Finally, first gig with Lightning...

[Madison]

We don't play much anymore, so I was real excited to try the Matchless out. It was a tough choice, taking the Clubman or Lightning, but I finally opted for the latter. Small club with about 120 folks, so I didn't mic the amp, and never could get it to the 'sweet spot' as it was just too loud. But it was a TOTAL pleasure to play, sweet smooth tone, and great feeling...am honeymooning in a big way with this amp.

The vid is from early on 1st set with the volume down a good bit, master at noon and volume at only 9:00. I had wanted to get master at 3:00 and volume at 11:00 which is where good things happen, oh well.

Please pardon my miscues & stuff, poor lighting, cheap camera video which really doesn't begin to capture what I wish it could....haven't played 'Sultans' in years, it was tough trying to remember all those dang licks and getting them in the right place!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sacy1kyTl70

 

[albuht813]

sounds fantastic! Love the tele twang.

 

[Madison]

sounds fantastic! Love the tele twang.

Not so much love for the Lightning...or maybe just my playing, lol! Anyway, thanks for watching albuht.:RoCkIn btw, hard to tell, but it's a Strat.

 

[capnrock]

Great strat twang, then...sounds great! I auditioned a Matchless Lightning this weekend. Great sounding amp, but man was it loud. My ears were practically bleeding and I realized both the master AND the channel volume were only around 8:00!

 

[Gasp100]

Hmmm... I was told these can get some good grind and sound sweet at home level volumes... oh well.

 

[Madison]

Hmmm... I was told these can get some good grind and sound sweet at home level volumes... oh well.

Well its certainly not a bedroom amp, its loud enough to hang with much larger amps (30, 40w ?)...but remember there is a master volume. I wrote where my 'sweet spot' is located, and it is not 'grind at home' levels. There's no reason you couldn't drop the master, raise the volume and get some good grind though, however I doubt it would be considered bedroom by most. Really really heavy too, lot of iron I imagine, well built and solid.

capnrock, thanks...glad you enjoyed it!

 

[MikeVB]

What version of the Lightning do you have? 1x12, 2x10, head? reverb?

Thanks,

 

[Madison]

What version of the Lightning do you have? 1x12, 2x10, head? reverb?

Thanks,

A 1x12 combo, loaded with an aged G12H-30.

 

[TeamJA]

how do you connect the head to the combo speaker? do you use a 1/4 female to female? that's how i have been doing it, just wonder if there's a better way....

jeff

 

[phillyred79]

I liked it.

 

[Madison]

how do you connect the head to the combo speaker? do you use a 1/4 female to female? that's how i have been doing it, just wonder if there's a better way....

jeff

I do have a speaker connector with two 1/4 female ends I can use to run the Clubman head to the Lightning speaker, just like you wrote. Normally use a separate 1x12 cabinet for the Clubman, not shown in the pic. But using the connector will save carrying one more pc of equipment if you want to use both amps.

 

[tubetone74]

Great job on Sultans Madison!

 

[yspokes]

Amp and guitar sounds good, Man. Matchless & Fenders are a good match. I had a Lightning 2x10 reverb back in the late 90's, and I should never have sold it. I still kick myself over that one. And yeah.... it's a LOUD 15 watts! Great cleans, good crunch with the volume up and the master down. I liked it best at the edge of break up or clean clean with a splash of reverb.

 

[tubetone74]

Have you ever used the line out to slave another amp?

 

[Madison]

Wow this is from March 2009. I had to look back at some old gear pics from that period, and was using a Keeley compressor and BB pre amp. Never used the line out to another cabinet or amp.

 

[FFTT]

Even with all the noise, I can hear the touch sensitivity, very noticeable once
you get used to Class A.

If you have a Celestion Blue or Gold laying around, try those in the cab.