Hey all. A bit under the weather but really fancied playing a bit, so had some fun playing my two favourite amps. The B Roll may not be up to my normal standard - being under the weather makes it hard to hold a camera still! Anyway, thanks for watching 🤟🏼

Great video! You have the best way of presenting and explaining an amp! The sounds you get out of them is amazing!

Hey James, this is the best demo of a DC30 on KZread. Thanks for doing a great demo. I’m considering buying either a dc 30 or a few other amps and you’ve helped immensely!

What a great video. I think your playing playing sounds awesome on both. I love my Two Rock CSR but wow that Rift you have sounds amazing 🤩 Keep up the content can’t wait for the next one.💪🏻💪🏻

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers! Yeah, love my CRS too. These British type amps feel like they are helping me out with their sustain etc :)

Good to see you back on the tube ... Sweet tones 😎 T 🎸 🇮🇪

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers man! Good to be in the studio 🤟🏼

Totally agree with the Matchless doing whatever you want it to do.

Good to see you back, James. An excellent demo, with some very tasty playing indeed. Both amps really are superb. Like you say, it all comes down to personal preference when you're talking about amps of this calibre. Personally, the Rift edged it for me, especially with the MacMull and the Broadcaster clean tones. Hearing is not the same as playing though and you were clearly inspired by the dynamic feel of playing the Matchless. Bucket list amps for sure. Keep up the great work. :-)

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers Rich! Having a coupla weeks off did me good and allowed a few small but useful bits of practice here and there. My gut says the Rift probably edges it and I am in the honeymoon period with the Matchless, but for my playing they are so far together my favourites. Cheers!

That rift sounds fantastic with the Macmull!

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that was great to play with!

Great video James, and some nice playing. If I was going to buy one I'd go for the rift, that's not to say the other isn't a smashing amp. Hope your feeling better soon.

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers Graeme

Great tones James… the clean tones alone were worth the price of admission & man the bass response of the Rift with the Strat was beautiful… but then harmonics of the Matchless and the Strat was next level

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers Chris. Yeah, really enjoyed playing with those cleans!

Be sure to try a Fryette PS with your HC30 if you do get hold of one. It opens up the versatility of the amp especially as the 2nd channel you love so much is a little more restrictive in EQ and performance relative to volume. The amp was after all designed for one thing, muscle, blasting out a venue! All dials are so interactive on the Matchless and so the Fryette PS will give you more control of the overall EQ at your choice of volume. My gear still hasn’t left Portland and I only have a Traveller guitar with me for now, but TwoRock have just shipped me my outstanding Bloomfield order… Traveller LTD guitar through a TR!? It’s nuts and will require some imagination in the short term 😊

Sounding amazing, James! I'd be excited to watch you delve into some tweed style amps. Have you considered the brown panel Fenders/amps? I recently got a Vibroverb Reissue from the 90's and the warmth on those is amazing. Somewhere between a tweed style amp and the black panels. Cheers!

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Yeah - definitely considered. Aynsley tours with one of those brown panel vibroverb reissues, hoping to try his one day and see how it feels.

I realised I’ve been a sub since the beginning, and not posted. So thanks for the relaxed content and playing style that’s just got better and better. I too have travelled my own covid pedal / amp journey. Which kinda mimicked you especially mentioning that Tweed is a possible direction you may investigate. Since playing live again. And going from black face to brit over drive to chime and back again. Tweed seems to be right down middle. There is no right or wrong. They all sound good. It comes down to the one you can rely on and fight the least for a great night. Or works with the band sound. Though at home. I line up my favourites turn their bass back up to suit a home sound and bounce from night to night. It’ll be interesting to see what tweed you may end up with. Atm live im using a ac30 styled amp, and my pedal board has shrunk back to norm 😊

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man - and thanks for commenting! Really interesting to hear you say all of that. I want less and less fuss in my rig, even though I play at home. These amps give me all the dynamics and tones I really need. Pedals are fun, but can suck the attention away from playing and learning! For Tweed - i am looking at Lazy J, two rock burnside, tone king imperial, morgan’s tweed amp… just can’t decide!

Excellent job. Have a rift on order.

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Oh sweet! Thanks 🤟🏼

Hey James! Great vid ! A question for you : how do you deal with the volume of the HC30 ? I've heard that it is crazy loud and difficult to use at home. What's your experience for home use (no bedroom level, not appartment). Do you use a power station to attenuate it? (I have a Two Rock Studio pro 35 and a Morgan MVP3). Thanks a lot !

Hello James! Thinking about ordering a matchless dc-30. Heard u say in the video that the matchless really only performs spectacularly at high volumes or when really pushed. Did u have it it full power or half power mode? Mostly i wont be able to use it extremely loud so may be best if i go with the rift. Thanks

Have you tried the Matchless Independence? Interested on how the HC30 compares with it.

I'm also very interested in tweed amps at the moment. That would be an interesting journey to go on with you.

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

I'm happy to oblige :)

Hi man... great ampli bith... never heard about the rift before many thanks... and hope to win the pedal o course :)

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers man - and good luck with the pedal :)

Killer Tones with both amps!! I would go for the Matchless, just because of the cabinet 2x12 with awesome speaker combination, you cant beat that. I made a 2x12 myself and I also have a Greenback 25 and a G12H30 70th anniversary in it, they sound ace together with any amp but especially with my JTM45

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it’s such a great cab. I need to do a vid trying other amps through it and seeing how they sound 🤟🏼

Everybody wins in this demo :)

Man that Rift amp ticks a lot of boxes for me. Gotta get my hands on one some day.

I can get my 3rd power Dream Weaver to sound a little like your Rift

When you run pedals on amps with their own gain structures-does it change your choices?

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Good questions - worth a video to explore I think!

Keep up the good work🥰🥰🥰

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers!

@hamdan5794

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers🍻

The matchless is beautiful, but do is the Rift

Hi James, Great video, this comment is coming from a very privileged position I know, most people will kill to have either of what I've got. I've got a Dr Z Z-Wreck with matching cab and Dr Z Maz 18Mkii with Z-Best Cab and honestly couldn't be happier, they sound insane. But as a Tone obsessive I feel like I'm so close to the top and I'm missing out on something by not having a Two Rock Bloomfield or Classic Reverb signature. Unfortunately as we all know getting to plug into one and even see if you like it is near impossible, especially in the UK. What I've learnt from your video with your insane ability to get pretty much anything you want is... The Two rocks won't be better than what I've got just vastly different and I could find I don't even like them. Would you be able to make any comments on now knowing what I've got, how different the two rocks would be and how they'd compare to what I've got? Also my opinion was once they are the greatest amps end of but its interesting seeing someone like yourself that owns both of those Two Rocks models they're not even in your top 2. Finally I'd never heard of the Rift before, it sound glorious. That puts a spanner in the works. I hoenstly really just want to stop looking at gear and settle with what I've got. It's hoesntly isn't enjoyable anymore with the amount of endless option out there. Always makes you question what you've. If you reply, thank you for letting Indulge with such a long comment. 🤟

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Hey, i know what you mean! Sometimes you want to just forget about the gear entirely… the pieces that enable me to do that the longest are the Rift, my Lazy J and my vintage Fender Vibrolux. Their designs are spot on and have nothing lacking. The Two Rocks are good but haven’t quite lived up to the hype in the end I feel. Hope that helps

@daviddorrian5349

2 жыл бұрын

@@JamesOnGuitar I appreciate the reply. The the gear thing like already mentioned is just an annoyance at this point and is like everything these days being stuck in the trap for consumerism, which I've really been working at getting out of and I have apart from guitar Gear, I've found it genuinely just makes me personally unhappy. I've been focusing so much on my playing over the past 3 months and want things to be just about my playing completely, but the gear thing still gets in the way slightly, spending at least 2 days a week playing random shit over annalizing my tone. So both your Two Rocks are gone now right? Could you go into more detail on how they didn't live upto the hype?

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Sure man, i have the classic reverb still but don’t massively enjoy playing it and just end up sitting and thinking about why i am not enjoying it. It is brittle and doesn’t ‘give’ or sparkle like my fender. It is great for pedals though. The amps i plug into and then they make forget about the gear are as I mentioned - and that is generally because I can get the sound I want and then use my guitar volume and very few or no pedals with them at all

@daviddorrian5349

2 жыл бұрын

@@JamesOnGuitar thanks for the replys James. It really has genuinely helped. It's also massively killed off my two rock hang up. I absolutely love my Z-Wreck so I will stick with that and stop watching gear things and really focus on just playing and getting the best out of what I've got.

These videos give me bad GAS / AAS !

@JamesOnGuitar

2 жыл бұрын

Took me a moment to understand that properly 🤣

Go with a Matchless and sleep well.