Best boost/OD/Distortion for a Matamp

[Jnewt90]

Hey all,

I’ve recently purchased a Matamp GT1 and it sounds incredible, however I’m looking for a boost/OD or distortion to help get into tighter metal territory.

I’ve only currently got an old SD-1 as my regular amp is a modded Marshall so didn’t need much help In the gain department. The SD-1 juuuusssttt about gets it into metal but it’s more like Mastodon’s Leviathan kind of gain, quite vintage.

Matamps are such unique amps tone wise that I’d ideally like to avoid the crap shoot of buying and reselling pedals until I find a good fit (although it’ll probably have to happen, oh no, more gear? ).

I’m thinking of trying the below:

Bogner Ecstasy Red
Revv G3
Amptweaker tight metal (might be overkill?)

Looking for it to retain its natural Matamp tone with a light crunch but have more modern gain on tap when needed as I play a lot of AIC, Carcass, Death etc

Thanks for any suggestions!

Josh

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Hey all,

I’ve recently purchased a Matamp GT1 and it sounds incredible, however I’m looking for a boost/OD or distortion to help get into tighter metal territory.

I’ve only currently got an old SD-1 as my regular amp is a modded Marshall so didn’t need much help In the gain department. The SD-1 juuuusssttt about gets it into metal but it’s more like Mastodon’s Leviathan kind of gain, quite vintage.

Matamps are such unique amps tone wise that I’d ideally like to avoid the crap shoot of buying and reselling pedals until I find a good fit (although it’ll probably have to happen, oh no, more gear? ).

I’m thinking of trying the below:

Bogner Ecstasy Red
Revv G3
Amptweaker tight metal (might be overkill?)

Looking for it to retain its natural Matamp tone with a light crunch but have more modern gain on tap when needed as I play a lot of AIC, Carcass, Death etc

Thanks for any suggestions!

Josh

I own a Matamp GT150, and just being honest the analogy that comes to mind is you can't sharpen a mace to make it slice like a sword. You can add some nice sharp teeth to it, but it's still going to ch-chung vs ch-chunk in that it will have that thick bludegeoning voice with big bloom at the end vs an abrupt stop when doing fast palm muted stuff. Its voice is more gravel then metal.

A treble booster will add teeth, and you could get into some AIC territory, but it's going to still sound pretty different. When using the amps inherent preamp gain it will always have that "foggy" Matamp/Orange tone. For me when I'm not after super stoner rock/metal tones using mine I set it loud and clean, and hit it with a pedal or two.

I don't know if you have a real loop on that model, but if so an EQ in the loop would probably be a better choice then a boost pedal out front would be. My GT150 only has the vintage style "Echo" inserts, not a modern style fx loop.

 

[Jnewt90]

Yeah I had a feeling it would be nigh on impossible to make it into some Matamp/5150 Swiss Army knife, haha.

I’m cool with that anyway as my Marshall gets me into tight metal zones. I’ll check out treble boosters, heard good things about the Naga viper.

Mines got the echo fx loop too so EQ is likely out the picture.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Yeah I had a feeling it would be nigh on impossible to make it into some Matamp/5150 Swiss Army knife, haha.

I’m cool with that anyway as my Marshall gets me into tight metal zones. I’ll check out treble boosters, heard good things about the Naga viper.

Mines got the echo fx loop too so EQ is likely out the picture.

They are amazing sounding amps, and do their own unique thing in a way no other amp does. I love my Matamp for what it is, but don't think I would ever make it my main amp. It should make an awesome complimentary tone to the Marshall but would never really be able to replace it as an all around rock/metal amp.

I love the sound with my Matamp on one side, and my Hiwatt on the other fed the stereo outs from my board. It sounds so massive.

 

[Jnewt90]

Great excuse to have 2 amps too!

 

[griff10672]