Matchless Clubman - how to tighten the low end?

[guitarded_1]

I'm on the verge of selling my Phoenix and getting a Clubman. I love the Phoenix, but the Clubman really floored me when I played through it. One thing I do remember is how the bottom end seemed to get pretty loose when the amp was pushed. My Phoenix is tube rectified as well, but the bottom end never gets farty...even at max volume.

Is a loose bottom end on the Clubman just a fact of life, or is there a trick or two?

 

[radcliff]

maybe a speaker change?

 

[Guinness Lad]

I think good tubes help and I am a huge fan of having speakers which rate higher then the amp puts out.

I have found that speakers which handle less power seem to fade once they start getting hammered, overly compressed (especially when adding overdrive), low end falls apart, highs get funky etc...

Good pre-amp tubes help as well. The Clubman puts out a ton of low end, running it much past the 10 o'clock position is really overkill in my book and might be the reason for the problem you described.

 

[datguytim]

I think good tubes help and I am a huge fan of having speakers which rate higher then the amp puts out.

I have found that speakers which handle less power seem to fade once they start getting hammered, overly compressed (especially when adding overdrive), low end falls apart, highs get funky etc...

Good pre-amp tubes help as well. The Clubman puts out a ton of low end, running it much past the 10 o'clock position is really overkill in my book and might be the reason for the problem you described.

My feelings pretty much. My Clubman gets a TON of low end - as much as I'd ever need. Run the Master vol. at least 1/2 way up always - I run mine almost wide open. Use the channel volume to set your overall level. The bass & treble knobs never have to go past noon. Mine never farts out or lacks low end.

 

[Bradders]

Good Tubes and the Matchless ESD 2 * 12 cab really makes a massive difference - to mine anyway. I think it's the ultimate sonic match......not a massive surprise really, I guess....

Peace
Bradz.

 

[mcdyas]

I used a single Celestion Gold with my Clubman in an open back cab and keep the bass set at 11 o'clock or earlier.

 

[guitarsnguns04]

+1 on the eds 2-12 cab and the clubman = perfect match

 

[vdoochild7]

NOS Tubes.

 

[Rod]

Does the Clubman have a Good sounding FX Loop??

 

[Kiwi]

Are you running it with the Matchless ESD 2x12 cab? The 4-ohm impedance seems to make a lot of difference.

=K

 

[Guinness Lad]

Does the Clubman have a Good sounding FX Loop??

Seems fine to me, I run my delay through it.

 

[Nolatone Ampworks]

I don't know how far you are willing to go to get this bottom tightened up, but looking at the source of it all, the Clubman has pretty small value filter caps for a dual EL34 amp. 33uf and 22uf, vs, say a Marshall JCM800 which uses 50uf.

A larger value filter cap should tighten up the bottom at the source and would cost a lot less than an ESD cabinet.

If a 22uf 500+v electrolytic cap was wired across the first couple of filter caps in the network (wired in parallel) that would effectively increase the cap size. If you don't know which caps are which or how to safely work on a tube circuit, I recommend taking it to a tech.

They should be able to do this without too badly imacting the artfull Matchless innerds!