Bad Cat Hot Cat 30R Head

This is an amendment to my previous review because I forgot to point out something very critical. The amp comes with ridiculous RUBY TUBES. Very poor tubes for this amp. They can't handle this amp. It runs too hot. The first thing you should do with an amp like this is put the best tubes in it you can get your hands on. On the cheap, EH tubes sound way better in this amp and I think Bad cat should switch to at least giving their customers EH tubes. What I use in it that improves it by at least three fold: New sensor corp's Mullard EL34's. NOS RFT 12ax7's(poor man's mullard) NOS 60's Mullard 5AR4/GZ34 rectifier tube. Ditch the ruby tubes ASAP. I think BAD CAT should charge a few extra bucks and ship with EH 12AX7's, the Mullard reissue EL34's and perhaps the smaller bottle JJ GZ34 or the Sovtek GZ34. The Ruby rectifier tube is too big, runs too hot and sounds like a trash can lid. Also, I've found that Eminence Governor speakers respond much better to the mid tone structure of this amp than the vintage 30's. They are great rock speakers period.

built in 2005 - purchased new in july 2005. 2 channels, 30 watts via 2 el-34's. reverb(clean channel only), effects loop. 1 speaker out. Can use both channels simultaneously. edge and level controls on hot channel are unique to this amp.

I like this amp. I've benn using it for more than a year and it is my favorite amp I've ever had. Previously I had a bogner shiva. The gain is very versatile. It starts about AC/DC and ends around ultra modern agressive alternative. All sounds are authentic and I can coax a very believable plexi tone out of it as well as modern mesa rectifier sounds. Beats the shiva for leads. Is way more versatile even though the bogner tone is awesome as well. I like this better. Complaints: Versatility is great but it comes at a price. The level control feeds the preamp to the power amp. At around 11 o'clock you have what I would call normal and it's quiet. Above 12 o'clock, it gets heavy and modern but it produces some noise. Not enough to ruin it but it's there. Still, at least you have the option. Edge control is very cool. This amp can do many tricks and it does them all with pleasure. The effects loop is noisy but if you use the send without the return, then the tone is not comprimised at all because the circuit is not completed. So, if you use a wet/dry set-up then no worry's. I've had to use a hum eliminator which is not uncommon for effect sends. I've had other amps that produced ground loops with effects as well so no beef there. The clean channel is great. Like a matchless. The reverb is also very good but I wish it was available on both channels. The other thing is, on the hot channel if the reverb circuit is engaged from the clean channel then the reverb knob changes the tone for the hot channel. I wish they would habe made the reverb disengage on the hot channel since it's not used on it anyway. I use a triamp set-up with an effects rack so none of this bothers me but it may bother you. Satisfying at bedroom voulume and rocks with a band without sounding overworked or struggling. Nice, nice amp. I don't think I'll ever sell this one. I would know by now. I run it into a mesa rectifier 2X12 cab which I play vertically instead of horizontally. I then send the line out into a barker tone press then onto a effects rack which feeds a carvin tube 100 running stereo into 2 1X12 cabs. Believe me, my tone is jaw dropping. Last point: It takes stomp boxes well in the front end.

So far, so good. The pedal jack is in a poorly designed location but you can disconnect the channel pedal from the cable the carefully wrap up and rubber band the cable and slide it into the back. I can't believe how stupid this is. But, I'm not an amp designer so maybe it was the only option. Care must be used with this issue so if your a hasty person who treats gear like crap then this may be a problem for you. So far, no problems with the amp. It runs like day 1.

I emailed them once. Slow to respond but it wasn't a pressing issue. I don't have enough experiences with them to form an opinion.

It's a rock/hard rock/alternative amp with world class voice and tone. Basically I would say it's the only amp around that can nail old marshall as well as modern boogie tones. There is no holy grail but if you love the above styles and don't need arena volume and can work with the imperfections I listed then you won't be disappointed. I've never owned an amp for a year that I've decided to keep and it's been about 20 years of gear swapping so you know I'm happy.

Time to revisit my earlier review. I see no need to repeat features.

Sounds great when it works.

Now for the problems. A few months ago, my amp began losing volume after it had been on a few minutes, soon reaching the point of being unusable. My dealer checked the tubes, and they were fine. So back to Bad Cat. This is my second Bad Cat, the first being a Hot Cat 30 combo whose output transformer blew in less than a month; I will have to say that this amp was promptly replaced.
My amps rarely leave my smokefree studio, and are certainly not abused. Draw your own conclusions.

Bad Cat could not accept my amp for around three weeks as they were
"moving". Now they have had it for about seven weeks. I called three weeks ago and was told the amp would be repaired and shipped that day; this did not happen. This week several attempts at calling have reached nothing but voice mail, and no one has returned a call.
Again, draw your own conclusions.

I will reiterate that this amp sounds nothing short of incredible when it works, as does my other Bad Cat---which has worked well after the first problem. For the price, one would expect these amps to last forever and be trouble-free; alas, this does not appear to be the case. And Bad Cat gets in no hurry returning calls, much less correcting problems.

Made in 2005. Matching cab. 2 channels, clean and gain. 2 EL 34s powertubes spells rock, but I find the clean channel almost as good as the Blackcat with EL84s. Noisy effectsloop on gain channel only. Switchable rectifier or solid state. Would have been nice if there was a separate rectifier on the clean channel, because I use the solid state to make the gain channel as tight as possible. Has channel switching but no bass or treble on clean channel. Reverb only on clean channel. No master volume on clean channel. It has a midshift, but I never use it. One thing I find very annoying is that you need to remove the back cover to attach/remove the lead for the channel switch. This is to much hassle so you end up stuffing the lead into the power tubes. This is not good. I tried to leave it on the top of my amp under the cover, but that ripped the tolex. I actualy swapped my Black Cat after hearing the HotCat video with Brad Whitford on the Badcat homepage. The Black Cat was fantatastic, but I found I needed a little more gain. This one has it.

I use a Gibson Les Paul and an Anderson strat. This amp gives you more or less any basic guitar sound you can think of, except maybe Mesa rectifier type of stuff. Beautiful clean channel that breaks up when you push the volume past 12 o'clock. The gain channel is very special. I have played many, many amps in my life but I have never experienced such a versatility. You can taylor the amount of preamp push into the poweramp stage. The Edge is useful, because you can fine tune a modern or more vintage presence/treble. Although they advice you not to, I use a Trainwreck airbrake, so that I can push the amp without killing the audience. Of course the amp and especially the speakers sound slightly better without such a device, but if you like poweramp overdrive and play in small clubs, there is no way around it. I tried to use a Badcat external switchbox so that I could play it like to amps, with a Two tone pedal in front of the clean channel, but the ground loop was way to noisy. My way around it is this: I put all the controls around 12-2 o'clock (you have to finetune according to your choice of guitar). I'm basically looking for 4 good sounds: Clean and crunchy rythm, fat (slight break up) bluesy overdrive and tight (almost higain) lead. I found the best way to achieve this (without fiddling with the knobs when you're playing...) is to put My Les Paul neck PU on volume 3, and tone on 10. Then the bridge PU on volume 10 and tone 5. You then have 4 fantastic sounds with the flick of a switch. If you want a really jazzy and creamy lead, use full throttle on the neck PU with the clean channel on 2 o'clock.

One broken preamp tube when I got it. Tested all the knobs and was confused when the sound dissapeared as I turned the treble knob all the way. Badcat told me that this is the way the amp is constructed, and thats fine with me.

Call Badcat, don't mail them. You probably will get an answer, but it might take a while. I think it was James that answered the phone when I rang, and he was very nice.

I have owned many good amps, like Fender Twin, Mesa Mark III and IIC+, Marshall 6101 and JTM 45, Badcat BlackCat. The Hotcat 30R is very special, and I think It's a keeper... It is a very expensive amp, but as far as I can judge it is worth every penny.

This is a new head, with two channels and a channel-switching footswitch included. It has an effects loop, and has reverb on the clean channel. The amp is class A in design, therefore all tube.
The clean channel has a five position rotary switch which seems to boost the low mids by varying amounts. The overdrive channe has bass treble, a three position mid switch, level, and gain.
Sound capability ranges from absolutely sparkling clean to screaming overdrive.

My guitar arsenal is Hamer, from Seth Lovers to single pole P90's or Strats to old DiMarzios to '59's, etc. This amp sounds fantastic with any of my instruments. It is quiet and is capable of loud clean tones to very smooth and singing yet screaming overdrive.
I am a blues and blues-rock player, and this amp easily takes from clean Allman Brothers tone to soaring Gary Moore.

This amp is built like a tank; unfortunately it is as heavy as one also. I have not had it long, but I would be surprised if I had any problems.

The only time I had a problem with another Bad Cat I own, I promptly received a new amp---I had a blown output transformer; that is great service.

I use this head with a Bad Cat 2-12 cab. If there is a better sounding amp in the world, I would have to hear it to believe it. I have been playing for 35 years and have tried many, many amps; none touched this one. The tone at all settings is nothing short of beautiful, and this amp is capable of a wide range of sounds.
No question I would replace it with another if something happened to this one. My only complaint is its weight and size, but the sound makes toting it well worth while. These amps are not cheap, but they are worth every penny.