MATAMP GTV AMPLIFIER HEAD
Hi all! Well, it’s been a while since the last site update back in January 2010. As usual I have been pretty busy, but…now
in April 2010 I am very pleased and proud to add the name “Matamp” to the site.
(There are still many other brands/goodies to come in the not-too-distant future though!).
Nevertheless, and ironically enough, there isn’t really that much to tell you about the Matamp
products. The reason for this is quite simply two-fold:
(1) I have only ever had one in for repair (and this was actually the “White Amp" shown in this article), and
(2) This has to be a testament to their good build quality and reliability!
I have a very good friend called Howard who actually works for Matamp, and we get together quite often
to usually spend the day talking shop/playing with amps etc......not forgetting
a nice pizza (from a brilliant place here in Nottingham…we both love pizza’s) when Howard comes to visit.
Two of the amps in this article have actually been brought to me by Howard at some
time during his visits. It’s not that there was actually anything wrong with them,
but it was more a point of showing them off to me and looking for a second opinion on
their test-results, plus for me to be able to use them and the name “Matamp” on my
web-site of course!
As a conclusion here, I must confess that I am a big fan of the Matamp gear.
It is as good (if not better in some cases) than the Dave Reeves hand-built Hiwatt gear from back there in the good old days! All the Matamp products are exceptionally neat and well-built. Here is their website:
CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL PICTURE FOR DETAILED PHOTOS OF THE WORK UNDERTAKEN ON EACH AMP:
MATAMP GTV AMPLIFIER HEAD
MATAMP SERIES 2000 BASS AMPLIFIER HEAD
MATAMP W100 "WHITEAMP" AMPLIFIER HEAD
Some useful information here kindly supplied by one of my customers...Dave:
"Hi John, just a quick thank you for doing such a great job on the Orange amp.
I found the latest stuff on the Matamps you've featured quite fascinating. I notice you don't mention anything about Orange being born from Matt Mathias and his designs and how the first Orange amps had a Mathias Cooper badge on the back. Mick Penny (who now runs a second-hand music shop in Mansfield) used to collect these amps from Huddersfield and take them to the Orange shop in London when he worked for them.
Cliff Cooper separated from Matt but continued using his designs. That is why the PC boards, chassis etc are interchangeable. A Matamp built Orange will have black marker pen chassis no. written on the supply caps. The so called 'pix only' Orange amps were built at the time of the split and had a 'lay down' transformer design and a more square looking PC board, then he reverted to the original board design.
The 2000 series you featured is the original design for the Fleetwood Mac tour that went to the USA with Matt travelling with them. By then they had the Orange Matamp logo although they were still the original aluminium chassis design and valve rectified. They may have used a pair of KT88s as well. The Orange tolex came next, and the rest is history. The first Orange Matamp 100 watters used by the likes of Wishbone Ash can fetch over a grand now. Or the rarer 200 watt ones such the one made for Jimmy Page are Matts masterpieces with trim pots for the KT88s. Massive Partridge transformers and weigh a ton! Matamp also built one for Stevie Wonder to run his Leslie.
Anyway, thanks again, Dave."
