2021 Bad Cat 40R USA Player Series

Overview

There was a short, but glorious time where purchasing used Guitar Center gear via the Musicians Friend website granted me redeemable points that could be used on other purchases. I eventually accumulated around $1000 worth of points, and I could even use them on scratch and dent gear, but they expired. I started perusing the scratch and dent section daily as my points neared expiration, and when this Bad Cat Cub popped up in “near mint” condition, I pulled the trigger.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but a VOX-like amp is something I wanted to add for a long time. I was really blown away by this amp, the quality of construction and materials, and especially the sound of the EF86 channel is just fantastic. It has a very good master volume that lets me dial in some dirt with the preamp volume control, and the EF86/12AX7 preamps are footswitchable. It’s a subtle change, so it’s not a true channel switcher, but a very welcome feature. In addition, there’s also a footswitchable “fat” mode, which adds a tiny bit more grit but mostly an upper mid punch to help cut through a mix.

There’s only a 2-band EQ here, bass and treble, as well as a high end “cut” control, similar to a VOX AC30TB. The reverb is digital, but you wouldn’t know it from the sound, it’s very natural and the only drawback is you can’t kick this amp for the thunder effect at the end of your show! Since this is the combo version, the 12” speaker is a Bad Cat stamped Celestion V30, which I’ve been told is custom designed for Bad Cat. I’m not sure exactly how it differs from a standard V30, but at least through this amp it sounds wonderful.

Not only is the amp impressive, but so is the customer service. When the amp arrived, the “dent” damage was simply that the front panel logo plaque was falling off. I gave Bad Cat a call and actually spoke to the owner, John Thompson on the phone! I told him about how impressed I was with the amp, and asked probably too many questions about the design and the speaker and he answered all of them. We even chatted about vintage Marshalls. I told him about the logo piece, fully intending to pay for the part as well as shipping (especially since I got such a great deal on the amp), but he insisted on sending it to me for free. Pretty unbelievable, and you can bet this won’t be my last Bad Cat.