Randall RD series. 100% Fortin designed?

[Chubtone]

well played sir! The reason I asked was because the diavlo series really seem to have this juicy mid character to them that I hear with the judge module but without the sharp highs. Am very interested in seeing if the 1/13th gets me in the ballpark of where I want to be. Looking forward to the clips.. if anyone can give us more than chuggalug, it's you

I like this better than the Judge module in that the Judge module sound is in there and then it also gets very heavy. I THINK these were designed more for the heavier metal guys in mind and that is what I was expecting, but it is so cool that the heavy rock and classic metal tones are in this too.

I have never played a Fortin modded head and to be honest, when he came onto RT a few years back and everyone was raving about his stuff, I kind of just ignored it because when you have been at HC and then RT as long as me, it seems like there is a new amp guru every 6 months that everyone is all excited about and I had kind of settled in to what amps I like.

Then I heard Ralph's Duoplex???? clip and thought, hmmmmmmm, maybe. Then donbarzini told me month after month after month how much he like his Fortin Cali mod and barzini doesn't like anyone's modded Marshalls for more than about 2 weeks. But his Fortin got rave reviews everytime he talked about it.

And now to hear what Mike can do in these little amps, well, what Mike Fortin has done with these is really awesome. Seriously, I'm talking about a sub $300 head and used the word awesome. A friend of mine got the RD100H and swapped it to EL34's and got rid of a $3500 head after that.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

Hey Chubtone,

Can you please give us more details about the 100 watter?

Is it just all out metal or can it do good classic rock tones that are in the Marshall territory?

Also, how well does the EQ work when going from a heavy-ish dirt tone to a clean tone? Do you find that you need to re-adjust the EQ for your cleans?

 

[Chubtone]

Hey Chubtone,

Can you please give us more details about the 100 watter?

Is it just all out metal or can it do good classic rock tones that are in the Marshall territory?

Also, how well does the EQ work when going from a heavy-ish dirt tone to a clean tone? Do you find that you need to re-adjust the EQ for your cleans?

I have very limited time on the 100 watter. I put one out on the floor for everyone to check out and I sold it the first day. I played it for maybe 10 minutes myself. The guy who bought it was in a modern metal band. I was really liking what I was hearing but while I was playing it, the guy asked if he could check it out and he did and then he bought it. I have another in back in the box and I am waiting for some more to come in before opening another box.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

I have very limited time on the 100 watter. I put one out on the floor for everyone to check out and I sold it the first day. I played it for maybe 10 minutes myself. The guy who bought it was in a modern metal band. I was really liking what I was hearing but while I was playing it, the guy asked if he could check it out and he did and then he bought it. I have another in back in the box and I am waiting for some more to come in before opening another box.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the 100 watter as soon as you get the chance.

I'm getting tired of hearing all the metal, chugga-chugga clips of the new RD amps

 

[MR MARCUS]

Hey Chubtone,

Can you please give us more details about the 100 watter?

Is it just all out metal or can it do good classic rock tones that are in the Marshall territory?

Also, how well does the EQ work when going from a heavy-ish dirt tone to a clean tone? Do you find that you need to re-adjust the EQ for your cleans?

I have very limited time on the 100 watter. I put one out on the floor for everyone to check out and I sold it the first day. I played it for maybe 10 minutes myself. The guy who bought it was in a modern metal band. I was really liking what I was hearing but while I was playing it, the guy asked if he could check it out and he did and then he bought it. I have another in back in the box and I am waiting for some more to come in before opening another box.

I just noticed that you own squid music. I almost bought the 100 that you have on ebay but I went with MF just because they were a little cheaper. I wish I would have bought the one you have.

 

[jkdsteve]

Squid Music rocks! \m/

 

[killertone]

I have said it a million times....the RD100 will do 80s metal stuff ALL DAY LONG! Not sure how else to say it. Shit, so will the 45 and the 20 and the 5 and the 1!

 

[killertone]

Oh...and to answer the OP's original question. The Diavlo series had been around but Mike did a fair amount of tweakeing plus he added a totally new FX loop and the XLR cabinet simulated out. So, while not a ground up Fortin design, Mike still had plenty to do inside of these amps.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

I have said it a million times....the RD100 will do 80s metal stuff ALL DAY LONG! Not sure how else to say it. Shit, so will the 45 and the 20 and the 5 and the 1!

How's the clean channel?

Do you find that you need to re-EQ the cleans when going from a high-gain tone?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I have said it a million times....the RD100 will do 80s metal stuff ALL DAY LONG! Not sure how else to say it. Shit, so will the 45 and the 20 and the 5 and the 1!

Yeah but we are still waiting for your official demo....the one where you play RATT and stuff you know? I know you are thinking but we are thinking More spandex please.

 

[Anonymous]

How's the RD1 combo? Have you played it? How about the RD1 head?

Steve

I have not played the RD1 combo. I tend to never like combos like that when the speaker is so small. The RD1 head is very cool sounding. It is much meaner and more "real" sounding than you expect it is going to be. I only played it into a 4x12 and a 2x12 and it was a lot of fun to play. It was the first of the Rd series amps I got in and I really thought it was going to be a toy. It wasn't though and I waited until I got the RD5H in before deciding which one I wanted to take home to record with. At first I thought the RD1H was the one. It was really warm and compressed and is great for a little practice amp. The RD5H is much more open sounding. It is still gainy and compressed but has much more clarity than the RD1H has. For late night home practicing the RD1 is tough to beat, but for recording the RD5H really translates much better onto the recording. I love the three way switch on both. To the left sounds like a loosely tight old Super Lead. In the middle, it's more JCM800 type tight. The middle position will range from classic, heavy rock tones to heavy modern tones. The switch to the right is the heaviest, most modern. You have to adjust the EQ each time you flip the switch on these little amps. They are single channel and the switch creates a different gain structure and EQ structure. Once you find the sweet spots, if you're like me you will just play and play and laugh every now and then because little amps like this are not supposed to sound this cool.

Cool - thanks! I'm thinking about a 1 or 5 watt version of my designs...

Steve

 

[killertone]

I have said it a million times....the RD100 will do 80s metal stuff ALL DAY LONG! Not sure how else to say it. Shit, so will the 45 and the 20 and the 5 and the 1!

How's the clean channel?

Do you find that you need to re-EQ the cleans when going from a high-gain tone?

The clean channel is excellent. Lots of headroom. I did not need to re-eq the clean personally.

I have said it a million times....the RD100 will do 80s metal stuff ALL DAY LONG! Not sure how else to say it. Shit, so will the 45 and the 20 and the 5 and the 1!

Yeah but we are still waiting for your official demo....the one where you play RATT and stuff you know? I know you are thinking but we are thinking More spandex please.

I actually do plan on getting this video of the hard rock tones together soon. Just been super busy lately.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

So can I use EL34's in the 100 watter? It comes stock with 6L6's, right?

 

[killertone]

So can I use EL34's in the 100 watter? It comes stock with 6L6's, right?

Yes, there is enough bias range to put in 34s. Mike did it for a touring artist recently with no mods needed.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

So can I use EL34's in the 100 watter? It comes stock with 6L6's, right?

Yes, there is enough bias range to put in 34s. Mike did it for a touring artist recently with no mods needed.

Nice. So pop in some 34's and just bias the amp as per normal

How would you describe the tone of the 100 watter? More low-mid emphasis or more high-mids?

 

[JerEvil]

I'm interested to hear thoughts on how how the RD would sound direct to a PA for live performance.

 

[yngzaklynch]

Ok so how good would the RD100 or Tharasher hang in this room?
https://youtu.be/NGCl4FBOhpY

 

[killertone]

None of the amps in that room intimidate the Thrasher or RD100. The hilarious thing is that the RD100 is $799 and would go toe to toe with those $4500 Diezels all day long.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

None of the amps in that room intimidate the Thrasher or RD100. The hilarious thing is that the RD100 is $799 and would go toe to toe with those $4500 Diezels all day long.

I think I speak for a lot of guys here when I say that it would be greatly appreciated if you could do a proper demo of the RD100, playing classic rock and hard rock tunes and also putting the clean channel through its paces

 

[killertone]

None of the amps in that room intimidate the Thrasher or RD100. The hilarious thing is that the RD100 is $799 and would go toe to toe with those $4500 Diezels all day long.

I think I speak for a lot of guys here when I say that it would be greatly appreciated if you could do a proper demo of the RD100, playing classic rock and hard rock tunes and also putting the clean channel through its paces

Randall is sending one to me this week. It shall be done.