Matchless Amps

[Jawbone]

I was reading in Wired magazine about the world best guitar amp (according to them) Matchless - little combo thing with two 10" speakers. $4,000 dollars!!! Never heard of it until now.

http://www.wired.com/

 

[Munjibunga]

There've been a couple very rare Matchless bass amps for sale here at TB in the last year. I think Matchless went dormant for a few years, but I used to see their shop in Fullerton from the window of the train on my way to L.A. I remember seeing Robert Cray using a couple Matchless amps on stage at a concert many years ago.

 

[agreatheight]

The Matchless guitar amps are prized amongst six stringers who want a handmade "boutique" amp voiced similar to a Fender or Vox (depending on what model you get). I played with a guy who owned several and I can say that they are quite nice. They are beautiful in all ways - they are well made and they sound great. Are they worth the money? To some. I play some guitar myself and make do with much less expensive gear. I couldn't see myself spending that kind of money on a head or a combo, not for myself. But really, I don't know, maybe I don't have the skill to bring the difference out of the amp or maybe I don't have the skill to hear it. If I ran a real pro studio, I would probably have a couple. I have no experience with their bass stuff, but I'd imagine it fall along the same lines.

 

[Scotty DelMar]

Agreatheight...are we talking a case of Dumbleitis here?

 

[MrDOS]

I've tried to get a few on eBay, but always get outbid. They sure are prized!

 

[I<34080]

"It weighs a spine-fusing 73 pounds."

What a baby.

 

[koobie]

Their guitar amps have been on the map since their DC30 model won a boutique tube amp shoot-out in Guitar Player magazine in 1992. They are relatively expensive and even their 15 watt amps are quite heavy (big transformers) so it's not surprising you don't see a lot of their higher-powered amps being used for bass.

 

[agreatheight]

Agreatheight...are we talking a case of Dumbleitis here?

Hahahaha, I don't think it's quite at that level, lol. But yeah, there is something beyond my comprehension at work.

 

[Ric Vice]

Matchless built a very upscale and very expensive B-15N called the Thunderbass. Here are some pictures. Note the Gold Plated Transformer covers.

Ric

 

[krustwell]

dude at my church called up Matchless to see if they had any bass amp heads, and they sold him one they had lying around for $2,000 i think. it's a big, giant tube amp that weighs a ton and sounds good. i use my Peavey solid state. in the mix, can't really tell the difference.

 

[father of fires]

Hahahaha, I don't think it's quite at that level, lol. But yeah, there is something beyond my comprehension at work.

I once saw a Dumble for sale in a shop. Some guy asked how much and the shop owner said, "48". And he wasn't talking about hundreds.

 

[Scotty DelMar]

Anyone here know if Mr. Dumble ever built any bass amps?

 

[MrDOS]

Gotta love the google!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumble_Amplifiers
Winterland

The Winterland was designed primarily as a bass amplifier. It is rated at 450W at 8 ohms. It was named after the San Francisco concert hall.

 

[krustwell]

btw, here's a pic of the amp i mentioned a couple weeks ago:

apparently, he's very brilliant, but not very sensitive!