# Bad Cat Amps



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Is anyone familiar with this brand? I've never heard of them before.








[h=1]Bad Cat Cougar 50 50W Class AB Tube Guitar Combo Amp[/h]





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[h=2]A 50W combo with loads of versatility.
[/h]The Bad Cat Cougar 50 combo amp is a 50W Class AB guitar combo amp that features a Celestion Vintage 30 12" speaker. The controls allow for you to set the tone as clean or dirty as you want. The plywood cabinet construction and leather handle offer great durability.

Bad Cat Amplifiers was founded with the singular purpose of building guitar tube amps that could rival the classics from the golden age. Superior build techniques and no compromise in features or materials has earned them seven Guitar Player Editor's Pick Awards.

[h=3]Features[/h]

Power switch with jewel pilot light
Footswitchable channels
Reverb controlled via footswitch
Volume, Tone and Master controls
Three 12AX7 preamp tubes
Two EL34 power tubes
Effects send and return patch point
Plywood cabinet construction
Price: $640.00 USD


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Bad Cat has been around for years. They have them at the Guitar Shop in Mississauga. Good stuff. The HotCat 30 is one of my favourite all time amps.


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

Yep. They're well-regarded amps. I nearly bought one a little while back, but ended up with a Cornford, instead.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

The Ceriatone amp Milkman is building right now might be a Bad Cat clone. I know their Stray Cat model is a HotCat clone, I was debating ordering one yesterday but haven't committed yet.

Essentially, and this is a great simplification so don't slam me, Bad Cats are hot rodded Vox amps, mostly capable of quite high gain. Bad Cat has some roots with Matchless amps, though I don't know the full story. Most of their line is USA built but last year (or earlier this) they brought out a couple of offshore models, like the Cougar you linked. I also debated the Cougar head, as it's cheaper than anything I can build.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

The thing is Kent, you can build an amp the will be serviceable down the road.
I bet that these are board mounted POS that will be useless after any trouble.

I think that Egnater shot themselves in the foot pulling the same thing.
Lots of troubles with the offshore products, cheapens the name.

That's one thing I like about Dr Z, Mike likes where his business is now.
He has no plans to expand, or go offshore.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

They claim all their amps are point to point, not board mounted. As to board mounted, I don't have a problem with boards as long as the boards are quality ones. There are the cheap paper thin boards that can break if the unit is jarred and then there are boards that will not break if you drop the amp from 10 feet. The amp might be smashed and the speaker torn but the board will still be intact.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

These units are PTP, or their US models?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

sulphur said:


> These units are PTP, or their US models?


I think they are PTP as they claim all their units are built that way in California unless I missed something on their web site.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Yes, that's the US models.

When I checked their site on these models, it mentions nothing about PTP.
I would highly doubt that these are, at that price point.
It's a machine, churning out boards.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Mark Sampson, one of the designers/founders of Matchless was the main designer for Badcat when they started out, he left several years ago to start another company Star amplification. The cheaper Badcats are indeed PCB and made offshore the older models are true PTP like the Matchless.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

They have a separate page for the Cougar series, I guess so they don't 'sully' the USA built stuff. http://www.badcatcougarseries.com/

I don't see any mention of build methods there. So you know it's going to be all PCB mounted/cheap parts.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

keto said:


> They have a separate page for the Cougar series, I guess so they don't 'sully' the USA built stuff. http://www.badcatcougarseries.com/
> 
> I don't see any mention of build methods there. So you know it's going to be all PCB mounted/cheap parts.


Exactly. If they don't say, then it's offshore & PCB. Here's a quote from the website:

"The Bad Cat Cougar 5 Combo Amp is a 5 watt class A guitar amplifier with standard controls and a Celestion Vintage 30 12” speaker. The plywood cabinet construction and leather handle offer great durability."

That's comforting. All of the issues I've had with amps over the years have been related to blown handles. Good to know that someone's finally on the caper.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

I had a USA Bad Cat Cub 15R that I sold on this forum a year or more ago. I would gladly have it back. 15 watt, PTP, reverb, 112 combo in rust ostrich with cream face plate. Wonderful amp.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

sulphur said:


> Yes, that's the US models.
> 
> When I checked their site on these models, it mentions nothing about PTP.
> I would highly doubt that these are, at that price point.
> It's a machine, churning out boards.


It seems you are right. I missed the "fine" print on "price" point regarding "PTP".


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

funny I was thinking of BadCat last night, as I noticed the house guitarist on The Voice this year uses them (guitarist in previous years used Bogner ecstasys).
Must be a real versatile amp considering the various tunes they have to play on that show.


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