# Anyone play through a Matchless Spitfire 15?



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Care to share some experiences and feedback? Comparisons to other amps?


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Yeah, great amp. I had one for about 2 years before I got my C-30. Mine was the small box combo, if I had it to do over again I would get a head and 212, but that's just me.

It has that classic Matchless thing going on very glassy, jangly, lively. Lots of harmonics like most EL84 amps, but that bright, "alive" thing that you get from old Fenders. More headroom and volume than most 15 watt amps, does get dirty at high volumes but not like the Lightning or Nighthawk. If you're looking for loud, harmonically dense clean/edge of breakup there isn't much out there than works better. Much more crunchy with humbuckers and P90's, but works well with everything.

There are a lot of demos out there, but the Lance Keltner one is the closest to what it sounds like:


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks for the post @zdogma

I was thinking of adding another amp in the new year, it was going to be a 6V6 but I already have that and I'm missing my el84's. Spitfire popped up on my feed and now I'm curious. I'd do a head with a 112 cab without reverb is my thoughts. Ever compared these with Dr Z amps?


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Yeah, I had a maz 18 and a Ghia around the same time. The 18 was a bit more polite, less harmonics but more versatile (with the 3 band eq, cut and pre gain) and took pedals very very well. Volume was similar. It sounded great but required a bit more tweaking to get a good sound. The Ghia was much dirtier, a bit darker, and had a lot less volume and low end. Good plug and play amp for lower volume, or when you don’t need much headroom. Good little amp as well. My favourite Z bar none is the Route 66, I have had two of them over the years. I traded my old one from 1997, and got a brand new one on 2017.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

greatly appreciate your posts. thanks

My favourite Z is the Stang Ray but its too much for most places and I'm thinking either an M12 or Spitfire are good replacements. I briefly had an M12 next to my Stang but it wasn't in the cards at the time, now it could be.


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## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

I had a '96 2X10 Spitfire for over a decade and I always described it as a one trick pony - but it was the greatest pony trick in rock & roll... 

Built like a tank - if you dropped the 2X10, the only thing that would be broken when it landed would be your foot. I never had to have work done on it, and it was always dead quiet.

The master volume on it made it usable in the house (it's an aggressive 15 watts) - but you really want to get it sweating to go from great tone to jaw-dropping stunned silence. There was a depth to the oomph that I haven't been able to replace. You heard it - but you felt it too. I found it much more enjoyable with humbuckers than singles - but I wasn't a single coil player at the time I had it. It was getting back into single coils that eventually made me open to selling it.

There was something deeply satisfying in showing up at a jam with the Spitfire, my PRS Custom 22 and a cable to connect them and being good to go.


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## Lef T (Aug 9, 2018)

Sound really nice in the Lance video.
His demos are always very good.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

fretboard said:


> I found it much more enjoyable with humbuckers than singles - but I wasn't a single coil player at the time I had it. It was getting back into single coils that eventually made me open to selling it.


this part puts me at a little bit of hesitancy but I really would like to try something new. I put a wanted ad up for a Spitfire or M12, whatever shows up first I'll hopefully take. missed a great deal on a M12 on Reverb just yesterday so maybe a Spitfire is meant to be


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

zdogma said:


> Yeah, great amp. I had one for about 2 years before I got my C-30. Mine was the small box combo, if I had it to do over again I would get a head and 212, but that's just me.
> 
> It has that classic Matchless thing going on very glassy, jangly, lively. Lots of harmonics like most EL84 amps, but that bright, "alive" thing that you get from old Fenders. More headroom and volume than most 15 watt amps, does get dirty at high volumes but not like the Lightning or Nighthawk. If you're looking for loud, harmonically dense clean/edge of breakup there isn't much out there than works better. Much more crunchy with humbuckers and P90's, but works well with everything.
> 
> There are a lot of demos out there, but the Lance Keltner one is the closest to what it sounds like:


FAAAK that sounds nice! Any idea what Lance steps on partway through?


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Roryfan said:


> FAAAK that sounds nice! Any idea what Lance steps on partway through?


custom overdrive that Bill Webb built


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