Randall RG100 ES

I love this head. I payed 75 for it when I also bought a Gibson sg for 200 bucks. Best deal ofmy life

using an sg its sick. A stray sick. Les Paul-sick

its 20years old so looks good to me

don't have thefootswitch

This amp was made sometime in the 1980's. I dont know the exact year because i have no opened it up yet. It is the black tolex version, which to my knowledge are the older ones (the newer ones were carpeted). It has the outer shell and shape of a Marshall JMP.

The amp is pretty versatile and takes pedals very well. I play metal, hardocore, southern rock, blues, sludge/doom metal, alt. rock, ambient rock, etc. and this amp can do them all.

2 channels. I bought it used and the guy did not have the footswitch (Randall FS-5). They are hard to come by but a company on ebay makes replicas of them. Effects loop is good (I am going to get the jacks on them replaced though). 2 speaker outputs, 1 signal input. This particular RG 100 is the ES for the reason of 'Extra Sustain'. You can pull the treble knob. It is okay but the volume on the amp drops in half so it is hard to use in a band situation.

With out the footswitch you can only change channels on the amp but turning the clean channel volume and gain all the way down, or to use the clean turn the distortion down. I boost the amp so i stay on the dirty channel. Set the amps gain low so it is clean when i click off the boost.

I have never gigged with it yet, but i played with a band for a while and it held its own against a mesa triple rect at a high band volume.

Run a Gibson Les Paul Custom w/ Dimebucker and ESP MH-400NT w/ EMG 81.

The amp sounds very close to the voicing of a JCM 800. Very close.
At times you would think it was a tube amp, but there is a certaintly quality that is lacking. I am going to try a tube boost pedal and see if that helps but to be honest this thing kills most of the tube heads i have owned. Most recently i owned a 6505+ and Mesa Dual Rectifier Blackface... and hands down this amp has a better sound quality than both of those amps.

The sound i currently have is in the vein of Mastodon. Old school metal/hard rock vibe.

Takes my pedals great. Whether it be boosts in the front, or effects in the loop.

Being the amp is 20 something years old, i am going to bring it to my tech to get all new jacks and tuned up. I think the quality of the amp will increase when i do that.

In the future i plan on purchasing a nice Marshall JMP MKII or JCM 800 2210...but until i have the money and the right deal comes this thing is amazing. I will never sell this amp regardless.

Never had any issues with it and i have had it since October (Almost 7 months). With any of the tube amps i have owned, i would have to re-tube or take care of something else that went wrong with it.

Here is where this section get's a 1. Randall was bought out from Irving Randall in 1990? I believe. The sound of the amps drastically changed and the company has since forgotten about anything made prior to the buyout. From fellow randall rg100es users i hear the company is unhelpful in any matter.

I have been playing for 12 yrs, and have owned many a gear throughout the years.

If this amp was lost, stolen, or broken i would buy another one in a heartbeat.

It slays peavey, and mesa products hands down.

Has an 80's marshall vibe. If your low and cash and looking at a JCM 800 get this thing.

This amp has been my best friend since January of 1988. I will never get rid of it, the tone is incredible and can go as loud as you need it to be. I have played this amp at loud Rock Gigs as well as Metal Gigs it will never fail

I am a very versatile player that needs a certain sound. this amp now is my personal Recording amp. I have never put on a Noise gate and the only effects I use is a Dunlop Original Wah Pedal and a Ibanez DM1000 Delay system, Without the Delay system this amp is very quiet. The gain on this amp is amazing, and when you turn on the compressor the gain is what I call a "Sustaining Monster" This amp is very easy to manipulate controlled feedback or Harmonic feedback pretty much at will.

I have had this amp for 20 + years and it still takes a licken and keeps on ticken!

Never had to call for support so no opinion

If you would like any additional information on this amp please feel free to contact me

This amp was made sometime in the 80's. It's a solid state combo with 4 10's , covered with black carpet. Some sources say the power rating is 120 watts. Some say 150. Either way, it's LOUD. It has 2 channels that can be selected with a footswitch, or used simultaneously without it. It has Reverb and effects loop.

I've used it for practice and gigs. It has more than enough power for most situations (and I play with a very loud drummer).

I haven't noticed any noise.

There's a variety of sounds you can get, from clean to filthy. The clean tones are okay, but lack character. It's not as warm as a Fender or as chimey as a Vox. But it's not as sterile as some other s.s. amps, either. So I'll give the cleans a 7.

The more you turn up the gain, the more this amp comes to life. Lightly overdriven settings are decent. No one will ever mistake it for a Dumble or Marshall Bluesbreaker. But it can do a passable blues or classic rock tone with a little tweaking.

Where it shines, however, is metal. I've read that George Lynch had some input in this amp's design. I believe it. High gain sounds are excellent - lots of harmonics and chunky low end. You can scoop the mids, if that's what you're into (I like to keep some mids in my sound). I'll give the dirty sounds a 9.

So, overall, the sounds gets a solid 8.

I depend on this amp. I use it at gigs without a backup. It's been around at least 20 years, and shows very little wear (except the top of one knob fell off on the way home from a gig). It works perfectly.

NA

I've been playing for almost 25 years. I've used everything from Fender tube amps to digital modelers. Speaking of digital stuff - the Randall is a perfect amp to use with my POD XT Live. I just set the EQ flat and set the POD output to "combo front". Sounds great.

I have 2 other amps that I compared this with side-by-side (a vintage Fender Champ and a Lab Series L-5). The Fender sounded better clean and the Lab had a more flexible EQ. But the distortion on the Randall was easily the best.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd look for another one.

Not sure what year mine is I have heard that the date code is on the side of the chassis but havn't looked yet.

This amp can produce a lot of different sounds Great for any thing from Hard Rock to Death Metal. This amp brings out a lot of Harmonics! I love the sounds I get out of this amp.

I have used this amp with just about every pickup made and I can appreciate the sound I get from each, Sounds Really good with EMG 81's though it Sounds pretty insane with an Gibson SG with 490t-r Pickups. So far I havn't needed any pedals with this amp the distortion it gives you straight in is great! if you feel you need anymore distortion than this you must be trying to hide your mistakes.

Amp is really dependable, doesn't weigh a ton either easy to gig with.
Built in the U.S.A (not China)this is a real amp!

The current owner of Randall Sucks! I needed a replacement Logo for the front of mine and those guys haven't got a clue! I finally got one from them but it was like pulling teeth and they were like "it's probably not going to fit anyway" Soo they have some stuff they just don't seem to care about helping anyone there.

I have been playing for 30 years and I have just about one of everything as far as amps go, well I should say one of everything worth owning! This amp is one of the keepers! I am on the hunt for More! if you see one of these in the pawn shop be kind to it and take it home! you will Love it.

Mine was the carpet-covered version made in 1986/1987. 2 channels, clean and dirty. You need the footswitch or else they both run at the same time. There are independent volume and gain controls but the EQ is shared. There aren't many features but there isn't supposed to be on this amp. I got a new footswitch from the same guy on Ebay others are talking about.

The sound of this amp was a huge dissapointment to me. The clean channel wasn't bad, just a little cold for my taste. Some chorus helped it a lot. The reverb was pretty cheesy so I kept it off. Now for the distorted sounds. If this amp didn't lose more than half its volume when you engaged the boost (pull treble knob) than I would have kept it. It had some great scooped metal tones with just the bare minimum of distortion, which was exactly what I was going for. However, the problem with the boost is that the amp cannot be used in a band setting when it is engaged. Without the boost, the distortion is drastically reduced and becomes very rough in character. Loud as hell, but rough and in need of a boost. Upon boosting it with my SD-1 (volume dimed, tone 10 o'clock, gain 9 o'clock) I got some great classic metal tones. This amp sounds quite a bit like a JCM800 when you boost it with a pedal. I was getting Kill 'Em All Metallica tones easily. Unfortunately beyond this I couldn't achieve anything else. To get his sounds Dimebag used 2 EQs, and I can see why. While this is definitely the best sounding solid state that I had heard, it didn't cut it for heavy distortion.

This amp is built like a tank. 20 years old, countless gigs and a lot of abuse and this thing came to my door (in a smashed box no less) looking like new. Hats off to Randall for making a pillbox of an amp.

Randall will give you the schematics to the amp and footswitch if you want to make your own. Why would you though?

I have been playing guitar for 7 years. I played through the amp with my JB-loaded Strat and my Washburn WI-64D. If you would like a good hard rock amp that doesn't use tubes this is a cheap way to get some good sound. You'll just need a pedal for leads. I'm sure this amp would work great for metal with some outboard EQs, but I didn't want to mess with that stuff so I sold it. If someone could find a way to mod the amp so it doesn't lose its balls when using the boost I would go pick up another one tomorrow. Overall I still rate it well because it's a great amp. Be prepared to pay more for them though as the HC forums have created some demand for these. I bought mine for $200 and sold it for $300 a month later.

I believe this amp was made in 1985. I mainly use this amp for heavy metal. Though co-designed by George Lynch, it's fairly versatile to any type of music. Not just metal. You can get dirty blues or clean country out this if you wanted. It has 2 channels. 1 clean, 1 dirty. With the footswitch, you can switch back and forth from clean to dirty, or you can use both at the same time, mixed together. It also has a "booster" switch located in the treble knob. All you have to do is pull the knob out, and boom! You got added crunch and gain! BUT! You loose overall volume. So, that's really the only complaint I have about this amp. But Randall updated this amp with the "XP" series and fixed that problem. Also, you can get the "XP" block booster to achieve the same goal...which is more gain and crunch. It's great for "dirty" blues or old school hard rock right out of the box. BUT DO NOT expect to get Dimebag's overall tone and sound just from this amp! You need some extra "sizzle" for that, like the MXR 6 band and the Furman PQ-3. Plus you need a high output humbucker also. But, for general hard rock and "heavy metal" like blues, it's great. It's only rated at 150 watts. Sounds like a lot, but it's solid state, so it equals to only like 50 watts tube amp rating. Still loud enough for small to medium size gigs though! It's the best "bang for the buck" amp. Note: YOU CAN GET A CUSTOM BUILT FOOTSWITCH FOR THIS FROM A GUY OFF EBAY! It's like $70 shipped. He builds them w/all brand new parts. Even better than the stock Randall FS-5 footswitch ! He is very reliable and knows his Randall RG series amps! Just do a search on Ebay....type in "Randall custom footswitch". Sometimes he may not have any, but they do come up once and a while. You can still find the stock Randall FS-5 footswitches on Ebay as well. The only downfall about this amp is the volume loss on the "boost" circuit(via the treble knob pulled). But also, it would be nice if it had a little more gain out of it, for the type of music I play. But, using some "ammo" aka = eq pedals, overdrive pedals, eq rack units, you can get pretty good metal tones from that. I plan upgrading soon. To either an XP series amp, or modifying the existing amp, for more gain.

I use a Dean FBD tribute guitar (Dimebucker in the bridge, '59 reissue in the neck) stock, an Epiphone Les Paul stock, and occasionally a Fender Squire also stock. To my ears, they all sound great through this amp. Of course, each one has it's own sound and tone due to the fact that they are each completely different types of guitars. I play mainly heavy metal (Pantera, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Damageplan) and sometimes blues (my own style) and hard rock (AC/DC). The Distortion is pretty good, but needs some extra sizzle (to achieve Pantera like sound). I use a new version MXR 10 band eq pedal and a Furman PQ-3 for added tone and gain. This makes it sound a lot better and you also have more control over your sound. Plus, it gets it even closer to Dime's tone and sound. There's a reason why Dime, Michael Angelo Batio, George Lynch, and other metal guitar gods used these amps back in the day. They sound great and give you that "tube like" tone and the solid state crunch. You get the best of both worlds. No tubes to break. This amp can be noisy, especially if you add eq pedals and other stuff like that to it. But, ANY amp will do that. That's why you need to use a noise gate of some kind.

I would definitely depend on this amp. It's all original (except for the custom built footswitch) since day 1, so that says something right there! Amp never gave me any problems.

Never dealt w/Randall yet. Probably would not anyways, since this amp is "Pre-Washburn" era and like 21 years old!

I have been playing for like 16 years. Not seriously, but just as a hobby. I own this amp (Rg-100ES) along w/ a Randall XL 4x12 slant cab w/Celestion Vintage 30s, MXR 10 band pedal, Furman Pq-3 and a ISP Decimator (noise gate). If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another Randall amp. May not be this one, cause I want a little more gain. I would buy the XP series amp, or save up some more dough and get the Warhead or X2. Randall makes some great solid state "metal" amps and cabs. I believe they are in the top 5 all time best since day 1. Overall best value and low maintenance.
Again, there's a REASON why Dime picked and stayed w/ Randall since he was a kid!!!!!!! GETCHA' PULL!!!!!!!!!

Hi everybody, NO MORE FOOTSWITCH PROBLEMS!!!

In response to the many who have the old missing footswitch promlem...USE YOUR IMAGINATION A LITTLE!!!

It is highly unlikely that Randall amp ever become truly collectible, though the RG100ES would as collectible as any other of the higher priced Randalls due to its 'Dimebag legacy'. However, this is not a Hiwatt so don't be scared to have a good technician rewire the thing so you can use any generic footswitch!

Contact Randall and they can send you the schematic for the amp and footswitch (there is a slight error on the footswitch schematic but any good tech will spot it). All you have to do is mount the footswitch circuit inside the amp head and replace where the switches would be with 1/4in. jacks which you mount on the back panel of the amp. Then, go on Ebay and find a generic double footswitch (I found a double Morley f/s for $20).

I'd say you can easily find a double switch and the mod done for less than $100 all included.

Enjoy!

Mid-eighties. I had two of these, one was blonde tolex with black snakeskin design (with footswitch and matching 4x12" Jaguar cab!) and the other was an earlier model which had been recovered with speaker carpet and looks really cool too in a ghetto low-profile kinda way. There are not many features on this amp and it's really too bad cause you can get several good sounds out of it, but you can't really get to them without messing with everything. Get two of these and a A/B switch and it's a whole other story. By the way, pulling the treble switch gives the RG100ES its magical mid-scooped crunch, and I never turn it off. Lush! You'd swear there are tubes at times - No joke. But you do compromise on volume by doing this, but no problem, blend in a bit of the clean channel and a full-body tone comes rushing out...

Awesome! I traded both heads and the cab for a Mesa/Boogie Mark III (which is a great amp, by the way) and actually missed the sound of the RG100ES!!! The Mesa obviously is more focused, and the clean channel brighter; but the distortion tone really is comparable, you actually get more cunch out of the Randall, and for one third of the price (I also use a TubeWorks TubeDriver with a 12AU7 tube, and parametric EQ in the loop, to push it further). I sold my Mark III for $1000 and baught the old black Randall back for $300!!! I've also got a Roland Jazz Chorus, so I'm all set for beatiful cleans AND awesome distortion. I'll only sell these amps to get a Hiwatt (and use the TubeWorks for disto).

Absolutely reliable.

They do not support the gear built before Washburn baught out Randall. However, They sent me schematics of the amp and footswitch, so I could modify the amp to accept a generic footswitch. That was allright...

If I compare this amp to Hiwatt, Mesa Dual Rec, Bogner, Orange, etc., I would obviously laugh at this amp. However, for less than $400 (or $1000, for that matter) the scooped gain channel is hard to beat, really!! Better than Marshall and many Mesas, in some ways. It depends what you're gonna do with it. Think about this for a moment: if Dimebag Darrell or George Lynch could easily find better, why did they still use these?? F@%k what they say about tubes (even if they are generally right), if the thing sounds awesome, it just sounds awesome! I give it 7.5 but because of Dimebag's influence I'll say 8.

Cant really switch channels w/o a footswitch...witch is really hard to find for an amp like this.

SOUNDS AWSOME....i put this baby on top of a Behringer BG412S Ultrastack cab and its awsome! I was a bit skeptic about the sound quality because of the behringer but it sounds just great

i havnt had it that long to no how reliable it is..but other revies say its pretty sweet

CANT FIND FOOTSWITCH NEWERE

Ive been playing for almost 3 years and hav gone throu a lot of amps...my favorite at the time was a peavey rhythem master 400, but it didnt hav a speaker out jack so i coulnd turn it into a stack, but the Randall RG100 es sounds just like it. I use a Danelectro Fab Tone distrotion pedal and that just makes it sound that much easier when ever i plug in and play.

My Randall RG100ES was made in 1988. The amp is versatile enough for what I do, which is mainly metal and rock.
There's channel switching on the amp but it's only channel switchable with the footswitch and I don't have one. I'm thinking of buying one off someone for $120, it's kinda pricey but probably worth it. I wish the amp had a regular footswitch jack, this thing has a very odd jack for the footswitch, i've never seen an amp with one like this before.
I'm just using this amp for practicing at home, but I hope to use it with a band sometime. It's got more than enough power, it could probably hang with tube amps of the same power rating.

I'm using this amp with a Yamaha rgx612a with active pickups, a Boss metalzone set as a boost, and an Avatar G212H cab. It's a very cool combination. I can get some good high gain tones with this setup. The amp is noisy when it's running with alot of gain, but that doesn't bother me much, a noise suppresor/noise gate could help this. The Randall's got a very nice marshally hardrock distortion and a very usable clean tone, the reverb is great too. The clean channel's got TONS of headroom, so there would be no problems getting heard over a loud drummer. The distortion can get moderately heavy by itself, but don't expect Pantera without a boost of some type and perhaps an EQ in the loop. You can get some great hardrock tones though, and some old school 70's early 80's metal tones out of it. One thing that kinda irritates me about this amp is the fizzy high end frequencies it has, they can be dialed out with the presence at zero, so it's just a minor complaint.

I could depend on this amp, it's built like a tank. I took a look inside and this thing is put together very well. it's 17 years old and still going strong, i'd easily expect another 20 problem free years out of it.

Never dealt with the company. The rg100es is out of production now so I doubt they'd even know anything about these old Randall's now.

I've been playing guitar about 8 years now. I own what I've already mentioned plus a Kustom practice amp. Before this I've owned a fender 1964 blackface bassman, (good amp, just not for me) several SS practice amps, pedals. I'm not much of a gear nut so this thing should do for a while. If it were stolen I'd probably look for another one of these, they can be found very cheap second hand and they're great sounding amps, especially for the price. I love the distortion, clean tone, and the insane amount of volume I can get out of it. It's Solid State too, so no worries about tubes and biasing. I don't really hate anything about it, kinda wish the high end buzziness was a little tamed down but every amp has it's flaws, so I'll deal with it. Good bang for the buck amp, anyone on a budget looking for a good marshally sounding amp should look around for one of these amps.

You know the deal and specs and if you dont read the reviews below!
Others have given more than enough specs on this amp.
Just want to add my two cents because I dig this amp!

We play loud, very heavy, low hardcore.

The onyl thing I wish this thing had was a 3RD channel for even more
ear buzzing high gain glory. Kinda like the RG100 I was supposed to get.(SEE BELOW)

We play in warehouses and clubs un mic'd this thing is louder than f*ck in both.

80's Les Paul Custom with the stock 498 and 498T's, a Schecter XXX with hot duncan's, 335, and Flat Head Telecaster.

This thing only does clean and mean, thats all. What more do you need? God Loves Ugly!

I also play a Rivera Knuckle and that honestly gets the 10, but for this thing being as cheap as it is and mean as it is it still gets a 9. I mean when people think I have a tube amp and it's SS, well thats quality trickery from the 80's. Now I see why Dime used this thing back then.

A TANK, I gig without a backup often. Out of sheer lazyness and the fact that I know this thing is tuff.

BUZZZZZ!

I have been playing 15 years.

Already looking for another, if that tells you anything.

There is not much to hate.

I was kinda tricked into buying this thing from a seller on ebay. They said it was the RG100 when it was in fact the ES. I was going to raise a stink about it but then played it. The first time playing through it, it sucked and I was angry. Not anymore, this things is PIMP.

For all those who say this thing cant hang, WRONG. Patience, you need to take some time and really play with the knobs. Some amps cant handle the lows from the Les Paul and I thought the same thing with this one, but after playing with it for about a week my amps distortion is tight and mean as hell.

I have owned Mesa's and Marshall's and the only other Amps I have kept around are the Ampeg vl1002 Lee Jackson with EL34's, the Rivera knuckle and this one. Between these 3 amps I can rule the world.

Has channel switching, but you need the special footswitch (I dont have it nor do I need it). 2 channel solid state head. NOT the combo the other guys are listing....I use this amp to play shows with on a regular basis. I actually just got my second one, so I am running two of these heads each with thier own cab. Sounds amazing. The head I just got is a very early model with a slightly different silk-screened face plate than any of the others I have seen.

This thing sounds amazing if you just play with it. I have NEVER had the midrange on any other amp up past 2 or 3, but this amp really comes alive when its at 5 or above, without sounding too mid-rangy. The clean DOES sound pretty good, but I think its primary purpose is to kick out high gain sounds associated with heavier types of music. Sounds JUST LIKE a marshall (very very close). I have at least 2 people ask me what amp I am using at every show.

This thing takes an ass kicking and askes for more. Seriously.

never dealt with them. Heard they are of no assistance.

I have been playing for about 10 years and play and record with an emo/punk/hardcore band. It has the sound I want and my tone sounds like no one elses. To clean up the sound, I just pull back on the volume pedal. Simple as that. I am very blessed to have 2 of these things and would buy any other that I could find......They just sound that good....

Vintage 80's head. Has channel switching, but you need the damn footswitch, which I dont have. Extremely loud amp that sounds best cracked up half-way. Very warm. I use this amp at practice, many many shows, and anywhere else I go....

I use a Strat with a Super Distortion in the bridge, and play harder punk rock kind of music....Suits my musical style perfectly. It is noisy if you have the gain (channel 2) cranked up, but it really doesnt get picked up at shows.......The amp isnt THAT versitle but if you want some sizzle all the way to high-gain sounds, this amp is it. Distortion sounds just like a Marshall. I have guys come up to me and ask what amp it is at least twice every night I play....

This thing takes an ass-kicking and asks for more!!!! It has been out in the rain, smoey bars, huge halls, you name it.....It just keeps going!!!! It has never broken down on me ever.

Never dealt with them......I hear they are no help at all though....

I have been playing for nearly 10 years and have played through alot of different amps and just happen to stumble upon this amp a few months ago in a Guitar Center. I went from having a Metal Zone and Line-6 Distortion Modeler to just a Volume pedal!!! I use it to turn down the gain for a little "sizzle".....I wish this amp had a regular footswitch jack, but other than that it works great for what I need it for.......!!

i dont know what year it was made in.... but it is the (rg100es)150 watts of mean ass power, and to top it off, i got the original foot switch along with it !... only thing missing on this amp would be my wish to have a bilt in analog delay on it, thats because i dont really like alot of pedals on the floor.. but if anyone wants to give me a very generous offer... i might be willing to let this mean machine go !

i use yamaha and esp guitars.. i play goerge lynch, eddie, joe, and my own stlye mixed together, and this mean machine complements all them stlyes and then some ! as far as sounds, it makes.. my guitars let the amp cry and scream with passion, like love and death coming together for an incredible show... marshall who ?..lol.

its reliable, and plays its best to an audience, it knows just what its there to do, and always seems to outdo my expectations.

never delt with them...no need to !

i have been playing and playing and playing...lol... and will always be playing...whats it matter.. i had the 5150 and the 5150(2).. this amp is much better.. .. if anyone is truely interested, like i said give me a call...402-714-4446 nebraska

This is the same amp described by Greg, it's a combo with the amp set in vertically, attached to 4 10' speakers. Bought it new in 1990 (with the footswitch), loved it as soon as I heard it, and couldn't find anything better new for the price. Two channels, pull-out treble (which I always used). In a two guitar band, the other guitar player hates you because of the volume and strong mids from this thing. Though I'm playing a Trace Elliot now, this was great for an all-out rock sound, especially with a Boss DS-1. The whole amp just shakes.

Used it with one of those 29 fret Washburns (sans the weird lightning graphic). For what I'm playing now, using extended chords, sevenths, ninths, no good. Needed something more subtle. Subtle this thing is not, which is why it was so great when I was playing rock and metal.

This is the problem. If I play at loud volumes, it sounds great at first (or not), then the sound changes in mid song. Then I give it a kick, and it changes again. Couldn't depend on it. Couldn't find anyone who could fix it. Wouldn't use it on a gig without backup.

It's for sale if anyone's interested...

Update review.

Update. My opinion has changed about this amp being useable for gigging. The louder this thing gets the less sustain it has. Pedals aren't improving its ability to hold on to some semblence of musicality either. The clean sucks and dies out faster than the distortion channel. When combined together the clean makes the distortion dead even with a pedal pushing it harder. I have never had such a finicky amp regarding pedals. I have used a GT2 Tech 21, Zoom Hyper Lead, Marshall Blues breaker, RP 50, and Zoom Power Drive. The over drives came close to helping but the higher gain pedals were too much. I still love the reverb on this thing and it has a ok sound at low volumes...under 3 on the knob. I have spent hours trying to EQ this head to get it to work for me live. I give up. I ain't spending any more money to get this to work.

Its 20 yrs old. For that it gets some respect from me that it plays at all.

This is a practice amp due to the volume level I wouldn't play it at. I like Randall amps. I have a RH 100 that can be used for gigging as a back up and really excells at keeping note definition when loud. Leads are a little thin but my pedals do improve this where the RG 100 ES sounds bad when loud and pedals do not help. There are much better solid state amps...Peavey XXL, Rh 100/200, I had a Tech 21 Trademark 300 which arrived with problems. I sent it back. Don't know what a good one sounds like. Power engine 60 is great. Your choice of preamp, sound is neutral and it responds to preamps and pedals. I like solid state amps. I don't care if tubes sound better cause I like what I get from the transistor. I do like tubes too though.

love it. just need the footswitch.

I love the clean tone, and the distorted tone. but the only problem is, i don't have the footswitch, so if i'm playing a show where i need clean and distorted, i have to use a stompbox.

never had a problem

told me tough luck finding a switch.

Does anyone know where i can get a switch for this amp. i desperately need one for a show coming up fairly soon, and want to use my amp distortion. if someone's willing to sell one, i'd offer a very fair price. so let me know at megakv@hotmail.com. thanks again

this is an update to my reveiw below

now having this amp for a few weeks, and playing it at a couple of shows, i have alot more insight on this amp. 1)i'm no longer using the dist. on the amp, i'm using my old metalzone on it. the amp dist. with the overdrive sounded great, but when you turned it past 12 o'clock on the level, it started clipping; in a bad way! so, i was getting killed by the drummer. i went to record with my band, and the engineer/producer wanted me to use my amps, but i needed to compete with a 100 watt marshall he had in the studio. he set my amp up with the metal zone i had lying around, and it just came to life!! holy shit, couldn't beleive the difference! i dont have the footswitch, so this helped my dist./clean switching problem. plus, you can use both channels to acheive more volume; set up the clean channel with the tone you like, and start bringing up the volumes on the other(dist.) channel, to get more volume. works like a charm! 2)i didn't realise at first that i needed more volume, until my drummer started seriously gettin' it on! come to find, i was pushing a 16 ohm 4x12 cab, and the amp was running at 8! my brother wired it for 8ohms, and all is well! this amp just crushes!!! if anyone is trying to get rid of their old randall, give me an email. i've just sold all my amps, and the randall is king!!

this is aan early 80's randall head,120 watts,effects loop channel switching if you have the damn footswitch! i don't, but the sound is so good ,don't really care. i just bought the amp used' but i will be using it for band practice and live. i could't beleive it when i fired it up, it is holy shit loud! seriously as loud as any of my previous tube heads, maybe louder! solid state! wow! would give it a 10 in this category but for the stupid footswitch.

i use it with a les paul studio, emg 81's,tuned to dropped-b, also an old usa charvel with a single emg 81 in the bridge. i play mostly emo/hardcore/grindcore, and the way i run it it covers these styles perfectly! the secret with this amp is the same as the old marshalls i used to have(jcm800/jcm900); you have to have an overdrive for the gain channel to really get it into high gain territory. i use an old boss super overdrive in front of the distortion channel, and it just kills!! this thing is seriously mean! it sounds better than the old marshalls,mesa,and high gain ampeg tube heads i've had! the eq section is very important also as there is a lot of room for different types of heavy tone. right now i have it dialed in with a lot of mids and bass and very little treble and it has this killer machine head chunky tone to it. or you can scoop the mids and get that dimebag sound, but if youre used to a tube amp like i am, the mids are crucial! the clean sound is reall clear depending on where you set the pre volume on that channel, again it's great if you can find that elusive f-in'footswitch! right now i cut off the overdrive and back my guitar volume down and i can get it perfectly clean.

i just got the amp used ,looks like it went through a war some time in the 80's, and doesn't even have a scratchy pot, or loose jack! i originally bought this as a backup, but i'm really considering using it as my main amp, this thing kills!!

never had to deal with them, but i do know their new amps blow in comparison to this, and my brother is an amp tech, so i won't be calling them!

i've been playing guitar for about 14-15yrs now, and i wish i had bough one of these back in the 80's! i could o bought 10 of these for the money i've paid to repair my tube amps over the years!i've had marshalls,a mesa, a lee jackson high gain head,and misc rack crap over the years, and this with my overdrive just kills them all!!my freind plays in a couple of signed heavy bands from neworleans, and told me to get one of these years ago, and i wish ihad done it before now. its unfortunate, cause they are getting harder to find, keep looking on ebay, and don't even think of buying a new one to get this sound,they won't even come close!! if it was stolen or lost i would definately be looking for another of the same model, the only other amp that i have that comes close is the ampeg vh140, which has more distortion built into it, but doesn't seem to be as crushing, but is just as damn hard to find as it's no longer made either. i f any one knows where i can get a footswitch, please let me know; thanx

I've got the head version. All solid state. What I am told its from the 80'. I can play blues, rock and metal on this thing. It won't hit Cyclone territory. It needs something in the front of it pushing it for distortion though. By itself it has a overdrive gain to it. Clean is clean nuth'n special but all of it is useable. Reverb is excellent! It has channel switching if you are fortunate enough to have the footswitch. I got one off ebay recently and it is working fine. It has a pull out pot on it that just cuts the sound level way down and gives it a little different distortion. Useless in my opinion. Has effects loop but I haven't used so I don't know if it works. I run my stuff up front.

Got an SG Gothic with 490' in it. I play blues, rock and metal. I use it in a band. With a half stack no problems at all being heard over the drummer. Very manageable amp noise wise. With dist. added it will squeal like any other. I use a noise gait anyways. Mine is not even close to brutal on its own. Again only an over drive gain. It will get metal though with a pedal or processer and I've used both. Since I have the footswitch I can use both channels at once. I like doing this for a boost to my leads. Oh yeah...they cut through now. I didn't have the footswitch when I first got the head. You can use both channels with out the pedal but the versatility is much better with it... especially how I use it. It can play louder than I've needed easily. It sounds better turned up. You can hear it smooth out as it gets louder and take on a new voicing. So get it up to performing level and then set the EQ.

According to an amp tech/electrition friend of mine these things are built to make it through a holocaust! He has had mine open too. He says the wiring is made of the hardy stuff. Me I don't know crap about that stuff. I know it stays cool after playing for hours. Oh yeah, its still going from the 80'.

Haven't dealt with them.

I've been playing 20 yrs. Just got rid of 2 tube amps a peavey rock master and a JCM 900 Marshall. The Randall out preformed the Marshall. The RockMaster ain't worth comparing to anything ok! I have a Avt 20 marshall I use for bedroom practice. Good little amp. This amp came my way. After trying it out I really wanted to keep it. Been playing it for a few months now. I will probably keep it for good. It has its own character(voice) which you just have to try for yourself. I find it to have useable sounds for the range of music we play. If you don't like it give it to me. I am saving up for the Cyclone right now to better handle the heavy stuff I will be playing. Its from the 80' and it is still kicking ass!

From what I can tell the amp was manufactured in the 80's (maybe its because of the very "hair-metal" rattle snake covering" and really doesnt compare, feature-wise at least with some of the new amps. Is platy powerful with its 150 watts and the reverb is one of the better "onboard" reverbs. And you people out there who think all tubes amp are louder than soilid states, this beasts can blow 98% of tubes amps out there.

My guitar is an Ibanez RG equiped with a tonezone and a humbucker from hell (dimarzio all the way bitch!). My music writing style has been dubbed "hairmetal with a trim and some massive balls" but my lead style is a barage of sweep arpeggios ala Jason Becker, and very fast stacatto licks ala Zakk Wylde, Paul gilbert. The amp isnt noisy at all, but i do use a seperate booster type of distortion to push the amp. I get the perfect distortion (for me at least), its well defined and has mids plus crunch. But is has to be cranked to get the full effect tubes or not. The clean is excellent its shimmery without being twangy. But if you want serious gain, get a pedal.

No problems, The beast is a tank

Randall are assholes period!

bottom line is, that if your looking for a great amp thats sturdy and toneful, this is it.

Great amp,150 watt 2 channels solid state head.I own the original footswitch.For more details see the reviews above and below.Sounds more like a tube amp then a SS-amp.Especially when you use both channels at the same time.

i use a Fender 1984 USA stratocaster.All though i've read alot off people telling this is a real metal amp ,I'm using it to play ACDC,METALLICA,DEEP PURPLE AND EVEN HENDRIX, this thing does it all.
The Distortion can be very versatily if you know how to turn the knops.

as reliable as can be.Never had any problems,not even a cracking knop.

never dealt with Washburn before, I hope to keep it that way!!

if it where stolen or lost,i'd try to find another one,but hey their hard to find and becoming vintage.I heard people say it sounds just like a Msrshall jcm800,but i don't know how that sounds maybe someone can conferm this fact!!!

This is an 80's amp. 2 channels, and footswitchable if you manage to either have one of those silly original custom-connector footswitches, or have one made by someone who knows how those connections work.
I traded in my mid 70's Marshall JMP 100 watt head for this - and I am sorry now. I heard many great things about these Randall amps - even the reviews here seem to rate them high, but really, unless you are into hair metal or music with similar tonal characteristics, this amp has little to offer. I basically traded because I wanted something more reliable than my tube-burning Marshall...

I play varying styles of music from heavy alternative to classic rock to jazzzy blues stuff sometimes - and I have to say that this amp sounds OK at best when distorted, but even then you have to settle for the "Randall" distortion sound, because when you decide to use your own overdrive (I use a tube driven distortion), you have to keep the gain of this amp practically at zero - otherwise it totally craps-out in a very non cool way. Of course, the other effect of doing this is then that you have to crank the master volume to like 11 so that you can be heard over the other instuments, if you have a fairly loud band. So this doesn't really work that well for me. Having said that, the amp IS quite loud if you decide to use the gain and distortion provided in the stock amp circuitry.
Bottom line - It delivers half decent hair metal-like tones if you plug straight in, but your range of tones is very limited, and I have found that using different guitars has a minimal effect. Using this amp clean (or as clean as you can get it) I found to be a waste of time. It sounds very sterile, and goes nowhere near being lush. This is a solid state amp, and I have heard very few amps of this type that can produce a nice clean organic and rich sound. This is no fault of Randall - there are very few exceptions to the fact that tube amps are more versatile, and easier to get a variety of brown tones from whether its clean or distorted. (The only exception I can think of is the Roland Jazz Chorus. They manage a nice lush clean sound - of course, the trade-off is that the JC sounds like crap if you run it with any kind of heavier distortion).
As a matter of fact, I feel like I am fighting my guitar when I try to play The Randall clean for some of our slower numbers. I find myself trying to deal with this my layering on chorus or phase to make it sound sweeter. Also This amp is not manually switchable without the foot-pedal, so you are always stuck using one channel.

Well, I have heard these are extremely reliable - thats why I traded my troublesome JMP. I have benn using it for about a year.. It hasn't broken down, although I have experienced rattling from somewhere in the chassis, and radical volume fluctuations when playing during rehearsals. Once it even turned itself off in the middle of a song. I later took it apart and found a short in one of the wires, and one of the reverb springs had disconnected from one end of the tank and was bouncing around on the circuitry. I fixed that, and I havent had any problems since - although I did experience a mild volume fluctuation at one rehearsal. Still though, despite this, I still find it less trouble than my old smokey tube burnin JMP.

Never tried to call - most of my stuff is too old for that.

This amp is OK for the amount they fetch used. I like it in a limited way, but it isnt as versatile as I would like an amp to be soundwise. I think if I were after something new I try a lot of different amps. Maybe I will go with a Mesa-B... ;)

Bought my RG-100 ES used in 1987, so I'm not sure what the manufacture date is. I haven't used the effects loop, as it sounds so damn good on its own. As for volume, this absolutely amp kicks ass, i've played some outdoor festival type shows, and never needed more than the RG100 & the 4x12 Carvin cabinet delivered. With the extra gain and ability to mix the channels, i'm rating it high on features.

My Charvel with a single active EMG makes for alot of crunch with the RG100 for metal, and the clean sounds very good, with a lot of sparkle, using a Martin acoustic-electric. Again, i rate this amp high, as it sounds great, and i've always gotten compliments on my tone using the Randall.

This amp has seen it all; bars, basements, several long distance moves - but time is finally taking its toll. Recently the footswitch connection (that 6-pin nightmare) began giving me problems, and the dashpots on the clean channel are making some noise as well. Anyone with suggestions on who to take it to in San Jose, CA, please email me!!

I haven't tried yet, but am not very hopeful they'll be able to help me after reading the other comments on the board. What is Washburn doing to the Randall name, anyway?

Also have a drum kit, which my neighbors must love (nothing quite like a guitarist who occasionly beats on the drums after a few beers!) and various parctice amps and guitars. Can't say it enough, I love my RG-100, and any help in getting it to the right service shop or person would be greatly appreciated. Suggestions?

Standard features for a guitar amp, with a couple cool extras. 150 watts(120 RMS). 2 channels, one for clean, one for distortion, with seperate master and gain. Both channels share a presence/treble/mid/ bass EQ. Built in reverb. Effects loop. The cool extra features are the 2 seperate inputs for low and high gain (0db and +06db), polairty selector built into the on/off switch, and a gain/distortion boost via the treble knob(more on this feature later).

This has to be one of the best solid state amps i've ever heard in my life. It's for sure the best ss amp i've gotten to play on personally.

I bought this amp about 3 years ago. At the time, I was using a classic 30(great amp), but I wanted to buy a head to use with this 8ohm cab I had. I ended up buying this amp off a guy locally, at the time, I thought it sounded great, but when I took it home, I ended up hating the sound that came out of it. The distortion was just the usual thin, metallic, SS crap that i'm used to hearing (mostly from crate, excluding the blue voodoo). Anyways, I ended up putting this amp away for 2 years, and in the mean time, I purchased a marshall JCM800 2205 and a Dual rectifier. Eventually I got ahold of a 3rd cab, so I figured i'd give the Randall another shot.

Took it out of the closet, hooked it up, and hated it has soon has it turned on. Started messing with the EQ, and by accident, I pulled the treble knob out. Supposedly, this is some type of gain boost, but it dosn't really give you more distortion. It lowers the volume so you have to crank the master more, and it smoothes EVERYTHING out. The distortion produced when you do this actually sounds incredibly close to a tube amp's distortion. To me, it sounded alot like adam jones tone from undertow. It's not really that heavy, crushing, nu metal type distortion thats produced today. It sort of has the tone of my jcm 800, but its much heavier, but not quite on the level has my dual rectifier. Very rich and detailed. Without this extra feature, the amp would be practically useless. Wish I had the manual so I knew this EARLIER : P

Has for the clean channel, its great. Not excellant or spectacular, but its more than good enough. The built in reverb is excellant, and when set correctly, the clean channel can be sparkly clean. With the seperate gain control, you can add just a bit of dirt too it, giving an excellant blues tone.

Giving a 8 in sound is a bit much, I know, but this amp does sound great, and I think the score is justified.

Never failed me, so I give this a 10. Certainly has less problems than my tubes amps that I own.

This is were your s*** out of luck. Like the poster said below, Randall dosn't even acknowledge this amp anymore. I've tried to contact them about it and get manuals with no luck. Trust me, if I could give this a negative score, I would.

After having this amp so long, its a shame I didn't get to use it the whole time I had it. I absolutly love it. Out of all my amps, I play out of the randall the most, and it is always the main amp in my setup. It's almost unbelievable that this amp can be had for only 200 dollars. I remember a time when I was looking at the RG100's on ebay because I was interested in selling mine, and people couldn't even sell them for 120 dollars. Ridiculous!

This amp has the best one of the most over-looked gems in the amp world.

This is an old Randall RG100 ES SS (solid state) head. I play it on top of a 4x12 Avatar cab with Celestion V-30s.

No speaker up front; covered in grey carpet material.

Not bad for features. 150 watts (120 RMS, so you're REALLY getting 120 TRUE watts), 2 inputs (hi/lo gain), 2 on positions with different polarities (so your singer doesn't get his lips zapped on the mike), an EXCELLENT reverb with an on/off jack for a foot switch, presence, bass/mid/treble, treble knob pulls out for extra distortion, separate master/gain controls for each channel, foot switch (VERY proprietary), effects loop, 2 speaker outputs (4 ohms each or 8 ohms if you're only using 1), an unswitched electrical socket, and a line out. Green/red LEDs to tell you what channels are on. No built in digital effects. Hard to wish for much more, especially in this price range.

Using 1984 Ibanez X-Series with blade pickups. Great match for this amp. I play hard rock/metal/numetal.

First, for the clean channel. It sounds pretty good, with plenty of power. No volume issues here.

This is a real overdrive beast. I'm amazed at the flexibility in the overdrive of this amp. Early metallica/megadeth/slashmetal sound, straight into Godsmack-type roaring, pissed off raging OD. As I mentioned before, the reverb is EXCELLENT in this amp. You can do any kind of rock with this OD, although it is especially competent at the really hard, heavy stuff. Both of the inputs bring up a completely different type of sound. I've had this amp for a couple weeks, and I'm far from finding everything it has to offer.

The treble knob pulls out, giving you another big gain boost (lowers the volume for some reason, but big deal, crank up that master some more). The amp has lots of headroom. No worries about "farty" sounds when you crank it up.

Another great thing about the amp is the ability to use both channels at the same time. You can play with an acoustic and electric sound together, or you can crank the gain on both channels and blow the roof off.

This is the perfect amp for rock, or when you need a lot of volume for something acoustic. You will not believe how great this is for a solid state.

Let me put it this way: the amp is almost 20 years old, got shipped to me in a thin cardboard box, has gotten a few carpet-ripping bangs in it over the years, and still performs flawlessly.

It's solid state! It's built like a tank.

Randall and Washburn don't give a flying rat's ass about a 20 year old amp that they don't produce any more. Mine does NOT have the footswtich, and they made it VERY proprietary, so I'm having one custom built by Steve (see him below). Randall does NOT make the foot pedals for these any more, and they have absolutely nothing about it on their site, not even a manual.

It don't matter anyways. Steve can build you the foot pedal (and for a very fair price), and this thing will NEVER break.

If you want to see it, here's a URL to the ebay auction I won it at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=894050721

I never was a fan of it's looks, but when it sounds this great, who the hell cares about how pretty it is?

I was looking for a hard rock amp that I could blow people 50 feet back with, and I've found it.

I wish the foot pedal was easy to get. Too bad it doesn't have any digital effects, but the overdrive is so great on this amp, I doubt I'd ever use them.

That guy who gave this amp a bad review either got a REALLY bad amp, hooked it up wrong, or was reviewing the wrong amp. Believe me (and the other 10 people reviewing this amp) when I say it is a rock monster.

Great amp. I'd hunt down another if anything happened to it. Powerful, excellent clean and OD channels, great features, 2 channels playable at the same time, dependable. What more do you want? 10 is the rating for "Fantastic Value," so a 10 this amp shall receive.

the entire amp is covered with black felt cloth. has 2 channels - one clean and one dirty, each with its own gain and master knobs, and they can both be on at the same time. has an excelent reverb tank and has the typical presence, bass, mid, and treb knobs. there's also a sustain boost switch that works farely decent but not great. i would've given it a 10 if there was a an on/off switch or something to turn the dirty channel off. i need a foot switch to accomplish this, oh dear god how i need a footswitch...

i play metal. not really numetal, but more like old thrash meets hardcore. i play a decent ibanez RG 320 with EMG-81 pickups, and an old kickass ESP Kerry King flying V with EMG-81 pickups. my primary distortion is through an MP-1 rack processor by ADA thats also punched up with a boss eq pedal (i need a rack eq sooon). my 4x12 cabinet is made by ampeg. i used to play into one of the early Marshall Valvestate 100 watt combo amps with a metalzone pedal... this amp with the MP-1 preamp KICKS ITS ASS!!!

this amp just screams METAL!! forget playing those old country-western tunes or even your cheesy hair metal... this amp is for everyone wanting to play Sepultura and Slayer! actually the clean channel isn't that bad and punching the reverb can give you really bitching surf sounds. the gain knobs do give the amp a lot of versatility in sound, but its limmited in that the distortion is a very DIRTY distortion and it is NOT AT ALL WARM. i've even gotten this amp to do some really nice early led zeppelin tones.

i have fired about 23 rounds at this amp while a dog urinated on it... the dog died but the amp lives on!!!

i've played with this amp nonstop for the past several weeks and it is amazing. deffenitely try to find an ADA MP-1 preamp too. the distortion from that rack processor goes so well with the randall amp. if this amp broke or got stollen, then i would deffenitely hunt for another one. also, i need a damn foot switch to better mold my sound!! arg!!

For Metal Applications I would suggest a Sonic Maximizer, and EQ through the Loop. Distortion channel will be ruthless, and clean is crystal clear. I heard that this would work, so i tried it. I'm not disappointed. Read other posts for the Features.

Use High Output pickups, e.g. Duncan Distortion. The use of both channels at the same time...is awesome. Very suitable amp for band situations. Will kill Marshalls Guaranteed!

No backup necessary

10

It has a clean channel and a crunch chanel, and best of all, you can have them both on at the same time! (now that i have a footswitch, thanks to Steve!!!)

Really like the tones I'm getting, just wish their was a way to get my solos louder like on my friend Peavey combo, you hit anotehr button to ghet a solo boost.

This amp is very consistent every time I use it, even when i play out I know exactly how its gonna sound. my freind has a tube amp, and he always complains the AC power in alot the bars he plays at is fucking up his sound.

I needed a footswitch , but couldn't find one anywhere, and they were NO HELP AT ALL!

Then I saw Steve's ad below and conatcted him. (read my comments in the next box)

Like i said aboce I needed a footswith and saw Steve's ad, which is on this same page here below (it's close to the bottom).

He repiled immediately, answered all my questions in great detail, and less than a week afetr I sent him out a check, I had his homemade footswitch in my hands! It works excellent, looks really cool, and I highly recommend him to anyone needing a fottswitch!

The only thing though, I thoguth the price was a little high at first, but then I found out what he said was true, that the original one made by Randall costed even more brand new, so I'm very pleased I got a great product at a very fair price!

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

Mid-eighties Randall, made in Irvine, Californ-i-a! This is not Washburn crap. I honestly don't know how Washburn can feel good about themselves with the garbage they put that Randall nametag on? Anyway, as the others have said, you've got your basic volume and gain for each channel, plus a shared reverb, presence, bass, mid, and treble knob. The treble knob also pulls out to give the red channel a full volume distortion at practice levels. Very nice feature. My amp didn't come with a footswitch, and they are hard to find, but luckely you can still use both channels independently, or mix them together for a 'holy mother of satan' sound you won't believe. This amp has every feature I could ever want.

I play an old (San Dimas, CA) Charvel with a Duncan distortion in the bridge position. I also have an SG, but who doesn't, right? They both sound awesome through the Randall head, which I have going into a matching cabinet with the Celestion speakers. The amp makes a little hum at idle, but once she gets barkin' you can't hear any of that. This amp can do it all, from hard rock and metal, to surf and blues. You just have to know how to turn the knobs. Unlike my old Marshall JCM 900, the knobs actually sound good in other combinations besides all dimed. The red channel has two levels of distortion, depending on if the treble knob is pulled out. The green channel is the clean channel, but honestly when you turn the gain all the way up it sounds like an old Fender or something. It's definately not real clean, that's for sure. Then you can run both channels together. I've never seen an amp that could do all that, so I give it a perfect 10 rating.

Solid state never breaks. F*ck tube amps. But I'm not giving a rating because of my horrible luck and good old Murphy's law.

Washburn sucks. I called them to find out about getting a footswitch, and they took about 10 minutes switching me from department to department only to eventually get me through to someone that kept me on hold for about 20 minutes, only to come back and say 'Sorry, we don't know anything about the old Randall amps...'

Gee thanks guys, I'm glad you were able to waste my WHOLE lunch hour for nothing...

This amp rocks my world. Even with the crappy looking fuzzy carpet covering. Gee, Mr. Randall have you ever heard of T-O-L-E-X??? But seriously, buy one if you can find one. No, wait a second, don't buy one because I don't want or need everyone sounding like me, and buying up all these cheap Randall amps I see in pawn shops and used music shops. Yes, I need them all!!!!!! I've become Randall obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This 150W solid state head needs no effects. It has 2 channels that are controllable through the foot switch. Foot switch has 2 buttons. One button changes channels, the other toggles a single channel/both channels feature. Seperate pre-gains and masters for each channel. There is an effects loop, though I've never used it. The "red" channel has a gain boost to give you a fantastic crunch at low volume.

This amplifier provides probably the best crunch you'll ever hear from a solid state guitar amplifier. I regularly play it through a 4x12 Crate, but it sounds even better through 4x12 Marshall cabinets.

I've been playing mine since the late 80s. I spotted it in the used gear section of a local music store. When I played it and compared it to the store's "new" stock of Randall amps, there was a noticable difference. This amp has balls. My only complaint is that little plastic ring that holds the on/off switch in place broke so the switch jiggles around a bit.

Never delt with the company. 30 day warranty on used gear.

If you ever spot one of these, play it. You might find yourself making the owner an offer on it. Two of my friends have hounded me for years to buy or trade for it.

This is a big old Randall head, and is definitely pre-Washburn. It's dated from 1983, and has a cream front panel, and 2 channels. It has an effects loop, and reverb as well. Although this is a solid state amp, it sounds incredible. I bought this amp after seeing an old picture of Cobain using it on the Bleach tour. His looked Identical to this one. It is easily as powerful as my Marshall Silver jubilee 2555. I guess this is the first attempt of Randall to enter the high end concert amp market, and it looks like an older JMP style case.

Now I am a pure Marshall fan, with a collection ranging from a 1969 plexi on up, but this amp surprised me. I use Fender Jazzmasters, Mustangs and Strats, and here's the clincher. I have an original Small Clone and DOD Overdrive pre-amp 250. When I run these 2 pedals through this amp I get the most unbeleivable STP meets Nirvana and Soundgarden. It is the thickest, most hypnotizing sound I've heard. The solid state nature of this amp brings out a pure Chorus surround sound. I've never had this sound before from my Marshalls. The overdrive is pure STP. The one thing I hate is that 80's rasp, but this amp seems to be designed to give a full HIWATT overdrive at reasonable volume levels. I know they changed the circuit on the Randalls because my friends sounds more like a late 80's thin chainsaw sound. If you find this version, I say get it.

This is a solid state amp, so you don't have to worry about tubes. I think that you have to be carefull about Filter caps and other conponents. This amp seems to have been running since the time it was made, without basement stagnation. It has the old Daly filter caps, but no hum. I guess it's in top form. I've run it 12 hrs. to break it in, just in case it sat. No problems

The one thing I didn't luck out with is the foot switch. It didn't come with one, and unfortunately Randall made the jack interface to some special plug. Everone I've called told me that it would be nearly impossible to find. I'll keep checking. Washburn has nothing remotely close.

If your looking for a more unique sound than everyone on the block, then get this amp. I cannot vouche for later model Randalls, because they sound totally different. Look for the cream panel without the white piping around the case. Mine also has a Silver aluminum logo. Later ones were white. Great amp. Get one if you can find this model.