Badcat Unleash The worlds first re-amplifier / attenuator. Any Amp to 100watts

[redking]

I have a modeling amp (Mustang 3) and a vox amplug so I am fine but I want to get a nice tube head and be able to use it in all situations for just the cost of a Unleash. Half of the Unleash function is to do exactly what I am looking for (list as a re-amplifier / attenuator).

I am convinced I can get all sorts of great tone (clean and dist) at upwards of 100watts which will be great for performances but I just want to know how well the attenuator function works. Since it is reampin to a solid state signal I am guessing great. Here it is in action on next to silent but given the mic situation you can't tell or get a sense of sound quality or true volume.

Hopefully someone who has it can tell me their experience on the attenuator side with a amp with similar power.

Bobcat 5/100 with onboard Unleash
NAMM '12 - Bad Cat Amplification Bobcat 100 Demo - YouTube

2012 NAMM Bad Cat "Bobcat" - YouTube

I'm thinking of getting a Bobcat and an Unleash to have the best of both worlds and the option to combine them too... Don't feeling like carrying a head and cabinet to the small gig or rehearsal? - take the Bobcat. Love the tone of the Bobcat in a bigger room or outdoors? - re-amp the Bobcat and or combine with a bigger amp.

 

[NYC LP player]

I'm thinking of getting a Bobcat and an Unleash to have the best of both worlds and the option to combine them too... Don't feeling like carrying a head and cabinet to the small gig or rehearsal? - take the Bobcat. Love the tone of the Bobcat in a bigger room or outdoors? - re-amp the Bobcat and or combine with a bigger amp.

Bobcat has the unleash built in so no need to. Its a 5 watt with the unleash so no need to run the unleash to the unleash.

 

[River]

I agree with redking's last few posts. I have two modelers, most recently acquiring an Eleven Rack. It may not be state-of-the-art, but it's no slouch and sounds 99.9% convincing at almost any volume. But, and my point, nothing sounds good when it's turned down past a certain point. You can reproduce all of the grit, breakup harmonics, emulate speaker breakup, and balance the EQ, but you will not get "it".

From my research, that's a function of the human brain, not the modeler, attenuator, or speakers. I want an Unleash for my 2w Greta. I'll try it on my 50w combo, but I doubt I'll ever actually use it that way.

 

[NYC LP player]

Agreed but for those of us without houses and for those of us who don't gig regularly you should be able to use like I am planning. Does my M3 (or any modeler) do a great job already...sure....but I am not bring it to a gig or outside. On top of that the original sound is solid state as opposed to having the dynamics of tubes. I dont plan to keep it on quiet mode all the time...just when it gets late.

Which would you rather own:
- modeler amp for home and practice and a rig for gigs of various size that collects dust the rest of the time

- an awesome head/cab or amp and the Unleash so you can use it anytime anywhere

To be honest I think my line of thinking is a lot more practical than people who are talking about gigging a Greta but you know what...different strokes for different folks. I do realize my route will probably end costing a little more but not a lot in the scheme of things.

 

[redking]

Bobcat has the unleash built in so no need to. Its a 5 watt with the unleash so no need to run the unleash to the unleash.

I should have clarified... I'd want the Unleash for my Silver Jubilee, and the Bobcat has one built in so I would have ultimate flexibility with both amps...

 

[Curlymaple]

I think there are better ways to get down to bedroom level. I would consider the Unleash as a tool to get the rehearsal or gigging volume out of any amp - but if you want to go whisper quiet from a what I consider a "real" amp, I wouldn't count on it for that... Some sort of modelling amp is probably better, or even an Isolation cabinet running through your recording rig will probably give you something better... I don't think that is really the point of the Unleash.. unless I am missing something..

plus one! at whisper quite, you lose the thump or low end.

you are probably right, redking... for the price of one of these I'd try a modeling amp or just a smaller tube amp (like I did with the HT5) to get down to bedroom volume, which to me is about TV volume or so... if you need lower then that, just get an amplug...

but if you have a small amp, and need bigger, I think this would be great...

a better solution than buying that big, second amp...

love it for my small amp! I bought it for the purpose of attenuating it, and I got a bonus it'll do both boost and attenuate, very well.

Don't get me wrong... I think the Unleash is amazing and well priced and I am definitely getting one!! But I think this is more designed to use in a real rehearsal / gigging situation. Eg... When I rehearsed with my 25 Watt Phaez this fall, I was on 1 with the Master Volume so as not to melt faces in the rehearsal room and had volume to spare... In fact I ended up playing that particular gig just pedalboard through the PA because it was such a small room... I would have loved to have the Unleash in that kind of situation - and that is just a 25 Watt amp.

I couldn't agree more and would work for these set up really well!!

I agree with redking's last few posts. I have two modelers, most recently acquiring an Eleven Rack. It may not be state-of-the-art, but it's no slouch and sounds 99.9% convincing at almost any volume. But, and my point, nothing sounds good when it's turned down past a certain point. You can reproduce all of the grit, breakup harmonics, emulate speaker breakup, and balance the EQ, but you will not get "it".

From my research, that's a function of the human brain, not the modeler, attenuator, or speakers. I want an Unleash for my 2w Greta. I'll try it on my 50w combo, but I doubt I'll ever actually use it that way.

you are correct, River

To be honest I think my line of thinking is a lot more practical than people who are talking about gigging a Greta but you know what...different strokes for different folks. I do realize my route will probably end costing a little more but not a lot in the scheme of things.

its very doable with the Greta amp.

compare with my amp, I couldn't believe how much bass it has when connected to BC unleash... would do fine even on open air venue

I 've been playing it on that set up with rumble mod pedal for the singing sustain and I love it..

to be honest I only played to my VM fullstack at 8 ohm> 2x 4x12 at 4ohm briefly, I will venture on that later on.... so much fun with these little "iphone amp"

so far my fingers are really sore and my ears are hurting as much as I want to blow that 8" speaker, which is not happening, I tried



btw, I tried all of them in the pic thru fx loop and so far the rumble mod is it, for me.
chorus, delay etc are awesome sounding... huge for live situation even!

 

[River]

you are correct, River

its very doable with the Greta amp.

Your enthusiasm is contagious.

Some may find it hard to believe, but a Greta->2x10 can actually have too much headroom, depending on the player, genre, and sound man. So I'm not saying I won't attenuate with an Unleash, just that I probably won't find much call to attenuate my 50-watter.

 

[Curlymaple]

Your enthusiasm is contagious.

Some may find it hard to believe, but a Greta->2x10 can actually have too much headroom, depending on the player, genre, and sound man. So I'm not saying I won't attenuate with an Unleash, just that I probably won't find much call to attenuate my 50-watter.

I do now!!

im not sure what I have in that Vjr chassis with 8" speaker, really ?

and yeah, this has head room although not like my 4x12s but it'll cut through with heavy hitting loud drummer without breaking my back

 

[NYC LP player]

I think Ive seen and heard enough to make a move even though this is still just a 5 watt amp.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D97vRWWCuxk]Bobcat first look - YouTube[/ame]

 

[George Jetson]

After only messing around with it for a couple of hours, the beauty of this box to me is the ability to both attenuate and boost volume at the same time. Run the amp hot, attenuate it for "normal" volume, then further adjust each "channel" for rhythm and lead. I don't know that I would invest in this if all I needed was just an attenuator. When I get back home, I want to try some recording with a miked cab and the direct in for some reamping experiments with the dry signal.

Randy is going to be pissed because a lot of us love his 7w amps for their great tone, but they are just a hair under for live work. Now, you can take this little magic box out with you and dial in the right combination of amp gain and sound pressure level to be heard in the mix without buying a "big brother" version.

His JTM 18w now becomes one of the versatile amps I can imagine. The Snowdog is a SIBLY 7w in a 2x12 cab with a JTM circuit switch. While it is just great in the basement studio, I never felt it could quite keep up with a loud drummer (is there any other kind?) and another guitar rig. My only problem now will be to keep the volume down to protect the 60w speakers or upgrade them to a higher wattage rating.

I am also really stoked to get back to real tube amps and a pedal board at church and sell off my modelling multi-fx (except my Digitech 1101/control2). The sound board guys are probably not going to be as enthusiastic.

 

[blamo]

Ok, where do I get one of these in Canada?

 

[redking]

After only messing around with it for a couple of hours, the beauty of this box to me is the ability to both attenuate and boost volume at the same time. Run the amp hot, attenuate it for "normal" volume, then further adjust each "channel" for rhythm and lead. I don't know that I would invest in this if all I needed was just an attenuator. When I get back home, I want to try some recording with a miked cab and the direct in for some reamping experiments with the dry signal.

Randy is going to be pissed because a lot of us love his 7w amps for their great tone, but they are just a hair under for live work. Now, you can take this little magic box out with you and dial in the right combination of amp gain and sound pressure level to be heard in the mix without buying a "big brother" version.

His JTM 18w now becomes one of the versatile amps I can imagine. The Snowdog is a SIBLY 7w in a 2x12 cab with a JTM circuit switch. While it is just great in the basement studio, I never felt it could quite keep up with a loud drummer (is there any other kind?) and another guitar rig. My only problem now will be to keep the volume down to protect the 60w speakers or upgrade them to a higher wattage rating.

I am also really stoked to get back to real tube amps and a pedal board at church and sell off my modelling multi-fx (except my Digitech 1101/control2). The sound board guys are probably not going to be as enthusiastic.

"Go forth and take the Jube to the House of the Lord" Jetson 3:16

 

[redking]

Ok, where do I get one of these in Canada?

I'd order direct from Badcat. They are great guys and lifetime warranty. They deserve the extra scratch for standing behind their product like that...

 

[George Jetson]

"Go forth and take the Jube to the House of the Lord" Jetson 3:16

I was actually thinking specifically of the Duophonic.....Corona w/ chorus and delay for 80% of what we do and the JTM for the more lively stuff. It *would* freak everyone out if I showed up one weekend with the full Jube mini-stack though.

 

[Curlymaple]

TGP bc unleash thread, said he'd got forty in stock with tiny scratches on bottom for 349.!
Quote]
Originally Posted by Onioner
All i know is i ain't holding my breath. I have just under a week until it's the four week point.

BC:
I have forty in stock ready to ship with little tiny scratches , some on the bottom I can't ship as new. $ 349 come and get 'em.

John

End quote]


I'll wait and get another one with 16ohm in different color gold or som3thing...

 

[LPV]

The mind reels with possibilities like using a EV12L in a 112 and emulating a greenback 412 in the loop.

 

[blamo]

I'd order direct from Badcat. They are great guys and lifetime warranty. They deserve the extra scratch for standing behind their product like that...

I didn't read the whole thread, but did you pick one up? I'd love to hear one in person.

edit: FedEx International ($86.00) deal breaker..... wow that is some insane shipping

 

[rapaul76]

I'm really interested to try this with one of the new Marshall SL5's. I don't need at 100 watt head like the AFD100, but boosting the SL5 to 20-30 watt equivalent would be awesome!

 

[NYC LP player]

I didn't read the whole thread, but did you pick one up? I'd love to hear one in person.

edit: FedEx International ($86.00) deal breaker..... wow that is some insane shipping

How far away are you from the boarder? You could ship it to someone here that you know or have it held at a UPS location and pick it up? Just make sure it isnt stuff with bags of booger sugar and you should be fine right?

 

[blamo]

How far away are you from the boarder? You could ship it to someone here that you know or have it held at a UPS location and pick it up? Just make sure it isnt stuff with bags of booger sugar and you should be fine right?

quite far unfortunately. (5-6 hr drive)

I have other options. but I am in no rush to pick one up.