RT100 (or RT503) Tone/Quality check

I'm thinking about buying the new RT100 because it's a great price for a 100 watt all tube amp (I already broke the bank when I bought my MESA/Boogie Stiletto 4x12 Cab...totally worth it though). Can anyone give me a good description (or comparison to other amps) of the tones and/or overall quality(craftsmanship)?

I know I can get amazingly clear and powerful Rock/Metal tones from almost any amp's clean channel with my pedal set-up (Krank Distortus Maximus, followed by an MXR 10-band EQ) but I'd rather just use the EQ in the FX loop with the amp's distortion and really fire-up the power tubes.

I couldn't get a really good idea of the metal tone sounds from any demos (Joe Delaney only played bluesy, mid-saturated 70s style riffs and The Tone King can't palm mute to save his life, plus neither one played it through Vintage 30s?!?) I think it's funny how people demo metal/shredder amps with AC/DC and strum all the strings like they're in a coffee shop doing open-mic (A great way to demo for metal heads would be the intro to "Versus The World" by Amon Amarth, or "Purified" by Lamb of God).

If it helps any, I have a RT50h coming next week and it will be played thru a 1936 cab with v30s. I'll let you know as soon as it gets here.

karpathion said:

If it helps any, I have a RT50h coming next week and it will be played thru a 1936 cab with v30s. I'll let you know as soon as it gets here.

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Cool man...I look forward to it.

I'm with you on The Tone King. That guy sucks so bad, he makes Kurt Cobain look like a Guitar god. Plus the whole idea of a good mid crunch just escapes him. I wish someone would tell him to stop scooping his mids for modern metal. Will Adler needs to give him a few tone tips.

I agree on not scooping out too much mids. I usually do but when I was tweaking around on my MXR eq, I raised the mids in a way that gave me a brutal "bark" tone; similar to Devil Driver, Children of Bodom and Metallica's raw Death Magnetic (hey, the album grew on me, alright)

Anyway, I wanted to point out that a guy named Randall Padilla, who gives professional guitar lessons, has a youtube vid with an RT100H and a Kona guitar. I couldn't get a good idea of the tone 'cause he played Satch. (no thunderous riffs there) but in the comments he said the RT100 is "top notch". That's good news coming from a guy who seems experienced.

MetalMike said:

I agree on not scooping out too much mids. I usually do but when I was tweaking around on my MXR eq, I raised the mids in a way that gave me a brutal "bark" tone; similar to Devil Driver, Children of Bodom and Metallica's raw Death Magnetic (hey, the album grew on me, alright)

Anyway, I wanted to point out that a guy named Randall Padilla, who gives professional guitar lessons, has a youtube vid with an RT100H and a Kona guitar. I couldn't get a good idea of the tone 'cause he played Satch. (no thunderous riffs there) but in the comments he said the RT100 is "top notch". That's good news coming from a guy who seems experienced.

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LOL! Don't feel bad about the Metallica, I like it too.
It's hard to get an idea of an amp (espeacialy a metal amp) when noone will play metal on it in demos.
Thats part of the reason noone ever wants to try an amp thats fresh on the market. Thats why it's up to guys like me. I'll try most anything new, and leave a few demos and reviews around the net.
My Rt should be here tomorrow, and I'll try and get a demo up as fast as possible, and I'll make sure it will convince the metal guys. :twisted:

the rt-503 we got had volume issues, but when we cranked it waaay up to compensate, it sounded broootal on the 3rd channel. perfect for the heavy stuff.

here is the youtube clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN0kyRjMdcw

edit, the 3rd channel starts around 1:58 or so. also, had the channel level maxed at 10, and the master around 7-8. should have been blown out the room, and the camera mic destroyed. randall is replacing with a new rt-100. always had good luck with randall customer service.

rottingcorpse said:

the rt-503 we got had volume issues, but when we cranked it waaay up to compensate, it sounded broootal on the 3rd channel. perfect for the heavy stuff.

here is the youtube clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN0kyRjMdcw

edit, the 3rd channel starts around 1:58 or so. also, had the channel level maxed at 10, and the master around 7-8. should have been blown out the room, and the camera mic destroyed. randall is replacing with a new rt-100. always had good luck with randall customer service.

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Awesome Demo....Thanks man. I'm buying mine today (RT100).

How's that Dean Dime amp? I was thinking about grabb'n one of those too 'cause of the price, and for some razor-sharp solid-state tones.

One more thing...Have you ever tried an EQ in the FX loop, or after a distortion pedal? I just have to share this info 'cause I almost gave up on trying to improve my tone but the MXR 10-band EQ was a gift from the Metal Gods! (unbelievable tone shaping ability). It also has level & gain which can either give your rig a boost at high volumes or allow you to crank the output level of a tube amp(push the tubes) and lower the volume on the eq for quieter practices and recording (tube amps lose a lot of tone quality at low level/master volumes).

i have a bunch of good high gain heads. i try to get stuff that really doesn't "need" and e.q or boost of some kind to sound good. that's why my bro and i were wanting the new rt series randalls. we liked the tones we heard when you plugged straight into the amp.

all i ever use is a decimator in the loop of some of the heads that don't have built in noise gates.

the dime head is......hmmmm........o.k i guess. i have a randall x2, so i can honestly say the dime is nowhere near as "dime-ish" as the x2 is right outta the box. plug into the x2, and you got dime tone. the dime amp needs a little somethin-somethin to get close to the x2.

Cool, thanks for the Dime amp info.

I need a favor....Could you (or anyone reading this) tell me anything you know about the power input options, if any. I need to know if it is switchable to different voltages (i.e..Euro 220v) I can't read the back panel very well from any web pics I've seen but it looks like there's indicator lights over the power cord with multiple voltage options and two fuse indicator lights/options below. I've seen amps before that you can change to the proper fuse, then turn the fuse holder (with a flat-head srewdriver) to the desired voltage. Does the fuse holder act as a switch to select between voltages? Please don't risk anything by twisting it while it's plugged in (you don't want to change voltage settings to the wrong one)....Hopefully somebody knows for sure.

I asked Randall customer service who said the voltage is not switchable but neither the response nor the manual covered this subject in a "technical expert" kind of way. Besides, why would there be multiple voltage/fuse indicators on the amp's rear panel if it were not switchable? it should only have "100-120v/60hz Input" near the power connector.

P.S. I got the manual by email as a Word Doc. Would anyone like me to copy/paste it here? It goes into very good depth about tube biasing but the rest is pretty vague...see sample below:

(4)Turn the switch next to it--the Standby Switch to ON-- the standby switch is there for a reason-- always wait 5-10 seconds between turning power switch on/off and standby switch----We are not going to explain the details why... just do it.
ON= Power > wait > Standby
OFF= Standby > wait > Power
(5)Plug in the guitar cable to your guitar and then into the input jack
(6)Turn knobs towards the right a bit and play your favorite chord--- sound should happen.

No B.S. That's straight from the manual they sent me....my IQ dropped 10 points after reading it (the tube bias instructions are very good though)

Well I backed out of the rt50h. Keep hearing bad things about em'. I went with a krankenstien instead.

karpathion said:

Well I backed out of the rt50h. Keep hearing bad things about em'. I went with a krankenstien instead.

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Well, I hope the Krankenstein works out for ya. Are you talking about the 50 watt Krankenstein jr? That was what I originally got for my new rig. I frist had that and an order put in for a MESA/Boogie vertical 2x12; the store I had the cab ordered through had a huge sale so I snatched up a deal on the MESA Stiletto 4x12 instead. When I got the Krankenstein jr, it had a horrible squeal problem on the dime channel (no guitar plugged in). The tone was great though and I new it had extreme potential but the squeal problem made me have to return it. That's when I saw the Randall RT series and originally ordered the RT503. It was on backorder and musiciansfriend came out with the "metal mayhem" sale so I got $100 off the RT100 so I upgraded. The Krankenstein jr looked kinda goofy sit'n on a 4x12 cab 'cause it's so small but it had more then enough power and oomph to melt faces. If you want a good idea of the tone (if you don't have it yet) listen to "Damageplan" and "Hellyeah"...it's got those tones easy, right outta the box. It won't do that MESA Mark series growl though...or a Peavey 6505 tone, but the way I see it, you don't need a threatening growl if you've already got a mean BARK (which the Krank has). Anyway...Rock on brother

I got a few of them in the store...

I think they are fantastic...

was going to keep the 503 but decided on the V2 so that I could be more equivelent to the Powerball that my rythm player uses
the tone was great from both tho...

I'm interested too. I haven't run across anything Randall made that I've hated but I live in an area where it's nearly impossible to just run off and try out an amp. Having some Heavy Metal clips done on a Heavy Metal geared amp would be a "very good thing".

Got my RT100!!!

It's awesome. Sounds great, looks great, everything works. I haven't played around with it enough yet but my first impression is that it's everything I'd need/want in a Metal amp. The clean channel is very versitile from super-clean (or bright-clean) to bluesy gain. The OD1 channel is a nice "hard-rock" gain (even a little Marshally brit). OD2 is a very high-gain modern metal tone with a nice articulate growl. The typical humm noise is there but not excessive. The other guitar player in my band has a Peavey 6505+ which had a much louder humm at the same volume level. The only down side that I noticed was that the treble level wasn't enough for me on OD2. It's very ballsy and deep with a great crunchy-chug but I had to add my MXR EQ in the loop for more crispy highs. If I had to compare it to a well known amp to give you a good idea of it's sound, it would be the Krank Rev.

I'll try to post some clips on youtube (or here) soon.

MetalMike said:

I'll try to post some clips on youtube (or here) soon.

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That'll be really great!

I sold my Randall T2HH a week ago because my band broke up. Now it seems as if most of our band will continue with me so I need a new Amp.

I'm considering T2, maybe even V2 or the RT100 but the RT isn't out in germany so far and I'm really eager to hear those great chuck-chuck-riffs...

I finally put a clip on youtube.

It was put together very quickly so don't mind the lo-res or crappy playing. But it is a mic'd recording so it sounds Great (try to listen on some good speakers w/decent bass):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRtP8_AL2LA

Sorry, maybe it's the setting, but the sound doesn't please my ears...where are the balls? :roll:

It's a shame that the RT series still isn't out here in germany - I wondering if they really can beat a T2?!