Matamp Minimat II

The Marketing Blurb

New for Summer 2007 is the revised Minimat. We've taken the old version and added an all valve booster. It's still controled by the footswitch. We've added a master volume so you can take advantage of great sounding preamp gain, or use the attenuator to run the master flat out and get power valve overdrive at sensible levels.

More details will be here soon...but unlike the Little Rock you'll still be able to get custom options like vinyl and gold plating.

There will also be a 1x12 combo version with reverb but without the boost.

4 WATTS (nominal output)
6V6 output tube
2x ECC83 pre-amp tubes
POWER ATTENUATOR (control on back)
HAND MADE
MASTER VOLUME
+ built in VALVE BOOST, controlable via pot on the frontpanel and switchable via footswitch.

My Opinion on the Matamp Minimat II

This is one of the few amps that fits into the categories of Top 10 Amplifiers and Small Amplifiers. It's a great amp and don't let the 4W output fool you. You don't want to be standing next to a 4W amp turned up full.

I'm not actually sure which version I played, probably the original Minimat. I found you could get a great variety of tones out of the amp. It was refreshing to play such a simple amp. That's a good thing. A lot of amplifiers have too many controls. Every knob on the front panel of an amplifier gets in the way of the tone. The fewer knobs, the purer the tone. It's a balance between pure tone and control of that tone.

Why I didn't buy one?

Looking back, I wish I had and I still may buy one in the future.

I was looking for an amp to use on stage and I couldn't see me using it as a live amp. I like the option of being able to change tone on the fly - usually I need 3 tones (clean, crunchy overdrive and a creamy lead) and for each channel I need a volume boost, e.g. for a track that I start on overdrive, I sometimes want a lift for that overdrive. Now the Minimat is capable of all of those tones, but I'd have to use pedals to get the variety in a live situation.

However, as a recording amp, it's hard to beat. Lots of tone and control over the volume. What's more, it's built to last. I've seen the inside of these and there's some seriously heavy components in there.

So even though I purchased a Matamp 1224GT, there's still room for a Minimat II in my very small amp collection.