Matchless Amplifiers

Matchless HC-30 model with the trademark backlit nameplate featured on all Matchless amplifiers

Matchless Amplifiers is a Los Angeles based company which designs and makes electric guitar amplifiers, specializing in class A tube circuitry.

History

Matchless Amplifiers, like many other entrepreneurial stories, started out on a kitchen table. That table belonged to Rick Perrotta in 1989. He was the initial force behind Matchless along with Mark Sampson, Steve Goodale, and Chris Perrotta.

During the 1970s & 80's, an undesirable trend had developed throughout the guitar-amplifier industry. It had switched from sonically pleasing vacuum tubes and point-to-point wiring to transistors and circuit boards. While the industry may have found this more profitable, it had drawbacks; poor sound quality and unsatisfied customers. The transistorized amps lacked the warmth, depth and richness as found in the earlier amplifiers. By this time, guitar players were starting to search for better sound... so the hunt was on.

Rick and Mark started working on their first prototype with the understanding that it had to sound substantially better than their predecessors. Realistically, that meant back to tubes, hand-wiring, handcrafted transformers and large carbon-comp resistors. It also had to be built like a tank in order to take the rigors of the road while touring. Mark understood this very well, as he was always repairing road-beaten amps for other artists back then. He didn't want their newly created amp to fall into the same category.

As prototyping neared completion, they came up with a name, Matchless - as that's what they intended their "no-compromise" amplifier to be. Chris developed the light-up logo for it. Along with the amp's stunning tone, this has become a lengendary trademark.

Chris explains, "A lot of work went into those early prototypes. Mark and Rick would work tirelessly perfecting the amp's sound. They'd try different combinations of capacitors, resistors and tubes perfecting the amp's tonal circuits. And as part of that on-going development, they'd let other musicians play through them, soliciting their valuable critique and then incorporate those changes back in. It was important to make significant tonal strides and develop a signature sound. Even the construction had to be second to none, every detail, every solder joint, every bend of wire, even details not seen. It was over-the-top, bullet proof construction, just the way you'd want it if you had built it. But such quality didn't come cheap."

Steve Goodale joined them as a co-founder in 1991, bringing financing and marketing to the company. Goodale insisted that they participate in the 1992 Guitar Player Magazine boutique amplifier shootout and he delivered an early DC-30 from Los Angeles to Cupertino, putting the amplifier in the hands of editor Andy Widders-Ellis. The amplifier won the competition ^[1] and this event effectively launched the company. Borrowing heavily from designs of early Vox amplifiers (a famous British amplifier company), this first Matchless amplifier model - the acclaimed DC-30 (the name bearing tribute to the legendary Vox model AC30 and also as a designation meaning Dual Combo with two 12" speakers), was the first model that saw regular production. Since its first appearance, the DC-30 has won much praise amongst guitar players and has earned several positive reviews in guitar magazines like Guitar Player and Guitar World.

Along with Budda Amplification, Matchless is generally thought of as being the company that kick-started the boutique amplifier craze in the mid- to late nineteen-nineties, paving the way for other smaller manufacturers like Dr. Z Amplification, Bad Cat and Victoria Amp Company, all specializing in making handmade, high-end tube amplifiers.^[2]

The company also experimented in manufacturing some state of the art tube stompboxes such as the Hotbox Classic (a tube preamplifier), the Hotbox II, the Dirtbox (higher gain version of the Hotbox), the Coolbox (a Booster pedal), and the Vibrobox (a tube tremolo effect), as well an echo/delay pedal, the Echobox, which employed a tape format from an adapted cassette.

Currently

Due to financial problems, Matchless Amplifiers closed down in 1998 but reopened in 2000 under new administration and is currently manufacturing several lines of amplifiers and speaker cabinet enclosures.

Rick Perrotta went on to found Royer Labs , a company that manufactures ribbon microphones. His company is credited with creating the first modern ribbon microphone, the first active (phantom powered) ribbon microphone and kicking off renewed interest in ribbon microphone technology. Chris helped with all the initial mechanical engineering.

Mark Sampson went on to design amps for Bad Cat, some of them based on earlier Matchless designs. Sampson has since left the employ of Bad Cat and now produces his own amps under the name Star Amplifiers.

Chris Perrotta went on to become an inventor and patented the world's first all-leather locking guitar strap (U.S. Patent number 7,818,815). He is the founder and president of Lock-it & Rock-it, LLC based in Texas. His straps have revolutionized the traditional guitar strap. Chris also started a faux-gold record business, Celebrity Records, with the Jacksons' family attorney, Martin Cooper. Later, they sold it to Steve Goodale.

Steve Goodale owns and operates Gold Records Custom Made which makes and supplies gold records to the music and award industry. This includes both official licensed music framers as well as framed and unframed corporate awards for employee recognition, donor recognition for non-profits and other kinds of recognition.

Current models

C-30 series HC-30 SC-30 DC-30 Chieftain series CH-40 CH-112 CH-212 CH-210 Phoenix series PH-35 PH-212 PH-112

Lightning series LG-112 LG-212 LG-15 LG-210 Nighthawk series NH-212 NH-112 NH-15 NH-210 Independence series Independence 212 Independence 112 Independence 35

Avenger series Avenger 212 Avenger 112 Avenger 30 Avenger 210+112 Spitfire series SP-112 SP-212 Clubman 35-

notes

1. ^ Guitar Player Magazine March 1992
2. ^ Handmade Guitars, Amps Strike a Chord -Reuters/Billboard, Apr 30, 2004

External links

• Matchless Amplifiers official site
• GigRig's interview with Matchless's Phil Jamison
• An in-depth interview with Matchless co-founder Mark Sampson
• Star Amplifiers
• Gold Records Custom Made
• Royer Labs
• Lock-it Guitar Straps
• Audio Interview with owner Phil Jamison on Guitar Jam Daily.com