Electro-Harmonix Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special 112 Combo

Firstly, I had to leave a review after I read the guy belows review, he must be tone deaf or not understand way to set this amp up. I also had a Peavey 50 back in the day and this amp kicks it's ass.

The bite, tone and volume control are quite interactive and remind me of a Dr Z Carmen Ghia that I used to have (in fact this amp can sound almost 100% the same on the right settings) and I set it up in the same tonal configuration, tone on 4, bite on 4, volume wherever.

The Phase Shifter is a 70s circuit Small Stone! It could not be a better phaser. The speaker is a 1x12 Celestion Greenback G12M speaker! A class act all the way!

Sounds! I cannot imagine a better solid state amp exists, it sounds just like a Dr Z Carmen Ghia but with a vintage small stone built in! Unbelievable mojo! I have had this amp for years now and it constantly surprises me with new sounds.

Stays fairly clean until the volume goes up and then has lovely breakup. I run a Sansamp Classic into it for overdrive/distortion tones and it sounds much much better than a Top Hat Club Royale that I used to have and that was my favorite amp of all time until I heard the tones I was getting from this thing. Fact.

The built in small stone is a thing of beauty, everything you've ever wanted in a phaser, read a review of a small stone vintage to find out about it because it's the same circuit. Also this amp is dead quiet with the small stone on or off, no hum at all.

No problems at all in 35 years, i'd say that was pretty reliable! The guy who owned it before me bought it new in the early 70s and never had a problem. The build quality is top notch so I don't ever see myself needing a repair. Also, the parts are simple to replace if it does.

Love EHX, phoned up once and talked to Mike about a Big Muff I had backed my car over (long story) and he sent me a new footswitch for free!

EHX are one of those companies that don't just copy other people all the time, they come up with their own ways of doing sounds. This amp is the best amp I have owned and I will never sell it, it does in the grave with me!

If you see one buy it immediately, it will change your life.

made in the 70"s
Not that versatile. 1 channel amp.
It's good for what it is. Not a lot of power it"a good practice amp.
I don"t realley use that much.
It sounds like a solid state amp, cause thats what it is.

I play a gibson les paul,1978 model standard.
Also play a late 80"s fender Tele.
Dosen"t have that much headroom compared to most amps used for a real gig. It has to be miked.
I really don"t get the way high ratings for these amps.Remember it is a Solid State amp. It's just not the case. Iv'e been playing for around 25 yrs. and played a few of these other than mine, they all sounded the same to me.
It is NOT a High Gain amp.
I play a peavey classic 50 tweed combo i bought new in 92 and there is NO comparison in sound. With top quality tubes the peavey is hard to beat for classic rock and country. I can play anything gig with the peavey.Sorry to be so boring but the Tone is what it"s all about.

Still works good except for the phase dosen"t work anymore.

Don"t know. It's old.

Again iv'e been playing for around 25 yrs. Graduated from GIT in the 80"s so I been around the block a few times.
I don't love the Dirt Road but I do love to play.
To me this just another way overated amp. But i will keep mine since iv'e had it so long.I sold my 51 Tele and my 2 61 Gibson sg"s and regretted it ever since.

This is a blackface Mike Matthews combo. One channel, solid state, 1x12 Celestion speaker. Has vol, tone and bite control and a built in Small Stone Phaser. That's it. No features at all, but that's the idea. Simplexity!
This thing has tone, tone, tone. And it's loud and very responsive. You can't belive it's solid state. Very lightweight, very compact, easy to carry in one hand, guitar in the other. Great for playing tiny clubs. Loud enough to make the drummer cry. Placement of the amp is critical, will sound like shit if it's not on the floor!
Not very much clean headroom but okay. with the bite and the volume cranked up it will give good crunch and mild distortion. Put pedals or multieffects before it and you have it all. Footswitch for the small stone would be cool, also a speaker jack. But what the heck! This is too much fun to miss it. If you see one, buy one!

See above. It's an amazing piece of an amp. Play it and people will start looking for where the tone comes from. Gigable!

Nothing in there so nothing can break down. Built like a tank.

Haven't dealt with them.

Fuckin' steal on ebay. If you see one, buy one. Getting vintage and not many people seem to know what this thing can do. Get one if you can. I usually play Fender Tube Amps.
Lost or stolen? Please!

1970 Freedom/Dirt Road Special Amp. Killer little amp. I had a friend who has one and when I heard it, I had to find one too. Extremely tube like in it's tone and feel. If you were blind-folded most wouldn't be able to to tell it wasn't. Very simple, one channel, one tone and a 'bite' control. Kind of like a presence control. It also has a electro-harmomic small-stone phazer built-in. Sounds like my old MXR Phaze 90. Very cool!!! About 25 watts, but sounds louder than that to me.

I give it a 8 in this catagory, but only because it's a single channel amp, not because it lacks tone, that's for sure!

Both Single coils and HBer's sound equally great through it. I play mostly HBer's and it's big, fat and powerful! The speaker is a real Celestion Greenback G12M. That was a surprise when I opened the back. How cool is that! Goes from fairly loud clean to a monster crunch that has to be heard to be believed comes out of this tiny box. I've taken it out to open jam nights and complety blown people away. Everytime some one comes up to me and asks what the heck is that amp! Note: it does get a little noisy when totally cranked, but what amp doesn't?

I give it an 11 in this category.

After opening it up, it's not build to military spec - haha! It looks a bit light-weight. But the whole amp is only about 20 lbs. I would handle it with a bit more care than most amps. But, who cares, when it sounds this good. If it hasn't broken in 35 years, I guess that says something for it.

9 for still working perfectly for over 35 years.

Bought it used. It's over 35 years old. I guess if It broke, Maybe somebody could fix it. It's pretty basic under the hood.

No opinion on support.

Been playing for over 35 years. I currently own a Victorilux 3x10, Gabriel Sound Garage Voxer head, 2204 Marshall 50 watt head and Avatar 2 x 12" cab. Covers all my bases. This Mike Matthews is my perfect 'Jam Night' amp. Light, Loud and Crunchy! Plus, it's a gas to surprise people when they hear it.

If this amp was stolen, I would definitely search out another. But, they are really hard to find. It took me about a year to find one.

Overall, it gets a 10 for the cool factor alone.

The EH 12AX7EH is a great new preamp tube, especially for under $10.00. I slowly replaced all of my aging Fender 12AX7/7025s in both my 1982 Deluxe Reverb II and my 1977 Princeton amps. My tubes were packaged as Peavey tubes, but were clearly stenciled EH with the face logo and the EH name.

These tubes sound great in the Princeton. I often get compliments on the great tone coming out of such a small package. The sound is round, full, with complexity and chime. Every 12AX7EH tube that I have installed has all been very quiet with virtually no microphonic pops, hisses, or crackling. I have ventured into more expensive NOS preamp tubes, but these are such a deal you can hardly pass on them. On my Deluxe Reverb II, I pulled the 12AX7EH out of V1 and replaced it with a lower gain 6071 GE NOS tube. This was a nice swap and gave me some head room and nice chime. On V2 I installed a 12AU7 which tamed the high gain channel giving me more useful range on my high gain volume knob. Now everything from 1 to 10 is usable. With the 12AX7 anything after 5 or 6 was too much gain and grainy. The EH 12AX7EH is much smoother than the Sovtek 12AX7WA or LPS. I like the sound of these tubes even though I am running some lower gain tubes on my Deluxe. NOS tubes are better, but mostly due to their longer life span. If you have a great amp then these EHs will serve you just fine. If you can fine and afford Telefunkens or RCAs, go for it. But how much more tone will you actually get over these quiet budget tubes to justify the triple digit price tag? Add the rest of the band to the mix and will anyone really be able to hear the RCAs or Telefunkens over everything blasting and filling the room? I doubt it. These are toneful and a very fair price. They seem to be lasting for me and provide serious tone.

They are holding up and I move my amps back and forth to the gig two to three times a week. Always have a spare on hand just in case. They won't last or remain quiet for ever.

I don't speak Russian or wouldn't know where to begin for support. I guess there is infor on the EH web site. EH is a great company making real equipment for musicians. The stuff I have used made by them holds up well so CS is not really a big deal.

Quiet, great tone, cheap as peanuts. What else do you want from a tube. No, they aren't NOS, but if they sound good they are good. Go get some and keep them warm often.

Great sounding amp, warm and bluesy. I have 2 of these amps, both silver face from the early 70's. Single channel, very basic amp, very compact and portable, a small amplifier with a larger than life sound. I'm giving a 7 rating for features ........... only one channel, no effects loop, etc., but the built in Small Stone does sound good. I agree with the other reviewers on the power of this amp, sounds as loud as most 50 watt units.

I use both single coil and humbucker equipped guitars and both sound great with these amps. The Celestion Greenback 12" is a perfect match for this amp. Mike Matthews had the sole Celestion distribution rights in the U.S. at the time, and I think he designed this amp around the sound of the Greenbacks. The amp is a closed backed tuned cabinet just slightly larger than the 12" speaker.
If you like the sound of blues, you'll love the sound of this amp.

I have 2 of these amps, but still would have enough trust in the reliability to gig without a backup if it came to it. The first Dirt Road Special was purchased from a pawn shop for $65.00 about 20 years ago, last year I was lucky enough to find the second one in a local music store for $160.00. I have never had a problem with either of these amps.

Customer support no longer available, but I want to make everyone aware that a complete schematic (includes small stone) is listed on the ronsound (ronsound.com) website for only $2.00

I play a 70's Peavey Milestone solid body, a good sounding 335 copy, a 1960's Gibson 330 thin hollow body, and a accoustic/electric dreadnaught. They all sound great thru this amp.
As I've stated above ........... a complete schematic can be purchased at ronsound.com for only $2.00

Made around 77 bought mine in 78 for 235 dollars. Best money I ever spent. Very loud clean amp with bite. I do not use the small stone phaser cause its noisy but its fun to play with. Currently use this amp in church with a Roland GP-16 processor for effects. Les Paul,strat,even acoustic sound great thru this amp.

Only one channel but thats fine. The tone is there and you can get just about any sound you need from this small 12 inch celestion speaker. Twenty-five watts sounds more like fifty.

MIne broke around 1980. The tech told me the op-amp overheated and fried. A replacement IC was available from I believe Radio Shack at the time and this was installed with a heat sink socket. Never had a problem since. A fellow picker had the same problem with his MM and also blew the big capacitor thats screwed to the side of the case

These amps used high quality parts but were not assembled with great care.Could be why electro-harmonix did not make it.

This was the first good amp I ever had and still have. I also use a Music Man HD130 but really like the DR special for its portability. If it were stolen I would find another but I would be upset. Our church was brken into. Guitars, keyboards, computers,but they passed on my little amp. They did not know what it was! Good for me.

Only a few elements, but who needs more?
4 Knobs(typical EH style) and 3 switches(heavy duty!).
one knob to control the built in small stone phaser(and 2 switches for phaser in and out and colour)
-volume,-tone,bite(presence)
-powerswitch,-input jack
the amp contains a celestion greenback speaker(25 or 30 watts)
i don't know exactly, but the "felt weight" is around 7-10 kilos.

this amp sound like a tube amp!
and it's loud! you can play "against" an old fender tube amp around 40-50 watts.(I saw real tube fans crying,when listening this amp)
the tone control has an variety between very fat and smooth to an agressive treble sound. in the fat mode you can play basslines on a lespaul guitar!
in higher volume settings you get a very dynamic overdrive sound easy to control by guitar volume or picking intensivity.a perfect blus amp.
when adding some bite(over 5)you don't need a hairdresser anymore. just pick a telecaster. also with a gibson les paul you get a very straight into the face rockn'roll punk sound.add some delay by a stomp box and you get the real dead kennedys sound! about the small stone phaser, everything's been said. i've never heard such a fat funky sound. and the dirtroadspecial is very small!
this amp is a real allround tool,when you need only medium distorted or fat clean sounds. for harder stuff you should use a fucking modern high gain amp.

the amp is very rare (in europe i've never seen one before). so it's very hard to get a backup.
but the amp is very tough. even if you play it on maximum volume it doesn't break down. you can use it as a session-combo for bass-playing. the speaker is the only critical part. maybe it is better to use a 12"speaker with a better bass frequency or higher performance rates.
my amp broke down,when used with high boosted distortion pedals.
But i think it sound the best when used with amp distortion.

In my amp the small stone didn't work when i bought it.It is easy to repair by technicians. because it's a very rare amp, every euro or dollar's been invested good in an expert.the amp uses very common parts. when my amp broke down, only a few elkos have to be replaced.

this amp was a very good deal. i bought it on a rag fair from an old russian lady in germany for 70Deutsche mark(35 Dollars/Euros). when i search for another in the internet I was very shocked about the prices in the US. I saw offers between 250$us-900$us!!!
in europe these amps are very rare. for 250-350$us I would say you make a fair deal. everything above is a vintage "let's rip off a blue eyed musician"-price for collectors. so you have to think about, because you come into areas where you can get a tube amp around 15-30 watts.(even this amps do not have a built in small stone).
on the other hand you get a really rugged piece of solidstate amp technologie of the 70s which SOUNDS GREAT.you see this amp is not to describe in rational categories. when you see on for a good price buy it. you won't regret.

This amp was manufactured in the late 1970's in New York by Electro-Harmonix and Mike Matthews. It has only one channel, and a built in Phaser, how cool is that? This amp has only about 15-35 watts. I've heard 25 to be about the best estimate. It sounds more like 50

This amp sounds better than any I've ever played. It responds very well with distortion, and it has good clean tones. It will make your humbuckers come alive. It's not terribly noisy (solid state), except when the "bite" (aural enhancer?) knob is all the way up. Even then, the noise is definately not a factor. This amp sounds great, and the phaser is built into the circuitry, so it's a very lush phase!

A tank. Would use without backup. I bought it from a guy who had had it for over 10 years. These things never die, and if they do, its nice to know that its something fixable and not some digital garbage.

This amp is the best thing that has ever happened to my guitar playing. I plan on using it on stage (why buy a huge stack when you never have the volume over 3?), and I will definately record with it! Its a very versitile amp that makes my neighbors wish I had learned the harmonica. It would be great if Electro-Harmonix did a reissue, although I doubt they will any time soon. This amp is a keeper, do not sell it for under $200, and buy it if it is anything less than $300. I'm sure it is worth much more to collectors (it's a botique amp, and its versitile). I've even used it with bass with good results. Put simply, it's one of the most overlooked pieces of genius to come out of the 70's. Get your hands on one.

1979, I think. It is a "silverface" which I believe is "older" than the "blackface" models. Not many made, 1976-1978?. First production amp with built in effects? Solid State. No tubes. One IC. Sure as hell sounds like tubes. Super versatile with right distortion pedal. Single channel. Built in EH Small Stone Phaser, On, Off, Color and Rate. But no footswitching capabilities. No external speaker jack, reverb, or efx loop. Who cares? Never use the Small Stone live cause it pops loudly if you switch it on at volume. Sounds very sweet for recording though. Probably excellent for a "spacey" band. It also features a "Bite" knob. This is not a overdrive or distortion feature. It is similiar to a presence or contour control but it realy adds midrange and treble. Similiar to a good sounding "bright" switch on a Fender except you can adjust it to taste. I usually leave it at 7. I use it regularly for gigs. Super LOUD. 20 watts my ass. It's as loud as my Marshall JCM 800 4010 50watt combo. No Shit! 1x12 Celestion Greenback, G-12M-25. Apparently Electro-Harmonix was the only USA Celestion dealer at the time. Until the Teamsters ran them out of the US and into Sovtek. Tiny. Slighty bigger than the 12" speaker. Weighs about 18lbs. Loud. Loud. Loud! Warm. Warm. Warm! Tone. Tone. Tone!

I've played Strats and Gibson humbuckers through it. Main axe is a Gibson Explorer. Sounds warmer than most tube amps and bigger than any 1x12 combo, tube or Randall, I've ever heard!

It suits any style of music except detuned bass heavey numetal crap.

It is not noisy compared to tube amps. It is warmer than most tube amps I've owned and played. My wife, who knows nothing about tone, she said "Wow, It sounds warm".

By itself, it's the best vintage Fender clean tone you've ever heard. Volume all the way up. Clean and warm. Warm! I couldn't believe it.

I use an original late 1970's MXR Distortion + (bought from older Brother in Law) for distortion sounds. Perfect 70's Marshall tone, including singing harmonics and controllable feedback. I tried my late 1970's Boss OD-1 with this amp but it did not sound good. Too bright and scratchty.

My current band's other guitarist is a Fender buff. He was pissed that my amp sounded like a better Fender than any he had played or owned. I am happy cause it sounds like a huge Marshall cutting through the mix better than any Marshall I've ever owned (with the vintage MXR Distortion +).

Amps always sound different between live and recorded. Or live with a band and playing by yourself in your bedroom. This amp sounds like a huge recorded Marshall or Fender, LIVE with a band. Not an easy trick.

My band finally said "Yes, that sounds good!" after I spend much money and time playing through many Fender and Marhsall amps. I've bought many amps that sound great at home but sound like shit with the band. This amp sounds great with both. And it weighs 18lbs!

You can get SRV, Steve Jones, to Randy Rhoads no problem. Amazing amp.


I use it for small to medium gigs unmiked. Volume at 2.5 for small gigs(50-75 people). Volume at 7 for medium(150 people) gigs. Big gigs(200+) it needs miked.

Best sounding all around amp I've ever played. But I don't play Nu-Metal.

So far, so good. I carry a Tech21 GT2 for direct PA backup if it fails.

No Custumer Service at this point. but not many parts. A good tech could fix it.

Best Amp I've ever owned. I've played 15 years in various bands. This would suit all except Nu-Metal detuned crap. Blues, Jazz, Country, Punk, Metal. Can't compare it to other amps cause nobody else has ever made anything so small but yet so loud and toneful. They seem to go from $325 to $890 at vintage guitar stores. Defintely worth any price up to $900. Only amp I'll ever play, or pay for again.

I like it better than my 1984 JCM 800 4010 combo, which is a great amp!

I was a tube snob until I played this amp. I can't believe EH has not released a reissue of this amp.