Care and Feeding of the Matchless DC-30

[@mamulcahy]

Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me!

[@PsionicAudio]

Oh, it’s just a handy party trick. I just remember things. You don’t want to play me at Trivial Pursuit. It has its drawbacks - the other day I couldn’t get the theme song from “Alice” out of my head.

[@robb5984]

@@PsionicAudio Kiss My Grits!

[@jerryking2418]

I love listening to experience. Your attention to detail and your infinite patience is what distinguishes you from the others. Thanks.

[@maxvockner]

I have a ceriatone dz30 head that I built about 4 years ago now. I noticed on whim that one tube was very dim and another one was red plating at idle in low power. Looks like I’m heading down this road now! Thanks for giving me the confidence and knowledge to be able to tackle this job! Should have made the adjustments when I built it but hey I’m learning everyday and that’s what it’s all about.

[@daughtersofdivorce6803]

Any progress? I just got two myself.

[@maxvockner]

@@daughtersofdivorce6803 at the moment im just leaving it hi power mode because seems to not red plate the tubes. wife has me on a kitchen remodel so the amp tech-ery is taking a back burner for minute. Ugh. Really an inspiring amp to play though. two sounds fantastic though. i was able to get a hold of TDS who makes the trannys for matchless and get a pair of OEM trannys. also put a Variable Voltage Regulator in but wasnt to impressed with what it did to the sound. seems to feel like extremely cold biased amp when used to the extreme. ill prolly pull that out when i get to the cathode bias resistors. Cheers!!

[@atech9020]

I 100% agree that most builders are building amps that are really copy and paste from days of yore. Phil is perhaps living in a bubble where what he does, regardless of the truth of it, is perceived as gospel. He has gotten away with it for so long that even he believes it. Matchless amps from the 90's were works of art, but that doesn't mean that they were the best actual design for the circuit as a whole. The sound became sought after, but what a user doesn't know can't hurt them right? When I build an amp, I want it to be right first, and it needs to sound good too. I have come to find that you can pretty much have your cake and eat it too, you just have to be willing to look away from others' designs. Build it right, and if it sounds great too, you win. Warping panels and burning up tubes is NOT COOL. I don't care how good it sounds, it has to be sustainable.

[@donbutler8760]

Lyle; I had one of these that was made in 1994. What I found was that the amp in the output section was over filtered. I installed value of the caps used in the JMI version of the AC30’s and I installed a Mercury Magnetics version of a Woden output tranny. That made the amp really sing. I got the amp in a trade with one of the guys who had worked there. In fact I think Phil actually finished putting the amp together. I ended up trading it for a 1964 AC30 that a friend of mine still owns. He’s in Manchester, U.K. and uses it all the time!

[@PsionicAudio]

I disagree with Matchless on some points, some of which you addressed here. But in this case I was just hired to repair it (including making it stop eating tubes). You know that big pointless finned heat sink on Mesas, mounted by the preamp tubes? Here’s an amp that could actually use one of those…

[@wootks]

@@PsionicAudio Matchless can say whatever they want, but when the thing gets so hot it warps the front panel I don't really think they have a leg to stand on. I think most consumers expect the tubes in their amps to last years or even "forever".

[@LPCustom3]

@@PsionicAudio Yeah Lyle, mine would get really hot. Mark would tell me that the hotter they got, the better they would sound. Not sure I agree with him, but I've known Mark for 30 years.

[@PsionicAudio]

If I were building a similar amp (and thought running tubes at meltdown had any merit) I’d put a switch on the back for the tube-killing maniacs. And no warranty repairs for use of that switch.

[@-Muad-dib]

Some of us do like a hot biased amp

[@montygore]

If the buls are using heater 6.3 volts, you can look into pin ball machine parts and get LEDs that will fit in the bayonet bulb sockets. I use them in old transmitters and the work with no heat. You might check that out for these amps to reduce some heat.

[@paulsimpson7751]

Love the video . I am a little biased when it comes to matchless because I love my laurel canyon more than anything I have ever had owned but I understand why matchless won’t change the circuit from the original design people are so hung up on the 90s era matchless that if anything changes from that era they will just have something to pick and pry that matchless amps built today aren’t the same as the old amps. Keep up the great videos !

[@Melonheadinbed]

ohhhhh i’ve been so curious about the laurel canyon. i play a chieftain 2x12 and love it BUT it hums when the master is pushed and the reverb is past noon. small price to pay. i just use my preamp for volume. how is your laurel canyon? is it more like a princeton?

[@paulsimpson7751]

@@Melonheadinbed hey mate . I would Love to try the cheiftein . It’s hard to explain the tone compared to a Princeton. The canyon isn’t as clean and pristine . Has more of a snarl to the tone and the breakup is just magic . The reverb isn’t anywhere near as wet as well . I’m not sure exactly how the reverb circuit works but it runs in parallel to the signal so it doesn’t effect the signal or tone when cranked, but it’s sort of in the background not like a really wet signal like a typical fender reverb. I don’t have any problem with hum or noise when up loud either. I just love all there amps and if there is a touch noise it doesn’t bother me or just like you said it’s a small price to pay . Take care mate .

[@marcospintor1333]

Your voice is so deep and soothing

[@dylanjastle]

Wish you lived closer to Utah! I have a couple amps that I would love gone through and made bullet proof

[@ThadBrown]

Love this video! Not to 'defend' Matchless, they need no defending, but you and I are old enough to remember when the _perception_ was that you couldn't tour with a Vox unless you were Brian May and had a traveling Vox repair shop on the road with you. Part of that was due to some actual QC issues with a lot (not all, a lot) of 70s AC30s. And part of that was that the better made 60s Voxes were getting old and in need of overhaul, and fewer people knew how to do that work that knew how to overhaul, say, a Twin Reverb. Hence, the jokes like the one I used, that if you're gigging a Vox you need to be sure you have its most important accessory, a fire extinguisher. I think a lot of what Mark and Phil were doing in 'overbuilding' these was to prove that a road worthy Vox could be built. They may have errred on the side of 'you can throw it down the stairs like a MusicMan and it will still work,' and that may have bled over into a amp that growled a little more than it sang. I'll give you that. But at the time, that level of reliability from an amp that sounds a LOT like an AC30 when at full roar, that was something to make people sit up and notice. Again, love the vid!

[@PsionicAudio]

I think in comparison to what was on the market when Matchless came out they were the best built sounding things in the world. But they are not perfect beasts.

[@Auen73]

Seems there reaches a point of diminishing returns with some these more elaborate PTP wired amps......regarding access & serviceability. They are suppose to be easier to find and fix component failures. Love this channel.......

[@stevem.1853]

It seems like most off-the-shelf EL84 amps run the tubes as hot as possible, just because that's how the AC30s were....

[@daughtersofdivorce6803]

Totally. It sounds amazing. But at a cost. Thankfully EL84s are inexpensive compared to other power tubes.

[@sqlsmarty4325]

Another great video! Thanks! 😎👍

[@sclinchy]

Any reason not to use a pot rather than the resistor to set the bias? Just curious.

[@PsionicAudio]

A really expensive pot is 2W. The average pot is 1/2W or less.

[@sclinchy]

@@PsionicAudio Sorry, but I don’t follow. Why would that be a problem?

[@PsionicAudio]

The cathode resistor in these and similar amps is 10W. A pot would burn.

[@sclinchy]

@@PsionicAudio Aha! Good reason!☺️. Thanks.

[@JenkemFactory]

One of my favorite aspects of the DC30s is the power sag you get when playing them loud. Won't running the power tubew colder reduce this? I've realised mine is starting to show some of the same symptoms as this one but i would gladly run through tubes quicker if thats what it takes to get that spongy goodness.

[@PsionicAudio]

No, I’m not saying to run them cold. I’m saying run them hot like Vox did, about 14W max idle. Not 19W.

[@JenkemFactory]

@psionicaudio not saying cold either, just "colder" than original matchless specs. Genuinely interested in what effect you think it might have in regard to the dynamic response

[@pierrederesistance]

When you talk about issues with wall voltage now being higher, does this mean these issues are going to affects amps to a different degree in the UK where wall voltage is different?

[@johnwilliamson467]

A smaller wattage and ohm can make up the small difference thus a 3 ohm 1 watt in series of 10 is a 30 ohm 10 watt resistor network .

[@PsionicAudio]

Yeah, trying not to do anything too “out there” though. Don’t want series resistors floating in air. I’ve figured out that a 120R will do what I need perfectly. I temped in a 5w I have here but ordered a 10W “for looks.”

[@johnwilliamson467]

@@PsionicAudio Thinking small turret so not floating in air . I do see your point .

[@mferrand]

@@PsionicAudio So you kept the 63 Ohm 10W but replaced the 75 Ohm 10 W with 120?

[@PsionicAudio]

Yes.

[@richardclark.]

Amp dissipation. Played operayation. It's making me wait...it's keeping me waiyayating..

[@goodun2974]

Make it sound thick and saucy, like ketchup! (That song was once used in a ketchup ad).

[@richardclark.]

@@goodun2974 I am quite old enough to remember so I can verify that you aren't mistayayayken.

[@robertbozic4692]

The question to all Matchless owners who want the ultimate tone is “how high are you running the master volume?” If you’re not at 10 then you’re not getting the ultimate tone so I like this amp techs approach.

[@middle_pickup]

"I did it! I finished designing my ultimate AC30 amp! It runs a little hot, but oh well...Hey! These internal LIGHT BULBS should help!"

[@mkii1964]

Lyle, I have a 2021 Matchless C30 head and I use a Brown Box (with all of my amps) What input AC voltage would suggest running it on? Thank you for your reply!

[@DDE_ADDICT]

You should make a video showing your face and introduce yourself. Your voice and personality is perfect for this.

[@tcb0044]

He did kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2PCdH14ptOUi9U

[@PsionicAudio]

Thanks. I did about a year ago. ;)

[@erajad]

Surprise! kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2PCdH14ptOUi9U ;-)

[@weschilton]

Its amazing how every company that makes EL34/84 powered amps runs the tubes so hot they fail quickly. Just doesn't make sense. I wonder if any of them test these designs to see if it really makes a difference to the sound, or if they are just doing what dumb thing was done in the 60s because of some false perception?

[@jamesflack8624]

Makes perfect sense to me... Run the valves hot, replace the valves often. Everybody profits, except of course the consumer/player...

[@richardclark.]

Yeah, all the old 30's that haven't been fixed by now do the same thing. Some designs were actually tweaked by larger companies to run hotter after the little guys sold or licensed things in order to keep up with production. Unfortunately this is a trend that continues in many consumer markets today.

[@mfam1306]

The crappy new production tubes are mostly to blame. That and high wall voltage.

[@weschilton]

@@mfam1306 That's what I was thinking, higher wall voltages, lower quality tubes and over-biasing. I really don't believe in any for profit conspiracy between amp builders and tube makers.... certainly not back in the 50s and 60s when tubes wee dirt cheap. Seems that these days boutique amp builders just copy old designs for nostalgia's sake and rarely improve on them---as far as reliability is concerned.

[@ernestschultz5065]

Oh my my Oh hell yes honey put on that party dress...

[@ptrisonic]

Yep I've got it as an earworm..... Could be worse yesterday it was "Sugsr, Sugar" The Archies and it lasted all day.

[@butchlauer]

Clipping of lav mike or whatever I don't care when I hear that certain amount of gain and color my ears perk and my head turns. There is some type of magic in those back lit control panel and logo amps.

[@jerrystephenson1172]

I have noticed you play riffs from famous classic rock recordings & I like that. Do you get your videos demonetized or blocked?

[@PsionicAudio]

I try to just give snippets. So far the only time I’ve gotten demonetized was at the holidays when I played Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody.” It was Sony that did it - I can’t imagine Noddy minding in the slightest.

[@shckltnebay]

I though the JJs are a very robust tube and can handle higher voltages

[@PsionicAudio]

Read the datasheet.

[@kmichaelp4508]

Matchless or Bad Cat Cub 40R?

[@PsionicAudio]

In my experience, Matchless or Top Hat among amps in that vein.

[@ChadAbdulJabar]

This is a little personal to me because I have met Phil a couple of times when I bought a Lightning. The internet is optimal for armchair quarterbacks. My experience with Matchless amps is that they sound great, cut in any mix, are well built and reliable. Any criticisms after these items would be like Jason Alexander's character in Shallow Hal complaining about how the perfect woman has an unusually large toe.

[@guitarguru4492]

I love the matchless sound, but they are way over priced.

[@mamuele79]

What is not in the high end world? A Ferrari or a Bugatti are not Overpriced? A 10k $ 59 Les Paul replica from the Murphy's team is not overpriced? At least in Matchless you are paying for many hours of manual work. In those high end pcb amps machines do a good part of the work and still you are paying $$$$