Founded in 1989, Matchless Amps set out to be exactly that: matchless.  The original founders set out to create a series of amps that would provide both a great amount of power and be incredibly versatile.  Today, that dedication to quality still continues, and Matchless is known as one of the top amp companies in the world.  They build some of the best sounding and most durable products available.  Of course, they’re all hand wired by professionals using only the absolute best materials around.

Matchless has made some amazing amps over the years.  Some of their top boutique amps were made during what is now referred to as the Sampson era of Matchless.  This was the time between 1989 and 1998 when Mark Sampson, co-founder of the company, was very hands-on in designing amps.  Some believe these amps are of better quality than the amps Matchless produces today, although that opinion is not shared by everyone. (more...)

The Carr Raleigh Boutique Amp is a very versatile amp that can be used for practice or in the studio.  It can provide both clean and pristine tones and very heavily overdriven tones, but no matter which you want, the amp will deliver at any volume.  The Carr Raleigh amp is somewhat based on the amps produced during the 50s and 60s. (more...)

The Matchless Thunderman 100 Bass Boutique amp is a fairly rare amp that provides a great amount of tone.  This amp features a flip top head that was built by Mark Sampson.  The Thunderman, which is no longer produced by Matchless, is constantly reviewed as one of the top tube bass amps ever.  Even when they were originally built, there were only a very limited number of Thunderman 100 bass amps were produced.  The amp, however, has quite the following—it has been used by many different players over the years, including the bassist for Guns and Roses and Duck Dunn. (more...)

Matchless has made a number of amps over the years, and while they may not be “matchless,” they are still top quality boutique amps.  The Matchless Chieftain CH-212 Boutique Amp is one of their top amps and the most powerful amp in the Chieftain line (the others are the CH-40, CH-112, and CH-210).  The Chieftain CH-212 is also the most expensive Chieftain amp.  A new one will cost $3,285 if ordered directly from Matchless, while a used amp will run around $2,400 or more. (more...)

The Matchless HC-30 Amp is a boutique amp that was originally designed in 1989.  During this time, Matchless Amplifiers decided they needed to design and built an amp that would, simply put, be the absolute best guitar amp available anywhere.  To get the best input on how to design this amp, the designers went straight to the best source available: professional musicians.  These musicians made it clear that the best amp would have to be highly durable while at the same time providing versatility.  It would need to be light and small enough to travel with while providing the standards one would expect from a studio amp.  Class A design was a given, and it would have to be completely hand wired to exact specifications.  Only the best materials were to be used, and none of the standard shortcuts were to be used. (more...)

This is great youtube video that I came across where you can check out a comparison of the Matchless DC-30 and the Divided By 13 RSA 23. Both these amps have such amazingly rich qualities which really come through in this demo. (more...)