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Lampshade1973
New member
Excited. after all the reviews I decided to get an RD45, is it still the best amp in its price range and do I need to get new tubes for it right off the bat?
MrScary5150
New member
I'd play it for a while and see how you like the tone of the Diavlo with stock tubes. Meanwhile, research RD45 owners who already have played one with the original tubes and later did a swap. Ask them what tubes they swapped out and why. Perhaps the have clips so you can do a comparison. This is what i would do.
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C1-ocaster
New member
Lampshade1973":sf8rpsrn said:
The RD45 I got didn't sound good at all out of the box.
I swapped in some Tung Sol's and JJ's pre tubes and then it sounded very nice.
As I was doing the swap I found why it didn't sound good out of the box.
The pre tubes installed from the factory were installed by someone who must have put them in with their feet.
Pins were bent on 2 of the tubes, some so badly that they were side ways.
Obviously not much care is used when putting these amps together.
The RD45 does have some really cool tones and gets a good amount of gain.
But, it's a very limited use amp. The EQ is shared by the 2 channels and I didn't like that as there are only 2 channels.
Other than a "boost" there isn't much else on these amps, not even a digital reverb.
I suggest you check out a Laney Ironheart 60. I had that amp at the same time as the RD45. I think the Laney is a better all around amp.
It has awesome high gain crunch and a much more versatile eq. There are eq range shifts on the bass, mid, and treble controls.
There are 3 channels to work with, and 2 channels have separate eq's. There is built in reverb and it's pretty good.
It lights up internally when it's on, which the RD45 does too, but you can actually see the lights in the Laney as they are much brighter.
That's cosmetic, but it mattered to me. The Ironheart looks better.
Considering how the tubes were installed in the RD45 I'm suspicious of the overall construction as well.
Take a look at zzounds.com the have the best price on the Laney and GC will beat it by a bit, but you may have to pay tax with GC.
The Ironheart 60 is selling for $650.
That's only $50 more than the RD45 and you get more features and tonal variety from the Laney.
I like the Ironheart over the RD45. YMMV.
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Lampshade1973
New member
Thanks for the input C1, I actually ordered it today, I was looking for a 50 watt head that's light that I can play in my apt so well give it a go, I remember reading your post about the tubes which is why this post, but thanks for the info...
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C1-ocaster
New member
Lampshade1973":1wfxpnkv said:
Cool.
I think you'll like it.
I would advise looking at at the pre tubes just to make sure they are properly seated with no bent pins so that you can hear what the amp is capable of.
For a simple, lightweight, and saturated distortion capable amp it's pretty darn nice.
Oh, and the boost on this amp works really well.
Even with the gain at about the 3 o'clock position using the boost works really well.
That's one of the things you have to be careful with on the Laney.
If the gain is anywhere around the 2-3 o'clock position the boost level has to be set modestly, like around 9am.
More channel gain or more boost level and it would overdrive the input to the point of huge compression and the tone going wooden and bad.
The RD45 doesn't have this issue.
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Lampshade1973
New member
Thanks dickola. I feel weird calling you dickola as you just gave me good info, I passed on the 5153 as well for this but hell maybe Ill grab the 5153 down the road as well, I think it arrives Monday, and C1 thanks again, also I have a marshall 1936 212 wit vintage 30s. I know its not the meanest looking cab but I hope it sounds good with the head, its one of the older cabs before they starting building them shitty...
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