Does Anyone Like - Use - Old Vintage Randall Solid State Preamps-power amps & amps - For Dimebag Darrell Tone

  • Thread starter Thread starter Capt Crunch Berries
  • Start date Start date
Capt Crunch Berries

Capt Crunch Berries

Banned
Member
I have always liked Dimebag Darrell's guitar playing - riffs - tone & song creativity.

Dimebag used some Randall solid state gear in the 80's & 90's.

I own a Randall RG80ES - ss amp which absolutely comps the Dimebag sound & tone.

Any gear stories - about Dimebags tone - gear he used?

Cheers.
 
My Dime rig is three Randall X2 full stacks(yes...three heads,three 4x12s and three 2x15 cabs),a USA Washburn slime and Southern cross quilt top prototype. The X2 heads don't need any pedals or rack gear to get the Dime tone.

No Bradley...I am not interested in selling them.

pic b4 I got the third stack
1609848600030.png
 
Last edited:
I used a Randall RG-80 combo with the internal G12-80 and a 4x12 with G12-65's back in the early 80's. People loved my tone, hated my playing. LOL

Still got the lousy playing skills and that same Randall RG-80 combo to this day! An example of my crappy tone and playing back in 1983. This was at a club called The Sundance in Parker, Arizona.

 
I have a rg1503. I never played panterra riffs on it til this weekend. But when I did, it nailed them. I have a paraeq before the amp and a graphic eq in the loop. I am not trying to nail his tone at all. More going for pure deathmetal tone, but it sounded really close. You should check killertone's videos
 
Love the older Randalls. Have had an RG80ES, RH200SC, Cyclone, RG100HT...debating seeing if I can build something like an old RG100ES as I see the prices going up a bit. When I had the HT, I had a PQ-6 as well to get that Dime tone, but various ODs and even the MT-2 as a clean boost sounded good.
 
Last edited:
I had it all man, the RG100ES heads, the rackmount rg100ht, the furman PQ3 and PQ4, the vintage MXR six band, A Dean dimeslime ML. I was obsessed with that tone for a long time, and still am to an extent, I just need to get myself another old Randall head. I sold them all like an idiot... and I sold the ML... just another phase that got me in the tube direction, but i truly miss that solid state crunch those Randall have when boosted. Palm mutes sound more massive than anything on those amps, they just bounce right out.

Even though, those amps have a simple layout, they ain't as easy to dial in as you'd think. At band volumes you gotta keep the treble and mids at no more than say 4.5 out of 10, and if you need more top end the presence works wonders. Using a boost like a od808 or sd-1 or a mxr 6 band like Dime is a must. Using the presence control as a treble knob works great at band volumes. The higher you turn the master, the more the mids dominate the sound so If your master is at say 4 (loud!) then drop the mids (3 ish) way down, treble too (4) and crank up the presence to take the blanket off... it will sound more balanced. Just a little thing I learned with those amps. Also, very picky with cabs, the rectifier cabs with V30's work best, 4 ohms, they love to be run at 4 ohms, through a full stack prefferably. The treble knob pull out thing robs the amp of dynamics and punch, don't use it. These are some tone tips for you, if you play in a band.
 
Last edited:
Scumback Speakers said:
I used a Randall RG-80 combo with the internal G12-80 and a 4x12 with G12-65's back in the early 80's. People loved my tone, hated my playing. LOL

Still got the lousy playing skills and that same Randall RG-80 combo to this day! An example of my crappy tone and playing back in 1983. This was at a club called The Sundance in Parker, Arizona.

Click to expand...

That is a killer tone and great playing! It sounds very much like a Marshall 2203 or 2204 or something... it's amazing that solid state technology could sound that good back then... and seriously it hasn't gotten better than those old Randall's, the newer ones miss the mark and don't have the dynamics and warm feel of the old RG's.
 
Why Randall doesn‘t shrink down the works into a pedal size amp is beyond me. With all the surface mount components available now it must be possible.
 
paulyc said:
Why Randall doesn‘t shrink down the works into a pedal size amp is beyond me. With all the surface mount components available now it must be possible.
Click to expand...
Not going to happen. That old RG-80 has some serious iron in it. You can't replicate that in a pedal.
 
I have an RG1503. Love it. However like @Smashedguitarist above, I have an EQ in front (because this amp absolutely needs it) and another EQ in the loop just for the extra versatility. Once things are dialed in, it's a monster. I have several other well known high gain tube amps and the RG1503 can absolutely keep up once it's dialed in.

I don't really ever set out to dial my tone in like Dime's but when the odd mood comes around to play an old Pantera riff or two it's easy to get there.
 
I had an RH100 years ago and loved it. I still regret selling and will occasionally search around for one.
 
paulyc said:
Why Randall doesn‘t shrink down the works into a pedal size amp is beyond me. With all the surface mount components available now it must be possible.
Click to expand...
Randall had the RG13. It was essentially the new rg amp in pedal form. Don't think it did too well.
 
I used the rg100’s and rg80’s for years! Theykill if you match the ohms they were designed to be run at to get full power. Back in the day had two rg80’s ran stereo with a boss overdrive,eq pedal, and a stereo chorus to four cheap cabs and it was crushing.
it was the 90’s and i maybe had $400 in that rig lol. Most of it was got in a pawnshop or two..
 
Apparently that was a trick several people used back in the day for huge tone.... para EQ in front of the amp
 
For a number of years I ran 2 of the Randall Warhead Stacks (4x12's and 2x15's), a Furman PQ4 in the loop, Dimebag Crybaby From Hell Wah and a Dean Dime O'Flame as my primary player too. Right after he passed and Dean did all those tribute models I ended up getting the Rust Razorback to commemorate him. The Rust Razorback I still have and isn't going anywhere. I wasn't setting out to copy his tone 100% per say but took the same tools and kinda make it my own. It was massive and thick. Really loved that setup. Ended up getting tired of the Solid State for cleans and sold it all to go Rivera. Sold the Dean Dime O'Flame to get an Ibanez RG2228 and sold the Cry Baby from Hell wah as I just got out of using wahs altogether. The past couple of years though I have been keeping my eye out for a Randall X2. I remember trying one and thinking it was pretty awesome and really did get closer to the "Dime" sound than the Warheads I had. I have always hoped that Randall would get their shit together and maybe release some "Legacy" type amps for Dime. Those DIME amps that Dean helped release a number of years back were pretty cool too. I tried the Krankenstein's when they came out and did not care for them.

I always enjoyed his sound, big and THICK. Just a wall of sound.

If it wasn't for Dime's playing and Guitar World Columns I wouldn't have learned half the stuff I did on guitar.
 
If Randall had released the X2 in a preamp/pedal format and made it inexpensive,it woulda sold like hotcakes. I'm telling you from experience it's as close to "Dime in a box" as it gets. Bruce Egnater went to Darrells house and spend real time with him and his rig and dialed in the way his rig worked. If the X2 heads had been built more reliable(man I got stories about that subject),more would be available today. Too many have serious issues.

More and more of the older Randall heads will continue to succumb to the ravages of age. At least there are digital ways of copping his sound available now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top