Bad Cat Hot Cat 100R Custom Shop

[FFTT]

I'm still working on final arrangments, but it looks like I've got
a very special Bad Cat Hot Cat 100R Custom.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience working with this amp
in the studio or otherwise.

The seller states that this was an original Hot Cat 100 and that
the Bad Cat Custom Shop modded this amp to include all the features
of the newer Hot Cat 30R. It was essentially a prototype.

It has a 1/2 power switch, reverb and FX loop and a solid state rectifier, since there was no room to add another rectifier tube.
It also comes with a flight case.

I'm pretty excited and looking forward to hearing it.

[Tim L]

I had my eye on that one as well...

Hope it sounds as cool as it looks!

[Tibbon]

Too bad it wasn't able to find space for a recifier tube, but that's gonna be a sweet amp. I've enjoyed the other Bad Cats that i'ved played. Matchless, Vox, Bad Cat, etc... all amazing.

If that's ~100watt amp (as the name might suggest) then damn... that's gonna be one to take the paint off the walls.

[FFTT]

I'm actually afraid it's going to be too loud.

Not sure my ears can take it.

The half power switch is a must and I might even look into changing it out to run
6L6's rather than EL34's.

Now what to do for a cabinet?

EarCandy or something else.

I'm thinking a 2X12 Vintage 30 cab that can be stacked with another 2 X 12 later.

[Tibbon]

It's not an amp that you'll likely be able to drive into breakup/distortion easily without going to MASSIVE volumes. I'll tell ya that most, if not all FOH engineers are gonna tell you to turn it down if the amp ever goes live.

I could recommend some type of attenuator, but of course there's the debate of how much tone those suck. If the cab isn't in another room, or in an iso cab... then I'll go with saving my ears vs the 'perfect non-attenuted' tone.

[FFTT]

I've already written to Bad Cat asking what my tube substitution options are.

The stock 4 X EL34's might be a bit too agressive for my taste or they might be perfect
giving me plenty of clean headroom.

I might consider going to 6L6's or what ever they recommend.

Of course there's alway pedals to play with too, but I understand what you mean.

It seems that any better alternative was going to end up costing me well over $3000.00

Now on to the search for the perfect 2 X 12 speaker cabinet.

I'm already looking at the Earcandycabs.

Any suggestions welcome.

[Daedalus77]

Wow, that's a lot of wattage. I imagine you'll be in half-power mode a lot.

My TremCat 30 is absurdly loud; when playing live it's very often in half-power mode. (Of course, I'm not playing arenas, but with decent FOH guy and good monitoring, there's no need for the full 30 watts.)

Keep in mind that half-power on Bad Cats is deceptive, since it's about 70% as loud as full-power. It's designed really to get you to the break-up sweet-spot earlier.

Try Avatar cabs. I'd recommend a mixed 2X12 with Greenback and Vintage Blue.

Best o' luck. My Bad Cat is perhaps the best purchase (for the rig, not counting the studio) I ever made.

[studjo]

hey boys WE NEED PIIIIIIIIICS


Jo

[DeathMonkey]

Try some THD Yellowjackets and convert it to EL84s - much lower wattage, and a bit of that Voxy chime. I woulod bet that would sound incredible thumbsup

[FFTT]

That's kind of what I'm hoping, that many EL34 amps can take 6L6's and reduce the
power down to a more suitable 60-80 watts, then at half power a very nice 40 watts.
I just got the Fed Ex tracking info.
With packaging and in the flight case, she's no tiny dancer at 96.9 lbs.
The amp head actually weighs 65 lbs. which is fortunately better than my SVT.

Here she is!
Looks meaner 'n spit don't she!

[Tim L]

She looks killer!

[FFTT]

If you go to either Wildwest or Boston Guitars, the new version of the Hot Cat 100 without reverb runs $3229.00

Getting this one with Reverb and the flight case for $2,100.00 was a great deal.

I'm buying a custom hardwood 2X12 cabinet that will probably run me $800.00-$900.00.

It was either this or Divided by 13 FTR 37 head and cabinet for $3999.00
or about the same for the 65 amps Marquee with no reverb option.

The cat should be here on the 27th.

[studjo]

schweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetness


she's a very easy on the eye

Jo

[Daedalus77]

That's an incredible deal. But it goes to show that there ARE great deals out there on high-end stuff; one just has to keep an eye out.

My TremCat buying experience was very similar. The TremCat lists around $3200. Mine was brand new but had been sitting on the floor of (from what I gather) a reasonably remote store in the midwest, for over six months, and they really wanted to move it. I got it for $2200.

I'd been to Boston Guitar many, many times and salivated over all the Cats (I'm suprised Heath never threw me out) before coming across this deal.

Congrats. Really, really love my Cat.

[FFTT]

I considered Health's recommendation for the Bad Cat 2X12 @ $739,
but I want solid wood for what has become so many reasons. Tone, beauty, gosh darn coolness and I wants it.

Still in progress of getting closer pricing on what I want and it's not going to be cheap,
but it will be droolworthy.

[FFTT]

Well it's here and it's huge! I mean almost as immense as my vintage SVT head.

65 lbs. of auditory nerve menace.

It's nearly impossible to carry the amp head without assistance when it's in the
flight case which is very nicely made and even more huge.

I can see why pro players are willing to pay whatever it takes for a fine quality portable combo or pay road-techies.

[FFTT]

Well March came in like a Bad Cat!

Everything works fine and she's plenty controllable at half power.

Full power is just plain wicked!

[ZEUSS]

One of the best amps I have ever used. I actually had brad Whitfords for a loaner They run VERY hot so keep it cool. The owner/Designer is a class act as well.

[Daedalus77]

Yeah, my Bad Cat runs hot, too.

Which gets me thinking: I've been wondering lately whether I should wait a bit after a set before sliding the road case lid on.

Sometimes--if we're opening for someone or have to split quick--I don't have much choice, but others I do.

Do you guys wait at all to let it cool down before putting that snug road case lid on at a gig?

Just wondering.

[FFTT]

I'd be careful about putting the amp in it's flight case before it had chance to cool down.

I played through mine a bit more last night and I'm amazed at the responsiveness of the clean channel.
Even played quietly in the 1/2 power mode, you really get lots of sparkle and shimmer.

The master volume control on the drive channel allows you to bring the house down
at comfortable bedroom levels.

I'm currently running it through my SVT 8X10 cabinet and if it were not for
portablility issues, I'd be fine with this set-up.

It will be interesting to see how she sounds through a 2X12 cabinet.

The variety on tones I'm getting between my Strat Plus with Gold lace sensors and
the hollow body humbucker sound of my Ibanez AF105 is quite impressive.

Tonight, I'll try my '64 Jazz Bass through it.

So far so good.

[FFTT]

Tried it today with my '64 Jass Bass.

Very nice because the clean channel is so clear and chimey.
Played it at 1/2 power and at full with nothing but tone, very happy.

Also ran my Danelectro Daddy O and my Digitech Valve FX processor through it today yeeha!
There is no limit to the tones I can get from ultra Texas clean to down dirty and mean.
Through the SVT cabinet, the low chords are what they shoud be, still tight and clean.
This amp produces the tone and touch of your guitar accurately and makes the best if it.

It was worth every penny and then some.

[FFTT]

I've been having a blast with the Bad Cat.

The cleans are amazing, but I'm not sure what's going on with the reverb section.

It's there but just barely, so I'm wondering if something may have gotten knocked loose
in the shipment.

I've never opened up a reverb chamber and i hate to take it out, if it might be something else.

[Daedalus77]

The reverb on my cat isn't slight—it's not Fendery wash, and it's a lot more "graduated," if that makes sense, but it's got plenty of scope and depth if needed.

So...perhaps there's something wrong with your new baby's tank.

I would NOT open it myself, though. Can you swing it by Heath's place?

[FFTT]

Unfortunately, I'm no where near Heath's store.

I'll have to find someone local in the Washington D.C. area to check out the tank.

I may try replacing the reverb tubes before I take it anywhere, since the amp
was built in 2003 and only the EL34's have been replaced.

I took the Cat over to my friend's house Sunday and we ran it through
a single 12" open back Fender cabinet with a Vintage 30.

We had no trouble running it @ 8 Ohms in 50 watt or 100 watt mode, but
it was LOUD! Really loud in that open back cabinet.

It seems speading that much power among the 8X10's @ 4Ohms in my SVT cabinet makes the amp much less aggresive on the ears, but stil with plenty
on tone and even more headroom.

[FFTT]

Just thought I'd mention that there's another early Hot Cat 100R head up for grabs
on eBone.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BAD-CAT-Hot-Cat-...QQcmdZViewItem

Mine is a Custom Shop Frankenamp, where this slightly newer one was designed
as a 100R from the beginning.
Not sure if it's Tube or Solid State rectifier, but his Buy It Now price is pretty reasonable.

This is an amazing amp giving you the best of a Hiwatt Custom 50 and a Marshall
100 in one box.

The only thing you may want to consider is that this amp head weighs about 65lbs.

[Robert Sands]

I've got a Bad Cat in my studio right now checking it out. It sounds freekin' awesome. It's from their Custom Shop line - Cub II combo, 30 watt, EL84's, Reverb, Tremolo, Master Volume, 1 - 12" Special Design Celestion. Of course, point to point hand wired, 13 ply cabinet. Truly a stunning sounding amp. Where has this thing been all my life? Between this and my Deluxe Reverb Reissue with a Weber 12f150 speaker in it I can cover a ton of sonic territory. The Bad Cat has such a thick, rich tone and breaks up nice, nice. Me thinks it's a keeper. A great addition to my other amps. I also have a Mesa Lonestar Special that's a killer. It's similar to the Bad Cat - EL84, Class A but I think it's not quite as fat and big sounding.

[FFTT]

I'm pretty spoiled by mine as well.

It seems the earlier the build, the better on these because Matchless designer Mark Sampson is no longer overseeing production. He left Bad Cat in Nov 2003.

Now he has a new project with Star Amplifers.

Mine was purchased in 2003 and modded at the custom shop in 2004.

[Daedalus77]

Yes, yes. All hail the Cats. Couldn't live without my TremCat.

I don't mean to be contentious, but I don't think those Lonestars are in the same galaxy as Bad Cats. I've heard people comparing them before, but I don't think they're close.

But that's me. YMMV.

[FFTT]

Lots of people are not aware that Mark Sampson started Matchless after modding AC30's for years. Only his Matchless amps were built to be much more roadworthy.

That experience and quality is certainly evident in my Hot Cat 100R.

[BadJones]

Got a BadCat Hot Cat 15 and that amp is loud. I can only imagine how loud the 100 watt model is. I wish it had reverb and tone control for the clean channel. Should have gotten a custom model. The tone is in another league thats for sure.