Bad Cat | Mark Sampson Mod Shop Black Cat 30
Introducing the Mod Shop Black Cat 30 — A Mark Sampson Design
The first release from the Bad Cat Mod Shop is here—and it carries the fingerprints of a legend. In early 2024, Mark Sampson—the legendary amp designer and co-founder of the boutique amp movement—returned to Bad Cat with a mission: to breathe new life into one of the company’s most beloved circuits. The result is the Mod Shop Black Cat 30, a hand-built, limited-edition masterpiece that pays homage to Bad Cat’s legacy while pushing its tone into bold new territory.
Sampson, known for his work with Matchless and his visionary approach to amp design, approached this reissue with the precision and intuition of a true craftsman. He knew what to change, and just as importantly, what not to change. Guided by decades of experimentation, obsession, and invention, Sampson has reshaped the Black Cat 30 into something both familiar and entirely fresh.
The Mod Shop Black Cat 30 is more than a reissue—it's a statement. And the new Black Cat 30 Head or Combo options are available now at Chicago Music Exchange!
A Reimagined Classic
This re-voiced version of the Black Cat 30 features Sampson’s signature sonic fingerprints throughout, from the updated tone stack to the dynamic two-channel design. Crafted in Costa Mesa, California, with premium components and custom Bad Cat transformers, this amp is as refined as it is rugged.
Key Updates:
- 30 Watts of EL84 Power: Four EL84 power tubes deliver rich, Class A chime, compression, and harmonic bloom.
- New Tone Stack Voicing: Reimagined by Sampson for enhanced openness, dimension, and punch.
- Mod Shop Craftsmanship: Built by hand in California with unmatched attention to detail.
Two Channels. Endless Inspiration.
- Clean Channel: Chime, Clarity, and Harmonics for Days
The Clean channel embodies everything you’d expect from a top-tier EL84 amp: sparkling highs, detailed midrange, and a low end that’s tight yet warm. Whether you’re playing delicate fingerpicking passages or slamming big chords, your dynamics and touch come through clearly.
- Overdrive Channel: Punch, Articulation, and Air
The Overdrive channel doesn’t just add gain—it adds character. Tight low end, vocal mids, and airy top-end sparkle give your playing definition without harshness. From edge-of-breakup to full saturation, this channel retains a sense of clarity and space that makes it a joy to play.
- Studio-Quality Reverb and Vintage-Style Tremolo
No Mod Shop build would be complete without high-end onboard effects, and the Black Cat 30 delivers:
- Lush Reverb: Studio-quality ambiance that enhances your sound without drowning it.
- Analog Tremolo: A bias-modulated tremolo circuit delivers classic pulse and vibe with smooth depth.
The Mod Shop Black Cat 30 isn’t just a new amp—it’s a milestone. It’s what happens when a master designer returns to his roots with fresh eyes and renewed vision. And it just might be the best Black Cat ever made. Available now at Chicago Music Exchange.
SHOP BAD CAT AMPLIFIERS
- The Warthog Distortion goes right for the gut of all other distortions, offering incredible sonic range from a crystal-clear clean boost to scorched earth crunch.
- Those who know know Danish Pete. His signature overdrive and boost, The Dane, is the ace-in-the-hole for dynamic players who demand versatility.
- The Bunker Drive beefs up the famous Brown Source, increasing volume and adding a texture control while packing it all into a smaller, pedalboard-friendly enclosure.
- The Peacekeeper Low-Gain Overdrive pairs an active, post-gain control for treble and bass with a pre-gain mids/presence control for total tonal tailoring.
- ThorpyFx's first, the Gunshot Overdrive, puts every other overdrive in its crosshairs with a proprietary "gain engine" for maximum tonal range.
- The Field Marshall Fuzz improves on the legendary Big Cheese, shrinking the footprint, increasing the volume, and adding a tonestack bypass for more options.
- The Fallout Cloud Fuzz pays tribute to Triangle-era effects while simultaneously doing its best to blow them all out of the water.
- The Deep Oggin brings Lovetone's Dan Coggins back into the spotlight with 100%-analog chorus and vibrato circuitry, just like how it used to be.
- The Heavy Water isolates The Dane's desirable boost circuit into a small, standalone enclosure, adding a germanium diode-based boost in the second channel for switching or stacking, because why not?
- The third installment in ThorpyFx's "Vintage Reimagined" Series, the Veteran Si Vintage Fuzz and Boost squeezes silicon-based Smiley- and Rangemaster-style circuitry into one exclosure.
- Thorpy promotes the OTC-201 compressor to create the Fat General, a pedalboard tank, adding balance and sustain to your signal without the extra noise.
- The Team Medic Buffer, EQ, Boost, and Boost + offers tonal first aid for all, equally suited to the electric guitar as it is to bass and more.
- Also produced in collaboration with Dan Coggins, the Camoflange Flanger is another all-analog blast from the past, with modern functionality making it more versatile than any vintage model.
Related Posts
Tone Exploration | The Guitars of Bruce Springsteen
Released on September 30, 1982, Nebraska marked a radical departure for Bruce Springsteen. Recorded entirely alone on a four-track TEAC Portastudio in his Colts Neck, New Jersey bedroom, the album was never intended for release. Springsteen had planned to re-record the songs with the E Street Band, but the raw demos—haunting, intimate, and unvarnished—proved more powerful than any full-band attempt. In their imperfection, he found a truth he couldn’t recreate.
Read more
Gibson | Back to the Future “1955” ES-345 Collector’s Edition
Go Johnny Go—to Chicago Music Exchange! CME proudly presents the Gibson Custom Shop Back to the Future “1955” ES-345 Collector’s Edition, a stunning recreation of the “impossible” guitar featured at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future. With unpotted Custombuckers, Alnico 3 magnets, a 6-position Mono Varitone switch, and Murphy Lab aging, this ultra-limited run of 88 guitars bridges movie magic and Gibson history. Complete with a Lifton case featuring Marvin Berry & The Starlighters graphics, this collectible is the ultimate time-traveling tribute for Gibson and film fans alike.
Read more
Fender | American Professional Classic Series
The all-new Fender American Professional Classic Series redefines the balance between vintage soul and modern performance. Built for gigging musicians and tone purists alike, these guitars and basses deliver the classic Fender feel with modern upgrades like Coastline vintage-voiced pickups, the Greasebucket tone circuit, sleek Modern “C” necks, and custom-color finishes. From Stratocaster and Telecaster to Jazzmaster, Precision, and Jazz Bass, every model blends heritage tone, comfort, and craftsmanship—reborn for today’s stage and studio. Shop the full Fender American Professional Classic Series at Chicago Music Exchange, online or in-store today!
Read more