NAD: A bolt of Lightning....

IvisonGuitars

After @Keefy brought his Lightning round when he came to collect a Junior I had made, i'd had a cursory eye on finding one for myself and I picked this up a couple of weeks ago, fairly local to me, more just to try it out and see if it'd be an alternative to lugging a flight cased 2x12 BadCat Black Cat around....which, while it sounds spectacular, is no for for anyone!

And i'm very pleased to say it does, in spades! Same awesome 12AX7 channel as the BadCat/DC30 but in a more compact 2x10 package and about half the weight.

Not overly enamoured with the red face plate (but that's a minor irritation that some black tolex would cure) but otherwise, VERY impressed, it sounds awesome!

Now gassing for a Nighthawk! Anyone?

Dominic

I had one, a 2x 12
Bloody loud thing.......master worked very well though

SidNewton

It's ok I suppose, if you like that sort of thing. 

horsehead

There's something about those light up Faceplates isn't there? I have a Ceriatone version with 6V6's in and it is the dogs danglies. How you finding it with the 2X10 sound, is it more focused? I'm running mine with a 1x12" 

Moe_Zambeek

Dominic said:

I had one, a 2x 12
Bloody loud thing.......master worked very well though

Not to take away from Neil's NAD - I also had one and really didn't like it anywhere as much as my DC30...I found the Lightning a bit harsh and upper mid-focused, it was a bit boxy I thought. Mine was the 2x12 with Greens. I was glad to have it though, I got it in a trade for the worst amp I've ever owned, a Swart AST pro

Could be possible that mine was not right though, I have heard others playing them and they sounded great for the edge of breakup thing. I'm sure this one sounds like the voice of the gods with Neil playing through it

IvisonGuitars

horsehead said:

There's something about those light up Faceplates isn't there? I have a Ceriatone version with 6V6's in and it is the dogs danglies. How you finding it with the 2X10 sound, is it more focused? I'm running mine with a 1x12" 

I was a little worried with the 2x10's that it'd be a bit 'tight' but they are Matchless treated Greenbacks and sound great!

Moe_Zambeek said:

Dominic said:

I had one, a 2x 12
Bloody loud thing.......master worked very well though

Not to take away from Neil's NAD - I also had one and really didn't like it anywhere as much as my DC30...I found the Lightning a bit harsh and upper mid-focused, it was a bit boxy I thought. Mine was the 2x12 with Greens. I was glad to have it though, I got it in a trade for the worst amp I've ever owned, a Swart AST pro

Could be possible that mine was not right though, I have heard others playing them and they sounded great for the edge of breakup thing. I'm sure this one sounds like the voice of the gods with Neil playing through it

Cheers Mo!

Actually, I don't think your experience is uncommon with Matchless amps actually. I have an early BadCat Black Cat (which to all intents and purposes is a DC30) and that is fantastic, still No.1. I also had a HC30 and cab which was every bit as good but I also had a DC30 for a fortnight and it sounded like wet cardboard, totally underwhelming. I asked a few people in the know and they suggested that there was perhaps more variation between builds than people realised. It could also have been down to valves etc but I was glad to move that one on!

SidNewton

Actually, I don't think your experience is uncommon with Matchless amps actually. I have an early BadCat Black Cat (which to all intents and purposes is a DC30) and that is fantastic, still No.1. I also had a HC30 and cab which was every bit as good but I also had a DC30 for a fortnight and it sounded like wet cardboard, totally underwhelming. I asked a few people in the know and they suggested that there was perhaps more variation between builds than people realised. It could also have been down to valves etc but I was glad to move that one on!

That's interesting Neil. I had a similar experience after offloading the HC30 to you. I had a King Cobra head next which was similarly nice and then a short while later owned a DC30. It was nowhere near as good as the HC30. That combined with the weight meant it didn't hang about for long.

Keefy

Mine has the light-up chassis but the separate name plate is unlit. Still sounds fabulous though!

IvisonGuitars

Here’s a quick vid I did to demonstrate one of my junior builds but it uses the Matchless.

https://youtu.be/4CbbSPg70vU

Moe_Zambeek

Sounds great. Better than mine did!

ICBM

Moe_Zambeek said:

I also had one and really didn't like it anywhere as much as my DC30...I found the Lightning a bit harsh and upper mid-focused, it was a bit boxy I thought. Mine was the 2x12 with Greens. I was glad to have it though, I got it in a trade for the worst amp I've ever owned, a Swart AST pro

Could be possible that mine was not right though, I have heard others playing them and they sounded great for the edge of breakup thing.

If you remember, I thought yours was the best Matchless I’ve ever heard, and I much preferred it to your DC30...

Odd in some ways because I’m not normally a fan of upper-middy sounds either, and usually prefer big ‘solid’ sounds, but I just thought it was much more vibrant and lively-sounding - actually much more ‘Voxy’ than the DC30 despite being a more different circuit.

(We do definitely agree about the Swart though! )

hotpickups

I played a Matchless today Neil as you know. Astounding and very versatile amps indeed. Friggin' loud though. Love 'em Ouch the prices makes you wanna cry though

Moe_Zambeek

ICBM said:

Moe_Zambeek said:

I also had one and really didn't like it anywhere as much as my DC30...I found the Lightning a bit harsh and upper mid-focused, it was a bit boxy I thought. Mine was the 2x12 with Greens. I was glad to have it though, I got it in a trade for the worst amp I've ever owned, a Swart AST pro

Could be possible that mine was not right though, I have heard others playing them and they sounded great for the edge of breakup thing.

If you remember, I thought yours was the best Matchless I’ve ever heard, and I much preferred it to your DC30...

Odd in some ways because I’m not normally a fan of upper-middy sounds either, and usually prefer big ‘solid’ sounds, but I just thought it was much more vibrant and lively-sounding - actually much more ‘Voxy’ than the DC30 despite being a more different circuit.

(We do definitely agree about the Swart though! )

Ears are funny things!  

ICBM

Moe_Zambeek said:

Ears are funny things!

They certainly are, I seem to remember you hated my Trem-o-verb too .

Dominic

Sounds really good on the video but I found the Lightning to be very harsh in reality.......a very brittle sound.

Moe_Zambeek

ICBM said:

Moe_Zambeek said:

Ears are funny things!

They certainly are, I seem to remember you hated my Trem-o-verb too .

Ha! Yes that’s true. Though I like the single recto thing at the Depot in Granton, for some reason. Weird.

ICBM

Moe_Zambeek said:

Ha! Yes that’s true. Though I like the single recto thing at the Depot in Granton, for some reason. Weird.

And I hate Single Rectos . They really are extremely different, despite apparently being the same preamp with different power sections... they're not.

It really is odd - given that you prefer the Matchless DC30, I would have thought you'd like the Trem-o-verb since it has more of the chunky, deep tone... and given that I love the Trem-o-verb, that I would also like the DC30 rather than the Lightning, but it's the other way round. I really can't explain it, other than it just going to prove that you need to try an amp for yourself and trust your feelings...

I would actually go as far as saying that the Lightning you had is the best 'boutique' amp of any description I've ever played through. More than I'd want to spend on an amp, but still fantastic.

IvisonGuitars

I used it again last night with my Telecaster, sounded spectacular!

hotpickups

miserneil said:

I used it again last night with my Telecaster, sounded spectacular!

Stop it you're creating gas in me LOL

tone1

miserneil said:

Here’s a quick vid I did to demonstrate one of my junior builds but it uses the Matchless.

https://youtu.be/4CbbSPg70vU

That sounds wonderful... I’m subscriber number 6 to your YouTube channel 

pmg

miserneil said:

I used it again last night with my Telecaster, sounded spectacular!

Try it with a lester