John Bohlinger and the PG video crew visit the SoCal HQ of the revamped amp builder that has a growl for every guitarist.
Bad Cat Black Cat
The new Black Cat could’ve started with an “American” channel and a “British” channel, promising “classic” tones that remind you of your childhood guitar heroes, but you’ve already heard that promise and you’ve already played that amp. The Black Cat promise is different. Sure, we’re going to share some things in common with our forebears, like an all-tube signal path, powerful transformers, familiar controls and premium Celestion speakers, but what’s under the hood is uniquely Bad Cat.
The heart and soul of the new Black Cat is the immediate feeling of connection you get with it. It’s always lively and toneful, never feeling choked or constrained. Driven by a 20W power amp featuring a cathode bias pair of EL84s, it’s remarkably loud with enough headroom to play with a live drummer yet has an effective master volume control allowing for playing at home with no loss of tone.
Specs:
- 20 Watts – 2 x EL84 Cathode-biased
- 2 Channels – Clean and Overdrive
- Channel-dedicated VOLUME and MASTER Controls
- Global TREBLE, BASS, and CUT Controls
- Bias-modulated Tremolo with INTENSITY and SPEED Controls
- Studio Quality Reverb
- Buffered Effects Loop
- 1 x 12” Celestion V30 “Bad Cat Custom” Speaker (Combo only)
- Two Button Footswitch and Slip Cover Included
Bad Cat Cub
The Cub was among the original Bad Cat designs – boutique and highly desired, it has been used on countless stages and recordings. Over the years, the Cub’s design has been steadily refined and improved. Every iteration brings something new to the table and our newest Cub is no exception. A single channel amplifier now with two gain modes, the updated original Cub circuitry is accessed in clean mode, while the overdriven mode features a newly voiced, more aggressive side to the Cub.
Specs:
- 30W – 2x EL34 in Cathode-Bias Class AB Configuration
- Single Channel
- Clean and OD Gain Modes
- Two Discrete, Switchable Master Volume Controls
- Global Input Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence Controls
- Studio Quality Reverb
- Buffered Effects Loop
- 1 x 12” Celestion V30 “Bad Cat Custom” Speaker (Combo Only)
- 2 Button Footswitch and Slip Cover Included
Bad Cat Hot Cat
The award winning Hot Cat amp was introduced in 2005 to great accolade. As pleased as we are with the original, the time had come for a whole new Hot Cat. We took everything we have learned over the last 20 years and applied it to this limitless reimagining of the Hot Cat. A two channel amplifier now with two gain modes per channel, the Hot Cat provides virtually limitless gain combinations as well as studio quality reverb, and an all new fully buffered effects loop.
Specs:
- 45W – 2x EL34 in Fixed-Bias Class AB Configuration
- Two Channel
- Lo and Hi Gain Modes
- Two Discrete, Gain and Volume Controls per Channel
- Global Master, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence Controls
- Studio Quality Reverb
- Buffered Effects Loop
Bad Cat Lynx
Modern high gain players need tight low frequencies that punch and react quickly to staccato palm muting. They need high frequencies that cut without being harsh and grainy. They need effective midrange shaping with complexity and articulation. Finally, they need blistering gain with none of the noise. The new Lynx is designed to meet and exceed these demands. The Lynx has two distinct channels and a massive 7 gain stages. A new Lo/Hi switch allows exploration of gain stage topology not yet found in any other amplifier from Bad Cat.
Specs:
- Designed and Built in Southern California
- 50W – 2x EL34 in fixed bias class AB configuration
- Two Channel
- Lo and Hi Gain Modes
- Channel-dedicated GAIN and VOLUME controls
- Global Master, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence Controls
- Adjustable noise gate circuit – Patent Applied For
- Buffered Effects Loop
- 12” Celestion Vintage 30 (Combo only)
A handwired 45-watt head based on a mid-’60s British classic.
Many Marshall fans are hip to the parallel history of Park Amplification—Jim Marshall’s other amp line, created to maximize sales without violating Marshall’s distribution contracts. Despite their distinct look, Park amps of the ’60s and early ’70s were similar to the era’s Marshalls, and are exceedingly collectible.
Now, many years after Park’s demise, the brand name returns via a high-end line of hand-wired, U.S.-made amps under the leadership of longtime Marshall and Vox veteran Mitch Colby. We checked out the new Park P45, a 2-channel, 4-input, 45-watt head powered by a pair of KT66 power tubes, JTM45-style. (Park also offers a combo version with a pair of 12" Celestion Heritage G12Ms.)
Park vs. Marshall
I was hazy on the exact circuit variations between ’60s Marshalls and Parks, so I queried an expert on vintage British amps: Colby himself. As he explained via email: “In general, Park amps were closer to the bass or PA versions of the equivalent Marshall amps. You rarely find Park amps with bright caps on the volume control (no cap equals the bass version). Sometimes there’s not even a cap across the ‘bright’ channel mix resistor, as in the PA version. Without both caps, the channels sound exactly the same, as in the PA version. So Parks are typically warmer-sounding than the equivalent Marshalls.”
Like a ’60s Marshall bass model, the new Park omits the bright cap, but retains the one at the mix resistor. (Colby notes that, contrary to the official Marshall “Lead” schematic, some early units omitted the part as well.) Colby says this arrangement “sounds best and most ‘vintagy’ to me.”
Parks and Re-Creation
The Park P45 certainly looks like a ’60s amp. Its solid-wood head cabinet bears the original white-on-black Park logo on a sheet of Plexiglas. The external hardware is hefty. The simple controls are period-accurate: bass, mid, treble, and brightness, plus a single volume control for each channel. (The knobs face forward, not skyward as on vintage “top-mount” Parks.) Like early Marshalls and Parks, the P45 has no gain/overdrive control—you generate crunch by turning up or adding a distortion pedal. (Our review model also includes the optional post-phase-inverter master volume control, mounted in back in lieu of one of the speaker-out jacks.)
Within the stout aluminum chassis, components are handwired on turret board. The soldering is immaculate, and the lead dress (the physical routing of the wires) is precise and elegant. There are no mojo ingredients, though—the parts are modern, including the plastic jacks and tube sockets. The transformers are custom-made for Park by ClassicTone/Magnetic Components. (Park also offers a pricier limited edition model with a Merren Audio output transformer and NOS capacitors and resistors.) A formidable pair of Gold Lion KT66s tower over three adjacent 12AX7s and a GZ34 rectifier tube. The amp weighs in at a manageable 31 pounds. It’s a quality build that seems to promise many years of use.
Park It Here!
I auditioned the Park P45 through a 2x10/1x12 THD cabinet, miking the 12" speaker for the audio examples. My test guitars were a recent-model Les Paul Traditional and an original ’63 Strat.
To some, Marshall/Park means crunch, the whole crunch, and nothing but the crunch. But as anyone who’s spent quality time with early Marshall circuits can attest, they also deliver superb clean tones. It’s a weighty sort of clean, with strong, harmonious sustain and fundamentals as solid as poured concrete. My Les Paul tones were bluntly authoritative, yet I still got pretty top-end shimmer from my old Strat. Even playing bone dry, there’s enough mass and complexity to hold your interest. These tones aren’t likely to get lost in the mix.
Ratings
Pros:
Powerful clean tones. Iconic crunch. Excellent handwired workmanship.
Cons:
No gain controls, tremolo, reverb, or effect loop. Pricy.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$2,500
Park P45
parkamplifiers.com
Naturally, iconic Marshall crunch accumulates as you advance the volume knob. Among the coolest settings are ones perched on the brink of distortion, tipping one way or the other according to your touch. Even at maximum volume, tones remain dynamic—you can get countless variations via small adjustments of your guitar’s volume knob.
Might As Well Jump
With two inputs per channel, you can link the channels in series using a short cable. This yields a fine rendition of the primal high-gain sound that helped define heavy guitar. But don’t expect a modern metal sound—you don’t get the steroidal lows and spitting attack of some contemporary high-gain heads. That’s generally a plus: The Park P45’s relatively manicured lows never overpower your tones, maintaining excellent note definition, even in the face of extreme tube “sag.”
If you need crisper crunch with snappier attack, just dial in a relatively clean sound and add a distortion pedal. I loved the results I got with various ’60s-style germanium fuzzes and boosters, especially single-transistor, Rangemaster-style circuits. Between such dynamically responsive pedals and such a dynamically responsive amp, you can get an enormous range of overdrive colors just by tweaking the relative volume levels of guitar, pedal, and amp. In other words, the Park P45 can be vastly more versatile than its simple controls might suggest.
Meanwhile, the amp’s ample headroom and solid note definition work splendidly with modern effects. Hell yeah, the Park P45 excels at “Beano”-era Clapton lines and proto-Zep riffage. But its tones don’t sound dated in the slightest, and they make a solid platform for non-retro tone sculpting too.
The Verdict
This is a fine modern rendition of a fine vintage design. The build quality is excellent, and the amp is a pleasure to play and record. The Park P45 easily nails the expected classic rock tones, but why stop there? Imaginative players will find countless uses for this bold and versatile instrument.
Watch the Review Demo:
A home-surgery survivor—and the relative merits of KT66 and 6L6 tubes.
Jeff,
I have an oddball amp—and a few questions.
My amp is the amplifier section of an early-’70s Bassman in a homemade head box. The amp has the expected power-supply caps in need of repair, and one of the tubes exhibits some blue glow and an occasional pop. I pulled the power tubes to replace them. All the schematics call for two 6L6GC power tubes, but there are KT66s in my amp. Now I wonder if the amp has been modified. (The schematic, as I’m sure you know, calls for two 7025s, one 12AT7, and two 6L6GCs.)
My questions:
1. Are 6L6s and KT66s swappable?
2. Are circuit changes required to run the KT66 tubes?
3. Are 7025s and 12AX7s interchangeable?
In the studio/bright setting my Guild Bluesbird sounds just fine, so I wonder whether tone-stack modifications were done. Can you point me to a good source of information on this subject?
Curtis L. Putnam
Hello Curtis,
Thanks for your question. While the amp itself is not much of an “oddball,” I always enjoy seeing the creativity and craftsmanship (or lack thereof) that people put into alternative enclosures. Sometimes a combo chassis finds itself mounted in a head shell so it can be used with an assortment of speakers, and occasionally a head chassis gets turned into a one-off combo. Either is fine—it boils down to what best suits your needs.
Now, let’s talk about those tubes, and I will attempt to be your good source of information on this subject. As you mentioned, your tube layout calls for two 7025s, one 12AT7, and two 6L6GCs. This is typical of the ’70s silverface Bassman Ten combo. This differs from typical blackface and silverface Bassman heads, which have one more preamp tube, for a total of four. (There’s actually another triode stage in the bass channel of those amps. Since there are two triodes in each preamp tube, this leaves one unused, which opens up some cool modification possibilities—but that’s for another column.)
Your KT66 output tubes are fine replacements for the 6L6s. The KT66 is, for all practical concerns, the European equivalent of the American 6L6, and in most cases the two are interchangeable. KT66s were the tube of choice for early Marshall amps, and circuit-wise, the original JTM45 amps were almost identical to the Fender Bassman. But since the American 6L6 tubes used in the Bassman were more costly in the UK, Marshall used the more readily available European KT66. That, along with a few other circuit variations, and history was made.
When installing KT66s in an amp that was originally set up with a 6L6 output stage, you may need a bias adjustment, but generally the bias circuit needs no modification since the two tubes share similar bias-voltage requirements. Also, no tube socket rewiring is necessary. One possible limitation, though, is the proximity of the tube sockets, as KT66s tend to be much larger than 6L6s. I find the KT66 to be a bit more “glassy” or “shimmery” on the top end, in a very pleasing way. They also tend to compress a bit more, making it a very fun tube to play, at least for guitar. If you want to use your Bassman for bass, though, you might consider using the stock 6L6 tubes, as they are a bit tighter and less compressed and will probably give you a few more watts of output.
You also asked whether a 12AX7 and 7025 are interchangeable. Again, the answer is yes. The 7025 specified by Fender in the early days actually was a 12AX7 with a lower noise floor and perhaps fewer microphonics. (I don’t know whether this was due to production or selection.) These were typically called for in the first preamp-tube position of each channel and in the reverb recovery section of reverb amps. Since there isn’t a substantial amount of gain/overdrive in either of these circuits, the tube’s noise floor is not a huge issue, and most 12AX7s generally work fine.
Be aware, though, that even if a preamp tube is new, there’s a chance it may be noisy or microphonic. If you want to be sure you’re installing a tube without noise issues in the first gain stage of an amp (and this is especially important in high-gain amps), lean toward tubes that are offered as “low noise,” “low microphonics,” or “selected.” It may be worth the extra couple of bucks.
I hope this clears up your tube mystery. Now you can feel confident in turning up your Bassman Ten to 11!