Art of Self Defense is a masterpiece. The mediocre sound quality, overdriven mics, intense and raw performance... it's sonic masochism and I can listen to it on repeat for days.
I dabble within the realm of the tight, percussive, distorted amps. Hearing this has cleansed my palate; has in a sense opened Pandora's box in a good way. I am AMAZED how well the bass frequencies come through thick and heavy without sounding too muddy/booming/draining. This is a very interesting, well made amp. Thank you for documenting this.
You’d probably love the modern Matamps. Matamp is still alive, kickin’, and making amps better than ever before. Check out the GT-1 and GT-2, almost like a cross between a fuzzed out Matamp GT-120 and a more modern Orange sound like a Thunderverb or Rockerverb.
I came here because I was trying to figure out the differences between old Orange and Matamp amps.... Now I have Sleep back on heavy rotation, have discovered Wishbone Ash and have ordered a GT120 style preamp pedal. Thank you. Nice demo. As a document for historical purposes.
I’m glad you’ve played a strat through this hahaha I’ve recently acquired a gt120mv but haven’t had a chance to play all of my guitars through it, a strat being one of them.
Thanks! Once my daughter gets beyond needing me to feed/clothe/ change her all the time, I'll get to making more! Heck, I'm hoping she'll be able to help me make 'me someday.
Thank you for actually playing Wishbone Ash. Most guys that play these types of amps completely dial down any high end and just play that muffled sounding shit. I don't get these stoner doom guys. A little bit of treble isn't gonna hurt anyone.
It's a different goal/experience. a lot of the secret sauce in stoner doom stuff is messing with the soundwaves and the weird flubby gargling sort of growling sounds you can get out of hitting a really fat chord getting pushed through a cranked, fuzzed out amp. It feels and sounds awesome.
Do you think Matamp would voice a GT2 closer to a 90s reissue OR80, I like the Orange grunt more than that fuzzy Matamp voice. I’ve had an Overdrive 80 before, sold it and I’ve had two sold to me and the sellers have backed out saying they sold locally. Hence why I wanna go through Matamp because I’m playing a waiting game trying to find an Orange. It would also be nice to have a cleanish and dedicated gain channel with boost.
Celestion G12T 75s. They should get more respect than they do, I've always loved them. At the time, the specific ones in that can would have been original English made ones. I have some modern production ones in there now and, well, I can't tell the difference!
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 That's sweet! Also been perusing your videos pretty religiously since I'm huge into stoner/doom/sludge and the orange/matamp tone. Granted a lot of these amps are out of my price range, but your mention on the 007 got me really excited since I currently play on one. I'm hoping to grab a Hinds terror or Root terror soon to get the house acceptable level of tones!
@@SocksworthRiffs Yeah, the 007 is one of my few pieces of gear I regret selling. I go through a LOT of gear, and rarely have an emotional attachment, but that one stung in the weeks after. And you would certainly have an awesome doom tone with one of the Brent Hinds Terrors, awesome little amps.
I read a long time ago that was what was standard in their cabs at that point and was most likely in High On Fire's. Unfortunately those cabs had their speakers changed years ago by Hank III and I've yet to find an interview where he's said what speakers were in there before.
I have bad news. I had contacted Mike Reilander of Reilander Pickups to make me this set. I was also searching for John Birch pickups, and Mike was willing to tackle trying to clone them. By my estimation, he succeeded! Also, when he posted about the project on social media, he got so much response, he decided to make them a regular production pickup. Then, John Birch Guitars (then owned by John Carling) asked him to cease and desist, which he did. As far as I know, the set that I used to own in that SG and one other set were made before Reilander stopped making them. The news gets worse, because I don't think Mike makes pickups anymore. Your best bet is to save up some cash and order from Jaydee. It'll be pricey and you'll have to wait a while, of course.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Ik I bought a set of old boy pickups and they’re great but they do a different thing than the John birch magnums, and when I asked about them they said that they wouldn’t make me a magnum
Great demo, man! Would you mind sharing your Dopesmoker settings with me? I have a Kuro T120 (Matamp in a box guitar pedal) that I'm making a review of and I could use a little help on getting the Jerusalem/Dopesmoker tone with it and personally, I think that your playthrough of that riff is so similar to the real thing that Matt Pike would get a boner from it.
Dang I completely forgot to do this, so here it goes now! Most important thing is that you're relying a lot on power amp distortion, so I had this thing cranked. Matt Pike likes mids, so while you might be tempted to get rid of them, don't! At this point his tone wasn't so bright, either, so don't add in a bunch of highs. If I recall correctly, I had the master volume on 10, drive lower, maybe 7 or 8, the EQ was fairly flat with slightly raised low and mid, and the depth control was at its deepest setting.
Cranking the volume to the point where you get that Dopesmoker tone will eat tubes. That said, in the time I owned it, I worked to preserve tube life by playing clean and the tubes lasted a good six months.
Awww man i just oreder a Gt120MV from Matamp and i was planning on running a bunch of fuzz threw that amp to get that dopesmoker/early HOF tone...i didnt know that was bad for the amp??
Oh, it's not bad for the amp at all. Just hard on the tubes to get that sound. Although the Master Volume version will probably be better for tubes in the long run since you can dial in more preamp distortion and not rely on deafening volume for that sound! Great amp, I definitely want to get one of those someday.
..."made for them in '05 and that's all you need to know." You sounded just like Alton Brown, Good Eats era. Edit - I posted this before I saw the other Alton Brown comment.
Basically the volume and gain on ten, the Deep control all the way to the left, and the EQ close to noon. I did a little fine tuning of the EQ, but not much.
@@caseyking8394 That's partly why I sold it. To get that tone you have be earth shakingly, paint peelingly, small animal killingly loud. Or run through an attenuator, but a lot of that tone comes from speaker distortion and the feedback from the guitar's pickups.
I'm a simple guy
I hear 10,000 Years , I press like
Art of Self Defense is a masterpiece. The mediocre sound quality, overdriven mics, intense and raw performance... it's sonic masochism and I can listen to it on repeat for days.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Sonic masochism is the EXACT phrase I've been trying to find !
Mind if I use it in the future ? Haha
Cheers !
It's all yours!
It's so gosh darn heckin' special!
God, that amp is the Holy Grail of Doom. And you sir are one hell of a guitarist.
Thanks so much!
I dabble within the realm of the tight, percussive, distorted amps. Hearing this has cleansed my palate; has in a sense opened Pandora's box in a good way. I am AMAZED how well the bass frequencies come through thick and heavy without sounding too muddy/booming/draining. This is a very interesting, well made amp. Thank you for documenting this.
You’d probably love the modern Matamps. Matamp is still alive, kickin’, and making amps better than ever before. Check out the GT-1 and GT-2, almost like a cross between a fuzzed out Matamp GT-120 and a more modern Orange sound like a Thunderverb or Rockerverb.
Straight in to 10,000 years. Perfect!
One of my favorites!
Best matamp demo I've seen. Thanks for NOT JUST playing wannabe sleep riffs. The wishbone ash licks were very good
I came here because I was trying to figure out the differences between old Orange and Matamp amps.... Now I have Sleep back on heavy rotation, have discovered Wishbone Ash and have ordered a GT120 style preamp pedal. Thank you. Nice demo. As a document for historical purposes.
It would delight me to no end if I was even the smallest assistance in any decision you made. Thanks!
Absolutely, you are responsible in every single case.
I’m glad you’ve played a strat through this hahaha I’ve recently acquired a gt120mv but haven’t had a chance to play all of my guitars through it, a strat being one of them.
There are amps that scream...kind of "blow your head off". Then there are these...nuclear meltdown madness MATAMPS!
Excellent review and demonstration. Cheers for taking the time to do this.
Sultans of swing on a Matamp.. holy shit this is awesome!
Oh man, that is a thing of beauty!
Orange: Hate it.
Green: Derivative.
Black: Now this, I love!
That Dopesmoker tone is absolutely ridiculous
Makes me wish I hadn't sold it. Nothing I've owned since has come close.
Love your videos man!
I'm humbled that you watch them! Your effects are fantastic, as is your channel!
Great vid as alawys dude! Keep em coming, sweet playing too!
Thanks! Once my daughter gets beyond needing me to feed/clothe/ change her all the time, I'll get to making more! Heck, I'm hoping she'll be able to help me make 'me someday.
Close your eyes and this guys voice is identical to Alton Brown the host from chopped.
I absolutely LOVE Alton Brown. He's a guitar player, too... hmmm... maybe I'll do an homage to him in a future video...
Lmao
Thank you for actually playing Wishbone Ash. Most guys that play these types of amps completely dial down any high end and just play that muffled sounding shit. I don't get these stoner doom guys. A little bit of treble isn't gonna hurt anyone.
It's a different goal/experience. a lot of the secret sauce in stoner doom stuff is messing with the soundwaves and the weird flubby gargling sort of growling sounds you can get out of hitting a really fat chord getting pushed through a cranked, fuzzed out amp. It feels and sounds awesome.
This is an awesome video and awesome review of the amp!
bro... the Dopesmoker inro should have been a couple minutes more. Sounds incredible on this amp.
12:14 Freya - The Sword...you just got a like!!!!
Thanks! The Sword is one of my favorite bands. Age of Winters, Gods of the Earth, and Apocryphon are among my top metal albums.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Same here, Age of Winters is one of my go-to head-banging albums...representing Tejas!!!!
I love those amps
great video man
That's too cool...
I have a 73 OR 120 that was owned by wishbone ash back in the day
Do you think Matamp would voice a GT2 closer to a 90s reissue OR80, I like the Orange grunt more than that fuzzy Matamp voice. I’ve had an Overdrive 80 before, sold it and I’ve had two sold to me and the sellers have backed out saying they sold locally. Hence why I wanna go through Matamp because I’m playing a waiting game trying to find an Orange. It would also be nice to have a cleanish and dedicated gain channel with boost.
@@RyanStonerHouse as far as I know, they'll voice your amp however you want as long as you do a custom order
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Thanks, that's what I was thinking, I'm sure Jeff Lewis still has those old schematics laying around.
@@RyanStonerHouse I sure hope because I definitely want to order one someday!
Dat sound, dat monster roar!
Thanks, love that Matamp massiveness!
HELLYEA!
crunchy!
Epic amp, man
May I ask what speakers you used, especially for Dragonaut?
Celestion G12T 75s. They should get more respect than they do, I've always loved them. At the time, the specific ones in that can would have been original English made ones. I have some modern production ones in there now and, well, I can't tell the difference!
Yeah, I always thought that Matamps and Oranges sounded better through a Marshal cab.
@@Myself6M the 1960B
Thank you. It's decided Marshall 1960b for me.
12:13 "It is not made for that kind of thing": do people use Matamp with a booster to make it suitable for "that kind of thing"?
Pretty much! Kind of like how metal bands use JCM800s.
Alton Brown of amplifiers!!
Wait is that a From Beyond shirt??? It's been ages since I've seen any one even MENTION them!!
Yup! They opened for The Sword a few years ago on the High Country tour. Awesome group. And the shirt glows in the dark!
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 That's sweet! Also been perusing your videos pretty religiously since I'm huge into stoner/doom/sludge and the orange/matamp tone. Granted a lot of these amps are out of my price range, but your mention on the 007 got me really excited since I currently play on one. I'm hoping to grab a Hinds terror or Root terror soon to get the house acceptable level of tones!
@@SocksworthRiffs Yeah, the 007 is one of my few pieces of gear I regret selling. I go through a LOT of gear, and rarely have an emotional attachment, but that one stung in the weeks after. And you would certainly have an awesome doom tone with one of the Brent Hinds Terrors, awesome little amps.
Great video! Just wondering though, where did you hear that High On Fire used the G12K-100s in their Matamp speaker cabinets?
I read a long time ago that was what was standard in their cabs at that point and was most likely in High On Fire's. Unfortunately those cabs had their speakers changed years ago by Hank III and I've yet to find an interview where he's said what speakers were in there before.
Okay, thanks for the response.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Yooo! Check this out: instagram.com/p/B7gLi7mn57H/?igshid=1glu97fuz6je
Dragonaut! Nice
Is this similar or the same model as the series 3000 that Matamp is currently making?
My understanding is that it's more like a GT120 but with an FMV tone stack.
dude how do i get those pickups, ive been hunting for john birch magnums forever
I have bad news. I had contacted Mike Reilander of Reilander Pickups to make me this set. I was also searching for John Birch pickups, and Mike was willing to tackle trying to clone them. By my estimation, he succeeded! Also, when he posted about the project on social media, he got so much response, he decided to make them a regular production pickup. Then, John Birch Guitars (then owned by John Carling) asked him to cease and desist, which he did. As far as I know, the set that I used to own in that SG and one other set were made before Reilander stopped making them. The news gets worse, because I don't think Mike makes pickups anymore. Your best bet is to save up some cash and order from Jaydee. It'll be pricey and you'll have to wait a while, of course.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 Ik I bought a set of old boy pickups and they’re great but they do a different thing than the John birch magnums, and when I asked about them they said that they wouldn’t make me a magnum
@@matthewajello1299 Dang, that's too bad, I know they'll do pickups that look like them, at least!
Great demo, man! Would you mind sharing your Dopesmoker settings with me? I have a Kuro T120 (Matamp in a box guitar pedal) that I'm making a review of and I could use a little help on getting the Jerusalem/Dopesmoker tone with it and personally, I think that your playthrough of that riff is so similar to the real thing that Matt Pike would get a boner from it.
Dang I completely forgot to do this, so here it goes now! Most important thing is that you're relying a lot on power amp distortion, so I had this thing cranked. Matt Pike likes mids, so while you might be tempted to get rid of them, don't! At this point his tone wasn't so bright, either, so don't add in a bunch of highs. If I recall correctly, I had the master volume on 10, drive lower, maybe 7 or 8, the EQ was fairly flat with slightly raised low and mid, and the depth control was at its deepest setting.
Will Fuzz eat tubes on these amps?? If so how long do tubes usually last?
Cranking the volume to the point where you get that Dopesmoker tone will eat tubes. That said, in the time I owned it, I worked to preserve tube life by playing clean and the tubes lasted a good six months.
Awww man i just oreder a Gt120MV from Matamp and i was planning on running a bunch of fuzz threw that amp to get that dopesmoker/early HOF tone...i didnt know that was bad for the amp??
Also i was planning on using that amp in my band so it will be used pretty regularly..
Oh, it's not bad for the amp at all. Just hard on the tubes to get that sound. Although the Master Volume version will probably be better for tubes in the long run since you can dial in more preamp distortion and not rely on deafening volume for that sound! Great amp, I definitely want to get one of those someday.
Ok awesome that makes me feel a little better. Thanks for the quick response!
From what song is the first riff?
@@kant30 that's High on Fire's 10,000 Years
..."made for them in '05 and that's all you need to know." You sounded just like Alton Brown, Good Eats era. Edit - I posted this before I saw the other Alton Brown comment.
Hahahaha, if I hadn't discovered the Doug DeMuro style of reviews, I'd totally be Alton Brown of amps. Alton Brown Sound? Hmm.
Excellent playing excellent Matamp thanks for the intimation.
Thanks! Matamps do rule!
What did you do to get the dopesmoker tone
Basically the volume and gain on ten, the Deep control all the way to the left, and the EQ close to noon. I did a little fine tuning of the EQ, but not much.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157sounds absolutely killer like that, I guess all it really takes to make a tone shine is volume.
@@caseyking8394 That's partly why I sold it. To get that tone you have be earth shakingly, paint peelingly, small animal killingly loud. Or run through an attenuator, but a lot of that tone comes from speaker distortion and the feedback from the guitar's pickups.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 the absolute volume of those thing is what keeps me from buying one
How...could you afford this?
The sale of many other valuable things!
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 haha!
What is the intro riff pplease? ;) ;)
10000 Years by High on Fire. It's off the album, The Art of Self Defense.
@@obsessedwithguitars3157 yaaay thank you!
that is the exact tone i want, maybe a little more sustain. god dammit
I will say, the sustain on the SG could be better, it's pretty thin... But I could have let a lot of those notes ring out more, too!
Tube Screamer?
Play the amp on its rated power.
This bedroom sound is shit.