Matchbox D30 questions

T

Thenewexhibit

Experienced
I had a question about the Matchbox D-30 amp. Is the Matchless DC30 an amp that takes gain well? I would assume no, because it tends to really collapse on itself with a distortion pedal (shred distortion) into the amp around unity with the neck pickup with an edge of breakup base tone. I ask because I’ve never played a Matchless DC30 in real life, but is that just how those amps behave in that situation?
 
Dickie Fredericks said:
I run the BB pre in front. Set at 1 for gain.
It be my Have a Cigar preset. You can dial out the flab.
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Got ya! I noticed that the master is defaulted at 10. If you dial it back, it gets rid of a little of the collapsing thing, but it seems to get rid of the vibe of the amp, so I'm wondering how this all works with this model. I do notice on the few videos I’ve seen of the real amp, people aren’t running the master on 10, but more around 4-5, but then the tone loses it’s vibe. I can get the EOB tones to sound great! But if I need to do higher gain, that’s where things start to sound collapsed, so I’m just wondering if I’m doing something wrong.
 
Thenewexhibit said:
Got ya! I noticed that the master is defaulted at 10. If you dial it back, it gets rid of a little of the collapsing thing, but it seems to get rid of the vibe of the amp, so I'm wondering how this all works with this model. I do notice on the few videos I’ve seen of the real amp, people aren’t running the master on 10, but more around 4-5, but then the tone loses it’s vibe. I can get the EOB tones to sound great! But if I need to do higher gain, that’s where things start to sound collapsed, so I’m just wondering if I’m doing something wrong.
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I haven't found a distortion pedal I like with the Matchbox D30, but there are a few overdrives like the Jam Ray, Klone Chiron, Eternal Love and Super OD that I really like with it for higher gain tones.
 
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JoKeR III said:
I haven't found a distortion pedal I like with the Matchbox D30, but there are a few overdrives like the Jam Ray, Klone Chiron, Eternal Love and Super OD that I really like with it for higher gain tones.
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Got ya! I’ll try those out! I have a kitchen sink preset that I use with a Deluxe that can require using the shred distortion pedal (that surprisingly sounds very hot rodded marshall ish—go figure haha) but really enjoy the EL84 style amps, but they don’t seem to work well with the D30. However, the Vox models work pretty good, but the D30 has something really great going on with EOB tones and crunch, so it’s finding that balance, or setting up a different chain/channel for higher gain. I’ll try these pedals though! Thanks for the suggestions! Do you stack these, or use them individually?
 
Thenewexhibit said:
Got ya! I’ll try those out! I have a kitchen sink preset that I use with a Deluxe that can require using the shred distortion pedal (that surprisingly sounds very hot rodded marshall ish—go figure haha) but really enjoy the EL84 style amps, but they don’t seem to work well with the D30. However, the Vox models work pretty good, but the D30 has something really great going on with EOB tones and crunch, so it’s finding that balance, or setting up a different chain/channel for higher gain. I’ll try these pedals though! Thanks for the suggestions! Do you stack these, or use them individually?
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Individually
 
Since the DC30 comes from the lineage of vox style amps I always find the low end of those kind of Class-A el84 amps exhibit the same behavior. Thats why treble boosters are popular with these amps, they don't really dump a bunch of bass into the amp so the input stays together and you can still boost the input for more gain.

I would go with a Treble booster or Klon or Fet style booster for these amps. Avoid distortion and (some) overdrive pedals
 
If you aren’t concerned about “100% Accuracy” you can also use the Input EQ or Preamp Low Cut controls to shape the low end coming into the amp
 
Try using the preamp boost in the amp block if you want more gain than the (normal) cranked preamp. Any amount of dirt beyond that, a C30 (or similar) would not be my first choice - IMO they are not optimized for high gain applications - there are dozens (if not hundreds) of amp models I’d prefer.
 
Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but another question; is the DC30 a dark amp? I always just assumed it was a brighter amp since it’s in the class A family which is usually associated with “chimey”, so I just assumed it is. I’ve heard people play this model and I think it sounds fantastic, but whenever I try to dial it in, it just sounds stiff, muddy, dark yet sharp at the same time. I must not know what I’m doing haha How are you guys setting the amp?
 
That's been my go-to amp for years. Whether it sounds dark or not depends on the channel and the IR being used. Personally, I prefer using the ef86 channel with all my guitars, be it single coil or humbucker. With humbuckers, it does have a notably dark tone.

However, it offers on it’s own a lot of gain and produces a very pleasing breakup/distortion. In my humble opinion, any additional drive pedal in front of it tends to take away from its character. Instead, I would recommend utilizing the input boost, input EQ, and output EQ in the Amp block. With the Axe-Fx, I find that the amp block alone delivers the best sound. Drive block almost feels like adding ketchup to a real Italian pizza. :)))
 
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Thenewexhibit said:
Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but another question; is the DC30 a dark amp? I always just assumed it was a brighter amp since it’s in the class A family which is usually associated with “chimey”, so I just assumed it is. I’ve heard people play this model and I think it sounds fantastic, but whenever I try to dial it in, it just sounds stiff, muddy, dark yet sharp at the same time. I must not know what I’m doing haha How are you guys setting the amp?
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If you leave the parameters close to their default values it can be in comparison with the Class-A models. I used the Class-A 30W model for quite awhile but after taking some time with the Matchbox D-30 EF86, it's been my go-to for a few months now. Don't be afraid to go to extremes with the Treble, High Treble and Bright Cap values to get what you want. The chimeyness is in there, it's a great sounding EL84 amp.

As far as IRs, I really like the Factory 1 #323 (1x12 G12T 57A) paired with Factory 1 #178 (1x12 Carol-Ann 57 E) with the Matchbox D-30 EF86.
 
thanks for the replies! @JoKeR III @unFILTERed

How are your settings on these? I don’t generally mess with the ideal settings as much; I just use the authentic tab (perhaps I shoot myself in the foot because I take the simple/purist approach haha). I use the York Audio IR’s as well; mostly from the mixes folder.

I generally associate this amp with Praise and Worship tones and wonder how they get these fantastic tones. Then again, I’m using a tele with PAF’s so that’s could be a good portion of it.
 
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