Cats don’t really have nine people—if they did, pet insurance would probably be a lot cheaper—but Bad Cat definitely had two or three. The amp we’re looking at today showcases the early stages of the company’s latest iteration… a very different beast than the bad cat of the early 2000s.
Don’t panic, tones: This is still a true multi-valve amp built in California and powered by a pair of EL34s, and it still promises both sparkling clean and high-gain action. But like the previous Cut Player series, it’s more about modern practicality than vintage accuracy.
Before we get into the details, let’s briefly cover how we got here. Bad Cat was founded at the turn of the century by James Heydrich, and Mark Sampson, founder of Matchless Amplifiers, was hired as chief designer following the company’s (temporary) demise. The previous models were, more or less, Matchless amps in a different jacket.
But Sampson was gone in 2004, Heydrich was traded in 2011, and everything has been a bit of a mess since then. The recent appointment of Peter Arends—the former CEO and head of engineering at Boutique Amps Distribution—is on a mission to shred the rulebook and start over.
What does that mean in terms of the amps themselves? Well, the main thing that may upset purists is that there are no hand-picked bad cats – it’s PCBs all over the range. To make those purists even more angry, all the amps have a solid state adjustment… and to make them turn purple and fall into a depressed heap, the feedback is digital.
But vocally, there’s something else that might be more important than any of the above. While the original Hot Cat was called the world’s first class A high-gain amplifier, this is a class A/B, with fixed bias, which is why the stated power output is 45W instead of 30W. One more step on the road from Vox Jungle to Martial Roar?
Other features worth noting include a sealed (but not valve-sealed) effects loop, line output and recording interfaces for PAs, and a dual footswitch that lets you jump between two channels and add gain to either.
Those two channels share a single guitar input, and also use the same three-way audio circuit. But each channel has its own input gain and volume knobs, with independent crunching and full control over their output level, with master volume, presence and reverse level completing the front panel.
Without those (slightly silly) panther eyes staring menacingly on either side of the glowing logo, it sure looks like a badass cat. And it feels like a true heavyweight amp, albeit thanks to heavy-duty custom transformers. The speaker is a trusty Celsion Vintage 30 tuned to Bad Cat’s specs.
in use
What exactly do we mean when we talk about the path from Vox to Marshall? Well, the first Matchless amps – and therefore most of the first Bad Cats – were based on the Vox AC30 with very low end, mids and sparkling treble. But Hot Cat should have been more aggressive on that formula – and any amp that puts out 45W class A/B power with EL34s and fixed bias will definitely be more of a 70s rock hit than squishy 60s pop.
Once we crank up the gain we’ll definitely get it, but first come the clean tones of Channel 1… and they’re good enough to be worth more than a passing mention.
Thank goodness for that extra 15W here, because this is an amplifier with plenty of clean power. Despite its minimal operating noise, it sounds gloriously big, and your main tool for setting the perfect tonal balance with bright single coils or chunky humbuckers is the presence control: it’s highly responsive, adding as much flashy attack as anyone would want when strumming but not at the more restrained end of the dial. Congestion.
The three separate volume controls mesh well, and you can set the master at neighbor-friendly levels without any undue loss of liveliness. That three-way tone stack is a mixed bag though: the midrange is truly transformative, taking us from a black panel scoop to an orange clonk, but the treble has a more subtle effect and adjusting the bass feels like shouting in. Storm.
There’s a hint of distortion when we turn up the gain, but for the real rock stuff we have to engage the boost – again adding a nice little bump you can get to that presence key – or switch to the second channel. And this is where we find the true, hard heart of the new hot cat.
At less than half the gain on channel 2, we get a nice English overdrive, the delicacy in the treble is more Marshall JCM than Vox Top Boost. Powerchords on the bridge pickup are clear and tight, and the only slight disappointment is that we couldn’t darken the EQ a bit on this side while keeping the top end of the clean channel wide open.
Turning the profit brings more of the same – much more. We’re on a cliff in the 80’s metal realm at full blast, the boom in profits is now pushing us to another cliff at the bottom of that cliff. You can find presence for strumming chords and cutting lead work, but the accompanying drag on the treble stops things from swinging too much. And of course, you can always just kill the mids for some fun moments of total destruction.
The resonance is nothing spectacular, but it’s laid back naturally enough, and can be pushed all the way up without turning into a bath. Also worth mentioning is the effects loop, which works very well without adding noise; And the line output, which amazingly runs directly into the DAW with impulse response. You still have to plug in the speaker, so it’s a quieter recording, but it’s a lot less hassle than creating a microphone.
A hand-wrought thoroughbred on the market that keeps Mark Sampson’s legacy alive? This is not. But that doesn’t stop this new Hot Cat from being an excellent amp in its own right and a solid launch pad for Bad Cat’s latest life.
Key features
- PRICE £1,899 (own £1,699)
- press release Two-channel all-valve combo with digital reverb, made in the USA
- power level 45 W
- control panel Guitar Input, Gain 1, Gain 2, Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume 1, Volume 2, Master Volume, Presence, Reverb; Channel 1/2 and Hi/Lo Gate switches
- Back panel Power and standby switches, foot switch input, outputs loop send and return, speaker outputs (2x 4 ohms, 2x 8 ohms, 16 ohms, line out)
- Valves 4x 12AX7, 2x EL34
- Speaker 1 x 12 inch custom Celestion Vintage 30
- Accessories A two-way footswitch (channel 1/2 and hi/lo) is included.
- Dimensions 600 x 500 x 262 mm
- Weight 21.3 kg/47 lbs
- Contact badcatamps.com