Home Forums Vintage EHX Mike Matthews Freedom Amp

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  • #77398
    jgs61
    Member

    This local dealer has two of them, one is kind of beat up*, but the other looks to be in great shape. What’s the story with these? I haven’t found much on them except that they were made in the early 70’s. They’re obviously solid state. Anybody know much about these? I’m a sucker for small amps, so I might be picking it up if it seems cool.

    *By “beat up” I mean there is no back panel and the circuit board is dangling by a couple of wires. haha

    #89151
    julian
    Moderator

    I know I want one- they’re rechargeable amps
    how much were they?

    #89152
    jgs61
    Member

    I dont know. The guy is kind of eccentric. He has tons of old stuff stacked behind all these new Kustoms and Peaveys and nothing has price tags. I got distracted talking to him about some enormous rare Ampeg he just got and forgot to ask. They were pretty busy too. I’m going to go back tonight before he closes to ask about a bunch of stuff he has. He’s also got a Boomerang wah I’m interested in and some old Valco amps. I can’t imagine it would be more than $300, but I could be wrong. I’ll report back. He’s literally got a plethera of old amps and it’s all covered up by fucking new Peaveys! haha

    #89153
    The EH Man
    Moderator

    The Mike Matthews Freedon Amp was available in 3 models: standard, bass, and PA. All were available in 3 power options: AC, AC/DC, or DC operation. They were also available in red or black tolex. If he’s got a bass one, I’d be very interested in it. I have a couple of the guitar ones and the only PA one I’ve ever seen (it has built-in reverb).
    They’re all approx. 55W into a heavy-duty CTS spkr (10″, I believe). Great amps and loud as hell!

    #89156
    julian
    Moderator

    55 watts?

    damn

    #89157
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    55 watts?

    damn

    I’m talking about the 70’s version, not the newer EHX one in the little wooden cab.

    #89158
    julian
    Moderator

    but it still worked off a battery right?

    #89160
    jgs61
    Member

    The ones I’m referring too are the 70’s ones. They are both black, but I didn’t notice if they were guitar, bass, or PA. I’ll remember to look. I can’t believe they are 55 watts. They didn’t look like they would be that loud.

    Should they have their own power cord? I mean, if it’s rechargable, obviously the power cord is detachable. I would think the cord would be specialized. I better see if they have the right cord.

    #89167
    jgs61
    Member

    Ok here’s what happened… The Freedom Amps don’t seem to specify whether they are guitar, bass, or PA. My guess is guitar. They are black, no reverb, Vol/Tone/Bite controls… IIRC. I assume Bite is gain. I don’t know, because the one that apparently works is not charged and he didn’t have a cord to charge it. But the socket looked like one that you could easily get at Home Depot or Lowes… but I could be wrong. It was heavy for it’s size and definitely has a 10′ speaker. The other that is broken is exactly the same thing, but some parts have been removed. He told me some guy sold it to him for like $50, as long as he could take some components… go figure. He’s been meaning to fix it up and find a cord for the other, but hasn’t gotten around to it. He did say that the last time he played the working one, it was loud as hell, so it’s around 55 watts.

    So I didn’t get to play it… bummer. HOWEVER… the dude had an old Crying Tone and I did get to play it. That thing was crazy! I think it’s the 2nd version of the Crying Tones. It had the external footswitch right above the toe. It had the three controls… Mode/Tone/Reverse. It was a pretty wild wah. In typical EHX fashion it had extreme Q control. The only catch seemed to be that it had two non-orignal knobs. He was selling it for $200. I played a Maestro Boomerang too. I liked it but the Crying Tone is hard to pass up. The Boomerang is $150. I’ve wanted a wah, so I might have to get one of these. It’s a bummer about the Freedom Amp though… maybe I can get him to find one of those cords and get it going.

    #89168
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    but it still worked off a battery right?

    40, yes I said 40, “D” cells. And not the rechargeable ones, although I guess you could use those but you couldn’t recharge them in the amp. Mainly just your big ol’ flashlight batteries.

    #89169
    The EH Man
    Moderator
    Quote:
    Ok here’s what happened… The Freedom Amps don’t seem to specify whether they are guitar, bass, or PA. My guess is guitar. They are black, no reverb, Vol/Tone/Bite controls… IIRC.

    Sounds like the guitar model. I think the PA and Bass models would say PA or BASS on them.

    Quote:
    But the socket looked like one that you could easily get at Home Depot or Lowes… but I could be wrong.

    It’s a bummer about the Freedom Amp though… maybe I can get him to find one of those cords and get it going.

    I made my own cord with a standard 2-prong AC cord I cut off a broken appliance and a socket I bought at the hardware store.

    #89170
    jgs61
    Member

    Cool. I think I’m going to go back and pick up one of the wahs from him tomorrow. I’ll try to get him to get on the ball with the Freedom Amps. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to sell them and they’re just hiding in the corner of his store. He hasn’t had his amp tech look at the working one yet, so once he does, he says he’ll decide a price. I doubt it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

    #89171
    julian
    Moderator

    40 D Cells

    How much play do you get out of that?

    That’s some crazy overhead for street gigging.

    #89172
    Fender&EHX4ever
    Moderator
    Quote:
    40 D Cells

    How much play do you get out of that?

    That’s some crazy overhead for street gigging.

    For sure. That’s not very ‘green.’

    #89173
    julian
    Moderator

    There needs to be a new Solar Powered Freedom Amp!

    and solar powered EHX power supply for pedals!

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