The other primary objective was to create a line of amps that did not change
every six months, as they had since 1993 from the Huddersfield Shop for various reasons.

Formal paperwork was forwarded to the UK shop owner and to his lawyers.
The lawyers had no problems, but UK Shop owner put on led boots and everything
became literally a drag.

In the beaming light of the situation during 2004, Matamp USA sourced it's own
speaker cabinet company in the USA known as ELECTRIC AMP, USA.
This relieved the UK Shop of all responsibility for the USA's speaker cabinet production.

After hours of discussions between the two Matamp outfits,
the USA amp designs were then forwarded to the UK again in 2005.
An agreement was made between the two companies and
MATAMP USA again pre funded the new line to be made in the UK.
The chassis agreed upon was the primary issue in order
for this agreement to work.  For over 6 month's the USA was given the affirmation
that the correct chassis were being made in the UK with the tube spacing, roll bar
& front panel design to support the big knobs.
Most of all the gauge of steel it was to be made from.

In the final month prior to delivery, a leak in the UK camp informed the USA owners
what was really happening with photos to support the issues.
The voltage really hit the grid over these issues,
and the UK shop owner, Jeff Lewis scrambled with excuses.
Everything from logos, to vinyde color & chassis format became a huge issue in
the last 30 days of the UK's production for the USA.

In August of 2005 MATAMP USA ceased all production with MATAMP UK.

Since August of 2005, Matamp USA and ELECTRIC Amp, USA were
both ridiculed online by many Forum Wankers.  So much obvious
ignorance in action online from the forumites, it turned the UK's "official forum" postings
into a new form of comedy to view World Wide.

Meanwhile, ELECTRIC AMP, USA trudged on with their amp designs
and went into production in the USA.  As the amps released into the public
during 2006, the wankers online became more silent with the occasional rant
that the USA stole it's design from the UK.

ELECTRIC AMP, USA came into bloom August of 2006 with it's full color
spectrum catalog and wealth of it's own trademark green vinyde for it's GREEN Amp line.
The UK shop then displayed it's new line in black Spanish plaster vinyde,
to cover mini amps and low wattage units.

It was obvious "who built what" , and the truth of the break
up between the two Matamp entities became quite clear.

The rumor that Matamp UK designed the ELECTRIC Amp Units is far from the truth.

Below is a photo and text illustration that will compare the last UK Made amp that
MATAMP, USA/ Electric Amp, USA  paid for next to the USA built Electric amp unit.

THE OUTSIDE

TOP, Electric Amp USA made in the USA.
BOTTOM, Electric Amp, made by in Huddersfield England.

The front panel layout on both units is the very layout drawn in the
USA and forwarded to the UK several times.  Back to higher and wider
spaced E.Q. holes to provide room for the big round knobs.
If you look close the beading on the UK version [bottom] is smaller
on the front frame of the amp sleeve.
Hardwood Maple wood skis are used on the USA sleeve [top].
Four rubber feet are used on the UK sleeve [bottom].

Side: The USA made Electric Amp with one row of piping
heavy duty corners and heat treated machine fasteners.

BACK:  USA Amp has additional ventilation
and the elimination of the 1/2 power switch.

The top of the chassis on the UK version is the same format that Mat UK used from the Ashdown Chassis.
Placement of tranny's, filter caps, and the rest is all found on the Ashdown design.
This was complete opposite of the drawings that MatUSA sent to the UK three times.
It was clearly stated, that no USE of Ashdown, Orange or any other company's parts were to be used
in the Matamp USA amp production.

The USA made ELECTRIC AMP is mounted on a 12 & 14 gauge steel chassis foundation.
The chassis are powder coated in black like an M-16 or green to accommodate the Greenamps.
Tube space is beyond heat specification and provides the simple application for the same
chassis to be used for the KT88 units which require more space between glass.

UK version has INPUTS labeled 1 and 2.  2 is the HIGH [normal] input and 1 is low,
which is backward to most amps in the industry.  The input jacks are plastic Cliff brand.
The first knob reads DEPTH on the UK  version.
The knobs are hollow nylon without a metal insert for set screw to secure the shaft.

 USA Version INPUTS are HIGH for HIGH and LOW for LOW !
Metal Military Grade Switchcraft jacks are used for life long secure connections.
The first knob reads DEEP on the USA version.
The knobs are solid phenolic base, cast with a metal bushing and metal set screw.
The 1/8 inch white marker dot is crisp .
These knobs were designed and made in the USA for ELECTRIC AMP
and are a trademark part item available from EA-USA.

UK version up is OFF and down is ON ?

USA Version Where UP is ON !!!!!!

Chassis depth is larger on the UK's Ashdown chassis used at Matamp UK.

Dual output jacks and the use of plastic Cliff jacks are found on the UK version.

Here is the PC Board Dual Output Jack assembly on the UK Version.
If you look close the back of the chassis you will see the back of the chassis is tweaked
from the weight of the transformers.
This is super common, on the UK amps, and something that Mat Mathias himself
got away from in 1968 when he ended the S2000 folded aluminum chassis
and went to a heavy gauge welded steel chassis on the GT's.

This un-road-worthy chassis was a problem for Matamp USA from 2001 until it ceased
production with the Huddersfield shop in 2005.

Hours of reforming tweaked chassis, and remounting new
plex gave MAT-USA enough hands on experience to have no
desire perpetuating thin gauge chassis.

The Electric USA version has one dedicated output jack per ohm load setting.
Metal Switchcraft Pro Audio Jacks with the correct frequency elimination washers
are used, like Ampeg, SUNN and Fender used in the late 60's and early 70's.
Solid worthy connections with a jack that is easily serviced is ideal for long life on Pro Audio gear.

The UK transformers are so far back that they touch the interior of the amp sleeve.
This is a heat line up that promotes, noise, short tube life and tranny failure.

Again, the USA version has NO half power  switch.

The holes must be made in the UK with the scissors  that cut the tape to
hold the chassis shield.  Offset and torn punctures that could
be made more accurate with an old AK at 100 yards.

The tape was always disturbing to the USA team, and was something was
not continued with the ELECTRIC AMP Units and was definitely not part of
their drawings forwarded and agreed upon with the UK.

Inside the UK amp, you can see the multi-level Printed Circuit boards and stranded wire assembly.
This is for certain a 180 in comparison to the USA Military Grade Hardwire format.
Dave Green never would draw or supply schematics and the interior changed every shipment.
The UK could never supply service drawings/schematics, so Matamp USA had to first
draw them out and have their own drawings on hand for future repairs.  To date the
only record of the inside of these amps is kept in archive in the USA.  Jeff Lewis was
never involved with ANY of the actual amplification production from 1993-2005
for Matamp USA with the exception of the amp sleeve.

Dave Green designed, built and formatted most of Mat UK's products from his Ashdown origins.
Looking at his works you can see he is a precision engineer.
Cooped Upstairs in the Huddersfield Shop,
loaded down with heaps of stress designing, engineering, hands on constructing amps.

The UK shop seemed tightly guarded with information only because they didn't really
have any on hand. Most of it was in Dave's head.

l

Inside the USA ELECTRIC built unit it is simplistic, and solid.
18 gauge Hardwire and solid double Turrets are used, with placement of components
in a very specific manner to optimize quiet audio frequency, and maintenance.

The turrets on the UK version are not pressed, they are form molded into PC board.
The issue of printed circuits with turrets mounted on top contradicts the design and
doubles the length of each circuit path.  In essence the long way around the amp
for the power to travel.

Precise hardwire and turret layout with top of the line SOZOtm components.

Turn the amp units upside down, and you must first get a block of wood to
support the UK amp to prevent the tubes from being crushed.
The USA version [right] chassis has a mounted roll bar set that
provides two functions. 1. Chassis Strength, 2. Easy Maintenance.

Upside down the USA built Electric Amp stands FREE, and avoids crushing
the components on top of the chassis.  With the EA-USA chassis you can set it on
any of it's six sides and it will stand free.  The unit is uniform and balanced.

Securing the chassis to it's amp sleeve was a problematic issue for the UK units.
The UK chassis on the left utilizes a rectangle hole with a cage nut.
These cage nuts yank out of the rectangle hole when mounted in the sleeve.
Once the cage nut releases from it's hole it spins on the end of the screw
which creates a new can of worms.
The USA chassis on the right has a heat treated grade nut welded to the interior of the chassis.
Once bolted into the sleeve the chassis will not suffer internal damage.

These are upgraded chassis screws made in the USA used to replace the similar
screws supplied from the UK .  Better than the stock ones supplied by
the UK, but still not the right fastener for a 50+ pound amp unit to be secure.

5/16 Heat Treated bolts with 1/2 heads and heat treated washers are used to
secure the ELECTRIC AMP chassis that is made in the USA.
The same type of bolts are used in late 60's and early 70's muscle cars to mount
cylinder heads, intake and exhaust manifolds.
Ridiculed as "over-kill", but if you look at a spec sheet for fasteners and the
weight distribution, they are the right bolt for the job.

Both amp are great sounding amp units.  The UK amp is a cool amp,
but FAR from what was agreed upon and paid for by the USA company.

With the help of Dave Green and John Tilley the "first and last" 14 UK Electrics were
completed in the USA.  Both John and Dave  were under peculiar pressure within the walls
of the Huddersfield shop, which ultimately created their departure from Matamp UK also.

Replacement parts and insight were provided by Dave to the hands doing the repairs and refabs
after the amps arrived in the US.  At this stage of the relationship between MatUK and MatUSA,
Jeff Lewis was eliminated from the equation in June of 2005.

Jeff's concerns were not invested in amp building, but the creation of Matamp's next
release, which was a pamplet claiming "Matamp at 60".  This was a wild contradiction
since Matamp was not a 60 year old company as it was created by Mat in 1958 and
was promoted for almost a decade from 1997-2005 by Matamp USA as "Since 1958".

The vast divide between the two companies was made more evident and simple
upon the release of this false titled UK booklet in 2006.

The USA amp company was interested in "building" and playing amps.
The UK amp company was more interested in "talking" about amps
and staking claim on the efforts of their main financial funding from MatUSA .

Over 1000 Units Pre Paid by Matamp USA made them
the largest product consumer in the UK shop and accounted for 90%
of Matamp production from 1993-2005.  MatUSA held the trademark at
the time, and was responsible for most of Matamp's sales and service.

Jeffrey Lewis left this fact out of his 12 year premature
booklet "MATAMP at 60" in 2006.

Three years later in 2008 ELECTRIC AMP USA continues to perpetuate
a strong line of hand made tube amps and pro audio speaker cabs World Wide.
EA-USA remained the owner of ALL Amp Color Logos that were
previous trademarks of Matamp USA.

Matamp USA and Matamp UK are two seperate entities.

MATAMP UK is again under re-organization.
The people involved with Matamp UK during it's second wind
[1993-2005 post Mat Mathias] have all fled from the shop and it's affiliation.
John Tilley left during December 2005 to open his own shop.
Dave Green left in October 2007 "forever" he boldly states.

Rumor has it from Jeffrey's gal Dizzy, they are going to
have a "new product line out for 2008".

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