Thanks Chris! Yes it does sound good in person. I would liken it to really good artisanal Vanilla Ice Cream. It's very good but, it's Vanilla. Very clean, tight and almost perfect... But that's why I sold it. It was missing the dangerous vibe. For some people this may be their Holy Grail amp but I like an amplifier to feel like I have a tiger by the tail and the Independence (as great as it is) was a little tame. BTW, I put 1970 Blackburn Mullard preamp tubes in it before I shot this video. Thanks for watching! What are you playing through these days?
I am amp shopping now. I have owned a literal ton of amps since the early 80s when I started playing. For gain amps I have had VHT, Bogner, Fuchs, Mesa. I have owned a few DC/30s too so I love the Matchless build quality. I am thinking about doing a 3 amp system... all Matchless, DC/30, Independence, and a Cheiftain. I'd use a Palmer Triage to route the guitar signal to each amp and set of pedals. I am not trying to reproduce someone else's sound... I just want great tone that will let me be me. The other amp I am looking at is a Soldano SLO 100... but I'd need to put that into a loadbox of a power attenuator to make it usable. That Roccaforte amp you reviewed is killer too.
Wow! Three Matchless amps? Hmm... don't they all sound very similar? I always use two live. I try and have each one cover certain regions of the frequency spectrum so there is more depth of field and it sounds huge. It's the same as using different speakers in the same cabinet. It would sure look cool! Sounds like you've owned some good amps! I would like to get a Soldano SLO too. I just got rid of this Matchless because I got a TopHat 50 watt Emplexador that I like a lot more. Similar build quality, way more touch sensitive and has the KeRRaNG! of a Marshall. If you build your three amp Matchless rig let me know, I would love to hear that!
Yeah it would look cool and be heavy as hell! The logic in this approach, is that the voice of each amp is not drastically different. So the listener's ear does not get twisted or pulled in different directions. I had a CAE OD-100 in the same rig as a Bogner Shiva... and switching from one amp to the other was really weird. The sounds were not in the same family. Its hard to explain. The OD-100 and the Shiva were just so different, and the switch made it really obvious. So having amps that are similar, to me, is a nice thing. Plus it allows for completely different fx paths to each amp, and in the amps loop. One of the nice things about the HC/30 with the 4 inputs is you can have two fx loops... one for each channel. I would also make the rig modular in that I could just take one amp and a pedal board and go. I would not have to take all the amps to have access to my sounds. I was obsessed with rack gear back in the 80s/90s and have grown to like more of a simple non-midi rig approach. Kinda like Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson or Shawn Lane. I was also obsessed with everything having to be stereo... thank god I am over that. The other idea was to get an SLO 100 and a 412 for leads and crunch and get two HC/30 heads and two vertical Two-Rock Crystal cabs with Celestion Golds for a left/right stereo clean, ala EJ approach. Then the SLO in the center would be the classic type of Marshall n 412 that is the cornerstone of rock n roll! No matter what happens... I am probably gonna buy lots of amps! I have heard great things about Top Hat. The Explexador is an amp I would love to try! I gotta search for clips! Have you heard the Diezel Hagen? I have seen clips on youtube and it seems like a fantastic amp! Too may choices... Thanks for the amp counselling.
Sounds like you've had some great gear, and I can totally relate to the obsession with rack gear, midi and running in stereo I had that too. I've actually been thinking of revisiting some of it because rackmount preamps and power amps are so UnCooL that the prices are hard to pass up. It may be a better road solution than a lunchbox amp. Anyway yes you have to get amps that are compatible for switching and blending. I do like the Diezel stuff like the VH4, it's something I would like to spend some time with. I currently don't have any modern high gain amps and I'm thinking about getting into modeling as too, just to stay current and see what that new set of tools has to offer. I guess you have a lot of energy and a big vehicle to move all that gear, I'm trying to get a little more compact without compromising quality, but hey enjoy yourself! BTW what kind of music are you making with all this gear?
I now use a Matchless Excalibur. A discontinued one channel high gain Matchless. Better than the Independence. It also has a Midrange control, something Matchless doesn't usually include on their amps. Bypass-able Master volume and it uses EL34 power tubes. There aren't any demos online except one from the NAMM show, so I guess I'll make one soon.
I really like the sound quality of that amp. Having 2 preamp channels is a real plus.
Thank you! It has three channels...
Thanks for a straight forward review. This amp is pretty sweet sounding from this video... probably sounds great in person!
Thanks Chris! Yes it does sound good in person. I would liken it to really good artisanal Vanilla Ice Cream.
It's very good but, it's Vanilla. Very clean, tight and almost perfect... But that's why I sold it. It was missing the dangerous vibe.
For some people this may be their Holy Grail amp but I like an amplifier to feel like I have a tiger by the tail and the Independence (as great as it is) was a little tame. BTW, I put 1970 Blackburn Mullard preamp tubes in it before I shot this video. Thanks for watching!
What are you playing through these days?
I am amp shopping now. I have owned a literal ton of amps since the early 80s when I started playing. For gain amps I have had VHT, Bogner, Fuchs, Mesa. I have owned a few DC/30s too so I love the Matchless build quality. I am thinking about doing a 3 amp system... all Matchless, DC/30, Independence, and a Cheiftain. I'd use a Palmer Triage to route the guitar signal to each amp and set of pedals. I am not trying to reproduce someone else's sound... I just want great tone that will let me be me.
The other amp I am looking at is a Soldano SLO 100... but I'd need to put that into a loadbox of a power attenuator to make it usable. That Roccaforte amp you reviewed is killer too.
Wow! Three Matchless amps? Hmm... don't they all sound very similar? I always use two live. I try and have each one cover certain regions of the frequency spectrum so there is more depth of field and it sounds huge. It's the same as using different speakers in the same cabinet.
It would sure look cool!
Sounds like you've owned some good amps! I would like to get a Soldano SLO too.
I just got rid of this Matchless because I got a TopHat 50 watt Emplexador that I like a lot more. Similar build quality, way more touch sensitive and has the KeRRaNG! of a Marshall.
If you build your three amp Matchless rig let me know, I would love to hear that!
Yeah it would look cool and be heavy as hell! The logic in this approach, is that the voice of each amp is not drastically different. So the listener's ear does not get twisted or pulled in different directions. I had a CAE OD-100 in the same rig as a Bogner Shiva... and switching from one amp to the other was really weird. The sounds were not in the same family. Its hard to explain. The OD-100 and the Shiva were just so different, and the switch made it really obvious. So having amps that are similar, to me, is a nice thing. Plus it allows for completely different fx paths to each amp, and in the amps loop. One of the nice things about the HC/30 with the 4 inputs is you can have two fx loops... one for each channel.
I would also make the rig modular in that I could just take one amp and a pedal board and go. I would not have to take all the amps to have access to my sounds. I was obsessed with rack gear back in the 80s/90s and have grown to like more of a simple non-midi rig approach. Kinda like Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson or Shawn Lane. I was also obsessed with everything having to be stereo... thank god I am over that.
The other idea was to get an SLO 100 and a 412 for leads and crunch and get two HC/30 heads and two vertical Two-Rock Crystal cabs with Celestion Golds for a left/right stereo clean, ala EJ approach. Then the SLO in the center would be the classic type of Marshall n 412 that is the cornerstone of rock n roll!
No matter what happens... I am probably gonna buy lots of amps!
I have heard great things about Top Hat. The Explexador is an amp I would love to try! I gotta search for clips!
Have you heard the Diezel Hagen? I have seen clips on youtube and it seems like a fantastic amp! Too may choices... Thanks for the amp counselling.
Sounds like you've had some great gear, and I can totally relate to the obsession with rack gear, midi and running in stereo I had that too. I've actually been thinking of revisiting some of it because rackmount preamps and power amps are so UnCooL that the prices are hard to pass up. It may be a better road solution than a lunchbox amp.
Anyway yes you have to get amps that are compatible for switching and blending. I do like the Diezel stuff like the VH4, it's something I would like to spend some time with. I currently don't have any modern high gain amps and I'm thinking about getting into modeling as too, just to stay current and see what that new set of tools has to offer.
I guess you have a lot of energy and a big vehicle to move all that gear, I'm trying to get a little more compact without compromising quality, but hey enjoy yourself! BTW what kind of music are you making with all this gear?
oh man. That's my grail tone.
This is gonna sound crazy, but I want to use one to play classic heavy metal.
This amp would be perfect for Classic Metal!
That's what I thought. Everyone who knows me keeps saying I'm crazy! You know, the "Matchless are for country" thing.
Not true! The Indy can do it all! Three channels so there is something for everybody!
here's a demo track! I just gotta save up my shekels now =)
kiwi6.com/artists/StorMCrowned/iworshipjudaspriest
Sounds really crunchy! What amp was that?
Sounds like a Marshall with maybe a little bit of overdrive pedal?
Wow ! I think its a great amp !
Thanks! It is a good one. It's nice to have a Matchless with more gain...
I now use a Matchless Excalibur. A discontinued one channel high gain Matchless. Better than the Independence.
It also has a Midrange control, something Matchless doesn't usually include on their amps. Bypass-able Master volume and it uses EL34 power tubes. There aren't any demos online except one from the NAMM show, so I guess I'll make one soon.