Matchless Cool Box

Attached plug, 1 chickhead volume knob, 1 chickhead tone knob, thats it!:) Doesn't get much more easy than that, just plug in and play.

I'm using a Sansamp GT2, a Vox pathfinder 10, a Gibson custom ES339 with classic '57's and a custom Difiance Seraph with Dimarzio HB's. That's it. With either guitar, just the 2 pedals and a practice amp with a line out, I have portability, tube warmth (supplied by the matchless coolbox), crunch, fat bottom, fullness (supplied by the warmth of the matchless coolbox), crystal clear cleans, ability to line out direct to recording console and get the same sound, or line out direct to a PA system and get a wall of sound:) The Matchless Coolbox being the preamp and first pedal I plug my axe directly into, is virtually quiet and is really the catalyst of producing my sound.

It's built like a tank, and even if they still made them, there's no need for a backup.

This doesn't really apply anymore as they've gone outta business after making these pedals, and now that they're back in business, they don't make them anymore. Not enough demand perhaps. There's no reason to upgrade, if you ever think that for any piece of equipment, why the hell did you buy it in the first place! It's so well built, it'll probably never need to be repaired, but in the event it needed to be, I'm sure the new people working at matchless would have some help for you.

I've been playing for over 30 years now, I primarily play blues, rock, hard rock and funk. I've been through countless guitars, amps and pedals, from solid state to boutique tube, and from nonames to customs. Due to a couple injuries, I really got tired of lugging big behemoth rigs around, and was totally trying to build the mobile sound that could be played in an apartment, or mic'd or lined out to a console or PA. As with all players sound, it's a combination of the guitar, the cord, the pedals (if any), and the amp, but most of all the player. If you gave a piece of crap, plugged into another piece of crap to an accomplished player, chances are they would make it sing, whereas if you put a highend custom/boutique setup in the hands of a novice, the whole thing would sound like crap. As for me, after all these years of searching for "that" sound, I can honestly and thankfully say that the Matchless Coolbox Tube Preamp Pedal is a big part of that:)

Simple to use. Two knobs-volume and tone. Dosen't get any easier than that.

I am using this pedal to slam the front end of my Marshall heads(JCM 800 and DSL 50) along with an eq pedal. Its not noisy until you crank the volume to 10 but even at that setting, its not that noisy-barely noticable. This pedal is pretty subtle but it will make your sound fuller and more cutting. The best thing that it does is it completely saturates the sound. My DSL on high gain settings with the Cool Box is the best live sound I have ever achieved and it sounds more like a Soldano with this pedal. It has a 12ax7 tube in it which contributes to the tone as well as high quality components and skilled wiring. Mine came with a Sovtek tube in it so I changed it to a Brimar ecc83 tube and it made a noticable difference in the output and gain. This pedal will make your favorite amp sound that much better.

Built like a tank. Its solid chassis looks like it will withstand years and years of use. You definitely don't need a backup. I got it used so I don't know how many users it had but it was in good shape and will stay that way.

Don't know if this would apply. The company went out of business but supposedly they are going to start making products again soon. For now, customer support dosen't exist.

This pedal is perfect if you want to push your sound over the top. Saturates the sound, both clean and distorted, and adds hardly any noise. Increases harmonics and touch sensitivity to your guitar and each note played sounds clear and articulate. This pedal is the best sounding, although subtle, pedal I have ever heard. Only drawback being its extremely high price. I think it could be sold for a hundred dollars less but I guess thats what you pay for the absolute best.

simple to use clean boost. it has two chickenhead knobs - volume and tone. the cool box looks like the more common hotbox with the light up matchless logo on the front. the top labels for volume and tone also illuminate. the unit powers up when plugged in with the heavy duty cord (no wall wart). there is a red indicator on top. unfortunately it is hard to tell when it is lit since the internal lamps make it glow all the time. it does get brighter when engaged but its hard to tell. the inside displays neat point to point wiring, quality components and a 12ax7 tube.

this is a magic box. it will take a very average amp and make it sound incredible. it will improve the clean sounds of almost any amp. a small solid state fender will come alive and have great clean tones. the cool box adds much of the tubey warmth and compression that have made matchless amps so sought after.

the cool box also sounds great with distorted sounds. greatly improved the sound of a mesa nomad. the additional tube stage adds some noise but its worth it. this pedals can be used in an effects loop with similar results with less noise.

another great application is to use it for lead boost. the tone control works great and can fatten up single note leads while boosting gain.

this pedal will also slam the input stage of old tube amps to create distortion although i haven't used it do this.

btw - to improve your sound try alessandro high end pro2 guitar cables. you will be amazed at the improvement in dynamics and frequency response and the loss of unwanted distortion (you probably won't be aware until you try these against your old cables).

i haven't used this pedal enought to comment.

Matchless is building amps again. it remains to be seen whether the new company will try to help out the old customers?

this is a pretty expensive clean boost. for this reason, i don't think it sold well. i doubt there are many out there. (note that the vibro box has the same volume and tone circuit which can not be bypassed.) as you can tell from my comments above, i'm a believer!