Lauzon Music · Est. 1945
Bad Cat
Bad Cat amps in Canada, from Ottawa. Bad Cat builds its amps in Costa Mesa, California, and has since 1999. We keep heads, combos and cabinets in stock, order in current models, and inspect every amp before it ships.
Bad Cat buying guide and questions
Bad Cat
From the Catalogue
Any current Bad Cat model, in any finish the supplier makes, ordered in for you.
Browse the catalogue
Buying guide
Bad Cat amps at Lauzon Music
What Bad Cat is known for
Bad Cat has built amps in Southern California since 1999, with custom transformers and tough US-built enclosures. The Hand-Wired Series is true point-to-point construction, and the amps are voiced to take pedals, many with a buffered effects loop. Mark Sampson returned to Bad Cat in 2024 and worked on the Era 30 and the Mod Shop Black Cat 30.
The models we carry
What's in the shop changes week to week. See every Bad Cat amp in stock, or browse the current range in the Catalogue.
- Black Cat 30 (Mod Shop). 30 watts and two channels, revisited by Mark Sampson
- Hot Cat 50 (Mod Shop). The Hot Cat, revised in Bad Cat's Mod Shop, as a head or 1x12 combo
- Cub 15 (Mod Shop). The Cub, as a head or 1x12 combo
- Ocelot. A 20-watt lunchbox head with a 1-watt mode and Two notes cab sims built in
What a Bad Cat costs
Bad Cat heads and combos in the shop run from about $3,000 to $3,900 today. Cabinets sit below that, and the Catalogue carries Bad Cat pedals and the PurePath load box.
Buying a Bad Cat from us
Every Bad Cat is inspected before it ships insured, free over $200 across Canada and the US, with no duty on US orders. The Mod Shop amps, the Ocelot, Bad Cat pedals and the PurePath load box can all be ordered in through the Catalogue.
Questions
Bad Cat questions, answered
Where are Bad Cat amps made?
In Costa Mesa, California, where Bad Cat has designed and built amps since 1999. The Hand-Wired Series is point-to-point wired there by hand.
Are Bad Cat amps reliable?
Bad Cat builds with custom transformers and heavy-duty enclosures, and backs new amps with a five-year warranty, with three years on speakers and six months on tubes. Bad Cat also services older and out-of-warranty amps.
Is Mark Sampson back at Bad Cat?
Yes. Mark Sampson returned to Bad Cat in 2024 and worked on the Era 30, a hand-wired head with an EF86 channel and a 12AX7 channel, and on the Mod Shop Black Cat 30.
What is the Bad Cat Mod Shop?
The Mod Shop is Bad Cat's line of revised versions of its own circuits. The current Mod Shop amps are the Black Cat 30, Hot Cat 50 and Cub 15, each as a head or 1x12 combo.
Can you order a Bad Cat that isn't in stock?
Yes. The Mod Shop amps, the Ocelot, Bad Cat pedals and the PurePath load box can be ordered through the Catalogue, paid in full or with a 25% deposit.
Real people, real answers
Looking for something specific?
Tell us the spec and we will chase it. Someone who plays reads it, not a ticket queue.