Randall – The new big boy?

The market for amplifiers has always been dominated by the ‘big 2’: Fender and Marshall. If you wanted a quality amplifier (with the prerequisite street cred), you bought yourself a Marshall or Fender. Sure, some people who were more concerned with the sound may of chosen a Laney or maybe even a Vox, but almost every major rock band defined their sound with however many Marshall or Fender stacks sitting behind them in a concert.

Is it now time for a change?

Slowly, but surely, Randall has made itself known in the market, and slowly receiving more musicians who are becoming loyal to its Products. Started by one of Don Randall, Leo Fenders amp designing partner, it certainly has the expertise. Now with artists endorsing it such as 3 Doors Down, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance and Tommy Lee, it certainly has the street cred. So – is it time to consider a Randall as part of your sound?

Randall amps are characteristically designed to be masters of gain and distortion – lots of gain and distortion. With not much knobwork, it is possible to produce a big, bassy, full sound from a modestly sized (and priced) amp. Without doubt, this is the sound the Randall amps are best known for, and part of the reason they have become a staple part of Heavy Rock and Metal Music.

However, many people tend to overlook the flexibility of the amp, and the other sounds that it can more then adequately produce. Celestion speakers are standard on most Randall amps, including the G3 Combos aimed at most bedroom musicians. Celestion speakers are praised for their clarity and have become standard issue on most brands of amplifier. With the Celestion, and the quality amplifier that Randall supply, you can get a rich clean sound, which with a layer of reverb (which can be done onboard for many of their amps) which can safely imitate bell tones in your latest softer masterpiece. Through the classic hi-gain channel, you can reliably emulate the tones of everybody from Hank Marvin to Clapton. With the modern hi-gain channel, you can pump out Joe Satriani style licks, hearing every single nuance of your playing – in essence hearing harmonics that you never new were actually there.

The onboard effects provided on many of the Randall amplifiers are simply excellent. Standard are 8 types of Reverb and Delay, as well as normal effects such a Phasing, Tremolo and Chorussing. However, with only a single knob for control of these effects and the ability to only use one at a time, if you wanted true control and power you would still need to pull out the ever-reliable pedals.

I’ve only had a few minor issues with my Randall G2 Combo. The most pressing of these is a difficulty of recording from the ‘Line Out’ channel at the back – I’d love to know whose idea of line level this is! I haven’t been able to find a recording source, which can accept the signal without distorting (and digital distortion while recording is a good way to ruin either your choice of its excellent clean or distorted channels!). The best way to record this amp would probably be through a decent microphone.

All in all, you can probably get a reasonable sound for most styles of music through a Randall amp. Obviously, if you want the sound of a Fender or Marshall (or any other amp), you can’t expect to be able to emulate the sound on the Randall perfectly. But, these amps have their own character – which will either fit your character and your playing or it won’t. The only way you can tell is to try one out, and if you enjoy it, eventually assimilate it into your sound.