Matchless Chief

volume, bass mid treble, master vol, brilliance( presence ) and reverb. One channel no frills. And boys.. this is NOT a 100 watt amp. It is most likely a 60 - 70 watt amp. I dont thing you gat a 100 wats in a 4 el34 class A config. Notice the speakers are rated for 60 watts. Should have come with a fan installed. The amp cooks like spewing volcano. I put on in the cab and thigs are cooler now.

Amazing tone. This NOT a VOX. It is it's own animal, anyone that heard both the Vox and the Chief will never compare the two. There is a good spectrum of tones that you can achive by setting master vol and vol to diff levels. This thing stays clean very nicely. Amazing articulation of the guitar NO MUD!!!. and if want it you'll get sustain like you read about. It is extremly sensative. If you use no effects and use the vol pot on your guitar between lead and rythym tones you will LOVE this amp!

The standard. This one is from 98. The workmanship and details are almost not to be believed. I build and fix amps. I got this to see what all the fuss is about. I dont think I would have it in me to build someting like this. No corners were cut! NONE. Besides all top grade components and incredible layout scheme and unreal soldering technique... the tube sockets are floating!!!.

As I said I need to check out how this thing was built and learn from it. But guess what? now it is my main gig amp. the tone is just too good. It is HEAVY! but it is worth its wheight in tone.

This is a follow-up to my previous post. It concerns the "New Matchless Amp Company's" blatant disinterest in anything to do with the older models, unless they can turn a buck. I had a couple of important questions about my amp so I e-mailed the new company.... never heard back, so I tried again... still nothing! WTF! I tried BadCat amps, and got immediate courteous responses on a product they don't even produce (BadCat is essentially the prolific continuation of the great Matchless heritage). I would personally feel more comfortable purchasing a BadCat, because I know these guys fully support their products-and then some! They have gone beyond their scope of obligation and helped me solve a critical issue. Already, I find myself eyeballing the HotCat Class A 1/12 30watter as an eventual replacement for my Matchless combo. Good work Guys! The people at BadCat amps really know what customer service is all about, and that produces a confidence level and repoire that sells amps and creates customer loyalty!!! You guys simply ROCK!!!

See other reviews. Main features are Vox AC30 tones, hand wired point to point, crushing volumes with delicate articulation. These babies exude quality, style, and tone. Overdrive and distortion pedals provide additional amp tones, ie, marshall, mesa, fender.

I use Strats and Teles and achieve amazing Vox and classic Matchless sounds through this tone machine. Tons of clean headroom! It's 100watts in class A damn it! Think AC100, but more chimey. I have never heard 4 EL34s sound so British (Voxy). It sounds better than my wimpy EL84 amps, all of which I have sold after this acquisition. Once you hear the Class A EL 34 Chief, you're sure to abandon your Vox. I'm sure there are plexi tones waiting to be unleashed once I crank it. Also, I rewired the speakers into 16ohms (series) and set the ohms selector to 16 ohms, because there's a distinct sweet tone in the 16 ohm mode. Sounds more compressed and articulate than the standard 4 ohm setting (more harsh and dark), plus I can plug in a 16 ohm cab and switch the selector to 8 ohms.

Class A point to point. Keep a matched quad of EL34s on hand, and show this noble warrior the respect and care it deserves, otherwise, his braves will scalp your balls. He is the Chief so don't fuck with him. Built like a tank. I am, however, concerned with the matchless speakers which indicate 30watts each at 8ohms. What were they thinking?

Try the guys at Bad Cat Amps. They're the new generation Matchless geniuses and sometimes graciously answer questions. They can also service your Matchless. Then again, any competent tech will love to fix your amp.

I've been obsessed with Class A amps since 2000. I've owned Tophat, Vox, Bedrock, Marshall, Fender, and other less desirable amps, but this amp is like an AC30 on growth hormones. If it were stolen, I'd crush the skull of the perp with it's 90 pound girth, and tell the story to my cellmates with a chuckle, and a caveat. The Chief is an incredible amp!!! Screw the handwired AC30 and Tophat hype. Own a piece of history! Invest in a Matchless!

Just what I need - no more. One channel, lots of tone!

AWESOME!!! I've owned about every great amp made. Fenders, Marshalls, Mesa Boogie, you name it - vintage and new. This amp blows them ALL away, hands down. I never used to think an amp was an instrument in itself - most amps I've used in the past - including old blackface Fenders - simply amplified the guitar. This amp gives you TONE that will make you cry!!!

Built like a sherman tank. But costs way to much to abuse. I guess there will be a few around for a while.

NADA. Company out of business. Have to wonder, how could a company making a product this good go out of business??? They must have been good at building amps but lousy at running the company. A former Matchless dealer told me that there were actually 2 owners who sold the company, then bought it back, then got into an argument (maybe over a woman or something), then drove the company into ruins and out of business. Too bad - should have dumped that woman and kept making amps.

Great amp. I now own 2 matchless amps and 1 Mesa Mark IV Combo. I bought this one used, but it was actually still in the box and had never been played. Sorry to say, but the Mark IV may be looking for a new home soon if I find another Matchless to add to my collection.

barebones, as I know going into this, but thats the nature of this beast.One channel.

I've never submitted a review, but discovered, & used this site extensively to research some choices to play my guitars thru-(brian moore, godin and fender). Wishing to explore other tones, to better my marshall valvestate 265 & fender Ultimate chorus; I intially decided to investigate top hat (& maybe bogner, egnator, Dr.Z, etc). In fact, I only "accidentally" found out about this "genre" of amps thru this site, reviewing a "lesser" type amp. I had ruled out MATCHLESS (I thought) because they went out of business).
SO, I'm in NYC, decide to stop in 30 st. guitars. I try a coupla' Top Hats. Yeah. REAl nice. Then, I say,"Just for fun, let's try that burgandy Matcless chief 2X12 combo".
HOLY S*IT. Hold the phone.I'm speechless. And I don't even take delivery until next week! HA! I'ts MINE. STAY BACK! BACK!

I'll bring a backup. (It's all tube!) But-what can go wrong? Hand wired! Tubes!

Who gives a shit? this sounds great! (They're outa business anyway)

If you ever have a chance to play a MATCHLESS -go for it.

The Chief is an all-tube, handwired 100 watt single channel Class A amp driven by 4 El-34's. It has master reverb, briliance, volume, bass, mid, treble, and master volume controls on the front panel. The back panel has an ohms selector (4, 8, or 16), an auxiliary speaker jack, and an effects loop. The model I ordered came with a black cabinet, burgundy panel, and gold grille cloth. Very sharp looking! The backlit nameplate is really impressive also. I play in a blues influenced straight-ahead rock band. There is definitely more than enough volume to play with on this amp. The tone contols are very actice and help when dialing in different sounds. As far as versatility, I think this amp could be used for anything from country to hard rock, but probably not best suited for metal.

I play a Carvin DC-400 guitar through it and get a great sound through the humbuckers. I also play a single coil strat copy through it and also get a very nice and tight sound. This amp can achieve a vintage style distortion when the volume is cranked and the master is at a lower setting than the volume. The distortion is reminiscent of an old Marshall JTM45. There is very little noise present during operation other than maybe a little hum. This is one very sensitive amp. The Class A circuitry produces a very responsive tone to the attack of the player. Overall, this amp suits my style very well. I use a Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS-9) in front of it for overdrive and a Boss DS-1 for distortion, What a sweet tone!

This thing is the best built amp I've ever seen. It literally is built like a tank. I can see great attention to detail in the craftsmanship of this amp. I would be willing to gig without a backup with this amp. I must say that this is one heavy amp! It weighs in the neighborhood of 90+ pounds which makes moving it a challenge. I have a road case for it (protect the investment!) which makes team-lifting it easier. As far as reliability, the only thing that has happened to it since I bought it is that it cooked a set of output tubes. The tech at the store I bought it said that it was normal to have to replace output tubes about three or four times a year for this type of amp. This baby does run hot also! In other words, be prepared to throw some $$$ into tubes if you pick one of these babies up. But I think it's a small price to pay for that gorgeous tone.

I called the company with a few general questions after I took it home. The tech i talked to on the phone was helpful and gave me the answers I needed. The Chief has a lifetime warranty exluding tubes and speakers. I took mine back to the store I purchased from (who is also a certified Matchless warranty repair station). Unfortunately I did have to fork over $70 for new tubes, since the old ones were cooked but not defective. The amp also came with a baggie of spare fuses, an extra knob, and a replacement lightbulb for the faceplate.

I have been playing for over 11 years. In the past I have owned Ampeg, Marshall, and Carvin amps. The Matchless is certainly in another dimension than these amps. Of course at $2500+ new, the Chief isn't really accessible to a budeget limited guitarist. I would say that it is a great investment, and probably one you wouldn't regret. Chances are after playing one of these amps you wouldn't need to get another one. Overall, I think it has excellent sound, a good reverb, great tonal variation, and excellent aesthetics and construction. Some downers are that it is really heavy and the fact that it may incur a lot of tube replacement costs down the road. If it was lost or stolen I would be really mad, but I would definitely get another one! I expect to be playing this in fornt of my grandkids someday (yeah right!) if there are still tubes floating around in the year 2039.