Randall Commander II

I think this amp is about a 1980. basically the same setup as a Fender Twin Reverb but with a master volume far more gain. 120 watts, reverb, vibrato. I use is for live playing and at home use. Solid State, 2x12 combo amp. Its the perfect setup for any size venue and any guitar.

I mainly use a 1962 Harmony H57 archtop. This amp can sound as clean as a bell, like a Roland JC-120, or nice and dirty, like a cranked Fender. Mine has original Celestion Rola G12-65 speakers in it. These are the same speakers that Marshall used in their 4x12 cabs in the early 80's. The Harmony has an old P-13 pickup which was made by Gibson in the 1940's before the invention of the P-90. Gibson sold all the P-13's to Harmony and used the P-90. The sound of this guitar and amp for blues, jazz, and rock are the best I've ever heard. I have the reverb on 2 and plug the guitar straight into the amp. That is all it needs. I've owned tons of vintage tube amps and newer reissues, this amp sounds better than any of them, and was the cheapest of them all.

I've had it about 2 years and it has never had any problems.

Never tried to contact Randall as it is a totally different company today and my amp is almost 30 years old.

The best amp I've had. Period. I've had a Fender Princeton Reverb, Quad Reverb, Twin, Deluxe and Dual Showman, a Marshall Plexi, Marshall Artiste 2040, and several other amps. I paid $200 for it and that is the best money I've ever spent on any amp.

I believe my amp is a 1980. Basically a Fender Twin style setup, 2 channels, reverb and vibrato. Pull-boost on the volume and treble controls. All anyone needs if the amp sounds good.

I use a 1962 Harmony H57 Archtop, and occasionally a 1972 Gibson SG. The Harmony has an old P-13 Gibson pickup. Single-coil, made before the P-90 came out. The combination of the Randall and this guitar rivals or surpasses any other setup I've heard. I used to have a 1972 Fender Princeton Reverb, a Marshall Super Lead, a Fender Quad Reverb and several others and these old Randalls can't be beat for tone and reliability.

The thing is bulletproof. I also have a Randall RG-60 1x12 and it is perfect as well. Payed $120 for it and I've never had a single issue.

N/A

The best amp for the money and I choose them over just about anything else, regardless of price.

two channels. channel 1 has two inputs (0db and +6 db), basic volume, treble, mid, and bass. channel 2 adds tremelo rate and depth, reverb, and a pull pot on the treble for a treble boost. there is also a master volume, with a pull pot for volume gain.

no channel switching, but you can use an a/b box if you are into it. there is also no effects loop. but, you CAN operate each channel att he same time independently.

there is a footswitch input, but i do not have the foot switch yet. i am hoping that it turns the tremelo on and off at least.

it has 2x12 speakers and an extensiopn speaker jack. the output is 8ohms, but when you plug in an extension, it drops to 4 ohms. this is good. i have a 60's alnico jensen from a rickenbacker and a vintage jensen from a westbury in there right now. i actually wired the internal speaker connection to one and the other one is plugged into the external out. this sounded the best...

oh, and i have a LONG accutronics reverb box in it as well. very nice.

not the MOST full featured amp ever, but for what it is supposed to do, it has what it needs.

i am using it primarily in an old chool punk band. we are in our 30's and have been doing this for a long time. we know our shit.

the two guitars i use for this application are a fender (japan) katana neck through body dual humbucker guitar, and a squier (japan ) tele which kicks the shit out of any other fender tele i have EVER played...
the tele has stiock pickups, and the katane has a gfs fat PAF in the bridge, and an OBL in the neck.

i run through an old aria "metal pedal" (which rocks) into a tube works blue tube preamp (with a mesa boogie 12ax7-a). the blue tube adds a HUGE dimension in this setup, turning this amp into an unbelievable tone machine. it took a few days, but i am able to get ANYTHING i want from it. mesa, proco rat, brit razor speaker...

PLENTY of volume with the correct speaker configuration. PAY ATTENTION to ohms and watts...

the tremelo is great. i LOVE it. the only complaint would be the slight drop in volume, but don't they all do that?

the eq is good. it is not the best, but i am picky about eq. it is easy to dial in a great distortion sound on just about any amp when it is at living room volume. but once you crank it, many amps just sound hurty. chirpy eq mids. even marshalls and fenders do this.

this one is able to loose the chirps even at extreme volume. again, mind your speaker config.

the amp can be overdriven by itself, but i hate it. not very good at all. but use it as a clean amp, and get your sounds in front. you will be happy.

i bought it in pieces. i pit back together. now i abuse it. better than most 30somethings i know.

i called. i got a quick and accurate answer to my tech question which surprised me, given that they are nothing close to the company that made THIS randall... BUT the guy was a complete Prick.

and i am talking capital P.

i guess that make it even? no comment?

i have played actively almost all of my life. i have bought and sold instruments from most of that time. i have had VERY expensive stuff, and i have had crap. i like both.

at any rate, i have played many styles in many places. i think this amp works for me. it is one of the first designs randall put out after he left fender. the orange stripe series amps are pretty much the next generation fender designs of the time.

get one quick, because once the tube snobbery cycle ends (again), they will get expensive (again).

Very simple. Pretty much exactly what i was looking for at the time. 2 channels, I use the first one for my mic (works ok but can't really get over the band) and the second one with all the effects and boosts for my guitar. It's got the best reverb i've heard but i don't really use it, maybe if i played surf music or something. Never use the tremolo either.

I used this amp with my epiphone sg (with one humbucker at the bridge) and a "strat" i built myself (also one 'bucker at bridge). Pretty nice sound, only complaint is it gets a natural overdrive when i turn it up. I would avoid this by keeping the volume on my guitar's channel real low (2) and then turning the master way up and pulling the knob for the gain boost as well sometimes. It was pretty nice for my style (punk/ska) but would like more low end.

Only used it for one gig but room had terrible acoustics to begin with. Don't think it was really loud enough. 120 solid-state watts is not really that much. I thought that was alot when i bought it on ebay but I've just got a 100 watt tube marshall head now.

never dealt with em.

Been playing for 6 years, gone thru lots of gear. This one suited my needs til I got the best drummer around who played real hard so now i have to get over him without getting all disorted on the clean. I'm gonna sell it cause I bought a marshall 4x12 and a jcm900 head.

Let me startup by saying, you will probably not find more power for your dollars spent, than these old solid-state Randall amps. These amps are rock-solid and and this one especially is loud as hell. I've got two Commander II, one RG80ES, one RG100HT rack, and a little RG-30. The RG-30 is a waste of money. The RG80ES is an excellent one speaker amp that has excellent gain, which so does the RG100HT rack-mount (I've got it dedicated clean to a Yamaha DTX drum module).
OK, let's get back to the Commander II. If you want an amp with a bunch of fancy features, go elsewhere. If you want an amp with a bunch of GAIN, go elsewhere. The pull out master volume w/gain only works at high volume level. Now, if you want an amp that will blow the windows out of your house for under $200 used, then you have found it. However, there can be a HUM problem. THIS IS IMPORTANT: You do not want to use this amp anywhere near the same 110volt electrical circuit as an induction motor. That is, if you have a dishwasher or even a CDROM running from a playstation on the same electrical circuit breaker you will get HUM. Sometimes you can eliminate the hum depending on how well your body is grounded in relation to the room. It's just best to test drive the amp in the room to make sure no unwanted hum noise will show up before you jam.

It sounds great with a Les Paul and Seymour Duncan pickups, especially a Duncan Distortion or Custom. The Jeff Beck model pickups sound too tinny on this amp and you probably want to stay with a Marshall tube amp for those. I've also play an Ernie Ball Axis through it, and those Eddie Van Halen designed pickups also sound tinny. However, if you play EMG 81's or 85's in an any guitar, this amp makes them rock. This old amp must have been what inspired the newer Randall Warhead's of today. Now, this amp does have a superb spring reverb for use with single coil pickups of a Strat. So, there is some versatility for southern rock and used clean the amps is good for blues.

Yes, you can depend on it. If this is your bulldozer of choice, you will not need a backup. Both the normally equipped square magnets on the original Randall speakers and the later round magnetic speakers are heavy duty and will stand up for 30 years.

I wouldn't waste my time with Washburn. They probably don't have the schematics anymore for this amp and the low end Washburn amps aren't even heavy enough to be boat anchors.

I've had the first Commander II for eight years. I buy them, and sell them to friends without reservation, too. Since most folks don't take the time to know about the evolution of the early Randall amps, and how Fender/CBS wouldn't go solid-state in the early years, you can pick them up very cheap. Again, these have amazing power for the dollar spent for a used amp. If anyone has the electrical schematics to the Commander II or some tweaks, send it to me, so I can do some tweaking on it.

This amp can get boring, but for the first few weeks or months you'll love it. It has two channels, each with two inputs and controls for treble,mid, and bass. It also has a master volume that can be pulled out for a gain boost. The treble knob on the reverb channel can also be pulled out for a treble boost. The reverb is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The long spring reverb box covers the bottom of the amp. It is honestly the richest reverb I've ever heard (a lot better than any digital stuff you'll get with effects pedals). Other than that the amp is pretty simple, i was disappointed to find that there is no distortion unless you crank it all the way then you can get some pretty nasty (in a good way) natural distortion, but at times it can sound pretty disgusting. The amp has 200 watts all together, 80 through 2-12s, and a 120 output. I've only played one show with this amp. It was a pretty small venue and this amp was great for that. It fits my style of playing perfectly, and that's usually melodic hardcore emo based kind of stuff.

I usually use a stratocaster with but sometimes i use a generic les paul. With the strat it sounds great, sometimes a bit muddy when using a Big Muff distortion/sustainer pedal. The generic les paul, well if all the EQ is set up perfect it sounds all right. If you turn anything, excluding treble, past 8 it can get really muddy and nasty sounding. It has a great clean sound. It also sounds great as an acoustic amp if you use a little reverb.

This amp is really reliable. I know they were made some time in the 70s. Mine still has all the original parts on it. The only thing that has broken on it is a knob. The speakers kind of sound bad now, but after thirty years what speakers wouldnt? I've used this amp before at a show and for the most part it worked great, but there was one point where i had to hit the reset switch.

N/A

I've been playing about three years. I use Pro-Custom cables which carry really well and are extremely cheap (somewhat in both ways). I reccomend D.R. strings, and the Big Muff distortion/sustainer pedal. If somehow I lost this amp i would try to find another used, if not I'd get something else. I love the reverb on this amp but i hate the fact that there is no distortion. I've tried several other combo amps (Peavey, Fender, Crate), i bought this one because it was cheap and it has a great vintage sound.

Good effects, rather plain. Nothing real special. Great clean sound. I bought this on ebay. It was missing one speaker but I found one on ebay and replaced it.

Nice sound overall, not real warm like a tube amp but very loud.

I have had it 6 months and it has no problems. Very sturdy construction, very heavy amp. Good practice amp or addition to your stack. Add this amp to your collection!

None

I have been playing since 1993 and I have always liked randall amps. A very heavy duty amp for the road or closet musician.

Not a real versitile amp on it's own. It is a 120 watt 2x12, 2 chnl. amp. Features are: tremolo, reverb, seperate EQ's for each channel, seperate volumes for each channel (plus a master vol w/ pull gain boost), pull treble boost on channel 2, preamp out, footswitch, ext. speaker output, and an electrical receptical for powering outboard effects.

Can you say "Fender Blackface"? Twin or deluxe, it doesn't matter, this amp does 'em both and then some. (and it's solid state, no tubes to go out or get microphonic on ya!) Randall had to be trying to emulate these amps when he came up with this one, there's no other explination. I'm playing a Peavey Preditor AX (Strat only better, see my review) through this baby. For blues or country tones, you can't beat it. That long spring 'verb is to die for! Just close your eyes and think Fender. Also, so you won't see that butt-ugly ORANGE nameplate on the front that just screams 70's! haha

This is my first Randall, so I don't know. Others seem to think perty high of em though.

N/A Just got it.

As I stated before, if a classic Fender tone is what butters your bread, then this is your amp. Heck, just take that ugly nameplate off and stick a Fender one on it, cause that what it is! Well, gotta go drown myself in reverb! haha