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Matchless C-85

itsevolution..babyitsevolution..baby Posts: 59
edited February 2012 in Musicians and Gearheads
So, I'm going to take a look at, and possibly buying a matchless C-85 this afternoon. Any info on this thing? All I know is that it's from 1992, and it's basically got the C-30 layout but with EL34s instead of the EL84s. The ad says 35 watts, but that doesn't exaclty make sense. I've done a few google searches, and tried to contact matchless for a little more info, but no luck. Any help on what to look for is appreciated...
What ain't a country I ever heard of. Do they speak English in what?
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  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 Posts: 23,171
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    So, I'm going to take a look at, and possibly buying a matchless C-85 this afternoon. Any info on this thing? All I know is that it's from 1992, and it's basically got the C-30 layout but with EL34s instead of the EL84s. The ad says 35 watts, but that doesn't exaclty make sense. I've done a few google searches, and tried to contact matchless for a little more info, but no luck. Any help on what to look for is appreciated...

    matchlesses are great amps. i don't have any experience with that particular model but i have a lot of experience with matchless and other sampson made amps like bad cats. i gigged a few times with a pair of chieftans and other gigs with a pair of clubmen with reverb on them and they sound great. i have a sampson built matchless clubman (without reverb) from 1994 that i just love. it is a tone machine and it is very pedal friendly. and it has a lot of headroom and is very sensitive to your pick attack. the only problem i ever had with it was that it is such a guitar volume sensitive amp that whenever i backed off of my guitar volume to clean up the tone i had significant loss of overall volume in my monitors. the sound guys would say that whenever i went from distortion to clean i would lose volume going out over the pa as well so they would constantly have to adjust my levels. to solve that problem i borrowed another clubman and used one for clean and one for dirt and just ABd them.

    i eventually got tired of hauling around 2 half stacks so i use my '74 marshall jmp now because it does not have the volume loss issue. my ideal rig would be my marshall for dirt and my clubman for clean but it is just not feasible to lug that stuff around anymore.

    in my customer service experiences with matchless, they have been nothing short of fantastic, but i last contacted them i 2006 or so so things might have changed there since then.

    good luck and let us know what you think of the amp. in my opinion you can not go wrong with any matchless, especially those early to mid 90s ones..
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    Don't know the amp specifically, but two El-34's and 35 watts, makes sense to me...
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archiv ... 37350.html
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • itsevolution..babyitsevolution..baby Posts: 59
    yeah, I have a Bad Cat currently, and LOVE it. It's a 30 watt el 84 (non master vol) that's very chimey, and does very well with pedals etc. I was looking for something to compliment that sound with more grit and a little fuller sound. Hopefully this is it. I've got a radial aby that I've been using with the bad cat and an orange ad30tc. So the plan is to dump the orange and move in the matchless. I was just hoping this thing isn't 85 watts. I don't know what an 85watt matchless would do to my overall health...
    What ain't a country I ever heard of. Do they speak English in what?
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    yeah, I have a Bad Cat currently, and LOVE it. It's a 30 watt el 84 (non master vol) that's very chimey, and does very well with pedals etc. I was looking for something to compliment that sound with more grit and a little fuller sound. Hopefully this is it. I've got a radial aby that I've been using with the bad cat and an orange ad30tc. So the plan is to dump the orange and move in the matchless. I was just hoping this thing isn't 85 watts. I don't know what an 85watt matchless would do to my overall health...

    It's going to be around 35 watts.
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • itsevolution..babyitsevolution..baby Posts: 59
    All Those Yesterdays wrote:
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    yeah, I have a Bad Cat currently, and LOVE it. It's a 30 watt el 84 (non master vol) that's very chimey, and does very well with pedals etc. I was looking for something to compliment that sound with more grit and a little fuller sound. Hopefully this is it. I've got a radial aby that I've been using with the bad cat and an orange ad30tc. So the plan is to dump the orange and move in the matchless. I was just hoping this thing isn't 85 watts. I don't know what an 85watt matchless would do to my overall health...

    It's going to be around 35 watts.


    well that's a relief. I'll post some pics tonight if I can pull the chassis...
    What ain't a country I ever heard of. Do they speak English in what?
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    All Those Yesterdays wrote:
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    yeah, I have a Bad Cat currently, and LOVE it. It's a 30 watt el 84 (non master vol) that's very chimey, and does very well with pedals etc. I was looking for something to compliment that sound with more grit and a little fuller sound. Hopefully this is it. I've got a radial aby that I've been using with the bad cat and an orange ad30tc. So the plan is to dump the orange and move in the matchless. I was just hoping this thing isn't 85 watts. I don't know what an 85watt matchless would do to my overall health...

    It's going to be around 35 watts.


    well that's a relief. I'll post some pics tonight if I can pull the chassis...


    85 watts out of two EL 34's is impossible. That rating is based on a clean output. I'm assuming this is going to be a a JTM 45 clone of some sorts, which intrigues me...
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • itsevolution..babyitsevolution..baby Posts: 59
    Dunno...its really fucking loud. 4 el34s, 2 12ax7,1 ef86, and 2 rec tubes. The second channel is bawls to the wall loud. I didn't pull the chassis yet. Just checked the tubes and transformer dates. Looks like sept 92.
    What ain't a country I ever heard of. Do they speak English in what?
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    itsevolution..baby wrote:
    Dunno...its really fucking loud. 4 el34s, 2 12ax7,1 ef86, and 2 rec tubes. The second channel is bawls to the wall loud. I didn't pull the chassis yet. Just checked the tubes and transformer dates. Looks like sept 92.

    4 EL34, well we are above 35 watts now.

    This might help you with dating it

    http://www.matchlessamplifiers.com/support.html
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
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