Bad Cat - The Paw - Ultimate lunch box head.

keir

Looks like Bad Cat are starting to catch up with these. Someone from their team replied to the gear page thread saying they are in the process of catching up with EU suppliers ie Andertons and Thomman, so sounds like the Paw will start becoming available again in the next few months. 

gatheredinsong

I received mine from Andertons on Thursday. I have yet to spend enough time with it to give an impression, but thought regulars on this thread may be interested to know. 

keir

Great news, look forward to hearing what you think of it. 

Tadragh1

gatheredinsong said:

I received mine from Andertons on Thursday. I have yet to spend enough time with it to give an impression, but thought regulars on this thread may be interested to know. 

Don't keep us waiting

gatheredinsong

I'm sorry.

Ok, well I have played with the Paw for about 4-5 hours and been in two minds about what to do.

Unfortunately the one I received is a bit noisy. There is a bit of hum and hiss that isn't crazy bad, but it annoys me at home volume levels. In particular, turning up the onboard reverb adds up to 8 decibels (according to a phone app) of additional hiss, on top of the noise I am already aware of. This may well just be a problem with the individual unit and I have questioned whether the general hum is really anything more than typical of a valve amp in a quiet place... I wonder if it would trouble me in a practice room environment but it does bother me at home a little and this is where I would use it most. The noise is there with nothing plugged into the input btw. The IRs provide a nice range of different and easy to access eq options but none mask it and some frequencies make it worse. 

On the plus side the stereo loop is fantastic and clean tones sound really good. I'm sure the reverb sounds decent too, or it would without the hiss.

As I have pondered what to do for the last week, given the lack of availability of replacement units but seeing its potential, I have tried the Paw with several drive pedals (Barber, Skreddy, Bearfoot). Sadly, I am also struggling a bit with the drive tones. Now this may well just be the brand new speakers needing more time to break in, but currently they sound a bit buzzy, with that wasp in a box thing going on. I wish I had an external cabinet here to plug it into.

If Andertons had stock I would ask them to exchange it in the hope a replacement Paw would be quieter and that the speakers would break in. I feel this would be a slight gamble in terms of getting driven tones I am completely happy with, but it would still be a great home amp regardless.

All things considered, I am sending it back. I reached the end of the 14 days return period and the lack of reviews online makes it hard to be 100% confident in waiting for a replacement. 

I guess Andertons' techs may look at it and find it is just a bad tube or something. If that happens it might appear as a B-stock item shortly and potentially give someone a bargain. 

Tadragh1

Thank you for that, @gatheredinsong. Kind of underwhelming, isn't it?

gatheredinsong

You have one too @Tadragh1 ;? 

Tadragh1

No, I don't. I was waiting for some reviews coming in. As it stands, I'll stay happy with my Bad Cat Cub - and a Vox Pathfinder 15R for practice.

keir

Tadragh1 said:

No, I don't. I was waiting for some reviews coming in. As it stands, I'll stay happy with my Bad Cat Cub - and a Vox Pathfinder 15R for practice.

I’ve also got a bigger bad cat and now I’m wondering if it’s worth getting a Two Notes Captor X and running it through monitors instead of a paw. 

Although this rig would be a bit trickier to move around the house of course! 

boz_h

I have had my Paw for nearly two weeks now mine has no hiss issues and so far so good.  The Reverb is OK, functional with a good useable range, but nothing that makes me gush over it.  The IR's are a good mix, not keen on some of them, but that's to be expected.  Not had a chance to plug it into an external cab yet as mine is currently behind a now dismantled puppy pen (they grow so fast ).  I have plugged it into my DAW and was impressed with the sound, turning off the speakers made late night recording a breeze.  I have used a Seymore Duncan Booster, RYRA Klone  as a booster/overdrive and a Crystal Dagger and Big Muff for fuzz and on most of the IR's they sound excellent. I am really happy with it, the size, sound, and functionality are perfect for my requirements.  I was not happy with the 3 months of faffing around waiting for it to turn up, then getting one which then self-destructed and nearly 4 months for a replacement.  This time if there were any issues I was going to send it straight back and get a refund, so I can see why @gatheredinsong is walking away.   

gatheredinsong

Good to hear that you are happy with your Paw @boz_h

I certainly didn't believe that the issues I have experienced affect all units, hence my hesitancy to post anything about it. I actually feel kinda bad for the guys at Bad Cat as they have obviously had a hard time of launching what is a great and unique product. 

I will see how my new plan works out but keep an eye on other people's experiences with the Paws over coming months. I won't rule out buying one in future. 

slowpilgrim

Really interested in these but having a hard time finding any retailers offering an order/pre-order. I assume that production was halted whilst all the issues were ironed out, and the tap will switched back on soon with amps that are good to go?

EDIT: Thomann seems to be the only retailer currently selling them