NAD Musicman content.

[ScottJPatrick]

Picked this up about a month ago but have been away for the last three weeks so didn't get a chance to try it properly. 1981 Musicman 112 RD50 in very clean condition. All original as far as I can tell, still has the green ink Sylvania 6L6's and the 12ax7 for the drive channel. I have been looking at these amps for quite a while so when the seller dropped the price on this one I jumped on it.

Clean channel nice with a very strong reverb, drive channel quite usable with the gain set low, might try a 5751 or lower output 12a*7 to see how it sounds. Will be using it next Sunday at a gig, certainly loud enough to handle anything I will ever need.

 

[Short on cash]

I had one of those.
Nice amp. Enjoy !

 

[Stubee]

I played one for quite a few years and don’t believe I ever changed a thing on it. A very sturdy amp that’s loud & clean. It can put out some serious volume! I ran it into a 4x0 Sun cab for a couple outdoor sets but not sure I needed to. Enjoy!

 

[gridlock]

Pretty nice. Congratulations.

 

[adjason]

Nice I have one of these- the reverb in mine is kind of weak but a pretty good sounding amp

 

[ScottJPatrick]

Nice I have one of these- the reverb in mine is kind of weak but a pretty good sounding amp

That's strange, I normally run the reverb at about 3.5 on my amps but on this it's down at 2, 3.5 is very full and lush on mine, have you tried cleaning the RCA connectors?

 

[mad dog]

I had two RD50 heads. One noisy and problematic, the other dead quiet and very strong. Sure should have kept number two. What was I thinking? These are such good amps.

 

[Mowgli]

Most RD-50 owners who speak out tend to have similar likes and dislikes about the amp. I share these opinions.

Great clean channel. Chet Atkins played one live for several years.

Distortion channel varies a good deal depending upon the version; the last revision made to the circuit (Rev. E?) supposedly sounds the best. You can modify your version to this last revision rather easily or have modifications done to this circuit; the Bill M and Walt Goforth mods have their endorsers. Check out the Music Man amp forum for schematics and information. Like TDPRI, a lot of helpful folks there, too.

Bright switch can be harsh but turning down the treble seems to help many users while slightly increasing the gain without sacrificing headroom.

A lot of people swap out the stock speaker for an EVM-12L. If you can find an Altec 417-8C or -8H that will probably make you very happy (it did me).

A lot of users employ a compressor when using the distortion channel. It really helps. I do this along with a klon clone +/- a Blackstone Appliance or Nobels ODR with low gain settings - great results, IMO.

It’s a real sleeper amp. Very versatile and great sounding. Congratulations!!

 

[uriah1]

Enjoy..I had one years ago. I like the non tube rectifier.
Heavy as heck as I recall.

 

[ScottJPatrick]

Used it last night at a gig for the first time, used the dirt channel the whole time but with a 5751 in the clipping stage and had the gain set to about 2.5, master about 5, nice edge of breakup sound, plenty volume, ran it through a Mesa 1x12 cab as well as the internal speaker.

 

[wildschwein]

Nice. That one is clean!

 

[Tone Quest]

Nice find. Looks good

 

[ahiddentableau]

Nice score. I saw so many indie bands using MM amps 10-15 years ago that I have fond associations with them. Loud and bright and clear. Good stuff.

 

[Mowgli]

Used it last night at a gig for the first time, used the dirt channel the whole time but with a 5751 in the clipping stage and had the gain set to about 2.5, master about 5, nice edge of breakup sound, plenty volume, ran it through a Mesa 1x12 cab as well as the internal speaker.

View attachment 979210

What speakers are in the RD-50 and in the Mesa cabinet?

 

[joe_cpwe]

I've owned two Music Man's, HD-130 head & RD-100 1x12, not at the same time. I liked both but moved on to other things. Very good amps. They're heavy and they have very good clean tones.
I've read these 50 watt combos are nice and would check one out for sure.
This one looks to be in very good shape, nice score.

 

[ScottJPatrick]

What speakers are in the RD-50 and in the Mesa cabinet?

The Musicman has the original Eminence speaker, the Boogie cab has an EV12S.

 

[ScottJPatrick]

I've owned two Music Man's, HD-130 head & RD-100 1x12, not at the same time. I liked both but moved on to other things. Very good amps. They're heavy and they have very good clean tones.
I've read these 50 watt combos are nice and would check one out for sure.
This one looks to be in very good shape, nice score.

One of the reasons that the 110RD and 112RD are so popular is that the 110 weighs 31.5lbs, the 112 weighs 32.5lbs, very manageable to carry, volume (loudness, not dimensions!) to weight ratio is very high!