Bad Cat Tone Cat 112 Combo

Every possible feature. Including what is the ultimate in my opinion of tube configurations. A quad of el84's for clean and a pair of el34's for overdrive. Love having the solid state switch/rectifier switch and of course the ability to run both channels together. The twin fans are a nice bonus as well to connect or disconnect for recording.

I have a collection of them all and this amp does it all in one box. Best clean and awesome high gain.

Built like a tank-don't see having any problems. Don't know what those 2 others guys with the crappy previous reviews were smoking. Brings down the rating for no reason.

James is amazing if you call him, and gives lot's of advice. I have heard that they are crap for returning emails though.

Would definitely replace if stolen, however would consider a 2x12 cab for more ooomph and in head format make transport easier.

Most impressive features out there.

Wow, impressive clean and hard core gain.

Seems like it's built like a tank! Very boutique leaque piece of equipment. I wonder how they handwire all these functions. Boogie gave up back in the early 80"s when they reached there MKII!!!!

James seems excellent and ansers the phone every single time.

Would replace tomorrow if stolen. Very interested to try there other models.

What can I say - this amp has virtually every imaginable option - and in my opinion, every one of them is musical and useful - no dead weight. It's versatility is its' strength and its' weakness - any folks don't want to invest the time searching through the myriad of tones. My ToneCat was made in 2005, and I purchased it new. The only feature I wish it has was a built-in coffee maker or a beer cooler, 'cause then I'd have everything I'd ever want for playing or tracking ;)

After reading some of the reviews below, I've wondered if they're using the same amp. In almost three years, and hundreds of hours of usage, the amp just went in for a tune-up. The ToneCat's sound quality is excellent. For my applications the high gain EL34 channel kills - the top-end is tamed using the Edge control, while the Mid boost is magical. Open it up on the Master and dial in the preamp's Gain and Level to push the power tubes. You can go completely over-the-top, if you want to. Or, jump over to the non-MV EL84 for the ToneCat's clean - classic rock butter. You can mix sounds between the two preamps into either power section for some outrageous clean/dirty mixes. I like using the built-in, open-back Celestion V30, but also enjoy driving English-made Greenbacks and even vintage EV12L's in closed-back cabs. The Tube rectifier is awesome, but some of the best modern tones I get come when using the SolidState rectifier. This switch is no waste to me.

My ToneCat has been fine. It's been used for 24+ hour sessions on many occasions. When it went into the factory for new set of EL84 tubes, James installed all the latest mods and a fan set - they know what they're doing.... and I trust them. Mine amp never got hot enough to "burn" me (as below), and now it never can. It is a Class-A configuration, so use your Standby switch.

James and the gang at BadCat are a class act. Never brash or condescending. Just give them a call. Or drop an email. When I had questions he was quick to answer and explain. Have you ever K*rg for help with your M*rshall? I bet you weren't talking to the designer or owner - but at BadCat you talk to the Cat himself! If they're busy, I call back later. It's not rocket science - they're a small company making outstanding products. Oh yes, during it's recent tube visit, BadCat didn't charge me a cent for any of their mods and then they shipped the amp back for free.

42 years old - playing since 1978. I could afford to buy any model amp I want, but I chose the ToneCat - VersatilityCat Crankin'Cat CompactCat CleanCat CreamyCat CrunchyCat KickButtCat

TONECat

I would definitely replace my ToneCat if it were lost or taken. Currently I own Fender, Matchless, THD, 65amps, Soldano, Lab, Roland, and many others. These are all used in a studio context. The ToneCat is totally unique.

The ToneCat isn't really a very versatile amp. Its supposed to have two independent channels with the clean side using an EL84 channel and the dirty side using an EL34 channel. There are somewhat nice clean sounds out of the EL84 and not so decent sounds out of the EL34 side.

Like the previous reviewer when it "worked" the clean sounded pretty decent but not very inspiring. The distortion channel sounded similar to the Hot Cat to me which is a cheapo sounding type of distortion.

Note: The clean channel stays clean and the distortion channel stays distorted. There's no in-between.

I was disappointed with the distortion channel and not at all impressed with the clean channel.

I agree with the previous reviewer that the ToneCat needs to be redesigned to be more reliable. I had lots of problems with amp noises that just shouldn't be there for this expensive of an amp.
It does run very hot and the footswitch jack is very hard to put on. Not sure what Bad Cat was thinking when they decided on the desighn for this amp??

Bad Cat needs to hire someone to answer their phones and provide "good" customer service. The guy that answers now acts like he'd rather be out golfing (who wouldn't) but when it's your job to provide customer service you could at least pretend you want to be helpful. The person they have now isn't very nice nor is he helpful.

This amp really shouldn't have been introduced until it was tested and quality checked. The number of Bad Cat amps being sold on Ebay is a tetament to their lack of quality which us why people are trying to dump them. I won't purchase another one.

The ToneCat, like the other amps in the BadCat line, is a reasonably versatile amp. Its advertised as having two independent channels. The "clean" side is the EL84 channel and the "dirty" side is the EL34 channel. You can get some very nice clean sounds out of the EL84 side (the "better" side imho) and semi-decent OD sounds out of the EL34 side. You can't really get clean EL34 sounds or dirty EL84 sounds; a drawback to me.

You can also flip from a solid-state to a tube rectifier, which in hindsight was a waste. I didn't like the non-tube sound at all.

Also the contols take a while to get used to.

It is a loud 30 watts.

I used my LP, Suhr Classic and my McCarty through the ToneCat. When it worked (see below), the clean sounds were very inspiring. The only complaint about the clean EL84 side was making it dirty. I needed to put an OD pedal in front of it for some nice distortion.
For the price of this amp, I should not have to add a pedal to just make it break up decently imo.

The dirty side is just that... dirty. You cannot get a clean sound from the EL34 side. Not that I want a Vox clean, but there was too much hair on that channel. I could not dial out the OD. And the OD sound itself just did not sound that good.

I have a Rivera Quiana, an old vintage Boogie, a JMP-1 and a souped-up BJ. The OD on the EL34 side could not match the tonality and warmth of any of my other amps; all of which are at least 1/2 the price.

I was extremely disappointed in the OD sound of that channel.

Here's the meat of my review. I went through 3 consecutive defective ToneCats in 4-months.

Imo, the ToneCat needs to be redesigned to be more reliable.

Every chassis I got was a "new rev". When I wanted to return the final one, I was even offered the "latest rev which sounds even better and has a fan".

For that money ($3400) I was expecting high-quality sound and high-quality workmanship. I didn't get that. Again, props go to James for answering my calls and offering to "get it right", but after 4 months, I just gave up.

Btw, to clarify the misleading info out there on the two channels: the clean side is the EL-84 side and the dirty side is the EL-34 side. You can mix the preamps of two channels and decide which power tubes you want to drive them. You *cannot* mix the power tubes as some sites/reviewers (and the Rudys saleguy) mention. Imo, it would have been nice to have an EL-84 side and a EL-34 side and let me decide the "clean" and "dirty". I might want a clean EL-34 or a dirty
EL-84.

There is no manual. Its runs hotter than any amp I've ever played through; you can literally burn your fingers turning the amp off. The footswitch jack is practically impossible to put on; the salesguy had to use a safety pin to open the pins on the plug.

Btw, I went through 4 different footswitches. None... I repeat... *none* could be easily plugged into the back of the amp. One even had the wrong number of pins.

The first ToneCat I got actually had the footswitch jack *underneath* the chassis; literally impossible to use. There were all kinds of odd non-mechanical buzzes at certain resonant notes. One of the amps had a sort of tonal dispersion where it sounded like the overtones were all over the spectrum. The amp specialist at Rudy said it sounded like the internal connections to the tube sockets were snafu.

Many other glitches (not to mention no helpful or even working website)... So I just gave up in frustration.

Throughout my painful 4-month saga of 3 consecutive defective BadCat amps, James, the BC owner, was extremely gracious and the dealer (Rudys in NY) was helpful (albeit non-optimal).

I must have called Bad Cat or the dealer at least once a week for 4 months trying to get this amp to work properly. It never did.

Given the workmanship on this amp, I don't think I will buy a Bad Cat amp in the future.

I ordered this Tone Cat HEAD thru Boston Guitar Works in Jan '06, and it was delivered in July '06. I will assume that the reader is aware of the features of this amp. I chose the head version so I can use a variety of cab/speaker combinations. This is a heavy amplifier head, over 50 lbs. This should be more than enough amp (volume wise) for any player save the extreme volume/gain/metal types. There's enough options out there for players of that style, like the peavey XXX and 5150, Boogie Triple Recs, etc, so get one of those if you need insane volume and gain. This does the Marshall thing on channel 2 really quite well as far as I'm concerned, and I am able to dial in multiple shades of vintage Marshall or Hiwatt distortion. So far I have preferred the Tube rectifier. A decent benchmark of what I'm talking about would be Angus Young/"Electric"-era Cult tones - good note definition, solid and big bottom end, little or no hsrsh fizz or noise in the distortion. More below.

Guitars used so far: '52 Tele RI, Rick 360, Les Paul Pro deluxe, PRS McCarty archtop, '56 Danelectro RI, G&L ASAT Semi-Hollow. Styles from Heavier Rock/Old School Punk to Retro Oldies/Byrds/Kinks etc, some Country.

Channel 1 - Clean - as good or better than my Vox AC30 CC head, a little less gain than the AC30, responds to TS-9 & Boss pedals well, reverb is good, but not really close to my old Vibrolux. In fact I prefer the Vibrolux for Clean sounds and run both amps thru a Switchbone...

Channel 2 - 3 ways to find your distortion:
Vol high, Master Low: gritter, preamp distortion, a little more extreme, good for solos
Vol Low, Master High: Power Tube distortion, great bottom end, good note definition, my favorite so far
Edge Control: Adds or subtracts "fizz" or upper midrange to sound, really useful along with the brilliance control to tweak from one guitar to another
3 Position Mid toggle switch: Again, good for reducing harsh upper mids or adding mids to a darker axe. I seem to go between left and middle positions mostly. This is very useful if you use different cabinets - My Celestion Vintage 30 2X12 is much brighter than the Tone Tubby 2X12, this switch helps transitions become much easier.
The footswitch also lets you combine channels 1 & 2, and this sounds REALLY GOOD.

So Far So Good...No warranty card or Manual included. The amp is solidly built.

The only email I sent was concerning estimated delivery date. It wasn't returned by Bad Cat, but Heath @ Boston Guitar replied promptly. The Bad Cat web site was under construction at that time.
I contacted 2 Bad Cat "dealers" before Boston Guitar to attempt to order this amp - one in Georgia, and one on the central east coast of Florida. The one in FL was so annoying and confused about the product I gave up. The one in GA eventually returned one of my calls and mentioned that they'd have to contact Boston Guitar to get some details, then didn't return my calls. I eventually just called Boston myself and the amp was ordered that day.

I'm 40 now, I have been playing since 1978, & in bands since 1988, and have been thru ALOT of gear. I bought this head so I could gig with one amp that would behave like having a killer old Marshall 50w head for dirty sounds and an AC30 for clean. I have to say that it does just that - or at least 90% of the job. The amp sounds SERIOUSLY GOOD thru the Tone Tubby 2x12, better than thru the celestion loaded cab. The combo of the Bad Cat/Tone Tubby rig was STUPID EXPENSIVE, but I decided to finally just get some really high quality stuff for a change and forego the endless cavalcade of lower quality rigs that I've bought and sold over the last 10 years, which probibly added up to the same $$$ amount in the long run.

That being said, I am still trying to find a better amp (for me) than my old SF Vibrolux reverb for clean/surf sounds and my TS9, which I bought from a fool for $150 6 years ago. This quest has included a VOX AC30CC, a Boogie Maverick, Laney VC30, the Bad Cat, Tech 21 Trademark 60, KMDs, Randalls, Peaveys, Crates, etc....

I do wish it had 2 speaker output jacks, but the 4-8-16 ohm selector makes up for that.

If it were stolen, I don't know if I'd order another right away....I do really like it but $3K is alot of bread, I might try a Divided by 13 amp maybe...

made in sept 2005. i play 60's 70's 80's classic rock. the tone cat is a two channel amp. channel 1 is powered by el84's --vox chimey. channel two is powered by el 34's-- marshall thick. can use each channel separately or together via provided footswitch. yes effects loops and direct out, 4, 8, 16ohm selectable. channel 1 volume bass treble. channel 2 gain, edge, level,bass, treble, brilliance, master volume. there is a 3 position switch bass mid treble boost. reverb for channel one only. i play gigs 50 to 1500 people and the tone cat has plenty of volume but i always mic my amps. i can't believe how fat the 34 side is at low volumes!!! no more attenuator!!! so much head room on the 84 side.

i play strats and pauls with a pedal board that includes line 6 chorus modeler, line 6 echo delay modeler, cry baby wa, tuner and compressor which i only use on channel 1. channel 1 is way quiet. channel 2 is the hot high gain so a little noisy, nothing i'm not used to from higher gain stuff. this amp is the one i've been looking for because of it's versatility, beatles clean to 80's rock. sorry can't comment on metal/shred sounds although i'm sure they're in there

we're talking high end gear here, it's hand wired point to point with all the best components. as with my other botique amps there aren't usually any issues, certainly none here. i always take a backup amp, wouldn't matter what my main rig was. no physical problems with the tone cat and i'm sure if there was bad cat would take care of it

bad cat answers the phone and emails in a timely fashion, very friendly. no need for repairs (yet) and the website lists the authorised repair centers. standard warranty

i've been playing 40 years plus. owned a lot of stuff carr, mojave, dr. z, marshall, fender, vox, traynor, fargen, bogner, and who can remeber what else. if this amp were stolen i'd replace it in a heartbeat. it's just so awesome to have found "the amp". bad cat calls this their flagship amp and for good reason. if u ever get a chance play it, it's just remarkable!!! i'm kinda gonna miss looking for amps on ebay cause i'm done. this is it!!! one caveat it's heavy, but it's "worth the weight".

I submitted the review below without giving a rating. After all of the special treatment I recieved, I can not give anything other than a 10. It is amazing how much time they spent to please me. Very few companies growing as fast as Bad Cat could offer that kind of attention. Thanks again James.

Again, I forgot to give a rating. The Tone Cat is a British modelling tube amp. This amp is a real flame throwing bone crusher. As a final note, I must mention that this amp has no dedicated clean/gain channel. At high volume, the Top Boost circut could function as the distorted channel. Play one if you can find one, and make sure you turn it up.

This is a 2005 Tone Cat. Channel 1 is based on the left channel of the Black Cat or Matchless C-30. Channel 2 is based on the high gain Hot Cat 30R . It has selectable rectifiers (S.S. or GZ-34), a tube buffered effects loop with in and out level adjustments. It also includes a footswitch for channel switching and blending. Reverb is available on channel 1 and in blended modes. Brilliance is global.

This amp can produce sound pressure levels that would destroy anyones hearing. There is an extension jack and an impedence selecter.

I use this amp in conjunction with a Les Paul with Alnico humbuckers. I bought it to play all styles of music. The amp uses both EL-84 and EL-34 tubes. The EL-84 side has a little more headroom at modest volumes. The EL-34 side is more compressed at the same volume levels, although some clean and punchy sounds can be dialed in at lower volumes.

I have to admit, I usually don't like master volume amps, but this amp can sound big at lower volumes. Most amps want to be at a certain volume and never seem to cut it until you bring the volume up. The EL-34 side has three volume/gain controls to fine tune the type of distortion you want. You can control the ratio of preamp to power amp distortion and then set the overall volume. The edge control lets you go from a creamy vintage tone to a more modern sounding distortion.

The footswitch lets the user blend the two channels. This gives you access to four preset tones/levels. It takes some time to to milk the best tones out of the blended settings. You need a good ear to use this amp, as some of the blends sound fizzy at low volume. Once you have spent some time dialing, you will find some huge tones. They sound thicker than either channel on its own. In general, at low volumes, you will probably A/B the two channels. At higher volumes the blends are incrdible. Play this amp if you are considering a Hot Cat or C-30 type amp. It is worth the extra money. My personal favorite is the green channel in blended mode. It is a fantastic solo tone that always seems to give you the volume boost you need.

I like the fact thet you can swap tubes without biasing. If one channel goes out due to a tube loss, you can still gig with the other channel until you swap tubes. The components are military grade, so I would expect higher reliability than your average amp.

James was finishing voicing channel 1 when I decided to buy this amp. I had the rare opportunity to be involved with a company as it was fine tuning a design. I played on one prototype for a few weeks before James decided to tweak the preamp and power supply. I was able to hear the before and after, and was pleased with the direction he decided to go.

This is a customer friendly company. James is easy to reach, although I would not encourage people to waste his time. I would suggest that any customer with a potential problem make sure it is not a bad tube before contacting them. If there is a defect, they will take care of you.

I have been playing guitar for sixteen years. I have played just about every classic design and many of the boutiques. I used to own a Matchless Cheiftain, and I can say the Hot Cat sounds every bit as good, but with more versatility. The Tone Cat is so versatile that you will rethink the virtues of modelling amps. This amp captures the essence of all those great Vox and Marshall tones, right up to the JCM800 (which I feel was the last great Marshall design).

I considered a Trem Cat, but found that this amp could get thicker and more focused if desired. I wish Bad Cat would make an EF86 preamp pedal to run into the effects loop. There is no space left to fit any more features into the chassis.