NAD: Bad Cat Black Cat 30

[greatmutah]

I don’t really have anything new or ground breaking to add to my own thread except that I love playing this thing. It does well with most, if not all, of my lower output pickups. Higher output can be challenging and I don’t think it’s something I’m going to use with this aml. For example, the Duncan SH-5 in my PRS doesn’t get in with this amp at all. Not even gonna bother with EMGs lol. At the same time it liked my G&L Fallout which has maybe not the hottest humbucker in it but a good medium output HB that splits well. Of course my Tele sounds stellar. I’d love to hear this thing with a Jazzmaster.

I’ll get some clips recorded sooner or later. I haven’t been wanting to fire up my Mac lately

 

[greatmutah]

If anyone cares to hear...



Telecaster, a little Super Phat Mod here and there and even some Mooer E-Lady. Captor into Scarlett. IRs were York Audio MTCH H30 with 421 and MTCH Greenback with 57. Just CH-1. Didn't even get to the EF86 Channel because this was too good on its own. Channel volume at 3:00, master at 12:00 (I like my power amp a little cleaner than wide open. Love that I can do this). Bass low. Like 8:30? Treble at 2:30 and Cut at 2:30.

 

[spawnofthesith]

If anyone cares to hear...



Telecaster, a little Super Phat Mod here and there and even some Mooer E-Lady. Captor into Scarlett. IRs were York Audio MTCH H30 with 421 and MTCH Greenback with 57. Just CH-1. Didn't even get to the EF86 Channel because this was too good on its own. Channel volume at 3:00, master at 12:00 (I like my power amp a little cleaner than wide open. Love that I can do this). Bass low. Like 8:30? Treble at 2:30 and Cut at 2:30.

This sounds fantastic


I have 0 knowledge of bad cat but love what I’m hearing

 

[greatmutah]

This sounds fantastic


I have 0 knowledge of bad cat but love what I’m hearing

High level: Mark Sampson designed the Matchless DC30 in the late 80s/early 90s to be a perfected AC30. One channel is basically a Top Boost channel and the other is EF86 based like the first AC15s. But basically PTP wired and designed to be more reliable and have less of the excess features the old Voxes had (vib. trem mainly). Company does well but hits financial dire straights in the late 90s and Sampson leaves. Mark Sampson and James Heidrich formed Bad Cat after leaving. Make the Black Cat 30 as more or less a direct successor to the Matchless DC30.

It’s kind of like a tighter more refined Vox and can do that kind of jangle, but the gain holds up better. Also has an EF86 channel that I didn’t dig into on this one. Of course they have other amps but the basis was originally high performance cathode biased amps. Eventually they dipped their toes into high gain stuff like the Hot Cat - which was still cathode biased/near class A but with EL34s - and then the Lynx which was more of a Class AB high gain channel switcher.

 

[spawnofthesith]

High level: Mark Sampson designed the Matchless DC30 in the late 80s/early 90s to be a perfected AC30. One channel is basically a Top Boost channel and the other is EF86 based like the first AC15s. But basically PTP wired and designed to be more reliable and have less of the excess features the old Voxes had (vib. trem mainly). Company does well but hits financial dire straights in the late 90s and Sampson leaves. Mark Sampson and James Heidrich formed Bad Cat after leaving. Make the Black Cat 30 as more or less a direct successor to the Matchless DC30.

It’s kind of like a tighter more refined Vox and can do that kind of jangle, but the gain holds up better. Also has an EF86 channel that I didn’t dig into on this one. Of course they have other amps but the basis was originally high performance cathode biased amps. Eventually they dipped their toes into high gain stuff like the Hot Cat - which was still cathode biased/near class A but with EL34s - and then the Lynx which was more of a Class AB high gain channel switcher.

That’s rad!!! Vox is definitely one of the few corners of “classic circuits” I haven’t really explored….

Are they also doing high gain stuff? I heard a random rumor that a lot of Mesa guys jumped ship to bad cat post Gibson. No ides if that’s true or not

 

[greatmutah]

That’s rad!!! Vox is definitely one of the few corners of “classic circuits” I haven’t really explored….

Are they also doing high gain stuff? I heard a random rumor that a lot of Mesa guys jumped ship to bad cat post Gibson. No ides if that’s true or not

Yeah the Lynx is in the high gain realm. I think Ola demo’d a new one recently? The newer Bad Cats took the old amp names and redesigned the circuits on a bunch of them. Still cool though. The Cub is another one. The older ones and the current handwired Cubs are Voxy too. The older amps are cool too. I now kinda want an older model Hot Cat.

 

[metropolis_4]

Yeah the Lynx is in the high gain realm. I think Ola demo’d a new one recently? The newer Bad Cats took the old amp names and redesigned the circuits on a bunch of them. Still cool though. The Cub is another one. The older ones and the current handwired Cubs are Voxy too. The older amps are cool too. I now kinda want an older model Hot Cat.

I think the Cub is the one that changed the most. The originals were AC15 based similar to the Matchless Lightning. The new ones are 30w el34 amps