Music Man RD-112 One Hundred

Features as mentioned before. This is the EV series.

Using this fine amp for 25 years. In the beginning I used it with 60's Fender 2x12 speaker cabinets. One was equipped with original Jensen's, the other with 70's Celestions. After a while I found out, it was completely unnecessary. This amp is more than loud enough, and the use of the speaker cabinets doesn't improve the sound of the build-in EV. I used dozens of 60's Fender amps before I stumbled on the Music Man. I was always unhappy about the one trick pony quality of the old Twin Reverbs and Bandmasters. I don't like to use pedals, but what else can you do with these old one channel amps. Than I stepped on to the Music Man, don't forget, this is still Leo Fender. Vintage Fender amps, especially played with single coil guitars, can sometimes sound a bit shrill. For example an old Twin reverb. Give him minimum 50 watts up, great sound. But what happens with the rest of the band, cause they only hear guitar? What happens with the poor people on the mixer in a live situation. "I can't put you on the PA, cause you're tooloud on your amp". Believe me, I've had a lot of discussions about that thing. So the Music Man is a step further. The clean channel is still the best I've heard, no matter of style. I can't understand the reviews of people who dislike the lead channel. I've mostly used the lead channel without any pedal and I think it really sounds great. Also I'm mostly on Les Pauls, never found out the amp sounds better with single coil guitars. The lead channel is a perfect stage for dirty rock'n'roll, just the way it is. myspace.com/chineseparty, all rhythm and lead parts are played with just switching the channels, no pedals were used. The guitar was a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I think the Les Paul Customs are not famous for being dirty, so it must be the amp. Way back in the 90's the tubes had been changed to Ruby Tubes, but I couldn't get any difference. Apart from that dirty rock'n'roll thing I've played Americana, Ballads, Reggae and Country with this amp and was never just near the idea of changing my line-up. After all the experiences with a lot of today highly sought after vintage Fender amps, the Music Man is just the perfect working horse. Ooh, I forgot, I've also tried Mesa Boogie, Soldano and some more. The Music Man sounds authentic, that's the best compliment, I can do for an amp. It's not made for Metal, but who cares. Simply the best for Surf. Like others mentioned before, bass on 0, middle on 4-5, treble like you need it, you really need these settings to let the EV speaker shine.

It's my working horse for 25 years, some of this time was about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll, I think it's undestructible.

I think it was easy money to work on customer support for Music Man amps back in the 80's. No work at all.

Playing for 35 years. Funny thing is most of the reviews about Music Man amps are a veteran thing. As long as young people can get them here in Europe around EUR 400,-, it's an absolutely steal, highly recommended. This is a gorgeous great sounding versatile amp for nearly every kind of music apart from highly destorted new metal sounds. I think the Music Mans are the most underrated real great amps in history, get it while you can. After 25 years I can say, I will NEVER sell it. Some of the guitars which perfectly match with the Music Man: '76 Gibson Les Paul Custom, '83 Hamer Phantom A5 (just recently but absolute killer), '66 Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean, '67 Gretsch Double Annie, '66 Fender Telecaster, '66 Gibson Firebird, Yamaha SGV, lots more. I've had some hundred guitars as long I play the Music Man. I was never disappointed. Only Metal shredder guitars with Floyd Rose like Charvel's and Jackson's don't sound that good, but that's more a question of the guitar not the amp.

I bought this amp used and I believe its an 1980 but I'm really not to sure. As for features I give it a 7 and dont get me wrong I love this amp my only complaint is that there is one eq for both channels... which really isnt that much of an issue but explain more in the sound quality section.

This amp sounds amazing. The reverb is truly awsome I would even put it on a level with old fender reverds... you really cant beat the spring reverb on this amp. As for clean it sounds terrific from high and bright to low and warm... and with the deep and bright boost you can get both at once. You can really acheive a wide range of tone with this amp if you sit down and play with it for a little bit. My only complain here is the gain channel I usually play with the eq set for lower mids and bass and flip the deep switch on to get a nice low and warm yet still bright sound. However the over drive channel dosent sound to great like this it gets kind of muddy and broken up but if you dial the gain down you can get a nice blues dirty sound out of it. Basially I just use a blues driver when I want a nice hard rock sound from it so essentially I get 2 levels of distortion out of it. This isnt to say you can't get a good overdrive sound out of the amp though. If you turn off the deep switch dial the bass to the 1-3 range and keep the mids under 5... you can crank the gain up on the OD channel and get an awsome classic rock sounding tube distortion out of it. The only problem for me is that with it EQed like that its clean its just a little to bright for my taste but like I said before I just use the blues driver and it sounds great.

I havent had any problems so far I havent had the amp all that long but near as I can tell the tubes look like they may be original and everything is in working order.

Truely an awsome great sounding amp.

read others. Note 7 because of the shared eq., but great reverb. Otherwise it has everything you need to play guitar (or even bass). Mos shocking is that it uses Solid State preamp section and Tube power section. Don't worry about the Solid State!! If every transistor sounded like those in the Music Man no one would use tubes!

Clean ch: Absolutely incredible. Crispy, clear, transparent, powerful, fat... are some of the adjectives you would think if you hear this amp. No matter singles or humbuckers, this amp respects the personality of any guitar-pickup configuration and adds enough power to be heard in medium (500 people) size pubs. We've tried it with luthier made '52 telecaster, american vintage RI jazzmaster, epiphone 335, american series stratocaster, guild stratocaster, and even japanese fender precision bass and jazz bass copy. It really developes every instrument personality with fidelity.
Distortion ch: It's exactly the same but with highest gain. Although it is solid state preamped the distortion is very experimental, not like other SS simulations.

Tank!

??

Try to catch one if you can!!!! Absolutely amazing!!!!

Dual Channel, solid state preamp, 2 6L6s in the power amp. Made in 1983. Plenty of power for clubs. Great for Fender sounds, not my favorite for classic rock. Odd effects loop that uses a stereo plug for the in/out loop.

I don't think any one amp can do everything and sound good with every guitar. However, certain amp/guitar combinations sound amazing for the right style of music. The MusicMan RD112 shines with single coil pick up guitars!! For years I had been playing a Les Paul through it. The clean channel was rich and deep, but the distortion channel stunk. Neither OD nor distorition pedals sounded very good through it with my Les Paul (1976 Custom). I almost sold the amp, but ended up buying an '83 Squier Strat (MIJ) and a '05 Tele Deluxe Special Edition. WOW!!! What a difference!! The Strat and Tele sound gorgeous through the RD112. Sparkly clean tones, gritty OD, hot blues, boppin' rockabilly, hot country and Southern Rock (think Sweet Home Alabama). Even the distortion channel sounds good with these two guitars. After owning it 20 years, I fell in love with this amp palyed with these two guitars. For Classic Rock, I switch over to my Les Paul through a Peavey Ultra 212. But for 50s, country, 60s pop, the MusicMan RD112 with the Strat or Tele is it!! So, lesson learned. Play the right guitar with the right amp for the right style of music and you can find sonic nirvana. I rate it a 10 for 50s, 60s pop, country, and southern rock which it was built for. Only a 6 or 7 for classic rock.

I've been gigging with it off and on since 1983 and not had any problems with it at all. Only regular maintenance like replacing the tubes when they wear out.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been gigging for 30 years. I have two main rigs, the MusicMan RD112 that I play with a Strat and a Tele, and a Peavey Ultra 212 that I play with a 1976 Les Paul Custom. If it were stolen, I'd definitely get another. Great sound and value for the money. These sound like the pre-CBS Fenders that I used to play. Just a sweet sound with a Fender guitar.

I think this amp was a 1982 model, I picked the amplifier at a pawn shop with intentions of putting money into it. The amp cosists of 2 channels, Hi gain, lo gain, a foot pedal having a reverb and a distortion channel selection, a stand by, hi and lo level in and out, also using 2 power tubes (6L6 GC), however i hear they do not manufacture (6L6 GC) tubes anymore. I was told to use (6L6 GB) from now on,,,,,but I am not sure on this. This amplifier seems to be a good pick for a blues/jazz artist. I knew that it is a beutiful sounding amp, so I had to buy. My last amp was a 65w Marshall valvestate amp, which obviously was not making me happy, that amp was terrible. The Music Man, on the other hand is a 100w amp bringing any guitar "alive".

I usually play a Fender USA stratocaster, finally an amp that will give birth to my lifeless strat. I love the strat, but it needs the right amp to make it shine, the the music man has a very clean and warm, full sound to it, i like to distort it slightly to give more bite. Because of the tube amp being made in the 80's, i assume that is why it is a little noisy,,but not that bad. ,I have to take the amp in for repair as the clean channel seems to distort at medium volumes, this I am sure is fixable, perhaps I will need a new speaker. If anyone has suggestions as to what may be wrong with it or hints on speaker selection, please notify me, I would greatly appreciate it.

like i said earlier,,,the amp is old, I had bought it with intentions for repair, I do not know what needs fixing, but I will have it repaired either way,,,it seems worth it.

I have been playing for 13 years, acid jazz/blues. I have tried the new fender deville and delluxe, they sound ok, however lack the warmth and bass found in the music man. I was specifically looking for a tube amp, and I found a good one i'd say. I need to get the amp to be repaired and I cannot wait.

AS SEEN. i DONT THINK A HEADPHONE JACK,TUNER OUT,ECT ARE EVER NEEDED AND USUALLY INDICATIVE OF KIDDIE AMPS. THIS IS THE PRO WORK HORSE TO END ALL!

FANTASTIC CLEAN IN THE SECOND CHANEL. i BLEWW THE FIRST AND SECOND EV IN 82 AND FINALLY PUT A VINTAGE THIRTY IN AND HOLY SHIT IT CHANGED EVERYTHING. IT WENT FROM A SLIGHTLY MUDDY AMP TO A BEAUTIFUL CHET ATKINS SOUNDING CLEAN. I USE A STRAT FROM 72 WITH GOLD LACE SENSORS AND IT RINGS LIKE A BELL. MY LP SOUNDS MUDDY. I USE TWO TUBE SCREAMERS SET AT TWO DIF SETTING FOR THE O.D. A DUNLAP WAH OLD BOSS CHORUS AND A PHASE 90 FOR ALL MY(YOU GUESSED IT) CLASSIC ROCK SOUNDS.lET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE AN ASSHOLE(LIKE MUSICIAN KNOW IT ALLS ALWAYS DO)I0 AM A PRO, I DO THIS FOR HALF OF MY INCOME AND ALL OF MY WEEKENDS,AND IT AINT GLAM. THIS SAID, THE 112RD IS THE BEST LITTLE AMP FOR THE MONEY IF YOU CAN FIND ONE. IT FILLS BARS AS WELL AS OUTSIDE SHOWS WELL, JUST GET A 57 TO MIKE IT AS NEEDED. WE ARE NOT A LOUD BAND BUT STILL FILL UP ALOT OF SPACE WITH SOUND AND THIE AMP DOES THE TRICK. YOU CAN CARY IT IN WITH YOUR GUITAR IN ONE HAND,AMP IN THE OTHER AND PEDLE BOARD OVER YOUR SHOULDER IN ONE TRIP AND PLAY 90% OF THE PLACES YOU BOOK! TIP:PUT CASTERS ON IT

I HAVE HAD THIS AMP FOR 23 YEARS AND DID NOT RE-TUBE IT FOR 17 YEARS! I'M A PLAYER NOT A TEC!!!! SO CHECK IT OUT..YOU DONT HAVE TO BIAS THE TUBES JUST PUT THEM IN,IT IS SELF BIASING,HOW SWEET IS THAT! I REPLACED THE EV 2X THE FIRST MONTH,IN 82,I HAVE HAD NO PROBLES AT ALL SINCE. I USE IT 150X A YEAR ON AVERAGE. HELL I USING IT TONIGHT. LEAVE IT IN MY CAR ALL YEAR AND PULL IT OUT AT THE JOB WITH CONFIDENCE.NEVER USE A BACK UP,PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE ONE HANDY JUST TO BE PROFESSIONAL BUT FUCK IT.IN OVER 2000 GIGS AND 23 YEARS NO PROBLEM WHO ELSE CAN SAY THAT FOR THEIR AMP.

I AM 37 NOW AND HAVE HAD LOTS OF STUFF, WHO CARES! BEEN PLAYING OUT SINCE 15 STEADY SINCE 17 STARTED IN FIRST GRADE AND STILL SUCK!!!(BUT STILL GET PAID AND BOOKED HAHA)IF STOLEN I WOULD FIND ANOTHER FOR A STUPID LOW PRICE LIKE THE ONES LISTED PUT IN A VINTAGE 30 AND GET ON WITH LIFE, JUST HOPE THE AMP GETS USED BY THE BASTARD WHO STOLE IT. THAT ANP NOT BEING USED IS A TRUE CRIME. ALL IN ALL FOR THE SOUND RELIABILITY AND SIZE,THIS HAS TO BE THE BEST DEAL IN A PRO LEVEL AMP YOUR GOING TO FIND. I CANT BELIEVE OTHERS HAVE NOT MADE THIS A CULT AMP OR SOMETHING. OH YA ITS LOUD AS SHIT,YOU WOULDENT BELIEVE IT.

This amp is a hybrid tube/solid state amp. It has 6L6 power amp tubes. I bought it used. It appears to be an early 1980s model. It has channel switching. Both have reverb. It is possible to overdrive both channels to go from a crunching lead sound to a more saturated overdriven sound. There is a 12 inch EV speaker with a 7 1/2 inch magnate. There is also a two button footswitch. The channel switch lights up to let you know when you are using the high gain. The reverb does not have an indicator light. The amp comes in a white rubbery tolex with indented pinstrips. It also has what looks like effects loops input and outputs which require stereo input jacks.

This amp has great sounds in either channel. The clean channel has a nice gritty distortion with the gain on ten. Think Sweet Home Alabama. When you keep the master up and the gain down, the amp has a beautiful clean sound. I have played through bf super, bf bassman, silverface pro-reverb, silvertone twing, fender blues deville, fender hotrod deluxe. This amp has the best clean sounds I've heard. I'm going to challenge people who hate the distortion channel. The truth is that you can coax some ZZ top, Aerosmith type lead/rhythm sounds out of this amp if you work with it. If you go into the distortion channel around you must turn the bass to ZERO! And you shouldn't push the mids past five. The EV speaker has way too much bass response, and this accounts for the crappy sounding distortion. But if you eg it just right, you can get some singing distortion. This amp can do some amazing things. And in fact, I like it better without the tube screamer! Just fiddle with the eq and don't turn on the bass boast. The hi boost is versatile, but remember to turn down the trebble if you use it. This is a great amp!

I was fortunate to get an amp that had absolutely no problems. The reverb on this sounds great. It is a little lighter than the fender reverb. It is more transparent. Most reverbs outside of Fender stink. This one has a great sound. If yours is broken, it's worth getting fixed!

MM has schematics that are downloadable on the internet. From what I hear, they are helpful considering they don't sell amps anymore.

I give this amp a ten. I love classic rock, blues, and various clean styles. I can do everything with this amp. My black face super reverb is loaned out to a friend. I gave my son the bassman. This amp is so good that I don't really miss them, although I do love those amps too. I've listened to the trainwrecks (Great amps), Weber, Bruno...etc. The trainwreck and bruno amps are gorgeous sounding. But this amp isn't far behind and in some situations you might have a hard time telling the difference.

This is a late-70s model, since it has an EV speaker and EL34 tubes. I bought it mainly so I'd have a good tube amp that I could mike in my studio. It just so happens that it's a very capable stage amp, as well.
It's a dual-channel model with separate gain and master controls for each channel, combined bass, mid, treble, reverb, plus deep and bright switches. It has hi and low gain inputs, 100mV and 3V effects loops, ground lift, impedance switch and output for an extra (8 ohm) cab, switchable output levels (60 or 100 Watt), and a floor pedal. I played this amp for quite a while at a local shop, and it wasn't until later that I realized it wasn't all tube. Pretty impressive. I started playing heavy blues, hard rock, and metal in the '80s, but I've played everything from old school jazz to industrial, since then.
This amp can crank the sound out. It has volume for days, but it's also very quiet. For an amp its age, it really has a nice feature set. It is extremely responsive to expressive playing, as well as a guitar's volume and tone knobs. Every amp should respond so smoothly to a player's changes in technique!

I generally play 24 3/4" scale guitars with a humbucker, two single-coil setup. I have a quilted maple neck-through body PRS copy and a flamed-maple bolt-on. They both sound warm and ballsy through this amp. The bolt-on is really light and has a very bright sound. It sounds neutered through some amps, but it really comes alive with this one.
I use a pair of rack-mount effects units (a Roland and an ART) for the really hard and tripped-out sounds, but this amp is great for clean and raunchy moderate overdrive sounds. It really cranks out the classic Fender 'spank' tone, when the gain is down and the Master's up. You can crank the amp all the way up, and it just begins to break up when you put the master on 10. It also develops a nice growly/raunchy overdrive, similar to early ZZ Top, early Boogie amps. When I need some serious gain, and I don't want to drag the whole rackmount setup along, I run through an Ibanez Tube Screamer. It sounds absolutely stunning with this amp! All the grind and harmonics you could ask for, coupled with the amp's gain, a more laid-back, high-gain overdrive, when you switch to the amp's clean channel, kick the pedal off, and you've still got a spankin' clean channel and a soft overdrive for rhythm.
This amp was re-tubed fairly recently with Sovtek EL34s.
For a basically standard amp from this era, it sounds damn good. What would you expect from Leo Fender, when he started a new company?

The cabinet is not very beefy, by today's standards. If you've looked in an old Fender or Gibson amp, you've got the idea. The cabinet is 5/8-3/4", but the cross pieces in back are about 3/8" thick, just like old Fenders. It's an open-back cab, and the bracing looks solid, but it's typical of the era.
The reverb was out when I got it. It has a pan that stretches most of the cabinet's width, but I dunno what it sounds like... I use my rack stuff for those sounds, anyway, but it would be nice to have, when I just want to do the guitar, amp, and OD pedal thing.
Other than that, no problem. It had some scratchy pots, when I got it, but I cleaned them, and they're very smooth, now. I know several people that have or had Music Man amps, and they always raved about the reliability.

It's long out of warranty. The company no longer makes amps, but they will still send you information. Because these are similar in many ways to Fenders, many shops say they're easy to work on. I asked around at several local places, and they've all said they could do anything I needed for reasonable rates.

I've been playing about 17 years. I've had several large amps, and I've played for a number of years with gigging bands. I also spent some time recording in small and mid-size commercial studios. I have a moderate project studio, now, and I let most of my big stuff go a while back. I didn't have a burning need for another amp, I was just keeping my eye out for something interesting.
It's a fairly small amp (22.5 Wx8 Dx17 H), but it weighs a lot! 58 lbs., and half that's probably the speaker and reverb.
I looked at a lot of small to mid-sized tube amps, especially older Fenders. I was willing to pay at least twice as much as I did, but I just wasn't finding anything that really did it for me, including some really clean Marshall and Boogie amps. Neither of those brands had a great clean channel. I can get all the distortion, overdrive, megadrive, piledrive, etc. I need from the rack units I have. I got a great clean channel and a nice brown tone. I've heard a dozen great OD pedals, but not one that can fix a crappy clean channel.
I've played hybrid amps before, and one of my rack units has tubes in it. This is the first I've played that had tubes in the output instead of preamp stage, and it makes a huge difference in the feel of the amp.

I've just bought myself a second RD-112 One Hundred for a stereo set-up. The first I bought is described in the submission authored 'Guitarist'. This is an older model than the first one I bought so instead of 6L6GC power amp tubes (built early 80's), this one has a pair of 6CA7 (built late 70's). I use NOS Sylvanias Tall Bottles in both amps. It also has a stock Electro-Voice 12" speaker, whereas the first one I bought has a 12" Pyle with very 'Eminence' like tones. Also the older one, since it has 6CA7 tubes, has a logo plate with a black background and a silver foreground, whereas the one with the 6L6GC tubes has the reverse color scheme: silver background with a black foreground. The chassis on the two look the same, but the cabinet on the older one has a larger base giving the speaker more of an upward angle. The older one also has casters, whereas the newer one doesn't. On both amps, there is a high/low power switch which allows you to go from 100w to 60w. In the 100w position, there is 715 VDC on the plate, whereas in the low position there is only 400 and some volts. Up to now, I have always used the 60W low position. All other physical features are the same. I never use the 100mV or the 3V insert jacks.

The two amplifiers are very different sounding. They both have a deep and a bright switch, so they both have great basses/mids/highs. Both amps are very silent, there is no hiss what so ever. The one with the 6L6GC/Pyle has a much more mellow sensual feel to the sound, whereas the 6CA7/EV is more aggressive. I feed a 82 Tele 52 RI into a Digitech RP21D that I split out into the two amplifiers. With the Digitech, each stereo channel has it own EQ. I also use the Digitech for its reverb, its chorus, and I also have settings to add a little gain to the sound. I play blues/boogie, and most of the time I like a clean sound w/ attitude. I stay mostly in the mids, but if I add distortion, I'll add more treble. Sometimes I'll play in a mono set-up without the Digitech. In that case I'll use the 6L6GC/Pyle. To conclude, as I mentioned my previous submission, I have found my dream amp, and if you play blues/boogie, jazz, country, rock-a-billy, or rock & roll, definitely seek out this amp, and give it a try.

As a follow-up to the previous submission, I did repair the reverb. It was a loose wire. I also had to replace the LED in the footswitch of the 6L6GC/Pyle. But besides that it has remained in mint condition. I bought the 6CA7/EV in mint condition. I've heard that if well kept, the tubes will last for a real long time. Even though I've heard these amps can take a lot of abuse, I always very careful with my amps.

Ernie Ball bought Music Man in the mid 80's, but discontinued the amp line. But they still posted the schematics to the Music Man amps on their web page. Thank you very much Ernie Ball. I think it says alot for their company. Whenever I've dealt with them, they have always been smiling, courteous, and prompt.

Status Quo for this one. I have found the right amp for the music I play. A very subjective 10.

Do not know the year it was built, I would guess in the '70's or early '80's though.
I bought it in '89 and have stuck with it ever since.
It has two channels, clean/overdrive
I use this amp at gigs and in the rehearsalroom, those 100 watts is more than enough in the rehearsal room, ant perfect for clubgigs.
The only thing i miss is a separate EQ for the overdrivechannel.

I play a Fender Stratocaster Jap from '89 and a Fender Telecaster custom reissue '72 from the late '90's (jap too, I am a poor swede what did you expect ;) that i owned for a couple of weeks.
I play Funk with a touch of psychedelic rock a'la Grateful Dead (not the countrypart of their music though..yet ;)
Between the guitar and the amp i have a Ibanez Tubescreamer, a Jim Dunlop Rotovibe and a Crybaby.
Since i basically only use the clean sound it suits me perfect, it has a great tone and one of the best reverbs i ever heard from a old amp like this, the tone stays in the reverb and not like many other amps just is replaced by noice hardly ressembling the original tone.
It has a nice crisp and great tone, i miss some lo-mid though it can sound a little sharp sometimes, but overall the clean sound is good.
The overdrive channel has a warm overdrive up to # 3-4 on the know, then it turns to a little too fuzzy sound for me, like the early Black Sabbath LP's, it seems like the original speaker can't handle the bass to good, when i have tried a Marshall 4x12" cabinet it sound great though on full distortion and when playing a Les Paul i get the perfect rock'n'roll distortion.
I dont want to carry around a 4x12" at gigs so i use a Ibanez Tubescreamer instead and it works fine.
All in all i am very happy with my amp and it keeps the original tone from the guitar intact and as long as you use only clean sound or moderate overdrive it is outstanding, and i never have to worry about volume cause there is PLENTY incase the PA is weak.
I give the Clean sound a #10 and the distortion a #6. If you want distortion, buy something else, but for funk, jazz, blues this is the amp.

Well it breaks down like once in a year, i dont know if it's from old age or because of bouncing around in the trunk of the car so much or that the repair guy puts in some kind of timer ;-)
It has never failed me on a gig so far though and thats whats counts anyway but that's either good luck or good carma...

Well since it's an old amp and Music Man doesn't manufacture Amps anymore (boohoooo) i have no idea..

I have been playing guitar since the mid '80's, i also play keyboards in a early seventies hard rock/boogie band.
If it was stolen i would eat Prozac and drink alot i think and do a lot of sobbing as well...
I love the clean sound exept that it could have a little more boost in the lo-midrange, and if i changed the original speaker the distortion would probably sound ok.
I also miss having separate EQ's for the two channels.
I have played a couple of Fender twins that i loved as well but i still would not change this one in, after 10 years it is a dear ol' friend...
I have played one '70's Marshall with only one channel that i loved but that is the only marshall that impressed me so far...
You never know though... ;-)

This amp was manufactured in the 70's and early 80's. Features include two channel preamp with the footswitch hard wired to the chassis, also has switchable reverb, front panel effects loop, extension speaker output, low and high power with standby. This amp is a hybrid combo. (Solid state preamp/tube power amp 2 6l6GC tubes)Has plenty of power (100 watts)and is versatile enough for my playing. I don't really care for the way the footswitch is wired but I'm sure that can be modified.

I play a highly modified JB Player Strat copy. It used to look like something out of a Poison video(Black & white Firecrackle ooh aah)but I have matured somewhat. I sanded it down and refinished it, put a new neck and tuners and pickup etc etc. It really looks nice and plays nice. I am involved in music ministry and I like a variety of styles. (Funky, Bluesey, Jazz, Hard Rock, Contemporary Ballad etc.) Now my playing centers around my clean sound and this amp has a very warm tube clean sound and suits my needs perfectly. SWEET MOTHER TONE!! The amp will distort somewhat, probably closer to overdrive so this is not a heavy metal amp unless you add a preamp/pedal.I'm not one of those players who have to play a differnt sound for every song they know. I basicly have a clean sound and a distortion sound. Everthing else is a variation of those two sounds. I play with a Morley Deluxe Flanger for a chorus effect and use a Sansamp GT-2 for my distortion. I also have a Digitech PDS 1002 delay pedal I occassionally use on a lead. This amp is very quiet considering its age and the tube power section.

I just got this amp so I can't objectively say yet.

Music Man was bought out by Ernie Ball around 1985 and the amp line is no longer manufactured. I e:mailed their customer service to request the schematic and manual and they promptly replied and got my information to me in like 3-4 days.
I did have this amp worked on at a local music store and didn't have any problems. It has a pretty basic design and is about the same as getting a Fender serviced. (Mainly because Leo Fender formed Music Man after Fender)

I have been playing for about 10 years and have a small home project studio.(Fostex FD-8, Mackie 1202VLZ, Alesis SR-16, Piano controller and module, synth and various rack effects)I have been dying to review this amp mainly because of how I got it. I noticed this amp in a pawn shop about a year ago. They were asking $289.00 for it and that had been marked down from $349.00. I overlooked it because of the price. I wanted to play it but the fuse had been blown and I didn't have time to get it changed. I went back a year later hoping it was still there and sure enough it was. I tried to trade my Peavey Special 112 and a pair of 1X12 PA speakers but they weren't really wanting to trade. The manager made a couple of calls and then made me the deal of a lifetime. He said $50.00 bucks plus the tax and you can keep your gear and take it home. I said sold! It didn't have a fuse, there were two different tubes and one of them wasn't even plugged in and best of all I didn't even turn it on. I know I know I'm not supposed to buy something without carefully scrutinizing it but hey I bought a tube amp for $50.00 bucks! I put new tubes and a fuse in it, cleaned all the pots, put a Celestion G-12 70 in it(I've had this speaker for several years) and put new grill cloth on it. Then I took it to our local amp tech to check it out and he replaced a couple of transistors and a DC regulator. Now this amp is exactly what I've been looking for. I love this amp because it gives me the tube sound I've been wanting. I looked at many of the small tube models (PV Classic 30 & 50, Fender Blues Deluxe & Deville , Marshall JTM-30,etc. as well as surfing the net looking for a bargain, but I still couldn't afford to pay $250-$600 for another amp. I really didn't want to jump on the Fender and Marshall band wagon either. I don't have anything against those amps or the people who play them I just wanted something that was unique. (Why else do you think I would be playing a JB Player Strat wannabe?)If this amp were stolen I would find the person and make them stick their tongue into a tube socket or the fuse holder,and play shock the monkey until they want to graciously return my amp. I think at the bottomline Music Man Amps are an incredible value. They sound great! I say "they"... Mine is the only one I've played but I have read many of the reviews here on Harmony Central and everyone else says the same. If you should come across a Music Man, give it a fair chance. Don't pass it up because it doesn't say Fender, Marshall, or Mesa Boogie. You will save money going with the Music Man but you won't be sacraficing clean tone! Let's band together fellow Music Man users until everyone else is jealous of our amp and tone for a change!

Two channel w/ bass, treble, and middle. Bass booster (deep switch), and a high frequency booster (bright switch). Solid state pre-amp, 2 6L6GC tube amp (6CA7/EL34 in older models). Two serial line in/out insert jacks. The first line in/out is .1 volts and is situated after tone controls and before reverb or gain, the other is 3 volts is after tone, gain, and reverb. Speaker extension w/ 4 to 8 ohm switch. Standby, Hi on, Low on, and off. Hi and low input. No headphone jack though, which I don't need, because either I'll mike the recording, or I can use the serial line out (it will turn off the speaker if the loop is not complete) and plug it either into the console for DI, or if I am rehearsing late at night (& don't want to wake up the kids), I plug into my monitor amp. A graphic equalizer could of been nice, but the tone spectrum can be accomplished with the frequency boosters and the three tone controls. With this set-up, even a presence knob is not necessary. Oh, almost forgot, it has a spring reverb which I have never tried for the simple reason I bought the amp with a non- operational spring reverb. It never bothered me because I hate spring reverbs, and use my signal processor for effects. I could give a 10, but I'give it a 9.5, because the used rca jacks on their footswitch, instead of 1/4" jacks (go figure).

This amp has very colored and beautiful tones, if you play jazz/blues/C&W/new age. If you like shred/metal/'santanish sustained notes', you will need a signal processor. With just the amp alone(no signal processor), you will find the classic jazz/blues/C&W sounds delightful. From prestine clean to a subtle distortion. Of course combined with a signal processor (I use a Digitech RP-10), the sky is the limit. The volume (100 watts) is great for playing in bands, but if your playing with a telecaster (I own a 82 52 RI), beware of feedback (keep your distance from the amp). My other guitar is a gibson nighthawk, and I do not experience the same feedback issues than with the tele, even in single coil mode. I give this amp a 10, because it is the most beautiful jazz/blues sound I've ever had (been doing this for 25 years). My previous amps were Marshall (my teen years), Fender Twin (early twenties), Mesa Boogie (when I graduated, and was able to afford one), and finally this amp (which I can't understand, I got dirt cheap, obviously a popularity thing).

Well I did buy it with a non-operating reverb. I don't think it's the unit itself. I took it apart and visually inspected the springs. Looked OK. Maybe a burned reverb diode. Anyway I've never been hot on spring reverbs. No longer in the gig scene, so even if does break down, no big problem. I have heard though that they are very reliable. So for right now 'no opinion' is my rating.

Got a hold of Ernie Ball, asked for schematics (in case one day I get sick and decide to fix the reverb). They answered no problem, w/ a smile, and got the schematics two days later. Thanks! A definite 10 since these amps haven't been manufactured since around 1984. You do need to supply them with a chassis number so they can find the appropriate schematics.

Somewhere down the road, if I am to buy another amp, I would probably keep an open mind and try out new amps/technology. BUT I will always keep a Music Man around. I have found the right amp for my usage. A very subjective 10 for this category.