Randall Cyclone Head

This amp is mostly designed for brutal Pantera type metal. It has lots of tone shaping options and features which have been discussed already at length. Any teeny tiny knob adjustment can noticibly change the tone, which I find annoying. It would have been nice to have a seperate reverb for the clean channel, as you can't expect to use the same amount of reverb on both channels.

Some amps sound better with certain types of pickups, pedals, playing style, etc. Pickup height adjustment on the guitar is also very important to get the best sound out of your pickups. I'm not into brutal, scooped out metal tones, so after many years of fiddling around with this thing and not being satisfied, I finally found some useful tones by adding a Boss EQ pedal in front of the amps input and adusting the midrange on the graphic EQ's on both the amp and the Boss pedal very high to get rid of the sterile 'designed for brutality' metal tone. I'm into hard rock, heavy metal, and punk rock (The Ramones, Black Sabbath, early Metallica, Black Flag, early Def Leppard, etc) so I need one tone that can be acceptable for all those styles. I'm a rhythm guitarist and play through an Ibanez flying V (VBT700) with a Seymour Duncan SH-4 pickup in the bridge and Celestion Vintage 30s 4x12 half-stack. The adjustments I needed to make on most of the amps knobs are way to the left. I leave the distortion in the center and the Master Volume turned all the way up. I get a fantastic mid-range heavy crunch this way and some very good punk rock harmonics which satisfies me, but a lead guitarist might need to add another pedal to get some sweet liquid sustain. If the guitar is slightly out of tune, it will sound like crap on this amp. The clean channel has no sparkle and sounds lifeless, but to be fair, that's the case with just about every solid state amps clean channel. One great thing about this amp though is that you don't have to turn it up loud at all to get some sweet distortion.

It's as reliable as any solid state amp I guess.

This amp is not for everyone. Most people, especially lead guitarists, prefer a tube amp, but I was stuck with it so I was forced to constantly adjust the knobs to find a satisfactory tone. I used this amp to record my guitar tracks (two tracks for each song) and they came out great. The other amp available to me was a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier which also sounded great, but after doing some sound tests in the recording studio, I personnaly prefered the double tracks of the Randall Cyclone + Boss EQ pedal. You can hear for yourself at www.myspace.com/uchaos

You can read those below

This amp sounds awesome. My old guitar player had one and granted he didnt know how to set it...but when i got behind it ripped. In response to the JR character below, I happen to have boogies, and to say theyre for korn is retarded. most of todays top metal, hardcore, and metal core bands use boogies before they get free amps. So dont listen to him. Solid state is good, but tube is always superior.

very reliable

never dealt with them

Great amp is you get it used for under $600. If you pay more though, youre a sucker cause yo ucould get an amazing tube head for a couple hundred more.

This amp features a mid sweep and a 9 band EQ. It's a 300 Watt solid state amplifier. The mid sweep is very useful and so is the 9 band eq. You can really mold your tone.

Im using an esp ltd delux h-1000 w/ emg-81/85. At first i had stock seymour duncans on my guitar but it just wasnt enough for this amp. I thought this amp was a waste of money and lacked distortion and sustain. However, when i got the emg's everything changed. I was able to unleash brutal tones with it. The only drawback is the clean which is just....clean. It lacks character and gets distorted when you put the level knob high but other than that this amp is simply amazing. I would recommend that you play around with the settings first and get pickups with enough output(preferably active pickups). You should also keep in mind that it took me almost a 2 months to find "my tone." Overall i think this amplifier is a dream come true(except for the cleans).

Just dont do anything stupid with it like pouring water inside to see what happens.

Amazing amplifier. The distortion is VERY versatile. This amplifier was inteded for "nu metal" heads but i listen to prog metal/rock and ive got my tone to sound similar to that of petrucci's. If you want to see a clip of my playing Erotomania by Dream Theater, you could check it out at http://media.putfile.com/Erotomania

Lots of features...as everyone else has listed numerous times before.

I'm going with a Gibson V with Lawrence bridge p/u as my main axe, through a Digitech XP-100, Crybaby, chorus, pitch shifter (Boss), and Rocktron Hush Pedal (2 channel kind). I play metal, and have been playing for 23 years...damn I laugh when I read some snot-nosed 19 year old write that he's been playing for something like 3 years, and that he couldn't get a sound out of this amp...Like many others have written, if you're not playing brutal-style music, don't buy this amp. At 300 watts of solid-state power, you know it's only good for wasting people. With both the regular EQs, the Mid Sweep, AND the 9 band, needless to say this amp is very sensitive. If you move something more than a cunt-hair, it'll change things...so work on it, but trust me, if it's metal, then this amp will get the sound you want. First thing for you youngsters to realize is that you have to have at least a decent pickup in your axe. Then you need to realize that if you turn the Gain up to 10, it WILL sound fuzzy, thin, and ridiculously like paper... However, if you go with the gain more like Noon or 1-2 o clock, then you fuck with the EQ, you will have enough gain to pummel anyone, without thinning out your sound. The clean channel is another story, and the moral of that story is Effect, Effect, Effect...pop a chorus, some reverb, WHATEVER, just wet that dry-ass clean channel down...that'll help you smooth things out. If you're anal about the quality of the clean without effects, then buy a Roland and run an A/B switch.

Fairly new amp, but it's seems to be built like a brick shithouse...

Playing 23 years...play Flying Vs (Gibsons), but really want to splurge on both a Dean V, and a Hamer Vector (V shape), as they're supposed to be the shit...
Great amp, this Randall, especially for the dough (600 new).
Definitely as brutal as any and all tube amps. You clowns out there who write in about Hughes/Kettners, Boogie Recs, Bogs, Marshall tube heads, etc. are absolutely LYING to the relatively younger axeslingers who are reading this stuff. You all know that NO TUBE AMP MADE will hang with a high-powered solid state for distortion and brutality. Yes, the tubes give you a degree of warmth the SS won't, and some natural harmonic qualities, but stop telling these kids that a freakin' $1800 Boogie will get the brutality they're looking for...Boogie's are for Korn and Limp Bizkit sounding rigs, they could not and would never get a sound as brutal as what hardcore players generally are in the ballpark for, without some kind of outboard help... Only complaint about the amp really is the effects loop can't be switched on/off with the footswitch.

The graphic eq is execellent for tone shaping as well as the mid sweep

As i said above the features are nice except......no matter where you set them all the sounds are crap. What a joke of an amp. The distortion is brutal, but also lifeless. This amp is just bland, real flat. I was very very dissapointed with this amp considering what they cost new. When you hit a cord it is lifeless and response...ha ha yeah right. This amp sounds like a $200.00 practice amp. If you solo or play single line they better be quick hits cause this amp has no sustain.

Well i bought it used of ebay and played it about a week and the button on the footswitch came loss.....besides that i had it for about 2 months and had no problems.

This amp is a piece of crap. I sold this and bought a peavey XXX and it is like night and day. I play pantera, mahine head, and black label society style music and the XXX is perfect and has aa ton of different sounds in it unlike this turd. If you see this amp hide your money and run. I don't know what the reviewers who rated this amp highy are thinking. I guess if you go from a crate to this you make think your in heaven, but i have been playing for 15 yrs. and have owned alot i mean alot of "name" brand amps and this thing is one of the worst......

Purchased my amp in 2004. Has just 2 channels the clean and distortion. The real kicker on this thing is the 9 band EQ. Also has a line out, effects loop.

With the band im in right now, we play mainly hardcore/noisecore type music. This thing pretty much does it. I have a Viper 1000 with 81's in it and it sounds pretty sick. Real sharp tone to it. You will have to mess around with the EQ for a while though, and im using the matching Cyclone cab, so it sounds pretty sick. The distortion sound is almost unheard of, it sounds pretty insane. The only thing ive heard that sounds better(by a little) than the cyclone would be a dual rectifier which another guitarist in our studio room has. But thatd be another 6 or 700 dollars.

Not a single problem with it at all. Volume stays consistent and there are no tubes to replace. Comes with a 5 year warranty from Randall, but hopefully i wont be using that anytime soon.

Overall this amp kicks a whole lot of other amps ive tried in the nuts. The Line6 amps ive heard come no where near to the cyclone, and other amps in its price range like the peavey XXX, marshall mode 4 or AVT amps sound no where near as good as the cyclone for heavy shit. Good value, great tone, I'd recommend it.

I play mostly newer death metal in the 80s Maiden vein (In Flames, Soilwork, Arch Enemy) and older 80s thrash like Testament and Kreator. Not sure the exact date of the amp--picked it up off Ebay, but then had to send it to Randall to have it fixed (see customer support below). Essentially the amp is good for one thing, metal, and nothing else. In most cases I'd say this is better, but the amp's versatility is so compromised that it's literally worthless for anything else. The channel switch being a push/pull knob is different and is a bit annoying as I don't have the footswitch with it, but as I use this just for recording so it's not bad. I like the volume on the effects loops, and since I mostly record in my apartment the master volume is good for getting it loud enough for a good tone but not too loud. It really didn't seem like 300 watts, although I didn't push it too loud. The volume is more graduated than my Carvin MTS3200 tube amp, which is loud right away, even on 50 watts. The Cyclone is pretty quiet, especially when the channel volume is cranked and the master is low. I like all the mid features on it (a parametric sweep, a mid level, and even then a graphic), and the reverb isn't bad for rhythm, although it decays unnaturally when playing single notes. A chorus would have been nice along with the reverb. I give it an 8 for all the volume knobs, mid things and the fx loop volume, although independent reverbs would have been cool.

I use a few guitars, an Eb 96 Japanese Jackson Kelly Professional with EMG 60/81, a 00 Japanese Jackson King V with an EMG 81/89 and BTC control, a DGCFAD Indian Jackson Dinky Reverse with an SA/S/81 and an EXG mid control, and an 03 crimson swirl CFBbEbGC Japanese KE3 with Mastertone vHO and the 4 volt SPA. I tested it on the Dinky, which tends to get the best distorted sound.

My main complaint with the amp, and a summary of this review is, it's good for a "wall of guitar" sort of sound (with vague nu-metal tendencies) but has absolutely no touch. Even the harmonics were a bit modest in my experience, although they probably occur better at higher volumes. The amp isn't very noisy even when the gain is cranked, although I've nothing in the loop like I do with my Carvin (BBE 482i). The gain knob sounds much the same on 5 or 10, with only adding in a bit of fuzz, and it doesn't help the lead tone a whole lot, which this thing does not do. The pick attacks are more pronounced and sharp than with my Carvin, and it's not as warm, which is both good and bad. It sounds a lot better than my other solid state though, a Crate GX130C.

The amp seriously suffers from lack of versatility. I like a Justice for All style clean tone, but this amp's clean is sterile even by that standard. I didn't bother with it much. It might be good if you want a clean that's simply that dead and featureless (I'm thinking Dimension Zero here), but my Carvin also has a pretty sterile clean and sounds a lot better. I'll probably use the clean somewhere, but not immediately.

As far as brutality of distortion, I'm of a mixed opinion. I don't consider a lot of nu-metal (Static X, Slipknot) brutal because it has a droning, bassy, brown quality as opposed to a saturated, bright attack with a big bottom and scooped mids, which is what I like (newest and best example of this is In Flames' "Soundtrack to Your Escape", which I think tonally improves on the classic "The Jester Race" tone--also Dimension Zero's insanely quick and complicated "Di'i Minores"). This amp avoids sounding like 5150-powered Carcass as it avoids a harsh brittle quality and totally destroys that vintage, middy Slayer tone. However, the Cyclone also suffers from a bit of nu-metalitis, which is a lot of bass with little definition or articulation. It sounds like a Justice-era Newsted is jamming right along with you during "To Live is to Die". That being said, it does a better job than my Carvin at sounding articulate and saturated all at once, and chord arpeggios come out much more defined on this head. As with all solid states, the notes decay unnaturally, abruptly and flatly, although the pick attack is very pronounced. The reverb fills out the distortion nicely but is not as pronounced, smooth, or as occasionally harsh and deep as my Carvin.

In all, I give it an 8 for a metal head, because it does a lot of things well, mostly as tracking rhythm guitars for a record. But live I would want more touch from one head, and more versatility. Overall I would give it a 3, as it only does one thing, but for just metal distortion, an 8. The controls don't seem to do much to the overall sound really, and this amp seems voiced very specifically. I think it would be easier to get a good heavy sound quickly out of this amp as opposed to something more rounded like a Marshall or my Carvin. So please keep the above in mind when looking at the numbers.

Haven't had it long enough yet. I got the amp mint condition on Ebay but it arrived with no output. I didn't get upset with the seller because obviously the amp was taken care of and something probably happened during shipping. Even shipping it to Randall and back, compared with the money I saved, made the head well worth it versus MSRP. No opinion yet.

Randall was ultra-cool with me about fixing the amp even though I wasn't the original purchaser. At times it was a bit annoying because I would email specific people and they wouldn't reply. But Randall did fix the amp and get it back to me in a timely manner and in secure packaging, and most importantly didn't charge me. Thank you Randall.

I've been playing for about 8 years and am a 2000 GIT grad. I own the variety of Jacksons I mentioned, an ART SGX 2000 Express preamp, a Carvin MTS3200 head, a BBE 482i Sonic Maximizer, and other miscellaneous gear. If this amp were stolen, I'd probably replace it or check out one of its closest competitors in the same price range. I love it that the amp sounds the way it does without a lot of fiddling, but I also hate it that that sound is *all* the amp does. In styles like Arch Enemy with not only a lot of thickness but touch the amp couldn't pull it off, in my opinion. I compared it with my Crate GX130C and my Carvin MTS3200 and found that it blew the Crate's solid state distortion (but not clean) away and sounded heavier but had less touch than the Carvin. I chose this amp because I had heard bad things about the Warhead and the price I found it for was very reasonable. It also had a hell of a lot more features than its closest competitor, the Titan. I'd like to try it against a Blue Voodoo, 5150, JCM2000, Mode 4, Triple Rec, Engl and a few other things. Although I've heard these amps separately, I've never tried them in one sitting and it might color my opinion. I wish this amp had a better and more articulate lead tone, but the rhythm tone alone makes it worth picking up for relatively hassle free rhythm head. It's good for "wall of sound" guitaring with not much articulation or dynamics. I'll probably use it in conjunction with other heads to record. I'd like to see independent reverbs, a chorus and maybe some effects built in. Used it's a great buy, but the MSRP is way overpriced, as these things usually are.

Made for metal, and that is what it does! Loud as hell, 300 watts. This with a marshall 1960 will rock you like a hurricane. I have a 5150, and its a little better, however that is a tube amp so.....

I play an esp with a dimebucker, and it kicks ass. The clean really isn't bad at all, it excells well with some chorus. Really low on noise with monster cables. I play death metal, black meatl, grindcore, jazz....the distortion will give your pregnant illegal alien neighbor's wife a miscarrige. Very nice.

Built like rosie o'donnel's chairs. It can take thousands of pounds of pressure.

It has a 3 year warranty, but don't ask randall for help. They are cock bastards when you require service. Nice product randall but fuck you! But, it won't break.

I have been playing for 5 years and a lot of gear has been with me, but this and the 5150II are the best damned things for metal. I prefer the 5150, but hey, this is one hell of an amp. Solid state and reliable, will always be my backup amp. I put a black light in it and it is very cool. If lost or stolen, I would hunt down the theif, beat them unconcious, steal thier wallet and driver's liscense, and then curb them. I love this amp!

Im unsure of the exact date of my cyclones inception. This is a Cyclone it come's with two channels Gain and clean with separate level controls. The clean channel has all the normal stuff plus presence. The Gain channel low mid and high as well as a mid frequency and a 9 band graphic EQ which is key. This amp is also equiped with a reverb option. Just go to the Randall site to see all the specs on this machine.

I am using a ESP SC 500 LTD with duncans in the single coil, neck humbucker and a lundgren M in the bridge. This amp suites me pretty well. I play mostly Death Metal, and hardcore, but i love to back off and play rock, and light stuff too. This Amp is a beast and that is no joke it is built for the heavy stuff.
Gain Channel.-- It is pretty great depending on personal preference. For a solid state amp it has the most brutal distortion and options i have ever encounted. The Mid Frequency and the 9 band graphic EQ will be what shapes your individual sound i like to run the mid freq around 7 and i scoop my mid enough so its like any other great metal tone but i can drop out the 500 eq nob and get a meshuggah tone thanks to my lundgren of course, but even befor i installed the lundgren it was pretty damn close. This amp can handle low tunings very well but you might want to invest in a good cab for it. I prefer a Genz Benz G-Flex or a Marshall JCM cab. The Gain on this amp is a lot, and depending on your gear you may get a dirty crap sound, you need a decent guitar for this amp to come through, this is no lie. There is a substantial amount of gain and you can probally get as much as you'll ever need from a solid state amp. As for the Reverb it isn't that good but it helps fill out your sound.
Clean--- I wasn't impressed with this amps clean channel at all. People say its not bad, but it definetly isn't good by any means. I think for a little more money one should just invest in a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100, You'll get tube power, as much gain as you'll ever need and a much better (amazing for the JCM) clean tone. You will however be missing out on a seriously cool mid freq nob and a sweet 9 band graph EQ, but these things can be added to some extent. Randall has an unique sound but for metal, you'd be better off with something like a Marshall or a Bogner, price wise there is no compairison, Randall is affordable for a heavy as shit amp.

Here is where i really began to hate this amp.
I bought it used so i have no idea where the hell it was coming from. At first this amp was fine and seemed great. As soon as i started to get the sound i wanted from it. It shit the bed on me. Id plug in my POD through the effects loop and it would be fine, but that would cripple the amp for whatever reason. It wouldn't work for days after I unplugged the POD, The thing would turn on but no sound, not even hiss. This amp either worked great or not at all and i wouldn't want to be stuck at a gig with it not working. Sometimes it would be working and suddenly id notice it would start to fart out and then no sound at all. Like a tape player that is running out of battery power. I tried to email the boys at randall...no response. So my advise is make sure you buy it new and make sure its been inspected, and under warrenty.

I contacted them when the amp started to go south, ive never heard back from them. Im thinking on getting it repaired but it sucks that Randall wont get back to me. It might be hard to find someone who fixes randalls.

Ive been playing for years. I played bass for seven years befor starting to learn guitar. So i own both guitar and bass equipment. If it were lost of stollen, id get over it and start saving money to buy something better and tube. Bogner, Marshall, VHT, Ashdown, NOT MESA B's. Seriously This is a fun amp for a time, it helped clean up my playing cause you can't hide behind walls of fuzz. Unfortunetly it went sour on me. Id keep it for fun cause it did give me some enjoyment. Compairing it to other products id just save the money and buy a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL100, or a Bogner Uberstall, or a VHT. If you know anything of how this amp works inside and you'd like to give me your insite as to why it might be shitting out on me please do. Don't email unless.

Ok this is a 1999 model im using. As pretty much everyone has said before this is a METAL amp. so if youre trying to get some blink 182 sounds, wrong amp, try Marshall like everyone else. Two channels, channel 1 is hard ass distortion pretty much anywhere you set the gain, and 2 is clean. Clean is actually pretty decent for a solid state amp. the controls make a huge difference where you put em. The only beef i have with this head is just something really simple. I wish it was stereo. thats about it. I love "baby killer" distortion and this amp definitely has just that. i got a randall because everyone uses marshalls and marshalls just dont have the heavy tone i wanted. This baby has 300w which is way more than anyone needs. im using one Crate Vintage 30 loaded cab right now and it makes the bass hit you in the chest. sounds awesome.

im using a jackson dxmg with the stock jackson special EMG hz pickups. im playing music mixed between mudvayne/pantera/lamb of god/white zombie. its got a groove but still a semi thrashy sound. the amp does kinda get hissy when turned up while youre not playing. the clean stays pretty steady and not all gained out sounding when you turn it up. as stated before the distortion is "baby killer" so use your imagination. tons of bottom end and plenty of highs. the 9 band graphic eq is sweet ass. exactly what every amp needs.

the guy i bought it from had it checked before he sold it to me so ive had no problems yet. the thing is build like a bradley fighting vehicle so i kinda doubt i will have any anyways.

havent had to deal with them, and hope i dont need to. ive heard that the custome support has gotten a lot better than it used to be.

ive been playing i guess 6 years or so. right now with the half stack im not using any rack stuff or pedals but i intend to get a few basic rack things like a sonic maximizer, noise supressor, conditioner, tuner, and MAYBE later on a parametric eq. ive played a crate blue voo doo, and a line 6 hd147 and neither even come close to this amp.

Read the others

OK. Lets set the mutha fucking record rite. If you dont play metal, get the fuck outa this post. This is a AWESOME amp - IF, and only IF you already know how to make it sound good! Dont use shitty guitars on it, it makes it sound thin and crap. I recomend the metal style guitars, and ones with EMG pickups. My friend tried it with his (crappy) setup and I was horrified how shit it sounded. Everything makes a difference so make sure you got good cables, pedals, and guitar going through this or you wont understand why people like them. Also the cab makes a difference: Marshall JCM900 cabs are ok for low volumes, but the Vintage 30 speakers and gonna change your tone alot!
This amp isn't for everyone, but it is for a select few.

Very reliable - it's a top end solid state amp! Randall specialise in SS.

Been playing for 10 years. I've tried alot of amps and enjoy them for what they are. Mesa Boogie has a sound I could see why alot of people like them. But Randall is for a particular audience, and thats the ones that like a HEAVY tone.

2 channels, 9 band eq, all the basics!

well, here it is! ummmmmmmm....... I really dont know what to say, i will compare it to a marshall dsl 100 cos i used to have one! In the last review the guy said this amp has no dynamics, i do agree, but i wouldnt use the word dynamics, id say it has no feel unlike my marshall used to have! Solid state amps are great if all your interested in is the crunchiest tone ever, i love to play heavey metal all the time with heavey distortion, but this amp has no beauty! The distorton is flat, solos have no emphasis, and you cant nail sus chords the same as you would on a tube amp! I dont feel that i have wasted my money on this amp but i think i could have goten more for my money! like maybe the peavey xxx or marshall tsl 100!
Seriously try b4 you buy, it may not be the 1 for you!

well my input jack fell out at practace the other day, we had to take it apart! other wise its pretty good!

Absolutly shit emaild them numerous times never a reply!

tu bes rule, without a shadow of doubt just carry a spare pair!
Use this amp as extra chunk!

2 Channels clean and dirty. As others have already outlined this. Not much to get exited about, with the exception of the very cool 9 band eq.

I have already sold this piece a while back, but after reading all these high reviews of this amp, I felt it was time to bring this p.o.s. back to earth. First off, the thing that really turned me off with the high gain channel was the sterile, un-dynamic distortion. Whether you are on 2 or 10 the gain seems pretty much the same. The amp has very very little response to picking dynmaics. Doesn't matter how hard you hit the strings as the same lifeless tone will result. No warmth here, and I know that people would say that it's Solid state, but I've heard cheap Crates with a ton more dynamics and warmth than this thing. It is a Very loud amp, but when you have a one dimensional, sterile tone it makes no difference. Maybe it works better with a pedal pushing it, but the stock gain really blows in my opinion. I ran my 5150 and Triple XXX in side by side comparisons, and they stomped all over the Cyclone. The tone really really got old fast. Good thing I was able to sell it for what I paid for it. The reason I bought it was due to some sound clips on Randall's website and yes I got sucked into the internet hype via this place. Time to set the record a little more straight with my review here.

The clean is decent although then guy I sold it to complained about SS distortion at higher levels. I never had a problem in this area, but it seems the Cyclone only sounded good with EMG's or lower gain passive pickups. Sounded like garbage when I tried an axe equipped with a Duncan Invader.

Seemed well built, very heavy and Randall has a great reputation for their build quality.

Didn't own it long enough to bother..

Been playing 22 years and currently own a Peavey XXX and a Line 6 HD-147. Basically the HD-147 annihilates this head in almost every way. I use 7 strings/baritones and play heavy stuff. I also like to play the shredding stuff (gilbertish, malmsteen blah blah blah) I was very disappointed with the Cyclone and strongly suggest a play before you pay approach with this one.

This amp has two channels: clean and dirty. It has an effects loop which I wish could be turned on and off. I play thrash, death metal, grind core, and punk. This amp is perfect for all these styles. With the clean channel on I just use my neck pickup and I get a clean tone that I am very satisfied with. I can play the songs from my fingerstyle jazz books and they sound pretty good. I play an ESP Ltd Kelly Hayes model guitar.

Like I said earlier the clean sound is satisfactory. I can get a decent jazz tone using the neck pickup on my guitar. The distortion channel kicks ass though. I heard my friends Mesa Boogie amp. It sounded good, but it was not as heavy as the Cyclone. The Mesa did not have the bottom end heaviness that the Cyclone has. The Cyclone has two sounds: clean and heavy. This amp suits my style perfectly. I like playing heavy, and disonant sounding music. This amp is perfect for me.

This amp has never broken down on me. I have not owned it long enough to see if this amp will start having problems after being used over a long period of time. One that is great about this amp is that it sounds great and there are no tubes to go out on you. No need for tube replacement or rebiasing.

I have not had to deal customer support yet.

I have been playing for about fifteen years now. My first amp was an old Peavy head, my second was a Marshall JCM 800, and my third was a Laney head. When I was looking to buy a new amp I narrowed my search down to the Peavy XXX, and the Cyclone. I chose the Cyclone over the XXX for one main reason; It was way more heavier and brutal sounding than the Peavy. The only thing I wish the Cyclone had was an effects loop that can be shut on and off.

300 watts, 9 band graphic eq on distortion channel, Perfect for any type of metal, power is no problem, loud as fuck. Paid $2500(australian dollars) for the head, best 2500 ive ever spent. I play in a metal band, mostly originals but play a lot of chimaira, killswitch engage, slipknot etc. perfect for any band needing the most brutal distortion possible. Settings in the booklet arent the only sounds u can get out of it. Takes a while to get the right settings but once u find them (u will) u wont regret buying this.

at the moment im using a epiphone sg with gibson humbuckers,i own a boss gt6 effects unit that i dont use that anymore and same with a fender stage 100, so im pretty much just using the guitar plugged straigt into the cyclone. When i first baught this amp i was a bit worried that i couldnt find the sound i wanted but i took a few hours and i found it. this is the most saturated, breathing, brutal, gut wrenching, or whatever else u want to call it distortion ive ever heard. U can get better sounds than the mp3's you download off the randall site. the more u turn this mungrel up the better it sounds ,whether your looking for an "enter sandman" sound or a "cowboys from hell" sound u will get it. i was also suprised how quet it is, a slight hum which is hardly noticable but no unwanted feedback. Takes some guitarists many years and lots of money to find there perfect sound but ive found it in this baby. DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO SAY'S THIS AMP HASNT GOT THE MOST BRUTAL DISTORTION EVER!!!!

Amp is built like a tank, doesnt look like its possible to break, sounds healthy at any volume, takes years of abuse, no tubes to replace, no need for a backup.

5 year warranty, never dealt with them. Dont think ill ever need them

great value for money, money was no object when i baught tyhis, i could have baught a mesa duel rectifier but this amp shitts all over any mesa. The distortion will not let you down like pedals and other amps do. best distortion ever.if it was stolen or lost i would buy a new one right away. RANDALL ARE THE SHIT!!!

I just bought this kick ass Fucking Metal Cyclone on Ebay and I knew i wasnt making the wrong mistake let me tell you. I play Black Death thrash metal and it has A nice clean dirty heavy tone to the distortion its crisp and Clear fucking excellent. I will be using this in the studio this weekend actually it came in time for it my band Shattered Soul www.shatteredsoul.net This amp has so much balls let me tell you 300 watts of extreme power ! Loud! I past the test i put it only up to 3 and my mom told me to get the hell out of the house turn it down ! Hell yeah !

Im using my custom washburn pickups. it suits my style of music great.
Its so quiet i was suprized because i own alot of amps like peavey combo 5150, mesaa single rec and nothing beats this tank . The distortion is so Brutal its like you can take it to any level you want it to go its so great for Heavy music like Death metal, thrash metal or black metal.

I never had a problem yet with it I just got it so i will see what it can do for me

I never contacted them yet and I hope I never will

Ive been playing for 11 yrs now and its the best amp i bought yet, I own a mesa cab and 2 washburn guitars and a peavey 5150 combo
Go get this AMP you will not be let down if your into METAL !

2 channels. Clean with 3 band EQ and presence. Digital reverb on both channels. Distorted channel 3 band EQ with parametric mid control and 9 band EQ. series EFX loop, Line out with Level control, 4,8 or 12 ohms. Solid State 300 watts

I used my Gibson Les Paul custom with an EMG 81 in the bridge and EMG 60 in the neck. Mesa 4x12 Recto standard cab.


Clean:

Its really not to bad for an amp thats made for purely Hard Core metal. Its basically just clean and thats it. Nothing really special about it. Reverb sounds decent, sounds a little digital sounding but not to bad.


Distorted:

Very brutal........like rip yo mamma's head of and crap down her neck kind of brutal. Super tight and aggressive. It can get to fuzzy and harsh if not careful but can be dialed out to sound smoother.......and I use smoother very loosely. It cops a pretty good Metallica tone right out of the box. Add in the EQ and you have Disturbed, Godsmack, Muddvayne type tone. Pretty cool sound at times. I like the parametric mid control. Theres amps that I wish had this feature sometimes. The 9 band EQ is very sensitive and quite useful. Overall, for the money and what its designed to do I think it does very well.

Haven't had it long it enough. I haven't heard very many positives about some of there current line for what its worth.

I've emailed the guys/gals at Randall and they seem to be professional and respond in a timely manner

Cons:

Its somewhat versatile but in a Heavy Metal versatile kind of way. What I mean by that is your not going to get any kind of blues, classic rock or old school rock out of this amp and its not supposed to. Its aimed at Heavy Metal only and theres many types of Metal it can do. Nu, emo, rap, old metal. It can get rough on the ears pretty quick if you careless with the settings. Clean is clean no real character or sparkle......just clean. Reverb is ok not great. It almost has a delay/reverb thing going on with it.


Overall:

The distorted channel is where this amp shines I think. I played a Warhead a year or so ago that felt extremely cheap and had a "made in china" type of feel. I was expecting somewhat of the same thing. To my surprise its made quite a bit better than the Warehead. Huge, heavy tranneys making the amp weigh around 50lbs or so, tolex installed pretty decent, chassis seemed solid and overall felt better than the previous. It also sounded great for a Solid State. Technology has come along way.
This was a spontanious purchase. The guy quoted me a price and I took the bait, thinking I can always sell it. This is basically my cheap alternative to my desire of wanting a Bogner Uberschall. For the price I paid, the Recto and now this Cyclone fills the Hard Core void in me that I have at times........for now. If your low on funds and looking for just a brutal massive distorted tone with passable clean, I think this is an amp you should look into.

300 Watts, 2 channels, 4 band clean channel, 3 bands on distortion channel but with a parametric mid and a 9 band graphic eq that goes down to 63hz . Level control for line out on rear panel plus an FX loop and the requisite 2 speaker outputs.

This amp is the best amp i have ever heard. I have owned it for 5 months and i gig with this thing everytime and people come up and tell me how the hell i get such a incredible sound , and all i say is my EMG 707's and my fucking Randall Cyclone. The distortion is fucking BRUTAL it sounds awsome with some high output pickups. The clean is great to , it stays super clean at mega high volumes and sounds unreal with a flanger or chorus effect . I would honestly give it a 11 , but it wont let me select anything past 10.

I have gigged with it for 5 months and looks like its built like a fucking tank.

I have emailed them with questions and they replyed back in a few days

I have been playing for 10 years ( since i was 7 years old im 17 now ) and i can play anything from pantera to most steve vai because i practice all day. I own lots and lots of other amps including a peavey 5150 head and i love this amp way more than the 5150. If this thing was stolen i would kill the person who took it and buy a new one because this amp kills all others imo . Theres nothing bad about this amp at all , when i bought it i didnt think it was going to be no where near this fucking awsome . I will admit you will have to adjust the fucking awsome 9 band EQ to get the perfect sound but trust me , you will get the sound you want and then some.

300 Watts, 2 channels, 4 band clean channel, 3 bands on distortion channel but with a parametric mid (Ie: Mid level and Mid Freq., much like the layout of a Metal Zone pedal) and a 9 band graphic eq that goes down to 63hz (SICK!!!). Level control for line out on rear panel plus an FX loop and the requisite 2 speaker outputs.

I use this beast mostly with a custom BC Rich Virgin loaded w/ a Duncan Invader in the bridge, and sometimes a Mako Bich knockoff guiter w/ a DiMarzio X2N (it may be a copy, but it sounds awesome, feels awesome, and is built like a f**king tank!). The higher output pick ups really sound great especially on this amp...this thing puts out the thickest, most brutal distortion I've ever heard (and I've tried everey amp and pedal you can think of!), and with all the extra eq you can get your crunch in any flavor you can imagine. This thing puts out a tight, solid, and thick low end, and with the mids scooped just right, you can cut like hell, and make every testicle in the room (or tri-state area, this thing is LOUD) shake like Richard Prior in a Gravitron. I play progressive Death/ Thrash metal in the vain of Death (R.I.P. Chuck), early Metallica, Slayer, Dissection, Testament, Overkill, Hypocrisy, and Pantera...and this bad ass is perfect! I used to use a Marshall Valvestate, and though its clean channel is only slightly better than the Randalls, who cares...90% of the time I'm set to kill, and this thing makes the Marshall cower in the corner! It sounds good hooked up to both my Marshall cabs, and even better hooked into one Marshall 4x12 and my Genz Benz 2x12 sub woofer...it articulates this vicious amps extended low end. Goddamn it crunches on riffs and sings on solos (especially w/ the reverb...it actually has a usuable built in verb...trust me). I use a Boss GT-3 multi effects through the loop, and with a noise gate, this amp is SUPER quiet...at least when your not playing. I set the master on like 3, and I couldnt hear my drummer...who's got a massive Tama kit...i owned it for less than 2 hours and a cop was knocking on the door at rehearsal asking us to turn down...and thats in a sound proofed room at 3 in the afternoon! POWER...SUCH POWER!!!

Built like a goddamn brick shithouse...I dont think its gonna break anytime soon

Dunno...havent had to deal with'em...just laid out my dead presidents and walked outta the store with this beast 2 weeks ago

Love its sound, love its look, love its power, love its reasonable price tag...when it comes to heavy...this thing is the new king (Well, King Diamond might have a say about that...he rules though!). Just buy one and see for yourself...THE METAL GOD COMMANDS YOU DO SO!!!

The amp is a 300 watt solid-state ass kicker. It's got an effects loop, line out, 9 band graphic EQ on the distortion (along with mid-sweep, like a Metal Zone but this actually sounds good...),and Digital Reverb.
The Randall Cyclone was released recently, so it can't be more than a year or so. This amp, to me, is very versatile. I play heavy metal music that needs to have a ripping tone and I get it easily with this. But Randall gives you a couple of starter EQ settings and it got a bad assed hard rock sound out of it, and who couldn't use a little hard rock? The Cyclone has two channels, and I bet you know what they are...it also has an effects loop (more on that in a sec..) It has a level adjusting line out which is useful for anything like D.I. recording, jammin on headphones and running to separate amps.
It would be nice if you could control the effects loop, but that's all I can complain about. The digital reverb on the amp sounds great, but I personally don't use reverb, cool to jam by yourself with though. I use this amp for practicing and live situations. This sucker is three hundred watts and now I can drown out the drummer no problem!

The thing that you have to understand with solid state, that I've noticed, besides the fact that you're not going to get the warmth of a tube amp, is that it's going to sound exactly what went in to your pick ups. The way I look at it is that it cleans up your playing alot. You'll just have to hear it for yourself, but playing through a tube amp seems easy after playing through this, cause you really have to make a sense of warmth come through with your playing. Take my word for it. Or try one out.
I'm using my Gibson Flying V with Duncan Distortions, and I've finally found an amp that suits my music, which is Heavy Metal. I could honestly say that if you didn't play some kind of metal, your probably a lot more worried about tone, and you probably shouldn't buy this amp, but if your in to just sonically kickin ass, I recommend this amp. It's not noisy at all, besides the quiet hiss that comes from a distortion channel, fully cranked. Because it's solid state, it's very quiet.
The clean stays clean all the way up and sounds beautiful with a chorus or light flange. But, I didn't buy this thing for clean, I got it for the brutal distortions that come hurling out of this head. Because of the 9-band graphic Eq and Mid frequency and scoop, you can get your distortion fine tuned after tweaking with your own preference on frequencies. I also, use a Furman Parametric Eq which is honestly the best way to fine to a frequency to the best detail, so it's in the effects loop, because it has to go after the distortion to do any good.

This amp looks, sounds, and feels very dependable. I'd use it at a gig without a back up. That's part of the reason I bought a solid state amp. Call me lazy, but I don't want to replace tubes and have my amp rebiased every 6 months to a year, and if a tube amp fall, you might need to replace a tube. Hard to do at ten at night on a weekend when nothing's open. Solid state amps can take a fall and keep on killin.
I haven't had this amp long at all, about a month and a half, but it seems sturdy.
My only problem with this amp is that, I can't run all my rack effects through it. The only things that go through without a buzz are my Fuman EQ and the Korg Tuner, my Aphex Aural Exciter and Roctron hush wont go through the loop without a nasty pop and hum, especially the Exciter, but I can't put a noise gate behind the distortion now, which kind of sucks. Maybe there's a problem with the loop, which I hope there isn't, because I don't want to deal with the C.S. which brings me to the next catagory.

I've dealt with this company before when I first ordered the Randall Warhead, and, while the problems weren't entirely their fault, they didn't do jack to help me out. They were very friendly, but not helpful at all. Randall (on the floor) dealers are impossible to find, and they don't deal factory direct, so, as far as I know, you either order it through Musician's Friend (where you can return it if you don't like it), or you order through a Randall "dealer" where you basically dump your dough into a special order and hope you like it because you can't return it. The warranty is five years and I forgot to send mine in because it says to send it in ten days after you purchase it, but I didn't technically purcase mine until I decided to keep it, so I've got to send it in still. If your want a more detailed customer service complaint, see my review on the Randall Warhead.
The thing that got me was that after two long complaint letters directly to Randall, and no response, I got a helpful, kind letter from Randall after reviewing the Warhead, so I'm glad I got some kind of response, even though I had to announce my disappointment to the public first.

I've been playing for almost seven years. My first amp was a Crate GX210 combo amp on top of a GX series 4 by 12 cab. Played a Boss Metal zone through it, which as an beginner/intermediate guitarist, sound good a few years back, but after using it for so long, I learned to hate the digital harshness you get from that and most other little boss boxes. That's why I decide to get the Cyclone as my main use of distortion, and as a new rig. I love everything about the amp, it's just plain awesome. I'd buy another one if it was lost or stolen. I compared it to a lot of Marshall and Mesa Heads. The main thing was that at the Guitar Center I visit often, they all constantly push the Line 6, and POD gear, but I don't need 50 tones and not use 49! I want my one sound and I'm getting it!
I wish it had some kind of lighting in the head, there's enough room in there so, I'm throwin a black light inside to light up, cause it looks pretty cool.

Extremely versatile, I'm in a metal band, play stuff like Fear Factory, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica. I also love classic rock, Hendrix, the doors, Zeppelin, and others, and if you know how to use the 9-band eq you can get all these tones and more. 2 channels, effect loop, line out. Its everything I wanted the amp to be. Also some kick ass reverb, sounds like the line6's pod reverb. Solid-state, 300w, no annoyin tubes to replace

What makes it even better, I have pretty damn shitty pickups, I don't even know what they are. I play a gibson sg standard '71 issue, but my dad changed the stock pickups a long time ago. I only play thru the bridge pickup, cuz the neck makes it sound really muddy in distortion channel. In clean channel I just leave it cuz the amp makes up for the neck pickup. I play metal like I said b4, and i can play anything from the crushing sound of fear factory, edgecrusher, to metallica, nothing else matters, even to hendrix, little wing. Also absolutely no distortion wit clean channel had high channels, but if you know what your doing.

Pretty reliable so far, I've only had it a month tho. And right now I don't have a backup so I'm gonna just hafta deal. I think this can handle any amount of gigs you give it if you treat it right.

Never dealt with them, but readin the other reviews i guess they aren't very good.

I've been playin for 3 years now, I know its not much, but I believe I was born to play guitar. I own a fender and a marshall but they both suck. I researched mesaboogie, marshall, fender, roland, soldano, peavey, so many amps for several months b4 I bought this one. Of course the mesa was really the only contender, I don't think a mesa would satisfy me enough to pay $700 more. This thing is amazingly good for the price.

8
Look below.

I use an EMG 81 and an EMG 60. I don't know what the hell that one guy was talking about that if you use special pickups than an amp isn't worth a shit. That's a bunch of bullshit man. I guess every amp in the world is crappy because everybody in the pros uses special pickups.This amp is the heaviest amp ever considering you dial in a perfect tone with an EQ that goes down 63 hz.If you want heavy you gotta get the Cyclone. Ignore all these idiots who couldn't EQ an amp with a 3 band EQ (let alone an amp like the Cyclone with a 4 band EQ plus a 9 band EQ).A truly great amp.

Seems to be working great.

Never dealt with them.

I am only 17 years old and I EQ'ed this amp like a champ by myself!A bad ass amp if you know what your doing unlike these posers who like to talk shit about an amp they couldn't run if their life depended on it.

300 Watt C.C solid state, clean and distortion, nine band EQ, reverb, line out.

I have a Les Paul with Gibson 500T pickups. This amp is basicly just for metal. Even if you back the gain off it still sounds heavy, so if you play any other style, you don't want this amp. The clean channels not bad, it stays clean at high volumes. The distortion does have that Metallica to NU Metal feel to it. You can get some heavy palm mutes. It takes a while to perfect your sound with the EQ, but once you tweek for a few days, you'll get it. I never liked any Randall amp untill I played this one.

It hasn't broke yet, and it seems to be built well.

They don't return Emails thats for sure.

Its a great amp for Metal, but thats it. It has plenty 0f power to hang with a band. It does what I want it to.

300 watts solidstate, clean and distortion channel, nine band EQ, reverb, line out.

This is the best amp for Death metal. Its super loud, with plenty of head room, and tons of distortion. The amp is super quiet, and the sound is tight. at high levels, there is no distortion at all in the clean channel, it stays clean and crystal clear. The distortion is as heavy as a Dual Rectifier, but it sounds clear with good definition at high volumes, unlike a Rectifier that sounds muddy and useless. Add an EQ to it, and you can get any sound out of it.

We'll see.

Five year Warranty.

Best solidstate amp on the Market for metal. It even bests a lot of tube amps. Buy one, and you won't be sorry.

I think this has been covered.

What can I say, this amp is what the Warhead should have been. Nice clean channel, heavy distortion, and the footswitch works. The Warheads clean was horrible, and it sounded like it didn't have that much distortion. The Cyclones clean channel is crystal clean, and the distortion is super heavy.

We'll see.

Five year warrenty.

This amp is great. Great clean, and distortion. Now this is not a tube amp, and it doesn't sound like a tube amp. So If anybody tries to compare it to something like a Mesaboogie Dual Recto, then their a slack jawed yokel, thats probably 12, sitting around kissing their Fred Durst posters. But for the rest of you guys, if you hated the Warhead like me, then give the Cyclone a try.

300 watts, solidstate, clean and distortion, reverb, 9 band EQ. Its an amp.

Ok lets clear up some things. One guy said the sound was dry. Turn up the reverb. Somebody also said it didn't get treble heavy like a Boss metalzone. The amp is really made for heavy NU metal, not 80's scream. But if you take the time to use the EQ, and add a Boss 7 band EQ, then you can make the treble scream all you want. Both the clean and distortion doesn't wimp out at high volumes. The clean is nice and clear, and the distortion is heavy with good crunch. I think the more you turn the head up, the better the distortion. Very unlike solidstate. I use a Dimarzio Super distortion in my guitar, and it makes the amp scream by itself. Its a treble monster. For solidstate, it rocks. It also has great definition, with no noise. So if your a sloppy player that need to hide behind noice like a Boss metalzone, then this amps not for you.

I have not had one problem with it yet.

Their number is toll free, so give them a call if you have a question. I have talked to them, and got through to a real person with no problems. The guy was nice, and the amp has a five year warranty.

Its the best Solidstate amp made. It also has a line out for a PA. The amp is also loud, but I'm also using the Cyclone cab with it. The sound is tight, and it has great lowend. I played all the Solidstate amps out, and when you crank them up, this one is the only one that still sounds good. If you want solidstate with good crunch, then this is the only amp to look at. I think the two guys that gave it a bad review only plugged in for a sec, and didn't really play it.

Solidstate, two channels, nine band EQ, mid, bass, treble, gain, volume, master volume, like a regular amp, except with the nine band EQ.

The sound is tight, and it has a good clean channel. I noticed that at high volumes, theirs no noise, and when you stop playing, the amp stops. But the distortion is kinda dry sounding. You can't get it treble heavy like a Boss metalzone, or a Danelectro fabtone. Their is also no warmness to the amp at all. And yes I ran a guitar with an EMG pickup through it. But, if you need special pickups to make an amp sound good, that tells you something right there. It really doesn't have that heavy of distortion.

Don't know.

I've never talked to them.

Buy a tube amp, or digital modeling. This amp is over priced. A marshall AVT 150 was beating it at heavy distortion, and it was kinda crappy.

It has the same as the warhead, except with a line out, and no effects.

It sounds like the Warhead, except a better clean sound. I was hopeing for different or heavier distortion.

If its like the Warhead, it will be breakdown city.

They don't answer Emails, but the will talk to you if you call.

For the Price, you might as well get a Line6 head, and a 4x12 cabinet. That would only be about $200 more, and it sounds tens better, and has built in effects.

I have never been so charged and excited about a purchase of a new piece of gear than I am about my Cyclone. I had it for 2 weeks now and since getting it dialed in and cranked out, all my other amps have become secondary. I own a Mesa Dual Recto, a Tube Works 100 watt 2x12 combo and a 5150 combo. The Cyclone has a little bit of everything from each of these amps.....It has the tight/ripping chunk of my Boogie, it has the clarity (clean channel) of my tube works and it has the power/feel of my 5150. The Cyclone has 300 rib rattling watts (solid state), 2 channels with a mid sweep on the dirty, a 9 band graphic EO, and a reverb that just smokes! Its actually one of the things I just can't get over.....most amps have great tone, nice EQ and then the reverb is just a selling point. Not here folks. It sounds like something out of the Lexicion PCM90. There are 2 speaker outs, and then an effects loop that make it easy for me to hook in my POD pro.

I play an ESP Stephen Carpenter model and a PRS McCarty. I have EMG's in my ESP and the stock pickups in my PRS. Both guitars sound excellent when plugged in. Of course, the ESP with the EMG's really brings out some sick gain and gives the the "ripping" feel I get from my Mesa 2-Recto. The most amazing thing to me is the noise level on this thing. Unlike a Boogie, you crank it up to where its howling, and stop and palm mute..............silence. I have to run a boss noise gate in front of my Dual because of how it will just take off on you when at high volume.

The cool thing about this amp is that its not just limited to the metal/Boogie/Korn/Limpbiscuit/Godsmack crowd. When you get it chilled out and backed off, it has some really nice clean sounds. When I play through my neck pickup on my Mccarty and get a bit of gain with the reverb cranked, it has this real creamy blues tone to it. I love it....totally psyched. As odd as it sounds, I play in 2 bands. I metal/Godsmack band and a blues jam band. Both bands get gigs 3 times a month, and I will be bringing this to each one. The only grip I have is that I wish the clean channel had the mid sweep too....but then again, my POD pro takes care of that.

Like I said before, I have only had it for 2 weeks. Let me just say that it has been on every chance I've had during those 2 weeks. No problems at all so far. I will try to repost a later report to tell you more on this. If my guess is right and Randall is finally getting back into the groove as far as making kick a$$ amps like they did 15 years ago, there will be no problem. I was a big fan of Randall for a while and then they changed hands so many times, the tone was lost.........NOT ANYMORE!!!!!!

I haven't had to deal with any C.S. yet on this. Randall includes a little tone cheat sheet with the head and it gave me all the answers I needed, to get started with dialing in awesome tone. I have dealt with them in the past and I had no problems.

I have been playing for 18 years now. I can honestly say that in my 18 years, the set up I have now is the best sounding rig I have yet to own. Everyting seems to work perfect together....

ESP/PRS into a POD pro, into my cyclone out to my 2 cabs-(1 Mesa, 1 Randall). I would highly recommend this amp to anyone looking for some killer tone at a sweet pricepoint. I had it A-B'ed with a Mesa dual (2 channel) at the dealer and the tone I got out of the Randall for $600 bucks less than a Mesa was a no brainer. Not to mention, no tubes to replace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!