# And My Interest In Randall At NAMM 2016 Ends...



## technomancer (Jan 1, 2016)

Mike Fortin said:


> My contract with Randall Amplifiers has ended as of December 31st, 2015. I would like to extend my gratitude for the opportunity to work with such amazing people. I will look back on my time with fond memories. Thank you to all that have been so supportive during my time with Randall.



Sadly the new Nuno amp he was designing is also not going to be produced. It might also explain the disappearance of the Thordendal amp.


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## Hollowway (Jan 1, 2016)

Wow, I'm surprised they didn't extend the contract. Or maybe Mike didn't want to? I mean, he's the best thing that ever happened to Randall.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

...., we posted our threads at the same exact time. 

But yeah, this blows. A LOT. I'm curious as to what they got coming now. Their offerings between Bruce Egnater's leaving and Mike Fortin's arrival were pretty lackluster. Didn't like the RT series, the Lynch amp, and the pre-Fortin Diavlo.



Hollowway said:


> Wow, I'm surprised they didn't extend the contract. Or maybe Mike didn't want to? I mean, he's the best thing that ever happened to Randall.



I agree. Their tube amps with Mike were some of the best stuff they ever did. Hell, some of the best amps period, as well as the MTS series with Bruce Egnater. Without them, their tube amps _sucked. _

I hope they either use his designs moving on or just stick to making solid state/hybrids. If I recall, they bought some of Mike's designs.

EDIT: He did say something about "other exciting opportunities" on his facebook.


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## technomancer (Jan 1, 2016)

Sounds like GAS is imminent, Mike is back to working on his own stuff and will be at NAMM


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## vick1000 (Jan 1, 2016)

Ahh, maybe it's time for "Fortin Amplification" to emerge.


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## lewis (Jan 1, 2016)

vick1000 said:


> Ahh, maybe it's time for "Fortin Amplification" to emerge.


this is what should/will happen


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

lewis said:


> this is what should/will happen



Someone beat him to the punch then. 

Fortin Amplification


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## Spinedriver (Jan 1, 2016)

Randall's a weird company. As soon as they get something decent going, they just cut & run in a different direction. The T2/V2 amps were great but yet they only made them for a couple of years and then discontinued them. Imagine if Peavey decided to only make the 5150/6505 for a year or two then all of a sudden decide to go off and do something else... 

The Diavlo and Satan amps are probably the best they've ever done and in all probability will stop making them within the next year or so. Granted, it could have been Mike's decision to leave but then again, they may not have tried to stop him from going either. My guess is that they'll have next to nothing at all new this year.


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## op1e (Jan 1, 2016)

Bruce is FINALLY supposed to be releasing SYNERGY (MTS) after years of wait this year. Seeing what drops before I pick up another rm100. Looks pricey though.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

Fortin on his FB says that Randall will continue to produce the Satan and 667 (and possibly his other designed amps) "for now."


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## lewis (Jan 1, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Someone beat him to the punch then.
> 
> Fortin Amplification



I want that pedal!!!!..... my god.


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## technomancer (Jan 1, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Someone beat him to the punch then.
> 
> Fortin Amplification



That would be Mike's site


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## Spinedriver (Jan 1, 2016)

lewis said:


> I want that pedal!!!!..... my god.



Have you heard the demo yet ?


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## lewis (Jan 1, 2016)

Spinedriver said:


> Have you heard the demo yet ?




Sounds really good. And giving any amp a slight Satan esque boost is a great Idea. I have a OD808 and a VFE Focus..... I probably cannot justify this at all, especially at that price $225. But.....collecting OD pedals seems to be something I enjoy haha. I like the look of the savage too but this defo strikes more chords with me.

Ive started using a Satan kemper profile, and Ive been really impressed. Adding this would make it even more Satan'esque haha.


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## Spinedriver (Jan 1, 2016)

I think I've pretty much hit my limit with od pedals... 







I also have a couple extra sitting on a shelf that I don't really use any more.

I will say though that the Fulltone Full-Drive 3 ended up being an even better boost than I thought it would be. I brought it home, half expecting to be returning it (which is what happened to the Way Huge pedal) but it ended up being even better than the ones I already had.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

technomancer said:


> That would be Mike's site



I know, I just didn't know if they knew he owned his own company or not. 

Also, it seems like the Thordenal amp is still coming, but won't be released by Randall.


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## technomancer (Jan 1, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Also, it seems like the Thordenal amp is still coming, but won't be released by Randall.



Yeah that was the impression I got from Mike's comments too...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

I'm wondering if he's going to make it a made-to-order amp?

I'm curious as to what he's going to do with Fortin Amps now. Will he keep it as is, or will he partner with another shop to make work times quicker and products cheaper, like Blackmachine did with Feline Guitars.


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## technomancer (Jan 1, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I'm wondering if he's going to make it a made-to-order amp?
> 
> I'm curious as to what he's going to do with Fortin Amps now. Will he keep it as is, or will he partner with another shop to make work times quicker and products cheaper, like Blackmachine did with Feline Guitars.



Have to wait and see I guess. He did comment that he has multiple new amp and pedal designs and the Grind is definitely not being built in-house. He also said he'll be at NAMM but not sure if he's exhibiting.

IIRC his commend on if the Thordendal was being build was "Not by Randall."


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 1, 2016)

I know Fluff is close to Mike. If he doesn't have a booth, I hope he can interview him and see what we possibly have coming in the future. 

And yeah, he did say that. Wasn't sure if that meant it was being built by him on a made-to-order basis, or if it was being outsorced.

EDIT: I've been listen to BoO's "A New Reign" recently, and it makes me want a V2.  I REALLY hope Randall makes a worthy successor the the V2/T2 and RH150/RH300. Those amps kicked way too much ass to be discontinued.


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## Dawn of the Shred (Jan 1, 2016)

Wow i didn't expect this! I mean they really do get something good going and they discontinue it.


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## bnzboy (Jan 2, 2016)

im so glad I got my Satan before potentially being discontinued in the future


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## sylcfh (Jan 2, 2016)

The Diavlo is a great, affordable high gain tube amp series. 

I've seen far too many negative comments about the Thrasher to even be interested. Especially at that price point. It seems like they had as many hits as misses. 

I'd like to see more robust SS amps. That's their bread and butter.


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## lewis (Jan 2, 2016)

tbh...if they discontinue the Satan, they are retarded. They deserve the negative press if they do such a stupid act. Its exactly as someone said further up, Imagine peavey discontinuing the 5150 after just a couple of years selling it?.....


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## Bearitone (Jan 2, 2016)

This definitely seems like bad news for their tube amps, BUT maybe they'll continue to break new ground in the field of solid-state instead of making dimebag style SS amps that all sound the same.


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## wakjob (Jan 2, 2016)

It's really hard to criticize a company like Randall. Guitar is really a small niche market.

They're not selling something everyone wants like cellphones. We don't see their financial reports or bottom line.

While yes, we all think that the newer Randall stuff post Mike Fortin is the cats meow, how much of it is actually selling in the retail market?

Think about it, they scaled up a boutique name aimed solely at the metal guitarist.

Guys like Friedman make a product line that hits a broader playing base... and deeper pockets.


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## Spinedriver (Jan 2, 2016)

kindsage said:


> This definitely seems like bad news for their tube amps, BUT maybe they'll continue to break new ground in the field of solid-state instead of making dimebag style SS amps that all sound the same.



That's why I can't understand why they stopped making the T2/V2. It could be that they weren't selling, I don't know but it was a beast for a hybrid and cost less than a grand. The only real competition in terms of non-power tube heads was their own RG line, Marshall's MG & Valvestate and handful of different modelling heads. If I hadn't switched to bass, I'd probably still own the T2 I had.


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## technomancer (Jan 2, 2016)

wakjob said:


> It's really hard to criticize a company like Randall. Guitar is really a small niche market.
> 
> They're not selling something everyone wants like cellphones. We don't see their financial reports or bottom line.
> 
> ...



That was entirely Randall's decision though... at the point they hired Fortin he and Friedman were two of the big names in modded Marshalls and Mike had his original stuff and Friedman was producing the BE100. There was zero reason Randall couldn't have done an amp that was basically a JCM800 with a Cali mod and tapped that market. They chose not to 

Personally I'm just looking forward to seeing what Fortin comes out with next


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## Hachetjoel (Jan 2, 2016)

technomancer said:


> Personally I'm just looking forward to seeing what Fortin comes out with next




I'm just going to go back to not caring about Randall, and looking forward to Fortin.


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## technomancer (Jan 2, 2016)

Hachetjoel said:


> I'm just going to go back to not caring about Randall, and looking forward to Fortin.



Sadly Mike confirmed he's not exhibiting at NAMM this year.


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## wakjob (Jan 2, 2016)

technomancer said:


> Personally I'm just looking forward to seeing what Fortin comes out with next



Oh yeah... me too! 

As much as I love the Diavlo line and my RD1 head, I'm expecting a left hand turn in the Fortin amp lineage.

A T2/V2 inspired Fortin amp would be killer.
Maybe a more vintage amp line too?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 2, 2016)

Fortin said because of his work with Randall, he has more knowledge with solid state designs. Hopefully this does mean we'll have some interesting solid state stuff in the works from him.


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## Spinedriver (Jan 2, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Fortin said because of his work with Randall, he has more knowledge with solid state designs. Hopefully this does mean we'll have some interesting solid state stuff in the works from him.



Aside from the latest Randalls, I think the only ss head to come out in recent years that wasn't either a modelling amp or practice amp on steroids (ie: Marshall MG) is the Yamaha THR Head and the AMT Stonehead (which isn't very widely available).

It would be cool to see Fortin do something in that area for sure.


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## Vrollin (Jan 2, 2016)

Probably a lot more money in working for himself rather than a company that announces a product and releases it a year and a half later... He was probably counting down the days until his contract ran out...


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## will_shred (Jan 2, 2016)

I'm glad that mike is going to do his own thing, his amps are seriously kick ass. Maybe he just wanted his amp designs to be under his own name, seeing how well received they were when Randall released them. The Satan and Thrasher IMO are probably the coolest amps Randall has ever released, and they were Mike's designs. I can't see how Randall is going to be competitive in the tube amp market now. Like others have said, maybe they'll start to work on more good sounding solid state amps. But that also seems like a long shot.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 2, 2016)

Vrollin said:


> Probably a lot more money in working for himself rather than a company that announces a product and releases it a year and a half later... He was probably counting down the days until his contract ran out...



That probably makes sense. I mean, it took around 1 - 2+ years for some of those announced amps to come out, and I guess he was getting REALLY impatient.

I really hope Randall comes up with something. If they don't somehow make some kickass tube, solid state, or hybrid amps without any external help, then it doesn't bode well for them. That is, if they're dumb enough to discontinue the entire Fortin-designed lineup.


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## Bearitone (Jan 2, 2016)

Spinedriver said:


> That's why I can't understand why they stopped making the T2/V2. It could be that they weren't selling, I don't know but it was a beast for a hybrid and cost less than a grand. The only real competition in terms of non-power tube heads was their own RG line, Marshall's MG & Valvestate and handful of different modelling heads. If I hadn't switched to bass, I'd probably still own the T2 I had.




I agree those we're very cool amps.

They need to pick up some clues from AMT. 
AMT makes the best solid state stuff I've ever heard


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## Alcoholocaust (Jan 2, 2016)

I'm grateful to Randall and Mike for making Mike's designs accessible to us worldwide. I love my Satan.
Super excited to see what Mikes plans are and if they're built in house or not.
I was on the Natas waiting list for 3-4 years before my name popped up!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 2, 2016)

kindsage said:


> I agree those we're very cool amps.
> 
> They need to pick up some clues from AMT.
> AMT makes the best solid state stuff I've ever heard



I don't think they should copy other people. They already have the means to make a good solid state amp.

If anything, they need to copy themselves. Release a reissue of the Century series with modern features, and re-release and improve on the Valve Dynamic series.

They'd have a decent lineup right there. RG series (low end) for the low end. They can use both the reissued Century series for midrange and high end, and the reissued Valve Dynamic series for midrange and high end as well.


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## Hollowway (Jan 2, 2016)

Sooooo, not to hijack the thread, here, but can anyone do a quick outline of the tone difference between the diavlo and satan? Now y'all got me interested!


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## sylcfh (Jan 4, 2016)

I owned a half dozen Randalls before I ever knew who Mike Fortin was.

All the great SS designs were by Dale Heinz, anyway.


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## Bearitone (Jan 4, 2016)

sylcfh said:


> I owned a half dozen Randalls before I ever knew who Mike Fortin was.
> 
> All the great SS designs were by Dale Heinz, anyway.



Is Dale the head amp designer for Randall?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 5, 2016)

Dale did the Cyclone, Titan, Warhead, Colossus, and current RGXX03 series. I don't think he had anything to do with the '80s RG, Century, and the V2/T2, though, which are my fav Randalls.

I actually think Bruce co-designed the V2 and T2, though, which most likely explains why they were discontinued.


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## sylcfh (Jan 10, 2016)

kindsage said:


> Is Dale the head amp designer for Randall?




Dale is their solid state engineer. He's the FET master. 




HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Dale did the Cyclone, Titan, Warhead, Colossus, and current RGXX03 series. I don't think he had anything to do with the '80s RG, Century, and the V2/T2, though, which are my fav Randalls.
> 
> I actually think Bruce co-designed the V2 and T2, though, which most likely explains why they were discontinued.





I think he was hired right after the Century series came out. 


The original RG series was all Gary Sunda. He was hired by Don Randall himself in 1970.

Gary actually worked with Dean when they designed the new Dime series amps. 

https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/gary-sunda


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 10, 2016)

Then they need to hire Gary Sunda. 

Also, for serious... I want a Dime head. A lot more common than the RG100ES and it seems to get very, very close to the sound.


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## sylcfh (Jan 11, 2016)

The guy is probably 80 years old.


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## Mathemagician (Jan 11, 2016)

What the waitlist on on of them $5k Natas amps. What I mean is "can I sign up now, and save for half a decade, to nab it when my name comes up?" Lol.


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## rewihendrix (Jan 11, 2016)

Spinedriver said:


> Aside from the latest Randalls, I think the only ss head to come out in recent years that wasn't either a modelling amp or practice amp on steroids (ie: Marshall MG) is the Yamaha THR Head and the AMT Stonehead (which isn't very widely available).
> 
> It would be cool to see Fortin do something in that area for sure.



The Yamaha is a digital amp so not really the same thing. Although it's certainly designed like a traditional analog style amp.

So yeah, solid state amps have pretty much died.

The only other solid state amp of semi-useable wattage on the market that I can think of is those Laney twin combos. I actually quite like them but they're not exactly marketed towards gear enthusiasts.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 11, 2016)

^Randall makes the RG3003.


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## sylcfh (Jan 12, 2016)

The Orange Crush Pro CR120H gets good reviews.


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## Wachu (Jan 14, 2016)

They should go into modellers.


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## Spinedriver (Jan 15, 2016)

Wachu said:


> They should go into modellers.



Nah... The amount of time & money they'd have to put into it would probably bankrupt them. Not only that but with Fender, Vox, Zoom, Line 6, Kemper, Fractal & Digitech (not to mention all of the other VST based options) already established for well over 10+ years each, what could they possibly offer that would make people give up their Pods or AXE-FX units ?

What they _could_ do however, would be to make a line of units similar to the RG-13 which was a 1 watt pre-amp pedal. They could make floor models of the Satan, Thrasher, Ultimate Nullifier, etc... I think those would probably do a LOT better than just another run-of-the-mill modeller.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 15, 2016)

Spinedriver said:


> Nah... The amount of time & money they'd have to put into it would probably bankrupt them. Not only that but with Fender, Vox, Zoom, Line 6, Kemper, Fractal & Digitech (not to mention all of the other VST based options) already established for well over 10+ years each, what could they possibly offer that would make people give up their Pods or AXE-FX units ?



 No modelers, just really, really high-quality solid state/hybrid amps. Why ditch something they already have tons of years of research and development in for something they've NEVER done, NEVER put work into, and something that already has a really, really saturated market right now?


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## Spinedriver (Jan 15, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> No modelers, just really, really high-quality solid state/hybrid amps. Why ditch something they already have tons of years of research and development in for something they've NEVER done, NEVER put work into, and something that already has a really, really saturated market right now?



Exactly.  

I thought at one point they were toying with the idea of making a pedal/pre-amp version of the Thrasher head. I think that it would have sold much better than the RG13 they ended up putting out.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 15, 2016)

They did, apparently. 

I do wonder if Randall didn't really give Mike free reign? It sounds like he had quite a few ideas that never came to be.


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## Alcoholocaust (Jan 16, 2016)

Mathemagician said:


> What the waitlist on on of them $5k Natas amps. What I mean is "can I sign up now, and save for half a decade, to nab it when my name comes up?" Lol.



I was on the waitlist for around 2 years before my name popped up.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 21, 2016)

Uhm... Did Randall even attend this year?

Did Mike leaving make THAT much of a dent?


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## technomancer (Jan 21, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Uhm... Did Randall even attend this year?
> 
> Did Mike leaving make THAT much of a dent?



They're there but if the website is any clue they have nothing new out...


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## Wookieslayer (Jan 21, 2016)

How sad...

Glad I still have my V2 and Titan.


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## sylcfh (Jan 23, 2016)

Randall has a booth. The only new thing is the Kirk Hammett sig amp.


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## Spinedriver (Jan 23, 2016)

sylcfh said:


> Randall has a booth. The only new thing is the Kirk Hammett sig amp.



Even that isn't all that new, they announced it last spring when they announced all of the other Fortin designed amps.

After looking at the specs, apparently it has 9-12AX7 and 4- 6L6 tubes in it... That's a LOT of pre-amp.


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## Trashgreen (Feb 18, 2016)

Great demo of the EOD88, full mix and center track:





KH103 demo as well:


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 18, 2016)

For a doom amp, the EOD88 on it's own sounds pretty ....ing tight. 

For a pure metal amp, though, I love the specs. ....in' KT88s, multiple switchable gain stages, simple controls... I honestly think Randall should release an even more stripped-down version without the fuzz and different aesthetics Would love to hear how it sounds compared to other amps in the price range.


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## xero7 (Feb 20, 2016)

Totally agree that amp is ugly as sin but sounds amazing in the video. It's rare to find a tube amp with that much gain saturation what have you without using a boost of some sort. Alot of people will say they can plug straight into there amp and get it but for me I ve probably only had a few that were passable at best like that. I had a thrasher last year but it didn't t sound anywhere near as good as that EOD amp. That thing smokes in that video no doubt like the above post said change that look to say black tolex a new faceplate maybe like the thrasher and lose that fuzz and I d buy one for sure.


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## budda (Feb 20, 2016)

The EOD, I glanced back at the video and the guitar player looked bored .

I thought amps for Doom were supposed to sound big, that just sounds fizzy  (yes I know bass plays a big role, thanks HHTJH )


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