dangeroso
Silver Supporting Member
- Messages
- 4,650
I received my new Matchless Avalon 30 (head w/ reverb) 2 days ago, and so far, Im pretty impressed. I expected a little tonal drop off from the higher priced Matchless offerings, but Im not hearing that at all.
The cleans sounds are typical Matchless sparkle and chime. Very full and deep cleans without sacrifice of clarity. The defeatable master volume generates the gains at lesser volumes. The gain tones are throaty and midrangy, but again with lots of individual note clarity, and theres a suprising amount of gain available. Ive yet to play in a band setting with this amp, but I can tell that these tones will cut through very well.
In most clips, Ive seen people playing this amp with a Les Paul (and my Les Paul sounds good though it as well), but for my money this amp absolutely sings with a single coil guitar. The Strat and Tele tones in this amp are absolutely phenomenal with or without gain. Its like I rewired, replaced the electronics, and changed the pickups in my 12 year old Strat, the way this amp breathed new life into it. Really unbelievable.
Cons: There arent many at all, but 2 things stand out. First, this amp is damn loud at 30/15 watts. Even in the 15 watt setting, I feel like Im too loud when Im playing at home. Obviously this is good news for gigability. Second, I wish there was a separate midrange control. The midrange is controlled in some fashion by the position of the bass and treble controls, but I would like a little extra tone shaping for my tastes. Neither gripe is a deal breaker by any means, but I want to paint the complete picture.
The cleans sounds are typical Matchless sparkle and chime. Very full and deep cleans without sacrifice of clarity. The defeatable master volume generates the gains at lesser volumes. The gain tones are throaty and midrangy, but again with lots of individual note clarity, and theres a suprising amount of gain available. Ive yet to play in a band setting with this amp, but I can tell that these tones will cut through very well.
In most clips, Ive seen people playing this amp with a Les Paul (and my Les Paul sounds good though it as well), but for my money this amp absolutely sings with a single coil guitar. The Strat and Tele tones in this amp are absolutely phenomenal with or without gain. Its like I rewired, replaced the electronics, and changed the pickups in my 12 year old Strat, the way this amp breathed new life into it. Really unbelievable.
Cons: There arent many at all, but 2 things stand out. First, this amp is damn loud at 30/15 watts. Even in the 15 watt setting, I feel like Im too loud when Im playing at home. Obviously this is good news for gigability. Second, I wish there was a separate midrange control. The midrange is controlled in some fashion by the position of the bass and treble controls, but I would like a little extra tone shaping for my tastes. Neither gripe is a deal breaker by any means, but I want to paint the complete picture.
