Matchless Brave 112 Combo

This is a review for a Matchless Brave made in 1999 or 2000 and purchased in 2001. This is one of the last models to roll off the line while Mark Sampson was still with the company. It is a single-channel 1x12 40w Class A amp: two EL-34's, two 12AX7's, a 5AR4 rectifier, and the usual 12" modded Celestion speaker labelled Matchless. The front control panel includes Lo and Hi inputs, Gain, Bass, Treble, Volume, and an on/off switch -- there is no standby switch. The Bass and Treble controls are very interactive. The back panel only contains the power socket, fuse, speaker jack, and an ext. speaker jack. The amp comes with an unlabelled A/B footswitch which allows switching between Lo and Hi inputs on the fly. Construction is bomb-proof with the correspondingly back breaking weight considering the 1x12 configuration. While the features seem incredibly basic, this was clearly the designer's intention and therefore the amp cannot be faulted for substantially "lacking" features. One feature that would have made it even better is an adjustable Mid control to tame some of the higher output middy humbuckers.

All told, the amp is very versatile and works beautifully in guitar-cable-amp mode for almost every musical style except for death metal. I've used it primarily in a blues/classic r&b/rock context and it excels in these applications.

The amp is a tone monster. Any type of guitar sounds terrific through it, although single coils and bright lower output HB's -- fenders, p-90s, filter'trons, PAF clones -- are particularly fabulous. It won't do scooped or fizzy death metal very well, but otherwise has to rank right up there with the great blues/rock/jazz/r&b amps. All the dynamics, sparkle, detail, cut, punch, fatness, grit, and sponginess are there in spades. If you like to control your tone with the guitar's volume and tone knobs rather than fiddling with the amp or pedals on the fly, this thing is worth tracking down. It eats teles and P90 equipped specials/juniors for breakfast -- I gig this amp regularly with the following vintage and current guitars with equally stunning results: '63 tele, '69 tele thinline, '72 tele, '64 strat, '57 LP special (singlecut), '59 LP special, '59 gretsch 6120, and a recent PRS SE soapbar II. On occasion, a 2002 r8 LP with timbuckers gets plugged in. More than enough clean headroom for the rhythm sound of doom, and a cinch to get the amp's "angry sting" with the control configuration.

Operationally, the amp is very quiet. Truly useable sounds at every setting on the control panel, although one had to be careful with some of the hotter humbuckers as the bass and mids can truly overwhelm and mush out at stage volumes. At the risk of being too simplistic and sounding overly cliched, the amp will nail an entire range of lead and rhythm tones from Robben Ford, SRV, Luther Allison, and Joe Bonamassa to the Stones, Steve Cropper, and the Funk Brothers thrown in. Tonally, it sits squarely in the Vox family with a bit of angry blackface thrown in. Piano string lows, punch, and detailed (but no harsh) highs in clean mode. Grit, singing mids, and sting in dirty mode.

Having said that, the one peculiarity with the amp is that the Lo input seems to operate at 1/3 the volume of the Hi, rendering it only practical for bedroom/practice use. So the inclusion of the A/B footswitch is a little weird -- hard to imagine a scenario where one would switch between bedroom and stage volume levels. I typically just go straight into the Hi input.

Matchless originally shipped these with Mesa/Svetlana EL34's, EH 12AX7's, and a Ruby 5AR4. After countless swapping, the amp sounds best with NOS brit glass: Mullards across the board. But Siemens EL34's, Amperex ECC83's/12AX7's, and a Philips Miniwatt 5AR4 are equally juicy.

Not one problem with the amp itself breaking down or fritzing out in five years. Absolutely dependable so far under moderate gigging scenarios. Not one fuse change. It does run hot, and despite that I've only gone through a pair of Mullards and am on a second pair of Siemens. That's probably as much a testament to the durability/quality of the NOS tubes as much as the amp itself. Even the lighted logo is fine..... so far.

I emailed Matchless for the first time two months ago since I bought the amp with questions regarding the Lo input. Considering that the amp is a discontinued model and never did ship with an owner's manual, their response was prompt, thorough, honest, and helpful.

Haven't had the need for repairs so I wouldn't know how the company would respond. So far, their response has been as good as can be expected. Maybe a point off for not including an owner's manual to begin with, but if one can't substantially figure how this amp works, there may be something seriously wrong -- and it might not be with the amp!

Playing for 27 years, the last 10 semi-professionally. If the amp were lost, I'd definitely try to track another down, but they seem exceedingly rare. There's lots to love about the amp, as detailed above.

Own guitars tested in the amp (in addition to that mentioned above):
'60 LP Special, '60 Gretsch 6120, '70 175D, '79 335TD, '80 335 Pro, '95 335 Dot RI, '72 LP Goldtop, '72 LP Custom, '99 LP Standard, '85 SG Standard, '62 Jazzmaster, '63 Jaguar, '95 CS Robert Cray Strat, '96 CS '54 Strat RI,

Own amps a/b'd and compared with the Brave:
'62 Brownface Pro, '63 White Tolex Bassman, '65 BF Pro Reverb, '59 Bassman RI, Kendrick 2410 (4x10 tweed bassman clone), Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod Deluxe, Peavey Delta Blues 2x10 (re-tubed and re-speakered), Kendrick 2112 (5e3 deluxe clone), UniValve (with all-Mullard EL34 and ECC83's) thru a Marshall 4x12 cab, Oahu JU22, Marshall JCM900 2x12 combo, '81 Twin Reverb, Vox AC30CC-1x12(borrowed), Marshall Bluesbreaker RI(borrowed), Mesa Studio Caliber(borrowed)

So I did compare it with other products..... but ended up buying them all! Horrible cases of GAS. Bottom line, the Brave compares favorably -- better than many, but basically just different than most.

The relevant indicator is that that the Brave (#1) and the '59 Bassman RI (#2) are my choices for gigging amps. They represent the best balance of great tone, versatility, and reliability -- the Brave being my first choice. I can't recommend this amp any more highly. It is a fabulous musical instrument.

A "9" because surely there is one better out there.