Home › Forums › Vintage EHX › Mike Matthews Freedom Amp
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February 6, 2009 at 2:19 am #92759WatsonWoodMember
Hi everyone! I was lent a Mike Matthews Freedom Amp from one of the members of the group Ame Son in France when I was on tour there in the mid ’70s. I was playing a modified Deagan Electravibe through a certain number of pedals (Maestro Oberheim Phaser, EHX Big Muff, EHX Black Finger Sustain, EHX Octave Multiplexer, EHX Small Stone, EHX EPB-1 Booster, EHX Crying Tone, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, ALL linked, and joined soon after by an EHX Electric Mistress and an EHX Memory Man). I was amazed at the power of the amp despite the chain of pedals and started using the Freedom Amp in concert. At the time my venues suddenly grew in size so that I was playing medium size halls as well as quite large clubs and open air concerts. The Freedom Amp snarled and kicked and always delivered. To hear it live in a trio of electric vibes (myself), electric bass (Mike Howlett) and drums(Pierre Moerlen) you can check out this link on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVQPtksl-Mg on the live number called Wagram Jam. The sounds of the electravibe (there is no electric guitar being played) are vintage EHX, both pedals and amp! On some occasions on tour the local opening bands would do their sound check with Marshall stacks, make way for us to do our final sound check and see me walking on stage with a wooden box in one hand and a folding chair in the other! There were always some smiles going round until I plugged in and let rip.
The battery was not charging correctly so, like idiots, the band decided to profit from three weeks break in playing gigs and get the amp checked at a large music store in Paris….and we never saw the amp again…. I went on to use more pedals, 200W amps and then custom speakers with Altec Lansing power slaves and a dedicated mixing table on stage to handle everything, ending up with 650W RMS stereo including four speaker enclosures. OK, that was great, sure, but I have always regretted the “disappearance” of that great Mike Matthews Freedom Amp. A classic, great sound, lots of punch, lots of warmth. No doubt about it, EHX made sound as well as history.
If you’ve got this far, thanks for taking the time.
PS. I have just come across an old Freedom Amp here in Germany and will be endeavouring to acquire it! Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky.
……and thank-you Mike!February 6, 2009 at 8:58 pm #92821WatsonWoodMemberJust to add that I got lucky and bought the Mike Matthews Freedom Amp. It should ship to me some time next week. It is the two speaker version (the one I used in the ’70s had a single speaker) and I intend to start using it in small gigs, first with a Les Paul or SG plus pedals, and then, if it works out, with my Deagan Electravibe. Meanwhile, just in case, anyone know of any circuit diagrams?
February 6, 2009 at 9:10 pm #92822Fender&EHX4everModeratorQuote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVQPtksl-Mg on the live number called Wagram Jam. The sounds of the electravibe (there is no electric guitar being played) are vintage EHX, both pedals and amp!Wow, incredible sounds from a vibe :thumb: I’ve always loved the sound of vibes, but I’ve never heard them sound like that before. What EHX pedals are you using in that performance?
February 7, 2009 at 4:13 pm #92880WatsonWoodMemberI had the Electravibe going into a Vox Cry Baby (later replaced by an EHX Crying Tone) then an EHX Big Muff PI Fuzz, followed by an EHX Black Finger Sustain, then an EHX Bad Stone Phaser and a Maestro Oberheim Phaser, all coupled to an EHX Crying Tone Volume Pedal. The feedback on the overtones comes from amp overdrive on the Bite position of the EHX Freedom Amp, the Black Finger Sustain in overkill, the Big Muff at about 3 o’clock to keep a good attack sound on the vibes, Premier vibes mallets to hit harder (when desired) than the Deagan Electravibe mallets, all coupled to the EHX Crying Tone Volume Pedal for dynamic effect…and when, how and where I played the Electravibe’s keys also added to the general sound.
February 9, 2009 at 3:13 pm #92976StephengilesMemberThe preamp was almost identical to that of the Dirt Road Special. I think the bite control was a mid frequency booster.
February 9, 2009 at 4:09 pm #92978WatsonWoodMemberYes, that is also what I reckon, and the mid high boost does give a good bite. As I said, the Freedom Amp I just acquired has two speakers, whereas my memory of the Dirt Road is that the DR had one speaker only. I tried to get a Dirt Road over here in Europe last year but only found one which was totally beaten up and one which was way too expensive. I admit to not having tried out the new, recently released Freedom Amp, and wonder if it compares well to the vintage model.
February 17, 2009 at 7:07 am #93422WatsonWoodMemberJust got word that the Mike Matthews Freedom Amp has arrived in Bremen and I am going to pick it up today.
February 17, 2009 at 11:41 am #93428WatsonWoodMemberQuote: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!I was able to pick up the Freedom Amp this morning. It is a version with two speakers, wired in series, and has a built-in reverb, as well as volume, tone and bite. I have tried it out with a Les Paul. First, background hiss and general noise is high, and gets higher when turning up the bite, it also follows the tone control faithfully (this is without a guitar plugged in). Ok, so something in the works needs to be put back in shape. The speakers sound really good, a perfect match for a Les Paul. Volume-wise, the amp is SUPER loud, kicking out hard with the volume knob at less than a quarter turn. On opening the rear of the amp I discovered that the circuit resembles the aftermath of a bomb attack with various wires and elements literally hanging in space. The reverb unit nestles in a plastic sleeve for protection and provides feedback when the reverb knob is turned way up. A nice touch is the EH signature in solder on the circuit board!
The reverb unit is:-
Folded Line Reverberation Device, Manufactured by Beautiful Girls in Milton,WIS, for O.C.Electronics Inc. US Pat 3,363,202 / Canadian Pat 825,330. Type 58.
The speakers have no brand name apparent, nor is the impdedance.
Each speaker has the same serial/product numbers:-
5810205 – 27255 – 2857402
So, I would be interested to know if these speakers are CTS, and what their impedance is…
..and, is there a blueprint for this amp, which seems to be the PA version?March 25, 2009 at 5:23 am #94867jamesduncanMemberHey guys
quick first post to the forum. I have a 2×10 model as well, with #4 soldiered into the circuit board. recently bought it from the guys at Rogue Music in NY
loud as heck with tonnes of punch.
in the shop right now but cant wait to get it back. Perfect for gigging.
Cheers and have fun!
March 25, 2009 at 11:19 am #94872WatsonWoodMemberSounds great! Mine needs some work done on the circuit board but I can still play on it and the amp is indeed amazing. The speakers pack a real punch! I sometimes wonder why EHX have not brought out a new release of the ’70s Freedom Amps rather than the low-powered one they have released recently. The twin speakers on the vintage amp are really impressive.
I wish you lots of great music!June 23, 2009 at 7:19 pm #98295nightravenMemberJune 24, 2009 at 9:31 am #98329WatsonWoodMemberQuote:Bargain!
February 27, 2010 at 1:50 am #107996inputmoduleMemberI have had 5 AC freedom amps over the years and my experiences are… 2 black and one grey (!) tolex guitar versions with attached power cords. a red tolex “pa” version with a male AC cord socket and a chassis plug where the ‘bite’ control should be. and the king of them all- a red 4×10 guitar version with a male socket. i’m kinda surprised if they were only 55 watts- i used to use just 1 black version live with a screaming tree-LPB cranked-ram’s head muff signal path and it was LOUD AS FUCK. seriously, this little tiny 10″ speaker amp sitting on top of my bass players SVT. people constantly asked “where’s the guitar coming from?” because the freedom amp box looked like a homemade monitor or something. haha. these guys are the only solid state amps i’d ever play. now i send my main signal thru the normal JMP-AC 30 chain, but loops, etc go into a non PA’d freedom blasting at stage front. if you an find one that works, you too will be a believer..
February 27, 2010 at 3:36 am #108005The EH ManModeratorQuote:I have had 5 AC freedom amps over the years and my experiences are… 2 black and one grey (!) tolex guitar versions with attached power cords. a red tolex “pa” version with a male AC cord socket and a chassis plug where the ‘bite’ control should be. and the king of them all- a red 4×10 guitar version with a male socket. i’m kinda surprised if they were only 55 watts- i used to use just 1 black version live with a screaming tree-LPB cranked-ram’s head muff signal path and it was LOUD AS FUCK. seriously, this little tiny 10″ speaker amp sitting on top of my bass players SVT. people constantly asked “where’s the guitar coming from?” because the freedom amp box looked like a homemade monitor or something. haha. these guys are the only solid state amps i’d ever play. now i send my main signal thru the normal JMP-AC 30 chain, but loops, etc go into a non PA’d freedom blasting at stage front. if you an find one that works, you too will be a believer..I just got a gray AC-powered version w/ 2 knobs (no Bite) like you had/have. Did yours actually say PA on it? Mine just says “Mike Matthews Freedom Amplifier” with a large space between Freedom and Amplifier. I have a red one that says PA and it has built-in reverb.
February 28, 2010 at 12:05 am #108030inputmoduleMemberRon- the red 2 knob did say ‘PA’ on it, but i’ve never seen one with reverb. spring reverb, right? they didn’t even come out with digital verbs until like 1982 or so. (at least not ones that were cheap enough to put into an amp). never heard of EH making reverb until post sovtek i’m pretty sure the grey one just had the regular guitar version lettering. the amp part died after awhile, so i just used it as a ‘freedom extension cab’ haha!
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