reverse! Things got much better after that! Ultimately I sold the Mini Cat, but it was fun. __________________ Just because I "Don't" get it doesn't mean I "Won't" get it!

March 24th, 2008, 12:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
Michaell Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: on the bus Posts: 596	what does " complex in the mids " sound like? what does " articulate " sound ike? __________________ WWLD

March 24th, 2008, 10:23 AM	#6 (permalink)
BrutherBill Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Northern Illinois Age: 35 Posts: 194	I have a Black Cat 30R and what KC said is true...well built, great sounding, very loud, and stupidly heavy. I think my 1X12 Bad Cat is heavier than my 2X12 AC30. The Black Cat is based on the Matchless C-30 and they are similar sounding but not exactly the same. The Bad Cat sound thick, glassy, and harmonically rich. It has a little bit more mids and bass response that the DC30 I've played, but neither I'd say is better, just different. Even listening to clips of these amps doesn't do them justice because their tone and feel is hard to describe. Bad Cats are really expensive. But you're paying a premium for a hand made, hand wired amp, built like a tank and of quality components, and made in the USA....all things which jack the price up. __________________ --BB 3 tele's and counting

March 24th, 2008, 10:56 AM	#9 (permalink)
Steve McGinnis Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 754	I had a mini cat I thought it was a fantastic little practice or home amp. I stupidly sold it and got a Bad Cat Cub IIR which also sounded great, but not as portable or suitable to around the house playing. I am going to get another Mini Cat. I just purchased a GA-5 and found it inferior to the Mini Cat. I returned the GA-5. They don't have much "sag". If you are looking for a tweed champ kind of sound I don't recommend the Mini. If you like the Matchless or Bad Cat sound, the mini is a nice version of it in a small package.

March 23rd, 2008, 12:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
KC Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Missoula, Montana Posts: 1,220 15 Photos	got a black cat 30 myself and it's a big, heavy, very loud amp, extremely well-built and great-sounding to my ears. Complex in the mids and stays articulate even with a fair amount of preamp distortion. By the time you get to power-section & speaker distortion, the neighbors are calling the cops, even in half-power mode. This probably doesn't have much to do with the 5-watt mini-cat, though, except that I feel like their quality is really good. If I was shopping for an amp in that range, I'd hunt down a GA-5 if you still can -- might turn up on ebay or mf scratch-n-dent or maybe even turn up again on their site if they find a new batch of old stock. Comparable to the bad cat in terms of quality & a heck of a lot cheaper.

March 24th, 2008, 07:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
fierce_carrot Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Iowa Age: 52 Posts: 985	I've owned an original Matchless and two badcats and to be bluntly honest, they are vastly over priced and over hyped. I place these amps and the Soldano's as the biggest mistakes I've made when buying amps over the years.

March 24th, 2008, 10:51 AM	#8 (permalink)
KC Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Missoula, Montana Posts: 1,220 15 Photos	assuming you really want to know, and not just trying to make me look like an idiot (never that hard) for using wine-tasting descriptions on an amp . . . what does " complex in the mids " sound like? to me this means you hear a lot of harmonically related overtones and by-products in addition to the root note; it sounds "thicker" or "smokier" or something. Compare, say, to a Tech 21 where you hear mostly the root note when clean and a lot of one-dimensional distortion when you fuzz it up. what does " articulate " sound ike? To me it means that you can hear the root note clearly even when playing with a fair amount of sustain / distortion. Think of the difference between a Gibson sound and a Fender sound; play a chord on the Gibson and the notes sort of mush together into one sound, while on a Fender they stay more separate. The Bad Cat is more like the Fender. Hope that helps. And while I agree 100% with Mr. Carrot that these are not amps for everybody, I don't think they're overpriced -- open one up and you can see where the money goes. Just another flavor of amp.

March 24th, 2008, 11:52 AM	#10 (permalink)
Steve McGinnis Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 754	5 watt Bad Cat Just an FYI, there are two versions of the mini cat. The Mini Cat II has a 12" speaker and the Mini Cat has a 10" speaker. I believe the Mini Cat II is the only one currently being made new, and the 10" version is substantially cheaper used. I had the 10" version and I liked it fine.

March 24th, 2008, 12:27 PM	#11 (permalink)
Michaell Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: on the bus Posts: 596	KC, Thanks. I have an especially hard time describing sound ( especially musical sound played on guitars , not tones in a scale , tonal color as it were ) with words. I appreciate the effort. On my Gibson hollow body ( carved top solid spruce ) ES 446 with humbuckers, I especailly like the way that guitar delivers the unique timbre of each string. One of the main reasons I bought this. ( clean straight into clean amp ). an A played on the fith string 12th fret sounds "different" in tonal color from the same A ( pitch played on the 4th sting 7th fret and so on to notes wioth pitch 3 places on a guitar! )) So then my next question becomes : Which contributes more to these tonal attributes we are discussing; the pickups , or the amp ? Thats a whole new thread really. __________________ WWLD

March 24th, 2008, 05:22 PM	#12 (permalink)
cheeseman TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 83	definitions... "...talking about sound is like dancing about architecture..." not sure who said it, but i like it! __________________ Joe

March 24th, 2008, 06:20 PM	#13 (permalink)
Dacious Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Godzone Posts: 2,610 35 Photos	I only have experience as a listener (apart from trying out a friend's Hot Box) but I have to say, I'm usually not much on boutique amps and don't tend to like Mesas but I like the Bad Cats I've heard. I agree, if you like Tweed the sound is far more controlled - sort of Hi Watt with an edge. Not too much flubby bass. I think a lot depends on your gutiar and what you are going to play through it. The Hot Box my friend has, which is a tremolo also makes a great smooth compressed overdrive just by fiddling with the gain, yet is never noisy nor produced unpleasant buzzy distortion. Really impressed with it. It uses a proper secondary hi-voltage power supply to feed the tubes, not the starved low-voltage type like many 'tube' pedals. Built like a tank from medium-thick gauge stainless sheet, too. __________________ My other Telecaster is a Thinline The Tele Bible, Ch 1, v 10 Love thy Telecaster, covet not thy neighbour's Strat!