Matchless Skyliner Reverb

This is a Class A, 15-watt, EL84-powered beauty. It's one of the few actual production units from the Starliner Series that Matchless started producing just before they went out of business. (Amps from the Starliner Series, unlike other Matchless amps, incorporated channel-switching and a small amount of pc board construction to cut cost, but not tone.) I bought it new from Musician's Friend, and it came with two Sovtek EL84s, one Sovtek 12AX7 (for the reverb, I believe) and five Yugoslavian ECC83s (the British equivalent of a 12AX7). The rectifier is a Chinese GZ34. It features two Matchless 10" speakers (I'm not sure if they're modified Celestions, as on their other models, but they've got the same "Matchless Modified" label as the others), and a three-spring reverb. Controls include: (Gain Channel) GAIN, BASS, MID, TREBLE, MASTER VOLUME; (Clean Channel) GAIN, BASS, TREBLE, MASTER VOLUME. There is also a single REVERB knob, which is for both channels. There's just one input. Unlike many 15-watters, though, this amp does include a bypass switch.. The rear panel features footswitch jacks for the reverb and channel selection (a groovy, heavy-duty dual footswitch with the MATCHLESS logo on it was included), effects send and return jacks for the series effects loop, and an extra speaker-out jack. Mine is finished in a classy black faux-leather covering, with a sparkly salt-and-pepper grill cloth.
I'm not sure ANY amp deserves a 10 for this category--if one did, it'd need separate 6V6, EL34, EL84, and 6L6 power amps, a few different sets of speakers, and several channels. However, that's never going to happen. For real-world expectations, I give this a 10. Of course, I wouldn't say this is the best amp ever--there are too many wonderful amps to ever give out such praise.
I use this amp to play hard rock, funk, blues, and country-ish stuff. When I want, I can even get metal tones. Personally, I view this amp as infinitely more versatile than any "tube-modeling" amp because it allows me to get unsurpassable tones--all the ones that I need. I'm not trying to dump on the modeling amps, but I don't think having 20 so-so impersonations of different tube amps is as versatile as having the 2-4 amazing sounds of one great tube amp. (How many guitar legends do you know that really used more than 2-4 basic sounds?) I guess what I'm saying is, for me, the most important thing is attaining my own voice; to that end, this amp's features rate a 10. If my goal was to play any cover song and cop the sound on the record, I'd give this amp a 6 or 7.

I'm using a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 through this beauty. For the styles I've listed above, this amp stomps. I think the only styles that this amp wouldn't handle as well as another would be death metal and sterile-clean fusion (ack!!!) The amp is a tad noisy at high gain/volume settings, but nothing terrible--certainly nothing that detracts from the glorious tones it emits. The noise is undetectable during play.
The clean channel can get down 'n' dirty at extreme settings. I keep that channel's gain set at 12 o'clock and crank the master. Doing that allows a pretty clean sound with enough grit to give it some nice character. The sounds in this channel range from the clean of, say, a Fender Deluxe, to the cranked spank of an AC30. Personally, I think this clean sounds kicks all over that of most Fenders--especially current production models. Not that I dislike Fenders, either. This amp just has so much personality. In fact, I'm selling my Twin reissue to help pay for this amp!
The dirty channel can really get raunchy. With the gain cranked and the master volume past 12 o'clock, you can get amazing, endless sustain and feedback. At this setting, you can also handle most any hard rock, and some metal duties. Most the time, though, I keep this channel's gain knob at around 11 o'clock?which is quite a bit dirtier than the same setting on the clean channel.
The most amazing thing about this amp is its sensitivity to picking dynamics. For instance, without adjustment of the guitar's volume knob, the clean channel allows you to go from glistening clean sounds to jangle, then grungy, needles-in-your-face edginess, just by altering your attack and picking technique. It's so eye opening to play an amp like this. I used to use a Hughes & Kettner Tubeman (w/12AX7) through my Twin. With that setup, I could get a wide variety of sounds very similar to the Matchless?as far as gain is concerned?but compared to the Matchless, the Twin/Tubeman setup just lacks a certain magical openness and clarity. It sounds neutered in comparison.
Using the neck humbucker in the clean channel, I can get thick, dirty blues sounds very similar to some of SRV's tones (granted, his single coils have a bit of a different character than PRS' Vintage HFS humbuckers). Some of my favorite settings come from using the series and parallel split coil settings on my Custom 24 (i.e., positions 2, 3, and 4). These pickup configurations yield swampy, funky tones through either channel.
The reverb sounds great on this thing--much better than on my old Chieftain 1X12! In fact, this amp kicks-butt on the Chieftain I had(which I returned after two days). You could do surf with this (but I don't). I keep the reverb set to about 9 o'clock.
Despite my glowing report so far, I can't say there aren't any imperfections with the amp. The MID control on the dirty channel is almost a useless feature. It really seems to affect the tone very little. The clean channel lacks a MID control, yet it seems much easier to dial in a great tone on that channel. The entire range of the MID control seems to have as much impact as moving the TREBLE control from 1 o'clock to 2:30! Another bummer is the volume disparity between channels when you want to get a fairly clean sound from the clean channel?even with the master cranked. However, though this amp is only 15 watts, it's very loud. I have absolutely no problem being heard over a drummer, even when using the clean sounds. For tube amps, however, the greatest tones come by cranking the master volume. With this amp, though, in order to have similar volume levels when switching between channels requires that the dirty channel's master be set at about 12 or 1 o'clock. I haven't gigged with this amp yet, but in rehearsals with a band it has plenty of power. It would definitely need to be miked for larger clubs. For small to medium sized clubs it could probably cut it without being miked.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to mention the effects loop: it's wo

From what I've heard, Matchless amps are very resilient and tough. This one appears to be so, too. When I got it, the dealer hadn't packed it too wonderfully. It basically had a couple of layers of large bubble wrap and that's it. When I first fired it up and activated the reverb circuit via the footswitch, the reverb didn't work--it just made this awful, thundering sound. I was so ticked-off because I loved the sound of the amp (with the reverb disengaged, it played fine) and knew that this was the only Skyliner Reverb the dealer had. I also knew that I'd most likely never find another one because of the company's defunct state. Anyway, luckily the next day I decided to find out what brand of tubes they'd stuck in it. So, I took out all the tubes, then put them back in. Ouila! The next time I turned it on the reverb came through in all its glory! I guess the reverb tube had just been jostled loose during shipping. Hallelujah! I haven't had any problems with the reverb since. Though I've only had this amp for about two months, I feel I could gig without a backup.

They're out of business. So, the lifetime warranty doesn't mean squat. Hopefully, they'll get some type of funding and return to business (and hopefully honor the warranty on this thing!).

I've been playing for 15 years. As far as amps, I've owned a wide variety, including a solid-state Marshall (my first amp), a Roland JC-120 (my second amp, still before I really began to comprehend tone--aurally or electrically), a Fender 1965 Twin Rever Reissue, a Matchless Chieftain, and a Bedrock 6102. Though the Twin, Chieftain, and Bedrock are all great amps, the Skyliner has more character and magic in its sonic timbres than each, and is much more versatile. I really wish this amp had a tremolo circuit. I'd like to take the vibrato circuit out of my Twin and implant it. Unfortunately, the John Jorgenson model is the only Matchless to incorporate tremolo.
If this amp was stolen, I'd indeed be in a funk. I would probably try to find another, though it would be almost impossible.
I should mention that the construction of this amp left a little to be desired. On the right side of the chassis there is a small gap (about 1/8") between it and the cabinet; through the gap you can see clear through the other side of the amp. This gap, however, does not seem to affect the stability of the amp. Also, on the right side of the chassis face, the bottom of the engraved writing for a couple of controls just barely runs off the plate--as if the plate was ever-so-slightly crooked when it was tooled. However, this isn't noticeable unless you examine the face from inches away. Aside from these two things, the amp is constructed with the same top-notch parts and attention to detail as other Matchless amps. It's a very sturdy lil dude.