Incoming NAD: Matamp Mini

[Concretebadger]

I spent some quality time at t'mill today trying out speakers and talking amps over a cuppa. They even gave me a lift from Huddersfield train station.

The Speaker Tester rig and a Mini amp head are upstairs while the reception desk is, but the workshop itself is downstairs. It's a pretty small space, but there only seems to be around three people working in there at any one time...the only hint of what the place is was on the front door. Very 'cottage industry' and low-key. Great fun to walk through a cluttered room of speaker cabs, electrical parts and half-finished amps though.

As for the mini itself, it's got a nicely clear 'balanced' sound...kinda hard to explain without going all . 'Bright' and 'warm' are usually mutually exclusive, but the one I tried was smooth and bright without being shrill, yet warm without turning the guitar into a load of mud. I ran a RAT and a really trebly fuzz into it and both sounded great; with most amps, one will sound fine while the other would sound cack, but this is one of the only amps I've tried that doesn't do that. As well as taking pedals well, it has an attenuator that works as a master volume, so it's a studio amp that *could* give enough hadroom for an informal rehearsal if/when the time comes.

I offered to pick up my amp when it's ready, instead of having it shipped...partly as an excuse to visit the place again. I'd like to at least try one of the full-size heads, because Matamps seem to have their own sound that different from anything I've tried before. I AM EXCITE.

[Fakir Mustache]

cool, so it's just the one with a volume and tone on the front panel?

[NickD]

The speaker tester rig is great fun.

[Concretebadger]

cool, so it's just the one with a volume and tone on the front panel?

Yep, that's the one. It looks a bit limiting, but I was able to get quite a few different sounds out of it, and all them were musical/usable. The trick seems to come from balancing the volume dial with the attentuator. There'll only be five left after I pick mine up though, and I don't think they've finalised what they'll make instead to replace it.

The speaker tester rig is great fun.

It sure is! Trying several speakers 'blind' without knowing what they are is actually really helpful, and I wish more places did that. I really liked the Celestion Creamback, didn't like the G12H all that much and couldn't make my mind up whether I liked the V30 or not. Weirdly, the V30 and G12H sound fine in my 2x12! That might explain why I've had many problems trying get them to sound right close-mic'd, because they don't sound nearly as good on their own as they do in tandem.

Apparently the amp should be ready by the end of the week...I take the 'limited stock' to mean the numbers of chassis and other parts because these things seem to get built one by one. There were a couple of absolute monsters sitting on the workbench...200 watt things with whopping great transformers.

[Fakir Mustache]

I really liked the Celestion Creamback, didn't like the G12H all that much and couldn't make my mind up whether I liked the V30 or not. Weirdly, the V30 and G12H sound fine in my 2x12! That might explain why I've had many problems trying get them to sound right close-mic'd, because they don't sound nearly as good on their own as they do in tandem.

That they are in tandem is a reason, but if you have the cab flat on the ground and you stand up close to it that could be another reason.

[Bacchus]

As for the mini itself, it's got a nicely clear 'balanced' sound...kinda hard to explain without going all . 'Bright' and 'warm' are usually mutually exclusive, but the one I tried was smooth and bright without being shrill, yet warm without turning the guitar into a load of mud.

...

I'd like to at least try one of the full-size heads, because Matamps seem to have their own sound that different from anything I've tried before. I AM EXCITE.

I think that's a Matamp thing, although I've only ever played my own one in the flesh. With most amps you tend to try to work out if they sound predominantly bassy and dark, or middy or trebly and bright or what have you, but I think Matamps are predominantly all of them, which I know is an oxymoron but it's the only way I can think of describing it. It's all there. I suppose that's why people always say they sound hi-fi or something.

Mine probably has more lower mids than you expect with other amps and has a lovely fuggy sound that as it just starts to break up a wee bit, but that's not to say that it's dull or can only do dirt.

[Concretebadger]

I got it home today. 'Yellowish due to indoor lighting' pic:

I'm still getting used to the controls, but there's a surprising range of sounds from just two control knobs. It dirties up pretty quick as you turn up the gain, but doesn't go very saturated so I've already managed to coax some really nice cleans out of it. The single best feature - especially for my home studio setting - is the attenuator. I wish more amps had one, because it's sooo useful.

Especially when it's as loud as this. Four watts might not sound like much on paper, but it's plenty loud enough.

[Fakir Mustache]

So you can't get the really heavy distortion like in the youtube videos? I think they might all be the version with 3 knobs on the front.

[dub]

Run a boost into it. It will sound fantastic, and still clean up with your volume knob.

[Concretebadger]

The cleans sound gorgeous, but the distorted sound is just a gentle raspiness...I'm sure a boost will coax a bit more grit out of it, but there's only so much distortion you can get out of a single preamp valve. This is why I've been asking around about clean boosts just lately.

It sounds a bit honk-y when fully cranked, a bit like a cocked wah sort of sound so I prefer the lower gain settings more. The tone knob is wired to have a less dramatic effect at higher gain settings anyway, so it seems to work at its best when you show it a bit of moderation.

That said, there have been several versions of this amp made over the last few years, so there could be some 'higher gain' versions out there too.