Randall RG100SC 212 Combo

The Randall RG100SC features:
1 Clean Channel, 2 Overdrive Channels (1 is a cleaner Overdrive, the other is a more modern Distortion, Reverb, Stereo Chorus, 2 12 inch Celestion 70/80 Speaker/drivers, and a midi footswitch, with an effects loop (in case you want to hook up rack mount effects), speaker out (in case you want to hook up to another cab), and a headphone out. It is a 100 Watt Solid State amplifier.

This thing has crushing, brutal sound. Its more aimed towards metal-heads. I play an ESP LTD EX50, hooked up to a Boss Metal Zone MT2, looped through a Boss Noise Suppressor NS2, routed into the clean section it sounds ultra brutal, and it adds a whole new realm of possibilities if you roll back the distortion on the pedal a little and switch on the amp distortion. It adds a certain layering that has this cool, mid scooped sound that is bass intensive, with chilling highs and just enough low end mids to make the tube lovers scratch their heads and say "hm... that sounds kind of tube-ish" My settings on my Boss Pedal are highs and lows 3 oclock, middle 7 oclock, mid frequency 12 oclock, and on my amp, the settings are (usually) on clean channel, bass 6, mid 2, treble 5.
Sounds pristine.

Solid State, baby. Never will break unless you throw it down a flight of stairs, even then it'll probably survive, this thing is a tank. Literally. Its heavy as heck, and if I have any complaint, it is that this thing weighs about 75 lbs by its self.

Never had to call them. This thing will last forever if you take care of it, as long as you don't put it in a pool and turn it on I think it'll be fine.

I wish that it had an equalizer built into it, so it could be all the more versatile. As someone said in a previous review, if you hook up an MXR Eq, a Furman PQ3 or PQ4, a Boss EQ pedal, a Nady Parametric EQ, or heck, even a Behringer Parametric EQ, I think it'll work wonders and let you sculpt your sound a little further.
I love basically everything about this amp, except that its heavy as hell. By heavy, I mean literally, heavy, 75 lbs dead weight, but then again any really brutal amp is going to weigh a ton, so no real complaints. If you get it and want to gig with it, be sure to either get a dolly/hand truck to haul it or else you'll have back trouble, don't say I didn't warn you! lol. (either that or hire a roadie lol)

This amp is solid state (no tubes) amp with 100 watts of power running through two 12 inch Celestion 70-80s. I'm unsure of the year this amp was made - but it is a G2 version with a five button footswitch. It has two overdrive channels, each with their own control and a switch to select the OD channel. The OD channels have combined bass, middle and treble controls as well as a contour, level, reverb and middle voicing controls. It also has a clean channel which has a level control with boost, bass, middle and treble controls as well as a reverb control. There is a master volume control and a chorus switch with depth and rate controls. Input, phones and master power round out the front control panel. There is an effects loop at the back of the amp I haven't fooled with.

The sound quality of this amp is amazing and why I decided to post this review. I'm using an Epiphone SG 400 with stock Alnico (Gibson made) pickups in it. These pickups are passive (not active). OD1 is on the level of an AC/DC or Ted Nugent type sound. OD2 is much heavier with a Metallica or Pantera type crunch to it. The clean channel is pristine. This amp is loud and the only issue I've experienced is on OD2 with the OD2 control all the way at 10, the level set to around 8 and the master volume at 10. At that point OD2 starts popping - but I think that's because the amp was just not meant to be pushed quite that far. Could be due to the room it's in - everything starts rattling at that point - I thought the windows were going to pop out of their casings, so I didn't leave it there for long. Overall this amp has a huge sound on all channels and the sound quality is very, very, very high. OD2 is my favorite. You can dial in just about any tone you want by fooling with the very responsive tone controls and fooling with the levels. I don't use any effects with it at all like I've had to with other amps. Just not necessary.

No problems whatsoever. This amp is built so solid and is so heavy I think you could run it over with a truck and it would still work. Think along the lines of a Mac truck.

Haven't had to deal with Randall. Don't expect to due to the quality of the amp, though.

If this amp were lost or stolen, I'd replace it with the same model. It's the best amp I've ever owned. Much better than any Marshalls I've had experience with.

*** this is an update to a post I made 3 years ago- it might help someone!*** 2004 model-see my post from 2005. This amp is full of features and is a load of fun and there's a few things you should know before buying one.

I basically now use a Strat and a Dean explorer. I play metal, blues and heavy blues/prog. This is where I would like to explain what I have experienced in the past 3 years since I have had this amp. It is not loud..my 1980 Peavey classis 212 vtx is a 65 watt and is louder when distorted but this amp is slightly louder ( who cares if it doesn't sound like metal) on the clean channel as the Peavey tube amp has hardly no head room on it's clean channel. This amp has a sterile clean channel ( no noise, no distortion at all) and the eq's are basically useless and it is very flat sounding. Enter a 6 band EQ-- Dime Bag ( God rest his sole) used a 6 band MXR EQ on his old Randalls and what a difference. I tried the same and ...MAAAAN! YOU TRY THIS-- run it through the effects loop- get a lopsided V ( more bass) and it solves the flat clean channel sound. Now, the distortion. The gain 2 I have just stayed with usually at 8-9 as it has more gain and bass response- this amp really has a great low end crunch - on my Dean I chug a muted B I can vibrate every silly ornament off the top of the amp and off the shelves in my office/studio!--I can just see the speakers bouncing about 3 inches in and out in slow motion! The chorus adds a horrible sounding " distortion" while playing with it on- clean channel it's not bad. I really dont think this amp sounds good with a single coil guitar- You can blatantly hear why blues players use tube amps. My Strat sounds Ok but pretty good through a Tube Screamer or FAB-1 through the clean channel. I have gigged with this amp a few times and with the gain 1 channel at about 3 and my Strat pickup on the second setting from bridge- it was a decent slightly dirty chicken pickin' sound that I could manipulate with force of picking- not bad for a solid state. This is a metal amp period. If you want to sound most excelent with a decent portion of mojo with hot sauce, go ahead and get a tube amp and all the work that goes along with having anything high maintenance and beautiful. Anyone who likes metal that will spank your ass red ( and the spank will be consistantly the same everytime it happens) and when you play for 5 hours with it at full blast, knock it down and call it Shirley and it says, "thank you sir, may I have another" you will appreciate this amp!

I had some wierd problems with volume fluctuations at high volumes when I first started playing out with it. I found that you need to have the overdrive volume as low as you can get it and keep the master volume as high as it will go to avoid this strange overdrive overdrive glitch. I never found out what it was, but that soved it- I have a long and complicated signal chain which may have been a factor. It has cleared up and works fine now. This thing is pretty tough. I've had it 3 years hauling it around and it's been fine--no tubes... muahh haa haa haa

du nu

I have been playinh almost 30 years, If stolen, I probably wouldn'r buy another but for a great metal amp-- its worth every cent! This is solid state, a metal amp. It's gain is huge but still compared to a tube amp, it seems there is something missing when you play a single coil or back way off the gain. This amp surpasses any tube amp for clean sound despite it's lack of EQ on the clean channel which can be remedied with a stomp EQ. When I was searching for an amp back in early 2005, I played Crates, Peaveys and Fender tube amp and just couldn't get enough gain and the distortion sounded too gravelly and raspy. The Marshall solid states sounded good but were slightly out of my price range- also they had widely known cooling fan problems. The Randall I looked up on the internet and drove an hour out of town to try one. I thought, "this is the one" - you can play them quiet with massive gain unlike a tube and the distortion sounded smooth and the chorus was cool built in. Oh...I wish it had a drink holder.

The only thing keeping this amplifier from getting a ten here is that fact that it only came with one pedal that had two buttons. As others have mentioned, you can only use it to switch between gain types and distortion on/off OR you can use it to turn on/off the reverb and/or chorus. I broke my first pedal but it can be fixed (not recommended while under warranty as it will be replaced for free). It's just a simple problem with the cable breaking at the entrance of the stompbox. I also bought myself an extra so that I could switch everything remotely.

Clean channel is very good. It has a wide range of tonality. I don't use it much as I'm into heavy music. I have not heard any distortion of the clean channel at high volumes.

Distortion is amazing. I have to STRONGLY disagree with Jordan on this one. There's a more classic gain and a modern gain. Both are extremely powerful. I haven't seen any problems with balancing volumes at all. The distortion channel has a bit of noise if the amp is poorly grounded or the guitar's pickups are of low quality.

Both channels have 3 band EQ and level controls. I said I'm into heavy music so I have some bias toward the distortion tone. There are gain knobs so if it's too intense you can probably find a medium.

I would never bring a backup to a gig with this amp. I don't think I've ever need to fix anything besides the pedal. If you have the amp and you're having problems with the pedal, DO NOT rely on it! It's just not worth the risk. Essentially, the problem with the pedal is avoidable as long as you don't put much strain on the chord where it enters the pedal box itself.

Warranty is good although I've never needed anything besides a replacement pedal and after I fixed the second I'm pretty sure I'll never need to rely on it.

I just wish this came with a four button footswitch.


I love this amplifier.

Made in 2002, solid-state, 3-channel (clean, gain 1, gain 2), 100 Watt. It came with 2 footswitches, one for channel/gain selection, the other for chorus/reverb control. Equipped with 2 12" celestion seventy 80's.

This is where this amplifier really caught my attention. The clean channel has a nice and clear sound, the chorus and reverb are really good. The gain 1 channel overdrive gives a nice crunch for rock n roll and heavy blues, the gain 2 distortion is decent enough for 80's heavy metal, but doesn't have enough gain to deliver a sound that suits modern metal. The overal sound is very heavy and bassy.

I play an Ibanez RG prestige model equiped with a seymour duncan invader on the bridge, I use a Boss MT-2 distortion pedal to get a more modern distortion. This combination really adds up to a great sound, even when playing live. As an alternative you can use a compressor on the gain 2 channel, this also delivers a more modern sound.

Overal I can say that this amp suits metal quite well, but you'll need to boost it's distortion to get a modern sound.

This amp is very heavy, it's made of decent materials and doesn't have any really weak spots. I never had any trouble with it during the 3 years I own this amp, it has withstood live playing easily. The footswitches also are built very decently, never had any trouble with them.

I never had to deal with the company.

After reading the previous review I felt obliged to defend this amp. It really is a very good amp, especially in its price class. It's strong, very heavy sounding, and has good reverb and chorus. Recommended for metal and heavy rock.

Overall:

Plus: very heavy sound, reacts nicely to distortion pedal, strong, mean looking.

Minus: weighs very much, gain 2 is too weak for heavy music, a bit basic features.

I guess it came with everything you need. An extra foot switch would have been nice, the one it came with only had 2 buttons. You could switch channels or use it as an on off for the reverb and choris. Not both.

The CLEAN sound on the amp is good. Probably the only thing i liked about the amp. Add a little reverb and choris and this amp sounds amazing. The distortion is another story. First of all, in order to try and balance the volume between the clean and distortion channels the clean has to go lower than 1, and the distortion has to go on max. You would think it would be the other way around, but it's not. As for the distortion, (the amp has 2 different distortion sounds) i didn't like them.

THIS AMP WAS BROKEN ALL THE TIME!!!

Ok, where to start. The foot switch must be crafted by a kindergarten class. I went through 5. After the first one broke within the first 2 months, i realized the cord was very fragile so i tried hard to take care of it. Didn't work. No matter how light i coiled it up, they kept braking.
As for the amp itself, the reverb went, the imput for the guitar broke, something internally shorted out and it was stuck on the clean channel, and the second distortion(the heavy one) wouldn't switch on (from the amp or using the footswitch).

I played a lot of clubs with this amp (when it worked) so it seen a fair bit of use, but this amp wasn't used hard enough to always be broken. It was never dropped or anything like that.

The store I bought the amp from did the repairs.

I have been playing for over 12 years. I use an american fat strat (texas special) and a tribute g&l asat. The best move i made was to sell the Randall and get a fender deluxe tube amp. I use a rat distortion box and it sounds amazing.

DO NOT GET A RANDALL AMP.

* This amp was made in about 2003 or 2004 i would say it is very modern sounding.

*Comes equipped with 2x12 celstion 80's

*Two channels with three modes: Clean, overdrive 1 (classic gain) overdrive 2(modern/high gain)

* effects loop with adjustable level

* Headphone jack(why you need one on a 100 watt amp i am not sure...)

* spring reverb and chorus

*Independent level and master control

* 3band equaliezer on each channel with contour and mid voicing on overdrive channel

*clean boost option

*5 button footswtich

I bought this amp a year ago based on the fact it was going to be a heavy metal and or hard rock amp and i was far from dissapointed and them some!!! This amp rocks the house for anything from classic hard rock like AC/DC to intense metal such as lamb of god. It is suprisingly versatile and sounds really bassy/crunchy. Some complaints however, go to the clean channel which is less than tonefull when played with emg acitves. I use an Ltd ax400 with this amp and the overdrive sounds crushing, however on clean it is a little dissapointing. The clean boost option is simply a volume boost which may be usuefull for clean solos. The clean is also a little distorted at high volumes but i don't use it much anyway. This amp suits most styles very well epsically the heavy kinds. When cranked loud it sounds great allthough be carefull not to stand close to it when the volume is on 3 quatters to full because the feedback will kill you. Un fortunatley for 100watts it is a little quiet and has to be cranked a fair way up for small gigs, jammin and rehersal. The mid vocing control is realy good for pure neck pickup solos as it adds a colour to the sound but it id better left off for the brutal music. The contuor is reall good when turned up for the vintage sound rock and roll. Great additon to the sound quality.

Ok this amp is without doubt a solid brick. I have smashed it against hard walls(by accident), cranked way loud at gigs carried in a bad position in my car and nearly blown it up and it has never overheated or changed whatso ever. It is as i mentioned above not the loudest 100watt amp cpmbo available but it can handle high volumes without any problems. I would bring a back up to a gig as i have not played continuously at a gig for over 30 mins but it so far seems to be great.

I have not had to deal with them but i hear they absoloutley suck balls with customer support so you are better off getting it fixed elswhere if it breaks down.

I have been playing for 2 and a half years and i have owned a 10 watt kustom, a real cheap guitar and an awesome guitar and this randall is one of the best pieces of music gear i own. If it were stoen i would be heaps pissed and i would see what i could do about replacing it. I love the ovedrive and the verstalitly (except from a jazz point of view..) and the clestions are fantastic speakers. I would have liked it to be louder than it is but for 750 aussie dollars and a 5button footswtich it is great value. I would recomend this amp to anyone except jazz players! Rock on and try it out9 espically metal heads !) it really is a cool amp.

I'm not 100% sure but,I think in 2004.(I wish it were noted somewhere on the amp). This amp is excellent for the type of music I play,everything from Rock,heavy metal to Blues.This amp has 2 chanels with 3 modes,1 clean channel,which is very nice and is used for the blues,1 distorted chanel(Marshall esque)which I use for the 60's to today stuff and some blues for that edge I mentioned,1 very distorted channel which absolutely kicks your balls into your throat!!I call this channel the Randall channel. It has channel switching,effects loops,headphone jack,5 button foot switch,and stereo chorus. This amp has all the features I was looking for and I use these features as each song predicts.I use this amp in my home studio for practice and for recording.This amp has all the power I need and more.

I use a 2001 Gibson Les Paul Standard with Alnico pickups.I also use a Gibson 2003 SG Standard with Alnico pickups, and an 80's Fender Stratocaster.This amp is excellent for the style of music I play,which is mostly Rock-n-Roll(60's right up until today),Heavy Metal(Metallica to Godsmack) to blues with an edge,such as Clapton and a really great player named Coco Montoya.The only noise(humm) I get is from the single coils from the Strat(only on the distorted channels,the clean channel is good to go).I use a Boss noise gate,and my problem is solved.I really work the settings for optimal sound production and not just for volume.If I need more volume I'll run it through my Pa.The variety of sounds are really great,you can get anything from a 60's British Marshall sound,to a modern metal,to a really clean sound.Remember all you need to do is experiment with the knobs and buttons,You'll be truly amazed at what You will discover.The clean channel sounds great at any volume. The distortion is as brutal as you could ask for,it is absolutely awesome! Randall has created the sound that all others must now follow.

This amp is really dependable,I have used it on gigs without a backup.This amp has never broken down.It is solidly made and I doubt it will ever brake unless I really neglect it by using a sledge hammer or maybe a chainsaw.If you spend your hard earned money on something that you hope will make you rich and famous......why neglect it?

Never had to deal with Randall. The store I purchase the amp from recieved the wrong foot switch for the amp.I returned it,they ordered a new one at no cost to me. Very good service from Cintioli's music in Phila. I highly recommend Cintioli's Music for anyone how lives near or in Phila. check them out,you won't go wrong.

I've been playing for about 20 years. I use a Marshall 1936 extension cab with it to give me that half stack feel,and the sound is truly amazing. If it were stolen or lost,I would purchase a new one. The thing I love about it is the sound is truly amazing! I don't hate anything about it.I compared it to other brands and chose Randall not only because of the price but, the sound and features it offered, and plus when on line reading reviews...I found others comments very helpful. Most people seemed very happy with their amps Thats is why I checked it out. So thank all of you for writing your comments.

This review is for the RG100SC from 2002, not the new G2 series. They are essentially the same thing, but mine only has a 2 button footswitch. The weight is my biggest problem with this thing - 80 lbs.

I play Husker Du/Sonic Youth/Guided by Voices kind of musis with a variety of guitars and a Rat.

Clean Channel - 9/10: This is the only channel I use. It's far more powerful than the OD channels and takes pedals better than a JC-120. My Rat sounds great through this. I was shopping recently to see if I wanted to upgrade amps and I was pretty disappointed with just about everything I tried. The Marshall DSL/TSL series really sucks in my opinion and the JC-120 is only usable for clean. The Mesa F-50 and a plethora of Fender amps impressed me, but they were all like $700 more than the Randall, and not worth it.

OD 1 - 7/10: One of the best SS on-amp distortions I've heard, but still felt a tad weak compared to the Rat through the clean channel.

OD 2 - 6/10: Heavy, but felt quiet even when it was loud (if that makes any sense.) With a BBE sonic stomp and an MXR EQ it could be brutal, but you might as well just play a Metal Zone through the clean channel.

Reverb/Chorus 6/10: These are both decent, but I never use them.

Speakers 6/10: Celestion 70/80s are pretty darn good for cheap stock speakers, but they lack a little umph and jangle.

I'm giving the sound quality rating a 7 because people always rate crap too high or too low. This is a perfect 7. Bang for your buck, on the other hand, is an 11.

One time it just started cutting out when I played too loud, but that was a year ago, and it hasn't done it sense. I'm still playing really loud too.

I can't help but think that if Randall made this thing just a single clean channel amp with reverb and put in better speakers, it would be the ultimate pedal player's amp. A lot of people use twin reverbs and JC-120s to get a clear palette to lay their effects over, but I think this amp is just as good, if not better, than either of those in that aspect.

Bought it new, forget exactly when... maybe 2002?

Solid state, a solid 100 watts, 2-channel with included footswitch, spring reverb, stereo chorus, plenty of jacks for anything you'd want to do with it. An amp this size needs wheels though!!! No wheels.

Like everyone says... Great, powerful clean sounds. Chorus is Ok if you keep the rate low. Reverb Ok, not great. Built-in distortion works well for some things, but isn't extremely versatile. Especially hard to get bassier or "scooped" tones out of it. Maybe just the way the crossovers on the tone controls are set up. Sounds great using pedals / processors for effects. My guess is the distortion channels were designed to be a little easy on the amp / drivers since the price was so low... Less warranty repairs.

All and all, great clean sound and headroom for the money. Way smoother and punchier sounding than something similar from Crate. Love the way this amp seems to cancel out "squealing" feedback and still let you play with more musical feedback when distorted. Built-in distortion seems a little on the noisy side. Not real bad though.

Have to complain here. Don't play it loud that often. Once I did and a 3-pin IC just jumped off the main PC board. Solder didn't crack, connector pins just broke in half. There is some wiring close to the part. Looks like whoever put it together may have caught the part with the wiring and bent it over, maybe straightened it out weakening it further. Could be that vibrations just caused the Part to rock back and fourth untill the pins broke. Didn't take any chances, hot-glued the new part to the board. Just glad it was something I could spot and repair myself. Think there were some strange noises at higher volumes before the part jumped off. Could be others complaining of noises at higher volumes are having a similar problem. The main PC board is very large, thin and flexable. Possibly a cause of this or other problems. Also, main PC board is only secured with 4 screws on the back. The front is held in place only by the controls and jacks mounted to the front panel. Probably not a great idea using electronic parts / connections to hold a PC board in place in something subject to that much vibration. Wouldn't be at all surprised if I had trouble with the jack / control connections down the road. Think one reviewer already mentioned troubles with the jack connections. Would probably be a good idea to have a backup with this amp. Sad to say about a solid state.

Otherwise, construction quality looks really good for the price. Very sturdy cabinet and drivers. Parts quality looks good. I guess you do have to take the price into consideration. Not so bad considering...

Never dealt with them. My problem happened after the warranty expired.

Been playing casually for about 10 years. This is about the only truely good sounding amp (with pedals) I've heard that I can afford. The Peavy Bandit 75 and Crate Amp (120 watt 2 12", also quickly developed problems without being abused)) I owned previously just couldn't compare sound-quality wise.

If it were stolen... I don't know... Might have to spend more and get something built a little better... don't know what these days though. If I couldn't come up with more $, I guess I'd do it again. Just can't buy anything else that sounds this good for the $. Low rating only due to reliability issues and the fact that I believe these are caused by a careless design and bound to happen sooner or later. Extra point given for excellent sound, sturdy cabinet, nice drivers, full set of jacks, and low price. Won't do you any good if the amp doesn't work though!!!