Great interview article with EHX founder Mike Matthews

[Leevibe]

I enjoyed reading this. I trust it will be less provocative than the Bill Finnegan article!

http://tonereport.com/issue12/files/5.html

[Cortexturizer]

Did he mention eleven hundred times that he used to know Hendrix?

[raulduke]

Yeah I read that.

I always think he comes across as a cool dude.

I imagine he would be a good crack to have a pint with (can probably handle a few too I bet) 

[Leevibe]

I think he has an interesting take on cloners and how they impact his business, and is obviously not afraid to discuss the cloning he does.

[Cortexturizer]

I love how the guy is too, just wanted to get that out in the open, but he does mention Hendrix a little too much, in eeeevery interview, that's where I was aiming at hehe...

[culturejam]

Cool article. Some of the questions were not very insightful, but Matthews came off pretty cool.

I like that he embraces and thrives on competition. Unlike some of the small shops that like to bitch/moan.

[Leevibe]

Cool article. Some of the questions were not very insightful, but Matthews came off pretty cool.

I like that he embraces and thrives on competition. Unlike some of the small shops that like to bitch/moan.

He seems to have found the convergence between the art/science and business. I think most of us trying to sell these things lean one way or the other. I know for me, I'm not super business savvy.

[neve1272]

he talked about maybe making  solid state amps ....with the orange crush series ive read about ...do you guys think we are getting closer to amps that are useable (not talking digital modeler )
cattlin bread wampler  make real close great sounding stuff could we see a solid state amp?

im just talkin for talkin sake my own pedalize amp was a disappointment....

[Scruffie]

I read it and liked it too.

Regards solid state amps, back before the Sovtek tube amps EHX did make the Freedom Amp & Dirt Road Special amps (the latter of which had built in EHX effects like the small stone) and apparently they sound great! Plus the freedom amp was portable... if you wanted to use like 40 D Cell batteries 

It's possible they'd redesign the preamps and reissue those, the power amps were transistor based.

[Leevibe]

I got the impression that the SS amp idea was to fill a potential market niche more than it was to equal tube tone. He might be right. Roland has had a couple winners there.  JC120, some of the cubes.

[atreidesheir]

I like his take on cloning.  It is his motivation to keep prices low and quality high.  good idea.
I also find his take on the Boss style of pedal  (they filter noise to the point of getting a sterile vibe)  interesting.

[jimilee]

I like his take on cloning.  It is his motivation to keep prices low and quality high.  good idea.
I also find his take on the Boss style of pedal  (they filter noise to the point of getting a sterile vibe)  interesting.

This. How can you justify 400 on basically a bluesbreaker pedal? Mike seems very down to earth to me.

[raulduke]

he talked about maybe making  solid state amps ....with the orange crush series ive read about ...do you guys think we are getting closer to amps that are useable (not talking digital modeler )
cattlin bread wampler  make real close great sounding stuff could we see a solid state amp?

im just talkin for talkin sake my own pedalize amp was a disappointment....

I see no reason why not. They already do the little power amp modules. This was probably them dipping there toes in the water.

Nothing will ever beat the 'real deal', but a nice preamp combined with a solid state power stage could sound potentially awesome IMO.

You won't get all the lovely power amp distortion, sag and pull and compression (a very large part of the 'valve guitar amp sound'), but you could get something very cool none the less.

I've been meaning to build something up like that for a while now as a test bench amp.

And just remember, Josh Homme used solid state amps when recording Songs for the Deaf, probably one of the finest sounding guitar albums in the last 20 years (IMO anyhow) 

[TNblueshawk]

I've read many interviews of him, some much longer, and always came away with the notion that he is a cool dude from the outside looking in position that we are in. Anyone who has a beef with him I guess has a beef with everyone as this is the least antagonistic of the bunch by far. Sure it helps to have EHX behind you and as successful as they are. But, I think we can point to a gazillion d'bags who are rich and have a money making company so kudos to him for not coming across that way.

[juansolo]

^ this.

Plus the dude knew Hendrix!