hi all, this is my first post. i recently bought an rm 100 which had an xtc, clean, and recto module. none of these really impressed me, so i went straight for a mash-all and a sg xtc. i really like these modules, but my question is-- are there any stock randall modules that dont need to be improved upon that i should give a listen to ?
stock randall modules
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VitaminG
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I know a lot of people here rate the artist signature models, but I haven't really played with those.
Of the stock ones I've used, I actually don't mind the Clean. The Blackface is good, a bit harsher & thinner than the Clean but it was my go-to clean for years. And the XTC was good, once dialled in. I've used the XTC at practice by itself when I forgot my footswitch, using guitar volume alone to change from clean to drive. Worked a treat!
The Modern is good, not hugely versatile but does one thing well. There has been discussion around here declaring it to be a great lead module.
The 1086 is the only sig module I have. It is great. Surprisingly versatile & does some very nice lower gain sounds. The downside is that the voice switch sounds muddy on one side, but it doesn't seem like a big tweak to correct that.
Any of the stock ones I've had have been entirely usable. But none of them compare to the modded ones. Any of them will benefit from a tweak by the modders, to open up the sound or refine it.
Of the stock ones I've used, I actually don't mind the Clean. The Blackface is good, a bit harsher & thinner than the Clean but it was my go-to clean for years. And the XTC was good, once dialled in. I've used the XTC at practice by itself when I forgot my footswitch, using guitar volume alone to change from clean to drive. Worked a treat!
The Modern is good, not hugely versatile but does one thing well. There has been discussion around here declaring it to be a great lead module.
The 1086 is the only sig module I have. It is great. Surprisingly versatile & does some very nice lower gain sounds. The downside is that the voice switch sounds muddy on one side, but it doesn't seem like a big tweak to correct that.
Any of the stock ones I've had have been entirely usable. But none of them compare to the modded ones. Any of them will benefit from a tweak by the modders, to open up the sound or refine it.
davetheslave
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I found the George Lynch Mr Scary and Grail mods extremely useable. Especially live. They both had me turning my head a few times on stage but that was once I started cranking the module volume control past 1 o clock.
webrthomson
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VitaminG said:
+1 on the 1086 - like it a lot!
Clean was great for just that.
SL+ (blackplate version) - it had the JCM800 on roids tone & in my opinion was the "clearest" of the stockers I had.
Mr Scary - if you are after a more soldano like tone then this is it. It is very close to the SL+ mentioned above but a little more hairy/saturated with a tweak in the tone stack.
Grail - If you are after a more heavy punishing tone.
1086/Plexi Plus - I had a love hate relationship with this. My issue came down to the voicing switch. Left (not scooped mids side) was great, right (scooped side) sucked muddy *** balls. Otherwise was pretty good but not Plexi sounding to my ears.
Judge - another love hate module which again revolved around the voicing switch. Mode 2 was just ugly, fuzzy, blanket over speakers tone.
** The issues with the voicing switch sounds like it could be resolved with a simple mod or 2. Or maybe you have a bright maple guitar that would play nice with the stock Randall voicing switch.
** Also I thought the stockers sounded best when the Level/Master on the module was at or above 1 o'clock.
SL+ (blackplate version) - it had the JCM800 on roids tone & in my opinion was the "clearest" of the stockers I had.
Mr Scary - if you are after a more soldano like tone then this is it. It is very close to the SL+ mentioned above but a little more hairy/saturated with a tweak in the tone stack.
Grail - If you are after a more heavy punishing tone.
1086/Plexi Plus - I had a love hate relationship with this. My issue came down to the voicing switch. Left (not scooped mids side) was great, right (scooped side) sucked muddy *** balls. Otherwise was pretty good but not Plexi sounding to my ears.
Judge - another love hate module which again revolved around the voicing switch. Mode 2 was just ugly, fuzzy, blanket over speakers tone.
** The issues with the voicing switch sounds like it could be resolved with a simple mod or 2. Or maybe you have a bright maple guitar that would play nice with the stock Randall voicing switch.
** Also I thought the stockers sounded best when the Level/Master on the module was at or above 1 o'clock.
Whoopysnorp
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I used to have a JTM. It sounded pretty good clean or with a mild breakup; after that it got harsh and scratchy. I used mine as a donor and have never looked back, but I haven't ever been able to get quite the same mild breakup tone as on the JTM (although the Plexi mode on my SG XTC might do it).
The other stockers I've owned were:
Tweed. Not bad. Very similar to the JTM.
XTC. Can do some things pretty well, but sounds mushy even compared to other stockers.
SL+. Pretty good, and has an enormous amount of gain. When I got my SG MK22, though, I said goodbye to the SL+ in a hurry.
Grail. Quite good. I had mine modded into an SG Diablo, which is a great module, but the Grail is different enough that I would consider owning one again.
Blackface. Okay, that midrange notch is way overdone and you cannot dial it out no matter how high you crank the mids.
Deluxe. I wasn't a big fan of this, but I'm also not wild about the original tone. I just had mine modded into the Voodoo Twin, and I'm completely loving it.
The other stockers I've owned were:
Tweed. Not bad. Very similar to the JTM.
XTC. Can do some things pretty well, but sounds mushy even compared to other stockers.
SL+. Pretty good, and has an enormous amount of gain. When I got my SG MK22, though, I said goodbye to the SL+ in a hurry.
Grail. Quite good. I had mine modded into an SG Diablo, which is a great module, but the Grail is different enough that I would consider owning one again.
Blackface. Okay, that midrange notch is way overdone and you cannot dial it out no matter how high you crank the mids.
Deluxe. I wasn't a big fan of this, but I'm also not wild about the original tone. I just had mine modded into the Voodoo Twin, and I'm completely loving it.
zepplin490
Well-known member
My personal Fav's are the:
SL+ - Great Marshall tones with an assload of available gain
Tweed - Very good Fat Warm Cleans to great mid -gain
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SL+ - Great Marshall tones with an assload of available gain
Tweed - Very good Fat Warm Cleans to great mid -gain
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The judge/gto!! IMHO the best stocker....Mr Scary is a very good hot rod Marshall tone that similar to the SL+ (though its just a bit brighter to my ears) I also liked the Grail, 1086, 1987, XTC, Ultra and Ultra XL. Ive used ll of the aforementioned modules in stock form for gigs and they sounded very good. Of that list- I probably lean towards the Judge, the 1987 and stock Ultra the most.
I've got a similar collection of Randall modules to you, here's my take on them:
Clean - Unimpressive is an apt description, as is the name of the module. It translates pedals transparently better than any other module I've tried, stock or modded. May become a Texas Special if it can retain that quality on the clean setting.
SL+ - Mine is Orange Dropped with a tight switch and JCM800/DSL switch. It lives on the JCM800 setting and does a **** fine job of it. Don't feel compelled to mod it into a 4-Marshalls-in-one module, just so it can live on the JCM800 setting, I know myself a bit too well for that.
Grail - Bone stock bone crusher.
XTC - Jaded Faith replica module. Didn't have the stock version but this one's super flexible and is the reason I'm looking at the Texas Special as my many-flavors-of-clean module.
The Marshall-Rectifier-Ecstasy high gain tones from Randall were ok. I think the mid-gain Fender-Vox-Orange tones require a modders rebuild to be satisfying.
Clean - Unimpressive is an apt description, as is the name of the module. It translates pedals transparently better than any other module I've tried, stock or modded. May become a Texas Special if it can retain that quality on the clean setting.
SL+ - Mine is Orange Dropped with a tight switch and JCM800/DSL switch. It lives on the JCM800 setting and does a **** fine job of it. Don't feel compelled to mod it into a 4-Marshalls-in-one module, just so it can live on the JCM800 setting, I know myself a bit too well for that.
Grail - Bone stock bone crusher.
XTC - Jaded Faith replica module. Didn't have the stock version but this one's super flexible and is the reason I'm looking at the Texas Special as my many-flavors-of-clean module.
The Marshall-Rectifier-Ecstasy high gain tones from Randall were ok. I think the mid-gain Fender-Vox-Orange tones require a modders rebuild to be satisfying.
speed2dirt
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The Scott Ian mods are all really good! I think the Malcom is an awesome, cleanish grit tone. The 1987 & The Nuts are both amazing and compete with modded mods if used with a boost. By themselves, they're alright, but boosted they come to life. Friedman did a good job on these mods for Scott.
thanks for the input ! i think after having messed with the sg xtc and mash-all that i am pretty much looking for really good one trick ponies, as i am not much of a tweaker. it seems i spent a good chunk of money for 2 very versatile modules only to use 1 sound out of each of them. i think what im really looking for are 4 modules that do one thing great and arent loaded up with a lot of options. again, shamelessly soliciting any sage advice i can get. i dont mind spending a little on a module, but at the same time dont want to overlook a stock/slightly modded stock module if it will fit the bill. need 4 modules that do a convincing srv, low-mid gain plexi(malc/angus), nuno bettencourts pornograffiti tone, and something that does a camerock tone- since no one seems to want to sell theirs. thanks in advance !!
Whoopysnorp
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There are some mods out there that don't have a lot in the way of fancy features, but are really excellent. First and foremost, I think, is the SacredGroove MK22. I think newer ones might have a few more options, but mine just has a 2203/2204 switch, and it gives me all the Marshall goodness I need. The regular Salvation Stonerverb (not one of the fancier signature models) just has a clean/dirty switch and either a tight switch (older models) or a noise gate (newer models0. That's one of the best modules out there. Also, don't forget that Jaded Faith and Voodoo Amps both offer simpler mods that mostly just involve upgrading components to open up and improve the stock tone. I used to have an XTC with JF's base mod, and although I think that the overall tone is better in both JF's and SG's full-blown XTC modules, there are times when I miss the special thing I got out of that base modded one.
In my mind the mods that have a "slew" of features is less about having many tones and more about tayloring 1 or 2 to get exactly what you want. However you can always have the moddrs do an a la carte mod(s) to get your ultimate one trick ponies. Rob @ Jaded Faith is awesome to deal with. Others have had good things to say about Scott @ SG & Antonin @ Salvation. Pick your poison this stuff is addictive. :lol:
audiomidijace
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No.jbt62 said:
I've always thought that the stock MTS products sounded as good or better than anything else in it's price range. But the mods put the MTS amps in to the boutique category. So while there are stockers that sound good, non of them sound as good as anything Jaded Faith or Salvation offer.
Whoopysnorp
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Hamner1 said:
Yeah that's a good point. I love that my SG XTC has a slew of different tones in it, but 90% of the time I keep it on the red channel with structure on, because it just sounds so damned good.
I think the KH3 is a great stock module. To me, it covers Mesa Mark IV to Rectifier tones depending on settings. It's a very aggressive module that works for rhythm and leads and doesn't have a buried mid-range. It isn't at all noisy or thin sounding. I paid 2x more for a JF Trilogy and the verdict is still out on my judgement on that one. Haven't had much time to get to know it, but it certainly is not astonishing and all of the control options don't seem to matter that much except for being more junk to fiddle with, wondering if a stock Ultra or Ultra+ (or one with minor mods would get me what I was looking for).
Seems like most people I've talked to pretty prefer the same settings on it anyway (either the I or III setting with the Tight setting & Voice setting all the way down and the Sweep control all the way, or nearly all the way back. I'm sure there are a lot of differing opinions, but most people I've encountered were looking for "THE" 5150/6505 tone and this one does it pretty good...the ability to work with the mids/low mids is good though, something I always wanted when I ran an actual 6505
Seems like most people I've talked to pretty prefer the same settings on it anyway (either the I or III setting with the Tight setting & Voice setting all the way down and the Sweep control all the way, or nearly all the way back. I'm sure there are a lot of differing opinions, but most people I've encountered were looking for "THE" 5150/6505 tone and this one does it pretty good...the ability to work with the mids/low mids is good though, something I always wanted when I ran an actual 6505
audiomidijace
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Remember the mids go to 20 on the Trilogy, so you'll want to start with the knob very low and slowly work your way up. Also an Electro Harmonix 12AX7 in V1 of the module will make it thicker and more aggressive sounding.
zepplin490
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Just got a trilogy and man are those mids hard to dial in along with the rest of the beast. Ive gotten some great tones out of mine but i know it can do better.
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