Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

[Tom Huff]

I'm curious as to what their voicing is like. I've heard them on live clips from the band Baroness and they sounded great but I couldn't quite place them in a category like Marshallesqe, Fenderish etc.

On the bands albums I really dig the tones but who really knows what amps they used.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

ive played a few of them, they are cool amps. the pentode channels are sweet but different than vox fender or marshall.

 

[Kam]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Dude from this band plays through one. Pretty awesome live tone.

 

[Tom Huff]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

ive played a few of them, they are cool amps. the pentode channels are sweet but different than vox fender or marshall.

There's something in the sound I can only describe as creamy. It like the amp isn't narrowly focused like a modern high gain amp but you can still make out all the subtleties of the playing like in a modern hg amp. It is really appealing to me.

I need to check one out in person.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

thats what ive gotten out of the pentode channel too. big wide creamy tones.

i like the dr z route 66 for those same big wide creamy tones. loud but good

 

[J Moose]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Bad Cat/Matchless amps to me, are more "vox" in nature then anything else but still have their own thing going on. The 'chime' and swirl is there but they're much more aggressive, leaning towards the Hiwatt/Marshall thing.

 

[Tom Huff]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Yeah! What I hear could be described as a mix of Vox and Hiwatt maybe. Tone stack emphasis toward the Hiwatt a bit more but it retains that chime clarity still.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Bad Cat and Matchless are basically the same family, since the founders of Matchless, Mark Sampson, Rick Perotta, and Phil Jamison sold it to Jamison. Sampson's next company was Bad Cat, then Star. Jamison also had a run called Overbuilt.

These amps made their name by being considered one of the first "boutique amp companies." They have their own sound, separate from Marshall, Fender, and Vox, but lean toward Vox/Marshall. The reason is that they often took different classic circuits and mixed/matched them, such as RCA Bassman Pre into JTM 45 power section, or EF86 pre section into AC-30 power section etc.

Also consider that Both Bad Cat and Matchless have quite a few models. For my particular taste, I like the EL-34 amps from these companies, and their EL-84 amps are great, but I'd probably still revert back to Vox for the definitive EL-84 sound.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Which model?!

All these generalizations are funny to me...

With Badcats some are Marshall like, some are Fender like and some are Vox like and they all have a little bit of that Matchless vibe tossed in due to family lineage.

Same with Matchless amps for that matter...while some of them are like a Vox or like a Marshall like they are all sort of their own thing...

 

[Tom Huff]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

I wouldn't know the names of the amps I've heard recordings of. I would only know that they are Bad Cat. I've seen live video and pictures but some are red and some are black or green.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

I have played the, BC 50 Classic Cat, Hot Cat and Panther 6v6 head. I keep looking for a great deal on a Badcat but can never find one in the price I want at the time I'm in the market. I think they sound super but what's more is they have a phenonmenal response. They really feel alive and the only amps I'm infatuated with that have that kind of thing going on is Hiwatt.

I would put Badcats in the Hiwatt category for sure, something like a HiGain 50. Generally, but the Panther has a different sound. It sounds more American. Thinking about it now, I'm kind of gassing for a Badcat...

 

[J Moose]

Re: Any one here own/play a Bad Cat?

Which model?!

All these generalizations are funny to me...

I've played/miked up DC30s, Clubmans, Lightnings... probably a couple others but those are the standouts. Your right in that they're all pretty different from not only each other but other amps period. But those 'overall' differences to me are what make 'em what they are... because those differences run through the entire line. Easy to hear, hard to describe.

What I can't really keep straight is the differences between Matchless & Bad Cat, and the Mark Sampson eras from each company among all the other Sampson offshoots... WAY too confusing.