Mike Matthews Freedom Amp – Page 4

This topic has 55 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 4 months ago by kebmo.

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March 8, 2014 at 10:43 pm #119754

reidmalips
Member

I have a black tolex Freedom Amp…hell, I’ve had it since the mid 70’s. It still runs like a champ. I used to run it occasionally with a Hiwatt 4×12 cab. Holy shit was that loud!

Are these things worth anything now? Mine is in perfect shape.

March 16, 2014 at 3:07 am #119770

dmanster
Member

Hello, My friend has an old Mike Matthews Freedom Amp that he just had restored. We noticed that the model he has has the protective strip of wood in the speaker baffle across the front. I attached a photo. I have searched on the internet for photos of the same amp but none of them seem to have the protective strip of wood. Do you happen to know if this was used during a particular year or why his amp has this but not others that we have seen? Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much.

May 14, 2014 at 6:13 pm #119973

MesaMan50
Member

I am very excited to find this forum, and happy to learn more about these mini terrors – the Freedom Amps!

I have a black Freedom amp that I think is Modded. By my estimation it is close to stock, but there may have been mods on the power supply circuitry. When playing it you notice, it has the usual crackles and pops when adjusting volume. The circuit board has been slightly reinforced, and a few caps have been replaced.
It came to me many years ago purchased from Steve “Bondo” Bond, an ex-roadie of SRV. (Both are passed away), so the story goes cold, but Bondo said it was one of SRV’s amps. Now I know everyone is immediately skeptical, as I am too, considering that SRV exclusively played “Loud” Tube Anps onstage. I suppose this lil warrior might have held court backstage for finger warm-ups by the master string bender, but I have no true proof. Will post pics later if anyone wants to see it.

May 31, 2014 at 8:45 pm #120011

casey
Participant

Hi all.
I just picked up a 70s 10″ speaker Freedom with what im pretty sure is a blown speaker.
The speaker has no markings, could anyone here tell me what the original speakers were, or a modern equivalent to replace?
Thanks !

May 31, 2014 at 10:57 pm #120012

MesaMan50
Member

Quote:

Hi all.
I just picked up a 70s 10″ speaker Freedom with what im pretty sure is a blown speaker.
The speaker has no markings, could anyone here tell me what the original speakers were, or a modern equivalent to replace?
Thanks !

Hey Casey,
Refer to this earlier post on here.
https://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/181/#2620

I do not know what my speaker is either as it has no markings. The dust cap is chromed plastic so it looks trendy for that era, but you will not likely find a new one like that today. You are probably looking for function in a modern replacement. If it were me, I would really like the sound of a Celestion Greenback, as the tone of mine is reminiscent of a Greenback in distress. However considering the reputed wattage of the Amp, it might just blow that speaker past distress and into retirement, they’re rated 30 watts.

You might look at these 2 higher watt options.

http://celestion.com/product/30/g10_vintage/

http://celestion.com/product/32/g10n40/

I would love to know the outcome of a modern speaker in a Freedom Biter!! LOL

June 10, 2014 at 2:55 am #120023

citymusicstl
Participant

Hello all! I am new here and hope I’m not intruding.

I work for a music store in St. Louis. A guy came to the shop today to consign a few items that were left in the estate of a relative. For the most part they were not that exciting except for the amp which clearly read on the top ‘Electro-Harmonix Mike Matthews Freedom Amp’. At first I was quite puzzled as the amp did not have a power cord or anywhere to even attach one. I had never seen a ‘Freedom Amp’ before. After googling and reading a bit I landed here where I have found the best info so far.

I opened up the back of the amp and found the enormous battery compartment. Luckily, it was empty, and not full of corrosion. I’m assuming it still works as it looks to all be there, but can’t tell without loading 40 D cells into it. Is there any other easy way to know? D cells are not something we keep around the shop, and don’t really want to incur the expense of them only to find out it doesn’t work.

Th amp has two 1/4″ inputs, the three control pots, a single speaker, and is covered in black tolex. Based on what I’ve read, this is one of the rarer (rarest?) models? Drives me completely nuts that we can’t just plug it in and play it. I’m assuming a good amp guy (we have one) could mod it to work with a cord, but would that be heresy? If we do sell it, would it do better all original or with a mod?

Will post pics tomorrow of internal & external. Thanks for your time and any advice is very much appreciated.

June 10, 2014 at 2:27 pm #120024

citymusicstl
Participant

Pics of the Freedom Amp…

I [em]love[/em] the ‘EH’ sig on the board!

So… having seen the pics, anything look to be not original in there? I am most curious about the speaker.

EDIT: The links seem to not be working to see the fullsize pics, but the pics can also be seen here: EH Freedom Amp

December 6, 2015 at 1:34 am #121056

Uglysound
Member

Hello. I am converting a battery powered Freedom Amp to run on AC power. I was wondering if someone has an AC-powered unit and would be willing to measure the the transformer’s secondary voltage.

Are there any schematics available for the 70’s versions of these? I’ve emailed EHX, and they do not have any on hand.

December 7, 2015 at 4:56 pm #121065

Uglysound
Member

I was able to get a schematic from ronsound, but as I suspected, there isn’t any information about the transformer used. I suspect that it is a common 60 VAC part, but would like to verify this for accuracy’s sake. If you don’t have the means to measure voltage, a close up picture of the transformer would be helpful if anyone is willing to take one of theirs.

January 20, 2016 at 3:18 am #121218

Uglysound
Member

I now have an AC-powered Freedom Amp on hand to measure. It appears that the transformer is putting out about 40VAC before it is rectified to about 54VDC. Since these were rated at 55W, I’m assuming the transformer is rated for 1A of current.

I also have a 2×10″ unit with reverb that came to me needing a small repair. This has two small transformers. I have not powered this one up yet, but will post an update if the transformers are putting out a different voltage than the single-speaker units.

Does anyone have a schematic for the reverb circuit? I purchased the Freedom Amp schematics from Ron Neely, but the reverb is not included on that document. It should be fairly easy to trace, but documentation is always nice.

July 22, 2018 at 4:10 pm #124121

kebmo
Member

i acquired a freedom amp back in ’75, just weeks before shipping out to navy bootcamp. i was in my girlfriend’s garage on a hot august day. at the time i had a ’61 les paul (double cutaway precursor to the sg), and a flanger stompbox. the freedom amp was cranked and i was jamming robin trower with myself at top volume. after about an hour of entertaining myself, i started to smell that smell of burning wire. i turned to look at the amp and a wisp of blue smoke was rising from the back of the amp and it quit. assuming it was fried, i disconnected everything and put it up in the rafters of the garage, and that was the last time i ever saw the amp. the sg was sold to a friend who used it for parts on a ’58 melody maker.
i would give anything to have the amp and guitar back again……
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