Ultimate Rhoads

I came across these picture on facebook thought I would share

I wonder if it has ever been actually opened up since he passed away? Seeing some photo's of the inside would be hella cool.

Boring Fact : His pedal-board was delivered to Clearwell Castle Forest of Dean Gloucestershire England ( pre-production)and he first used it with the full band there.

man, that thing is built like a tank

mojopin70 wrote:Boring Fact : His pedal-board was delivered to Clearwell Castle Forest of Dean Gloucestershire England ( pre-production)and he first used it with the full band there.

And another 'borring one' is that Bob has a recording when he first tried that pedalboard!

I noticed some kind of award or trophy for being just awesome in that case... I have seen the award from his best guitarist presentation. Anyone know what this is ?... boring fact #3

That's his recent Classic Rock n Roll of Honour Award.

Hy Guys

I'm a Randy Fanatic. God Bless him.

I recently decided its been long enough. I wanted an exact copy of his entire rig!!

I already had a Les Paul Custom of the same type and Norlin era and pickups and all. I had previously cloned the amp and cabinet.

Recently, I went all out! I purchased all of the vintage pedals (I was shocked that back then, they were all 120VAC instead of 9V, has a custom ATA flightcase built to the correct dimensions, finally by taking all of the photos and triangulating and figuring out the pedalboard dimensions, reproduced the pedalboard, which arrived today!!

I will be drilling it and wiring it up after the holidays to finalize it!

Looking forward to it, but thought I'd post and share and that you guys would gt a kick out of it!

Long Live Randy Rhoads

equinox wrote:Hy Guys

I'm a Randy Fanatic. God Bless him.

I recently decided its been long enough. I wanted an exact copy of his entire rig!!

I already had a Les Paul Custom of the same type and Norlin era and pickups and all. I had previously cloned the amp and cabinet.

Recently, I went all out! I purchased all of the vintage pedals (I was shocked that back then, they were all 120VAC instead of 9V, has a custom ATA flightcase built to the correct dimensions, finally by taking all of the photos and triangulating and figuring out the pedalboard dimensions, reproduced the pedalboard, which arrived today!!

I will be drilling it and wiring it up after the holidays to finalize it!

Looking forward to it, but thought I'd post and share and that you guys would gt a kick out of it!

Long Live Randy Rhoads

Very cool! That’s a lot of work! Which tone are going after? He really got different live tones out of the same rig and it seemed like it was always evolving. 1980 like Southampton, May ‘81 like Cleveland, July ‘81 like Montreal, August ‘81 like Indianapolis, and that super thick tone in 1982. I’ve never heard anyone get anything close to that 1982 tone, but would love to. Randy said the soundman was doing a lot of the work upfront so maybe the Eventide harmonizer he apparently used had a lot to do with that, I wish I knew. I guess that would mean that the sound out of his amp was one thing and the PA sound was another.

And yes, long live RR!

equinox wrote:Hy Guys

I'm a Randy Fanatic. God Bless him.

I recently decided its been long enough. I wanted an exact copy of his entire rig!!

I already had a Les Paul Custom of the same type and Norlin era and pickups and all. I had previously cloned the amp and cabinet.

Recently, I went all out! I purchased all of the vintage pedals (I was shocked that back then, they were all 120VAC instead of 9V, has a custom ATA flightcase built to the correct dimensions, finally by taking all of the photos and triangulating and figuring out the pedalboard dimensions, reproduced the pedalboard, which arrived today!!

I will be drilling it and wiring it up after the holidays to finalize it!

Looking forward to it, but thought I'd post and share and that you guys would gt a kick out of it!

Long Live Randy Rhoads

Really keen to see how you go about this. Do you know the signal chain?

Gonna use the same sup and signal chain as been communicated for over 30 years on the web and by Wolf Marshall back in the day. - http://www.guitareuromedia.com/wp-conte ... 6bf263.jpg

Chain is Volume=>Wah=>Distortion+=>EQ=>Flanger=>Chorus=>Reverb/Delay

I have NO idea the actual lamps and BOSS-type pedals he (the builder) used, but what I will do is use LED's for lights and 1/2" 3PDT switches to switch the signal and activate/deactivate the indivudal lights. The LED bezels holes as well as the switches should be SMALLER than the original, so once and if I even find out what they were or fabricate a BOSS-style pedal, I will swap them out.

Originally planned on having done Labor Day weekend, but busy again. Just had 300 yards of dirty brought in and moving, level and manicuring and spiking and planting seed this weekend and need to study the next few weeks for exam the 2nd week of October, so this may get delayed until after that in CW41/42 or some time in the holidays, but looking forward to it.

Playing the pedals outside the enclosure and integrated sounds....Yummy!!

Where was that photo of Randy's stuff (pedalboard, shoes, photos, awards, etc)?? I'm assuming Musonia or Kelly & Kathy's?!?? Being the original stuff and as someone pointed out, recent award...who else would have access to that and it shows recent!

Would be nice if they would open it up one time, like the amp and guitar case for the tribute 1959RR amp and Les Paul, do document and show what's inside. One clear and Hi-Res photo would be adequate (more preferred).


Oh, one more thing...the link I posted showing the layout and chain I noticed has an error! The loop controls are NOT on the left as depicted, but on the side as the Roland Volume Pedal, so that's on the RIGHT side and unless otherwise, I will put on that (the correct)side.

some interesting notes while going thru photos...

the most interesting to me was the plate in the upper left shown in photos and in the rig setup. the chain showed the MXR EQ used. In the one picture, the door is open and you can clearly see, that is where the EQ is and door is there to keep from settings getting moved, but I can clearly see what the settings are and looking forward to applying them! good information and photos!

equinox wrote:Gonna use the same sup and signal chain as been communicated for over 30 years on the web and by Wolf Marshall back in the day. - http://www.guitareuromedia.com/wp-conte ... 6bf263.jpg

Chain is Volume=>Wah=>Distortion+=>EQ=>Flanger=>Chorus=>Reverb/Delay

That pedal board bugged me for years...., and now it does again!
I'm still not sure about the position of his Wah pedal in the signal chain, why would it placed on the pedal board at far left while according the 'Wolf Marshall' chain description it came second after the Volume pedal? Also I heard that extreme filter effect Randy created with his Wah pedal at times can be achieved easier when the Wah pedal comes after the boost section. (so after MXR distortion and EQ) If so the signal chain from Wolf Marshall is not correct.
But of course still possible it came right after the Volume pedal since we can't see how the board was wired inside... who knows!

Very interesting to see your progress on this!

Unknown.

Really should get a hold of Pete "Pedalboard" Holmes (if he's still with us), Wolf Marshall, and Kelle (Doug) Rhoads. All I/we need is a good hi-res photo of the inside and possible the back with all of the inputs.

Looks like the Wolf Marshall Rig sequence is right with the input toward the volume pedal, just on the wrong side of the pedalboard.

Interesting in the one photo also, there really looks to be SEVEN jacks, 1 input and the 6 others, as the Rig shows only 5! Soo, what is the other set for??

Really need shots of the inside, and back.

I want to make sure this is 100% before building and finalizing.

Just got an idea.....Marc Huzansky runs "Tone-Talk" When we speak about tone, I think Randy's Rig is at the top of the 'want to know' list. I'll hit him up, but seems to me, he should have an episode dedicated to this...I would think he should try and get...the pedalboard fabricator, wolf marshall, kelle rhoads, and maybe some people that played or tried to play thru it all together...Brad Gillis, Bernie Torme, etc! That would be a stellar episode with a lot of people tuning in and catapult other people having separate segments like Brad.

Keep in mind Randy likely moved things around regarding the signal chain while on tour..

His wah pedal was routed into the effects loop for a good portion of his Ozzy time. This is why it was so overpowering and really couldn't be used in the standard wah format you would expect. Just listen to after hours version of I don't know at the very end. Randy is looking over at Rudy and laughing about it, Rudy and Tommy likely never heard anything like that before and were only exposed to it a couple weeks prior when they joined the banned. I have never heard a wah scream like that from anyone before or after Randy.

I think during June/July 1981 is when he had the signal chain changed. The wah was moved back in front of the amp as the wah "scream" at the end of I don't know is nowhere near what it was earlier in the tour. The wah sounds more like a standard wah when he used it during the middle of Children of the Grave during the Montreal show. During this time frame is when I think he placed the chorus in the effects loop which gave him that glassy sound from June 1981 to the end of the Blizzard tour. Prior to this I believe he had the chorus in the front of the amp, not standard practice but I am pretty sure that's what he was doing.

Diary Tour... I always thought he used the chorus during the Diary of a Madman tour but over the last few years I have started to believe that that chorus sound was applied to the whole band through the soundboard and house PA. You can clearly hear Randy's stage tone during New Mexico footage that we got with the 30 years after footage. He has no chorus or delay applied and its his same tone as the early USA blizzard tour, just pumping more air it seems (volume). If you listen to the audience bootlegs of the Diary tour his sound (and the band) is nowhere near as chorusy as the soundboard board tapes we have, nor like the ET/two on the town footage as well. This is likely referencing what Randy stated about the soundman adding affects and him not having to as much anymore.

If I had to guess..
Randy's Marshall/Stage Tone - 0% Chorus
Randy PA Sound - Wet - 25-30% chorus added and this is what played through the house PA (Rudy as well, his bass sounds really weird during the tour)
Soundboard Recording/Tapes - Wet - 60-70% chorus applied seemingly to the entire band


None of the diagrams state this but I think one or more of his pedals may could be switched in an out of the effects loop via one of this pedals. It's literally a 5-10 change that any competent tech could have been implemented.

Lastly, if you want to get really really close to the wah sound on the Montreal sound I mentioned above, try the old chrome Morley PWB. I had one of those and it sounded exactly like that shows wah through my Marshalls.