Bad Cat Lynx......

[The~Kid]

So what can you tell me about these.......

Tried one a while ago in a head format and I was rather impressed. They seem to be fully made in USA too in CA. I really thought this thing was a joke for the money given the features or lack of features compared to a lot of other amps but it's honestly what makes it great, very plug and play and easy to dial in and has a lot of range. I even scoffed that it didn't have reverb but honestly...... it just sounds so damn friggin amazing no Reverb or anything else needed IMO.



Heard of Bad Cat before but don't know too much about them. I really liked the built in Noise Gate and it really packs so much gain no real OD/Boost is needed if any.


Probably only other amp I like gain wise in this category made now is the Friedman SmallBox but this has even more gain. The built in Noise Gate is fantastic too and very organic.


Never felt I had the money for top dollar high gain amps...... but this one makes me want to make that money pop out for it..... it's just, so flexible and just sounds amazing. Lots of articulation and definition.


Abasi, Whitford and Fujita use em and that ain't bad company

 

[The~Kid]

Damn they make these in Costa Mesa/OC here in SoCal too....... hmmmmmm.


Being from the Anaheim/Fullerton area.....


That's fucking awesome and they sound so damn good too ^_^

 

[The~Kid]

Apparently Abasi dropped all his Axe Fx Digital Rig and just went with Bad Cats.....

That's how good they are I guess. Fuck me they sound so fucking good too....... just pure sex at 50 watts with simple controls and a whole lot of range and tone. High gain, articulate, clear and defined ^_^



Anyone try any of the new Bad Cats or the Lynx?

 

[headlessdeadguy]

I have one for sale in the classified. Great amp. I just need the money so something has got to go.

 

[PiggySmallz]

They're high gain beasts with 7 gain stages. The low gain settings are pretty nice too. It doesn't really do clean all that well.

Channel 2 sounds a little different than channel 1 with a bit more compression. They take a boost well and the loop is quiet. I had a ground loop issue using a 4 cable method for my noise gate and needed a splitter to solve it.

They have their own voicing but remind me of a really nice high gain version of an AC30. Great note separation but you barely need to use the gain. They can push a tremendous amount of low end too. The transformer is a little noisy but it isn't anything that's been an issue for me.

 

[PiggySmallz]

I have one for sale in the classified. Great amp. I just need the money so something has got to go.

@The~Kid you should grab this one. Great amps with enough of a tonal difference from most of the other high gainers. Im selling 1 or 2 of my amps to make room, but everytime I plug this one in it reminds me of how good it is

 

[The~Kid]

They're high gain beasts with 7 gain stages. The low gain settings are pretty nice too. It doesn't really do clean all that well.

Channel 2 sounds a little different than channel 1 with a bit more compression. They take a boost well and the loop is quiet. I had a ground loop issue using a 4 cable method for my noise gate and needed a splitter to solve it.

They have their own voicing but remind me of a really nice high gain version of an AC30. Great note separation but you barely need to use the gain. They can push a tremendous amount of low end too. The transformer is a little noisy but it isn't anything that's been an issue for me.

It doesn't do Fender cleans but with a Standard 50s Gibson I was surprised at the cleans I could get with the volume rolled back.....


Very nice and warm and cleaned up surprisingly well and no sterile sound like you get on most higher gain amps when doing that short of something like a Friedman. Maybe it was because the pups in the Gibson were lower output but when dialed in for cleans it sounded fantastic.


Super grain, super crunch, super punch and articulation when in higher gain and a lot of definition. The amp definitely turned a couple heads I will say that when plugged in and even had some guys from the store coming around to see what it was. Dudes even let me blast it because it just ripped.

And yes it has a whole lot of gain and ample note seperation, very fluid and crisp but warm, sponge like, dynamic and the mid range knob here is super effective and not so dry when cut but dry in a good way and not so boxy when pushed and smooth. Overall all the controls are super effective and flexible.


I really thought for the lack of features it was expensive as hell but honestly it sounds so amazing it doesn't need a shit ton of knobs and bells and whistles and bull shit. Two gains, Two masters, Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence and Noise Gate knob and that's it and one input.


IMO totally worth the money for these things but yeah not cheap. The El34s sound bitchin.


Hard to explain the tone exactly but yeah think AC30 meets Marshall with Triple Rec like gain and actually more so. Just straightward, flexible and as said sounds like pure tits ^_^

 

[The~Kid]

I have one for sale in the classified. Great amp. I just need the money so something has got to go.

Killer price man just saw it. Honestly compare to the others....... It depends on what your after but I'd let one of the others or both of the others go and keep the Bad Cat.


IMO it's just a much much better amp than either the PRS or EVH and much better built too.

 

[PiggySmallz]

Killer price man just saw it. Honestly compare to the others....... It depends on what your after but I'd let one of the others or both of the others go and keep the Bad Cat.


IMO it's just a much much better amp than either the PRS or EVH.



View attachment 402746

The PRS is USA handwired. Its a monster amp with an incredible clean channel and a really high quality lead channel that is a healthy marshall/mesa mix but tons of usable low end. Ive got both the archon and bad cat. I can probably record a clip of both for reference and upload it here.

The archon is very similar to a USA 6505+ I have. I love both of them. The bad cat is different to both but its very dependent on what tone you're after

 

[VonBonfire]

Apparently Abasi dropped all his Axe Fx Digital Rig and just went with Bad Cats.....

That's cause digital blows.

Never tried one of their amps but I had a Bad Cat leash attenuator for a while (not the unleash). It was a nice piece of gear, very stoutly built and selectable ohns. High quality. I just hate attenuators.

 

[The~Kid]

The PRS is USA handwired. Its a monster amp with an incredible clean channel and a really high quality lead channel that is a healthy marshall/mesa mix but tons of usable low end. Ive got both the archon and bad cat. I can probably record a clip of both for reference and upload it here.

The archon is very similar to a USA 6505+ I have. I love both of them. The bad cat is different to both but its very dependent on what tone you're after

Right on I figured it was one of the imports but in either case as good as the EVH Iconic is and it is good and the EVH 5153s are too....... slight edge to the Iconics IMO but yeah definitely feel these Bad Cats are a step above even compared to some other boutique stuff or whatever.




But yeah kind of depends on what your after but overall definitely a grin inducing amp.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

The prefer the sound of the Iconic over the Lynx. No question the build quality of the Lynx is much better. Out of the 17 amps I have the Lynx probably gets the least playing time.

 

[dead-pan]

Shit ton of gain.

Love the amp but it is a little different from others.

Lots of low end makes it through the earlier stages.

Has some of that Matchless chime.

 

[The~Kid]

That's cause digital blows.

Never tried one of their amps but I had a Bad Cat leash attenuator for a while (not the unleash). It was a nice piece of gear, very stoutly built and selectable ohns. High quality. I just hate attenuators.

I mean there seems to have been a lot of hype around the "NextGen" modeling and I feel that's cooled down going into this decade and people have realized...... digital is great......


But tubes are still better.


Even dudes like Tosin Abasi who pretty much did everything through Axe Fx....... is now all about analog and tube amps and has even rerecorded a lot of his past work that used digital with analog gear.


And Abasi was a champion for digital and the biggest champion for digital....... dudes just using Bad Cat amps and analog gear now and that's it.

 

[The~Kid]

Going to see this vid..... looks pretty cool. A little factory tour of Bad Cat Amps factory in Costa Mesa CA ^_^

 

[The~Kid]

Was considering another Princeton.........


But seeing how these are made, and made locally in Costa Mesa, Orange County USA.... handwound transformers. Built pretty well overall and like tanks.

Simply never played anything that was so fluid/organic and with so much glass short of an Industrial Amps Overdrive 15.


Its not just the stupid gain and again 7 gain stages....... its just straight forward, super flexible with a lot of range, no pedals needed and a fantastic noise gate too. A lot of dynamic and rich tones to offer in both channels and the Lo/Hi feature really goes a long way to offer some really distinct and unique tones but still refined/familiar.


Probably my next amp..... maybe not soon but definitely on my top list. They arent cheap either but pretty nice with top quality components and made in the USA.....



The prices are pretty damn good for the quality.

 

[Motorboat McCooter]

You may be 7 gain stages cool but you will never be...

 

[PiggySmallz]

Was considering another Princeton.........


But seeing how these are made, and made locally in Costa Mesa, Orange County USA..... handwired too. Built pretty well overall and like tanks.

Simply never played anything that was so fluid/organic and with so much glass short of an Industrial Amps Overdrive 15.


Its not just the stupid gain and again 7 gain stages....... its just straight forward, super flexible with a lot of range, no pedals needed and a fantastic noise gate too. A lot of dynamic and rich tones to offer in both channels and the Lo/Hi feature really goes a long way to offer some really distinct and unique tones but still refined/familiar.


Probably my next amp..... maybe not soon but definitely on my top list. They arent cheap either but being handwired, with top quality components and made in the USA.....



The prices are pretty damn good for the quality.

You keep mentioning hand wired...aside from the Era 30 and Cub V, these newer amps are not hand wired. The pots are pcb mounted too. They do use local CA hand wound transformers but the pcb and internals are not hand wired.

 

[The~Kid]

You keep mentioning hand wired...aside from the Era 30 and Cub V, these newer amps are not hand wired. The pots are pcb mounted too. They do use local CA hand wound transformers but the pcb and internals are not hand wired.

Right on, thanks man and my mistake will edit..... I guess the only handwired ones they make are from their..... Handwiref Series


Still good stuff and as much as the next comparable amp and not a bad price relative to that and seems pretty quality. Handwound transformers sound pretty nice, didnt know ...... that sounds nice ^_^



Also these gain stages go to 7..... not 4, 5 or 6...... Seven/7...... Seventh Heaven ^_^

 

[The~Kid]

Also Nick Johnston just got in on Bad Cat this year it seems.... these things are pretty damn good and that aint bad company.......


I think he uses the Hot Cat with a Bad Cat 412 Cab.


Dont know what they do or the secret magic mojo behind them but yeah they kick ass and IMO totally worth the lawyer/denstist money prices........ its just great stuff and a lot of top players are turning over to Bad Cat and for good reason.