Gear plateau

[rsm]

Just got an Arturia Minifreak. Would love a workstation, but $$$. The MF is great fun for not a lot of $. Cheap inspiration, with frequent updates. Hoping it's the gift that keeps on giving.

I've had many bikes: FZ1, Night Train, Goldwing, to name a few. Kept the Harley 20 years. Down to just one in the garage after getting a Triumph Tiger. I can thrash it, commute, ride 2up for a week, camp off it in the mountains, hit the dirt roads. It's the best of all worlds for me. Love working on it without having to peel off tupperware. Only negative is the $ for maintenance/repair. Not the fastest or best handling in the twisties, but that's a good thing. Keeps me out of the danger zone.

I had a new Hyabusa back in 2000 before they were neutered, wish I kept it. Had HD before that, ZX-11, Rune, R1, etc. for years in metro Atlanta I had a cruiser and a sport bike; took the sport bike up into the mountains, Deal's Gap, Cherohala Skyway, Blue Ridge Mtns.

I have a cruiser now, Big Dog Ridgeback hardtail, but missing a sport bike. I may go look at a new 2025 'Busa tomorrow. Haven't heard anything on 2026 models, or if they'll have a Hyabusa, then there are the tariffs since Japan hasn't made a deal

Here's my ridgeback:

 

[OnePingOnly]

Noice wheels. ram!

 

[thegame]

I literally had a full stack fall on me because I'm out of room. Luckily it was a marshall with the wheels that sit in the tracks, so it didn't completely fall. It braced itself against the wall with me under it jacking with the hvac. I'm so done...

 

[OnePingOnly]

I wonder just how much we've all taken the bait with marketing, and how long it was for each of us before we got wise, or got tired, of it. Having lots of gear is fun, but expensive; and it's also a hassle unless you have somebody tend to it for you, once you get beyond a certain quantity. I'm not talking cartage, but just the acquisition, storage, and maintenance of it all. Sure, the quest for "your tone" can be exciting for awhile; but then the beauty of simplicity introduces itself.

 

[Shask]

I wonder just how much we've all taken the bait with marketing, and how long it was for each of us before we got wise, or got tired, of it. Having lots of gear is fun, but expensive; and it's also a hassle unless you have somebody tend to it for you, once you get beyond a certain quantity. I'm not talking cartage, but just the acquisition, storage, and maintenance of it all. Sure, the quest for "your tone" can be exciting for awhile; but then the beauty of simplicity introduces itself.

I watch a lot of stuff about consumerism and debt and such, and I have thought about the same thing lately. We get marketed to something like 10,000 times a day, so I wonder if people are getting desensitized to all the marketing and just blocking it out as people are running out of money in the worsening economy.

 

[anomaly]

IMHO the only amp that will scratch that itch of an old Randall RG100ES is an old Randall RG100ES that is still working in good condition, but they will need new electrolytic filter caps and other electrolytics replaced by now. If you gotta have solid state I would say for something that's new the closest I've heard to my old Randall RG100ES are those new little Dime mini 40 watt amps judging by the clips out there.



My 1988 RG100ES was still going strong when I sold it a couple of years ago and it was still quiet and functioning fine but it was due for electrolytics for sure.

When I miss my Randall these days I just run my VFE Standout in to a Revv G-8 in to my Splawn modded Marshall and that get's me 95% of what my Randall got me and it makes me pretty happy but it still misses that solid state grind somewhat, it's still good but not exactly like the grind of the Randall so I totally get you wanting that S/S grind.

This is true, nothing sounds like those old Randall's with a boost. Not even the newer rg3003h head I had could do it, but it was advertised as having that old J-fet curcuitry in it but nope, not even close IMO.

 

[harddriver]

This is true, nothing sounds like those old Randall's with a boost. Not even the newer rg3003h head I had could do it, but it was advertised as having that old J-fet curcuitry in it but nope, not even close IMO.

You would think someone would consult with Gary Sunda who designed all of Randall's amps under Don Randall to come up with a modern Randall RG100ES. The fact that alot of RG100ES' are still running to this day is testament to the design's engineering and robustness.

I'm sure the Warhead mini does not punch anywhere near as hard as the old Randall RG that have bigger transformers but the mini Warheads do seem to have the grind and some lowend in the clips that OLA and others have posted. I haven't heard of anyone on RT getting one of these and doing a review unless I missed it.

You would think they could upscale that to real amp or maybe they can't???