Badcat Unleash

[Heady Jam Fan]

I just started a new band and last time was the first time we played together as a full band.

Carrying my 80 pound Mesa MKIII gets tiresome and hurts my back, but my SFDR couldn't keep up with the band.

I bought a used Badcat Unleash on TGP and UPS lost it in the mail. UPS treated the seller and I like shit for 2 weeks after it was supposed to be delivered before they would admit they lost it. A retailer had offered to sell me a new one at a great price, but they sold out before I could buy one. I finally found one at a good price, it arrived at my apartment when I was out of town. I almost couldn't make it back into town because of the snow, then my car was dead when I got back to Pittsburgh! I don't believe in a higher power, but started to seem like someone didn't want me to have an Unleash

Anyway, this thing is sweet! I managed to stuff it in the back of my DR and it only adds a several pounds, so my DR is still about half the weight of my Mesa and can pump out a wapping 100 watts! It can also bring my DR to bedroom volumes when the DR's volume is cranked to 10 without any loss of treble!

Since my MKIII does a hell of a job on my back sometimes, I was bringing my DR most of the time I was playing out and just cranking the volume to 10 and cleaning up with my guitar's volume knob. Not ideal for jam band kinda stuff, but its still kinda cool to play a 40-year-old Fender with the knobs dimed

One of the cool things about the Badcat is that you can set the input trim knob to push the (re)amplifier inside the Unleash. I set it at 12 o'clock, which adds a nice compression without noticeable distortion or loss of treble. This adds some punch and thickness to the Fender that I miss when I'm not using my Mesa. It really makes my guitar jump out a bit more. I just set the volume on my amp at the sweet spot where its mostly clean, with a touch of grit. I had the volume on the Unleash between 1 and 2 o'clock and kept up with my band that includes a hard-hitting drummer, a big PA that was on the edge of clipping with the keyboard and vocals running though it, a Bass Playing who was only using a 210 last night, and another guitarist playing a Mesa Recto.

Just thought this thing was cool! I love the 6V6 DR tone and the 112 form-factor, but most Fender's have such a small sweet spot on the volume. Now I feel like I have a secret weapon and I don't worry about whether I'll be heard in the band mix.

[Jkendrick]

Whoa. I had no idea such a thing existed. I'm no gear head, but I've got a THD UniValve which sounds great at home at what I would say is louder than bedroom volumes. But if I play in a band setting I'm really cranked to even be heard and as such basically have no real cleans. Would you recommend I give this a try?

ETA: obv I know about attenuators owning a THD, but I didn't realize reamplifiers existed.


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[Heady Jam Fan]

Whoa. I had no idea such a thing existed. I'm no gear head, but I've got a THD UniValve which sounds great at home at what I would say is louder than bedroom volumes. But if I play in a band setting I'm really cranked to even be heard and as such basically have no real cleans. Would you recommend I give this a try?

ETA: obv I know about attenuators owning a THD, but I didn't realize reamplifiers existed.


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I'm usually a quick judge whether I like or dislike gear and I really like the Unleash in the short period of time I've had it, but I should state I'm technically still in the honeymoon phase before you take my advice and spend about $400 on one of these.

I got mine for the same reason - I ran out of headroom with my DR... Its tonally transparent, so if you like your amp and just want 'more' of it, its the perfect thing. You just want to make sure the speaker your using can handle 100w if you ever decide to crank the Unleash. Since I prefer my CL80 over my EVM12L with my DR, I ordered a 100w Ceramic Weber Blue Dog with a Hemp cone and Pre-Rola doping.

Also, the Unleash has an Effect Loop, which I haven't tried yet, but I might toss a Bass GEQ in there and use it like a Hi-Pass Filter.
And you can use a footswitch with the Unleash as a clean volume boost.

[Jkendrick]

You know, I don't even remember what I've got in my cab. I mean I know it's a Weber but I'm not sure if it's 100w or something less. I've got a closed cabinet so it's not as easy as just peeking behind. Can you use say a 50w if you never crank it. Again, I'm not a gear head.

ETA: well I opened it up. It's a Weber California. Appears to be 80w. Here's the label:



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[Heady Jam Fan]

You know, I don't even remember what I've got in my cab. I mean I know it's a Weber but I'm not sure if it's 100w or something less. I've got a closed cabinet so it's not as easy as just peeking behind. Can you use say a 50w if you never crank it. Again, I'm not a gear head.

ETA: well I opened it up. It's a Weber California. Appears to be 80w. Here's the label:



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Nice speaker. If you don't crank the unleash, you could use an 80w speaker. That's what my CL80 handles, but I decided to get the 100w Weber so I can be more certain I won't blow the speaker if I need to crank the unleash. Some speaker manufacturers overrate the power handling and you would need something more like a120+w speaker, but Weber is pretty accurate.

[Buffered]

Heady, do you still have your VM Pro? I'm interested in seeing how a volume pedal works in the FX loop of the BC as an adjustable master. Thanks!

[Jkendrick]

You know, I don't even remember what I've got in my cab. I mean I know it's a Weber but I'm not sure if it's 100w or something less. I've got a closed cabinet so it's not as easy as just peeking behind. Can you use say a 50w if you never crank it. Again, I'm not a gear head.

ETA: well I opened it up. It's a Weber California. Appears to be 80w. Here's the label:



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Nice speaker. If you don't crank the unleash, you could use an 80w speaker. That's what my CL80 handles, but I decided to get the 100w Weber so I can be more certain I won't blow the speaker if I need to crank the unleash. Some speaker manufacturers overrate the power handling and you would need something more like a120+w speaker, but Weber is pretty accurate.

As I said, I don't play in a band. And now with kids, I don't even jam much (and around here it's mostly acoustic jamming anyway). So at most I figure I'd want to just double the output of my current 15w UniValve. I don't know how familiar you are with the UniValve, but it has a high gain input and a low gain input (non-switchable). I vastly prefer the low gain input, but it's just too quiet for a band situation. But as I said, I don't play out much right now so $450 probably isn't in the cards for a while. Glad to know this exists though as I really like my amp. Keep us posted!


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[Heady Jam Fan]

Heady, do you still have your VM Pro? I'm interested in seeing how a volume pedal works in the FX loop of the BC as an adjustable master. Thanks!

No, I returned it.

I ran my recording gear through the Effect Loop last night because I wanted to try a hi-pass filter, which I really liked, but I also used the recording gear to adjust the volume and it worked just fine. I think a volume pedal would work really well in the loop if you want an adjustable master, but you can always use a footswitch to change between Ch1 and Ch2 on the Badcat. I think a lot of people use Ch2 as a clean boost for leads.

[Heady Jam Fan]

You know, I don't even remember what I've got in my cab. I mean I know it's a Weber but I'm not sure if it's 100w or something less. I've got a closed cabinet so it's not as easy as just peeking behind. Can you use say a 50w if you never crank it. Again, I'm not a gear head.

ETA: well I opened it up. It's a Weber California. Appears to be 80w. Here's the label:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice speaker. If you don't crank the unleash, you could use an 80w speaker. That's what my CL80 handles, but I decided to get the 100w Weber so I can be more certain I won't blow the speaker if I need to crank the unleash. Some speaker manufacturers overrate the power handling and you would need something more like a120+w speaker, but Weber is pretty accurate.

As I said, I don't play in a band. And now with kids, I don't even jam much (and around here it's mostly acoustic jamming anyway). So at most I figure I'd want to just double the output of my current 15w UniValve. I don't know how familiar you are with the UniValve, but it has a high gain input and a low gain input (non-switchable). I vastly prefer the low gain input, but it's just too quiet for a band situation. But as I said, I don't play out much right now so $450 probably isn't in the cards for a while. Glad to know this exists though as I really like my amp. Keep us posted!


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Will keep you posted!

I think it would work great for giving you that extra boost to use your amp in a band situation, but I know it costs a pretty penny.

PM if you decide you want one and can't find a used one - I can hook you up with a retailer who will sell them for a fair amount less than $450.

[Jkendrick]

Will do. Thanks.


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[Heady Jam Fan]

Heady, do you still have your VM Pro? I'm interested in seeing how a volume pedal works in the FX loop of the BC as an adjustable master. Thanks!

Got your PM, but your inbox is full.

[Buffered]

Heady, do you still have your VM Pro? I'm interested in seeing how a volume pedal works in the FX loop of the BC as an adjustable master. Thanks!

Got your PM, but your inbox is full.

Thanks for the updated Cleared.

Only one message storage capacity? Damn!

[Jkendrick]

Is there a Tone Tubby or equivalent that is rated 100w?

[Heady Jam Fan]

Is there a Tone Tubby or equivalent that is rated 100w?

Assuming your looking for hemp speakers...

I have a Weber Hemp Cone Ceramic Magnet Blue Dog with Pre-Rola Doping rating 100w. Its very dark, but I like it. You can even get it with a neodymium booster magnet for a little extra volume. I'm also interested in the Weber Axis...

Also, Steamboat amplifiers has a 100w Hemp Cone modified CL80.

And I have a 4ohm 180w Hemp Cone Modified CL80 - the Badcat Unleash puts out 180w with a 4ohm speaker. Its got a much more open treble than the Blue Dog. I've switched back and forth several times and I think I'm gonna stick with the Blue Dog, but I'd sell the 180w speaker if your interested.

EDIT - I also had a hemp EVM12L once that was incredible. Too heavy IMO and can break a baffle on a Fender DR, but I much preferred it to a regular EV. I think I saw a Hemp JBL on eBay too.

On that note - I put the bright cap back in my amp this week. Well, the original bright cap was missing a lead, so I used a film cap for now. I'm gonna put in a push/pull volume pot with a bright cap on it. It adds some upper midrange that I think I like with my DR>Blue Dog for Trey-esque tones.

[Jkendrick]

I'm finally thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these and I see now there is a v2 (is it not out yet?). Also on TGP there seems to be quite a bit of love for the Fryette Power Station. Any thoughts on the Unleash v2 vs the Fryette? Seems both are considerably more expensive than the original Unleash. I was hoping to spend $400 and it now looks like it will be more like $600.