JacksonMIA
Lemur-buckerologist
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Sounds like a great amp, Lew. I'm glad you love it.
Sounds like a great amp, Lew. I'm glad you love it.
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
I have a Bad Cat Cub IIR, which is another Sampson design in a similar vein, and I love it. It's the biggest sounding 15 watt combo I've ever heard. From what I've gleaned, its single channel uses a 12AX7-based active tone stack very similar to the 12AX7 channel of the Bad Cat Black Cat and Matchless C-series. It is far from being a one trick pony, given the range and interactive nature of the active bass and treble controls. The master volume is superb, but can be disabled if you prefer, as can the tone stack. They are expensive, but I lucked into a really good deal on it, and I couldn't be happier.
I have a Bad Cat Cub IIR, which is another Sampson design in a similar vein, and I love it. It's the biggest sounding 15 watt combo I've ever heard. From what I've gleaned, its single channel uses a 12AX7-based active tone stack very similar to the 12AX7 channel of the Bad Cat Black Cat and Matchless C-series. It is far from being a one trick pony, given the range and interactive nature of the active bass and treble controls. The master volume is superb, but can be disabled if you prefer, as can the tone stack. They are expensive, but I lucked into a really good deal on it, and I couldn't be happier.
Nite_Maresz_25
on Elm Streetologist
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
sounds awesome lew!!! I'm looking fowards to hearing clips(im sure others are too).
sounds awesome lew!!! I'm looking fowards to hearing clips(im sure others are too).
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
One of the things I really like about this amp is the tone control on the pentode channel. Turned counter clockwise it removes some of the tubby excess bass most neck humbucking pickups have and allows me to get the clean tone for chords that I have to have.
The way the G12H-30 speaker is massaged and loosened up with acetone at the Matchless factory makes it a very full and deep speaker...the amp has a very big wide sound for a one 12 amp. But that bass is easily tamed with the bass tone control and cut control.
I think the overdrive tones are AWESOME! I can dial in Jeff Beck's tone from 1967's Truth album with ease...and he plugged his LP into a Vox Tonebender or Marshall Supa-Fuzz and that into a Marshall Plexi to get that tone. I think my SC-30 nails that tone WITHOUT the need of an overdrive or distortion device. Maybe heavy metal players would need more distortion but if you're more of ZZ Top kinda overdrive player the Matchless will do that perfectly. You'll be sending pinch harmonics and whistlers off into the stratosphere Billy Gibbins style in no time. Honestly: you guys know I prefer Teles and Strats, but this amp has made me fall in love with my Les Paul again because I can get the clean tones I've always wanted from the neck pickup, and the Jeff Beck/Billy Gibbons/Eric Clapton Les Paul through a Marshall tones that are the reason I even own a Les Paul in the first place.
And thanks guys: it's good to be back now that the move is completed. I love living way way up the mountains. I'm going to try a winter here and then decide if I'm going to make the move to Taos or not. Right now I am loving where I am..surrounded by National Forrest and just a few miles from some of my favorite high 13ers.
Lew
One of the things I really like about this amp is the tone control on the pentode channel. Turned counter clockwise it removes some of the tubby excess bass most neck humbucking pickups have and allows me to get the clean tone for chords that I have to have.
The way the G12H-30 speaker is massaged and loosened up with acetone at the Matchless factory makes it a very full and deep speaker...the amp has a very big wide sound for a one 12 amp. But that bass is easily tamed with the bass tone control and cut control.
I think the overdrive tones are AWESOME! I can dial in Jeff Beck's tone from 1967's Truth album with ease...and he plugged his LP into a Vox Tonebender or Marshall Supa-Fuzz and that into a Marshall Plexi to get that tone. I think my SC-30 nails that tone WITHOUT the need of an overdrive or distortion device. Maybe heavy metal players would need more distortion but if you're more of ZZ Top kinda overdrive player the Matchless will do that perfectly. You'll be sending pinch harmonics and whistlers off into the stratosphere Billy Gibbins style in no time. Honestly: you guys know I prefer Teles and Strats, but this amp has made me fall in love with my Les Paul again because I can get the clean tones I've always wanted from the neck pickup, and the Jeff Beck/Billy Gibbons/Eric Clapton Les Paul through a Marshall tones that are the reason I even own a Les Paul in the first place.
And thanks guys: it's good to be back now that the move is completed. I love living way way up the mountains. I'm going to try a winter here and then decide if I'm going to make the move to Taos or not. Right now I am loving where I am..surrounded by National Forrest and just a few miles from some of my favorite high 13ers.
Lew
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L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Nope. The Universe was not ready to let me leave Colorado I guess. I did make an offer on a few places but nothing worked out quickly enough and I decided that since I'd lived in Colorado for 25 years but never lived right in the mountains and that since this might be my last year here, that I was going to give it a try. So I did! :laugh2: Man...my nearest neighbor is a long ways off and I can rock out to my heart's content. Which is exactly what I've been doing. Love it.
(Got a new girlfriend too! Life is good again!)
Lew
ArtieToo said:Sounds like a rockin' amp Lew.
. . . and that answers what I was gonna ask next, whether or not you scored that cool house in Arizona. I guess not, for now.
Enjoy . . . both.
Artie
Nope. The Universe was not ready to let me leave Colorado I guess. I did make an offer on a few places but nothing worked out quickly enough and I decided that since I'd lived in Colorado for 25 years but never lived right in the mountains and that since this might be my last year here, that I was going to give it a try. So I did! :laugh2: Man...my nearest neighbor is a long ways off and I can rock out to my heart's content. Which is exactly what I've been doing. Love it.
(Got a new girlfriend too! Life is good again!)
Lew
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Lew, if you've got any other cabs, you should try out the SC-30 plugged into a Marshall 4-12 with your Holmes loaded Les Paul!!!
And, I should get out of this overpopulated hellhole and move to the Colorado mountains!
Lew, if you've got any other cabs, you should try out the SC-30 plugged into a Marshall 4-12 with your Holmes loaded Les Paul!!!
And, I should get out of this overpopulated hellhole and move to the Colorado mountains!
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Hi Terry, It's actually a two channel amp. One channel is like the treble boost channel of a Vox AC-30 and the other channel is wired as a Pentode circuit. The Pentode channel distorts very easily and breaks up into a singing tone at a very reasonable volume and reminds me of my late 50's tweed Deluxes and '51 tweed Super. Those amps are very cool but when I play my Les Paul with humbuckers through them the neck pickup is muddy...however, the Pentode channel on the Matchless has a single tone control like the 50's Fender Deluxe but it works differantly: it has five "click" positons and with each counter clockwise step the bass gets clearer and clearer. That is really a great feature and lets me get a great Billy Gibbons kind of grind and overdrive while maintaining clarity when I switch to the neck pickup. I'm really tempted to say that this Matchless is my favorite amp I've ever owned...but I'm not gonna say it because I might change my mind someday! :laugh2:
PUCKBOY99 said:
Hi Terry, It's actually a two channel amp. One channel is like the treble boost channel of a Vox AC-30 and the other channel is wired as a Pentode circuit. The Pentode channel distorts very easily and breaks up into a singing tone at a very reasonable volume and reminds me of my late 50's tweed Deluxes and '51 tweed Super. Those amps are very cool but when I play my Les Paul with humbuckers through them the neck pickup is muddy...however, the Pentode channel on the Matchless has a single tone control like the 50's Fender Deluxe but it works differantly: it has five "click" positons and with each counter clockwise step the bass gets clearer and clearer. That is really a great feature and lets me get a great Billy Gibbons kind of grind and overdrive while maintaining clarity when I switch to the neck pickup. I'm really tempted to say that this Matchless is my favorite amp I've ever owned...but I'm not gonna say it because I might change my mind someday! :laugh2:
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Lew, did you just leave it as is, or are you going to try and get a clean cab or new tolex?
Honestly, it's probably good that it's got some cosmetic issues, because now you view it as a player amp, not a show piece you've got to worry about.
Lew, did you just leave it as is, or are you going to try and get a clean cab or new tolex?
Honestly, it's probably good that it's got some cosmetic issues, because now you view it as a player amp, not a show piece you've got to worry about.
PUCKBOY99
Irish Flagologist
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
I've got a few things like that that I wish were a little "marred".....the kids get around my stuff now & I start to hold my breath!!!!
Lew, I was actually remarking to a comment someone said earlier that Matchless were one trick ponies....Mine sure isn't & I know yours isn't!!!
One day I WILL OWN AN H/S/D-C30
OH YES...IT WILL BE MINE!!!! mwuahahahahahahahahaha
Gearjoneser said:
I've got a few things like that that I wish were a little "marred".....the kids get around my stuff now & I start to hold my breath!!!!
Lew, I was actually remarking to a comment someone said earlier that Matchless were one trick ponies....Mine sure isn't & I know yours isn't!!!
One day I WILL OWN AN H/S/D-C30
OH YES...IT WILL BE MINE!!!! mwuahahahahahahahahaha
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
I just took a Sharpie and blacked in the scuffs and then rubbed it out a little with a little spit to blend it in...then I sprayed some Armor-all on it and it cleaned up pretty nice.
Same thing (minus the Armor-all) that I do to repair scuffs in black Tolex on old blackface Fenders.
Looks pretty good! The guy gave me a $400 refund for the scuffs, but it took months and alot of hassle before Paypal could finally squeeze it out of him. But they did and that's what counts.
That's the other reason it took me so long to fall in love with amp: I didn't want to fall in love with it until all of that was rectified, just in case I wound up having to return it.
Have you ever used an A/B box with yours to switch between the two channels? Most of my stuff is in storage but I'm thinking I'll go over to the warehouse and dig out my Kendrick A/B/C box and see how well it does switching between the two channels.
BTW, I bought a used but clean unloaded Matchless 2 x 12 cab and plan on putting in some mid 60's Celestion G12 alnicos that I saved from when I had my AC-30 before I sold it. I'll plug the Matchless into that cab and see how close it gets to the AC-30 tone...I'm thinking it'll be very close.
Lew
Gearjoneser said:
I just took a Sharpie and blacked in the scuffs and then rubbed it out a little with a little spit to blend it in...then I sprayed some Armor-all on it and it cleaned up pretty nice.
Same thing (minus the Armor-all) that I do to repair scuffs in black Tolex on old blackface Fenders.
Looks pretty good! The guy gave me a $400 refund for the scuffs, but it took months and alot of hassle before Paypal could finally squeeze it out of him. But they did and that's what counts.
That's the other reason it took me so long to fall in love with amp: I didn't want to fall in love with it until all of that was rectified, just in case I wound up having to return it.
Have you ever used an A/B box with yours to switch between the two channels? Most of my stuff is in storage but I'm thinking I'll go over to the warehouse and dig out my Kendrick A/B/C box and see how well it does switching between the two channels.
BTW, I bought a used but clean unloaded Matchless 2 x 12 cab and plan on putting in some mid 60's Celestion G12 alnicos that I saved from when I had my AC-30 before I sold it. I'll plug the Matchless into that cab and see how close it gets to the AC-30 tone...I'm thinking it'll be very close.
Lew
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: Boy: I am loving this Matchless SC-30!
Put a tuner next to your ABC box, and use C as a silent tuner. That's what I used to do when I used a Morley ABC
Put a tuner next to your ABC box, and use C as a silent tuner. That's what I used to do when I used a Morley ABC
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