Matchless Rent A Car

In part two of our boutique tube amps demystified series, were going to talk about how to figure out which boutique amps are right for you. Without some help, its not an easy thing to get started on: at last count, I logged more than 200 builders of boutique amps. But, as usual, were going to figure out a way to simplify. Well link the type of guitar you play to the vintage amp it was meant to be paired with, and then well look at some of the core components of that vintage amp. All of that will lead us to a short list of boutique amps that have a good chance of being in the sweet spot for your guitar. This is where youll start your search. If you recall, in part one of this series, we talked about the primary colors of the vintage guitar amp world. These are the sounds of classic VOX, Fender, and Marshall amps. When you listened to the clips, you got a chance to hear what each sounds like. We chose those clips for another reason: each amp you heard was played with a guitar thats a classic pairing for that vintage amp. For the VOX clip that featured the Beatles playing Taxman, its a Rickenbacker. Is that what you play? Or a similar lighter-weight guitar with a sound chamber and single-coil pickups? Rickenbacker guitar with a VOX AC15 amp. For the Fender clip that featured Derek and the Dominoes, its a Fender Stratocaster. Is that what you play? Or a similar mid- to heavy-weight solid body with single-coil pickups? Fender Stratocaster with a Fender Bassman amp. For the Marshall clip that featured AC/DC, its a Gibson SG. Is your guitar like an SG or a Les Paul mid-heavy to ultra-heavy in weight with humbucker pickups? Gibson SG's with Marshall amps. Now that youve picked the guitar most like yours, I want you to keep it in mind. Were going to briefly digress into another quick lesson. But when we bring it all together, I promise you its going to help make a lot more sense out of the world of tube amps. Were going to talk about power tubes. In amp jargon, power tubes are the tubes in your amp that generate the energy needed to make your speaker move. Of all the tubes in your amp, they do the most work. Because they do the most work, in general, their behavior defines the sound of your amp more than any other tube in your amp. Power tubes also generate the sweet overdriven distortion tones that guitarists like you seek. So if youre looking at a boutique tube amp, and you dont know a lot about it, the power tubes can tell you a lot. You see, its likely that in designing their boutique amp, the amp designer is paying respects to a vintage amp design and the power tubes are going to be a giveaway for which one it is. This chart sums it up: Power tube modelVintage ampReference guitar EL84VOXRickenbacker 6V6 or 6L6FenderFender Stratocaster EL34MarshallGibson Les Paul or SG So how does that help you? Remember what we talked about earlier each of these amps is classically suited to different guitars. So, assuming youve already got an electric guitar, you can look at the tube type of the boutique amp youre interested in, and take a guess at which amps may be best mated to your guitars characteristics. Now, we look at the tubes behind some of the best boutique amps out there, and match them to your guitar type. Heres where it all comes together: Reference guitarWhich boutique amps would be a good place to startPower tube model RickenbackerMatchless DC-30, Valvetech Hayseed, JMI Amps, Kingsley Deluxe 30EL84 Fender StratocasterDr. Z Z-28, Top Hat Super Club Deluxe, Tony Bruno Cowtipper6V6 or 6L6 Gibson Les Paul or SGMatchless Independence, Metro Superbass, Divided by 13 LDWEL34 Now you know how to figure out some good places to start. And you have tools to help figure out which amps you might want to take for a test drive. Of course, there are other reasons to choose a particular boutique amp. But well cover that in another story! If youre considering buying a boutique amp, youre probably going to make a considerable investment. So youll have lots of questions to ask and tube amps to test out before you make your choice. Very quickly, however, youll find that the talk gets pretty technical. Its easy to get lost and a little intimidated when pros start talking to you about circuit designs, amplification classes, and alphanumeric power tube model numbers. And they expect it all to mean something to you. Youre in this to play guitar fueled by your skills, your ears, and the music that interests you. Why should you have to know anything about push-pull circuits or other jargon? Well, you shouldnt. But unfortunately this is how amp people talk. And if you want to engage them in a conversation to benefit you and your purchase decision and in the end, the musical enjoyment of your setup itll help you to have a basic understanding of this jargon. So in this multi-part series about the key components of guitar tube amps, well cover the basics. And well use some handy analogies to help it all make sense. How many colors do you think there in the world? Millions and millions of them. Infinite colors. The same is true for guitar tones. There are limitless sound possibilities based on all the different variables that can be applied: playing style, guitar choice, pickup choice, amp, effects, speakers, mics, the room youre playing in, etc. So lets not start there. Lets start simple. Overly simple. Any color can be described by a combination of primary colors. Your computer monitor, for instance, probably uses varying levels of red, green, and blue (hence the term RGB) to make up the colors youre seeing right now. So you can define every one of the infinite colors by saying how much red, green, and blue is in it. That system kind of makes the world of infinite colors a little simpler, right? So lets talk about the primary colors of the tube amp world. The vintage amps the modern boutique amps pay homage to. These amps are the classic models made by: VOX Fender Marshall What are the quintessential VOX sounds? Think early Beatles, REM, Tom Petty, U2, and Queen. Heres a clip of The Beatles Taxman featuring amazing VOX sounds. Dont miss the lead playing mid-song and at the end: This sound has a muted attack but gets its rhythm gusto from an amazing compressed sustain of jangly, spongy grit (well talk about how it achieves this in a later article). The lead playing has a haunting and wild cut: you can just go mad scientist brilliant while playing through a VOX. What are the classic Fender sounds? Think Clapton, Dick Dale, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Eagles, later Beatles. Dig this amazing clip of Derek and The Dominoes on The Johnny Cash show from about a million years ago. Listen closely, I think you can even hear Clapton make a mistake: The Fender sound is all class. Super clean, characterized by an amazingly rich attack thats springy, complex, and jubilant. I hear rubies and emeralds shooting out of the guitar with every pick and strum. Fenders can boogie under rhythm play and they can also wail emotionally under lead play. And Marshall sounds? Pretty much any band with hair from the 80s. Also, names like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, ZZ Top. Heres a clip of AC/DCs You Shook Me All Night Long featuring classic Marshall sounds: That sound is just bad boy overdrive. It never met a power chord it didnt like and lets you fall out into arpeggio notes without turning them into mush. Also killer for pick harmonics just ask ZZ Top. You can feel the Marshall sound in your gonads. So now you know about the primary colors of the amp world. Got any clips that you think exemplify a particular amp sound? Please share in the comments section. In the next part of this series, well expand on the classic amps, talk about the tubes that live inside of them, the guitars that were meant to be plugged into them, and how to use this knowledge to start your boutique amp search. I have been looking into lower-wattage amps lately. Like the Matchless Lightning. At 15-watts, you can get a range of sounds without making everyone in your house deaf. I also think a 15-watt amp is ideal for recording. And you can gig with it (with the right PA setup). During my exploration, I read an article about the new crop of Fender Mustang amps. In contrast to a reference amp like the Matchless Lightning, these are solid state modeling amps that are designed to sound like classic reference tube amps or modern, more expensive tube amps. In one device, you can dial in dozens of imitated amp sounds. In the article, the author proposed that this kind of amp will eventually make most tube amps obsolete. This notion makes me sad. But before I explain why, let me share something with you that makes me happy: Having checked out the clip, you can hear that with a Tele plugged into a Matchless Lightning, and great right hand technique, you can produce a totally different and amazing sound. One of a range that come from a combination of your technique, your guitar, and real amplification. In contrast, I think its bad to rely on a modeling amp to get different sounds from your playing. Do you think an improving player would discover the range of sounds that could come from their guitar if they had a modeling amp? Maybe. But more than likely, theyll become consumed with dialing in any of hundreds of preset sounds. Sounds designed to make crummy amp components imitate the real deal. Crummy transistors. Crummy speakers. Often times, crummy construction. And if you keep messing with the endless settings and dont work on your playing youll be covering up crummy sounds youre making with your perfectly good guitar. Yes. You can get a Fender Mustang for a fraction of the cost of a Matchless Lightning. Yes, it sounds acceptable in your bedroom. But gig with it? Your sound wont hold up. Record with it? Your song will lack for richness and texture. Discover your own sound with it? Modeling amps still cant pick up on attack. They mush together the individual elements of beautiful chord voicings. And if youre a young player, I think they are a terrible distraction from your ear, your guitar, and what would otherwise be the sound of your amp. I remember the first time I visited a country where I didnt speak the language. It was Canada. And they were speaking French Canadian. Not knowing what to do, I naturally went where any young American out of his element can go to feel comfortable: McDonalds. To learn how to order, I listened to the customers ahead of me. La quesque se frantsie frauncezerd BIG MAC, I heard. Lepew henri McFEEESH! ce va. And I even heard the magic words I was looking for, poulet filet avec fromage. For the record, I didnt let them put any fromage on my poulet filet. I tell this story not out of pure randomness, but because it relates very much to this video review. Listen closely, and youll learn how the words Matchless Chieftain, drive, andclean tone hold deep meaning across many cultures. Just like the word Quarter Pounder. Now if only, after listening to Mr.Vinai Trinateepukdees phrasing on the guitar, I could play as well as he does. This is the story of how I first heard the sound of a Matchless amp. Can you believe the sound of an amp could change the course of your life? Ive always been a gearhead. My first love was fishing tackle. Then home audio equipment. Then I got into cars. Really into cars. So much so that I went on to build a couple from scratch (thats another story). But when I was in high school, I became fascinated with guitar gear. I hadnt yet learned to play. But I had always wanted to be guitarist for a rock band. Since Id never even held a guitar for more than just a few seconds, I had no chance at that. Instead, I got a gig running the mixing board for a popular band in my high school. The band was called Rage. They were seniors and I was just a sophomore so that was pretty cool. They did some originals but mostly covers. It was the early 90s so they were covering Guns n Roses and other popular rock bands of that time. It was fun, and I got to go to shows with them. They built up a pretty sophisticated PA setup with lots of equipment and I ran it. That was fun, too. The big deal in our high school was Battle of the Bands. I just knew Rage was going to win. Especially with our awesome sound system. But boy, was I wrong. There was another band from our high school, Old Style. They werent really all from our high school. Just two kids in the band were the drummer, and the guitarist who we all called The Bopper. The other two guys especially the singer were ringers. Id never heard any of them play. (And I thought The Bopper would probably suck at guitar. I was wrong there too). Instead of playing Dial MTV tracks like Rage was playing, they went old school. They stuck with the Stones, Beatles, Kinks and Clash. Stuff that the crowd could sing to. And they didnt have a PA. They just turned their amp knobs to the right level to make things sound right. It all sounded so clean and raw. I loved it. So did the crowd. I knew wed lost. But I got to have a special moment The Bopper had an amp Id never seen before. It was sitting alone near the front of the stage not towards the back, micd up like everyone elses. In my memory, I see it sitting all alone, with a spotlight on it. It was beautiful! It said Matchless on it. Ive never forgotten that. Now that I know the history of Matchless amps, it must have been an early Matchless DC-30 amplifier. I dont know how the hell a high school kid would have had one back then. It probably makes sense that I even remember it having a spotlight on it, because the Matchless nameplate would have been lit up that was the signature Matchless look. I remember the amazing rock crunch of power chords. The cut it had through the other instruments and the auditorium. And I fell in love with the sound. I promised myself that Id teach myself to play guitar so I could hook up and sound like that. And I did. But thats another story!