Randall RH50T Head

A follow up to an earlier post ...

While I liked the smooth distortion on channel one at lower volumes, it just sounded too flubby on palm mutes. I changed speakers three times in my cab to try out something else, and couldn't get the chest pounding sound out of it that I wanted. It was no Triple XXX. The Randall sounded muddy when playing out so I ended up selling it and getting another XXX. It didn't sound bad, it didn't sound great.

Once fixed, it worked while I had it, but took a while to get it fixed

I sold it, enough said...

I purchased my Randall RH50T from Ebay as new. It is a very basic 2-channel amp with reverb and some tonal controls.

I purchased my Randall RH50T from Ebay as new. I own about other 50 other brands solid state and tube amps. Each seems to have their own characteristic in tone. Like the earlier reviewer, I was first very disappointed about the lack of mid-tone from the clean channel. This is a problem when the amp is providing too much bass and treble. However, when I lower the bass and treble, the problem has mostly eliminated. While others may view that the lack of midtone is a negative, I see that the amp has the ability to provide a very saturated bass tone. Depending on the type of music one plays, that can be a positive. I am not a native American, so I am also exposed to some non-traditional music such as Chinese Opera, and so forth. Sometimes, I find that amp to be a plus. Of course I also have other amps too. Regarding the non-clean channel, it sounds okay. Then, I am not expecting it to perform like a Marshall, Mesa, or Fender.

Regarding reliability, I think the amp is okay. However, I do not drag the amp everywhere to gig. Becasue I only purchased the amp as new two years ago. I really can not comment on how well the amp can handle abuse.

No issue yet. So I have naver contacted customer support.

Overall, the amp is different from the other amps that I own. Nevertheless, all the other amps have their own unique characteristics. While the earlier reviewer indicates that the amp lacks mid tones, I see the amp having a very good bass and treble that sometimes may be desirable for some weird music.

This is a hi-gain tube amp, 50W, directed towards heavy metal. Has a clean channel with boost, and a gain channel with 2 selectable gain presets. Footswitchable reverb and channels, clear lay-out, nothing fancy.
Unfortunately, there is hardly a middle ground between the clean and the heavy heavy distorted sounds.

I've only had this amp for two weeks since it belongs to a friend and he wasn't happy with the sound so I modded it. See "sound".
If you're looking for something versatile you can use for classic rock, blues, funk or other things, don't get this amp - soundwise.

By the way, for those of you worried about the "non-tube electronics" inside the amp: this *is* basically a tube amp, all the other stuff is for channel switching, the reverb driver, and the fx loop. So in pure essence it's a tube amp.

I see other people here like the sound of this amp; me and my friend didn't. When you turn up the master volume it starts to sound more or less usable, but when it's not wide open we found the clean channel to sound much too compressed, even nasal, and when turned up or boosted it gives a very compressed distortion.
As for the hi-gain channel, I didn't like the distortion very much. Not the heavy thumping Metallica gain, not the rocking smooth Iron Maiden thing, not the "classic amp at full blast" Black Sabbath thing. Price-wise the comparison isn't fair but my friend's Mesa/boogie dual recto, *that's* distortion. And my old fender amps, that's clean and od sounds.
This thing sounds so compressed it almost made me think it was one of those ghastly digital things instead of a tube amp.

Not to get too technical, but I found out why it sounds like that. They put 5 amplification stages before the power amp. For example, a fender bassman has 2 stages, a jcm800 has 3. But in order to keep everything under control, they have to "tame" the signal after almost every gain stage. And, to my opinion, they haven't done a very musical job at that. Mesa/boogie does it too, but their amps don't sound so damn tame and compressed - unless you really want them to.

Well, I had a go at it, and by changing a couple of component values (well, about 20 small modifications) I made the clean channel brighter and more responsive, the "boost" has a fine crunchy quality to it instead of a compressed distortion, "gain1" sounds very "classic rock" now and "gain2" is the full open distortion. Those of you who want the technical details can mail me at stefaan - at - stefaanvanslycken.be

The electronics were assembled in China. Looks like they did a decent job over all. It is - of course - not handwired so it's all built on PCBs.
Looks road-worthy.

NA, found schematic on-line.

To summarize: off-the-shelf it sounds way too compressed, lifeless, has no attack and isn't very responsive. Not an inspirational amp. It starts to come to life a bit with the volume way up, but even then there are better sounding things around.
My friend was thinking of selling it only a couple of months after he bought it because he was so dissatisfied.
The modifications I did were good enough to make it "all right" - still, it's not a m/b - so if you are stuck with one, you can make it sound better. If you don't have one yet, look for something else.

Very good features for the price:
Amplifier head with 4 ECC83 preamp tubes, 2 EL34 power tubes, 2 channeles, each with two footswitchable soundmodes, footswitchable 2 separate lead gain controls, lead channel ha s a lvel control, each channel with separate 3-band-eq, effects loop, footswitchable spring reverb, master volume and master reverb controll.
Only 2 things may be missed: presence control, jack for 16 ohm speakers.

I think the great sound of this amp is not apreciated fairly in here.

Cleansound: good and really clean with stronger passive humbuckers if volume below 13 o'clock. It is dynamic, has bell-like trebles, never sounds too sharp and feels just like a good tube clean sound if you play it. reminds me a little of a blend between fender tweed and blackface. The response to your playing is very tube-like. 9 of 10.
Clean with boost: very good crunch tone, a little like a non-master Marshall that starts to break up. 10 of 10! Best crunch sound i ever played!

Lead-channel, gaincontrol 1: Rather good, with enough drive for biting rock rhythm tone with gain1 set to 9 o'clock. gain 1 has more trebles than gain2, gain1 sounds like a JCM to me, great overtones, really pleasing, 9.5 of 10.
Gain 2 has the same amount oof drive like gain 1 but sounds warmer, has less trebles but a tad more compression. Also sounds good, but needs a little more drive to sound good. with gain between 10 and 13 o'clock you have a warm, compressed but still dynamic lead sound with great overones and artificial harmonics. 8.5 of 10.
Gain 1 is more appropriate for rhythm, gain2 for leads, imho.

All in all very god to phantastic tones, a good variety of tones, no one-trick-pony.
Sound is good for clean stuff with a little bite and kick, for driving rock, harder blues rock and old school metal like old metallica, savatage or helloween.
For softer blues it might have a little too much bite, but i haven't testing wether the EQ can change that good enough.

If your box/speaker is not sounding too dull and treble-less, the eq is more than sufficent for almost all use cases, imho.
If your box is on the dark and dull side, a presence control might be missed or a bright sitch for each channel

All in all slightly above 9 of 10, but not a full 10.

no idea, but looks stable and reliable. Rock solid cabinet with metal enclosure at the back side.

The downside.
The manual is a bad joke, the web page of Randall does not help much, questions in the randall forum often remain unreplyed.
Obviously nor Randdall employees do write in the randall forum, and in case they do they seem to very stingy with help.

The the amp would cost the double of its actual price i'd rate this 9, because it offers good and some very good sounds and enough of features.

Regarding the actual price of about 500 euro or 600 US$ tthe apropriate rating can only be a ten! Phantastic value!

Two channels, each with two functions. The clean has a boost that brightens up the tone, and the gain channel has two voicings to it. Has reverb that is foot switchable. effects loop, 4 & 8 ohm speaker outs. Its fairly light weight.

Real good lead channels. It's not a fuzzy type of distortion. More smooth. It does have some high end bite that Randall's are known for but it can easily be eq'd out if that's not your thing. Clean channel is good two, although it doesn't seem quite as loud. I honestly don't know how this didn't catch on more like Peavey's Valveking series or other chinese built amps. I think it can hold it's own against them. It's only 50W compared to the VK 100w, but sometimes having less wattage is a good thing when turning it up for tone.

Chinese built, but so far no problems

don't know

Very good amp head. The el34's have a nice tone to it. The somewhat smaller size will fit on any cabinet. I still can't figure out why these are so hard to get. I don't know if they never made many of them or Randall just isn't as marketable as the others. Who knows.

Features are listed below.

I play this mostly with a Gibson Les Paul with Burstbucker pups, but sounds good with all guitars I have. Haven't tried it live yet, but will post a follow up after hearing it out with the boys. Thing sounds fantastic. I also have a Peavey Triple X and a Peavey valveking, and the distortion is smooth and clear on channel one of the overdrive channel. Channel two gets muddy but I really only use the other. the gain I keep at around 12 or 1 oclock. It really makes me think of selling my Triple X. The Triple X has a more boomy bottom end to it, but also has that high end sizzle that's hard but not impossible to eq out. The Randall doesn't have that sizzle style distortion. I don't know if the gainiacs would find enough gain for death metal, but for rock, 80's metal it's awesome. May very well be the best sounding amp I have played through.

Came DOA from an ebayer, and it took a amp tech about two weeks to find the problem, and it's from China, so who knows. I am keeping my dingers crossed.

Manual is a joke, Randall won't respond to emails, but if you can get someone on the phone, they do have a small chance of being smart enough to help you

Been playing 12 years, see above for other amps, I currently have. Played it next to a Peavey Windsor for a comparison of el34's and the randall was way more versatile, smaller and easier to lug around. This amp, as mentioned before, really makes me consider selling off my Peavey's and going all Randall. Maybe trying out their MTS line.

I have owned this amp for 3 years and play it through a 4x12 randall cabinet. I play anything from light rock, blues to hard rock and metal. This amp can cover the range.

The amp has 2 channels. see below for comments. Footswitch allows switching between the channels and also kicking in reverb.

This amp is loud. I use it with an attentuator at home but use it without it when playing live

I play various telecasters and PRS's through this. Sounds great with singlecoils and 'buckers. The clean channel is great - very quiet and great for lighter rock / blues. The drive channel is AWESOME!!! Superb gain and quite a range of sounds depending on your taste for overdrive into full on distrortion. The distrortion is musical and not harsh. Works well live.

I haven't had any issues

I have had no need to get any support

Awesome sound for the money.

50 Watt Valve head with 2 X EL34 power valves and 4 X 12AX7 preamp valves. Clean channel with boost switch, gain channeles 2 & 3 (shared EQ and gain control for each). High/low gain inputs, 2 speaker outs and FX Loop

I'm currently using this with a Randall 2X12 loaded with Celestions and the sound quality is excellent for what I play currently in a band which is a mixture somewhere between GNR, Muse and Blink 182!. Guitar wise, I'm playing it through a Jackson DK2 and a Japanese Tokai Love Rock guitar (check these out, far superior sound wise to the 3 Gibson LP's I've owned!!!!)

It's a bit of a Jekyl & Hyde as there's a few 'niggles' which aren't an issue for me but may annoy others.

First off, the clean channel is very warm and has lots of headroom but anything above volume 6 and it will start to break up slightly. I tend to have this on about volume 8 as the cleans sounds I require don't need to be crystal clean and very tiny breakup is great for me. To balance out the distortion volume, you will only need to run the overdrive channel volume at about 3. If you click on the boost, you will get more breakup and a bit more volume.

Overdrive on this amp is absolutely awesome and is the best I've owned (I've owned loads including a Marshall Slash Stack, various marshall valve rack gear, Hughes & Kettner, Line 6, Marshall JTM etc etc) and the crunch is HUGE!!!! The sound is quite compressed (just how I like my overdrive) but this may be a reflection on running through a 2X12 and not a 4X12.

I always run through the low gain input as this thing has more distortion then you would ever need!! I tend to run the gain on about 5, Bass about 4.5, mid about 9, treble about 6 and reverb about 4. Crank the master volume up and it's absolute crunch heaven somewhere between Angus Young and Slash. I never tend to run more gain then this as I just don't need anymore despite it being on tap.

The only bad bit about the overdrive channels is the 'channel 3'. It only has a seperate gain control and everything else is shared but you can't use it as a lead boost as no matter how high you set the gain, there is absolutely no difference in volume when you switch channel so I can only presume this is for someone to use if they prefer the shape of the sound on channel 3....

I'm currently using a Behringer preamp booster through the FX loop(which is excellent) and gives me a massive volume boost that I need for soling without tainting my sound.

I'll give it a 9 as sound wise it's perfect but the features ain't perfect Randall should have left this as a straight 2 channel amp.

I've had it for about 2 months and so far it has been reliable. It did smell of burning solder when I first got it and ran very hot but seems to have bedded in now as it doesn't run as hot and no smells noted.

I'll leave this as no opinion as I need to run it for a while longer but hope I'll never have to call on backup.

Longer term, I may get another stack as the gigs we play get bigger and I can switch between two or use as the same backup

I believe the warranty on this is 3 years but so far, I've not had to call upon it.

I love the sound of this amp as it is perfect for what I play but some of the features aren't required like the gain 2 channel or possibly even the high gain input as there is absolutely loads of gain!!

If you need a hard rock valve sound then this is perfect. Metalheads may want to look elsewhere as although it has the gain, the EQ voicing on this goes as extreme as early Metallica although with a good parametric, dare I say, you would easily obtain the dual rectifier sound as it has the gain but just not the scooped mids required in standard guise.

If this was stolen, I would be absolutely gutted and would go straight out and buy another one.

For the price paid, this is a very very good amp indeed and although I got it at a discount (now the standard price), I would have paid the original price based on the sound.

High and low gain channels with two varieties of high gain plus clean boost feature. Also has hi and low inputs. Fifty tube watts is plenty loud for most venues. The four button footswitch enhances versatility for live playing.

I'm using this head with a Randall 4 X 12 cabinet loaded with Vintage 30s. This of course gives the setup lots of low end punch. I play the amp with a variety of guitars (SG, Tele); the amp produces distinctly different sounds with each pickup type (as it should), but all guitars I've tried sound very good. This amp makes a very good but not spectacular clean sound, and excellent high gain sounds. Gain 1 is great for chunky rhythm work while Gain 2 is better suited to smooth lead work. To keep the clean channel really clean you need to keep the channel level control low ("4" or less) which of course limits the volume output for very clean sounds. If you want some breakup of your "clean" sounds, the clean boost feature works well. In comparison to the Randall solid-state heads that I tried, this one is much smoother and has far richer sounding harmonics.

No problems for the first year.

Never had to use customer support.

I've been playing 25 years. I also own Marshall and Fender tube amps. This amp has it's own vibe distinct from a Marshall and other brands. That's why I bought it - for the sonic variety. I got it on a half-price clear-out sale but even at regular price it's less than half the price of a similarly powered Marshall head. As such this head is a really great value.

50 Watts, all tube. Two channels, boost on clean channel and and two flavors of gain on the lead channel. Reverb, 8 and 4 ohm speaker outs, effects loop with switchable level for rack gear and stomp boxes. External probes to check bias and the bias level of each tube can be tweaked independantly, so if your tubes aren't matched very well you can adjust for it by running them at different temps.

You get a nice collection of features for the price tag.

Using Rhoads V's with EMG's (81,60). Surprise, I play heavy metal (old metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, etc).

With the EQ's set to noon, the clean channel is bright enough to cause cancer. Once I did some major tweaking (cut mids to about 10:30 and the highs to about 8:30), the amp has a pretty nice clean sound, somewhere between a Fender and a JCM.

The Lead channel has enough gain for the stuff I play, which is usually my first criteria for an amp. There are two types of gain: one is very tight and crisp and excellent for rhythm work (think JCM on steroids), the other is smoother (softer) and is very nice for leads.

The fuse holder broke on me, but once they sent me a replacement I was up and running and haven't looked back since.

Here's the bad part. Remember the fuse holder that needed to be replaced? Well it took them about a month to send it, and when they finally did, it was only because I raised HOLY HELL with them. Being a nice guy for a month got me no where, but once I became a total prick (see post below) they got their butts in gear and sent me the part ASAP. Sad that they couldn't just do that in the first place during the month that I was patient about it.

For the money, it's a great amp. Doesn't compare to high end amps, but it's as good or better than anything you will find in it's price range.

I don't know what year this amp was made, but I bought it in Oct-Nov 2005. It has two channels(clean/dirty) the clean channel has a boost feature and the dirty(gain) channel has two flavors "classic high gain" and "modern high gain". It does come with a foot switch that handles channel switching and turning the reverb on/off.

Here's where things start going downhill, when I bought this amp I had an idea what an EL34 equipped amp would sound like, and this amp did not meet any of my expectations, the sound from both channels was the complete opposite of what we've all come to expect from tube amps. Cold,harsh brittle I tried it with my telecaster, and my Godin Solidac(humbuckers)and the results were the same, at low volumes and with a gaggle of pedals I got decent sounds, but this is a tube amp for heaven's sake you shouldn't have to do that!!! Here's the catch though I slid the chasis out and I noticed several transistors and several IC's(chips)inside the amp, I understand using a solid-state rectifier, but it seems to me with the number of componets I saw that this amp is a wolf in sheep's clothing!!! I don't think you can use that may solid-state componets and still get a tube tone..This is the thing that really pissed me off about this thing, but then again it explains the lack of a quality tube sound!!

I don't know about anyone else but I can't depend on this thing,I haven't been happy with the sound of this thing since the day I got it, but I continued to use it. When I first got it, it generated quite a bit of heat in my living room, which is what I expected..its a tube amp after all, but then I moved to where we play and I began to notice that it started running a lot cooler and the volume and intensity diminished? I ordered some different tubes because I figured I change tubes and have the amp re-biased and then maybe I'd be happier with the sound....That didn't happen!!! I brought the amp home popped in new tubes(hooked it up to my cabinet!!) and turned it on just to see if I could tell the difference even w/o having it re-biased(even though I fully intended on taking it in)and to my surpise ....nothing happened, no sound, the tubes weren't lit up nothing!!!! I checked and double-checked to see if I put the right tubes in...EL34's(a matched set @ that!!), and indeed I had, so I don't understand what happened, I assume I must've somehow blown one of the transformers? Unacceptable!

Terrible,terrible!! when the amp arrived it shipped w/o a manual and I called, emailed even sent a letter and in 4mths still no manual!!! Now this thing up and dies on me!! I called Randall today and they say that the amp could be repaired under warranty, if I (1)Send the amp to Chicago or (2)Hope and pray that the local retailer will do the work and send Randall the bill? I'm hoping for the 2nd option, and as soon as its repaired its getting sold, I don't really care how much I get for it I just don't want it around here anymore, it was/is such a huge waste of money...I ordered a Peavey Classic 30 Head, only had it for 3hrs but right out of the box I call tell its a much better amp,it shipped with the manual, and although its only a 30W amp its at least three times as loud as the Randall 50W? maybe its because it's made in the USA vs the RH50T being made in China? I called Peavey customer support after I un-packed the amp because the spkr out says that it requires a minimum load of 16ohms, this concerned me a bit because when I researched this amp, the folks @ Peavey assured me that it was okay w/an 8 or 16ohm load but when I called the tech that answered asked a few questions and then he went and got an engineer when my questions went beyond his knowledge of the amp, you can't get that level of custome service frm Randall well at least I never did the numerous times I called them.

I've been playing for 15yrs. I bought this amp because I tried using modeling-amps and was never happy with my live sound(they're great going straight to the board or in a recording situation, the only exception being my Vox valvetronix)and I thought this a move up(boy was I wrong!!) If this were stolen I might thank the poor person who took it because at least that way I wouldn't feel obligated to have repaired in order to sell it!! With all the componets I saw in that amp I feel like I was robbed, or atleast lied to and now the amp doesn't even work!

Bought new in 2006. Two channels, clean and high gain, and the high gain channel has two voicings. Has an effects loop and reverb. Fifty watts, tube pre and power amps, yadda yadda. For the price, you get a fair collection of features.

I can't remember what the amp even sounds like because it's been dead in my living room for the last month. Less than a week after I got it, it blew a fuse. No problem, easy enough to fix, except that the fuse holder is apparently made out of popcorn and a paperclip, and broke on me while I was trying to get it back into the amp. So, I get on the phone with Randall Customer Service, and they say they will send a new fuse holder right out to me. Well, a week later I still haven't seen it so I call back. The tell me that is hasn't shipped yet, but that they will make sure it goes out the next day. Another week passes and still no fuse holder, so I call back again and get the same song and dance. Same thing the week after that. Basically, I have a brand new amp sitting in a coma in my living room because the Monkeys at Randall can't mail me a 50 cent part.

I wouldn't wipe my butt with it, nor with any of the people at Randall as they are not worthy of being used even as toilet paper. DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE, THEY ARE TOTAL AND COMPLETE FECAL MATTER.

Basically, they are PATHOLOGICAL LIARS. Four times they told me the part would ship within the next 24 hours, and a month later I am still waiting and still getting the same BS from them every time I call. They were also unable to answer any of the technical questions that I asked about the amp either. Totally useless and a-holes on top of it, if they were within driving distance I would have burned the place to the ground and pissed on the ashes by now.

Basically I hope everyone employed by Randall dies a slow, painful death for yanking me around for the last month. I wouldn't recommend Randall products to anyone unless I hated them with a passion and wanted to make their life miserable. A friend of mine bought a Randall years ago and had nothing but problems with it, of the year he owned the amp it literally spent 10 months in the shop. I rolled the dice that they had gotten their crap together over the years, but apparently that was a pipe dream. Special Education students in a school metal shop could probably build and support products better than these HACKS. Lord have mercey on your soul if you are stupid enough (like me) to buy a Randall product.

50 Watt all Tube Head
Reverb
Serial FX loop with adjustable input level
2-channels, each with 2 different voicings
4 x 12AX7's and 2 x EL-34's for power tubes
Seperate EQ for each Clean and OD channel
Power tube bias points

The only thing I think is missing is independent volume controls for Gain 1 and 2 on the OD channel.

Sounds great, I can't believe this amp costs so little $. I play instrumental hard rock and do some work on the side as a session player in many different styles. I use differnt guitars, most of them are strat-style guitars that have been customized by me. This amp covers my needs realy well. The OD 1 is great for rock tones, somewhere between a Marshall and a Mesa. The OD2 has more gain and sounds a little smoother, great for soloing. The clean channel is really good too, very warm and it has lots of headroom, very surprising for a 50w tube head. The clean boost adds some gain and volume, great for clean solos. The amp is quiet considering the amount of gain the OD channel has. The reverb is ok but nothing really special. But it gets the job done.
All things considered this is a great amp. Definitely the best tube amp under $500 and just as good as many amps costing twice as much or more. It is definitely a pro piece of gear. The price is unbelievable.

I don't know yet, I just had for a few weeks and it is made in China, so let's see. I will post an update after one year or so..

The amp came without a manual. I sent an email to Randall and they did not respond. Sad.

Great amp, especially for the price. Will cover all needs of most rock guitar players. I've been playing for over 25 years and I've had many amps in the past (Mesa, Marshall, Laney etc...). The ones that were better than this cost almost 3 times as much. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on gear anymore but I still wanted to have quality tube tone. This amp certainly gets the job done. I am glad I was able to look past the price and the fact it was made in China. I ended up with a really nice amp for an awesome price. I am thinking about buying the combo version for smaller gigs.

I believe this amp was probably made in 2004 or 2005. It's 50 watts RMS, with all-tube power (4 12AX7EH and 2 EL34's, 4 and 8 ohm mono outputs).I play metal (death, black, doom, thrash, industrial, and some '80's). This amp can do all that, plus classic rock, blues, and even jazz I'd imagine.
It has 2 footswitchable channels....Overdrive and clean. The clean channel has a "clean boost" switch (another switch on the 4-button footswitch), which is great for bluesy stuff. Without the boost, the clean channel just plain sounds good! The Overdrive channel has two settings....classic high gain, and the modern high gain. The modern high gain sounds very healthy with the low-tuned stuff I usually play. The classic high gain sounds almost like that. This amp has an effects loop with a level control button, and also reverb. Since I'm a metal-head, and this amp has all the distortion I need, I will tend not to use the reverb, or any other effects. The 4 button footswitch (channel select, gain select, clean boost, and reverb/effects loop on/off) is a beauty that works as good as it looks. To make this amp more "metal", I'd have included a mid-shift/scoop switch. But it really doesn't need it since this thing has gobbs of crunch anyway. For less than $500 (purchased from AMS), the features this head has makes it worth owning for a long-long time.

I normally play a home assembled guitar (Wayne Charvel Star alder body, WD strat maple/maple neck, Kent Armstrong designed Wilburn Custom Shop METALBUCKER pickup in the bridge position, and a vintage-style strat trem), and an early '80's vintage HONDO deluxe series Star (Charvel Knock-off), with a one-piece maple neck (to die for), a Gibson Iommi Signature p'up, and vintage-type trem. The cab I run now is a 200 watt RMS rated 2x12 from "parts unknown". It's all I need, and it pisses-off the 4x12 guy's, and the guy's that can barely make their full-stack run right!!! This amp suits my style of music a lot better than my previous solid-state amp. I don't need no steenkin' distortion pedal anymore! This amp is quiet at rest. I expected noise with the overdrive channel on either of it's two "flavors". There is a little noise. Much less than I expected though, and hardly noticeable. The clean channel, like I said, sounds really good. Hit the boost, and you get a bit of grit and bite. My pickups would overdrive any clean channel on any amp. I do get distortion at high volume on the RH50T's clean channel. No problem. I figure a guitar equipped with regular PAF's would have less of a problem with that. This is my first tube amp, so I cannot compare it's high volume clean sound with other amp's clean channels' fairly. The OD channels two high-gain "flavors" cover classic rock to old and new metal just fine. A mid-scoop/shift would've been nice, but I can live with turning down the mids, or invest(ing) in a good 7-10 band EQ pedal. The distortion I got out of this amp on the "modern" setting made EVERYTHING I play sound even better and heavier. I can only fairly compare it to my previous solid-state rig with the Digitech MM distortion pedal....It stomps all over that and gives me more. The RH50T gives the monstrous crunch, with tube concussion you can feel, bass response I've never had before, and a full sound with no muddy on the bottom (I tune down to both B-flat, and drop-B-flat on my guitars). 9 rating, which would be 10 if a scoop-switch was added.

I've had this amp for too short a time to tell. Randall's reputation dictates that this amp will last me a good long time before any minor/major maintanance or repairs are needed.
Randall is usually known for their solid-state amps, which are good, and quite popular here. I have no reason to doubt their abilities with tube amps.

We'll see. The amp was packed with everything BUT an owner's manual. That's right. NO OWNER'S MANUAL! I've e-mailed Randall about this. So far, no response. I'll call tomorrow and see if I can either get them to send me a manual, or at least talk to a tech-guy or tech-gal about things I may have questions about.....
It's a 5 year limited warranty. I suspect that the tube's aren't covered past 60-90 days.....

I love this amp. Even though they didn't include a "manual". It's straight-forward design is simple and easy to use. I had very little money to spend. This is the best deal I could find in a tube guitar head under 100 watts. Period. I'll never buy another solid-state guitar amp. I might get one for bass, but that's it. I'm now a tube-junkie...thanks to Randall.

THIS IS AN UPDATE OF MY PREVIOUS REVIEW

I've just sorted out the hum problem in the fx loop. In fact I was feeding the pedals in my fx loop AND my overdrive pedal (outside the fx loop) with the same power supply, creating a wonderful ground loop. My OD now has its own AC adapter, allowing me to use the fx loop without too much background noise, even on the lead channel. This amp now deserves a "9"

2 channel 50watt tube head with reverb. Channels are footswitchable, and so are the channels' options (boost on clean channel and choice between 2 gain types on lead channel). Two inputs (Low & High) match the output power of single coils and humbuckers. I play rock/heavy rock and this amp has enough features these styles. FX loop, 2 speaker outputs (8&4 Ohms). Enough power for rehearsals and gigs in small clubs.

My guitars are a mexican made Strat (retrofitted with Tex Mex PU's) and a Cort M600 loaded with Mighty Mite humbuckers.
Clean channel quite ok .Engage the boost or increase the input gain and you'll be rewarded with a delightful crunch sound ideal for blues, indie rock. If you want clean sounds at high volumes, consider another amp like a Hot Rod Deluxe. Lead channel a bit noisy but who will notice any hiss behind your favourite guitar riffs/power chords? Great mid-rich overdriven sound. Definitely not an amp for thrash metal freaks in search of mid-scooped sounds. When running my pedals (all powered by Boss PSM + daisy chain) through the fx loop but , a humming noise appeared that made it unusable, particularly on the lead channel. I'll check my cables, patches and PSU's and keep you posted. Up to now, I won't give more than 8.

Bought it 2 weeks ago. It would be a pity if it broke down so soon. Build quality seems ok. I won't waste to much time before getting myself a pair of matched EL34EH and a set of ECC83 preamp tubes, just in case.I have a valvestate VS100R for back up, which I will only use if I have no other choice.

The shop I bought it from had lost the user's manual. I e-mailed Randall and requested them to send me one. After a week without response, I can't rate them with more than 1. Too bad for a company who succeeded in producing a quality amp at a competitive price...

Stolen or lost? Well , my bandmates and I always keep an eye on our gear. Don't say we didn't warn you...
Great sounds can easily be dialled and it's adequately loud for rehearsals ans small venues. Quite unbelievable to find an amp with those features at such a competitive price. Too bad for that manual and absent customer support...

New Product for 2005

50 Watt all Tube Head version of Randall's RG50TC Combo.

This is a 2-channel Amp, and has the same features as the RG50TC combo.

I chose the Randall RH50T for the following key features:

A) Great review in Guitarist magazine
B) Great report on Quality of construction (which turns out to appear to be right on)
C) Excellent Feature Set:
Reverb
Serial FX loop with adjustable input level so you can use either Rack style or pedal FXs
2-channels, each with 2 different voicings (4-flavors total)
solidily built 4 button footswitch
4 x 12AX7's in pre-amp and 2 x EL-34's for power tubes
Seperate EQ for each Clean and OD channel
Power tube bias points and adjustments located behind metal grille back-plate.
Hi-gain style amp
Very friendly to OD / distortion pedals, which I have come to discover.

Moreover, this amp represents tremendous BANG FOR THE BUCK. I payed $480 for this amp through Musician's Friend.

This amp has plenty of power, at 50W, more than I will ever need. Also, it has a great OD, high gain sound at low volume levels.

I have had the RH50T for three weeks now (as I write this review)...it is even better than the Randall RG50TC combo, which I recently demo'd, because I am playing my RH50T Head through a Peavey 4 x 12 Cabinet. The sound is simply HUGE.

The clean channel is chimey, with a Fender-ish flavor, and can get nice and bluesy with the Boost kicked in, along with a smidge of my Bad Monkey on the front-end. Sounds very Fender Bassman like, a la SRV.

What is absolutely the dogs bullocks is the OD channel with the two voicings----> OD1 and OD2. OD1 has a bit more upper mid-range and treble, and sounds more vintage Marshall Plexi style, whereas the OD2 is a bit more deeper, and darker, with a more Modern pallete. In all honesty, the difference between the voicing on OD1 and OD2 is rather subtle,,,,but it is there, nonetheless.

This amp just LOVES the Digitech Bad Monkey OD pedal...which is my pedal "du jour" lately. When I crank the gain and level on the Bad Monkey, the RH50T reacts singing sustain and liquid gain. I could hold a note forever on my YJM Strat (which has relatively low output Dimarzio pickups). The on-board long pan accutronics reverb sounds just right (not too much, and not too little). I have the reverb at about 12:00.

I have the OD1 and OD2 gain knobs at about 1:00.

Now...here is where things get interesting...and at first, scared the PISS out of me.

I originally had my Guyatone MD-3 microdelay pedal after my Bad Monkey....and in-line prior to the input of the amp. I hated the sound of the MD-3 pedal in this configuration. Way to sterile and digital sounding. So I was expecting that it would sound much more natural and better by placing it in the RH50T's serial FX loop.

When I did this...UHHH OHHH !!!! MAJOR HUMMING and BUZZ. I thought maybe something in the FX loop was busted. Something was definitely wrong. As soon as I unplugged the pedal from the FX loop, the Humm went away, and the amp went back to sounding normal.

So, in a bit of a panic (but also with an engineer's intuition that I might know what the problem could be)...I logged onto my computer, and GOOGLED (searched) for "Guitar Amp + FX Loop humm".

Sure enough, I came across a site which identified the problem.

I was using a Godlyke PA-9 Powerall Switchmode power supply, which will supply regulated 9V power to multiple stompbox pedals with a daisy chain connector. Combined with the instrument cables going in and out of the delay pedal as well as the input power supply...I was getting a classic GROUND LOOP.

I unplugged the power supply from the delay pedal, and installed a 9V battery...which isolated the power supply and eliminated the ground loop. The Humm/buzz in the FX loop immediately went away...and now the MD-3 delay pedal sounds TERRIFIC where it should be, in the amps FX loop rather than in my prior to the pre-amp input.

I have a Rocktron Xpression rack mount FX processor on order...so I probably will be returning the Guyatone MD-3 pedal, in any event. I am just so happy that it didn't turn out to be a problem with my new amps FX loop.

One last bugger (bitch) of an issue, which is no fault of Randall's, really. The RH50T is supplied with outputs for 4 Ohm and 8 ohm speaker cabinets (no 16 ohm setting). This is unfortunate, as it turns out my friggin' Peavey 412MS stereo cabinet is 16 ohm when in mono.

I noticed this right away, but had recollected reading somewhere that it is "okay" to use a TUBE amp with a load which is of higher impedance. In other words...8 ohm amp speaker output to 16 ohm cabinet (mono).

Then, I did a search here on HCAF to see if there was any products would switch and match equipment with different output / input impedence ratings. I found the Weberspeaker "Z-Matcher", which is not cheap, but will solve my little problem quite nicely.

I would highly recommend that anyone looking for an excellent 50W head, for a GREAT value ($480)...check out Randall's RH50T.
In this price category, I don't think it can be beat.

There is a nice variety of sounds on tap...from chimey clean, to a clean with a little dirt thrown in (Clean channel with Boost enabled), all the way to British Plexi sounds (OD1 with Gain at 9:00 to noon) to more brutal, modern Hi Gain metal sounds (OD1 and OD2 on with Gain from 1:00 and higher). The OD1 high gain has more of an 80's heavy metal sound, whereas the OD2 has more of a "modern" metal sound. The OD2 is a bit deeper, with less pronounced mid-range.

The OD1 has a more "classic", Marshall plexi type vibe (with plenty of gain), whereas the OD2 subtlely changes the tone to a deeper, smoother gain...which I guess is more "modern". However, the OD2 does not sound Recto-ish. It is not buzzy or fizzy, but totally creamy with nice over-tones and harmonics.

The RH50T also enjoys having either a Bad Monkey or a DS-1 connected. The DS-1 provides a nice crunch rhythm when used on the Clean channel with the amps clean boost engaged.

I haven't quite decided what I like better for lead / soloing. Both the Bad Monkey and the DS-1 sends either Overdrive voicing into a gorgeous, singing liquid sustain which is absolutely perfect for lead work. The DS-1 adds a bit more color (as well as noise), but it is still an excellent tone.

I wouldn't recommend this amp for nu-metal or detuned pyrotechnics...it definitely has a strong mid-range character, which I like, because it seems especially suited for lead work (from blues thru hard / classic rock and '80s type metal). I think everyones idea of "heavy metal" is a bit different. In my opinion, this amp will work better for a soloist rather than for a modern metal rhythm style.


This amp is currently replacing my Vox Valvetronix AD120VTH (which I still love). It is great getting back into a 100% tube amp.
This amp has a lot of character, and I expect it will do quite well in the marketplace, if Randall does a better job of Marketing this product.

My main guitar is a Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Strat, which has low output Dimarzio YJM pups in the neck and middle, and a Dimarzio HS-3 in the bridge. With the Bad Monkey OD pedal, I can easily get that wonderful Yngwie violin-esque sustain, which is just perfect for lead/solo guitar work. The RH50T suits my playing style to a tee, due to the excellent mid-range presence, which complements single note lead / solo lines.

So far, so good...no problems.

The RH50T seems solidly built and well constructed. I understand that their are external bias points and bias pots, which are located behind the back panels metal grille. The grille has to be removed to get at the bias adjustments. I haven't needed to do this, yet, but it is nice to know that this feature is there.

The Owner's manual SUCKS...it is a joke. It is only 4-pages...with only one page with any serious info. And that page simple shows a picture of the front panel and back panel, pointing out what each knob, button, or input/output connection is for. It actually is a disgrace to release such a nice product, from a large company (Randall is no Mom & Pop custom amp builder) with such a pathetic User's manual.

Also, Randall Technical support does not seem to have much information on this amp. I have emailed with Technical questions on a few occasions, and while they have been prompt in responding (which is a good sign...at least they are trying)...they really have no clue as to where to get the answers. On one occasion, I requested specific information on the RH50T's recommended bias level on the EL-34's, as well as what the plate voltage is running to the tubes. I received a reply with a "stock" chart showing what the typical bias levels are for various power tubes (e.g. EL-34s, 6L6s, 5881s, etc). This was not specific to the RH50T amp, and could have been nicked from any website that has general info. on popular vacuum tubes.

I have to give them a "5" in this category

I have been playing for 20 years. I have owned all tube amps in the past (Marshall, Mesa-Boogie, Peavey), but for the last 6-7 years have been playing through the newest digital modelers...starting with the Line 6 AX2. The amp that I was playing prior to buying the Randall RH50T was a Vox Valvetronix AD120VTH (120 Watt Head)...which I still love. However, it is nice to get back to an all tube amp.

I also just purchased a Rocktron Xpression rack mount FX unit, which I am using within the Series FX loop of the RH50T. It sounds fantastic and complements the RH50T wonderfully.

Before purchasing the RH50T, I was considering either a Marshall DSL50 Head, or a Genz-Benz El Diablo 60. I decided to give the Randall RH50T a try, due to the level of features, as well as the price level compared, which represented a fantastic value.

I made the right Choice !!!