Great vid, got my sub 100%. So, back in 1995, I let a Marine who was homeless live with me for free for a few months until he could get back on his feet. I was only 18 at that time and lived alone so it was nice company. Anyhow, he ended up having a bunch of music gear in storage (I'm talking thousands of $$$ worth of rack units, amps, mics, you name it that were his brothers who had passed away) and brought it over one day and, long story short, the day before he left for a new job, he thanked me by telling me to pic one piece of gear to keep. I had no idea what this amp was nor did I know about it's history but it caught my eye so I said "that Randall". After he left, I tried playing it a few times but it would pop and buzz so I ended up putting it in my garage under a blanket. Fast forward to 2019, I had forgotten all about it and was moving some junk around and came across it. Did a little research on it and was blown away. DeoXed it, and cleaned it up inside real good and holy S&%t mind blown. So, now I have basically a mint condition RG80-112SC in that crazy Snake Red tolex which I play through all the time. NEVER going to sell it. Sorry for such a long comment/story but I thought you and others might get a kick out of it's history with me. Take Care Everyone!
That’s amazing! Those red tolex ones are extremely rare don’t let anyone tell you different. If you want to do some preventative maintenance I’d highly suggest getting it full recapped, the power caps on mine were dry as a bone. It’ll also lower the noise floor and restore the sound to the day it came off the lot. Thanks for watching and enjoy it man! ✨🤩✨
@@TheQShow Thanks man! I'll def get it refurbed. I'm still blown away at the cleans, the amazing spring reverb, and the best distortion channel ever imo. Take care man!
Modern ones ain’t as good, trust me. These amps are revered because of their sound you’re better off swapping the speaker and just keeping up with maintenance
I have 2 modern Randall heads now, which compliment my vintage Peavey VTM, Rockmaster and Classic wall of sound very well! The RH150D G3 that is hybrid and a total killer, and the RX120 solid state which is very much like that RG80C, just updated head style :) Thinking about getting a matching 212 cab and an Iso cab for the 2 heads :)
I bought one at a pawn shop for $99. I wanted a light weight practice amp and didn't know anything about it other than Randall was a well known brand. First time I used it, I was like, No way! Couldn't believe a $99 amp could be thus great. I made a footswitch for it and it's been amazing
That's what I'm talking about! I have no idea how this amp experienced what it did, but the lore around the model suggests it is insanely durable. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to it after the 20 years?
That amp shaped my distorted tone to this day. The tone of that amp with the treble out is my base line tone. My friend used to borrow it and put it behind his Marshall when he was gigging. Apparently a lot of people did that.well I ended up making a head out of it. I'm not very crafty so when I finish the Reverb didn't fit. But that was all right because I didn't use the Reverb. I used the amp with a 4/12 bottom. Now on to your question. Now as all us electric guitar players do we sell our stuff and trade our stuff. This is very emotional 😣 sometime in my forties I sold it. A guy came over to my house and we demoed it. I sold it to him for $75. Out of all the great equipment i owned I miss that the most. I've always meant to get another one but never did yet. But I think about it all the time that's why I clicked on here. But it's not too bad these days they're making a lot of good stuff. Back then it was more special it had that tone. Now I have to spell check this thing.
It's really something else! Some people complain about the cross-talk between channels. But even in a recording environment at any practical volume it's beyond negligible. I could see it being frustrating if you're running extremely high gain and low volumes tho'. Do you still have it?
I always left the clean Channel completely off. I never used it. I think it's still in my town somewheres. My friend used it behind his Marshall stack on stage. Right now I'm obsessed with Tweed amps so I'm not sure where it is.
I have a Randall RG8040 which in thesis is a new version of the classic RG80, but the distortion channel on this version right there is way better, an absolute beast.
Thank you for this video. I have this cabinet minus the electronics so I could not identify what it is. You have set my search straight AND provided oodles of info. I have subbed for sure. Thanks again.
I have this exact amp. I love it but it has some channel bleed and it doesn’t have as much gain as it used to. Prob needs some caps replaced or something but it’s a wonderful amp. People couldn’t believe it wasn’t a tube amp. Great video on this one.
The channel bleed is an inherent quirk I think. I just recapped this the other day and I can attest that it lowered the noise floor and sorta gave it a snappier response without losing any of the things I loved in this video. Just make sure you get power caps wide enough to fit where the original ones go, but still similar/same values. Thank you for watching and the kind words!
Yes I love this amp. I have a couple that I picked up cheap over the years. With the original Celestion 100watt speaker they kick ass. There was a noted issue with channel bleed when you switch into the overdrive channel but I think there might be a mod out there to clean that up.
I was looking at the schematic, and I have a few ideas. If any work out I’ll surely document it in a video :) Thanks for commenting! The days of these going for cheap are behind us for now I think..
Dang... I had one of these for probably 25 years and I never knew about the push pull nob.... do more videos on this amp! Mine is broken and I need motivation to fix it!
Hey! Thank you for the kind words :). What's broken about it? I may be able to help from here. When I got this it was completely destroyed, I learned a bit about it as a repaired it. Thanks for watching! ✨😁✨
@@TheQShow well it stopped powering on and then I pulled the speaker out to put in something else. It's been sitting in my closet with no speaker for like 12 years.
hey bro cool the video, recently bought de sameone but... clean ch its quiet, not loud at all, and the amp has a hum all time... do you think the hum its by the problem of clean quiet channel...?
Great amps/had one in the 80's when they came out and often still use one today for live shows- even scored an RG 80 PH head version which are very hard to find !!!###
This is such a great amp. I used to be interested in it back when I was into Pantera, when I grew out of them though I became interested in cool SS amps in general esp. things like the Sunn Beta Lead, the HH Amps Daniel Ash used, Johnny Greenwood Fenders, the Red Stripe Peavey and some early Doom acts using Randalls. There's this sort of myth that the only "Good" Solid State amps are Jazz Choruses for pure cleans and a small handful of modern slightly pricier SS Amps (Orange Crush Pro, Blues Cube) which just isn't true. A lot of the time the weak link in these was the speaker I think, but where you got models with good speakers they ripped, and it's a lot easier to get a €50 Eminence than to fork out for another few hundred for a tube version of the same amp.
That’s a great take! I’ve collected a small handful of ss amps to compare and dig into their designs a little bit. Highlights include this one (may let go since I’ve found a rgp-1000), peavey standard + musicman, and the series L5 (which is the amp I generally demo pedals with). My favorites are generally an ss preamp with a tube poweramp tho. The speakers thing is so often overlooked! I feel many amps in the 90s and 2000s have been lost to landfills because they were paired with an overly articulate speaker. I’d like to detail speaker cabinet types and how they influence sound one day in a video, hopefully soon. Thanks for the thoughtful comment! ✨😁✨
@@TheQShow I also suspect this is why people prefer the Red Stripe Peaveys - they had the same speakers as the Classic 30s I think, sound warm and fairly balanced to my ears
Had 1986 RG100ES with 4x12, the rock crunch was awesome as was the long box spring reverb. Also had the RG100ES tube head, suck in comparison to the ss. The old Randall amps are great, miss mine. Have a 2010 Rg80, awesome for metal, but pales in comparison to older amps over all tone. Wish Randall do a reissue of them.
I have an RG75 and recently started experimenting with an EQ in the effects loop. I am getting some amazing tones in my opinion. I wonder if the RG75 is newer or older than the 80?
Fantastic amp! I’m not too familiar with the 75’s history, but it seems at least some versions were made well after the rg80 here. Not that that’s an indicator of much, I’m sure that’s a fantastic amp! With any luck the speaker code could help you date it :) Thanks for watching! ✨🤩✨
@@TheQShow Thank you for the reply, yes I know, sometimes I get amazing tones and ruin them by trying to make them better. Easy to get fairly decent tones. A little harder to find the great ones, but I am getting better all the time at it...
@@TheQShow I had one a few years back and took it to an amp repair shop to see if they could mod it. The guy told me it wouldn't be worth the time or expense.
Amp techs when they get going.. it's hard to convince them to do more than small jobs because they tend to pay pretty well. If you know for sure which channel you'd like to keep, you can just cut the wires to the master knob you don't want. This'll entirely remove that channel from the circuit. Although seeing the schematic, it looks like the footswitch does this already. If you ever see this, did you have a footswitch for it?
@@TheQShow I did have the footswitch. But even then, I could still faintly hear the unused channel bleeding over unless it was turned all the way down to zero.
Nice video! I’m really debating on getting the new version of this amp today on impulse mainly just cause I don’t always want to play out of a 4x12 with a loud ass amp and also sometimes I get sick of playing from my computer
Hell yea! I’m sure it sounds extremely similar, they’re a fantastic example of SS amp design. Later versions added a small gain stage to prevent the sustain from dropping the volume so much, it doesn’t affect the sound beyond this. I imagine your amp will have this built in! Which one are you considering in particular?
@@TheQShow I was thinking about the RG100 just for the extra channel they have, I remember I had one awhile back but I sold it and sort of regret it. I know that the solid states can get sort of harsh at least from my experience but I feel that I just need more practice with dialing in a tone as with most other folks LOL
@@toemasmeems dude go for it! They’re identical to the 80 but with a bit more push in the power amp. I agree about that last thing too.. I joke sometimes people who love tube amps exclusively just don’t know how to use compression and eq 😉
Ok I just got one of these today what does the down on position mean and the up position mean does that mean it’s the separate channels? Mine is also the carpeted model does that narrow it down to any specific years?
Up down on the knob activates an extra set of diodes, earlier models saw a reduction in volume (but more saturation) later ones saw a small pcb added on to compensate for this loss. Iirc my amp actually had a date of make inside. I believe the two looks were made concurrently for a time. If it’s bone stock it needs a recap anyway, ask your tech what’s in there :)
Heck yeah Rabdall made some darn good SS amps man amd some of them sounded like a tibe but were not. I have a rg 1003. And love ove also ownedxa Randall RT503H 50watt son of the 100wattvtube ampnit had 2 power tubes and 3 or 4 per amp tubes man channel 3 was the channel on the bad no i was runniing a pe15 Rayn 5 channel parametric eq I the loop. And a metal zone with no distortion justvlevel and the eq in it and wow that thing scremed.
That’s some classic combos right there. When I’m out with it I’ll put a Wampler EQuator in the fx loop (dual para eq) and it lets you pull the best out of it for sure! I love tube power amps too, I haven’t so many but sometimes I’ll run my rgp-1000 (rg80-100 pre) into my musicman rd100 power amps for fun and it’s monstrous
@@TheQShow ive been playing with a 5 band pata eq racl mount. In. The FX loop nest 40 bucks i ever spent the last one i jad. A rane pe 15 i loved that. Thing it had that goofy network power supply plug did not realize till it arrived thank good did a littke searching andcfound a. How to do diy power suply fotr it.
Hey! At a glance at the schem it looks like a lot of the same stuff going on. But it looks like it’s got an IC in front instead of fets. In my experience bjt type ic’s like the 4558 sorta betray the relaxed attack this one has. However if it’s got something like a tl702 it may sound very similar yet. If I can dig up some gut shots I’ll let you know what I find, thanks for watching!
I’ve noticed the schem does seem to imply 4558’s were used. I once asked about this amp in a Randall enthusiast group and the general response was lukewarm compared to the RG. I’d suspect this was why. That said like… if dimebag had a RC I think they still would’ve been successful you know? It’s all relative but if you’re into that spongy thing the RG has going on I’d reccomend trying to snag one, or snag one of the rgp preamp units :) The 80 and 100 are identical save two transistors in the poweramp section to give the other a bit more juice. Let me know if you have any more questions. And thanks for the sub!
@@johncecilia4517 yea I’d say in the sense that the overdrive channel seems similar to the “sustain” knob. But there are enough differences that I’d say more like.. if you can love it for what it is I’m sure you’d get in the ballpark, and the chorus sounds fantastic. Not to say they’re bad, just designed with a different goal in mind, which seems to be a big clean chorus more than anything You may find the bjt based pre a bit dry, but people also love bjt for chainsaw stuff, depends what you’re into you know?
because of the unique power amp design (constant current), this was my experience when I tried a 4ohm speaker. The speaker it had stock was pretty articulate too tho. My favorite speaker was something like a lead 80 or similar They need recaps too, this did wonders for the amp! An well loved one can need the first FET replaced as well to help with noise too Also.. I found these amps were sorta meant to be played loud, I found the stock speaker nice enough and in a live context the brightness wasn’t a factor.
Don't feel bad 😅 If you see any RG80-100 types lying around of any era pick it up! I've later versions of this amp and I can say they sound virtually identical, they eventually corrected for the drop in gain but it doesn't effect the tone/chug/character in any perceivable way to my ears. One HUGE thing about randall RG amp design that's important to note is they have something they called a "Constant Current" power amp design, which basically means it has a very low dampening factor, much like tube amps. I've compared the preamp of this amp with other power amps that have a higher dampening factor (as is more typical of a solid state amp) and I can affirm it's a big part of the sound I like so much in this video. Thanks for watching :)
If it’s the same aesthetic I’d trade in a heartbeat, I just did a full restoration too (new capacitors and grid resistors) Either way fantastic amp! Thanks for watching
@@bcrichplayer88 that’s a classic amp, alas I’m looking for the 80PH, same internals but looks like the head. If you wanted to sell it many would gladly give you a bit, check pricing on reverb!
Great vid, got my sub 100%. So, back in 1995, I let a Marine who was homeless live with me for free for a few months until he could get back on his feet. I was only 18 at that time and lived alone so it was nice company. Anyhow, he ended up having a bunch of music gear in storage (I'm talking thousands of $$$ worth of rack units, amps, mics, you name it that were his brothers who had passed away) and brought it over one day and, long story short, the day before he left for a new job, he thanked me by telling me to pic one piece of gear to keep. I had no idea what this amp was nor did I know about it's history but it caught my eye so I said "that Randall". After he left, I tried playing it a few times but it would pop and buzz so I ended up putting it in my garage under a blanket. Fast forward to 2019, I had forgotten all about it and was moving some junk around and came across it. Did a little research on it and was blown away. DeoXed it, and cleaned it up inside real good and holy S&%t mind blown. So, now I have basically a mint condition RG80-112SC in that crazy Snake Red tolex which I play through all the time. NEVER going to sell it. Sorry for such a long comment/story but I thought you and others might get a kick out of it's history with me. Take Care Everyone!
That’s amazing! Those red tolex ones are extremely rare don’t let anyone tell you different.
If you want to do some preventative maintenance I’d highly suggest getting it full recapped, the power caps on mine were dry as a bone. It’ll also lower the noise floor and restore the sound to the day it came off the lot.
Thanks for watching and enjoy it man! ✨🤩✨
@@TheQShow Thanks man! I'll def get it refurbed. I'm still blown away at the cleans, the amazing spring reverb, and the best distortion channel ever imo. Take care man!
I had one of these back in the day. Everyone always loved the sound of this amp. I'm thinking about getting a modern one from Randall.
Modern ones ain’t as good, trust me. These amps are revered because of their sound you’re better off swapping the speaker and just keeping up with maintenance
I have 2 modern Randall heads now, which compliment my vintage Peavey VTM, Rockmaster and Classic wall of sound very well! The RH150D G3 that is hybrid and a total killer, and the RX120 solid state which is very much like that RG80C, just updated head style :) Thinking about getting a matching 212 cab and an Iso cab for the 2 heads :)
I bought one at a pawn shop for $99. I wanted a light weight practice amp and didn't know anything about it other than Randall was a well known brand. First time I used it, I was like, No way! Couldn't believe a $99 amp could be thus great. I made a footswitch for it and it's been amazing
One of the best amps ever, designed by Gary Sunda.
Would you say they’re too powerful to just use indoors :)
@@ethanrobinson5536 Nah. They do just fine.
I bought one of these in 1983. I gigged with it for 20 years. This amp is all about the push-pull treble.
That's what I'm talking about! I have no idea how this amp experienced what it did, but the lore around the model suggests it is insanely durable. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to it after the 20 years?
That amp shaped my distorted tone to this day. The tone of that amp with the treble out is my base line tone. My friend used to borrow it and put it behind his Marshall when he was gigging. Apparently a lot of people did that.well I ended up making a head out of it. I'm not very crafty so when I finish the Reverb didn't fit. But that was all right because I didn't use the Reverb. I used the amp with a 4/12 bottom. Now on to your question. Now as all us electric guitar players do we sell our stuff and trade our stuff. This is very emotional 😣 sometime in my forties I sold it. A guy came over to my house and we demoed it. I sold it to him for $75. Out of all the great equipment i owned I miss that the most. I've always meant to get another one but never did yet. But I think about it all the time that's why I clicked on here. But it's not too bad these days they're making a lot of good stuff. Back then it was more special it had that tone. Now I have to spell check this thing.
I forgot to add I stopped gigging a while ago. And I have never gigged with another amp. So that's why it has sentimental value.
I bought my rg80 in 1983 it was used. I gigged with it for 20 years . The magic was in the push-pull treble knob.
It's really something else! Some people complain about the cross-talk between channels. But even in a recording environment at any practical volume it's beyond negligible. I could see it being frustrating if you're running extremely high gain and low volumes tho'.
Do you still have it?
I always left the clean Channel completely off. I never used it. I think it's still in my town somewheres. My friend used it behind his Marshall stack on stage. Right now I'm obsessed with Tweed amps so I'm not sure where it is.
I have a Randall RG8040 which in thesis is a new version of the classic RG80, but the distortion channel on this version right there is way better, an absolute beast.
where is the second video can’t find it how about a link
Thank you for this video. I have this cabinet minus the electronics so I could not identify what it is. You have set my search straight AND provided oodles of info. I have subbed for sure. Thanks again.
Great to hear, thanks man! I’m glad I was able to help
I have this exact amp. I love it but it has some channel bleed and it doesn’t have as much gain as it used to. Prob needs some caps replaced or something but it’s a wonderful amp. People couldn’t believe it wasn’t a tube amp. Great video on this one.
The channel bleed is an inherent quirk I think.
I just recapped this the other day and I can attest that it lowered the noise floor and sorta gave it a snappier response without losing any of the things I loved in this video.
Just make sure you get power caps wide enough to fit where the original ones go, but still similar/same values. Thank you for watching and the kind words!
@@TheQShow the channel bleed goes away if you have a foot switch for it.
Holy crap dude, that amp sounds fantastic! Lovin these vintage SS Randall amps.
They’re fantastic right? Mr. Sunda really knocked it out of the park with this design! Thanks for the sub ✨🙏🏼✨
@@TheQShow Hell yeah dude. Love your playing too. Gonna be watchin for new vids.
@@andygogocomics that means a lot ty! ✨🤩✨
Thank you . Gary
Damn this thing sounds good
Great video on the RG80! Hope to see more! I have the same amp with the Celestion speaker. It really rocks or smooths out, whichever you want.
Yes I love this amp. I have a couple that I picked up cheap over the years. With the original Celestion 100watt speaker they kick ass. There was a noted issue with channel bleed when you switch into the overdrive channel but I think there might be a mod out there to clean that up.
I was looking at the schematic, and I have a few ideas. If any work out I’ll surely document it in a video :)
Thanks for commenting! The days of these going for cheap are behind us for now I think..
Dang... I had one of these for probably 25 years and I never knew about the push pull nob.... do more videos on this amp! Mine is broken and I need motivation to fix it!
Hey! Thank you for the kind words :). What's broken about it? I may be able to help from here. When I got this it was completely destroyed, I learned a bit about it as a repaired it.
Thanks for watching! ✨😁✨
@@TheQShow well it stopped powering on and then I pulled the speaker out to put in something else. It's been sitting in my closet with no speaker for like 12 years.
I love to see love for these amps!
Right? Do you have a favorite Randall?
@@TheQShow I haven’t played many, just my old rg80, like the one in the video. Diablo/Satan those type seemed interesting, never heard them though
hey bro cool the video, recently bought de sameone but... clean ch its quiet, not loud at all, and the amp has a hum all time... do you think the hum its by the problem of clean quiet channel...?
We’re you able to get this solved? When I first got this it was a similar issue, one of the power resistor had actually fallen off in a hard fall
Great amps/had one in the 80's when they came out and often still use one today for live shows- even scored an RG 80 PH head version which are very hard to find !!!###
Nice! That’s the dream for me surely
This is such a great amp. I used to be interested in it back when I was into Pantera, when I grew out of them though I became interested in cool SS amps in general esp. things like the Sunn Beta Lead, the HH Amps Daniel Ash used, Johnny Greenwood Fenders, the Red Stripe Peavey and some early Doom acts using Randalls.
There's this sort of myth that the only "Good" Solid State amps are Jazz Choruses for pure cleans and a small handful of modern slightly pricier SS Amps (Orange Crush Pro, Blues Cube) which just isn't true. A lot of the time the weak link in these was the speaker I think, but where you got models with good speakers they ripped, and it's a lot easier to get a €50 Eminence than to fork out for another few hundred for a tube version of the same amp.
That’s a great take! I’ve collected a small handful of ss amps to compare and dig into their designs a little bit. Highlights include this one (may let go since I’ve found a rgp-1000), peavey standard + musicman, and the series L5 (which is the amp I generally demo pedals with). My favorites are generally an ss preamp with a tube poweramp tho.
The speakers thing is so often overlooked! I feel many amps in the 90s and 2000s have been lost to landfills because they were paired with an overly articulate speaker.
I’d like to detail speaker cabinet types and how they influence sound one day in a video, hopefully soon. Thanks for the thoughtful comment! ✨😁✨
@@TheQShow I also suspect this is why people prefer the Red Stripe Peaveys - they had the same speakers as the Classic 30s I think, sound warm and fairly balanced to my ears
Looked up the 81 schematic, pulling treble introduces (4) clipping diodes they call a SUSTAIN boost much like Jose Arredondo mod! :)
Had 1986 RG100ES with 4x12, the rock crunch was awesome as was the long box spring reverb. Also had the RG100ES tube head, suck in comparison to the ss. The old Randall amps are great, miss mine. Have a 2010 Rg80, awesome for metal, but pales in comparison to older amps over all tone. Wish Randall do a reissue of them.
Damn! That must have roared something special in the 4x12 🤩. What do you feel is different about the 2010? I wonder what changes they made 🤔
@@TheQShow Think they use silicone instead metal oxide fet.
I own one of these and have always been curious as to why nothing was printed on the raised right hand plate. It's just ... blank.
@@ReneeNme it used to have text annotating the speaker I think, the print doesn’t last
@@TheQShow I always wondered if it might have been due to them being a production prototype test run for consumers.
Love them jaguar speakers
Does anyone know how to read Randall serial numbers? I have an RG120 that I'm trying to figure out the year it was made.
Early ones I’ve opened up have a tag dating their assembly/who did Q&A etc
@@TheQShow Yes, I have the tag but it doesn't have a date!
I have an RG75 and recently started experimenting with an EQ in the effects loop. I am getting some amazing tones in my opinion. I wonder if the RG75 is newer or older than the 80?
Fantastic amp! I’m not too familiar with the 75’s history, but it seems at least some versions were made well after the rg80 here. Not that that’s an indicator of much, I’m sure that’s a fantastic amp!
With any luck the speaker code could help you date it :)
Thanks for watching! ✨🤩✨
@@TheQShow Thank you for the reply, yes I know, sometimes I get amazing tones and ruin them by trying to make them better. Easy to get fairly decent tones. A little harder to find the great ones, but I am getting better all the time at it...
If I could find a fix for the channel bleed, this would- in no uncertain terms- be the PERFECT amp.
I usually get by fine turning one to 0, is there one side you never use? It may be pretty simple to remove it from the circuit entirely
@@TheQShow I had one a few years back and took it to an amp repair shop to see if they could mod it. The guy told me it wouldn't be worth the time or expense.
Amp techs when they get going.. it's hard to convince them to do more than small jobs because they tend to pay pretty well. If you know for sure which channel you'd like to keep, you can just cut the wires to the master knob you don't want. This'll entirely remove that channel from the circuit. Although seeing the schematic, it looks like the footswitch does this already. If you ever see this, did you have a footswitch for it?
@@TheQShow I did have the footswitch. But even then, I could still faintly hear the unused channel bleeding over unless it was turned all the way down to zero.
Nice video! I’m really debating on getting the new version of this amp today on impulse mainly just cause I don’t always want to play out of a 4x12 with a loud ass amp and also sometimes I get sick of playing from my computer
Hell yea! I’m sure it sounds extremely similar, they’re a fantastic example of SS amp design. Later versions added a small gain stage to prevent the sustain from dropping the volume so much, it doesn’t affect the sound beyond this. I imagine your amp will have this built in!
Which one are you considering in particular?
@@TheQShow I was thinking about the RG100 just for the extra channel they have, I remember I had one awhile back but I sold it and sort of regret it. I know that the solid states can get sort of harsh at least from my experience but I feel that I just need more practice with dialing in a tone as with most other folks LOL
@@toemasmeems dude go for it! They’re identical to the 80 but with a bit more push in the power amp.
I agree about that last thing too.. I joke sometimes people who love tube amps exclusively just don’t know how to use compression and eq 😉
i have 2 of these for sale on facebook one black with ft switch...the other is a snakeskin cover with ft ft switch
Whoa! Those are two grails, I saw a red one for sale in my area, a year late. Whoever got that was beyond lucky, I'd kill for it!
RG80 GK250 Rockman X100 are great solid state amps
I have a Randall mini looking half stack called a Randall RG80 ph with a Jaguar cab.
The head? That’s the dream for me! No space for combos 😅
@@TheQShow yea, the head is a Randall rg80ph
Ok I just got one of these today what does the down on position mean and the up position mean does that mean it’s the separate channels? Mine is also the carpeted model does that narrow it down to any specific years?
Up down on the knob activates an extra set of diodes, earlier models saw a reduction in volume (but more saturation) later ones saw a small pcb added on to compensate for this loss. Iirc my amp actually had a date of make inside.
I believe the two looks were made concurrently for a time.
If it’s bone stock it needs a recap anyway, ask your tech what’s in there :)
I use a G 35 112 from 1985. Also a great amp.
Heck yeah Rabdall made some darn good SS amps man amd some of them sounded like a tibe but were not. I have a rg 1003. And love ove also ownedxa Randall RT503H 50watt son of the 100wattvtube ampnit had 2 power tubes and 3 or 4 per amp tubes man channel 3 was the channel on the bad no i was runniing a pe15 Rayn 5 channel parametric eq I the loop. And a metal zone with no distortion justvlevel and the eq in it and wow that thing scremed.
That’s some classic combos right there. When I’m out with it I’ll put a Wampler EQuator in the fx loop (dual para eq) and it lets you pull the best out of it for sure!
I love tube power amps too, I haven’t so many but sometimes I’ll run my rgp-1000 (rg80-100 pre) into my musicman rd100 power amps for fun and it’s monstrous
@@TheQShow oh and dont forgetvthe little RVC 5 watt tube amp fickin tone king man
@@TheQShow ive been playing with a 5 band pata eq racl mount. In. The FX loop nest 40 bucks i ever spent the last one i jad. A rane pe 15 i loved that. Thing it had that goofy network power supply plug did not realize till it arrived thank good did a littke searching andcfound a. How to do diy power suply fotr it.
Try to get an old blue mxr and put in this pattern /\
Yes! Hitting the preamp with a nice eq brings out some heavy tones
woulda been nice to show the rear. my research continues
I no longer have this but am quite familiar, what do you want to know?
Do the RC amps sound similar to this?
Hey! At a glance at the schem it looks like a lot of the same stuff going on. But it looks like it’s got an IC in front instead of fets. In my experience bjt type ic’s like the 4558 sorta betray the relaxed attack this one has. However if it’s got something like a tl702 it may sound very similar yet.
If I can dig up some gut shots I’ll let you know what I find, thanks for watching!
I’ve noticed the schem does seem to imply 4558’s were used. I once asked about this amp in a Randall enthusiast group and the general response was lukewarm compared to the RG. I’d suspect this was why.
That said like… if dimebag had a RC I think they still would’ve been successful you know? It’s all relative but if you’re into that spongy thing the RG has going on I’d reccomend trying to snag one, or snag one of the rgp preamp units :)
The 80 and 100 are identical save two transistors in the poweramp section to give the other a bit more juice. Let me know if you have any more questions. And thanks for the sub!
@@TheQShow So it may sound somewhat similar but the preamp and power amp are different
@@johncecilia4517 yea I’d say in the sense that the overdrive channel seems similar to the “sustain” knob. But there are enough differences that I’d say more like.. if you can love it for what it is I’m sure you’d get in the ballpark, and the chorus sounds fantastic.
Not to say they’re bad, just designed with a different goal in mind, which seems to be a big clean chorus more than anything
You may find the bjt based pre a bit dry, but people also love bjt for chainsaw stuff, depends what you’re into you know?
@@TheQShow Thanks
Mine sounds terrible compared to this, like playing through the neck pickup ALL the time.
because of the unique power amp design (constant current), this was my experience when I tried a 4ohm speaker. The speaker it had stock was pretty articulate too tho. My favorite speaker was something like a lead 80 or similar
They need recaps too, this did wonders for the amp! An well loved one can need the first FET replaced as well to help with noise too
Also.. I found these amps were sorta meant to be played loud, I found the stock speaker nice enough and in a live context the brightness wasn’t a factor.
@@TheQShow Hey thanks, mine has the g12h 100 it's 8 ohm, I'll look into recapping it.
you forgot to mention the one that used this amp the most. George Lynch
True! That’s quite a name to miss, thanks for mentioning ✨😁✨
i got rid of one of these 2 years ago....goddamnit
Don't feel bad 😅 If you see any RG80-100 types lying around of any era pick it up!
I've later versions of this amp and I can say they sound virtually identical, they eventually corrected for the drop in gain but it doesn't effect the tone/chug/character in any perceivable way to my ears. One HUGE thing about randall RG amp design that's important to note is they have something they called a "Constant Current" power amp design, which basically means it has a very low dampening factor, much like tube amps. I've compared the preamp of this amp with other power amps that have a higher dampening factor (as is more typical of a solid state amp) and I can affirm it's a big part of the sound I like so much in this video.
Thanks for watching :)
I have a head
If it’s the same aesthetic I’d trade in a heartbeat, I just did a full restoration too (new capacitors and grid resistors)
Either way fantastic amp! Thanks for watching
@@TheQShow it’s like a gray carpet. And the logo and handle is missing but still works.
@@bcrichplayer88 that’s a classic amp, alas I’m looking for the 80PH, same internals but looks like the head.
If you wanted to sell it many would gladly give you a bit, check pricing on reverb!