Any Matchless fans on here? I love them and am considering a Superchief.

white buffalo

white buffalo

Member
Been a Matchless lover for close to a decade now. Started when I got an '08 DC-30 which I loved dearly and got some great recordings from. Also ran a Sampson-era Chieftain with it for a period. Both gone though. Start of this year got a '94 HC-30 and '95 4x10, and those two together are just magical. I love these amps so much- they are just perfectly tuned to my sonic preferences. The C-30 amps have got probably my favourite cleans I've ever heard, particularly with singles... with buckers can get a bit too much squish due to the lower headroom 84's it's running, but that's understandable. But cranked up with buckers is something special...

Anyone else a fan of them?

I'm looking to add another HC-30, ideally a very early 1990 build, as well as a 6HS7 Clubman 35 and a Superchief. Anyone here have experience with the Superchief? Would love to know about your experiences.

Please feel free to post shots of your Matchless amps!!

Here's my current HC-30- love this thing!

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My 2015 C-30 Reverb & 1998 (I think?) Matchless GPR-1 Preamp. Love the Chieftain and would love to be able to play a Super Chief. I started toying with the idea of building Chieftain/Super Chief style poweramp for the GPR-1.
 
How many SuperChiefs did they build? Like 30? The guy from Local H has one, stood in front of it last time they were in town. Sounded like a big Plexi.
 
I love Matchless amps!
Have had about 5 different Clubmans, until I've settled with a 6AT6 / 6SH7 model on the early 2000s.
Had two DC-30, an SC-30, Lightning, Spitfire, Independence and a Superchief.
My Superchief was an early one, in Shower Curtain. The amp looked great(like all the matchless line) and sounded phenomenal.
The only two downsides were the fact that the master volume wasn't that great. So, by the time the amp was loud enough to sound it's best, it was already extremely loud. I don't think anyone would have this issue in a studio or live(on a medium to large stage) situation. But at the time I had a home studio, and could not use really loud amps in there very often.
The second issue was the weight. That amp weighted a ton, and I even got some knee pain from carrying it around a few times when I had to move it.
Aside from that, you have the typical Matchless amp... beautiful to look at, amazing to listen to, and glorious to play with.
Not to mention that the construction is second to none and the tone was to die for!
 
Kelly said:
How many SuperChiefs did they build? Like 30? The guy from Local H has one, stood in front of it last time they were in town. Sounded like a big Plexi.
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Not sure how many were made in the Sampson era but I think Phil will still build them on request
 
Just picked this up yesterday
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Master volume is not the best. I may modify it to a different type. It'll get loud but at least it's not as bad as a NVM 1987 or 1959.
 
@cardinal I actually use mine with a Fryette Powerstation PS2 when I need to keep the volume down. I bought it for my '73 OR120 which absolute needs it but it actually turned out to be useful on my DC30 as well. You wouldn't think that seeing how it's "just" 30 watts but I think that number is a bit misleading. I also prefer the PS2 to any master volume I've used.
 
riq said:
@cardinal I actually use mine with a Fryette Powerstation PS2 when I need to keep the volume down. I bought it for my '73 OR120 which absolute needs it but it actually turned out to be useful on my DC30 as well. You wouldn't think that seeing how it's "just" 30 watts but I think that number is a bit misleading. I also prefer the PS2 to any master volume I've used.
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I used a PS2 for a bit with a Super Lead, and it worked ok. I have an AC30 with a master volume I installed that works well; I may put the same type in the DC30.

30 watts is plenty loud at full volume, that's for sure. But much more comfortable IMHO than 50 or 100 watts full tilt. I really don't like being in the same room as an overdriven Super Lead unless it's attenuated some how. The DC30 is fine.
 
Some quick clips of me trying to dial in the DC30. Low volume this time; you can hear me smacking the strings.

Some rock-ish mindless riffing


Quick run through of an Alice In Chains song


And some 8-string riffing because that what everybody does with a Matchless, right?
 
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