Buying a guitar amplifier is a very personal conclusion . You have to look at what musical note you are go after , what type of music you need to bet with it , will it be used in your home studio apartment , and so forth . Thankfully , there are a flock of option , so you are n’t necessarily bond with a single tone when you buy an amp ( although you may definitely go that route as well ) .
I recently plug away into my very first Randall amplifier , one of their MTS modular tube jazz group line . Not only is the amp modular in terms of tone , but it also has outputs that let me plug it into my Mac , so I can record it directly into apps like Logic and GarageBand .
So , what is a modular amplifier ? It ’s an amp that you could slide out the tone control circuits ( often get laid by its more technical term , guts ) and replace it with another module that is based on a different circuit — often with completely unlike tubes — which gives you a all different tint . The sweetheart of this system is that you are still encounter through a tube amp , which gives you that rich , warm subway system sound , disregardless of the type of tone you are looking for .
The amp I essay was the15 - watt RM20B , which comes with a 12 - in Celestion Greenback loudspeaker system . This adenosine monophosphate has a single modular channel , so to get another whole step I need to exclude down , pop out the module and put a new one in . This take all of 10 seconds , so it ’s not a big deal .
Randall takes this a step further , by including a transposition — located on the front of the amp — to get into into a “ silent ” mode . This countenance you to monitor the tint going into your computer without hearing anything coming out of the ampere . you may go out the amp loudspeaker on if you wish , but it ’s nice to have the option to monitor the phone . This feature is perfect for anyone who has tried to record that overdrive , cranked - up spirit late at Nox when your mate is sleeping .
Randall offersfourteen modulesthat range from the default Randall tone and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Zakk Wylde and Eddie Van Halen ’s famous brown auditory sensation ( the link above include reasoned clips for all of the modules ) . Each $ 200 mental faculty has controls for Gain , Bass , halfway , Treble and Level . The ampere itself has controls for the footswitchable Boost Gain , Boost Level , Presence and Density .
I really care Randall ’s tone , so I was felicitous with the default module , but I tried the Ultra , SL+ and uncontaminating modules . All ply a nice lovesome tone . I was also take up with the power I got from such a small adenylic acid . The RM20B is not only a great practice and recording amp , but you may easy play humble locale and clubs with it .
A friend of mine purchased this same adenosine monophosphate and now gigs with it all the time . His stripe plays a lot of AC / DC and he incur the tone fits perfectly . He mics the ampere through the house PA and is very pleased with its performance .
If you need to interchange from a clean to crunchy tone in your song , you might want to look at one of thelarger combosorheads , which can fit up to three module .
The MTS series of amps really shows Randall ’s understanding of what guitar players are look for these 24-hour interval . We want to have tone flexibility and the option to record a unmediated signal from the ampere to the Mac . With a street price of $ 770 , the RM20B is a rugged , well - built amp that will for sure meet the requirements of anyone looking for an adenylic acid at dwelling house or to act modest venues .
