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The only experience I've had with any matchless was with a 1997 HC-30. I played it through a 1x12 with an Eminence Governor. It sounded great.

I don't know if the Lightning is supposed to be like a low powered HC-30 on the normal 12ax7 channel. I know the Nighthawk is a 15 watt version of the HC30's EF86 channe.

If not, is it some sort of a Vox AC-15 wanna be?

Does the lightning have more or less gain than a normal (not TMB) 18 watt Marshall clone.

Thanks

I can't comment on the 18 watt Marshall, since I've only played one very briefly in a guitar shop and couldn't crank it.

The Lightning, well I think you've hit it on the head, the 12AX7 channel, half power, of a DC-30 or a Black Cat.

Now on the AC15 thing... well mark sampson was a guru with fixing AC30's for years. He ended up with Matchless and came up with the DC-30, based a lot on the AC30's. So, is the Lightning an AC15 clone? I think it's better than the AC15 I used to own. Better overall tone, especially in the bass if you increase a cap value or two.

Here's the skinny...

If you compare the DC-30 schematic with that of the Lightning, you will find it is almost exactly the same as the DC-30's triode channel. The only differences are one cap (the 1st coupling cap) and the cut control. So, it is relatively safe to say the Lightning is a half-power single channel DC-30.

The Lightning is very much like a hot-rodded AC15. The biggest difference (other than the hot-rodded preamp) is the driver in the Lightning uses .022uF caps, whereas the AC15 uses .01uF. They are very similar otherwise, but the magic of the Lightning--what makes it more special than an AC15--is the flexibility offered by the preamp.

The Lightning is somewhat cleaner than a Marshall 18 Watt in terms of power tube overdrive. It certainly has more clean headroom with the volume down and the master up. But, the Lightning has some preamp overdrive available with the volume up. The net result is an amp with a more versatile gain structure and a more versatile tone stack. It really is a winner.

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