Bad Cat Mini II vs. Dr Z Mini - Anyone compare the

[wodka]

I'm looking for a small practice amp and was wondering if anyone here has compared both the Z and Bad Cat models.

[bluebullet]

Re: Bad Cat Mini II vs. Dr Z Mini - Anyone compare

i was looking at those also. the bad cat has a master volume and a bigger speaker but the z is supposed to sound really good but you will need to crank it to get it to breakup and it will get pretty loud so you might want the master volume. if you want to save a little money those gibson les paul jr.'s sound really good when you crank em and go for about 400.

[horns666]

Re: Bad Cat Mini II vs. Dr Z Mini - Anyone compare

I played everyone Of Mikes Z's amps..every single one..they are very well made and consistant in feel , color and tone..from big to small.

But I need a stomp in front of each one of them to get by for my style..which is "oh my balls" Metal!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Bill

[hippietim]

Re: Bad Cat Mini II vs. Dr Z Mini - Anyone compare

I went through this about a month or two ago. I missed my Fender Pro Junior for a super lightweight great sounding combo.

I went to Fat Sound Guitars in Cary, NC and checked out three amps:
1) Dr. Z Mini Z - 5 watt EL84 based 1x8" Weber
2) Bad Cat Mini Cat - 5 watt EL84 1x10" Jensen
3) Atomic Space Tone - 5 watt EL84? 1x8" Weber

A quick spin through the amps and it was clear that the Atomic was the best sounding combo and the Bad Cat was the worst. Then I dug deeper with each amp in turn with a Strat and a Les Paul but this time I had them plug the Bad Cat into the Atomic speaker. Bingo! I had a hunch about that Jensen speaker - it sounded like ass just like the stock Jensen that comes in the Fender Pro Junior. Who woulda thought a $28 8" speaker would be the better sounding speaker? I A/B'd the amps quite a bit more and it was very clear from there on out that the Bad Cat was the best sounding amp. The Z was always too flubby and a bit harsh. The Atomic was very cool but only had one tone (albeit a good one). The Mini Cat had a bit more hair when you dimed it and it cleans up nice. I've not tried the Mini Cat II but from what I understand it's the same amp with a larger cab and 1x12" speaker config.

Anyhow, I bought the Mini Cat. I've experimented with several speakers and haven't decided which to stick with yet - an old Celestion Vintage 10 and a new Celestion 10" that they made for Vox to go in the AC15 amps. I had a the Vintage 10 in a Pro Junior and that was perfect - the Pro Junior is a 15 watt amp so the extra headroom in the Vintage 10 was needed but in the Mini Cat it sounds a bit muffled. The Vox Celestion is really neat - it's kind of rough and edgy and breaks up nicely. I'm still thinking about ordering the 10" version of that 8" Weber I tried it with in the store.

If I get motivated I may post some clips of the various speakers.

Here's a pic of my Mini Cat. It has this trippy fire looking vinyl covering that's sort of difficult to photograph in a dungeon.