Randall RG100 ES

First of all, I challenge anyone to try and find this amp listed ANYWHERE on the web. In an auction, in a music store, etc. I didnt, except for here, and I spent all day. Ive had my Randall RG100-ES for about 12 yrs. Dont know when it was made or how much its worth. I DO know I paid 200.00 with the footswitch at a pawnshop all those years ago, and Ive never been sorry. I dont get some things from reading what others have written here regarding this amp. First, my amp has a rattlesnake exterior. Ive never seen another one like it in 17 yrs of being in pawn shops and music stores all over the US. Second, it has 4 10" speakers, and the head sits vertically in the cab, instead of horizontally. I didnt see that mentioned anywhere here in the other descriptions. As far as power...I blew the windows and screens out of the back of my mobile home with this at 8 on volume, using a Korg effects bank. No shit. 2 windows gone. Im a treble freak, and had it set "to my liking". LOL. Pull the bright switch out, and turn up the bass. try it, you'll like it. With just the 4x10 amp, I can get as loud as a marshall stack. Ive done it.

Ive played all kinds of guitars through this thing, and the amp always made the guitar sound better. Ive played shitty 50 buck guitars through it, and made them sound like Gibsons. I have now 2 Jacksons, and a Strat. The strat sings through it clean...really bluesy, and the Jacksons scream. Awesome amazing distortion. I have never heard another solid state amp sound this close if not better than a tube amp. More reliable too. No tubes! I have had so many people try and get this amp from me trading wise, money etc. its disgusting. I will never get rid of this thing. Ive had friends offer me marshall full stacks straight across for it. Theyve never seen one like it either.

Had it over 12 years, and never a problem (except blowing my windows out of my mobile home). LMAO. Would use it without backup. The amp will take an effects processor, but Ive found if you turn your distortions down on the effects processor and play through the dirty channel, you can get amazing marshall blowing sound, with massive sustain, at REALLY loud levels.

Lets just say it.....there IS no customer support for this amp. Read what everyone else has written here...Randall sold out and washburn has nothing to do with it. If it breaks, youre on your own. Thank god my dads an electronics engineer, in the event someday I need this thing fixed. ps..you wont find ANYTHING on the net about this amp schematic wise, price wise, availability wise, etc....Randall should make this amp again, exactly the same. They would have a big seller in todays market. Also, I feel bad for you guys with no footswitches. Mine came with one, but I can see how you wouldnt be able to switch to dirty channel without one. That HAS to suck...

ANYONE WITH INFO ON THIS THING EMAIL ME!!!!!!!!!! I DONT CARE WHO YOU ARE, OR WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT IT, EMAIL ME! Especially what kind of covering your amp came with (carpet? Zebra skin? rattlesnake skin?).
Mine came with a rattlesnake skin covering. You can see my amp at this address....unfortunately, its my family website, but click on the "music stuff" link on the 2nd webpage, and look for the amp. You will see a picture of it.
Web adress: members.fortunecity.com/gregj3/index.html
you can email me WITH ANY INFO at lancelot10911@yahoo.com
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEZE EMAIL ME. Im pissed I cant find anything about this amp. (I will someday be buried with it though). lol.

Mid-80's Randall head, perfect for those of you who love heavy metal. All knobs were stated, and footswitch helps a lot! A very large head though. Clean channel is great, add some reverb for a great tone. I have that carpet stuff on it and it looks very vintage. Overall, excellent solid state amp, like stated before, marshalls are nice, but if you dont want to follow a trend get an 'old' Randall, for the real metal tone.

I use a Jackson KE with a 'Jackson' EMG in the bridge, and a Dean VX soon to have an EMG 81 in the bridge. I play strict METAL and this amp fits the style perfectly. The amp is not very noisy, the crunch is perfect for 80's metal: testament, anthrax, iron maiden, early metalica. I use a Boss Metal Zone and a Zoom 505, and i can get ANY TONE I want.

Very dependable so far, when I gig, i would not use a back up, it is solid state so,no tubes, no fixing, no trouble. Should last for a long time.

never dealt with them. But i think the support is bad considering Washburn's new line of amps......

I also own a Marshall Jackhammer pedal which really is for the 'traditional' rock tones. I have a Kustom 4x12 cab which sounds and works perfectly with this head. If it were stolen, I would go find another one. I love the thick 80's metal tone, with the help of pickups and the Metal Zone though. Great amp

I dont know when was made . i Think is mid-late 80's
It have all the features you have reviewed.I bought it 3 days ago in LA,now im my country.I bought the half stack,head and cabinet.I like the zebra covering,very cool 80's look.

I need help with this amp.It's supossed this thing can handle a lot of brutal and heavy distortion.But i dont know why,i just can get an overdrive sound.Its ok ,but i want a brutal metal distortion and i can't find it.I dont have the footswitch and i dont know if this is part of my problem.Please i want an advice,i like this amp and i want to know the randall power from this head.Im using an Ibanez S470 with two axis humbuckers and a single coil pickup in the midle.

I want to think its ok, but the green and red light does'nt turn it on.I dont know if this is 'cos i dont have the footswitch.Is this normal ? or have i bought a broken amp?

I dont know.

I realy like this amp,is very loud and it have a nice clean tone.It sounds good with a metal-zone pedal.But i was reading all the reviews from you and i want to know how the hell can i get the killer randall tone, please help me or send me a comment.Sorry for my english skills, im still learning your language , i dont live in the states.

It looked like it was made in the mid to late 80's, possibly early 90's but the dumbass at Mars Music told me it was a newer model. No more than a year old which is complete horseshit. It was 120 watts. It also had a on/off toggle switch like the switch on a Les Paul. Solid State obviously.

Um, this amp really sucked ass. This amp had NO distortion what so ever. I don't know if whoever owned it before fucked it up or what but it sounded like complete shit on both channels. It sucks because they were selling it for $199 and i am looking for an amp but i dont know what to get. I've been looking at Randalls cause they are supposed to have distortion out the ass but this amp really disappointed me.

I've been playing guitar for a little over 7 years and i've owned Marshall and Crate amps and im borrowing a friends Line 6 spider amp and that amp kicks ass. I've never played through a Mesa or VHT but from what i hear they are probably what i'll end up getting a second job for. I really wanted to go with Randall but this amp really fucking disappointed me. I still might try the Cyclone if i can find one to try out! But the RG100ES sucks cock. I dont know what kind of music the rest of you who gave it a thumbs up play, but im more on the metal side and this amp is shit. Like i said maybe the previous owner fucked it up i dont know...

This amp gets pretty damn LOUD! I don't know when it was made, but I bought it used. I had to look online for a footswitch,and bought it for $70. what a rip off from someone who didn't even know what it was. anyway I'm glad I have it now I can't dog on this amp that's for sure.

I play a charvel w/ duncan a distortion in the bridge and duncan little '59 in the neck. I don't have any hum from the amp at all. If you want a sample of what kinda sound I get with this go to www.keddah.com and download some mp3's. I use this head w/ a peavey cabinet to gig and practice with. They sound so good together, really bright sound, clean and distorted.

Awesome!! Extremely durable, although I still take good care of it...I baby it actually!

Was given no response from washburn or randall. no one at the shops/ dealers know anything about this amp, but it's cool! I'll just mess with on my own! don't mind at all.

I've been playing for 10 yrs. I played with crate's...but they suck...I don't like 'em.
I'd be totally bummed if it were stolen. not to worried about it breaking, or losing it.

i play hard rock/emo in my band and do just about everything outside of it (besides rap-rock and country)
this amp can handle everything w/out a problem
my particular head was built in july 1986, looking at the tag on the inside- solid state that sounds better than some tube amps like sovtek, crate (thats easy b/c crate sucks), and yes, even some marshalls-
i use this amp for practice and shows, ranging from 40 people to 300 people venues at shows- has never let me down
the only prob with this amp it seems is that most people that still have it have bought it used and theres just no way on earth to find an authentic footswitch- at the current time i'm seeing if i can get an amp tech to construct me a proper footswitch-

i have two teles and a mustang and the amp handles them really, really well- i can get a really loud sparkly clean tone and then a guns-a-blazin' hot-rodded distortion- if only i had gotten this amp sooner- slight noise comes from the amp on when using a loud clean but thats only when you're not playing, and i'm playing all the time-
I LOVE THIS DISTORTION AND WOULD NOT TRADE IT FOR A MILLION BUCKS,
well, maybe a million...

i love the fact that this mid-80s amp is solid state and can sound soooooo good-
i have never had a single problem with it ever-
i would (and do) use it at gigs w/out backups

horrible, they don't know anything and take a 1/2 hour to show you that-
they have absolutely no idea about any subject towards the head-
it made me sad.

i've been playing for 6 years and this is the most fun amp i've come across that i can afford- marshalls are great but i like to seperate myself with slightly different gear so i can have a classic but unique sound-
the only fact i hate about it is that i had to go crazy in trying to find someone to make me a footswitch for this amp-
other than that- i love it to death-

Mid 80's 150 Watt solid state head totally cranks. 2 channels, Green for clean and Red for balls out crunch. I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't get a footswitch when I purchased It. BUT I GOT ONE NOW !! Thanks to Steve(rebel_rich@hotmail.com}.I e-mailed him after reading his reveiw stating that he can custom build one for whoever needs one. He quickly responded with all the details, and before I knew it I had a footswitch which works as good or possibly better than the original. Excellent workmanship. If you need a footswitch to complete your rig he's the man ..

I play an older kramer custom with seymore duncan humbuckers with this amp. The clean channel sounds real nice and the Hot channel puts out some serious distortion if thats your thing. The treble boost is cool. You can also combine the channels to create an interesting sound. Its definatly loud enough to play out.

I've only had it for a little over a year but haven't had any problems with it. I bought it used so I dont know if its ever needed repair. So far so good.

I called Randall/Washburn asking for a footswitch or one thats compatible. All I got was "We dont make a footswitch with that old 6 pin connector anymore, sorry." They weren't rude or anything but not much help for my situation. Luckily Steve was offering his services and set me up.

Made in mid 80's from what ive heard ( solid state).Ive owned it for about two years but just started using it alot. Its got alot more features than i thought when i first used it. When i finally found the treble boost i was shocked.Its got 2 channels (red) is overdrive and (green) is clean. It's also possible to run both channels at the same time, i like this sound the best. Most people say that the hard part is finding a foot switch to fit it. Fortunately ive got one. Its 150 watts and has 2x 8 ohm. speaker outs, effects loop, and a 200 watt outlet in the back. Plenty of power for anything you could possibly want to play.

I use a mid 80's washburn guitar( kinda ironic huh) with dual high output humbuckers as my main axe, and it sounds great through both channels. Ive also used various Strats ,Teles, Pauls, SGs,with this amp and they all sound great. Amazing tone for a Solid state amp.I play all types of music, but this amp can handle anything. Clean channel is a little dirty when cranked but nice and chimey at lower volumes.Dirty channel is very trebly even more with the boost. Great for Stooges or Stones.

Ive never gigged with this but it seems pretty sturdy. Its set up inside pretty simple. I think im gonna try to take it in for a little tune up here and there simply because its been beat around alot in it's life and has spent the last two years either in a greast dusty shop or in my closet.

I havent tried but i hear that Washburn dosent know a damn thing about these amps

Id be stupid not to take it for the price, but it really is a cool amp. I am more of a tube guy but am considering possibly gigging with this amp. Its got a very unique tone as good or better than most new Marshalls ive played.If it was lost or stolen i would definately be pissed for a week or so.Ive never seen another one of these and i imagine they are getting quite rare, especially one with a footswith (the oddly designed input and all). Overall this amp is definately one of the most versitile amps ive ever owned.

Mid to late 80's model 150 watt solid state head.Has the same features that everyone else has mentioned.Mine came with a footswitch,so i guess i was lucky cuz they are very hard to find.I love the treble boost on the red channel...very cool feature.This thing is LOUD....it sounds great at low volumes and even better cranked.

I play an Epiphone les paul limited edtion standard and an Esp ltd with a seymour duncan full shred in the bridge.I play it through a Marshall 1936 2-12 cab.I play mostly hard rock,classic rock and metal and this thing handles all of it with ease.This is by far the best solid state amp that ive ever played,and ive played a bunch of 'em.The distortion channel can get brutal and the clean channel can get sparkly clean.I just love it.

No tubes to worry about!!!Ive only had it a week,but its solid state so its probably pretty reliable.Ive never had a problem with solid state amps.

Never dealt with washburn,but ive heard that they dont know anything about the old Randall amps.That sucks

I absolutely love this amp and if it was stolen or lost i would definitely find another one.If you play metal or hard rock,i highly recommend getting one.Its a great amp.

FOOTSWITCH AVAILABLE!

I saw a couple of had this same head and wanted the footswitch. One of you (George Lunch) had no e-mail address, and the other (Steve) had a bad e-mail address.

Anyway, I had to make modifications on mine and I can one for anyone that would like one. My origianl message to Steve is below:

Hi Steve,
If you still have the head and still want the footswitch, I can help. I
have the same head and I also bought the footswitch (I remember it cost me
an extra $60),new. I had problems with the connector, which is custom
proprietary, not making good contact and thus causing channels not to stay
set properly.

Therefore I had to make my own new connectors by myself, on both the
footswitch and the head. I can make one for you, if you want. write back and
I'll give details.
Steve (MY NAME TOO)

I bought my head brand new, and I guess I was a sucker who paid almost full list price for it. I also bought the footswitch brand new at the same time. I originally bought the tube version, but took it back because it was too noisy. I exhanged it for this, which if I recall correctly was almost the same exact price.

But anyway, I'm still happy with the purchase. This really does have a great sound, that I agree with everyone can not be matched by anything on the market today.

Too bad to hear others comments that Washburn took over and offers no help whatsoever with this.

I had hoped to one day get the tech manuals and design drawings for this head. I guess if I ever needed repair I would be SOL, at least with authorized service.

If you can't get through to my regular e-mail, use my hotmail address:
rebel_rich@hotmail.com