Matchless Superchief

I have two of these amps, made in the Mark Sampson-era of MATCHLESS, a name that suits this model completely.
This is a straight-up tone machine and among the most musical guitar amps ever realized, a dream come true!
I play loud, 3-dimensional rock guitar in a 3-piece, and to me, the sound out of the 120W Class A Superchief, no fx, just ANY guitar, is so good, we call it the V.O.G., the Voice of Our Maker!

ANY guitar sounds great through this, aneamic pickups are fine, the amp picks up the slack!
I use 4x12 Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, in a custom thick marine-ply front-loaded cabinet (the Soldano 4x12's are good also).
What brought me to paying US $3000 TWICE for the pair I've got now is the absolute rarity of this model (only 60 made), and a very long search that included a lot more money spent on Fenders, Marshalls, Kendricks, Rivera, Bogner, Soldano, and pedals by Ibanez, Boss, Fulltone, ZVex, Analog Man, Menatone, pickups by Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Fralin, Bartolini, EMG, van Zandt, Tom Holmes, Peter Florance, the list goes on....
What actually does the trick is vintage pickups, a Strat, a Tele, and a Les Paul, a Matchless Amp and your fingers.
I get "chorus" from wobbling the neck of the guitar, and overdrive from playing harder and turning up.
This amp allows you to be in the "sweet spot" between a fat warm and clear rhythm, and balls to the wall grinding lead at serious volumes, with finger attack and your guitar volume as the only controls needed.

Almost as large as an Ampeg SVT head, and choc-a-bloc full of tubes, I thought I better get two (took 3 years of e-Baying).
The only fault has been blowing a fuse on turn-on, but there have been no other problems.
BTW, these Superchiefs make an excellent recording amp for bass, just the right amount of 3-dimensional fur!
Build quality internally is astounding, like the best vintage radio gear, as solid as a Navy Destroyer, excellent workmanship.

If I would need anything fixed, most techs familiar with tubes will find this a joy to work on, everything is easily accessable.
By always connecting speaker leads before powerleads, I hope to never blow up any transformers, 'cos that would be a problem...
Mine are wired for 240V, a reversible mod involving moving two wires on the power transformers input from parallel to series.
The info for that at the time came from Bad Cat, but I'm pretty sure current Matchless would be helpful too.

Been playing since 1972, mainly Japanese Fenders from '83/'84, and a Tokai sunburst LP from '85.
Sold all the amps and pedals mentioned above, but kept a Mesa Dual Recto for the more brutal sounds.
The weight of this amp (34 KG) requires a trolley and a strong back, but the fully inspirational sound just makes up for it, it's one of those "gotta hear it before you die" things.
The feeling of your hands being connected to the sound with a certain 'bounce' or 'springy-ness' is something a loud and clear Class A amp does better than anything else....

I've wanted one of these for sooooooo long, and it's finally here - just like I would have ordered, a bright, solid crimson red half-stack. I haven't had it that long, and have only used it for one practice (and let a friend use it for a gig - hey, I had to at least hear it), so I won't even try to evaluate it with a "real" review (yet), except to say that it is the biggest, baddest sounding, and certainly the HEAVIEST amp ever made, bar none, I kid you not (I swear the head alone weighs more than my old Thunderman combo). Instead, for the time being, I'll leave you with the only "press" I've ever seen on this amp (short though it is), a Guitar Player big amp "shootout" article from the '94 Dinosaur Jr. issue, probably when this amp model came out.

Also, note the original price of $1840 msrp. They went up another grand two years later. Then, they weren't made at all. THIS is the model they need to reissue! As to the amp's rarity, I'll just say that from the time I first played one (a year after this article), to now, is about 10 years, and this is the only one I've seen or even heard about since - so I definitely believe there were only 60 made.

Anyway, the article:

"If you're looking for a feature-laden multi-channel whiz-bang amp, skip this section. But if your only concern is tone, read on. The single channel Matchless SuperChief is completely stripped of any fancy extras except for a high/low gain switch, a high/low power switch for choosing between tube and solid-state rectifiers, and an effects loop. All parts are handwired to terminal strips - there's not a single pc board in sight. Shock-mounted tube sockets hold the EL34 tubes and dual 5AU4 rectifiers securely in place, but they flex so much that the tubes are difficult to remove. We worry that the struggle to remove tubes is more likely to cause damage than any excess movement in transit, particularly since the wires flex quite a bit as well. (Matchless' Mark Samson informs us that the sockets on future models will be adjusted for less play). We spotted lots of carbon resistors, metal-film capacitors, and over-rated ten-watt screen resistors. Cool. We measured 500 volts on the plates with the tube rectifiers and an additional 25 volts in the solid-state rectifier setting.
The SuperChief's four tone control knobs don't provide extreme tonal versatility, but no matter where they're set the amp sounds good. We were able to create huge, glassy, 3-D clean tones with lots of headroom, even with the gain switch set to the high setting. Reguardless of which kind of guitar we played, the amp provided complex textures with well-defined highs. We particularly enjoyed the sound of the SuperChief through a Matchless open-back 2x10/2x12 cabinet. The amp sounded amazingly big and bright through this. Like any other amp with such a distinct character, you're either going to love or hate the Matchless, but if you love it, it's worth the cost at twice the price."

I believe this amp was made in 1995 and there were only 60 made. It is a one channel amp with a couple of cool features such as a high/low gain switch and a high/low power switch which changes from tube rectifier to SS rectifier. However, the main feature of this amp is tone and plenty of it! It is powered by 4-EL34's and 3-12AX7's as well as dual 5U4GB rectifier tubes.

I've been using very different guitars through this and all of them sound great. Especially my Hamer T-51 with Duncan Broadcaster and '54 pickups. The clean sound is bright(not too bright), sweet, round, glassy, 3-D, and basically just HUGE! I was really surprised at how well my 1995 Ernie Ball EVH guitar sounded through this. Normally I don't like this guitar for clean sounds and through the Superchief it sounds great. There's a lot of headroom with the 4-EL34's and 120 watts which gives the tone a lot of body and a well defined low-end. Sounds big!

The EQ section isn't very dramatic, but no matter where you set it the amp sounds incredible. I've really found some sweet blues tones by setting the amp mostly clean with a bit of dirt and using a Keeley modded SD-1 into the front to push the front-end. Really thick raunch ala Billy Gibbons.

Turning the switch in the back to high power and the gain switch on the front to high gain will get some really nice, thick, medium gain going. Great for classic rock sounds. Again, with the SD-1 in front you can bring it into some early VH/80's metal crunch. It doesn't sound as big as my Roccaforte HG100, but still sounds believeable. Thumbs up.

While the gain on this amp isn't the greatest, I give it a 10 for the clean sounds alone.

Seems to be built with the highest attention to detail. Rock solid and handmade point to point wiring. I'm not too worried about anything going wrong other than the occasional tube change.

Original company is gone. I wouldn't waste my time with the new one if Mark Sampson isn't there. I live close to Savage Audio in Minneapolis so no worries.

Been playing for 20 years and I've been through many amps in the past few years including Mesa, Egnater, Bogner, Mojave, Roccaforte, Fenders, etc. I looked for this amp for a long time because a few of my favorite players had them including Ian Thornley of Big Wreck and Jeff Martin of The Tea Party. I beieve that these Superchief's are the best kept secret in the original Matchless amp line. They don't have the reputation of a DC30 or a Chieftain, but they definitely should. Great amp if you can find one. :-)

1996 Matchless Superchief. FX loop, Hi-Lo power switch (?), and the standard interactive tone controls. No channel switching, no reverb. There is a master volume control and a Gain A / Gain B switch to adjust for the output of your guitar. Not a lot of features, but this is a balls-ahead tone machine, not something you tweak. Plug your guitar in, and hope to God that you can handle this thing.

Right now I'm using it with a Les Paul with Burstbuckers (#2 neck and #3 bridge) and running it through a Bad Cat 4x12 cab. First of all, there is more raw power in this amp than I know what to do with. It's sick actually. However, if you can tame it . . . the fun begins. This thing can be clean as a whistle if you want it to be and if you push the pre-amp sec. to just before break-up, it sounds like a grand piano. It has a richness that I have NEVER heard from another amp (botique,vintage, or otherwise). Kick it into the break up range and it's crunch city. It reminds me of Zeppelin, but not as harsh. Still more gain will give you this fiery mutant AC-30 hellspawn thing. You can also get some killer feedback happening a'la Hendrix. And this thing is VERY responsive to your attack. It is also very revealing. It exposes bad playing so much so that I've had to completely reevaluate my abilities as a guitar player. Finally and most importantly, it has it's own sound. I've never heard anything like it. It's not going to cover the gamut, that's for sure, but what it does it does so well that I don't care.

Built very well, but I had to replace a toggle switch that failed. No biggie.

Matchless is back in business now and was very helpful with the toggle switch repair. However, this amp is no longer being manufactured, so I don't know how long company support for the Superchief will be around.

Bottom line is that this thing rocks. The only question you need to ask yourself now is: "Can I handle it?" I'm dead serious when I say that. There is a whole lot of amp in this package - not for the faint of heart.

Super Chief 120. One chanel with the basics, A gain B gain switch on the front, loop, no reverb, Volume, bass middle, treble, Brillance, Master, standby. 4, 8, 16 ohm swich on back. High/low switch? Speaker and Aux (speaker) jacks. Power outlet.

Reverb would be nice. Plenty of power here.

Came with 4 EL34's. and 2 5U4G rectofire tubes. Big, Heavy, Well build.

This amp has great tone period. I use a 52 tele reissue, cool! Also a 70 LP deluxe with duncun soap bars---more bit. and a 71 strat.

This amp is great for recording. I run it thru a Marshall 2x12 closed back cab with vintage 30's. I tried an open back 2x12 and it was a little too bright for my taste. I'm sure a 4x12 would work well. I small amount of hum at high volume. (quiet for a tube amp)

Hard to discribe the tone. Kinda like a AC 30 meets a tweed bassman or Marshall plexi only better.

No problems so far, My amp tech said no problem to fix it.

never had to call

I have owned them all--- Fender: Super, Pro, Twin, Bassman. Seveal Music Man amps. Marshall: 100 plexi, 2 JCM MK II's, JMP's 50 watters. Torres tweed bassman repro. Mesa Boogie: Mark I and Mark III.

I have always liked the Boogies and they have great tone. However, the Super Cheif is differant. It has its own signature sound. For playing small club gigs I still use the Boogie Mark III for size. Also with the prices of Matchless amps these days, I would hate to loose the Cheif at a questionable bar gig. They only made a few and it would be hard to replace.

You really have to hear it to understand. I recomend if you see one, (good luck) BUY IT!
It was painful to write the check for this one. The Super Chief is a quality amp and worth every penny.

one channel monster Guitar amp, they only made 60 of them

it is the best sound ever, including the Hiwatt I was looking for, which I now own. I never use another amp

Not Applicable, see next note

Company is dead

i'm pete, submitted a negative review in '97. I couldn't sell the amp, it didn't sound good and met nobody's needs. I dug in and found an unsoldered wire on one of the plates on the phase inverter tube. It was hooked up but would vibrate and make wierd noises when I jammed out my God Given rock and roll. I soldered it up and it got twice as loud. It has a sound similar to an AC 30 but 10 times bigger, giant steely knives icing through the truth. I love it and will never relnquish it.

Hi/lo power switch, mysterious a/b switch on input, impedance selector, very loud, heavy amp head the size of a cocktail table, interactive tone controls, I use it with a 2x15" or 4/12 cabinet for bass but I seldom use it on stage for guitar (I am a guitar player)

I use only strat, dano, and tele single coil pickups
With bass this amp is beautiful... I use an old style single pickup Fender P Bass turn all the controls so they point straight up, and mike the cabinet with an EV condenser mike. For guitar, I will have to try it with an open back cab... basically for guitar it's too powerful an amp - even for a large outdoor stage. As far as tone... what it does is limited, but it does it better than anything else on the planet for tone I give it a 10...

Built like everything should be. Obviously not made with an eye on cost. This amp never hums or crackles and probably could be dropped off a truck.

When they were still in business they sent me an owner's manual in two days. Every amp tech I know can't wait to work on it for me, but they may have a long wait.

For guitar I mainly use an old tweed 410 bassman or kendrick 410 on stage, so the matchless is mainly a spare for bass. I wish it were a 50 watt 410 combo so I could use it more. If it were ever stolen or lost I would miss it though... I still want to use it in the studio
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Pretty darned basic, on the surface, however all tone controls seems to interact with each other. You can't just dial up a sound based on what you'd expect from any other amp you are used. This amp sounded way too thick and flabby paired with a Gretsch/ Filtertron guitar, but I plugged a Tele in and... something magic. In short, seems to sound best with single coils. The effects loop seems to "brown out" the tone a bit much for my tastes.

Used in conjunction with a Tele with Lindy Fralin pickups it has tons of ass-end warmth and plenty of bite, in fact it takes some work to tame that bite. I'm using the Tele's tone knob for that. Very fast sounding amp, super present and 3-D feeling describe it best.

Built like a tank. Any competent tech can fix one, but really all you're ever gonna need are tubes. I'd take it on tour if I needed to.
And, yes, I'd take a back-up. Nothing in the construction of this amp is less the best. I think Matchless defines "overkill" in the build quality department.

What did Al Pacino's character say in "Donnie Brasco"?

Fuhgedaboudit!

Granted, I stole this amp. Would I give it up and make a fast bundle (we've seen what's happened to Matchless prices)? Not a chance. It's a beauty and and a magical amp. Plus, it just looks so damn cool!

This is a great one channel amp. Although it tends to invoke massive headaches if you don't roll the tone back a bit. Purchased used with the original matchless tubes required converting for use with 6v6s as opposed to the el34s.

It's wonderful for anything from bad 60's rock through to heavy rock. Although everything shows through the sound every stompbox click and even the sounds of your fingers moving over the fret board. To compenstate for this I've taken to using flatwound strings, which also take care of some of the excess brilliance.

Reliabiltiy has never been a problem with this draft horse of an amp. It literally takes anything you can dish out. I've droped it on many ocasion going from car to club to car again. Has only needed to be srviced for the powertubes.

Never been an issue bought it used and never had a complaint.

I've had it for over a year now and I think I would cry if it were stolen or lost, seriously. Although I do wish it had a half power switch for rehersals and small clubs. Overall this is a great amp perfectly complimented by a mesa/boogie recto cab.

single channel,120 watt head,low power uses tube rectifiers hi power piggy backs solid state rectifiers. a simple set of tone controls include,volume,bass,mid,treble,brilliance and master. has effects loop and a hi/lo gain switch

i use several PRS guitars that sound great no matter what the setting. 3-D glassy to crunch. "MELVINS" city! this thing sounds huge! trmendous bottom end almost to much. i'm running through a MATCHLESS 4x12 open back cabinet. kinda noisy in hi-gain setting.

unlike a previous review my amp has performed brilliantly. i've spent good money on top notch tubes and not had a single problem. i bought the amp new in april of '95

matchless has always returned my phone calls and e-mail. nice folks with an obsession for tone

i would buy it again in a minute. but in a perfect world i'd make some minor changes. a little tighter in the low end and maybe a touch more gain. i have noticed that the amp "prefers" certain rooms,i.e. it sounds different in our rehearsal space. i hope matchless reads this!