HotKitty (1.05) is nasty as hell!

rsf1977_again

Power User
I've been listening to a lot of Kurt Ballou produced bands (Converge, Cult Leader, etc.) and I know he uses Badcat amps so I thought I'd see what it's all about. Whoa, that amp is huge and cuts like hell! I will say the speaker resonant frequency sounds strange at 63hz especially with the resonance defaulting to 8.3. I raised the res. freq to 93.5hz and dropped the resonance to about 7ish and it sounds incredible. Crank the mids to almost max and play, it's insane. My new favorite amp (of the moment haha)
 
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I'll DEF check out your settings.


I'm a huge Steven Wilson fan and never really been able to completely get his Bad Cat sound.
 
i'm using 2 IRs panned dead center - "CK USA Trad SM57 B1" and blended under it at -10db is the "4x12 Pre-Rola 55 M160 (ML)" for a little beefiness. I don't use motor drive, proximity, or room on any of my cabs.

Once you change the resonance settings the amp is completely different. I find the defaults very strange actually.
 
Those settings sound fantastic!

I wasn't completely jiving with it before, but now it's like a whole new amp.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Once you change the resonance settings the amp is completely different. I find the defaults very strange actually.
Wouldn't they have been set based on the stock Bad Cat cab?

I find the amp responds quite well when using the stock Bad Cat cab
 
that is probably true. But with the 4x12 cabs i normally use it sounded really odd. So I had to adjust it, and I'm really into that amp now.
 
I'll DEF check out your settings.


I'm a huge Steven Wilson fan and never really been able to completely get his Bad Cat sound.

I think he's using a Lynx these days, which is an even-higher-gain Hot Cat if I'm not mistaken. I've seen him play live in both Porcupine Tree and his solo gig, and he easily has the most pissed-off high-gain tone I've ever heard.
 
Lots of low-end resonance in the Hot Kitty model. With no negative feedback, that gets emphasized even more. And the Hot Kitty Mix factory cab brings it out even more.

It's a very ballsy, growling tone. And as you say, it really cuts.
 
I love bad cats, would love to see a few more models in the axe (the lynx is nicer than the hot cat for sure)! Would also be cool to have the mid switch, edge control + clean channel modelled in the hot cat.
 
I think he's using a Lynx these days, which is an even-higher-gain Hot Cat if I'm not mistaken. I've seen him play live in both Porcupine Tree and his solo gig, and he easily has the most pissed-off high-gain tone I've ever heard.


Me too and saw him twice the last solo tour (in DC and Montreal).
 
Wouldn't they have been set based on the stock Bad Cat cab?

I find the amp responds quite well when using the stock Bad Cat cab

I had a Samson-era Hot Cat 30. First amp that made me want a Tele.

I gotta say, I'm not getting the same success with the AFX model. It feels very mid-scooped and boomy. And the boomy part surprises me, because the power amp low cut is set to 450Hz.

I thought I'd remembered not having a hi cut on mine; it had a "Brilliance" knob, which I thought was a version of presence? It certainly worked in the same way as a presence control...treble increased as I turned it up, unlike a hi cut unless the pot was wired backward.
 
I had a Samson-era Hot Cat 30. First amp that made me want a Tele.

I gotta say, I'm not getting the same success with the AFX model. It feels very mid-scooped and boomy. And the boomy part surprises me, because the power amp low cut is set to 450Hz.

I thought I'd remembered not having a hi cut on mine; it had a "Brilliance" knob, which I thought was a version of presence? It certainly worked in the same way as a presence control...treble increased as I turned it up, unlike a hi cut unless the pot was wired backward.

I found the amp model incredibly boomy until i dialed up the low freq res setting and backed down the low frequency amount. Stock it's almost unusable imho
 
so even with IR's you guys are adjusting those settings?? i thought those were mainly for those that used real cabs? TBH, it's something i've never been very clear on...
 
I had a Samson-era Hot Cat 30. First amp that made me want a Tele.

I gotta say, I'm not getting the same success with the AFX model. It feels very mid-scooped and boomy. And the boomy part surprises me, because the power amp low cut is set to 450Hz.

I thought I'd remembered not having a hi cut on mine; it had a "Brilliance" knob, which I thought was a version of presence? It certainly worked in the same way as a presence control...treble increased as I turned it up, unlike a hi cut unless the pot was wired backward.
I think the control changes from a hi cut to presence when you add negative feedback
so even with IR's you guys are adjusting those settings?? i thought those were mainly for those that used real cabs? TBH, it's something i've never been very clear on...
Nope, they work even with IRs, I'll bring down the high curve to tame fizz and mess with the low resonance when something feels thin or boomy
 
I think he's using a Lynx these days, which is an even-higher-gain Hot Cat if I'm not mistaken. I've seen him play live in both Porcupine Tree and his solo gig, and he easily has the most pissed-off high-gain tone I've ever heard.

I was under the impression that he switched to a Diezel for a lot of his later PT work. That may just be rumor, though.
 
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