Bad Cat Hot Cat Head

Has two channels with anything you will ever need if you play blues, rock, jazz, etc...Plenty of power for small/medium gigs.

I've probably listened to at least 30 high end amps. Everything from blackface superreverbs to JCM 800's to Orange rockerverbs. This amp WILL NAIL ALL THESE TONES WITHOUT COMPROMISE and MORE!!! I read all of these reviews, and listened to a you tube clip of this amp before I pulled the trigger and I can't think of a better amp out there! My mesa boogie will be on ebay shortly.

I haven't had it long enough to post a rating.

It doesn't get any better than calling the main cat on the phone, him answering it in two rings, and him politely answering all of you questions. (which I personally experienced.)

For all of you ladies and gentlemen out there who plug into you gear and say to yourself,"that sounds pretty good, but there's something missing" do yourself a favor and get one of these monsters!

you can see the features on all the other reviews here. its simple!!!!! yet dynamically very advanced, the treble and bass directly effect each other, a little tricky at first but very uesful when you get it worked out. the master volume actually works and the brilliance knob is simply awesome.

rock/punk/blues/country/metal covers all styles in its own unique musical way!

before i go on - ive extensively played mesa's, marshalls, soldano's, h&k's, peavy's, fenders and randalls.

using an esp custom eclipse with sd's. the amp sounds like what you want your amp to sound like in your head, if your after a unique powerfully complex tone.

clean is amazing - with the tube mode engaged its total class-a clean, simply balanced with great overtones and a slightly glassy feel, can get a little bright in the solid-state mode, but this mode is more made for a concentrated distortion sound.

distortion - loud, complex, clear and you can actually tell what guitar is being played through the hotcat. in the solid state mode, its tight, clean and extremly musical, for hard rock/metal playing.

in the tube mode, it has a more classic sag in the tone which is great for bluesy and classic rock stuff!

basically the hotcat30 sounds like itself, and like no other amp, take it or leave it, i fkn love it!

even if you hated the sound of this thing,
no-one could argue that badcat amps are amoung the best made amp in the world, its a class-a tube amp thats strong as fuck. the thing is heavy as shit and the components are of highest quality. had it for 18mnths and not a thing has gone wrong! havent even blown an eye globe yet. and i play for a few hours a day, plus gig, rehearse, and teach guitar, so the fucker gets alot of work!

never had to contact them, but the badcat website has been down for a little longer than id like from a company thats so bent on perfection!

ive been playing for 9 years and im in one of the most popular bands from my area of australia! im a tone arsehole, so i wont except anything less than the best. this is just the best made, most unique sounding amp ive ever played.

its different, reliable, its clever and everything about the amp is total class. and yes its expensive, butfro example, so are mesa-boogies in australia, and my BADCAT makes the mesa amps sound cheap.

Hot Cat 30 head, Sampson era -late 90's, with 2 EL34's. Non reverb, 2 channels via seperate inputs -clean and gain. Volume and brilliance knobs for clean side, gain, edge, level, bass, treble and master on the gain side. No effects loop, or 16 ohm out on back.

I'm using this amp for Rock, Pop Rock, Pop Country, Classic Rock etc. -everything except very Hard rock and Heavy Metal. I was first impressed with the range on the clean channel, I like it set for a medium clipping sound -volume between 7-8. It leaves alot of room for picking dynamics ie. medium picking is clean, dig in and it will growl. I do not miss having a tone control for this channel.. The gain channel picks up where the clean leaves off, very wide range of overdrive tones. Amazingly interactive controls -to the point of distraction. I had a hard time finding my favored sound after I had fiddled with the knobs too much. Currently using with a Bogner212 oversized cab with vin30's and a Bogner410 openback,(check out a lovepedal class A boost for the gain side). My thinline tele with broadcaster pickups is the money rig with this amp, I found a Les Paul has too much harmonic information stacked up to be useful but a 335 hollow body sounded great -so go figure. Overall a very complex and detailed sound.

Having owned matchless amps in the past I can assure you this baby is very roadworthy. Easily the heaviest amp for it's size, my only concern is the light weight tolex -I'm considering having mine redone in something more durable, though an amp of this quality deserves a roadcase anyway..

Several Badcat dealers near my home plus local tech had no trouble working on my old Matchless amps. But I have never contacted the company directly.

I've been playing about 15 years and have owned many fine amplifiers. 'Boutique' amp are in a class of their own, mass produced products don't compare and shouldn't be used for reference (in my opinion). I've distilled myself down to a Dr.Z Maz38, Bogner Ecstacy 101A, a modified Hi-Gain bassman and the Hot Cat30. All of these amps soung great on stage, it just depends what mood I'm in when I leave to go perform. Check out BadCat -they sound great, hold their value, and are built like tanks. What are you waiting for?

I bought this second hand, I thank God every day I found one as they are impossible to find new in my country. Two channels, I wanted it to have a channel switcher for that price. Now I'm stuck with a stupid morley a/b/y switch which gives me too much noise.
Power enough to fill a small gig (well, didn't play large gigs yet but I guess they would use mics then anyway).
The master volume knob is what I was looking for, I can play this thing in my living room the same as full crancked up sound, without bothering neighbours. So I could sell my crap digital stuff for home use.

I use it with an Orange PPC212 cab. I also tried a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks and one with Vintage 30's. The vintages were a bit better, but I really wanted a 2x12, so that's why I use the Orange. Well it really suits my style the orange colour with the Badcat on top. I now that the best choice would be a matching cab, but I guess the next time that there will be a badcat cab second hand in my country will be 2075.
This amp does all sounds I want, from clean to crunch to blues to shred. Our band plays heavy rock with some poppy tunes, but at home I play everything with it from soft to metal.

You can hear some "ssssssssssssssss" when cranked, but I'll take it, it's not annoying, and I do use the standby switch alot. Of course too low hiss to be heard when playing.I guess it's not more than any other tube amp.
It can go into heavy distortion, but I do use a Marshall shredmaster sometimes to crank it even further. Too much gain (pedal+full distortion on amp) and your sound begins to warble. On the clean channel I sometimes use a CE-2 chorus to make things bright, and my ART MR-1 reverb is on most of the time (but very subtle). Both channels are very good on thier own without effects.
This setup gives me the real feeling, hard to explain, you know every note you play has this "thump" in it, even the high pitched notes.
The amp reacts wonderful on effect pedals, it even corrects bad pedals.
You should have seen the faces of our other band members when I first turned up with this...Our second guitar player had very good tone with his one, but now he sounds digital harsh.

Never broke down. I don't think it's good to do gigs with tube amps without backup, but I cannot deal with a second amp. I will buy a second set of tubes as backup.

It appears the volume knob has some crackle in it when turned...and some of the knobs did turn farther than the pot itself (I mean that they slip, even with the screw tightened)

The previuos owner had contact with badcat to modify the beast to supply a 16 ohm cab. So I guess they are helpful

I'm only playing 5 years, and with this amp I was learning again. I mean it is so much fun that I enjoy learning the guitar. I sold all my crap digital pedals and amps, and now I'm collecting only the best with help of this site.
I did compare it to a Matchless and to me it was almost the same in sound and controls. The Badcat was more alive though. Other amps I tried are not worth mentioning.
I miss a channel selector!

Forget about the new Hot Cat 30R, this is all you will ever need and more. This is NOT some one trick pony, nor is this a Mesa styled goo machine with so many switches and connections the tone is a mute point.

If you need a button for every great sound you hear in your head, get a modeling amp.

If you don't mind turning a few knobs here and there, and clicking the rectiifer switch, here's what you get:

1) The sweetest clean you have ever heard, period, with the tube rectifier on. Sweet and warm, with those wonderful tingly harmonics on the top. Only Top Hat amps come close to this A++++ tone.

2) Put the solid state rectifier on, jack up the brilliance and treble a bit, and you have blackface twin. Spanky, fantastic sound in the quack positions ... blues heaven.

3) Crank the clean channel, and get a perfect old pexi breakup, that cleans up with your guitar volume. 30 watts is bearable, and very doable cranked in small (not tiny) clubs.

4) The gain channel will do a PERFECT Midnight Rambler, Boulevard, ALlman Bros on the neck pickup (LP style guitar), Randy Rhodes, Metallica, and even Gin Blossoms. The controls are deceiving, because they almost reconfigure the entire gain texture, so you can have forward anf aggressive AC/DC tone, pummeling thumping metal (A++++ tone), or even wicked shred super-gain mania. All with tone to die for.

I play a bit of everything, and HATE changing settings at gigs, but this amp will not do anything wrong, wherever you turn the knobs.

Turn a Bogner or Soldano tone knob too far and the sound croaks. Not with this amp. Buy one, and be patient learning what a brilliant amp design can do for you.

A studio musician's dream ... I could walk inot a Chicago Blues session and floor them, play some tasty soulful jazz, rip out some heavy Stevie and Jimi, rock out some Stones and J Winter, pummel some modern 3 Doors Down or Alice in Chains, and still not even tap into what this amp does. The sound is as good as it gets. Worth every penny if you are a player.

Don't know .... but Matchless amps were tanks, and these should be too.

No idea, never dealt with them.

Forget about cat logo for a second, nobody cares if there is a picture of Popeye riding Olive Oil on there ... tone is all that matters, period. That is what makes it on the radio, that is what makes it in the studio, and that is what you need. This amp handles overdrive and boost pedals as well as any amp, as long as you don't have the gain and volume pegged aleady, and that is something the other amps in this price range just do not do well. This means you have two channels, and the ability to boost your sound effectively for leads ... WHAT ELSE IS THERE? If you have not heard the clean tone a Class A amp makes with a tube rectifier, you will definately be impressed when you play this amp. It can be sweeter than a Victoria, and Angrier than a Bogner XTC ... perfect amp in my book.

This is a simple 30 watt Class A all tube amp with pure tube tone. I consider it a two channel amp because I use a A/B switch between the clean & gain jacks. This amp is the most versatile amp I've ever owned. It goes from sparkly Class A clean to full blown rippin distortion.

I have several guitars I play through it and they all sound good. My main guitars are a Gibson Les Paul Classic and a Zion Radicaster. I can't believe the tones I get out of this amp. You have to take the time to learn what the knobs do. There are so many ways to adjust and eq this head. If you don't like the tone you're getting, you haven't tried long enough. This is the best sounding amp I've ever owned and I've owned them all.

Bad Cat is proud of the fact that they build their amps to last. This thing is built like a tank and I've never had any problems with it.

I had a couple of questions. I called Bad Cat and the owner himself called me back and answered all my questions. Thanks!

I'm very satisfied with this amp. It does it all as far as tone goes. It doesn't have all the switching and effects you find on modern amps and that's fine because it would only ruin that awesome tone. I've owned a lot of amps and I'm sticking with Bad Cat amps from here on out.

I bought my BadCat new in 2003. This amp has two inputs: clean and gain; bad idea! Not your typical EQ either-Bass and some sort of Presents control. Results in no mids odly enough. With all of the other reviews, I'm sure you know the front panel layout by now. I was open to this new concept of features but quickly dissapointed. I took this unit on a three gig experiment.

At a conference with over 2000 people, the amp didn't mic up very well. I used the standard SM57, then tried an Audix D3, and finally one of those new upper line Sennheisers. The amp was harsh on the high end, plus there was a nice amount of white noise (suprised?) and a strange hum. After trying my Zion (strat style guitar), then a HH Tom Anderson, I decided not to use it for this gig. I then gave it another chance at a club. This time, I tried it through a Mesa Boogie 2x12 cab equiped with vintage 30's. Nope! Finally at a coffee house, it broke during sound check.

After I got the unit back to the recording studio where I work, I called BadCat. James told me to take the chassis out and look at it, so I did. Wow! What brittle craftsmanship we have. After he told me what to solder back into place, he appologized for the poor design. Keep in mind this amp was brand new! The head cabinet was built extremely well, but what good is a cab, if the internal electronics don't hold together.

James at BadCat was a big help in the repair and I don't want to come down too hard on him. He just represents a poor product, but nevertheless, he's a great help.

I've played for 12 years and have owned Groove Tubes,DR.Z,Matchless,Fender,Top Hat, and some others. I have many guitars and tried many of them through the BadCat. This amp didn't sound very good, work very well, or hold it's resale value. I averaged my ratings and gave this product a 4. Sorry BadCat! Cool logo, but that doesn't translate to tone.

New 30W master volume, single channel amp. The amp has a clean channel input with its own volume control as well. You will need an a/b box to access. I use it with a piezo Anderson and a Fishman powerblen pedal. With this set up I can access the clan or dirty, or even mix the two at will. Very cool. The amp outs for an 8ohm or 4 ohm speaker cab. It has a switch on the back to go from tubes to solid state. Very cool, since if you blow a tube you can still play in solid state mode (and the SS mode sounds almost as good). No 16 ohm output (unless you want to go into the amp and do a little wiring, so it is possible to get a 16ohm output, but I'd like to have an ohm selector switch, therefore a 8). The knobs, switches, input/outputs jacks are all heavy duty quality. Mine is black with the silver sparkle.

Huge range of tones available. This amp is plenty loud for any situation and finally, a master volume that works, it allows for very low volumes for the bedroom. The clean is 3-d sounding with blissful overtones. The gain is variable for bluse, rock, and metal. If this amp doesn't have enough gan for you, just quit playing. This amp doesn't have that annoying buzzy pre-amp distortion so many hi-gain amps have. Very articulate amp. Good touch sensitivity. Plenty of tone shaping capability so you can create your own sound. But if you want VH it's in here as well. Tones: Thick or thin there's no stopping this Bad Cat. The more time you spend with it, the more it becomes an extension of your guitar.

Seems to be solid. The covering material is somewhat thin and I can see it being easy to tear, mine actually came out of the box with a small tear on the back (probably dealer fault), in any case, a 9 for that reason.

Excellent support. Very helpful. They will talk with you.

Been playing 25+yrs. I have LP Classic, anderson Cobra S, and others. I have owned Slo-100 (6l6 and Kt66 versions), Bogner xtc and Shiva, Roccaforte 100HG, Alessandro Bloodhound, Diezel VH4, Mesa tremoveb, Marshall Silver Jubilee...they don't come close to this amp. I bought each of those amps, in search for a sound that I LIKE, not what someone else tells me I should like. BTW: I'm not rich, I'd buy one off ebay, try it, then sell it back on ebay, and then buy the next one...basically, all with the same money. This Hot Cat, I liked so much, I bought it new because it delivers the sonic goods. For the money this amp is a great value, hand-made, ptp wiring, class a, powerful, great clean and gain (usually it is one or the other), just awesome in everyway. Check out: http://www.crunchproductions.com/local147.html to hear some of my bands samples, these tracks were recorded before I got this head, but the hot cat blows these sounds away, and these are damm good plexi tracks!!

30 watts class A. All tube. Separate clean & dirty input jacks. Tube/solid state rectifier switch. 4 or 8 ohm switch. Dual speaker outs. Clean/dirty switching must be done via a/b/y box(Lehle is the best one I know of). No effects loop or reverb. There are not a lot of modern features or fuctions to this amp but that's not really an issue with me. Rather have killer tone than dozens of features that probably won't get used. This is more of a "tone purist" kinda amp.

First I'll say this amp inspired me to play heavy distorted music again. I had been doing a lot of acoustic and ambient, spacey clean guitar stuff. This amp made me want to rock. I'm playing PRS guitars(custom 22 & singlecut). Running thru crybaby wah, phase 90, voodoo labs tremolo and elecroharmonix holy grail reverb(this is only on my clean channel input-kinda cool to be able to put separate effects on either of the two since I like my distorted channel mostly dry). All pedals powered by voodoo labs pedal power 2-which gives the cleanest, most quiet, uncolored power I've used. Use mesa boogie 4x12 cabinet(vintage 30s). Everything wired with monster cable. I'm playing hard rock/metal in the vein of the deftones, sevendust, system of a down, STP. This amp does this style very well. I've played a bunch of different amps(marshalls, 5150s, boogies)and have always felt a little something was missing. When I played this amp I was amazed at how many useable sounds are there are, from crystal clean to very heavy distorted sounds. I read a debate regarding the "brutality" of the dirty channel. While all terms are subject to debate, I feel this amp is pretty damn brutal. Not the most brutal, but still throws down really well. The LEVEL control affects the boominess along with how the bass & treble are set up. The EDGE kinda effects the agressiveness of pick attack. The BRILLIANCE is the only knob that affects clean and dirty inputs. Clean input is only volume knob and the brilliance, but to me gives the perfect clean tone. I absolutely love it. The most impressive thing to me is the clarity when heavily distoted, even when playing chords with all six strings, I'm able to hear the articulate details in complex chords. Its important to know that the EDGE, LEVEL knobs along with the BASS and TREBLE can change the sound dramatically. Bass and treble work together, not independent of each other. Personally i like this some people may not. I've had this amp since July 2002 so I've had a lot of opportunity to learn alot about how this baby works, and still discover new things once in awhile. Nice classic rock and bluesy tones happenin' too. I use it mostly for thick and heavy though.

I would give this a 10 but found a cold solder joint to the 2nd pin in V2. So I was kinda of upset with that right away. I understand some wiring,not sure what, is contracted out somewhere so maybe that had something to do with it. Other than that this amp has been rock solid for me. I practice 3 to 4 times per week and gig small/medium size clubs once or twice a week for the last year and have done nothing besides change tubes. Use it with no backup.

I've talked James a few times and he was always helpful and friendly with me. He was also actually interested in what I was doing and what style i played. Pretty cool that the big cat was interested in what i was doing and asking me questions.

Been playing 14 or so years. I would buy another if lost or stolen. Actually i'm getting another one to run stereo rig. May be too pricey for some, but I have been consistantly happy and can't imagine not using it now. Worth every penny I paid.

2003. Mine was set up at Bad Cat to handle 16 and 8-ohm cabs. Otherwise, its features are identical to those listed in reviews before mine. As for some features that many guitarists crave, such as reverb and effects loops, the Hot Cat neither has them nor needs them.

I'm using a wide variety of guitars with this amp: a '59 reissue Les Paul, Hamer Artist Archtop, Heritage HC 150, Hamer Daytona, Fender 60's Relic, G&L Legacy, G&L ASAT, '52 Reissue Telecaster, and Schecter California Custom. Cabinet-wise, the head goes through either a Zinky 2x12 or a homemade pine 4x10 fitted with Weber Blue Pups (By the way, the Zinky cabinet is nothing short of magical, and Bruce Zinky is a very nice man; Ted Weber also is friendly, responsive and makes terrific products). I have found extremely satisfying tones with each guitar through the Hot Cat. The amp's clean channel, even in the Zinky cab, which is closed, is sparkly and full of "swirl"-that great harmonic content that can be so elusive. Some folks complain about the lack of eq knobs for this channel, but it is so well voiced that I like not having the opportunity to mess it up! As for the hi-gain side of the amp, I couldn't be happier. It interests me that some reviewers use the term "brutal" for the amps overdrive-granted, it is capable of as much gain as any player should need, but "brutal" to me is a modern, under age-30 player's term that makes me think of the grainy, heavy-bottomed Mesa Triple Rectifiers, or the Bogner Uberschal. To my ears, and my settings, the Hot Cat has a very articulate overdrive that has a touch of Marshall thump, a bit a Fender, and some of the "snap" of a well-set up Matchless. Really, though, these comparisons don't do the amp justice; it has its own sound range, which goes from sweet to burning. I just think "brutal" is inaccurate, but then, these terms are so subjective.

The simplest amp I own with which to easily dial in great tones is still my Budda Twinmaster Ten-I will never, ever, ever part with that amp. Yes, the Hot Cat does take some time to dial in one's tones, but having an "Edge" control as well as "Brilliance," and the interactive Bass and Treble, gives one the chance to find some tones that won't be easily pulled out of other amps. I've had the amp about a month, and use it every day, and it truly has expanded my tonal pallette. Finally, it takes very well to pedals.

These amps are, as everyone else has pointed out, perhaps the most solidly built amps out there. I've only ever felt as confident in an old Hiwatt amp. Of course, no professional who can afford a second amp should gig without one, but if I had to with this, I think that with extra fuses and tubes, I wouldn't have to worry.

While my amp was being built, I called Bad Cat and spoke directly with founder and president James Heidrich. He very graciously answered all of my questions, and some of them were quite foolish!

I've been playing about 25 years, and own, in addition to the guitars listed above, several other wonderful pieces and some marvelous other amps; I'm not going to list them all here; it depresses me to see how much money I've spent and why I still don't own my own home!

I most certainly would replace the Hot Cat if I had to. Outside of the Budda, it makes any other amp I own expendable. At this point in life, I'd be happy with 2 or 3 great amp tones to play with, and the Hot Cat alone provides those and more.

I know not too many places are dealers for Bad Cat yet, but if you can get to one, give them a shot and I think the Cat will grab you. I bought mine from Lark Street Music in Teaneck, NJ. The store's proprietor, Mr. Buzzy Levine, is an honorable man, a pleasure to do business with, and carries gorgeous, highly musical equipment. Check out the Bad Cat website, which has available sound samples (which in all honesty don't do justice to the amp, I think...), and then call Mr Levine and if you can, buy a Hot Cat. What else is there to do?

Single Channel. Two inputs; High Gain and Clean. Several voicing controls. Tube or solid state rectifier selectable.

I play several different PRS models. This amp is anything but noisy. It simply doesn't make any undesireable sounds at all. It covers both ends of the sound spectrum and even several of the latest trends. The distortion can be made very heavy while remaining musical. It doesn't seem to tend towards shaking itself to death. No setting seems overextended to my ears.

It "feels" dependable. I haven't dropped it out the window or struck it with anything. I just play through it and, once warm, it gives me the sounds I want. But, tubes being tubes, have some replacement tubes along in case the road is too hard. That's not really the amps doing, though.

Unbelievable. A tube died once. I called and Mr. Sampson called me back...in Switzerland...on his bill. He was so nice that I was embarrassed. We found the tube and replaced it. The night was saved.

I went out and bought the combo as a backup a few weeks ago. It's got speaker outs, so it's become my second head.

My favorite player, Billy Duffy of The Cult, is heavy into Matchless, so that's why I tried out Bad Cat. Matchless in the old form no longer exists, so I figured it was a safe bet to follow the designer (Mr. Mark Sampson) rather than the Matchless badge. I was right.

Other than my Orange AD15 practice combo, I don't really need anything else. I have found my product of choice.

Single Channel. Two inputs; High Gain and Clean. Several voicing controls. Tube or solid state rectifier selectable.

I play several different PRS models. This amp is anything but noisy. It simply doesn't make any undesireable sounds at all. It covers both ends of the sound spectrum and even several of the latest trends. The distortion can be made very heavy while remaining musical. It doesn't seem to tend towards shaking itself to death. No setting seems overextended to my ears.

It "feels" dependable. I haven't dropped it out the window or struck it with anything. I just play through it and, once warm, it gives me the sounds I want. But, tubes being tubes, have some replacement tubes along in case the road is too hard. That's not really the amps doing, though.

Unbelievable. A tube died once. I called and Mr. Sampson called me back...in Switzerland...on his bill. He was so nice that I was embarrassed. We found the tube and replaced it. The night was saved.

I went out and bought the combo as a backup a few weeks ago. It's got speaker outs, so it's become my second head.

My favorite player, Billy Duffy of The Cult, is heavy into Matchless, so that's why I tried out Bad Cat. Matchless in the old form no loger exists, so I figured it was a safe bet to follow the designer (Mr. Mark Sampson) rather than the Matchless badge. I was right.

Other than my Orange AD15 practice combo, I don't really need anything else. I have found my product of choice.

BOUGHT NEW IN NOVEMBER 2002 I WANTED TO PLAY IT FOR SOME TIME BEFORE SUBMITTING THIS REPORT . I WAS LOOKING FOR AN AMP THAT COULD COVER CLEAN TO HIGH GAIN WITHOUT COMPROMISE , THIS AMP DOES IT ALL WELL .
I WAS VERY VERY HESITANT TO PURCHASE THIS AMP PRIOR TO PLAYIMG IT .
SO I NEARLEY BOUGHT SEVERAL OTHER BRANDS BUT I KEPT COMING BACK TO THE BADCAT . MATCHLESS [ MARK SAMPSON ] WITH A HIGH GAIN , HMMMMM .
I FINALLY CALLED BADCAT AND SPOKE T0 JAMES [ THE BADCAT ] AND HE INFORMED ME THAT SOME OF HIS DEALERS WOULD TAKE A RETURN IF I WAS NOT COMPLETLY SATISFIED , HMMMMM . LOUDEST 30 WATTS EVER, NO REVERB I DON'T MISS IT . GAIN CAN BE TRIMMED FROM LIQUID TO GRIND . I LOVE THE EDGE CONRTOL IT ALLOWS YOU TO COLOR YOUR /GAIN PICK ATTACK...AWESOME.
ONLY ONE CONTROL ON CLEAN SIDE {BRILLIANCE} THIS INITIALLY BOTHERED
ME, I LIKE THIS FEATURE NOW {LESS TO WORRY ABOUT ] THIS CHANNEL SOUNDS GREAT AND HELPS PEDALS SOUND AS THEY WANT TO. NO EFFECTS LOOP

I USE A TOM ANDERSON DROP-TOP/STRAT TYPE ,LES PAUL ELEGANT , OR PRS HOLLOWBODY 2 . THEY ALL SOUND GOOD THRU THIS AMP. THIS AMP IS ARTICULATE & VERY SENSITVE TO PICK ATTACK . THIS AMP WORKS FOR ME ON
ALLMAN BROS TO EXTREME THIS AMP HAS TONE PLUS. THIS AMP HAS BALLS AND A VERY TIGHT LOW END. NO FLUB. THIS AMP WILL DO BRUTAL CRUSHING POWER CHORDS [ I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW STRONG THIS AMP GETS OUT OF A 2 TWELVE OPEN BACK CAB ]I GOT THE BADCAT CAB AND AM VERY PLEASED { I THINK A LOT OF TONE PROBLEMS COME FROM MISMATCHING HEAD TO CABS} IT WILL ALSO SING AND SUSTAIN . THIS IS NOT A MODELING AMP HOWEVER AND NEEDS TO BE CRANKED UP TO GET THE BEST OUT OF IT . AND DID I MENTION ITS LOUD . PRACTICAL FOR ALL BUT LARGE VENUES AND THEN YOU WILL GO OUT THRU THE HOUSE ANY WAY . CLEAN CHANNEL BREAKS UP OH SO NICE . AND I USE EITHER A KEELEY BD3 OR TS9+- AND WOW

WHEN I GOT THIS AMP I TOOK IT TO DOWNTOWN SOUND { LEMOYNE PA } AND HAD
DR AMPLIFIER {TIM} TEAR IT APART TO SEE WHAT HE THOUGHT . BUILT LIKE A TANK ... SHOCK MOUNTED, SELF BIASING TUBES MILITARY POINT TO POINT WIRING 1.25 TWISTS PER INCH . PLEASE EXCUSE ME IF I DON'T REMEMBER THIS CORRECTLY .BUT HE DID SAY THAT THE LAST TIME HE HAD SEEN THIS TYPE OF BUILD QALITY WAS A HIWATT . AND THE MATERIALS FIT AND FINISH
SWWEEET . I HOPE IT HOLDS UP AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS . 5 YEAR WARRANTY

STU AND JOHN AT FAT SOUND VERY VERY COOL TO DEAL WITH .
AND AS RESULT OF GETTING TO PLAY IT WE NOW HAVE A LOCAL DEALER RRR GUITAR SUPER COOL FOLKS .
JAMES AND HIS WIFE AT BADCAT ARE HONEST PATIENT AND VERY NICE AND HELPFUL

I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE THE RESOURCES TO AFFORD THIS AMP I SOLD A MESA NOMAD A LINE6 AND A FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE TO GET THIS DONT MISS EMM .
IF I LOST THIS AMP I WOULD GET ANOTHER ONE . EXPENSIVE GUITARS THRU A
CRAPPY AMP STILL PLAY WELL BUT THEY DONT SOUND AS GOOD AS THEY COULD. I LOVE THIS AMP .I AM AT A LOSS TO IMAGINE HOW ANYONE COULD NOT LOVE ONE . I WISH IT HAD AN EFFECTS LOOP BUT IF I LOST TONE TO GET ONE I'D RATHER BE WITHOUT . I COMPARED TO BOGNER AND ROADKING GLAD I GOT THE CAT

Mine was made in Dec. 2002. Two inputs- not two channels as a lot of people think- their is a big difference. This is not a channel switcher but you can use an A/B box to switch between the inputs. There is a Brilliance and Edge control that seem to do pretty much the same thing. There is no mid knob which I think is a huge problem. The treble knob starts to thin out the mids after about 1:00 and adds them below that. Very funky interactive controls.

OK, I don't think it is fair to just review an amp that you think is great. I wrestled with posting this but after hearing from a few other people that felt the same way about this amp, I decided to post this less than stellar review. I heard a lot of hype about this amp and it got great reviews in Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar (if you even trust those kind of things!). I bought it without playing it first which is my mistake.

Here is the good parts. The amp is very heavy and boasts some of the best build quality I have ever seen. The transformers are super heavy duty. The clean is very nice in that Class A Matchless/Vox kind of way. Frankly, I think there are many other amps that have just as good of a clean, including, Fender, the Bogner Shiva and the Budda Superdrives.

Here is the bad. I did not care for the voicing of the gain channel at all. I used a few different Les Pauls and my trusty Brubaker. It is very hard to describe but there was something really missing in the mids to me. I had a really tough time dialing in a tone that I liked. When you cut back the treble to get the mids back in, I found that the amp lost some of the upper mids and treble that I wanted in there. I did a lot of knob twisting and got some tones that were passable but not what I wanted to hear. It would not do a good "old school Marshall crunch" that I was satisfied with at all. It was better at the higher gain stuff but I found it was a bit gritty and buzzy in the Distortion department. I have heard comparisons of this amp to the Bogner Uber as far as tone and low end- No way, IMO! The low end response is OK but nothing like the Uber, Roccaforte or Diezel. There has been some debate on whether a low wattage amp can really do high gain well. The theory seems to be that you need enough
power in the power section to handle the hot preamp signal. I haven't found a low watt amp that does it well yet. It felt like this amp did not have enough juice in the power end to handle the preamp for the heavier stuff. It just felt and sounded like the two sections were working against each other rather than with each other. I know there are others that will diagree and really like this amp but I would strongly suggest you play this amp before buying! Also, you should play it at a good volume, not bedroom levels. You may like it, I really didn't. I am not saying it sucks by a longshot, but it is just not up to the hype or the pricetag, IMO. I believe this is why you are seeing a lot of them on the used market (I lost money even used on it so I would really suggest not buying new if you don't have to).

I think reliability will be great. This thing is built super great as it should be for the price.

I have heard support is great. Didn't have mine long enough to make an opinion.

I think I said pretty much all that needs be said. Tone is very, very, subjective so you can take my opinions with a grain of salt or whatever they are worth. I have been playing for over 20 years and have owned a lot of great amps. There is just so much good stuff out there right now. I just really think there are much better sounding amps out there for way less money than this one. The Budda Superdrives, Roccafortes, Bogners and some others are much better in the tone department than this amp, IMO. Just play before you buy is all I suggest.

2002 Hot Cat - Amp can get a variety of different sounds

Brutal overdrive, awesome cleans. Great amp for Blues, metal and everything in between, including country and Jazz. I play thru a Gibson 58RI LP and a CS-336...this amp sounds phenominal with both. Really versatile tone wise. I like the way the amp allows you to blend power and preamp tube distortion to your liking.

seems to be built like a tank. Have only had it for 3 days now, so I really don't have an opinion for this catagory

Haven't had to deal with customer support

One of the best sounding amps I have ever played. Very versatile.

2002 with EL 34's in a class A configuration. 30 watts 2 channels accesed via A\B\Y box and combinable. Switchable tube or SS rectifier. ( I haven't tried the SS setting yet). It's the combinability and the two channels that warrant the 9 rating. I have so far used the amp for medium sized club venues.

There is a lot of tonal terrain in this amp. I just got off the gig and wanted to record my immediate impressions. The non master channel is just about perfect. It only has two controls, volume and brilliance which is the only global control. It sounds great clean and it sounds even better cranked. It breaks up a lot like my '92 Matchless DC-30 or my Dr Z Mazerati. Takes to pedals beautifully. I could easily do a whole gig on this channel alone. The master volume input channel consists of gain, edge, level, bass, treble, brilliance and master volume. Are all these knobs neccesary? I'll tell you why they are. Most amps that utilize a preamp overdrive scheme such as Mesa or modern Marshalls and their various ilk, like to keep the power amp clean and non distorted which makes it easier to control the gain characteristics and tonal contour. when you add an overdriven power amp into the equation, all sorts of other anomolies come into play such as the darkening of the tone and the compression of the signal. These controls allow you to dial in the desired amount of preamp to power amp overdrive while retaining the attack and tonal characteristics that you desire. It can be a trick if you are not familiar with these characteristics. It's easy to go overboard with the combinations of saturation you have available at any given time. Mushiness or wooliness will result. Once you suss this out though, you have the ability to manipulate a vast array of tonal possibilities. Now it gets really complex. When you combine the two channels, you mix these characteristics together and the possibilities become absolutely mind boggling. For instance, if you run an overdrive, the two channels will react differently causing the master gain channel to become more distorted and the clean channel to get louder. Almost like running two amps. The more you overdrive the power section, the more it negates this effect. Or you could run chorus and reverb just on the clean channel and run an overdrive globally. Before you engage the overdrive, the chorus and reverb effect might be very subtle but when you kick in the OD, the effect on the clean channel would become prominent in the mix. The possibilities are legion. If you like class A amps, they don't get any better than this. Old school fuses with the modern to produce a new classic.

This is one of the most overbuilt amps on the planet. That's why Matchless amps hold their value.

5 year warranty and easy to service due to the construct. I hope to never find out.

I own original JMI Vox's including AC 30's and AC 50's, reissue AC 15's and AC 30's, Bogner, VHT, late '60 Marshall Super Bass, Dr Z Route 66, various Orange and Hiwatts, Hughes and Kettner, and many others. The Bad Cat is amongst the cream of the crop.

n/a

I've read and pretty much agree with all the other reviews posted so I'm going to try and adress some different things.

Clean channel-Has excellent tone. Very class A/transparent sounding. More Vox-like than Fender but with a sound of it's own. You can play country to jazz to blues on this channel and it will sound great. I was really surprised at how much I liked the solid state rectifier selected with the clean channel. It gives each note more definition and a bit more sustain. It makes the channel better for chord melody and jazz stuff, I think. I use this channel with the strat pickups, middle and neck, on my Grosh retro classic.

Comparing it with a Matchless SC 30 that I used to own: the sound is different. The Hot Cat is not as chimey or vox like to my ears as the SC 30. It's a bit smoother sounding and that's why, out of the two amps ,I prefer playing clean leads on the Hot Cat. I'd have to give the edge on the clean chord sound to the Matchless thanks to it's twin tone controls.

The SC 30 has much better tone controls for the clean stuff as the Hot Cat just has one tone control. Many reviewers say that one control on the Hot Cat is all you need but I wish I had a bit more. When I turn the volume of the clean channel past 12 o'clock it starts to break up and get more bassy. When I'm playing on my neck and middle pickups I can't get enough treble-I have to switch to my other pickup combinations to get enough treble. Not a big deal, really. I don't usually need that much volume on my clean sounds but I was playing an outdoor gig where I had to turn it up and noticed it. Also, If more clean headroom is needed the solid state rectifier switch can help.

Another comparison to the SC 30: The Hot Cat doesn't have as much clean headroom.

The gain channel is also excellent. The high gain sounds really work great and are simple to dial in. The lower gain sounds are also great but for me, take a little more work to find-especially at low volumes. For example when I'm trying to get a slightly overdriven sound at lower volumes either the bass sounds to woofy or the high end to trebly. I should add that I only have this "problem" with my bridge humbucker. When I get a little volume going the lower gain sounds sound more alive. I'm nitpicking here and this experience may be just mine but thought I should add my thoughts.

I've tried lots of boutique amps and boutique overdrives to get my lead sound and I have to say that I like the Hot Cat best. The sound is just better than anything else I've tried (except for maybe cranking a boutique amp up to 9 or ten but how practical is that?) The Hot Cat does a great job of getting great tone at various volumes. Cool! It's overdrive is very articulate which I love but it can also reveal sloppy playing so beware.

C'mon. Based on what you know about the amps construction-what do you think?

The great thing abou the Hot Cat is it's versatility COMBINED with excellent sounds. Lot's of amps are versatile but the sound quality isn't there. Or many amps sound good clean but not overdriven or great overdriven but not clean. The Hot Cat is the first amp I've had that really does it all.

I love having a great clean strat sound-hitting my fulldrive for a slightly overdriven SRV style lead and still have the option of getting fat screaming high gain with the gain channel and my humbucker.

By the way I bought this from Stu Carter at Fat Sounds Guitar and he is the most knowledgeable, caring, honest, fantastic owner you will ever meet. Thee music industry should erect a statue to this guy and crown him the patron saint of music customer service!

I've owned DR Z maz 18, Route 66, Carmen Ghia, Matchless SC 30, Tone King Imperial, etc. and if I had to pick one of those amps I'd take the Hot Cat. I play a wide variety of music at a lot of different volumes and nothing does THAT as well as the Hot Cat IMHO.

Here's another nit pick/recommendation. Nit pick: For a head this thing is heavy! It must weigh 50 pounds. Recommendation: get the head if you don't want to deal with carrying all the weight of an amp AND speaker and cab in one package.

This amp is a head with a 4X10 cab made in 2002 and purchased from Freedom Guitar in San Diego. It is a truly amazing versatile amplifier. First let me state that I have 12 point to point amps and I was extremely cautious about laying over 3 grand for another one however I could not be happier with the results. The amp has two inputs, clean and gain, powered by four 12AX7 pre-amp tubes and a pair of EL34s. I have had the amp for three months and have spent numerous hours working the controls. First I love class A amps and the tone of a cranked matchless/badcat however with these traditional amps you need a stompbox to get a good raunchy lead tone at club level volume. I do not like the buzz sound of the gain in a mesa boogie so if this is what you are looking for stop now. The amp has seperate controls for the treble, bass and brillance along with a master volume, gain and edge (which colors your gain). I cannot say enough about the edge control. By being able to control the flavor of the gain you can really dial in the exact sound you want. This amp nails the wide open sustain forever gain tone if you want it to but it also sounds great when nudged just a bit. With a 59 re-issue Les Paul and a cord to the amp I was able to duplicate the exact sound of Claptons guitar on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Perfect!

My main guitars are a couple of 59 re-issue Les Pauls, a Pete Townshend SG and 63 re-issue SG. This amp is great for all out screaming gain but it is the lower gain settings that are my favorites. Really quiet amp. If the panel did not light up you would not know it was on! I tried the amp with a 2X12 which was nice but it was the 4X10 that really made it sing. The open back cab is a good match for the head.

I have a BadCat Black Cat I purchased new over a year ago and have not had any problems so I would expect the same for this amp. Unless you just want to skip the workouts with the weights and lug an amp around I would forget the combo and buy a head and cab.

Sent them one e-mail and got a response back the same day. Most of my support comes from the dealer. Everyone knows that BadCat is an evolution of Matchless and most of the dealers are gear heads themselves. Warranty is 5 years.

I own alot of gear and amps and have been playing for over 20 years. Does this make me an expert, no! However I can say that if you like the sound of late sixties Clapton and the Beatles during the White Album and Abbey Road this amp is for you. The amp is not limited to these sounds but this is the tone I like. It would go on my list of must have amps along with a DC30/Black Cat, a Black Face Deluxe Reverb and a 60s Marshall.

The amp was made in 2001. It comes with 2 plug ins. One for Clean one for MASSIVE DIRT!!!! You will beed an A/B switch for this. THe amp has Master - Volume - Edge - Brilliance controls as well as a few others. The amp has no reverb which I wish it did and no effects loop. I have asked them about putting the loop in, and they said not at this time. It is pretty straight forward!!!

Ultimate TONE MONSTER. I am playing with a Ibanez Prestige - Ernie Ball Petrucci and PRS. I think you could plug a beat Harmony in this thing and get huge tone!!! The amp is very quiet and the loudest 30 watts I have ever heard. THe bass control turned to 10 changes the sound of the amp to total metal meltdown. I am running it into a Marshall 2 x 12 cabinet and it is huge!!!!!!!!!!! The distortion on this amp is Bar None Nasty. Look out Bogner!!!!!!!!

Built like a Tank, and I am sure they will support a high dollar piece like this..

These guys answer E-Mails within hours not days. They rule!!

I will save everybody much time here. If you are looking for a head that will kick everything's ass, look no further!! Buy IT!!!!!!!!!!!