Matchless

Upcharge Options

• Custom Tolex - $100.00 additional msrp

Fat Sound's Take

The first 'boutique' amp model that I ever purchased and still one of my absolute favorites. When I was turned on to Matchless in '91 it really changed the way I viewed guitar gear. Having never experienced such a dynamically responsive, musical amplifier before I suddenly began to see the amp as more critical to my sound than the guitar. At the time that was something of a revelation for me. I also realized that a beautifully designed and built amplifier was more than just something to amplify my guitar while generating various types of tones, it was a musical instrument in its own right.

When I purchased my SC30 in the early 90's, an amp that I still own (and that was actually built by Phil Jamison), I began to truly discover the more advanced techniques of dynamic playing. For the first time I had an amp that responded to every subtle shift in my attack, every nuance of how I held my pick; this amp breathes with the player allowing a much more emotive style of playing. My SC30 not only helped me to create better tones than I had ever had before, but actually contributed greatly to my becoming a much better player.

Matchless amps all have a feel that is quite different from anything else I've experienced. It's difficult to describe, but they just have this wonderful give or 'sag' to their feel while the actual sound manages to remain tightly focused. It's a bit disconcerting at first because what you are feeling prepares your ears for a more heavily compressed, possibly loose sound, but what the amp is actually delivering is incredibly articulate and nicely focused. This combination of soft, forgiving feel and excellent definition is simply fantastic.

The SC30 is capable of providing some of the most gorgeous, shimmery cleans you'll ever experience, perfect pushed, dynamic edge of breakup ranges and thick, super complex overdrive. While early reviews of the C30 claimed it to be a better built Vox AC30 Top Boost, the reality is that, while the C30 is an amp whose lineage is clearly Vox-based, this model manages to offer a wide range of tones that are exceptionally unique, without peer or.......matchless.

Despite all of the fantastic amps that have followed Matchless' march into the new era of boutique guitar amplification, the company's founder chose the right name for his line of amplifiers; there really is no other amplifier on the market like a Matchless and the C30 models remain the company's flagship.

-Stu Carter
Owner, Fat Sound Guitars

From Matchless

This is what changed the amp world. The C-30 was the company’s first design and still leads the lineup. Thirty very conservatively rated watts from a quartet of EL-84’s, through two channels, each with unique voicing and tone control layouts, produce a world of tone choices. True “Class A” configuration gives rich, complex harmonics whether played clean, mildly overdriven, or with all out power tube saturation. This means you should sound great in any situation, in any music style.

A long list of musician designed features includes: highly interactive tone controls and circuitries unique to each channel, bypassable master volume, individual channel effects loops, cut control for high frequency shaping, high and low (30 or 15 watt) power settings, selectable output impedance and phase inverter switches allow the use of additional speaker cabinets or amps in-phase with the C-30.

The preamp sections are based on a layout of two 12AX7's in Channel 1 and one EF86 in Channel 2. The two 12AX7's in Channel 1 create a parallel-triode circuit with interactive bass and treble. The one EF86 in Channel 2 consists of a high-gain pentode coupled to a six-position tone switch. Outright benefits include quick dial-in of new tones and an easy return to the settings you prefer. Also "high treble" cut control, master volume, with a bypass feature that offers flexible control of the power amp section. The power amp is fed by a 12AX7 phase inverter, which drives four EL84 power tubes. The rectifier circuit gives you the flexibility of using one 5AR4 for a quick attack or you can use two 5V4's for a smooth, round response. Other professional features include an effects loop, half power-mode switch (a conservative 30 watts switching to 15 watts), output impedance selector (4, 8, 16 ohms) and a speaker phase-reverse switch.

All of this is encased in an extremely sturdy hand-made 11-ply, ¾” Baltic birch cabinet, wrapped in richly textured black vinyl. The finishing touch is our signature backlit nameplate and control panel, which lets you (and the audience) know when the power is on.

Features and Specifications

• Power: 30 Watts
• Channels: Two Channels
• Controls Ch.1: Volume, Bass, Treble
• Controls Ch.2: Volume, Tone, Cut control, Bypassable Master Volume
• Switches: Reverse Speaker Phase, Hi-lo power, 3 Position Rotary Impedance, 6 Position Rotary Tone
• Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
• Preamp Tubes: 1 x EF86, 3 x 12AX7
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4 (standard) or 2 x 5V4G tubes
• Note on the Rectifier Tube: The one 5AR4 is used for sharper attack. Alternately, two 5V4G tubes may be used to roll off the attack and create more sag
• Features: Dual inputs for each channel, Effects loop
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
• Weight: 71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 21 x 21.5 x 10.5
• Speaker: Celestion G12H30 (Matchless Modified)

Highly Recommended!!

From Matchless

The Lightning’s interactive tone controls influence each other in a very dynamic way. Actual tonal possibilities are very extensive.

The Pro-grade single channel preamp with its interactive tone controls is coupled to a serious dual-EL84 power section with a tube rectifier. All models have active EQ to attain an excellent array of complex tones. User controls include Volume, Interactive Bass & Treble, and Master Volume.
 

Features and Specifications

• Power: 15 Watts
• Channels: One Channel
• Controls Ch.1: Volume, Interactive Bass, Treble, Master Volume
• Power Tubes: 2 x EL84
• Preamp Tubes: 3 x 12AX7
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
• Features: Dual inputs
• Speaker Output: One 4 and one 8 Ohm
• Weight: 35 lbs.
• Weight: 45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 18 x 25 x 9
   

A Beautiful color combination first shown at Winter NAMM 2006 this amp looks as stunning as it sounds. Phil Jamison calls this Cappuccino and Cream! It's one of the best looks I have ever seen on any amp!

The Pro-grade single channel preamp with its interactive tone controls is coupled to a serious dual-EL84 power section with a tube rectifier. All models have active EQ to attain an excellent array of complex tones. User controls: Volume, Interactive Bass & Treble, and Master Volume.

You'll find some of the richest, woodiest and reediest tones you have ever heard coming out of this combination.

Check out the YouTube link above. This video is of my long-time friend Audley Freed playing through a Matchless Lighting during a Gibson clinic at the link below. This is part 2 of a 6 part video series and, totally unrelated to this amplifier, I highly recommend watching all 6 parts.

The cab used in this video is a Dr Z Z Best cab which works very well with this amp, but is louder and more directional. For most of my clients the Matchless ESS cabinet as offered here will be the better choice. 

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

**Due to the huge range of colors and color combinations offered by Matchless each amp is built to order. Typical lead time before shipping can run from as little as one week for an amp with a cabinet that Matchless has in stock to 4 weeks for a cabinet they have to special order. We do stock a variety of Matchless amplifiers, but usually only in Black, Gray, Dark Green or Cappuccino and Cream two-tone.

Fat Sound's Take

"Simply one of the all time great, simple to operate and very portable amplifiers. I usually will just find the sweet spot for a given guitar and can then easily go from as much Rock-n-Roll or Blues crunch and overdrive as I ever use to gorgeous, sparkly cleans simply by switching to a different pickup setting. For example, on my dual P-90 MotorAve Motovox or Electrajet guitars I'll stay on the bridge pickup and play harder for thick, meaty and tight overdrive. If I simply switch to the middle position and lighten my attack a bit I get truly clean and sparkly cleans that are incredibly lush.

On the neck I get a slightly pushed clean with a bit more thickness in the midrange and the ability to dig in a hair and get mild overdrive and sing. Depending on the pickup setting you choose and your attack this amp can be set in one position and it becomes a virtual channel switcher. Amazing versatility for a three knob amp. Probably all the tones I really need, but one or two clean boost or overdrive pedals in front of this 15 watt charmer and I *know* I've got everything I would ever really need."

-Stu Carter, owner Fat Sound Guitars

From Matchless' Website

Similar to the Lightning 15, the Spitfire keeps it sweet and simple. It is powered by two EL84s, 12AX7s for tone, a phase inverter and a 5AR4 for the rectifier. The Spitfire comes in a lightweight, compact cabinet, but still packs the same punch you’ve come to expect from Matchless.

Like all Matchless amplifiers, the Spitfire is hand made, point to point wired and tough as nails via military grade, terminal strip construction.

User controls are Volume, Tone, and Master Volume.

Specifications

• Power: 15 Watts
• Channels: One
• Controls Ch.1: Volume, Tone Switch, Master Volume
• Power Tubes: 2 x EL84
• Preamp Tubes: 3 x 12AX7
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
• Features: Dual inputs – high and low gain
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
• Weight: 45 lbs.
• Cabinet Dimmensions: 18 x 25 x 9

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!!!™

This is the amp of choice for most live gigs for Fat Sound Guitars' manager Mike Ayers, guitarist for The Connell's and Mommie

Fat Sound's Take

An incredible design from Phil Jamison of Matchless Amplifiers and quite possibly their best yet.

This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. The amp is still primarily hand-wired, but has a, carefully considered, combination of Hand-Wired, Point-To-Point on a tag board, Point-to-Point, Military spec' terminal strip construction and a PCB board with all of the same high-quality components found in the traditional Matchless models for the pre-amp section. All tube sockets, potentiometers and transformers are chassis mounted.

All parts quality is typical Matchless, but a small bit of labor intensity has been saved via the hybrid construction methodology.

This version of the Avalon 30 is a massaged variant of the first channel of the C30 chassis.

Phil has tweaked the tone stack and gain levels to give a very similar level of sparkle, shimmer and complexity to the clean tones of the C30 amp while adding a new degree of thickness to the overdriven tones which are creamy, smooth and offer extreme harmonic complexity with very high levels of gain offering infinite sustain at a volume level setting of about 1:30.

The rear panel offers the same half power switch and single jack, dual-tip fx loop design of the original C30.

Quite simply this is one of the best amps I have ever heard with a low end thickness and thump that hits you in the chest more like a closed back 212 than an open back 112.

It's a brilliant design offering truly amazing tones, a great range of gorgeous cleans to mild overdrive to full on searing gain all in an incredibly well constructed chassis that will outlive its owner *and* at a price point more easily attained by most.

It's also a good deal lighter than the SC30 at about 60 pounds making it much more easily transported without damaging your back!

Paired with any guitar this amp sounds incredible, but paired with my Grosh Electrajet or MotorAve Lemans and McQueen I feel I have achieved some of the best tones I have ever had in my nearly 40 years of playing guitar.

The amp comes standard with a Tolexed front panel with a clear Plexi panel option for an additional $180.00 allowing you to see the black powder coated chassis, tubes and black enameled transformers in all their glory and internal, chassis side lighting to really show off the amp on stage as well as to allow visibility while tweaking in a dark room.

Effects loop is standard: The effects loop is an RTS, single, 1/4" jack as found on the flagship C30 amplifiers so an RTS to dual 1/4" mono Y cable is required. We'll gladly quote you on a custom, high-end cable from Lava Cable based on the length you need. A variety of high end cable types are available. I use and prefer the Lava Cables Blue Demon cable in this application.

Specifications

• Power: 30 Watts/Switchable to 15 watts
• Channels: One Channel
  
• Switches: On/Off, Standby, Hi-Lo, 3 Position Rotary, Impedance
  
• Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
  
• Preamp Tubes: 3 X 12AX7, Reverb: 5 x 12AX7
  
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
  
• Features: Hi/Lo Inputs, Volume, Bass, Treble, Cut Push/Pull Master Volume, 2 Speaker Output, Effect Loop
  
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
  
• Weight: 62 lbs.
  
• Dimensions: 21 ¼” x 11 ¼” x 23 ¼”
  
• Speaker Celestion G12H30
  

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

Optional Reverb - $300.00msrp (included in price above)

Fat Sound's Take

An incredible design from Phil Jamison of Matchless Amplifiers and quite possibly their best yet.

This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. The amp is still primarily hand-wired, but has a, carefully considered, combination of Hand-Wired, Point-To-Point on a tag board, Point-to-Point, Military spec' terminal strip construction and a PCB board with all of the same high-quality components found in the traditional Matchless models for the pre-amp section. All tube sockets, potentiometers and transformers are chassis mounted.

All parts quality is typical Matchless, but a small bit of labor intensity has been saved via the hybrid construction methodology.

This version of the Avalon 30 is a massaged variant of the first channel of the C30 chassis with the added bonus of truly fantastic reverb (more on the reverb later).

Phil has tweaked the tone stack and gain levels to give a very similar level of sparkle, shimmer and complexity to the clean tones of the C30 amp while adding a new degree of thickness to the overdriven tones which are creamy, smooth and offer extreme harmonic complexity with very high levels of gain offering infinite sustain at a volume level setting of about 1:30.

The rear panel offers the same half power switch and single jack, dual-tip fx loop design of the original C30.

The reverb is more plate like and less spring like. Even at very high settings it lays behind the fundamental so that rather than hear obvious reverb, an effect I have never cared for, you are simply aware of a spaciousness that gives the illusion that the amp is being played in a large hall. When you lighten up your attack for cleaner tones the reverb becomes more apparent and of course always offers a nice, lush tail when you stop playing. So the spaciousness and overall ambient quality are vastly improved without having the reverb effect get in the way of the tone.

Now *that* (!) is how all reverbs should behave........unless of course you're playing Dick Dale covers!

Brilliant!

Quite simply this is one of the best amps I have ever heard with a low end thickness and thump that hits you in the chest more like a closed back 212 than an open back 112.

It's a brilliant design offering truly amazing tones, a great range of gorgeous cleans to mild overdrive to full on searing gain all in an incredibly well constructed chassis that will outlive its owner *and* at a price point more easily attained by most.

It's also a good deal lighter than the SC30 at about 60 pounds making it much more easily transported without damaging your back!

Paired with any guitar this amp sounds incredible, but paired with my Grosh Electrajet or MotorAve Lemans and McQueen I feel I have achieved some of the best tones I have ever had in my nearly 40 years of playing guitar.

The amp comes standard with a Tolexed front panel with a clear Plexi panel option for an additional $180.00 allowing you to see the black powder coated chassis, tubes and black enameled transformers in all their glory and internal, chassis side lighting to really show off the amp on stage as well as to allow visibility while tweaking in a dark room.

Effects loop is standard: The effects loop is an RTS, single, 1/4" jack as found on the flagship C30 amplifiers so an RTS to dual 1/4" mono Y cable is required. We'll gladly quote you on a custom, high-end cable from Lava Cable based on the length you need. A variety of high end cable types are available. I use and prefer the Lava Cables Blue Demon cable in this application.

Specifications

• Power: 30 Watts/Switchable to 15 watts
• Channels: One Channel
  
• Switches: On/Off, Standby, Hi-Lo, 3 Position Rotary, Impedance
  
• Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
  
• Preamp Tubes: 3 X 12AX7, Reverb: 5 x 12AX7
  
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
  
• Features: Hi/Lo Inputs, Volume, Bass, Treble, Cut Push/Pull Master Volume, 2 Speaker Output, Effect Loop
  
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
  
• Weight: 62 lbs.
  
• Dimensions: 21 ¼” x 11 ¼” x 23 ¼”
  
• Speaker Celestion G12H30
  

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

Upcharge Options Included in Price

• Custom Tolex - $100.00 msrp
• Reverb - $300.00 msrp

Fat Sound's Take

An incredible design from Phil Jamison of Matchless Amplifiers and quite possibly their best yet.

This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. The amp is still primarily hand-wired, but has a, carefully considered, combination of Hand-Wired, Point-To-Point on a tag board, Point-to-Point, Military spec' terminal strip construction and a PCB board with all of the same high-quality components found in the traditional Matchless models for the pre-amp section. All tube sockets, potentiometers and transformers are chassis mounted.

All parts quality is typical Matchless, but a small bit of labor intensity has been saved via the hybrid construction methodology.

This version of the Avalon 30 is a massaged variant of the first channel of the C30 chassis with the added bonus of truly fantastic reverb (more on the reverb later).

Phil has tweaked the tone stack and gain levels to give a very similar level of sparkle, shimmer and complexity to the clean tones of the C30 amp while adding a new degree of thickness to the overdriven tones which are creamy, smooth and offer extreme harmonic complexity with very high levels of gain offering infinite sustain at a volume level setting of about 1:30.

The rear panel offers the same half power switch and single jack, dual-tip fx loop design of the original C30.

The reverb is more plate like and less spring like. Even at very high settings it lays behind the fundamental so that rather than hear obvious reverb, an effect I have never cared for, you are simply aware of a spaciousness that gives the illusion that the amp is being played in a large hall. When you lighten up your attack for cleaner tones the reverb becomes more apparent and of course always offers a nice, lush tail when you stop playing. So the spaciousness and overall ambient quality are vastly improved without having the reverb effect get in the way of the tone.

Now *that* (!) is how all reverbs should behave........unless of course you're playing Dick Dale covers!

Brilliant!

Quite simply this is one of the best amps I have ever heard with a low end thickness and thump that hits you in the chest more like a closed back 212 than an open back 112.

It's a brilliant design offering truly amazing tones, a great range of gorgeous cleans to mild overdrive to full on searing gain all in an incredibly well constructed chassis that will outlive its owner *and* at a price point more easily attained by most.

It's also a good deal lighter than the SC30 at about 60 pounds making it much more easily transported without damaging your back!

Paired with any guitar this amp sounds incredible, but paired with my Grosh Electrajet or MotorAve Lemans and McQueen I feel I have achieved some of the best tones I have ever had in my nearly 40 years of playing guitar.

The amp comes standard with a Tolexed front panel with a clear Plexi panel option for an additional $180.00 allowing you to see the black powder coated chassis, tubes and black enameled transformers in all their glory and internal, chassis side lighting to really show off the amp on stage as well as to allow visibility while tweaking in a dark room.

Effects loop is standard: The effects loop is an RTS, single, 1/4" jack as found on the flagship C30 amplifiers so an RTS to dual 1/4" mono Y cable is required. We'll gladly quote you on a custom, high-end cable from Lava Cable based on the length you need. A variety of high end cable types are available. I use and prefer the Lava Cables Blue Demon cable in this application.

Specifications

• Power: 30 Watts/Switchable to 15 watts
• Channels: One Channel
  
• Switches: On/Off, Standby, Hi-Lo, 3 Position Rotary, Impedance
  
• Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
  
• Preamp Tubes: 3 X 12AX7, Reverb: 5 x 12AX7
  
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
  
• Features: Hi/Lo Inputs, Volume, Bass, Treble, Cut Push/Pull Master Volume, 2 Speaker Output, Effect Loop
  
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
  
• Weight: 62 lbs.
  
• Dimensions: 21 ¼” x 11 ¼” x 23 ¼”
  
• Speaker Celestion G12H30
  

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

Upcharge Options Included in Price

• Reverb - $300.00 msrp
• Plexi Panel - $180.00 msrp
• Optional Tolex - $100.00 msrp
  

Fat Sound's Take

An incredible design from Phil Jamison of Matchless Amplifiers and quite possibly their best yet.

This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. This amp features a hybrid of three construction methods that make perfect sense and helps keep the price a bit lower than the usual Matchless offerings without any sacrifice to tone or feel. The amp is still primarily hand-wired, but has a, carefully considered, combination of Hand-Wired, Point-To-Point on a tag board, Point-to-Point, Military spec' terminal strip construction and a PCB board with all of the same high-quality components found in the traditional Matchless models for the pre-amp section. All tube sockets, potentiometers and transformers are chassis mounted.

All parts quality is typical Matchless, but a small bit of labor intensity has been saved via the hybrid construction methodology.

This version of the Avalon 30 is a massaged variant of the first channel of the C30 chassis with the added bonus of truly fantastic reverb (more on the reverb later).

Phil has tweaked the tone stack and gain levels to give a very similar level of sparkle, shimmer and complexity to the clean tones of the C30 amp while adding a new degree of thickness to the overdriven tones which are creamy, smooth and offer extreme harmonic complexity with very high levels of gain offering infinite sustain at a volume level setting of about 1:30.

The rear panel offers the same half power switch and single jack, dual-tip fx loop design of the original C30.

The reverb is more plate like and less spring like. Even at very high settings it lays behind the fundamental so that rather than hear obvious reverb, an effect I have never cared for, you are simply aware of a spaciousness that gives the illusion that the amp is being played in a large hall. When you lighten up your attack for cleaner tones the reverb becomes more apparent and of course always offers a nice, lush tail when you stop playing. So the spaciousness and overall ambient quality are vastly improved without having the reverb effect get in the way of the tone.

Now *that* (!) is how all reverbs should behave........unless of course you're playing Dick Dale covers!

Brilliant!

Quite simply this is one of the best amps I have ever heard with a low end thickness and thump that hits you in the chest more like a closed back 212 than an open back 112.

It's a brilliant design offering truly amazing tones, a great range of gorgeous cleans to mild overdrive to full on searing gain all in an incredibly well constructed chassis that will outlive its owner *and* at a price point more easily attained by most.

It's also a good deal lighter than the SC30 at about 60 pounds making it much more easily transported without damaging your back!

Paired with any guitar this amp sounds incredible, but paired with my Grosh Electrajet or MotorAve Lemans and McQueen I feel I have achieved some of the best tones I have ever had in my nearly 40 years of playing guitar.

The amp comes standard with a Tolexed front panel with a clear Plexi panel option for an additional $180.00 allowing you to see the black powder coated chassis, tubes and black enameled transformers in all their glory and internal, chassis side lighting to really show off the amp on stage as well as to allow visibility while tweaking in a dark room.

Effects loop is standard: The effects loop is an RTS, single, 1/4" jack as found on the flagship C30 amplifiers so an RTS to dual 1/4" mono Y cable is required. We'll gladly quote you on a custom, high-end cable from Lava Cable based on the length you need. A variety of high end cable types are available. I use and prefer the Lava Cables Blue Demon cable in this application.

Specifications

• Power: 30 Watts/Switchable to 15 watts
• Channels: One Channel
  
• Switches: On/Off, Standby, Hi-Lo, 3 Position Rotary, Impedance
  
• Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
  
• Preamp Tubes: 3 X 12AX7, Reverb: 5 x 12AX7
  
• Rectifier Tube: 1 x 5AR4
  
• Features: Hi/Lo Inputs, Volume, Bass, Treble, Cut Push/Pull Master Volume, 2 Speaker Output, Effect Loop
  
• Speaker Output: Switchable Impedance of 4, 8, and 16 Ohms
  
• Weight: 62 lbs.
  
• Dimensions: 21 ¼” x 11 ¼” x 23 ¼”
  
• Speaker Celestion G12H30
  

Upcharge Options

• Custom color: $100.00msrp (included in price above)
  
• Plexi Front Panel: $180.00msrp (included in price above)
  
• Reverb: $250.00msrp (included in price above)

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

Unveiled at the 2011 Winter NAMM show and now shipping (as of April 2011) the new Matchless Excalibur brings articulate, chest pounding, higher-gain to the Matchless family of high-quality, hand-built amplifiers.

Fat Sound's Take

With the release of the Excalibur 35 Matchless brings their notorious articulation and complexity to the realm of gain reserved for Classic and Modern Hard Rock.

Bringing Matchless wizardry to the EL34 power tube based Modded Marshall tone much the way the EF86/EL84 based C30 model brought Vox-based tones to new heights in the early 90's, the Excalibur is among the finest high-gain, hot-rodded, British Stack tones available today.

By radically expanding upon any preconceived notions about "The Matchless Tone" the Excalibur pens an entirely new chapter in the history of one of the founding fathers of the boutique amp genre.

The Excalibur works equally well with Humbuckers and Single Coils. It's an amp with minimum headroom, but utilizing a Fralin Vintage Hot /  Vintage Hot / Steel Pole 43 equipped 60's Strat we were able to get tones clean enough for Texas Blues and even skankier tones for R&B stylings. This is not an amp, however, that we'll be recommending to players whose primary need is a great Blues, R&B or more moderate gain Classic Rock style amplifier.

As with all Matchless Amplifiers, the dynamic responsiveness is excellent so whether you prefer to use varying pick attack and pickup selection, your guitar's volume or a combination of the above you can smoothly transition from an edge of break-up British tone to extremely high gain levels.

The lack of modern, high-gain compression with be greatly appreciated by players whose idea of high-gain has less to due with singing fluidity and creamy overdrive and is more along the lines of that wonderful, Classic Marshall percussive articulation that requires the player to be on top of his or her game. While not a difficult amp to play nor a stiff feeling amp it's also not infinitely forgiving as some players may prefer.

This is the kind of high-gain that cuts through a mix beautifully without doing so via fatiguing upper midrange frequencies. The open, string-to-string definition simply rises above the cymbal wash and sits in the mix flawlessly yet the Excalibur is still extremely pleasing to the ear and very satisfying to play outside the context of a band.

Matchless has also nailed the Master Volume circuit with this design. In recent years a growing number of boutique amplifier manufacturers seem to have really figured out how to utilize simpler MV circuits to achieve excellent low volume tones that actually feel more correct and retain more of their amp's cranked tones than more complex Master Voltage/Wattage or Power Scaling type circuits.

Available in Head, 1x12 and 2x12 combos, but we enthusiastically recommend pairing the head version with either Port City's Oversized Wave 1x12 cab or, even better, their Oversized Wave 2x12 cab. These closed-back, front-ported and internally tuned cabinets are perfectly suited for bringing out the breathy, punchy lows of the Excalibur.

An incredible amplifier that, while not a Swiss Army knife of tones, manages to easily receive our Highly Recommended rating based on the pure sonic excellence of tones the amp was designed to deliver.

Features and Specifications

• Controls: Volume, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Cut, Bypassable Master
• Tubes: 3 x 12AX7s, 2 x EL34s, 1 x 5AR4
• Output: 35 watts
• Dual speaker outs
• Three-position Impedance Selector with 4, 8, 16 Ohm output
• Parallel effects loop standard with individual send/return 1/4" jacks

Head version of the Avalon 30 with Reverb as described above.  For best sonic results the matching Matchless ESS (1x12") or DSS (2x12") open back cabinets are recommended

Options:
Plexi Front Panel - $180.00 msrp (Included in price above)
Reverb - $300.00 msrp (Included in price above)

Dimensions

• Weight: 40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 21 3/8” x 11 ¼” x 9” 21 3/8” x 11 ¼” x 11 ¼” (Reverb Model)

Cappuccino and Cream Avalon 30 Reverb head with matching ESS 212 cabinet

Options:
Custom Two-Tone tolex on both pieces - $150.00 msrp (Included in price above)
Reverb - $300.00 msrp (Included in price above)

ESD 212 cab with one Matchless modified Celestion G12H30 and one Matchless modified G12M Greenback- $952.00 msrp

**Due to the huge range of colors and color combinations offered by Matchless each amp is built to order. Typical lead time before shipping can run from as little as one week for an amp with a cabinet that Matchless has in stock to 4 weeks for a cabinet they have to special order. We do stock a variety of Matchless amplifiers, but usually only in Black, Gray, Dark Green or Cappuccino and Cream two-tone as seen in the above example.

One of the founding fathers of the boutique amplifier movement and still one of the best you can buy. The HC30 is simply phenomenal. I have personally owned one since the early 90's and highly recommend this model with matching ESD 212 cab to any fan of pure, shimmery, ultra complex, ultra dynamic British tube tone.

Quad EL84's running at high voltage.
EF86 and 12AX7 preamps
GZ34 rectifier tube as standard.

This piggy back rig is covered in gorgeous cappuccino and cream two-tone tolex.

Head and cab available seperately.....inquire via email or phone for individual prices. 

Fat Sound Award for Sonic Excellence!

**Due to the huge range of colors and color combinations offered by Matchless each amp is built to order. Typical lead time before shipping can run from as little as one week for an amp with a cabinet that Matchless has in stock to 4 weeks for a cabinet they have to special order. We do stock a variety of Matchless amplifiers, but usually only in Black, Gray, Dark Green or Cappuccino and Cream two-tone.

This is an amazing new amplifier from Matchless. The 3015 is essentially the preamp from a Matchless Spitfire, but with a larger transformer and a quad of EL84 power tubes versus the pair in the Lighting.

It can be operated at 30 watts or at 15 watts with two of the power tubes de-activated.

The range of this amplifier is unreal.......pristine, shimmery, glassy clean tones all the way through classic Matchless pushed clean and complex crunch tone territory and in to a gorgeous higher-gain range.

Equipped with a single Matchless modified, Celestion G12H30

Everything I love about Matchless is here in build quality, sound, feel and responsiveness and check that price point........very nice!! 

****Due to the huge range of colors and color combinations offered by Matchless each amp is built to order. Typical lead time before shipping can run from as little as one week for an amp with a cabinet that Matchless has in stock to 4 weeks for a cabinet they have to special order. We do stock a variety of Matchless amplifiers, but usually only in Black, Gray, Dark Green or Cappuccino and Cream two-tone.
A breathtaking amplifier in every regard.

How does it sound?

Well.....this amplifier takes the incredible right hand, EF86 pentode channel from the C30 series and pairs it with an excellent reverb and tremolo circuit. Essentially this is an SC30 with the left channel replaced by the effect controls; one knob for reverb and a speed and depth knob for the tremolo.

The Reverb is quiet, lush and there is just enough of it without ever becoming overbearing or ridiculous........in other words it is extremely usable throughout its entire range which give you very fine adjustment ability.

The tremolo is exactly as I remember it from the JJ models which is that it is actually touch sensitive. When you play somewhat lightly the trem is very strong......about equal to the fundamental, but......if you really lay in to the amp with big rhythm the tremolo lays behind the fundamental nicely and only starts to overtake the fundamentals when you let it ring out. For me......that's how a tremolo is supposed to behave!

The tone of this amp is rich, complex, shimmery, bell-like and clear yet when you dig in on the low notes you are rewarded by an exceptionally tight and clear low end.

It's truly one of the all time great amps and one that I give me Highest Recommendation.