Matchless GPR-1 Preamp

[@neuroscope9052]

The tones coming out of that preamp are tasty af.

[@mikedenkinger9570]

Absolutely.

[@LeonTodd]

We need a dedicated PCM41 and PCM 42 video!

[@middle_pickup]

I'd like that too.

[@Euphonicmusicschool]

Respect the Toad.

[@valeriolongo447]

My god awesome preamp! A lot of nice tones💥

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Wow. Never saw a Matchless Pre before. Very cool! 👍

[@TheAudioGeek67]

Yes to adding an overdrive pedal. Great pedal platform.

[@michaellrakes5521]

That sounds absolutely beautiful

[@frankchaina2498]

3:20 mark divine tone, love it 🙌

[@raysmetaltracks6782]

So much control over the low end, that tone was amazing!!

[@mattnolan3117]

hahaha the Jack hammer of firmness!!! thats gold!! and so is the tone coming out of that matchless- its got literal wow factor Mike!!

[@saintjames7387]

haha thought that one was pretty good too

[@jdm_oneten]

I had to come back and watch this one again. I wish I could like it twice. 😁

[@juhalehtonen9000]

me too and I checked it in reverb, found only one for 8,500euros...

[@christopheranderson2158]

Been really enjoying your channel lately....you’ve been kicking out some really cool content and the tones you get are always superb! Keep it coming! 🤘🤘🤘

[@FlashGrover]

another killer 90's preamp. Keep em coming

[@shorerocks]

Glorious! And nice that others have a bad tuning day, too.

[@shakarocks]

Love how you whipped out Crazy Life. Perfect for demoing this unit.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Great video Michael! I had one of those preamps back in the day for a minute. I was just too used to how my HC 30 and Chieftan amps felt and couldn't bond with it but it's a very rare and cool sounding preamp.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

OH DANG! Did you think that the Chieftain was similar to the ch2? I keep wondering, "Maybe I should get a Matchless??"

[@ShawnTubbs]

@@BigHairyGuitars To me there's just something magical about the HC30 feel. IMHO if you want the Matchless thing get one of the heads. I'm just one old dude with an opinion. You're doing killer work Michael and I hope you're doing well.

[@joeblow3906]

I love the sustain without overly gainy type thing this unit does. I want one

[@rokket2005]

Michael playing Toad? Wasn't expecting that.

[@tinkercitymusic]

The whisper tracks hahaha... preamp sounds badass!

[@SlimeyGuitarStrings]

That thing sounds amazing. Great playing as always!

[@chrissargent8398]

The Bad Cat "2-Tone" is another Mark Sampson/VOX inspired floor pre that has really great tones like that.

[@OldBanjer]

“If pork rinds were a pre-amp” should be in the matchless sales literature.

[@surf247365]

Great video! Sounds very close to a Vox AC10. 🤘🏾

[@achilleszaluar5825]

super sound pre... thank you!

[@caiusmadison2996]

Played highschool battle of the bands on a matchless chieftain. It was awesome. Tone for miles.

[@leftymike5625]

I need that sound in my life.

[@krloos07]

This tone crunch reminds me a lot my ada mp1

[@Locoandchooch]

Has that Billy Duffy tone👍🏼

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

Would love to see what you can get out of a Mesa Mark IV. Also I'm loving the tastey tones in this video.

[@guitarz]

killer intro track! dig it!

[@wheresallthezombies]

Dude this thing is awesome.

[@bobo62]

Hey Michael, any chance you could do captures of this for the Quad Cortex?

[@Yiannisdryed]

i am curious how it sounds with Boss SD-1 combine :)

[@markinthemix6055]

NIce video. Gotta get these.

[@JohnSmith-ef2sx]

Lots of clarity.

[@Gonzo2707]

Matchless Mk. 1 Hotboxes are around 350-500€ on Reverb; its latest incarnation is still being built, I believe? Judging from this video, a Mk. 1 compares to your rig (or a C30/DC30) roughly in the same way an SP77 compares to an SLO 100: You kinda sorta get the overall vibe, but it‘s miles away from being identical. A Hotbox 1 does make a neato preamp for a Rhodes or Wurli, though, that‘s what mines been doing for the last 10? or so years.

[@wakjob961]

So seeing as how the VHT is pretty much linear/clean/clear ect... We can call this preamp gain. Of which, the snob tube amp fuddy-duddies say is inferior to power section saturation. Sounds GREAT to me... nice camera btw. Vid looks amazing.

[@Wooburnmusic]

Sounds almost as good as my old Marshall Master volume MK2 valve combo, 😁👍

[@rubievale]

Ah, I shouldn't have watched this because I absolutely have enough preamps, but.... that hairy, chimey goodness.

[@TheDeedeeFiles]

Awesome preamp man

[@RustyTaylorGuitar]

hey Michael I have a Matchless Vibro Box pedal that I would be happy to loan you to make a video with. It is a tube preamp pedal with tremolo. You can decide if their pedals are worth it!

[@pastorkev777]

This sounds glorious. I think it would be cool if you checked out Frenzel Amps preamps. The have everything from a Bassman, Plexi, JCM800, Vox, Matchless and Hiwatt preamps.

[@natemeanie4930]

Sledgehammer of Firmness... Hilarious!

[@chrisgoodnow9899]

Thanks for posting this. I have a GPR-1 also and there is next to no info on them out in the world. I even emailed Matchless and they said they had nothing on it. No schematics. No idea which circuits were inside. Nada.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

That's a shame. Someone must have it. Maybe it went to Bad Cat???

[@chrisgoodnow9899]

@@BigHairyGuitars Yeah, I definitely think it is with Mark Sampson in some way, shape, or form. When I emailed Matchless, Phil Jamison, the COO, wrote me back saying he left Matchless right before the GPR-1 came out. They only made the preamp in 1998. Mark Sampson worked on and released the GPR-1 while Phil was gone. Matchless shut down right after the release and reopened in 2000. That is when Phil Came back and Sampson was gone and it seems the information went with him. His email said they internally have "little to no info" on the unit. They don't even have documentation or a manual. Now, what is interesting--you mentioned your GPR-1 sounds slightly different than the other you played. It could be the tubes, but in his email he told me "from what I remember there were several different builds on those GPR’s so they varied" Mine is the one serial numbered directly before the Corgan one. I have no idea if mine even sounds the same based on what he said. So, really, all the answers just raise more questions.

[@dwightnicholson2647]

TOAD SOME SPROCKETT !!

[@bigdavedave9865]

WHAT A SOUND 👌😎

[@ChristopherBown]

I love my Matchless Hotbox. I wouldn't call it a distortion pedal. It is always on if you get the original. I use mine as a clean buffer and a little boost when I click it on.

[@knikk77]

4:29 Bryan Adams - East Side Story ???

[@samfen6417]

Can we expect any Kemper profiles from this majestic preamp?

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Yep. bighairyprofiles.com/item/bhp-matchy

[@Yupppi]

The intro really made me think Tool. So it has to have pleasant harmonic and tonal qualities! Is there a lot of noise on the background? Is it fans or just general noise in the signal with the amp? Surprised there wasn't a joke or graphic about "monster bottom end". Do Les Pauls ever want to stay in tune, really. You're on fire with these recent videos, amazing amps that I didn't know about.

[@DS-fv7tf]

Michael, great vid! Question though...have you ever seen or played through the VHT 3 channel Pitbull Preamp? It’s not the “chrome” one everyone remembers. I saw it in Recycler years ago but I was in college and could not pull the $ together. Also, one of the Guitar magazines had an amp or preamp shootout and it was photographed with Bogner, Soldano etc preamps as well.

[@Canabai]

@MichaelNielson, if you've never tried a Hafler T3, you should.

[@fusionid]

Totally sounds like my matchless lightning. Watch Audley freed for that kind of sound.

[@Polentaccio]

I don't know guys, probably not my sound because it sounds fizzy/splatty to me.

[@mikaelb47]

Crazy Good !

[@doublea7054]

Wow

[@jimideez9829]

Perfect.

[@matthewwillis1585]

Ok, what is that song he's playing at the beginning? I've been listening to that on a loop for almost an hour.

[@saintjames7387]

sounds like heaven let your light shine down by collective soul but its not

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Thanks guys. I was quite happy with that too. It’s pretty much an improvisation that came out that day. That’s why little bits of other songs sneak into it. Haha

[@marcmeier2148]

It kinda has a tool vibe.

[@chriskocher1469]

Dear Matchless amps, there are very few quality videos of your amps online. Please send one of each to Michael.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Dear Chris, I love you. Dear Matchless, yes.

[@fredrickmeyers8076]

@@BigHairyGuitars we would love for you to play some of our amps. Call the shop and ask for Phil. Tell him Pete sent you. Love your videos.

[@saintjames7387]

why do they call it a matchless? cuz thing starts a spark, no fire needed...

[@markinthemix6055]

Saint James lt’s not matched. 🤔

[@BenBreard]

Profile pack please! .....like I need more profiles. :(

[@danieltravis5082]

This sounds fucking sweet. TBH the first channel sounds like my 6sh7/6at6 1993 Clubman head.

[@desmondtutu7916]

Wow!

[@ibanezleftyclub]

Does Adam Jones use this? Damn that sounds so much like the tones of Fear Inoculum.

[@jakehyrule7260]

Nah he doesn't mate. There is a good writeup of the gear he used for fear inoculum, having said that its mostly the same as its always been.

[@pedroalmeida7066]

Hey Michael, i'm curious about the return of rack preamps stuff, do you feel, as some people say, that preamps lack some of the dinamics that all in one amps have? Do you feel you lose anything by having the preamp, poweramp in separate with different power feeds and what not? I've read that Reinhold Bogner had that problem in the past

[@DreamerVisionary]

Wonderful as always Michael, I have heard this tone before I know that Bill Duffy might still have a matchless in his live rig . By the way how do I get my hands on that tele .?

[@Melonheadinbed]

i bought a matchless chieftain two years ago. it’s a strange amp to me in a good way. i’ve never had an amp good enough to push with pedals ie i’ve always owned a mesa and also have a landry which is like a jcm800 on roids. they have their own thing going. the matchless by far has the best base tone for any of any amp i’ve played. the EQ like he says gives you everything of every value of eq. for example turn down the bass on a marshall and you get less bass. down on the matchless? no bass all mids and highs. all the way up woman tone and the amp doesn’t really get farty easily. he is underselling the highs. it’s had a LOT of high end. a lot. matchless are a bit of an oddball because (and i think most v1 tubes in their amps are like this) they run the guitar signal through both triodes in the 12ax7 in parallel instead of in series. they also run a 12ax7 as the reverb driver instead of a 12at7 like fender does. i’m currently in the process of trying that but my reverb died. anyway. i’ve a/b’d it against my landry and it’s by far the best sounding amp i’ve ever owned. it is cathode biased so no biasing BUT it runs tubes very hot. i’d bet every bit of 90% plate dissipation so bear that in mind. it replates new production mullards. it does better with tesla el34s and electroharmonix big bottle 6ca7 which is what i run now. it is tube rectified by either a single gz34 or a 5u4 (never tried). anyway. i got a deal on mine and the shipping quality reflected the morons taste who sold it to me. but it turned out fine.

[@PedroEvil12]

10:30 When Two Become One Chord Progression

[@irmasil3]

Yeah, I am a Metal guy but this sounds pretty sweet :)

[@BenBreard]

I want to say that Groove Tubes made a similar looking chrome preamp back in the day. My Google foo is failing me though. Was that a thing or did I just make that up?

[@BigHairyGuitars]

The DID. It was a version of their Trio preamp. VERY different than the Matchless in tone, I'll be doing a demo of that soon too.

[@BenBreard]

@@BigHairyGuitars lovely. I look forward to that one as well. We're going to need to help you source a v-twin rack and Valve FX to keep the chrome theme going. Lol

[@SSvebor]

Soooooo nice. :)

[@steveg219]

Cool

Hot Box classic is a preamp. www.premierguitar.com/articles/matchless-brings-the-hotbox-back-1

[@XiyuYang]

How did you manage to find one lol, these things are rarer than fossils

[@wakjob961]

I'm a self professed "gear nerd"...and I didn't even know about theses!

[@larslevinberget9558]

Never heard of a Matchless Preamp...

[@ivorycybernetics]

I want one...but never will get one

[@GirlsGamesGunsGuitar]

Holy shit. Pardon my French but wow. Want.

[@ogunhe]

#SeriousAdamJonesVibesFromThe1stNote

[@harrisfrankou2368]

Desert Island pre-amp.

[@roncarter2188]

What's the price?? Sounds awesome

[@ogunhe]

3K - 5K

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Stupid price. 2 became available a few months ago, and I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3k on it, even though it's my top 3 amps. $3k for a preamp... get out of town! Thankfully, my friends have looser wallets than I do! :)

[@roncarter2188]

@@BigHairyGuitars Hell no, that's crazy!!

[@kellyjackson7889]

@@BigHairyGuitars Umm but I think they're hand wired take a boo inside. Very rare hand built booteek pre $3k isn't unreasonable. Now go find a WIZARD tube preamp good luck you'll need a gear sherpa to climb that mountain!

[@MRxr400]

jack hammer firmness? guitar porn at it's best. great sounding pre-amp. the filtering of bass and treble frequencies often happen at the speaker don't they? di using ir's is supposed to help recreate this eq section of a guitar tone.

[@middle_pickup]

He should send that back to Matchless to let them document it, and reissue it.

[@respblox]

I'm sending mine out to matchless next week for routine maintenance (filter caps) - hoping they trace and document in case that want to reissue in the future

[@dustinrieseberg8707]

Anyone have one of these for sale?

[@vicjames2743]

That’s SAWEETTTT. maybe I’ll sell a kidney and buy me one. 🤔

[@davedynamite77]

It’s funny the way your jaw moves when you play guitar you got some anxiety

[@mhoff7722]

Pretty sweet tones but not for me...especially at $3-$5k. Too many other great preamps out there for a lot less. 🤘🤘🤘

[@rickaitkins6539]

Please name those other better preamps please.

[@mhoff7722]

@@rickaitkins6539 "Better" is subjective. If this is the best preamp for you and what you do, and you can afford it, that is awesome. I really like the Mesa Triaxis or Bogner or VHT preamps. Really love the VHT 2150 power amp!

[@scottredwine9617]

It's harmoness

[@ogunhe]

#SledgehammerOfFirmness

[@donewithmodernlife]

Holy crap this makes me want to buy a Matchless Lightning. Oh, Ceriatone makes a clone...

[@TheFrozenDesert]

I built a Ceriatone DZ30 and it's fantastic. Not the same as the Lightning, but really, really good stuff from them.

[@Burkhimself]

I think it has a pretty cool sound, but I guess I expected a little more gain......for $3K 😂

[@wakjob961]

Yeah...no preamp is worth 3k. I've built/repaired/modded many o amps... There's NOTHING in them worth stupid money...just stupid people.

[@myasnikovcustom]

so fast????????????))))

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I've got some stuff in the vault, and you kicked it out of the vault. haha! I wonder if anyone (you) would be able to make a preamp like this.

[@scottredwine9617]

Hello daddy

[@Locoandchooch]

Hahahahaha

[@TheJonhentai]

...wtf did i just watch?

[@mannyfragoza9652]

sounds terrible IMO