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This initial Black Cat Mod Shop edition is a hugely desirable combo befitting of both Bad Cat and Mark Sampson’s legacy.
Pros
+
Features that classic Bad Cat note clarity.
+
Deep but tight bass response.
+
Beautiful studio-quality reverb.
+
Luscious and hypnotic valve-biased tremolo.
Cons
-
Pops can be incurred when channel switching is at high reverb levels.
-
Some minor construction details could be further refined/
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It’s weighty!
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Hard to believe, perhaps, but Bad Cat has already enjoyed a quarter of a century as one of the world’s foremost boutique guitar amp companies.
Its much-loved product line, comprising a lower-priced Player Series II and the premium Hand Wired series, is now augmented by both Lunchbox range and the Mod Shop series we’re looking at here – Bad Cat’s creative creche where designers and players tweak existing Bad Cat circuits into inspiring variations for small production runs.
To celebrate the opening of the Mod Shop comes the Black Cat 30 Mod Shop Edition fresh from the Costa Mesa, California, HQ.
Before his death earlier this year, amp-design legend Mark Sampson, who’s long been associated with the Bad Cat brand, took a Black Cat 20 from the Player Series II range of more affordable, hand-crafted (but not hand-wired) amps and Sampson-ised it. This is the result.
Construction-wise, we have a hand-built, two-channel amp housed in a solid birch ply cabinet, covered in high-quality Tolex with the traditionally illuminated Bad Cat faceplate logo.
(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
Departing from the original 20-watt, two-EL84 layout, the modified version now has four EL84s that provide 30 watts of all-valve power through its custom 60-watt 12-inch Celestion Vintage 30 guitar speaker.
A quick word on the modified nature of the Celestion speaker. During his Matchless years, Mark Sampson discovered that the sound of the Celestion Vintage 30 could be moulded more to his tastes by manually removing the doping substance that is often applied to dampen excessive high-frequency overtones.
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While this messy business originally brought disapproval from Celestion, the sales of the amps over time proved to be substantial enough to cause a rethink, and now Celestion custom-builds ‘undoped’ drivers specifically for Bad Cat.
Bare Knuckle founder and MD Tim Mills (Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
In addition to the increased wattage derived by the additional pair of EL84 power valves, the tone-stack has been redesigned in the style of a Vox ’64 Top Boost.
In this circuit the treble knob progressively rejects bass and mids to reveal more treble, in contrast to the original version’s more orthodox additive-nature.
Finally, we find upgraded filtering has been deployed, we assume partly due to the increased demands of the additional output valves. Let’s find out what all this adds up to, sonically.
Beginning with our beloved Strat we were immediately struck by how much body and depth this amp has. The clean channel’s gain ranges from crystal-clean Fender ‘silver-panel’ territory through to Vox-style, edge-of-break-up, all imbued with Bad Cat’s distinctive full-bodied character.
The tone controls, shared by both channels, have a powerful and highly usable range. It was certainly possible to tame the bottom-end considerably, pulling the bass control back to levels that might make other amps sound anaemic.
Alternatively, pushing the treble progressively reduces any excess flub in a way that suited our Les Paul, which already has bottom-end aplenty. Meanwhile, the treble-cut allowed for instant high-end taming, effective for your brighter-sounding electric guitars.
(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
Switching to the lead channel, we’re greeted with a lively, responsive leap in the gain stakes. The amp has that undefinable expensive-sounding note separation, along with silky smooth transitions between clean and overdriven that boutique amps are known for. Indeed, the range of gain on tap begins with ‘clean with pushed mids’ sound into increasing midrange growl and high-end harmonics.
The guitar’s characteristics shine through at all settings, including full lead-channel gain, to the point at which it almost sounds like a clean signal is being subtly reproduced alongside the saturation.
Traditional-spec Patent Applied For-style pickups will likely push this amp into the kind of overdrive you might associate with classic rock and Americana, with all the sizzling harmonics and sustain you’d wish for.
(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
The studio-quality digital onboard reverb is a standout here, sounding just as usable as a mild halo around lead notes through to a fully flooded surf sound at flat-out settings.
The drippy nature of this effect is every bit as evocative as many of the analogue spring reverb tanks found on other manufacturers’ models. This feature isn’t footswitchable, unfortunately; however, the channel-switching and tremolo functions are.
Now, the aforementioned valve-biased tremolo sounds absolutely glorious, either at subtle or extreme depths. We really appreciate the range of speeds, from mildly pulsing through to mesmerisingly rapid.
(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
Unfortunately, we did find it possible to create quite a pop when switching between channels at higher levels of reverb, only in certain circumstances depending on the gain and master levels being switched between.
In comparison to the original Black Cat model with all its refined sparkle, this Mod Shop version now has a throatier midrange and a gutsier roar that pairs well with the increased wattage and headroom.
This is a bolder-sounding amp that can hold its own even under an SRV-style barrage, and if you found yourself getting lost on stage amid drums and keyboards, this amp will certainly reclaim the midrange territory for us gigging six-stringers.
Verdict
Verdict: ★★★★½
(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)
All the chime-y, clean to edge-of-break-up sounds you’d expect from a Bad Cat are contained within this lil’ beauty alongside a gutsier, untamed roar and smoother high-end
This bolder, louder version of the classic Black Cat amplifier retails for a couple of hundred dollars more than the original and is well below the cost of the Hand Wired series. For this outlay you get a tighter, louder and gutsier tone from an already stellar-sounding amp.
Some minor niggles to mention include a couple of the chassis screws, which were loose and hard to tighten upon arrival, and the cup washers beneath them were already biting through the Tolex – surely a handful of washers perhaps wouldn’t stretch the budget too wildly?
That said, all the chime-y, clean to edge-of-break-up sounds you’d expect from a Bad Cat are contained within this lil’ beauty alongside a gutsier, untamed roar and smoother high-end. These massaged sonic elements might be of particularly interest to the blues fraternity, where lower mids have room to grab attention.
Guitar World verdict: All in all, this initial Black Cat Mod Shop edition is a hugely desirable combo befitting of both Bad Cat and Mark Sampson’s legacy.
Hands-on videos
Bad Cat Amplification
Bad Cat Mod Shop-Black Cat 30 Mark Sampson Edition - YouTube
In addition to reviewing gear for esteemed publications Guitarist and Guitar World, Martin produces bands and artistes including Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley and Mercury-prize winning Ben Ottewell (Gomez). As a professional guitarist for 40 years, Martin has toured with luminaries including Groove Armada and Skid Row.
Recreating sonic history continues to be a chronic fixation and Martin regularly broadcasts his exhaustively researched tone-chasing content to a YouTube community of Edward Van Halen devotees.
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