1986 Randall RG-125-212





     Randall Instruments, Inc. was founded by Don Randall after he left CBS-Fender in 1969. Although his name may not be as well known, Don Randall was the marketing/sales genius that helped C. Leo Fender get his company off the ground in the late '40s/early '50s. After being sold to U.S. Musical Instruments (who also owned Guild guitars before Fender bought them) ca. 1987, Randall is now part of the Washburn family of musical instruments.

     My amp is an all-solid state 200 W (!?! -- or 125 W?) 2 x 12" combo, with two channels (each with its own gain and master volume controls), common tone controls, presence, and reverb. It also has a pull-out "saturation" switch, for better-sounding distortion at lower volumes. For a solid-state amplifier, I've always been very happy with how it sounded. I've gotten a great distorted guitar sound with the gain at 7, the volume at just 3, and minimal reverb, with my Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive added for extra "oomph." (This signal chain was used to record my "loaner" tape in late '95, with a then-stock Epiphone G-310 guitar.) Its FS-5 footswitch allowed channel selection, and the option of turning both channels on at once. Unfortunately, the footswitch is the Achilles heel of this otherwise fine amp (see below for details). Finally, if (like me) you like the concept of amplifiers-as-furniture, this combo's the perfect height to sit on. And since it's covered with that obnoxious dark grey carpet, it's friendlier to the touch.


Repairs

     Shortly after I bought it ($250-$300 used in Spring 1995, from Strings & Things, Memphis), the amp started cutting out on me. I now think this was the onset of the footswitch problems (and probably the reason why the previous owner sold it). As angry as I was at the time, I was even more so about the "service" I received from Gene Smith's Musical Instrument Repair (Memphis, TN). For just over $100, they claimed to have repaired numerous broken solder connections, although subsequent inspection of the chassis (just looking, no touching) revealed cobwebs and no evidence whatsoever of fresh solder joints. It looks like the intermittent footswitch problem eluded them, so they did nothing but charged me plenty for it. I subsequently heard that others had had problems with them as well. They've changed owners a few times, so they might be reputable these days. But even if I still lived in Memphis, I'd never again bring anything to them to repair.

     In February 1997 I blew both original "Jaguar" speakers when I foolishly tried to use a distortion pedal AND an overdrive pedal at the same time one day during band practice. (This was an attempt to use only the clean channel of the amp, since the footswitch was pretty far gone by that time.) I went to Speaker Services (on Madison Ave., Memphis, TN) for replacement on the advice of others, and was extremely pleased with their service. The guy there was a speaker junkie (in the best possible sense of the word), and he patiently showed me my options. Since re-coning the speakers would have been $65 each, I decided to just replace them with generic 12" speakers ($60 each; I forget the brand), although I kept the Jaguar speakers for future consideration. Before I moved to St. Louis, I got them to recone a pair of '70s JBL home stereo woofers, and now they give me the best bass response of any speakers I've ever owned. Top-notch, awesome service. Plus, they have a great vintage speaker selection to boot.


FS-5 footswitch replacement

     The FS-5 footswitch (that came with many Randall amplifiers from this time period) used 2 double pole, double throw (DPDT) switches, which seem to wear out with use much sooner than the switches used by other brands. (I've heard from several other people facing this problem, so maybe a bad batch of switches was to blame.) The switches on mine were worn out to the point where both channels were always on, regardless of the pole setting. The problem is, you can't just replace the footswitch with another brand, because of the unusual type of plug/jack required on the back of the amp. I contacted Randall, but all they were able to do is provide me with the schematic (I color-coded the wires to correspond to my FS-5's presumably stock wiring). Unfortunately, they no longer made this footswitch, and even the current Randall amps use a different type of footswitch. Years later I realized that Stewart-MacDonald stocked a suitable replacement DPDT switch (part no. 1560). However, by the time I had deciphered the schematic, relative to my footswitch, StewMac had discontinued that model in favor of the Fulltone triple-pole, double throw (3PDT) switch.

     The Fulltone switch was touted as a direct replacement for vintage effect pedals, and the third pole also allowed new wiring options. Whereas a DPDT switch has 6 wiring lugs, the 3PDT switch has 9. In Spring 2000, I ordered two, and while they (eventually) worked fine, I was very disappointed with how difficult they were to install. A 3PDT switch can be used as a DPDT switch simply by ignorning the lugs of one of the poles (in my case, I covered the center lugs with electrical tape and used the two outside poles). However, all 9 of the Fulltone switch's lugs are very, very small. It's like they were designed for 30 gauge wire (very thin wire, as used in computers, newer Les Pauls, etc.), whereas the footswitch used 20-24 gauge wire. That may not sound like much difference, but if you're trying to use the stock wires (some wires can't be easily replaced) WITHOUT creating a short circuit in the process, it's damn near impossible. I had to solder some ring terminals, whose bases had been crimped and enlarged to fit, on/over the existing lugs, just to have enough room to work with. While the new switches seem to work well, it seems like the amp sometimes takes a few minutes to warm up until both channels are no longer both on.

     If you need to replace a DPDT switch in this footswitch (or any "vintage" pedal, for that matter), I cannot recommend the Fulltone. Because of its incredibly small terminal lugs, the Fulltone 3PDT is hardly the direct replacement it's advertised as.

UPDATE December 2005

-- it turns out that it's not the footswitch at all -- it's the crappy (aluminum??) wires in the cable between the footswitch and the amp. I forget who e-mailed me offhand to report this truth, but I will give credit where credit is due as soon as possible when I find that old e-mail. In Fall 2005, I cut off the last foot of cable at the plug end and re-soldered the wires to the plug, and that solved the "both channels on, even if you don't want both on" problem... for a month or so. (The wire at the plug end had been bent many times over the years, and may have just fatigued over the years -- apparently, one month of gravity acting at a new angle also messed up the 'new' cable end.) The BEST solution is to completely replace the 6-conductor (plus a ground sheath?) cable with a better one, but I'm not sure what to buy offhand. McMaster-Carr sells a LOT of different types of cable, but I haven't found one that seems appropriate yet.


Vital statistics:

[ index ]