Music Man Amps

First things first. Is the 1-12-65 the version WITH the phase inverter tube or without? I'm partial to the ones with. BBUUUTTT-I always wanted a 1-12-50. HMMMMM? Which would I choose? I DON'T like 10's so that's easy but a 1-12-50? I hate to give up my favorites but I think I'd try the 50. Although, if I was still playing (just retired from musac) I'd TRY to buy BOTH! LOVE the 1-12-65's IF they have the PI tube. Guess I'm not much help! Oh wait- how are they different? 1-12-65 requires biasing and the 1-12-50 is pretty much plug and play. Sound wise, they are both great. BUT, the 1-12-50 is a whole lot easier to cart around. AND they sound wonderful. Mike.

Hi Byron,

I own both 112-65 (tube inverter, fwiw) and RD-50 110. Both are excellent amps. However, the 112 is and remains my pet amp. The tube inverter may or may not make a difference to you. It depends on your playing style and whether you like to use the amp as part of your fx regime or not. In my opinion they (RD 110 vs 65 112) are both great but the obvious applies: Bigger amp = bigger sound. I chose the RD110 over the RD112 both because of the substantial price difference but mainly because of the 110 would fit in the back part of the trunk of my trusty old 1994 Saturn sedan at the time. It's a spare and/or travel amp for me. The 65 is an actual production gig amp. I've played one or two gigs with the 'in between' model RD65-112 and was quite happy except I missed the tremolo.

Now, if I could find a 75-112 so I could try the phasør that would be sweet (and very secret, seriously, my wife can not know about this ok?)

-Lars Verholt

Have both a 210 Sixty-five (same as 112 Sixty-five but different speaker config), an RD 50 110 and RD 50 112.

The Sixty-five will give you a bigger cabinet as previously noted, which will result in more bass and a bigger sound spread. If the amp you are considering is an early one, it's original speaker is an MM labeled Eminence alnico speaker, which are quite nice. IMHO, the later ceramic speakers don't compare. Something to consider if the speaker has already been changed.

Also, the Sixty-five series was designed to run on 6CA7 tubes, or their close cousin, the EL34. Either will sound different than a 6L6, which is what the RD50s run.

Both amps will do beautiful clean tones, and take FX pedals well. The RD50 has an onboard Distortion circuit that is pretty useless stock IMHO, but it can be modded to sound much better. However, if you have a favorite OD pedal already, no need to do that. Conversely, if you don't have an external tremolo FX pedal, the Sixty-five tremolo is very cool. It does a straight Fendery tremolo (1 -5 on the dial) and a 3D-ish doubling trem (6 +) as well.

The choice also depends on how you plan to use the amp. My RD50 110 is my grab-and-go small jam/pickup gig amp. I keep a small wireless receiver and its power supply in the cabinet, so my setup time is minimal. With the modded OD circuit, I have most tonal bases (clean and dirty) covered.

My RD50 112 is my main indoor gig amp. I've replaced the so-so stock ceramic speaker with a WGS Reaper HP which to my ears is a great combination.

The 210 Sixty-five is my larger/outdoor gig amp, although it is in need of some repairs right now.

Really can't go wrong with any of them, just be sure to replace all the electrolytic caps (with some upgrades for the RD50s discussed on this site) and dial in the bias and trem on the 210 Sixty-five.

Hope this has helped some.