Matamp Chino 112 Combo

My Chino was made in in Feb 2008. I like to use my gear for a bit before reviewing it.

It's a low gain, single channel, non-master vol 1x12 (Celestion Hot 100), 15watt combo with f/x loop, reverb, presence, treble, mid and bass, voice switch with five or six settings which increase the gain and bass as you move up through each setting (great for matching vols when switching between hummers and singles) and a normal/bright switch. There is no standby switch. Valves are 2 6L6 power amp valves. There are no pre-amp valves in this thing. There are extra speaker outs rated at different impedances.

As you can see, it's an old-school type baby with a couple of modern touches.

The free custom options are really good. I got mine in purple levant (which Jeff at Matamp says they can't get any more since it's not made anymore. He reckons that purple matamps are now collectable because of this. This means not a jot to me because I'm not for selling Chino, ever!). You can have any standard Celestion you like at no extra cost but Heritage series, blues etc are upcharged. You can also have your choice of logo design. I went for the classic 'cinemascope' type one in black and white. Grill covering is also a choice. There really are a myriad of options to choose from.

Mostly using it with hummers with the odd coil tap. I reckon the bright/normal switch gives you a choice of fendery/voxy type cleans but this is really simplifying things. It???s a lot more complex than that. I tend to leave it on Normal but, used with the eq and voice switch, it can give you a real flexible range of tones.

In our covers band, we play soul, funk, thrash, classic metal, rock & roll, blues, ska (we have an eclectic setlist!). With my dirt coming from pedals (I use a Blackstar HT-Dual, a Rangemaster clone and CAE Line Driver), I can get every tone I need.

It can be slightly noisy (when not playing the guitar) when hitting with a load of filth from the dirt pedals but when you're playing, it's cool though if you do have a high gain pedal going into it and you have the amp vol turned well up, you'll get feedback. We mic our amps so this isn't a problem for me.

Loud, loud, loud, man this thing is LOUD with tons of clean headroom. Matamp rate their amps before distortion which means that you get 15w of clean power. Seriously, I've owned a Laney LC15R and this thing just eats it, EATS it I tell you. Loudest 15watter I've every heard. With hummers, it stays clean until you get to one oclock on vol. For me, thats when the breakup starts. Open the tap all the way and you get the loveliest classic rock tone - lordy lordy. Incredible tone! Back off the guitar vol or ease up on the pick and it cleans up really well. Your picking has to be good though - there is nowhere to hide on this thing and sloppy picking will be heard with clarity (you know what I mean).

Be warned though, this is no bedroom amp. It will easily heard over a loud drummer, though your headroom might suffer a bit. When I use this at home and I crank it all the way, I HAVE to use ear plugs (musicians ear plugs, that is. The tone doesn't suffer much at all).

Like I alluded to above, for heavy rock, metal etc, you need a pedal but this does classic rock and the chimmiest, warmest cleans like nobody's business.

I've only had it ten months so this is hard to rate. I can tell you, though, that the cab is built properly, solid as a rock, with ultra accurate joins. I wouldn't like to drop any of my amps but I reckon that if I did it to this one, it would just smile sweetly at me.

If you gig without a backup, you're just stupid.

Along with Gordon Smith Guitars, Matamp are my favs to deal with. Really generous with their time and they will guide you through the process of choosing and ordering with patience, grace and friendliness. Top notch stuff from a top notch company. Unbeatable.

Playing for 20 years, owned and own tons of stuff. Good luck to the pigdog who tries to run off down the road with this thing - it's also the heaviest 'small' map I've ever had to lift. I would get another in a flash if I needed it. I love its range of tones, its boutique vibe, its individuality, the fact that it's a little different to what you normally see on a stage. There's nothing I hate about it although a 'half-power' switch would be a good mod or feature to request so that you could get that lovely poweramp squashiness at a vol thats a bit easier to live with and an easier way to replace the valves. It looks like you have to slide the head out of the enclosure to get at them properly but even this
doesn't seem like that much of a hassle. It's a lot easier to do than it sounds.

Boutique british, hand-built, custom amp for this kind of money? YES!

This review is based on a recent visit to the Matamp factory where I was able to extensively test this amp. Added to the Matamp range late 2005 this is a clean players dream.

The Chino is a low gain non master volume amp rated at 15 (clean) watts. The example model was running 2xEL34s through a Celestion G12M Greenback speaker at 8ohms. It is a single channel amp featuring Presence, Treble, Middle, Bass, Reverb, Volume and Voice controls. This last one changes out various capacitors much like a varitone on a Gibson guitar and is handy for using guitars with varying pickup types. The reverb is footswitchable and the amp also includes an FX loop and a 'bright' switch on the rear of the amp chassis. There is a recording out jack that is similar to the Matamp C7/First Lady amplifier for direct recording.

I tried this amp with my guitar and pedalboard which is a Gibson Nighthawk through a EHX Double Muff, Maxon CP101 Compressor and Diamond Memory Lane analog delay. I play anything from modern rock to blues and clean styles.

This amp sounds absolutely beautiful. It is a clean amp through and though so don't be expecting large helpings of overdrive, this is low gain and is the amps ace in my opinion. The reverb is lush and produces those clean tones Matamp is famous for...I found it very hard to switch it off! For bluesy jazz tones this amp delivers in spades and it also takes to pedals really well. When I kicked in my high gain fuzz the sound through the amp was HUGE! No muddiness or flabby response, the amp responded without any reduction in tone or performance. Back to clean and analog delay and some U2 80s style playing and I was away! I love this amp!

The bright switch on the back of the amp boosted the perceived volume of the amp noticeably and whilst sounded great for its function I preferred the overall tone when this feature was bypassed.

The build quality is flawless, everything is hand made and super easy to service. The components used are rated a great deal higher than their use, cabinets are constructed from 13 lamination birch ply. Point to point wiring with a Matamp designed turret track system that utilise pcb tracers instead of old style wires which improves reliability greatly. Gold allow posts, then gold plated mean solder takes really well with dry joints virtually impossible.

To visit the factory and talk to the people behind the amps, spend the day with them and be treated to amazing hospitality is something else. Jeff Lewis, his wife Liz, Dave Green and all the guys there are always courteous and willing to help and answer questions all day long. Never have I experienced the honesty and attention to customer care. I heartily recommend anyone interested in one of their amps to drop them a line, you won't be disappointed. They know what they're talking about and are building possibly the finest amplifiers and cabinets on the planet.

I own two Matamps currently, a 1224 and a C7 and both are brilliant amps in there own right. The Chino is yet another quality addition to the range and I would be surprised if it didn't become one of Matamps best sellers!

I stand by this company through and through, they produce great quality product at amazing prices and will go out of their way to make sure you get the amp you want.