v2/t2 problems

[maximus1]

i know no one is interested in what i have to say having dissed the rm100 so bad but how come theres never any action in this section. does anyone even play these amps anymore? has anyone ever heard new reign or higher places from born of osiris or id from veil of maya. these amps rule and they arnt getting any talk. never really have imao. what do you guys think? btw does anyboby find the tube channel to be too dark? seems hard to get it to cut through. the ss channel on the v2 seems alot better to me. any opinions would be great. i m in the studio right now recording a full length and it will be all v2 :twisted:

 

[BigBrewtus]

Sounds like a different tube selection would be the best choice.
Ruby HG+ have been doing well for me in the Balls department.

 

[Wookieslayer]

Yes definitely dig the HG+ in my V2 as I've mentioned few weeks back.

Yeah man this forum is just really slow anyways man. Most of the V2 / T2 owners don't frequent any Internet forums I guess

 

[MainiacMetal]

Wookie's right, this forum is the slowest I've ever seen.

The T2's and V2's are killer amps...they have been my favorite for quite a while. I have a T2 and a V2 Archetype. Initially I felt like the T2 was the better amp but after having spent so many months using both I think the Archetype is a better fit for me. They are really close but the Archetype to me seems a tad more aggressive and I like the SS channel quite a bit. Not sure how well they are holding their value, but I think if you can find them used for 6-700 you are doing good.

Scott Ian loves this series of amps, he mentions them a lot. Although now I think he's on the MTS series, and the last cd was recorded using his old vintage 800's.

 

[Wookieslayer]

Yeah I pretty much know most of the T2 / V2 owners or have read their threads on amp forums across the web. 8)

It's too bad this forum is such a dead zone. I try to check it every few days if not more but really the only activity I see is in the MTS section lol.

I am pretty happy with my T2. It's been great to me and I do enjoy it's simplicity; **** easy to dial in a sound with high mids or low mid emphasis scoop / pushed sound. Gets super tight with the ISP gate. I think I may bust out the dbx 266 rack compressor/gate in the garage today to finally see what it can add to the tone.

Unfortunatley I haven't played my V2 much because the clean channel has issues but it is indeed every bit as awesome as the T2. I would love to try out the Archetype's SS!

I've had my amps on craigslist for sometime now but get no real offers and have had no one come check them out. I guess the only reason I have them for sale is to try something new; also I don't really need 3 amp heads right now :roll: But it is so hard to sell these amps in this market at a decent price. Randall's aren't popular right now at all Like there's even a XL cab and loaded RM100 on my local craigslist for $800. Pretty decent deal if you ask me considering the RM100 is fully loaded. Always wanted to try one because I hear amazing things.


Hopefully Randall will change things around soon. I heard Mike Fortin from Fortin amps is designing a signature Kirk Hammet head with Randall. Can't imagine how beastly it will be or what the price will be

 

[rottingcorpse]

i had 3 randall v2 heads and a t2 as a backup at one point. yes, i am a randall fanboy. and i got an insane deal on them.

the reason these amps don't get much kudos is because, well, they kinda suck compared to what else is out there. if they didn't, more people would be using them. that's the bottom line. you can flame me all you want, and scream "my V2/T2 is better than anything out there!!" but there is a reason few people use these amps.

the reason the MTS series was a hit was because it didn't suck. and it was mod friendly. and ALL TUBE!! few people want a solid state head (i love them, my X2's are freaking awesome!!) and even fewer want a hybrid head.

too bad the rt series was such a flop. i had one for a while, but reliability issues and the typical randall high gain noise made me send it back. great tone, bad design with the linear taper volume pot.

i have high hopes for the fortin designed randall.

 

[Wookieslayer]

I guess most would argue any popular high gain metal tube amp these days is better than the V2 / T2 amps but I still think they're underrated in the community. They generally don't have maintenance because there's no power tubes to replace or bias. I just love having both tube and SS benefits in one amp

 

[maximus1]

i would nt say these amps kinda suck. i tried the mts twice only to realize it kinda sucks. its good after u spend tons of money getting it how u want but 400 dollar modules is crazy.( only the modded stuff is worth it maybe) dont take offense its just my opinion. ur right though most people dont want hybrids or ss and generally r after tube amps. i ve owned n played just about everyone in production for high gain n have found the v2 to be the best for me which is what its all about anyway. there really is no tone u cant get out of them. they r quite noisey though . the ns-2 x connect fixed all that for me. i think people generally just gravitate towards whats popular n randall isnt real popular atm. i think for someone looking for something different and original the v2 is worth trying plus the price is good on em. i love the ss channel with a maxon od9

 

[rottingcorpse]

i disagree about ease of maint since it is a hybrid. changing tubes (and biasing for that matter) is easy as hell. and if you can change preamp tube, you can change power tubes.

the tone of the v2/t2 is decent. but the peavey xxx and 6505 better (based on public opinion, not just mine, look at the sales numbers), and they are just as cheap as the v2. same price new, same price used. and i know for a fact that the percentage of v2's that go back for fixing is way higher than peavey.

believe me, i wanted to LOVE the v2 series. i did keep the cabs, and still use them as a backline.

again, hoping the fortin randall destroys everything.

 

[maximus1]

i owned a xxx and a 3120 and in last few years have had a 5150, a 6505, and 3 6505+'s. i think the v2 is better but that my opinion. of course sales wise peavey wins over randall everytime i think peavey wins over everyone in that catagory. a 6505 doesnt have a decent clean biggest complaint about the amp by most everyone. its ok but a little jangley and slightly overdriven. sounds good for country maybe. the xxx and 3120 do . 6505's r pretty muddy they have a big emphasis on low mids. they dont cut all that well in a band mix. the xxx and 3120 do not need boosted for high gain i think the 6505 does or at least benefits from it. the v2 imo needs boosted . the clean channel is good. all three amps need noise gates the randall the most. idk 6505's r very noisey in the front end. easiest to dial in is the 6505 its eq doesnt really change a whole lot it kinda does what it does. having owned them all i think the randall gets the same tone and is more versatile. i ve had screen grid resostors and caps go bad on the 6505's at least three times. i dont think u could wrong with any of these amps but i go for the randall first then the 6505 and the xxx 3120 last in my experiences. i probably wont get another peavey ever fwiw. they r unrealiable at least the 6505 series 5150 sure but not for me

 

[Wookieslayer]

i disagree about ease of maint since it is a hybrid. changing tubes (and biasing for that matter) is easy as hell. and if you can change preamp tube, you can change power tubes.

the tone of the v2/t2 is decent. but the peavey xxx and 6505 better (based on public opinion, not just mine, look at the sales numbers), and they are just as cheap as the v2. same price new, same price used. and i know for a fact that the percentage of v2's that go back for fixing is way higher than peavey.

believe me, i wanted to LOVE the v2 series. i did keep the cabs, and still use them as a backline.

again, hoping the fortin randall destroys everything.

I say ease of maintenance for the V2 & T2's lack of power tubes because not everybody is capable or willing to bias their own amps. Most people have to take their tube amps to a tech to get biased with new power tubes. Also this means you have to pay for new power tubes every year or two, where as just having to change preamp tubes is cheaper and far less often.

Just saying... 8)

I would beg to differ about the Peavey's being totally better than these Randall hybrids. It's how you use it and what you want. I would argue all day that the Randall's cleans are better than a 5150/6505 head. Of course the Peavey's are passable / gig worthy with compression or effects in the loop but as far as CLEAN HEADROOM, you cannot compete with the 400w of these amps. Not to mention you do not need a overdrive or boost with these amps to get tight as **** tones if you're down tuning way down. Sure you may not need a tube screamer for a 5150, but it sure helps a hell of a lot when tuning C or below whereas with just my T2 and my noisegate, it's tight as hell; any excessive bass I just dial the knob back and it still sounds big.

Also man, I don't mean to keep going on :lol: , but you can't justify Peavey being better just because they sell more and everybody and their mother owns one. You gotta remember how long the Peavey amps have been around for and their place in metal / rock they've become. You just cannot and will not be able to compete with that; not for a long time. So many records have been made with the Peavey 5150/6505 variants it's not funny; yes for good reason but I don't think it's even fair to say just because of their popularity that they are better than the Randalls.

Now if you were arguing based on the fact that they are all tube and all tube is better, I'd probably agree with you, but for me and for the sake of simplicity of being able to play with nothing but a noise gate, at ANY volume, low or gigging, my T2 or V2 is fucking untouchable. Do NOT forget the addition of MIDI controllable effect switching and XLR outs. Seriously, even though they are similarly priced new I think the Randalls have more features and bang for the buck.

Unfortunately they have built a reputation of ending up in the repair shop but I think this is US Music corp's fault with their poor customer service and apparent lack of concern for technical updates and efforts on anything but the MTS line... Anyway that's another issue... and unfortunately Randall's popularity has dwindled so low that you can find T2's as low as 300-400 sometimes.

To sum up, I owned a Peavey XXX for about half a year and I could barely play it because if I ever got the chance to blast that beast, I had to wear my earplugs. It did sound fucking FANTASTIC but god **** to get the same tone at a lower volume, it just wasn't nearly the same or as satisfying. Also it was much fizzier at lower volumes than my Randall's and I'm sure any stock 5150 would be too. I do wish I still had that XXX because I had dreams of putting in KT77's or something, but that just wasn't in the cards to keep it because I was broke I figured I'd keep the T2 to match it up better against my V2 that I co-own with my drummer :roll: And or fucks sake, I enjoy having an amp that's different than just about every guitarist! :twisted:


TL;DR

These amps are underrated to me; sure they're not full tube but they're close and kick fucking ***, and they can be had cheaper than most used Peaveys for sale.

/end rant



Also maximus1, I don't think a 6505 has trouble in a mix with a healthy dose of mids, especially with a boost up front. And I agree that a XXX / 3120 does not need a boost. So much freaking gain. I was perfectly contempt with mine at 3 (10 o'clock).

 

[maximus1]

i agree with everything u said but i always stuggled to cut with evry 6505 i had with the mids up around 1 -2 o clock but i tune to a standard thru a vader cab with mahoganey schecters with emg 707's i play blackouts now thru an rt series cab with man o wars n v12's which i think r alot better so its hard to say. the v2 cuts extremely well and is very underrated. it is my favorite amp of any i ve ever played.

 

[MainiacMetal]

Well said wookie...I have had lots of amps throughout the years and the one that blew me away the moment I heard it was the T2. Now I have an archetype as well and together I shouldn't ever need anything else. Of course I'm like most and get infected with GAS now and then but the great thing about not too much interest/knowledge about these amps is they don't sell fast. Couldn't think of better amps to be "stuck" with.

 

[Molotov]

I use V2 for 5 years now (metal music)

I hear a lot different opinions "it is good, it sucks, its good but valves are better, too heavy, too dry.. blablablah..." But only thing that is true is during my sound checks for dudes who are not familiar with V2/T2 they say WTF!?... loud, distinctive drive, enough bright, enough bassy, cut through mix... especially my sound man, he like to work with me. 2 minutes (gimme riff, gimme lead, gimme solo) and my guitar is done.

The only problem I would say is that I can not tame down tube overdrive channel. I ALWAYS play SS channel. Tube Ch is too round and too much I do not know what.. too much everything for me.

I think, generally, V2/T2 are great amps, way better then people thinks. You just need to plug good guitar. It is kind of sensitive to bad instruments.. my impression.

 

[Wookieslayer]

I use V2 for 5 years now (metal music)

I hear a lot different opinions "it is good, it sucks, its good but valves are better, too heavy, too dry.. blablablah..." But only thing that is true is during my sound checks for dudes who are not familiar with V2/T2 they say WTF!?... loud, distinctive drive, enough bright, enough bassy, cut through mix... especially my sound man, he like to work with me. 2 minutes (gimme riff, gimme lead, gimme solo) and my guitar is done.

The only problem I would say is that I can not tame down tube overdrive channel. I ALWAYS play SS channel. Tube Ch is too round and too much I do not know what.. too much everything for me.

I think, generally, V2/T2 are great amps, way better then people thinks. You just need to plug good guitar. It is kind of sensitive to bad instruments.. my impression.

Awesome man. I can't wait to get the chance to play live with my T2. I actually just joined a band as a bassist though, and I'm considering finding a nice 410 to pair up with a bass DI box going to the 400w of my T2's power section! :twisted: :lol: