Marshall 1959 RR Head: Randy Rhoads tone at Bill Gates' prices
Written: Dec 27 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great tone, mucho volume, excellent craftsmanship
Cons: Too expensive and loud for most players
The Bottom Line: This amp head delivers great 80s Marshall tones with plenty of volume and distortion. It's too expensive and loud for most players, though.
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| buffoonery's Full Review: Marshall Randy Rhoads Guitar Amplifier Head |
It goes without saying that, despite his tragically short life, Randy Rhoads remains one of the most influential metal guitarists of all time. His work on Ozzy Osbourne’s two arguably best albums, Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman, set standards for speed, lyricism, and (not incidentally) tone.
It is the latter factor that brings us together today as our friends at Marshall Amplifiers have issued their 1959RR Randy Rhoads Signature 100 watt guitar amp head, based on the customized Marshall amp that Randy purchased while visiting the Marshall factory in January 1980. The Rhoads family permitted Marshall to examine Randy’s 1959 amp head (kept in a vault with his guitars) so as to duplicate the custom mods installed on the amp. On top of this, Marshall tracked down the engineer who did the mods. The result is, presumably, an amp head that comes as close as close can be to duplicating Randy’s own machine.
Let’s get started at the top: price. This amp is expensive at $2800 street. On top of the two custom cabinets, the whole ensemble will run you five grand plus. While this isn’t quite the seven thou or so that the Marshall Super 100 JH Jimi Hendrix signature was originally going for, it is a very serious chunk of change that means that this amplifier is intended for professionals and collectors.
Besides price, the other defining characteristic is volume. This amp is LOUD and I couldn’t jack it up very much at the local big box because I was melting faces even at the low numbers. You won’t be able to get the full benefits of this amp unless you’re playing an arena gig or using an attenuator. Garage and club players don’t need this amp.
On the other hand, hard rock and metal players who dig the classic 80s Marshall sound will love this amp. On the face of it, the RR looks like a standard 1959 two-channel head, except for the white covering. The front has on/off and stand/by switches, presence, bass, mids, treble and volume I and II knobs. There are also high and low impedance input jacks for each channel. The reverse has two extension cab jacks, impedance and mains controls, and the power connection. There is no channel selector switch. Guitarists who are used to using modern modeling amps will be shaking their heads over the simplicity of this arrangement.
Under the hood, the head is powered by three ECC83 (12AX7) tubes in the preamp and four EL34 tubes in the power amp. Channel I gives standard Marshall tones. The trick to the amp, then, is the hot rodded customization for Channel II that Randy requested at the Marshall factory. This customization makes it easier to push the amp to saturation levels by “cascading” the output of both halves of Valve I into Channel II, instead of using one half for each channel. The cascading effect dramatically increases the guitar signal and causes significant distortion. Hence, in Channel II, the Volume I controls volume while the Volume II is essentially a gain control. Because of the mod, you lose the traditional Channel II sound of a 1959 head.
The highly informative manual contains background on design, a biography of Randy, numerous tributes from many guitarists as well as Ozzy Osbourn and Randy’s mother. There’s also Randy’s preferred setting, which put both volumes at about six so he wasn’t totally cranking the amp.
Who should buy this amp? As before, serious professionals who want to duplicate Randy’s sound or otherwise want a great amp that provides classic 80s Marshall tone along with additional distortion. This thing has just has way too much power for basement and club players. The sound is just crushing as you push up the vees. Have fun and watch your pocketbook.
Here are my other guitar reviews:
Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard Plus Top
Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom
Epiphone Les Paul Standard
Epiphone G-400 SG
Fender Classic 50s Esquire
Fender Cyclone
Fender 62 Jaguar
Fender VG Stratocaster
Fender American HSS Stratocaster
Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster
Fender John Mayer Stratocaster
Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster
Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
Fender 57 Stratocaster Reissue
Fender 50s Telecaster
G&L Legacy Strat
Gibson ES-5
Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster
Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis
Gibson ES-175
Gibson ES-333 Memphis Style Hollow Body
Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335 1959 Reissue
Gibson ES-350T
Gibson ES-350T
Gibson Les Paul Classic Custom
Gibson Les Paul GT
Gibson Les Paul 1957 Goldtop
Gibson Les Paul Studio
Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Classic Ebony
Gibson SG 61 Reissue
Gibson Super 400
Gretsch Electromatic G5120 Hollow Body
Gretsch White Falcon II
Ibanez Artcore AS73 Semi-Hollow Body
Joe Satriani JS 1000 Solid Body Guitar
Ibanez Steve Vai Jem7
Ibanez Xiphos XPT700
Martin D-28 Acoustic
Ovation VXT Acoustic Electric
PRS McCarty
PRS Single Cut
PRS Santana SE
Schechter Diamond C 1
Variax 700 Acoustic
Other amp reviews from buffoonery:
Crate Acoustic CA30
Crate Power BlockFender Blues Deluxe Reissue
Fender Cyber Twin
Fender DSP 65
Fender 64 Vibroverb Custom Blackface
Fender Super Sonic 1x12 Combo
Fender MH 500 Metalhead
Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 50 Combo
Line 6 Spider II Head
Line 6 Flextone III Plus
Line 6 Vetta II Combo
Line 6 Spider III 75
Line 6 Spider Valve 2x12 Combo
Marshall 1974X 1x12 Combo
Marshall Super 100 JH
Mesa 5:25 Express
Mesa Stiletto Ace
Mesa 5:50 Express
Mesa Dual Rectifier Roadster
Mesa Stiletto Deuce
Mesa Triple Rectifier Head
Mesa Lone Star Combo
Peavey JSX Joe Satriani Signature Head
Peavey Classic 30 Combo
Peavey Triple XXX Head
Peavey Penta Head
Roland Micro Cube
Roland Micro Cube RX
Vox Valvetronix AD60VT
Vox AD50VT-XL 50 2x12 combo
My effects and stomp box reviews:
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Guitar Simulator
Boss BD-2 Distortion Pedal
Boss ME-20 Guitar Multiple Effects Processor
Boss GT-8 Multi-Effects Processor
Boss GT-10 Multi-Effects Processor
Boss ME-50 Multi-Effects Processor
Digitech RP50 Guitar Effects Processor
Digitech RP80 Guitar Effects Processor
Digitech Brian May Red Special Overdrive Pedal
Line 6 POD X3 Guitar Multi-Effects Board
And you may also be interested in a few books such as:
Hugo Pinksterboer – Tipbook Amplifiers and Effects
Ritchie Fliegler – Amps: The Other Half of Rock and Roll
Michael Ross – Getting Great Guitar Sounds: A Non-Technical Approach to Shaping Your Personal Sound
Nick Freeth – Classic Guitars: Identification and Price Guide
Recommended:
Yes
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