I'm looking for a Vox/Matchless-type low-wattage EL84 amp that will break up nicely at lower volume levels. I've been looking at : - Divided by 13 9/15 - Matchless Nighthawk - Matchless Lightning - Matchless Spitfire Which of those amps do you recommend ? Or should I just buy a BJF Emerald Green Distortion and use it with my Marshall 18 watt-clone ?
Oops..I forgot that I live in The Netherlands and I would like to buy the amp locally. Matchless and Divided by 13 are available here.
BJF EGDM didn't do it for me. Cranking my Ghia is FAR more satisfactory for the tones I want. To illustrate, cranking the Ghia and hearing the EGDM through a KT-45 made the KT-45 sound like it was a solid state analog model of a Ghia... kind of cool, and a similar basic tone, but the overtones, feel, and dynamic response just weren't the same. Granted the EGDM is not designed to sound specifically like a cranked Ghia (more like a cranked Vox), I think the basic comparison is a logical and fair one. It's a cool pedal if the sound of a cranked EL84 amp is something you just want to use once in a while through a bigger pedal-based rig, but a cranked EL84 amp is my FAVORITE sound/feel/experience, so the pedal couldn't compare to just plugging in to the real deal. Worth checking out a Ghia. You can get the real deal in a used one for just slightly more than twice the price of the immitator pedals...
Without detracting from some fine amps mentioned,the Divided by 13 JRT 9/15 is a SUPER amp!!! I got it from Haar too and I just can't get it to sound bad!It's a stellar amp. It also runs 6V6's,which means that apart from the Voxy sounds you can get Deluxe style sounds too. It has a different voicing from the Matchless amps-more lower midrange,tighter bass,different tuning in the highs but still retains a nice AC15 signature in the EL84 mode. Now,the Matchless amps are killer too.I wouldn't sell my DC30,ever,but the Divided is a touch more versatile and more "modern".Ofcourse having both,I'm on the safe side! It would be great if you could do a side by side comparison to see what suits you best but you can't really go wrong with either.Plus,you'll get a nice self excuse to get both in the future!!! Out of the Matchless amps mentioned the Nighthawk is propably closer to the JRT because of the pentode input. The other two are triode based.The Lightning resembles the first channel of the DC30 while the Spitfire is a more bare bones version with less highs and a more prominent midrange. Ted
Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton Clark Grifton and yea, the Beagle kicks major booty as well...
http://www.haarguitars.nl/test/Merken/Valvetech/Valvetech.htm There seems to be a lot of talk about the Hayseed right now. It might be worth checking out if you like the Vox sounds.
