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?
Comments
Bloody loud thing.......master worked very well though
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!
(formerly miserneil)
https://youtu.be/4CbbSPg70vU
(formerly miserneil)
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! )
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
(formerly miserneil)