Matchless amp questions

[polara]

Hi. A guy's selling a pristine Matchless Chieftain here. I'm going to try it out tomorrow but the Clubman I played though once was great, I know they're well built, and I know they're not likely to drop in value as long as electric guitars are being played. Plus 40 watts of EL34 through a pair of 12s is about what I need for gig volumes and clean headroom.

Any issues to look for?

Anything I should know in terms of limitations/weaknesses that might not be apparent in a quick test drive?

What's a fair price for a '97 Chieftain, no dings or rips?

Thanks!

/Rick

[gregc]

I'd say~1600-1800 for a head is a good deal. They run class A, so they like to eat tubes more frequently than other amps. Enjoy the tone and lightning fast response. I love Matchless' amps. I own a DC30 and a Clubman.

[polara]

This is a combo, and I was gonna offer up $1800. Good to know!

[Guest pirateflynn]

While all Matchless Amps have that signature tone I would say the Clubman is my favorite of the mid wattage line. The Chieftain was the squishiest of the bunch, it really compresses quickly. Not my favorite overdriven sound but it does have thick beautiful cleans. A 2x12 Matchless combo is heavier that shit so I prefer a head and cab. Good luck!

[JES1680]

I've had several. The Chieftan was probably my least favorite, but I had it at a time when I was looking for a higher gain amp (go figure). They are pretty hardy beasts. very loud and very heavy. Work well with boosts more so than overdrives to push them. My issue with most Matchless' is they can get flubby on the low end depending upon how you run them especially if you use the master vol at all. You would do well with $1600-$1800.00 range. I just sold my TC-30 today. I don't have anything that breathes fire like that thing did, but then again I never had a venue that I could use it to it's full potential.

[harryjmic]

Matchless amps are not class A, please stop with the misinformation. They are cathode biased class AB. Matchless amps are biased to or above maximum plate disapation, this is probably where they get the class A tag from but it is not accurate. I actually changed the bias resistors in my amp to keep the amp from killing tubes, it sounds better and the tubes aren't burning up as quickly.

I have a Clubman which I really like but as of right now I might look at a couple other amps as I want a touch more headroom. I love the tone and would suggest buying a bunch of ef86's to see what one sounds the best in this amp.

[Guest pirateflynn]

Matchless amps are not class A, please stop with the misinformation. I love the tone and would suggest buying a bunch of ef86's to see what one sounds the best in this amp.

I doubt that gregc is an amp tech. My guess is that he is a player and just knows what tone he likes. As far as the Class A debate goes, that's probably a good one for you to take up with Phil Jamison as the Matchless website still says "True Class A".

http://www.matchlessamplifiers.com/about.shtml

[polara]

So I checked it out. It does two things incredibly well. Both pickups, medium gain, and it makes the fattest, richest rhythm chords ever. Go to the neck pickup at that setting and get heavenly lead tones.

Cleans were okay but not as lively as my Laney VC30-212. Pushed to the edge of distortion cleans were better on the Laney. Bridge pickup for some reason was just sort of okay. Had a lot of bass response and got a little sloppy sounding on the lows unless you rolled it off a lot.

Its front panel lights up though.

Mostly I felt like it is great that we all have different sets of ears and ideas for "the sound." It's a fine amp, but honestly I think I am into a more British edge jangle (Oasis-Beatles-Doves) than that Chieftain gave.

[Guest pirateflynn]

Have you tried a HC30/DC30 yet?

[polara]

Nope... from what I have READ, that's the amp I probably need... an AC30 with greater reliability and more "oomph".

[Guest pirateflynn]

Yep, it sounds like what you described plus it has a better clean riding on the edge of crunch than the Chieftain. Paperback Writer all the way!

[gregc]

I think the "C" series has your name written all over it!

[edgar_allan_poe]

Matchless amps are not class A, please stop with the misinformation. They are cathode biased class AB. Matchless amps are biased to or above maximum plate disapation, this is probably where they get the class A tag from but it is not accurate. I actually changed the bias resistors in my amp to keep the amp from killing tubes, it sounds better and the tubes aren't burning up as quickly.

This has been an argument since the early Matchless days. Matchless claims they are class A while the amp geeks argue the point. I have zero idea who is right and could care less. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Matchless, not players like most of us who really don't know or care.