Hi,

Didn't find anything written about these in the board and the search funtion hasn't been working properly for ages...

So, I'm just wondering if anyone has tried those "new" Bad Cat pedals 2 Tone and Xtreme Tone? They are expensive but interesting for sure. I think they are based on older Matchless tube overdrive pedals?

Any experiences?

Thanks!

I tried one at summer NAMM in Nashville. It sounded awesome, but I was playing a vintage Les Paul through Bad Cat's most expensive amp.

I've never tried one of the Matchless pedals. The only "tubed" pedals I've played are the Real Tube (used to have one--it sucked) and the Boogie V-twin. The Bad Cat pedal was smoother and richer than the Boogie.

Thanks moongoose.

I guess they aren't too well-known?

I just bought one of the Matchless HotBoxes off ebay that had a blown tranny. Looking inside they are first class in quality. Carbon comp. resistors and Mallory 150 style caps like Kendrick uses. I would think that BadCat would try to do as good or better.

I've got an X-Treme Tone, and for my money, a sansamp GT-2 is a better high gain pedal for a clean amp. On the other hand, I've never tried it with a dirty amp, so it's quite possible it'd really shine there. I'll give it a try tomorrow with my CVR cranked and give a report.

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Originally posted by guittguy1:
I just bought one of the Matchless HotBoxes off ebay that had a blown tranny. Looking inside they are first class in quality. Carbon comp. resistors and Mallory 150 style caps like Kendrick uses. I would think that BadCat would try to do as good or better.

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First quality with a blown tranny?!? How about poor design? This is common with the HotBox due to a design flaw. Also, I looked inside the three that went through my hands (the first I bought to try, didn't care for it, the second I bought to resell, the third was modified for true bypass before the HBII came out) and saw some of the sloppiest innards anywhere. You need to look inside a Hot Chilli Tubester if you want to see clean, high quality construction. Or the SIB! Varidrive, both of which sound better than the HotBox as well.

Yeah I realize there was a design flaw. I was refering to the components and the neat wiring I mine at least. I haven't heard it yet so can't comment on the tone.

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Originally posted by guittguy1:
Yeah I realize there was a design flaw. I was refering to the components and the neat wiring I mine at least. I haven't heard it yet so can't comment on the tone.

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Ok. I can't remember if I looked inside all of mine (probably not) but the one I did looked like it was wired by a trained monkey. Many people do like the sound, but I found the tone controls hard to dial in (they are interactive) and it was easier to dial in bad sounds than good. Let us know when you get her working what you think.

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Originally posted by GuitArtMan:
but the one I did looked like it was wired by a trained monkey

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Haha that's typical of Matchless's point-to-point wiring style. Very solid and generally reliable though.

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Originally posted by davei:

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Originally posted by GuitArtMan:
but the one I did looked like it was wired by a trained monkey

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Haha that's typical of Matchless's point-to-point wiring style. Very solid and generally reliable though.

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An engineer I worked with years ago told me that it may actually help reduce noie. All those neatly bundled wires that are in parallel with each other are more susceptable to cross talk. Still, looking inside the HotBox looked like a rats nest.

well, the only thing that'll lead to cross talk is crossing the power wires with the others. the engineer made a good point, but that's what he's referring to. nice try, matchless, but there's no need for a rat's nest!