The addictive Matchless sound.....what to do?

DannyP

I've never played one of those Genz-Benz Black Pearls.

They keep coming up at tempting prices, are they anywhere close to a Matchless?

DrCornelius

DannyP said:

I've never played one of those Genz-Benz Black Pearls.

They keep coming up at tempting prices, are they anywhere close to a Matchless?

Just my opinion as Ive only ever played one matchless in a rehearsal space but owned a couple of black pearls.  I'd say the matchless is harder sounding, less forgiving but with more shimmer/chime/sparkle.

The advantage of the Genz for me is that it is Vox at heart but is really versatile and with a few tweaks of the voice knob and the EQ you can get all sorts of fender and plexi tones from it too.

Vintage-T

Found an early 70's handwired AC30 nearby for sale. Might go and try it. Not sure it'd be overly reliable though. 

There's also a V35 Copper with cab not too far away.

Might see if I can sell any bits I'm not using.

Litterick

You might be disappointed. We might already be living in the dystopian future, where the emulation sounds better than the original.

vasselmeyer

Find a second hand Laney VC30. They do the job and come in 1x12, 2x12 and 2x10 versions. You can find them for as little as £200 used.

The Studio Rats recently did a video on them:

slacker

Litterick said:

You might be disappointed. We might already be living in the dystopian future, where the emulation sounds better than the original.

You might be right. A matchless is a thing of beauty though. I took mine to a fretboard jam. After a few songs people started going to it as first choice. Some people didn't know what it was and liked it. 

There's a directness and response in the matchless/early bad cat design that's in few others. Some people don't like it but if one is using an emulation it's worth trying the real thing even if to rule it out.

StuartMac290

The best amp I've ever plugged into is my early Bad Cat BC30 - one of the ones that basically IS a Matchless HC-30, full of Matchless components (Bad Cat have been moving further and further from the original design for 20 years to the point the current ones bear no real resemblance to the Matchless). I've tried a number of modelled emulations of that amp, and whilst I like them - I actually use one of them often live on a Fractal AX8 - none of them really approach the real thing.

The ability to jumper the two channels on the originals is a huge bonus too. Absolutely glorious amps.

The original Bad Cats go for about half the price of the Matchless used, incidentally, despite being basically the same amp. They're rarer than hen's teeth though. Especially the non-reverb version, which I think is the best version.

ChrisCox1994

Badcat 15 with a master volume. Sublime

Dominic

I had a Lightning 15  2x12 and hated it
it was brittle,ice-pick sharp and very hard and unforgiving .
It was also painfully loud and killed my bandmates 50w Marshall.
Brutal thing.

Dodge

Dominic said:

I had a Lightning 15  2x12 and hated it
it was brittle,ice-pick sharp and very hard and unforgiving .
It was also painfully loud and killed my bandmates 50w Marshall.
Brutal thing.

That's kinda the Matchless sound.  With my Lightning I 'corrected' the impedance mismatch which helped.more than I'd expect it to.  If it had a Vox cut control, I'd probably still have it.

hessodreamy

Though I've never played a matchless in person I've really liked the matchless demos I've heard. That chimey edge of breakup sounds amazing. I don't really go for gainy sounds so I glaze over when they start cranking it up.

So then I got a Ceriatone lightning. Got Nik to build the amp chassis and ship it over so it cost about £600 or so (with shipping and import fees) and I have to sort a speaker and cabinet. It's really nice. One of the changes ceriatone have made from the Matchless design is a 3-way high-cut filter at the input. That really helps with the often-mentioned ice pick.

Compared to a Vox AC15 it sounds kinda smoother and more 'muscular'. I like vox cleans but as soon as they start getting gainy I find it unpleasant (I'd call it 'grainy' if that makes any sense). The lightning smoothes that out, along with a hefty dose if midrange for a really powerful, cutting tone.

Vintage-T

As an update, I am going to give a vox AC15 a go, there's one cheap for sale locally (greenback loaded). From the research I've done, I think it'll not only give me close enough to the sound I'm after, but also giggable. I'm not ever able to push my Rockerverb at gigs, so having the option of taking something I can hopefully gun a bit more and doesn't weigh a tonne too will be nice.

ToneControl

Vintage-T said:

I've become totally addicted to the Matchless Channel 1 & 2 emulations in the Helix.

This has got me pondering, unfortunately for me, pondering generally costs money.

Now I do not have anywhere near the dollar required for a Matchless, so that's off the table. But a ballpark amp would be of interest. 

I've come down to a few options.

1. Just stop now and continue to enjoy the Helix versions, they're blooming good.

2. An AC 10, 15 or 30? Worried that the lovely cranked sounds won't be achievable even at gig volumes anymore though.

3. Maybe the UA Ruby (but is this any different really to the Helix?)

4. Maybe a Ceriatone Muchle$$ DZ 30? But importing from the States likely to also be horribly expensive.

5. A Bad Cat or Morgan....but which?

6. Something else? A pedal (Big Trees?), a different EL84 amp that'll get in the ball park? I love the snarl of it, especially channel 2.

Any suggestions?

In 2010, I bought a Ceriatone DZ30. They are made in Malaysia actually, you import them directly from the maker, Nik, who runs a large custom workshop/factory
I was never that amazed by it. Eventually bought a Matchless DC30. I found that the DZ30 sounded way better through the DC30 speakers (they are mismatched intentionally, and doped)

Anyway, the DC30 is still my favourite amp. I had 16 top-end amps, and the 3 I kept are 2 Ceriatone Dumble clones and the DC30. It is amazing, and brings out so much detail in my playing, it's inspirational

I didn't get much when I sold the DZ30

I had a Bad Cat Hot cat which was similar, sold that very cheaply sadly, demand is low.

Closest in feel to the DC30 in the amps I've owned was a White Vox AC15 H1TV (TV shaped ones). These were made in China, with a Celestion blue also made in China. I tried one out with a UK blue in a separate cab, and it sounded wrong, so I assume they tweaked the amp and speaker to match each other. These were "hand wired", but using wraps around posts.
Unlike the later HW models, these have an EF86 channel, and it definitely had the feel of the DC30 for me.

marxski

Traynor YGM-3 (yes I’m selling mine - it’s in the classifieds). How would I describe it? It’s pretty voxy as it is EL84/ but with Fendery traits because of the tremolo and reverb design. They are point to point and cheap as chips.

robmac5150

darthed1981 said:

I love guitarists...

"I'm so happy with the thing I already have, that I'm thinking of changing it..."

My guitarist life in one sentence