Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special

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One thing about being a letter carrier is sometimes you find interesting stuff that's been discarded. Case in point, this Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special.

I don't know if it works as it was raining when I found it.
When I took it apart after work, the inside was dry, except for the bottom, so that bodes well.
Comes with a 25 watt, 12" Celestion and a built in Small Stone phaser. By "built in" I mean they screwed the phaser to the cab and connected it with flying leads, so if the amp is dead, I can pull out the phaser and save that.
Cab is a closed back sawdust and glue type.

 

[capnjuan]

Excellent price! Reviews Harmony Central If you can get it to pass a signal, there's an eBay Want it Now call for this amp Here

All I ever find from the road are nails and drywall screws in my tires... :twisted:

 

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I have a guy from another forum interested in it, but he still hasn't sent anything from the last trade.
What was that quote from Robbie Burns again?

 

[capnjuan]

What was that quote from Robbie Burns again?

"As long as your up, get me a Dewars"?

 

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[capnjuan]

I have a guy from another forum interested in it, but he still hasn't sent anything from the last trade.

Suggesting it was a unilateral trade; you gave him something and you got nothing?

 

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You want to get a decent rep for being a trading partner, so you take a chance. Maybe something will show up in the mail, but I'm not counting on it.
Eh, sometimes you eat the bearsicle and sometimes the bearsicle eats you.

 

[capnjuan]

10-4; I'd like to say it hadn't happened to me too ... but ...

 

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Nice writeup of this piglet over at The EH Man's website.

 

[capnjuan]

Yes, interesting remarks; have you gotten a signal through it?

 

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Pilot light glows, no sound. I'll try swapping in a different speaker(has a g12m). otherwise, it could be an output transistor or the op-amp. very simple and easy to work on.

 

[capnjuan]

Schematic?

 

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Finally got around to general cleanup on this thing. I was pleasantly surprised. Even though I can't get the Small Stone phaser working, this is one of the nicer-sounding ss amps I've played through. I don't know how much of that is the Celestion gm12, but it's got a nice grind going on.

 

[capnjuan]

Good tone at an unbeatable price?

 

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I was banging through it before teh wife came home. Some noise issues, but there's no telling if that's the design or not.
Looks like a trip to the eh man might be in order to get the phase shifter working again.

 

[danerectal]

That's a solid state right? I heard they get some pretty tasty tone for the buck. Didn't they all come with a phaser?

 

[The EH Man]

Comes with a 25 watt, 12" Celestion and a built in Small Stone phaser. By "built in" I mean they screwed the phaser to the cab and connected it with flying leads, so if the amp is dead, I can pull out the phaser and save that.

Never seen one built like that. Usually they just used the circuit board and mounted it inside. Can you post some pics of the inside?

 

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Comes with a 25 watt, 12" Celestion and a built in Small Stone phaser. By "built in" I mean they screwed the phaser to the cab and connected it with flying leads, so if the amp is dead, I can pull out the phaser and save that.

Never seen one built like that. Usually they just used the circuit board and mounted it inside. Can you post some pics of the inside?

Actually, that's what I meant. It looks like they just used the board right off the parts shelf. It's fastened by a standoff and screw on one end and the pot through the faceplate on the other. The phaser only makes faint clicking noises, so most likely, it's going to have to be looked at by someone who knows what they are doing.

dane, this thing sounds really good. You have to make it growl by cranking the volume, but it's not one of those amps where you're cursing the lack of reverb. Of course the speaker is probably worth more than the amp is. :lol:
I've got the house to myself tonight, so I'll record some clips.

 

[The EH Man]

If you want to remove the Small Stone board and sent it to me, I'll give it a look over. I've fixed quite a few of those.

 

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Took it over to my buddies house. Took the 8 watt Estey. Should have taken the Mav, I couldn't hear myself over the danged Dirt Road.
Ron, you've got some work incoming.