~1980 Music Man 112 RD Sixty-Five Black

Offered for sale:

Vintage 1980c Music Man 112 RD Sixty-five combo amp serial number DN05249.

This amp is in very good condition, fully functional, the original speaker has been replaced with a Celestion G12H. Cosmetically there is tarnishing of the brightwork, however, the tolex and grille cloth are in nice shape.

When we acquired this amp the speaker was not original and it was blowed. I experimented with 3 different replacements and this 75 watt Cream Back sounded best by far.

Also, the original reverb tank (which functions properly) does not have that rich, robust wetness that has been the industry standard since the first Fender reverbs, and which is found in all Rivera amps. So, I replaced it with a new (I believe Accutronics) tank. Now the reverb sounds like it oughtta. The original tank will be included.

In fact, the amp sounds so good on the clean channel that I thought I would keep it for myself. But it also sounded so much like, and as good as, my Rivera Jake 55 that I had to face up to the facts. I do not need two amps that sound the same. So why not sell the Jake and keep the Music Man? STOP! Too much thinking! This is making my hair hurt.

These amps are rugged powerful roadworthy units that were the first designs to incorporate a hybrid of tube and solid-state technology. The preamps used solid state integrated circuits, while the power amps featured a tube driven output stage

The “Sixty-five” amplifier series were the first products that the newly renamed company Music Man brought to market under the guidance and design of Leo Fender and Tom Walker.

An original sale brochure relays the following:

The RD Series

The Music Man RD Series guitar amplifiers combine state-of-the-art in vacuum tube design with a built-in reverb and foot-switchable distortion circuitry. Thanks to Music Man’s many circuit refinements, you get the warm sound of tubes, plus cool running, low noise, and high-power ratings.

The “R” in RD Series” stands for “Reverb”, and our built-in reverb has the new anti-shock “Z” spring delay, a genuine advantage over long springs when running high power. The reverb can be adjusted with a front panel control, and turned On and Off via a footswitch.

The “D” in “RD Series” stands for “Distortion”. Five controls (two sets of Gain and Volume controls, and a footswitch that selects between them) let you dial in exactly the amount of this effect you want… from a clean well-defined sound, to a gentle warmth when you play hard, to an all-out raucus rock sound. You can adjust the Gain for more distortion, and then turn down the Volume to keep the power level where you want it. Thus, depending on how you set the controls, the footswitch selects between two different power, two different distortion levels at the same power, or a combination thereof. The footswitch has an indicator light so you know which set of controls is activated. The RD’s also have a high power/standby/low power switch that is useful when you want to really push the tubes for the sound of a small amplifier being overdriven, yet not stress the speakers with full power “squared” up sound. All units have provisions for an extension speaker.

The RD Series include a variety of features previously unobtainable in single units. A major improvement in flexibility and sound quality is provided by the RD’s two line out/ line in patch points, one for low and the other for higher levels. These jacks are handy for routing the preamplified sound to a pedal or studio type effects device, then returning it to the amplifier. Inserting a volume pedal at this jack point is the same as placing the Master Volume control on the floor, unlike pedals that come before the input, there is no need to increase the volume to compensate for loss, and when you turn down the level, you also turn down any background noise. The same Out/In jacks can be used to feed the power section of another RD or similar amp, making it easy to get double power, or more, above that which could be obtained from a single amplifier. Similarly, the output can be fed to a monitor, reinforcement or recording mixer.

Bright and Deep switches give instantaneous treble and bass boost. Their turnover frequencies are beyond the Bass, Middle and Treble controls, so you get the equivalent of 5-band equalization. [the Deep setting really rounds out the sound especially at lower volumes]

Imperial Guitar says:

We absolutely love these early Music Man amps! Built like a tank, very flexible, ahead of their time!

“We test every used amp and pedal when we buy it and bring it up to our standards before we offer it for sale. Then we burn it in for an hour or so before we ship so that there are no surprises.”

Original footswitch included.

Power Transformer Code: 606-030

Output Transformer Code: 606-018

AMP DIMS:

Weight lbs.: 45.8

Width in.: 22 ½

Depth in.: 10 ½

Height in.: 17 ½

*Please note: we do our best giving descriptions of used pieces. We have found it impossible to describe every mark on an instrument or amp that is not in the "mint" category. Also, what's important to you may not be important to someone else. For example, you may say, "I don't care what it looks like as long as it plays or sounds well." Another person may say, "Body cosmetics are very important to me so tell me about every scratch, nick and blemish." So, please ask the questions that are most important to you. If you ask they will be answered. They are free and there's no limit. Additional photos can also be made available.

This is a specific item that is also being offered for sale in our brick & mortar location. It is possible that it has just been sold. Please ask if it is still available before purchasing.

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