the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Ok, all this damn Matchless talk...I think Im gonna go shopping. I know very little about their models, which Matchless is the "rock" amp?
Matchless amps
- Thread starter the guy who invented fire
- Start date
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Matchless amps
I've tried quite a few of them now. Personally, I like the Chieftan best. Why? Because I think it sounds the best.:laugh2:
It has a Marshall-esque pre-amp so it has alot of the tone of a vintage Plexi...but the tone is warmer, rounder and sweeter...not so hard and glassy as some non-master volume Marshalls can be.
Cathode biased output section (with EL-34 tubes like a 50 watt Marshall) so the tone is smooth and compresses a bit...not so stiff and tight as a vintage Marshall so it sounds better at lower volumes as well as cranked.
Uses my favorite my rectifier tube: 5AR4 (or two! Dual Rectifier if you want it!) Solid State rectifiers (as in most 50 and 100 watt Marshalls and all Twin Reverbs) are fine for tight tone...but rectifier tubes squish a little and the tone is rounder and not so tight and stiff.
Spring Reverb!
Master Volume control that works beautifully...the best I've heard.
Best 45 watt amp I've ever owned, and that includes several Marshall 100 watt plexis, model 1987 small box 50 watt heads, several JCM 800 50 watt combos, blackface Fender Pro Reverbs, Super Reverbs and Vibrolux Reverbs, etc.
Great for rock, blues, r & b, jazz, country...everything except the most extreme Heavy Metal, and you could do that too if used the right overdrive pedal.
I've tried quite a few of them now. Personally, I like the Chieftan best. Why? Because I think it sounds the best.:laugh2:
It has a Marshall-esque pre-amp so it has alot of the tone of a vintage Plexi...but the tone is warmer, rounder and sweeter...not so hard and glassy as some non-master volume Marshalls can be.
Cathode biased output section (with EL-34 tubes like a 50 watt Marshall) so the tone is smooth and compresses a bit...not so stiff and tight as a vintage Marshall so it sounds better at lower volumes as well as cranked.
Uses my favorite my rectifier tube: 5AR4 (or two! Dual Rectifier if you want it!) Solid State rectifiers (as in most 50 and 100 watt Marshalls and all Twin Reverbs) are fine for tight tone...but rectifier tubes squish a little and the tone is rounder and not so tight and stiff.
Spring Reverb!
Master Volume control that works beautifully...the best I've heard.
Best 45 watt amp I've ever owned, and that includes several Marshall 100 watt plexis, model 1987 small box 50 watt heads, several JCM 800 50 watt combos, blackface Fender Pro Reverbs, Super Reverbs and Vibrolux Reverbs, etc.
Great for rock, blues, r & b, jazz, country...everything except the most extreme Heavy Metal, and you could do that too if used the right overdrive pedal.
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Re: Matchless amps
It's all about that big ass heavy tranformer iron. Lew will tell you how important of a factor they are. I've got an inside track with the company that supplies iron the old Matchless, the new Matchless, Bad Cat and several other manufacturers in So.Cal. It's all about the iron.
The Clubman Reverb head weighs 50lbs!
It's all about that big ass heavy tranformer iron. Lew will tell you how important of a factor they are. I've got an inside track with the company that supplies iron the old Matchless, the new Matchless, Bad Cat and several other manufacturers in So.Cal. It's all about the iron.
The Clubman Reverb head weighs 50lbs!
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Matchless amps
SuperChief, if you can find one, kicks a lot of butt, but you didn't hear it from me!!!
SuperChief, if you can find one, kicks a lot of butt, but you didn't hear it from me!!!
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That90'sGuy
DyzaBoyzologist
Re: Matchless amps
For the longest time I've wanted a SuperChief, but they're next to impossible to find.
I think the Chieftain is a great Marshall amp. Gets some nice cleans at low volumes too!
For the longest time I've wanted a SuperChief, but they're next to impossible to find.
I think the Chieftain is a great Marshall amp. Gets some nice cleans at low volumes too!
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Matchless amps
I really don't know anything about these amps so all this has been good info for me, that said after reading on their web site a little I don't think that a Matchelss is for me...
I really don't know anything about these amps so all this has been good info for me, that said after reading on their web site a little I don't think that a Matchelss is for me...
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Matchless amps
Christian, we love so many of the same things and agree on what is great tone so frequently that it's hard for me to believe that you wouldn't love the tone of a nice Matchless...regardless of the impression you may have gotten from the Matchless website. Whatever you read or heard on the Matchless website, take with a grain of salt. Same way I feel about the sound bytes on the Duncan website: they don't sound like ME playing those pickups so I ignore them. Lew
Christian, we love so many of the same things and agree on what is great tone so frequently that it's hard for me to believe that you wouldn't love the tone of a nice Matchless...regardless of the impression you may have gotten from the Matchless website. Whatever you read or heard on the Matchless website, take with a grain of salt. Same way I feel about the sound bytes on the Duncan website: they don't sound like ME playing those pickups so I ignore them. Lew
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Matchless amps
That is a very good point Lew...either way Im gonna hunt one down and give it a try, based on what I have read so far it looks like I wan to find either a Chieftan or a Clubman.
That is a very good point Lew...either way Im gonna hunt one down and give it a try, based on what I have read so far it looks like I wan to find either a Chieftan or a Clubman.
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: Matchless amps
The Phoenix is the Matchless amp I like the best, the rest is...well the rest
But it is alittle like prs and fulltone for me, very nice but not really my thing, great stuff though.
The Phoenix is the Matchless amp I like the best, the rest is...well the rest
But it is alittle like prs and fulltone for me, very nice but not really my thing, great stuff though.
Brian110687
Red Sox Hateologist
Re: Matchless amps
I've been wanting to try out a DC-30 for the longest time now.
I've been wanting to try out a DC-30 for the longest time now.
Uncle Unborn
New member
Re: Matchless amps
What about production date? I've heard that the Matchless amps from early 90's are better than the ones produced today. Correct?
What about production date? I've heard that the Matchless amps from early 90's are better than the ones produced today. Correct?
Uncle Unborn
New member
Re: Matchless amps
My local guitarstore tried to fool me, then... :smack:
Scott_F said:
My local guitarstore tried to fool me, then... :smack:
Re: Matchless amps
Well, that's what guitar stores do sometimes. Used ones from the Sampson era do fetch higher prices. That is the truth. I"ve looked at the guts on ones back then and ones that are going out after they came back from bankrupcy, and I see no differences worth noting.
Well, that's what guitar stores do sometimes. Used ones from the Sampson era do fetch higher prices. That is the truth. I"ve looked at the guts on ones back then and ones that are going out after they came back from bankrupcy, and I see no differences worth noting.
