Product: Randall Century 3000 II 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $350
Submitted
12/11/2005
at
02:29pm
by
my mom
Features
:
10
i think these were made in the 90's. it is a 1x12 combo. the clean channel has gain, treble (pull bright), mid, bass, pre-effect level (more on that later). the dirty channel has gain, treble (pull channel switch), mid, bass, pre-effect level, and switchable sustain boost. the master section has presence, reverb, and master volume.
the "pre-effects level" on each channel acts as a "master" volume for the channel itself. this is actually pretty handy as it is pretty much an extra gain stage...
there is an effects loop and an external speaker output (4 ohm minimum).
mine has a celestion g12-100h.
solid state.
all of these features really add something to the usability of this amp. nothing is extra just for the sake of adding options...
Sound Quality
:
10
this is a great amp. i have always been fond of the older "orange stripe" brutes from randall in the 70's. this is better honestly. has less of that dreaded ice pick tone that solid state (and a lot of tubes amps!) get.
the overdrive channel is actually quite flexible. you can use the "sustain boost" switch and get the obvious thick luscious/viscious wall of death... but where i was was pleasently surprised was with the overdrive channel w/o the sustain boost. very... ummm... trashy in a good way. very black flag. my favorite "brat" sounds were totally there!
and the punchy celstion g12h-100 takes the power well. even with the single twelve this amp can really blast. in conjunction with a 4x12 cab it is unstoppable! it is 150 watts!
i used this amp mainly for heavy, ambient, experimental, psychadelic stuff. nice texture with my sitori sonics "woolly muffin" overdrive through the clean channel. the clean is good too. it will do your obligatory touchy feely clean part. but if you crank it way up, you get a very punchy blues tone.
Reliability
:
10
well, solid state usually holds up forever if you do not drop kick it around. if you drop kicked this, you would easily break your foot. it is solid and roadworthy for sure.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
who is randall these days, anyway?
Overall Rating
:
9
i have been playing for 2/3 of my life at this point. i have played huge arenas and garages. famous studios and 4 tracks. i know what i am doing, and i know how shit should work and sound. to be fair, i am pretty much only into tube amps... but i will say that this is easily the most usable aggressive solid state out there (the best being the roland jazz chorus, which is NOT aggressive in any way).
it has usable cleans and nice overdrive. PLENTY of volume in reserves. i would recommend a good eq if you are a tone snob, so i am going to loose a point for that. otherwise, you can't go wrong with this small portable brute.
