Morgan Amplification Dual 40 Head

- 40 watts
- Four EL84 power tubes
- Three 12AX7 preamp tubes
- Defeatable EF86 preamp tube
- GZ34 rectifier tube
- High/Low power switch
- Two channels
- Mercury Magnetics transformers
- Point to point wired

UTILIZATION

This is a EF86 based Vox inspired amp, but with a few twists. You have two different channels, one with a bass, midrange, and treble EQ with a bright switch on the volume and the other is the EF86 channel, that just has a relies on a global Cut knob for it's equalization. The global Cut knob and the lack of EQ's on the second channel can make things a little difficult.

The EF86 tube is actually able to be switched on and off. This is especially helpful since as most Vox styled amp fans know, those tubes, as great as they sound, will go nastily microphonic on you the first chance they get. Nothing can ruin a gig like an unusable amp. It's also nice to be able to have the two different sounds available.

Did I mention the M on the front lights up?

SOUNDS

The sound of the amp is greatly affected by the type of guitar being used. A single coil guitar sounds glorious through either channel whereas I really had to fight with the amp to get a good sound out of it with a humbucker guitar. The second channel (the EF86 channel) sounded jawdroppingly good with a Telecaster and practically unusable with Les Paul Custom. I found that the humbuckers just pushed the front end too hard.

The amp is a bit particular when it comes to overdrive pedals, too (which would make sense considering the humbucker issue). A Tele into a Fulltone Fatboost into the second channel sounds to die for, though.

OVERALL OPINION

I was looking for an amp that had the sparkling tone of a Vox AC30 and that something else of a Matchless. I've always loved Voxs but I don't care for how they compress and mush out when being pushed. I always loved Matchless amps, but I never liked how they didn't compress when being pushed. I was hoping the Morgan Dual 40 would be a nice compromise, and in many ways it is a great choice. For me, however, playing a Les Paul Custom nearly all of the time, I had to continue my search for the tone in my head. As nice as the tone was with the Telecaster, I wasn't willing to make the leap to single coil guitars exclusively. If you do play single coils exclusively and are looking for something like a Vox but better and like a Matchless but lighter, cheaper, and a little different, Morgan amps are a fantastic choice.