Are Matamps realiable?

[Sapatown]

Hey,

 

Im just wondering if you know one or two about Matamp heads. I have an Matamp GT200 that got shipped from the other side of the pond,

it had some problems with fading out on rare occasions, but often enough that it was a problem. I got it checked by a really good amp tech that knows his stuff, and he found some loose transistors and a cable that needed to get fixed.

 

After that it have been problem free for a good time, and I really hope it stays that way. The amp is from 2009 and is confirmed to be from Matamp themselves in England. 

I also got a Matamp GT1 for our guitar player, that one is from 2008. It also started to fade out suddenly when playing. More often than the GT200 would. It will eventually get the same tech checkup asap.

 

My question is, as much as I love Matamps, are they reliable? Is 2008-2009 a good year for Matamp? 

I read about the band Sleep and High On Fire had to stop using them because they failed alot.

We even have another band in out town that complain that their Matamp GT1 have to be checked at the tech alot.

 

I know some people knows alot about this stuff, and I am crossing my fingers if someone here knows this stuff.

I have tried asking around for months, but haven't gotten a good answer.

 

Really LOVE the Matamp sound, and I will still give it a chance for a couple of years, but if this is the norm with them, Im thinking about going with Orange. 

 

Some pix of the GT200 in action.

[NancyJohnson]

I had an Orange Matamp in the late 70s.  Bought it from an ex-hire place in Chalk Farm, it used to belong to Davey Johnstone, Elton John's guitarist.  Carried it home on the train. 

 

It always smelt odd, like Scaletrix, and met it's demise when it caught fire at someones house, smoke, spitting sparks and a bit of flame.  We yanked the power cable and put the fire out with Coca Cola.  Sold it to a place on Denmark Street for £60.00 that I probably spent on records at Virgin right after.  In hindsight, I should have got it fixed, these are worth thousands now.

[thodrik]

Quote

are they reliable? Is 2008-2009 a good year for Matamp? 

You are talking about an amp that is now about 13-14 years old. Valve amps generally require servicing periodically. If you have bought the amp second hand then you don't really have any idea how often it has been used, how hard it has been driven, whether it has been running mismatched loads which are not good for the transistor or whether the amp has been serviced regularly or not serviced at all.

 

It would not surprise me if the amp required a bit of work considering its age. You could buy an Ampeg, Mesa or Orange valve amp from the same period and you might have to get the amp serviced and incur similar costs, particularly if the amp has been shipped a long distance.

You also have to factor in that servicing valve amps can get very expensive when it comes to replacing valves, irrespective of the brand of amplifier on account that valves are generally expensive. My Trace Elliot V6 has been very reliable and has only needed serviced once in nine years. However that service cost me about £450 because the power tubes died and needed replaced, all six of them! It means that the repair costs of the V6 have been more expensive than the repair costs of all my non-valve amps combined! It doesn't make the V6 unreliable, just expensive to fix if something goes wrong. 

In terms of Sleep and High on Fire, they were generally driving the amps at full volume and boosted with multiple boosts and fuzz pedals. They were also operating them while under the influence of a variety of substances and touring heavily. Even the best amps in the world would have struggled in that type of environment.

 

If you require reliability and low repair costs, then I would look at non-valve amp options. If you need authentic valve tone though then you just have to put up with the potential repair costs.

[Sapatown]

5 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I had an Orange Matamp in the late 70s.  Bought it from an ex-hire place in Chalk Farm, it used to belong to Davey Johnstone, Elton John's guitarist.  Carried it home on the train. 

 

It always smelt odd, like Scaletrix, and met it's demise when it caught fire at someones house, smoke, spitting sparks and a bit of flame.  We yanked the power cable and put the fire out with Coca Cola.  Sold it to a place on Denmark Street for £60.00 that I probably spent on records at Virgin right after.  In hindsight, I should have got it fixed, these are worth thousands now.

 

 

Thats both hilarious and a tragedy! I saw one Orange Matamp from the 70's on Ebay with a price up to 10 000 pounds.. I really wonder who got the cash for that.

 

[NancyJohnson]

4 minutes ago, Sapatown said:

 

 

Thats both hilarious and a tragedy! I saw one Orange Matamp from the 70's on Ebay with a price up to 10 000 pounds.. I really wonder who got the cash for that.

 

 

Two of the guys I was jamming with at the time now own a successful mastering business, I spoke to one of them about five or six years ago and we really had a good laugh about the amp on fire story.  Well, one of us did.

[Sapatown]

4 hours ago, thodrik said:

You are talking about an amp that is now about 13-14 years old. Valve amps generally require servicing periodically. If you have bought the amp second hand then you don't really have any idea how often it has been used, how hard it has been driven, whether it has been running mismatched loads which are not good for the transistor or whether the amp has been serviced regularly or not serviced at all.

 

It would not surprise me if the amp required a bit of work considering its age. You could buy an Ampeg, Mesa or Orange valve amp from the same period and you might have to get the amp serviced and incur similar costs, particularly if the amp has been shipped a long distance.

You also have to factor in that servicing valve amps can get very expensive when it comes to replacing valves, irrespective of the brand of amplifier on account that valves are generally expensive. My Trace Elliot V6 has been very reliable and has only needed serviced once in nine years. However that service cost me about £450 because the power tubes died and needed replaced, all six of them! It means that the repair costs of the V6 have been more expensive than the repair costs of all my non-valve amps combined! It doesn't make the V6 unreliable, just expensive to fix if something goes wrong. 

In terms of Sleep and High on Fire, they were generally driving the amps at full volume and boosted with multiple boosts and fuzz pedals. They were also operating them while under the influence of a variety of substances and touring heavily. Even the best amps in the world would have struggled in that type of environment.

 

If you require reliability and low repair costs, then I would look at non-valve amp options. If you need authentic valve tone though then you just have to put up with the potential repair costs.

 

I hear you.

 

Im pretty new to tube amps, and this information gives me a good impression how to think about them.

To know exactly how the previous owners handled them, we will never know.

 

The tech that looked after my GT200 was without a doubt, an experienced pro.

And as of now, the amp have been working perfectly. Iam making sure I always use the right impendance etc. 

 

I totally understand your logic talking about the Sleep/HoF environment! I could also see how easy when rigging up and down gear at bussy venues things can happen.

Like turning on the amp without the power cable inserted, because someone else took it out by mistake etc.

[BassAdder60]

Dave Green at Ashdown was originally at Matamp so he may be able to help with any questions 

[BassmanPaul]

Quoting @Sapatown I got it checked by a really good amp tech that knows his stuff, and he found some loose transistors and a cable that needed to get fixed.

 

I could be missing something but the Matamps I can remember were all tube/valve and had none of those pesky transistors.