Bad Cat question......

lucylespian

I'm on the verge of trading my Lonesar, for a Bad Cat Hot CAt 30 cos it's been sitting on the floor not moving, and the store manager has slashed the price from unreasonably ridiculous to just ordinary ridiculous.
Has anyone played one of theese. I know someone has, just can't remember who, paco, I think ?

Need to have q chat about what you thought. The clean blew me away, the OD is seriously nice, but hasn't got the big crunch I kinda like, but the price is legs open. Maybe I just needed to turn it up a bit more. I'm taking Violet back for another play next week to make a final decision.
Thoughts anyone ????

ianvomsaal

I own both - I like the Bad Cat for certain things and the Lonestar for others (I'm a big EL84 fan). The Hot Cat's clean is like early Fender - nice.
TIP: Bring in your Lonestar and an A/B/Y switch - then A/B the two amps to see which one works best for you (or keep the lonestar and just drop the cash on the bad cat - you'll have two nice amps to choose from that'll work well with whatever you do). The Hot Cat 30 w/Reverb typically sells for $2,849.00 (if you can get a much better deal [like around $1800-2000] I'd suggest you do it - you can always sell it later and make some $$$).

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

lucylespian

Yeah well, I kinda did that yestaerday, cos they had a Lonestar there same as mine, so I hooked em both up and played around for a while. It was not so much teh comparison between the amnps I guess, as a comparison to the sound in my head.
Price wise, I'm in Australia, and the rtail on the head and cab is $6500, I am getting it for $4500, cos those sorts of prices mena that these things just don't sell that great in Australia. If it weren't for the bargain, I wouldn't bother. It was there when I bought the Lonestar from the same shop, and at the original price, I did not even plug teh Hot Cat in. It was only another day when I was being a shop vulture that I played it, actually used a Gibbo BFG, which I then bought. Then the guy tells me the price has come right down.
So I guess I'm saying, I am unlikely to re-sell for more money later.
The only problem mwith just keeping both, is that it will stop me from getting the Stiletto Deuce that I want. I an keen to have some EL 34/84 in my life cos everything is 6L6 at present.
oh well, no rush, I'll take Violet in, see wht she says, she is a pretty good judge of amps

Thanks anyway

gimmesometruth27

i like the bad cat. the other guitar player in my band has one and it is seriously the best tone i have ever heard. single coil or humbucker, whatever guitar you plug in sings. i have a matchless clubman that is just the balls, but i think the bad cat is a little more versatile since you can use an a/b box and jump the hi and low inputs. they are outrageously expensive, but gig one of them for awhile and you will hear where that money went. i love my matchless but i lust after the bad cat.

lucylespian

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i like the bad cat. the other guitar player in my band has one and it is seriously the best tone i have ever heard. single coil or humbucker, whatever guitar you plug in sings. i have a matchless clubman that is just the balls, but i think the bad cat is a little more versatile since you can use an a/b box and jump the hi and low inputs. they are outrageously expensive, but gig one of them for awhile and you will hear where that money went. i love my matchless but i lust after the bad cat.

Hoo hoo, yeah well, I did the right thing then. I picked it up this miorning, came home and messed around a littel. Turns out I had the gain turned up way too high yesterday, and was just getting fuzz. Turned it back to 10 o'clock and played a heap. then tuned it right down looking for a blues kinda crunch, but it doesn't really go that low, so seems it just has so much gain that lower settings work way better.
Actually turnd the clean channel up to th emax briefly to see if it would break up, but didn't at all, just stayed clean all the way to the bitter end.

The price I got it at wasn't too bad in the end, esp if you consider that it seems very basic with just the 2 channels and no internal switching, but there are just so may sounds in there , and it responds incredibly to the volume knobs on the guitar. Am actually gobsmacked by how many tones there are to be had. oua re right, outragheously expensive, but dirt cheap for what you get all at the same time.
My previously fairly extensive amp shopping list has basically just turned to wet toilet paper.
Now I just need to wait for the other thing I have bought off e-bay to arrive. It's going back to Pappa for a service before it comes to me.

I got teh BAd CAt A/B/Y box at teh some time so it switches now and as you say, you can play both channels at once which is different.

You do right to lust after one of these things, sell a kidney if you have to !!!!!!!!!!!!!

gimmesometruth27

lucylespian wrote:

Hoo hoo, yeah well, I did the right thing then. I picked it up this miorning, came home and messed around a littel. Turns out I had the gain turned up way too high yesterday, and was just getting fuzz. Turned it back to 10 o'clock and played a heap. then tuned it right down looking for a blues kinda crunch, but it doesn't really go that low, so seems it just has so much gain that lower settings work way better.
Actually turnd the clean channel up to th emax briefly to see if it would break up, but didn't at all, just stayed clean all the way to the bitter end.

The price I got it at wasn't too bad in the end, esp if you consider that it seems very basic with just the 2 channels and no internal switching, but there are just so may sounds in there , and it responds incredibly to the volume knobs on the guitar. Am actually gobsmacked by how many tones there are to be had. oua re right, outragheously expensive, but dirt cheap for what you get all at the same time.
My previously fairly extensive amp shopping list has basically just turned to wet toilet paper.
Now I just need to wait for the other thing I have bought off e-bay to arrive. It's going back to Pappa for a service before it comes to me.

I got teh BAd CAt A/B/Y box at teh some time so it switches now and as you say, you can play both channels at once which is different.

You do right to lust after one of these things, sell a kidney if you have to !!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am glad that you went with the cat. if you want some more low end turn the brilliance knob back, it functions as a mid/treble boost of sorts. i have mine at about 10:00 and i think it sounds best right about there. that sampson knows how to build an amp. those things run super hot, mine is the loudest 35 watts i have ever heard. it'll rattle your balls if you crank it all the way up.

it is "point to point" handwired and there is no circuit boards so its just pure tone. you are going to be very happy with it. congratulations.

ianvomsaal

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i am glad that you went with the cat. if you want some more low end turn the brilliance knob back, it functions as a mid/treble boost of sorts. i have mine at about 10:00 and i think it sounds best right about there. that sampson knows how to build an amp. those things run super hot, mine is the loudest 35 watts i have ever heard. it'll rattle your balls if you crank it all the way up. It is "point to point" handwired and there is no circuit boards so its just pure tone. you are going to be very happy with it. congratulations.

Agreed - it's a very nice amp - I'm constantly messing with my settings (I like the solid state rec for some things and the tube rec for others) - the amp sounds different in every place I play.
You should be very happy with your purchase - one of the only amps I like better is my Bogner Shiva (funny, it's got a circuit board).

Quick Suggestion: If the amp sat that long in your local music shop there's no telling who's played through it, how hard, temp/humidity changes, and whatever else it's been through in the shop. I'd recommend just taking it down to your local amp tech for a quick checkup/bias, make sure it's purring like the cat it is.

Congrats -- Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

lucylespian

ianvomsaal wrote:

Agreed - it's a very nice amp - I'm constantly messing with my settings (I like the solid state rec for some things and the tube rec for others) - the amp sounds different in every place I play.
You should be very happy with your purchase - one of the only amps I like better is my Bogner Shiva (funny, it's got a circuit board).

Quick Suggestion: If the amp sat that long in your local music shop there's no telling who's played through it, how hard, temp/humidity changes, and whatever else it's been through in the shop. I'd recommend just taking it down to your local amp tech for a quick checkup/bias, make sure it's purring like the cat it is.

Congrats -- Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Ian, you are a wise man, but I'm not too bothered about getting it checked. The shop is air-conditioned, and we don't have humidity issues her in Australia, cos we don't have central heating. The guys there wouldn't let just anyone stuff wiht it either.
Worst of all, amp techs are very thin on the ground here, and the only one nearby is a difficult old codger who had me vowing and swearing never to buy naything other than a fixed bias amp again. Not that he is incompetent at all, just difficult to deal with.
I'm blown away by how many sounds are in this amp, with so few knobs. It is just so responsive to guitar and playing dynamics. HAve been playing some Dissident through it, and will hook into Even Flow and Black tonight. All good Les PAul songs, just love it .