The Bad Cat Double Drive – an updated and refined Siamese Drive
A new amp-like dual channel drive pedal
The new Bad Cat Double Drive pedal is a dual drive affair and replaces the brand’s popular Siamese Drive. This double-sided, stackable distortion pedal looks pretty sweet. And given Bad Cat’s great reputation for tone, it should sound pretty damn fine, too.
Bad Cat Double Drive
I’m going to have to raise my hand and admit that as a Bad Cat owner I’m already a huge fan of the company’s amp tones. I own a Black Cat 30R 2×12 and it is a stunning amp, even though it weighs the amount of a small star. But it sounds so good that I just have to forgive its bulk.
With this new Bad Cat pedal, named the Double Drive, you immediately know what to expect. The pedal has two sides, each with its own independent controls, which can go from a light “edge of breakup” boost to a far more ferocious high-gain sound, if needed. Now, if it can get anywhere near the tone of their amps, I think we could have a real winner. Especially, as I explained earlier, Bad Cat amps are pretty heavy, and because they are boutique hand-wired amps, can cost a pretty penny. So if we have the ability to capture that Bad Cat tone condensed down into a pedal format, it will be a lot easier to lug around and far cheaper to acquire as well.
US build quality
The pedal is made in the USA using an aluminium powder coated enclosure with pedalboard friendly top-mounted jacks. This little cat has all the basics down. The controls consist of Gain, Tone and Output for both channels, with each side having its own footswitch and status LED indicator. You can set the drive tones and stack them, essentially turning a clean amp into a three channel tone monster. Bad Cat has basically taken its Siamese Drive and refined it further to make it even more amp-like and responsive to your playing. The pedal runs from a standard 9V centre negative power supply.
I’m looking forward to trying one out, as I do like that Bad Cat amp tone and this pedal would do wonders for my back, will be easier to fit in the car, and wouldn’t require a flight case. You can hear the Double Drive in action in the official demo video below.
RRP – USD 199.99
More Information
Video
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