112RD-50 -- Chris Cain

One of my favorite players, Chris Cain, uses an
112RD-50... Settings- vol., 4ish ; drive, 2; no reverb,
straight into amp; EV speaker. This was on his website chat. He's BB, Ford, Alberts,+ jazzy hot
type style. Big vocals, big sound.
I practically fell into one of these recently, and
I'm in love! Plus, the date on the chassis end is
Chris Cain's birthdate. Kinda weird!
Another great player around these No. Cal. parts
is Levi Lloyd. Very funky blues,R&B player.
This is now my main gig amp. Love the distinctive
tone, power and portability.
very distinctive sound.

Yeah, I saw Chris about a year ago. He sounded absolutely great. I asked him about his amp. It kind of looked like my 112RD-50, except the little logo with the 70's men wasn't on it. I talked to his friend who was there, one of the Delgado brothers. He told me Chris has had the amp since it was new and took off the logo cause he thought it looked silly. It's funny how an amp can sound better when somebody else plays it. Especially Chris who is a total blues monster.

I'm looking for a Music Man RD112-50 amp. Anyone with one for sale (playable condition),let me know. Send message to: arthurjx@msn.com
Thanks.
Arthur
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I'm a big Chris Cain fan. I've seen his concerts numerous times. He is awesome. My daughter never liked the blues until she heard me playing a Chris Cain CD. Now, she will not let me miss going to his concerts with her. I even took my Epiphone (ES335 copy) the last time and he did me the honor of playing it through his amp. It sounded great when he played it. I came home and plugged it into my Fender '85 Deluxe (all solid state), and could not duplicate Chris' sound. Now, I'm trying to find a Music Man RD112-50.

Ive heard so much about chris cain here that i went to bearshare and downloaded a couple of his songs. awesome guitar tone! does he use MM in the studio as well as playing live?

Hi uposb4:
I'll try to answer your question. I've seen Chris Cain in concert alot and everytime, and he had the Music Man RD112-50 everytime. It's blond, but I think he has a black one as well. I think on one of his live recordings, he used the house amp. I have 9 of his CDs. He's a great talent. He writes all of his songs. Once in awhile in concert, he will do some cover tunes (B.B King, Freddie King, T-Bone Walker). Anyway, on some of his recordings, he plays, sax, piano, organ, and bass. I've never seen him do that in concert. I don't know where you live, but he is from the bay area, but he travels. He performs regularly in Pomona, CA at Yesteryears. He'll be back there on January 29, 2005. If you get a chance to catch him in concert, you will not be disappointed. Just tell him that his buddy Art sent you.

Ignore my search for a Music Man RD112-50. I've found one. Thanks Steve, for you advice.

Well, Art, how do you like the RD112-50? By the way, I was there (Yesteryears) when Chris played your Epi, and it did sound great.

By the way, Art is right about Chris having a blonde and a black MM RD112-50. The RD112-50 is his amp of choice, but he also owns a Boogie MKI that is out of service at the moment. Chris has the EVM 12L speaker in both his RD112's, but he agrees that the EV speaker is not necessary to cop his tone. The stock MM speaker is fine. He does record with the Music Man, but he used Garth Webber's Concert amp on the Mike Bloomfield tribute CD because he wanted to get closer to the Bloomfield sound. Don't fail to see Chris live if you can. You will never forget it.

I'm a former member of the Gloucester County (NJ) Blues Society. I have sinced moved away BUT we would often book Chris to perform. Wow...what a sound and tone. I got to know Chris a little after seeing him perform a few times and upon booking him the next time I arrived and walked in to the club and knew right away something was wrong. It was not the same Chris Cain. I was trying to figure it out. He was still playing great as always BUT... it wasn't right. Then I saw his Music Man was gone and I knew that was the problem. I asked him where is your MM? And I told him I knew something was wrong as soon as I walked in. He looked horrified that I asked him that and that I knew just from hearing the first note. He said the MM fried on him and he was using a Mesa-Boogie. He sounded like he lost his best friend. The Mesa did sound good but it just wasn't Chris Cain without the MM. This goes to show you how important that little amp was to his sound. It was night and day and he knew it. I hope he found another one or got his repaired. Love you Chris. What an awesome talent you are.
Doc

Dave,
Chris got the blonde MM RD-112 50 back into service, and its going strong and working just fine - and the tone of it with his hands is devine. Chris recently played my RD-112 50 with the "Mid Shift" switch that appeared later in the production run, and he seemed to like it a lot.

That's great news. I'm glad he got it fixed because it was such a great combination. Possibly the finest tone I've ever heard anywhere. You're right about his hands being a big part of his tone also. His drummer told me the same thing. He mentioned that even Telecasters lost the ice pick in the ear tone they are known for in Chris's hands. Now that's a compliment to Chris and MM!
Are you aware if any RD-112 50's are available anywhere? I'd be interested if anyone has one.
Thanks, Dave

Dave,
There are 3 or 4 on ebay right now, a few 112's and a 110. I just bought another 112 on ebay today, and the seller (goforthsound) will be putting up a 110 shortly. In fact, I've never seen so many at one time on ebay before.

Hi Littlemoon:
So, you were at Yesteryears the night Chris played my Epi, Wow, that's great. I like my RD112-50 a lot. It had a hum every since I first got it off of Ebay. It was a "buy now". I was so lucky as it was a great buy. I recently had a tech check it out. He cleaned the tube sockets, jacks, and pots. But said it bench tested ok. He couldn't duplicate the hum. When I went to pick it up, I just happened to take a guitar with me. I hit a few licks and the amp started to static intermittently like it was cutting on and off. He tapped on the tubes and isolated the problem to be the driver tube (12AX7WB). He replaced it and the amp works and sounds great. He charged me $50.49 including tax. I tell you, the acoustics in his shop is so good that it makes me sound like I can play well. Chris has really brought notice to those amps. Too bad they are not made anymore. You know, Chris is such an awesome talent. But, he remains kind of "unrecognized and unknown". Honestly, he is a much better talent than some of those "known" folks. He should be getting the kind of billing as B.B. & Clapton, to name a few. Anyway, I plan to catch him the next time he comes to Yesteryears. I have several people, that had never heard of him, now lined up to see him. If you are there, lets get acquainted. P.S., I like my Epi as well. Keep supporting the blues. Catch you later.....Art

I'm tickled to death at the moment. I recently purchased a MM RD112-50 for $250. It's in great shape, but in need of a cap job, new tubes and an EVM 12L speaker.
I happen to own a Dr. Z, and was on their forum asking around for the EV. Lo and behold, none other than Buddy Whittington from John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers contacts me with the speaker. He told me he had it lying around and never used it. I think the "cool" factor for my amp just went up a notch! It's got a Bluesbreaker's speaker in it.

I'm a full-fledged Music Man junkie now. I have aquired another RD112 fifty. This one is in great shape. There's a few small stains on the white pinwhale corduroy tolex, but other than that, it's fantastic.