NAD (Again) Speechless, Wordless... And No More Darkness

Wazmeister

It was, as some guessed, a Matchless Lightening Reverb.

I tried em all, and it was close between this and the Nighthawk.

And man, these looks awesome lit up !

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/IMG_1156.jpg

koss59

Nothing smells quite like a Matchless with cooking valves ;-)

RMJ

Naice!. How was the mood at WG? (don't wish to derail thread).

dindude

Wow, nice one. So that makes it a Carr Rambler, a Lazy J, a Boogie King Snake, and a Matchless?

Wazmeister

dindude said:

Wow, nice one. So that makes it a Carr Rambler, a Lazy J, a Boogie King Snake, and a Matchless?

No mate, the King Snake proved to be extremely loud, so it went back. The Rambler, much loved still, may yet be the make weight.

The Matchless supercedes the hype. Wow.

Wazmeister

koss59 said:

Nothing smells quite like a Matchless with cooking valves ;-)

Actually, the whole amp has a glorious smell !

Aidanspaghetti

Anyone else ever get the cat piss smell from their matchless?

RaymondLin

Slightly off topic, did you happen to see Nick's Palir at WG? 

edbolivar

I suspected the Mesa wasn't a keeper, although it took me at least a month before the loud police made me give the King Snake the elbow.
Having also had a Lightning, I suspect mid Jan for you on that one .
@raymondLin I was there on Saturday and played a blue green Palir tele (if that is the one) and very nice it was too.
@RMJ
The guys at WGs were great as usual, of course sad not to see Jeff, but looks to be in great hands to take it forward.

RaymondLin

edbolivar said:

I suspected the Mesa wasn't a keeper, although it took me at least a month before the loud police made me give the King Snake the elbow.
Having also had a Lightning, I suspect mid Jan for you on that one .
@raymondLin I was there on Saturday and played a blue green Palir tele (if that is the one) and very nice it was too.
@RMJ
The guys at WGs were great as usual, of course sad not to see Jeff, but looks to be in great hands to take it forward.

Yes, that's the one ! It was @nickb_boy 's guitar.  What did you think of the neck?  I think Palir's has amazing necks.

Wazmeister

@edbolivar - the King Snake as you know, is an incredible amp. I think the weight, loudness and considerable cost became prohibitive for me when I used a Bearfoot SYODv3 into the Lazy J... and got very similar tones.

I also find 6L6s can be a bit 'in yer face'.

The Lightning has that chimey, shimmer sound that Vox (and some BF) gives you; and I feel like Ive come home. Actually, it is very controllable at home volumes too.

@raymondLin - I did see the Palirs, and I must admit I'd never encountered them before. Was that blue one @nickb_boy old one then ?! They did look gorgeous.

I dealt with Smithy and Jules, and we spoke about Jeff. Sad loss, but these are genuine guys aren't they, and will doubtless move forward. They did seem very positive, and the service was great.

Teetonetal

must stop looking at @wazmeister's NAD NGD NPD posts... not stop conveyor belt of awesomness!!

happy NAD (again) 

Teetonetal

Moss said:

http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/36805/2898676/340-201432516849_540x360.jpg

I had two of these in a stereo once!! My first "rig"

MrSwanson

Wazmeister;899072" said:

dindude said:

Wow, nice one. So that makes it a Carr Rambler, a Lazy J, a Boogie King Snake, and a Matchless?














No mate, the King Snake proved to be extremely loud, so it went back. The Rambler, much loved still, may yet be the make weight.

The Matchless supercedes the hype. Wow.

Oooh Rambler

pmg

Matchless lightning is mid-scooped?

Wazmeister

It is indeed. Relatively, of course... Esp to the Nightfire and Spitfire. The bass (with a hint of treble) brings in the mids.

pmg

Thought it was based on an ac15 12ax7 channel?

Wazmeister

To my knowledge mate, it's based upon the AC30 Top Boost - EL84s.

Moe_Zambeek

i had a Lightning for a while - mine wasn't mid scooped, probably the opposite to be honest. They have a sort of baxandal tone stack in that you use the treble and bass controls to set a relative mids level.

They are quite beefy for a 15 watt amp, much more so than an ac15 IME but they aren't as big and open sounding as the 30 watters, more compressed, a little boxy and more Rock focused, and crucially they lack the cut control so can also be more harsh than I'd like when you set a decent level of treble. Mine was a reverb version so may differ to the normal version.

That's all relative though, they are world class amps, great sounding for a hairy clean / mild grind and they feel good to play. The fact I had mine side by side with a c30 didn't help.

Wazmeister

From the Matchless website;

The sound of the Lightning is that very classic EL84 “British Sound”. Much more scooped in the midrange than the Spitfire and Nighthawk, you will quickly see how well it sits in the mix against other instruments. Its clarity and voicing will slice through everything, making you very present.

@Moe_Zambeek - its funny because I tried the Avalon, Nightfire and Lighning side by side... and then the C30. Once I'd heard the C30, and wow what a sound, it helped me to 'shape' the others.

The Lightning got pretty close at lower volumes tbf. But the C30 was VERY loud.

I will get a powerful head at some point.