Just got back from little trip to southern Maine to visit family and yesterday my new toy arrived. An actual NOS Randall MTS RM50HB 50 watt MTS head! Loaded Stock with EL34's! Im just about to crack the box these amps have been discontinued for years but there is still a very tight following and new MOdules coming out from the modders weekly it seems like. I was lucky to get one of these new and virgin sealing in its original box with an original seal! Ive got a couple of marshall modules a Jaded Faith 59RR Custom (which is basically a marshall swiss army knife, can do about any marshall tone from any era) and a jaded faith PlexiTweed (which is a module with both a marshall plexi tonestack and a fender tweed tonestack with a switch to jump between tones), Those are the two I am gonna first try in this new little monster ill post some pics in a little while!
-mp-
OMFG... just pulled the Rm50 Head out of the plastic in the box and lifted it up and a river of broken glass fell out due to two smashed EL34's and the reverb tank has been broken off of its mounting screws and is floating inside of the heads cab... F*CK Ive already got 1 RM50 completely disassembled in my guitar room now this. And theres no rhyme or reason for it the box was pristene and there were no dents in it anywhere the amp was packed tightly with form fitting foam and I cant for the life of me see how all this damage could have happened. Id call it a S*itty NAD!
-mp-
Hey MATT good to see you out and about on the internet not just being an mtsforum snob yeah It sux big time the amp from the front is in MINT condition and if you dont look at the remnants of the power tubes and the reverb tank which by the way looks to me like it was actually unscrewed because the screws diddnt tear out of the wood like if there was some kind blunt force trauma that did it i was able to find the fourth screw and the pad that goes between it and the reverb tank in the pile of broken EL34.. Ive dont have any EL34s around so Im going to have to put the reverb tank back in and install the brand new set of JJ6L6's ive got handy and just hope that nothing internal is broken.. as i said previously the nearest shop with a tech who actually knows what an MTS amp is 3.5 hours south of me and right next to the Maine State Prison where i was a guest back when i was 20 for 18 months... It still baffles me as to what happened to this thing Perfect Box Perfect Packing nuclear test site results. NeWays are you working tomorrow Mr FIGG? i need some help with the rm50's biasing I only got the Broken Rm50 combo ive got sitting here all torn apart biased with 6L6's out of pure luck Im not sure quite how to bias 2 tubes with one potentiometer
Seems to me I've had that happen more often than not lately. Really sucks too. Those damn shipping gorilla's just throw stuff around and I'm sure it got dropped hard. No damage will be seen on the box, but the glass will be everywhere. I rarely buy/sell/ship amps any more due to this. If I do, I'll pull the tubes and wrap them in bubble wrap and pack them tightly in the head. I feel your pain man.
Well the guy i got it from contacted me this morning and said it was all 100% when shipped and I tend to believe him, He offered to send a new set of El34's and if its still not working he said the insurance on the package would probably cover any repair so im hopeful for once!
-mp-
Well folks all is well in the mts district of Maine!!! the amp that arrived with the tubes smashed and the reverb tank sheared off is now rockin and sounds better than any of my other MTS Gear. I removed all the glass particles and unhooked the reveb tank and put it away for safe keeping and went ahead and thre in my spare set of JJ 6L6's and biased away... in a couple mins i put in the jaded Faith UltraLead and plugged in my charvel and what a glorious Deep massive and tight Em blast eminated from the b52 cab the head was hooked into, Damn this little 50 watt head sounds better than my RM4 through either a peavey 50/50 power amp or through the efx return of my rm100... Its much louder than my older Rm50 combo and has a bit more depth and feel to it and when i put in the plexitweed module it just oooozed fat juicy slightly overdriven tweed tones that were sweet and warm as can be... Ive got a set of EL34's coming in soon for it so ill be changing it over I think but for now is pure bliss and I deserve it after the gear week ive had!
hallelujah is all i can say i couldnt be happier!
-mp-
yeah It sux big time the amp from the front is in MINT condition and if you dont look at the remnants of the power tubes and the reverb tank which by the way looks to me like it was actually unscrewed because the screws diddnt tear out of the wood like if there was some kind blunt force trauma that did it i was able to find the fourth screw and the pad that goes between it and the reverb tank in the pile of broken EL34.. Ive dont have any EL34s around so Im going to have to put the reverb tank back in and install the brand new set of JJ6L6's ive got handy and just hope that nothing internal is broken.. as i said previously the nearest shop with a tech who actually knows what an MTS amp is 3.5 hours south of me and right next to the Maine State Prison where i was a guest back when i was 20 for 18 months... It still baffles me as to what happened to this thing Perfect Box Perfect Packing nuclear test site results. NeWays are you working tomorrow Mr FIGG? i need some help with the rm50's biasing I only got the Broken Rm50 combo ive got sitting here all torn apart biased with 6L6's out of pure luck Im not sure quite how to bias 2 tubes with one potentiometer
