Re: Dr Z Mini Z
I'd say the Mini Z is more raw and in your face tone. I bought the Mini Cat as a low volume solution for home. Hoping to get tube distortion at low volume. I tried the Mini Z at the same time and thought there's no way I'm going to be able to crank this at home. I also tried the Victoria (Fender) Champ clone. Out of the three, the Bad Cat Mini Cat seemed to have the most versatility. It has crunch and clean.
But the Bad Cat Mini Cat hasn't really bonded with me yet. I've only had it for a few months, though. It's a sweet amp sometimes, but it's not that easy to dial in. It can sound a bit bright/trebly. If I roll off the treble on my guitar, it helps to tame the brightness. It has a volume, bass, treble and master. And even though it is also only 5 watts, it can also get too loud for home use but at much higher on the volume dial than the Mini Z.
I still need to go play out somewhere where I can crank it. In my townhouse I just don't want to get the neighbors attention. I can go about 3/4 volume and 1/2 on the master at home with the Mini Cat, and it's still pretty clean and doesn't really break up. But it does get some sweet bluesy tone. But it has alot more clean headroom than the Mini Z.
Sometimes I run it though my Avatar cab with a Vintage 30 and G12H30 and that sounds better than the stock jensen speaker, I can actually hear a difference as I fiddle with the bass and treble when running it through the avatar cab. One thing I haven't tried is running the Mini Cat in front of another amp by using its line out.
I may try to get an EL84 tube that breaks up faster for the Mini Cat. Maybe from Bob at Eurotubes.
I have had moments where I love the Mini Cat, and when it's good I feel connected to the amp and it's like I can feel the speaker paper though the guitar strings. Then sometimes I can't dial it in. I got the Bad Monkey pedal to try to help, but found that so far, it's great for my THD univalve, but not the Mini Cat.
I'm sure if I stick with it though, I'll get the hang of the Mini Cat. But I'd still like to have the Mini Z and if volume wasn't an issue I probably would have chosen the Mini Z. It's a little less money, too. I like its agressive tone and the way it breaks up as soon as you look at. But who knows I've only played the Mini Z at the guitar shop. I usually have some buyers remorse but if I stick with an amp, sometimes I really start to like it.
