Nekkid HOT cat!!!

[Scott_F]

Figured some of you might like to see the guts of my new black and tan...

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

There's no doubt about it, Bad Cat does make amps that are built to survive nuclear attacks. If you ever figure out how the Brilliance, Level and Edge knobs can be manipulated to get different tones effectively, please let me know (I HATE them with a passion).

[Scott_F]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

So far, the trick for me is to not try to overdo it on the controls. Just going with a minimalist approach on the gain channel and I'm getting some killer tones.

I'm totally in love with the clean channel. Talk about minimalism at work!

Also, jumpering the two channels with an ABY switch has given up some nice in between tones.

[Pecan]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

how much did that cost you?

[MVI]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

The hand built all-tube craze has hit an all time high, and it's taken me with it. I have a 5W Victoria that ran me out of a grand - and I love it with all of my heart. I also own a '53 wide pannel Deluxe. My all-time fave tube amp ( I guess it also has a PCB ) is my Rivera 55W 2X12 combo running on EL34s. A ton of tone for the dollar. I've also been interested in Bad Cats. Nice to see one up close.

[Scott_F]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

how much did that cost you?

Well, that's hard to say. I traded my Two Rock CR head for this Hot Cat and some cash. So, it's hard to say.

If you check ebay, they tend to get somewhere between 1500 and 1800... lots of factors...

It'll be for sale at some point in the not-too-distant future.

[Scott_F]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

The hand built all-tube craze has hit an all time high, and it's taken me with it. I have a 5W Victoria that ran me out of a grand - and I love it with all of my heart. I also own a '53 wide pannel Deluxe. My all-time fave tube amp ( I guess it also has a PCB ) is my Rivera 55W 2X12 combo running on EL34s. A ton of tone for the dollar. I've also been interested in Bad Cats. Nice to see one up close.

Each tube is shock mounted if you can believe that! I had a Bad Cat Trem Cat, but I guess since it wasn't a high gain rig, they didn't bother to shock mount the tubes. I'm completely impressed with their build techniques and such, but it can be hard to follow. I prefer a tag board truth be told.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

So far, the trick for me is to not try to overdo it on the controls. Just going with a minimalist approach on the gain channel and I'm getting some killer tones.

I'm totally in love with the clean channel. Talk about minimalism at work!

Also, jumpering the two channels with an ABY switch has given up some nice in between tones.

I'm pretty sure they made those Hot Cats with your humbucker equipped Gibby in mind, the thick tone rounds out the cleans well (I've found singles were way too thin with it, but your findings may be different).

I'd be interested in trying any good overdrive side tones after you tinker for a while (I gave up trying when I owned one), but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it

[Scott_F]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

It is definitely a bizarre set of controls on the gain channel. I quickly found my way hacking out some juciy Van Halen tones though. And some righteus ZZ tones. But you have to be way careful. Adjusting one knob changes the others. My old Rivera was like this. on that amp, I had to write down settings it got so weird.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

I don't know how anyone could hate that amp. I will admit that it has no business in a small open back combo. That amp should be on a closed back 2-12, and preferably a 4-12. I've plugged strats into them, and they're anything but thin.....friggin huge sounding!

Scott, I've always wondered why they use a bunch of mid-sized filter capacitors, instead of big canisters like Marshalls have....you know?
Also, it's interesting that they lay them on a bed of felt.....any reason for that?

[Sune]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

That head looks killer.

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

There's the name of your new amp....the Celtic Black & Tan

[Scott_F]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

Scott, I've always wondered why they use a bunch of mid-sized filter capacitors, instead of big canisters like Marshalls have....you know?
Also, it's interesting that they lay them on a bed of felt.....any reason for that?

yep, and odd values as well. 22uf and 33uf. Not sure if that's a carryover from the vox days or what. The Lightning uses the same filter caps. But, that's six filter caps. My Edana/JTM45 design uses two JJ multi-cap cans, 32/32 on each, so that's just four big caps. Values are similar though. Just a different packaging.

On the bed of felt... I guess that is to minimize vibrations. Everything else is kind of suspended in mid-air and held to nearby components with a silicon epoxy of some sort. (at least it's a clear silicon) I guess they didn't think with the weight of those caps that the little leads would be able to support it long term. So, they put them onto the chassis, but stuck red felt underneath to minimize the vibrations. Makes sense I guess. I'm not much on the layout though. It probably makes great sense to the Matchless/Bad Cat guys, but it is hard to follow. (maybe that's the intent) Notice how a lot of wires disappear into bundles. It's quite hard to follow some of them. I took some 8 megapixel images though and you can really blow up the details.

[lastwinj]

Re: Nekkid HOT cat!!!

Scott, I've always wondered why they use a bunch of mid-sized filter capacitors, instead of big canisters like Marshalls have....you know?
Also, it's interesting that they lay them on a bed of felt.....any reason for that?

cost is the bottom line. a can cap can cost as much as 25 bucks. those caps maybe 5 bucks max total.

germ