Great Video - I have a Cub III 15R and to this day - have trouble finding the right settings. You are absolutely correct - it is loud and the KMaster doesn't let you get overdrive at home volumes. I love the amp and bought it in 2014. My next amp will likely be a small 10 inch Champ. Thanks again for the video - it will help me again when I try to dive into the complexity of the settings.
Great review, nice to hear honest opinions on the pros and cons. There's a Cub III 30R handwired head for sale in my area for $1500 US that I'm gonna check out this week, probably insanely loud but I do like a lot of headroom when playing with band.
Revisiting this excellent series of amp reviews + checking out current pricing: £189/£225 ~ Harley Benton 15w head/combo £359 ~ Laney CUB-SUPERTOP 15W £1699 ~ Bad Cat Club 20w Combo £2799 ~ Carr Skylark 12w combo R9 Les Paul £4k+ Tom Anderson guitars £2.5k+
Nice review, I haven't played one but as I understand it the k master volume in use will act like a normal master volume (ignoring for a moment the boost aspect beyond 2:00) as you point out. What's different about it is under the hood. It's placed one stage later in the circuit than a typical master volume. It's after the phase inverter which is responsible for a lot of the power amp distortion that is so hard to get at reasonable volume levels. So it may or not be any easier to dial in bedroom tones compared to other tube amps, but what you get is a much better overdrive tone than if a regular master volume was used.
It makes it hard to buy the handwired version when it’s not all hand wired. I would suspect the digital reverb is the pcb section. Love the sound. It’s beautiful
I definitely think that this amp is a particular flavour which you may or may not like.Try before you buy in my opinion. Or get it on the internet with a good return policy!
How quiet or noisy is the amp at idle. If you turn up the volume or gain knobs without filling the input jack, will the amp send out a hissing static sound above some point on the clock? The amp I demo'd did do at 11 am.
Hmm...I sold the Bad Cat and kept my Tone King Imperial. Quick summary: The Tone King is more refined blackface, the Bad Cat is more for gigging, cutting through the mix and more classic rock orientated.
Great Video - I have a Cub III 15R and to this day - have trouble finding the right settings. You are absolutely correct - it is loud and the KMaster doesn't let you get overdrive at home volumes. I love the amp and bought it in 2014. My next amp will likely be a small 10 inch Champ. Thanks again for the video - it will help me again when I try to dive into the complexity of the settings.
Glad it helped!
Thanks for the review! Liked the format. 🙂
Glad you liked it!
Great review, nice to hear honest opinions on the pros and cons. There's a Cub III 30R handwired head for sale in my area for $1500 US that I'm gonna check out this week, probably insanely loud but I do like a lot of headroom when playing with band.
Thanks for the positive comment. Good luck with the amp.
Revisiting this excellent series of amp reviews + checking out current pricing:
£189/£225 ~ Harley Benton 15w head/combo
£359 ~ Laney CUB-SUPERTOP 15W
£1699 ~ Bad Cat Club 20w Combo
£2799 ~ Carr Skylark 12w combo
R9 Les Paul £4k+
Tom Anderson guitars £2.5k+
Nice review, I haven't played one but as I understand it the k master volume in use will act like a normal master volume (ignoring for a moment the boost aspect beyond 2:00) as you point out. What's different about it is under the hood. It's placed one stage later in the circuit than a typical master volume. It's after the phase inverter which is responsible for a lot of the power amp distortion that is so hard to get at reasonable volume levels. So it may or not be any easier to dial in bedroom tones compared to other tube amps, but what you get is a much better overdrive tone than if a regular master volume was used.
Thanks for the comment and helpful information!
It makes it hard to buy the handwired version when it’s not all hand wired. I would suspect the digital reverb is the pcb section. Love the sound. It’s beautiful
Good point. Actually, this version has a full spring reverb. Not digital at all.
I’ve been dyin to try one of these amps! Not a vox guy so I’m hesitant to drop big $$ in case I don’t like it!
I definitely think that this amp is a particular flavour which you may or may not like.Try before you buy in my opinion. Or get it on the internet with a good return policy!
How quiet or noisy is the amp at idle. If you turn up the volume or gain knobs without filling the input jack, will the amp send out a hissing static sound above some point on the clock? The amp I demo'd did do at 11 am.
Interesting. Mine is pretty quiet.
@@GuitarStuffChannel Hope the one I have on order matches the quiet of yours.
Hi does it have enough clean headroom for band playing (loud drummer) in the 12ax mode please ?
Hi, I don't have the amp any more, but I would say yes. It's pretty loud and can stay pretty clean at high volume.
I’m ok with loud ;) How’s the clean headroom??
Plenty of clean headroom on this thing. I haven't tested it back to back, but I think it might be louder than my 22watt tone king imperial.
Hi mate. How would you rate this against a tone king?
Hmm...I sold the Bad Cat and kept my Tone King Imperial. Quick summary: The Tone King is more refined blackface, the Bad Cat is more for gigging, cutting through the mix and more classic rock orientated.
ua-cam.com/play/PLMluTMfz7OA9IhgazLGijGfnDYY5iZTez.html&si=hVzSqrIgyBPk6WIu