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?

Just got word that the Mike Matthews Freedom Amp has arrived in Bremen and I am going to pick it up today.

I 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.

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!