Michael Bloomfield

There is an RD112 fifty on ebay up for auction at the moment. The seller claims the amp was made in the mid 70s. Furthermore, he claims Michael Bloomfield used the amp. My question is this: When was the RD 112 first sold? I know Bloomfield died in 1981. I thought the RD series came after 81. Am I mistaken? Any thoughts?

No, you're right. The RD/RP's are 80's amps. Whether Bloomfield used a MM or not, that one wasn't from the mid-70's. I think there's a lot of BS floating around eBay about "famous" former owners of gear for sale.

Here you go Bo,I have no idea if Micheal Bloomfield played this amp,but he could have.In the book "Musicman 1978-1982 the other side of the story by Frank Wm Green there is a complete 1980 musicman catalog in there,these catalogs like cars came out almost a year before the amps,I personally own a 1981 rd .Also artists such as Bloomfield always seemed to have access to a amp earier then you or me could get our hands on it .They kinda beta test the amps in real pro situations to see how they perform before they mass market them by what i have read the rp/rd series first hit the stores late 1979,that means they were in development for at least a year before that,most all have the black badge with silver logo ,but there was some really early ones that were all tube and wore the silver badge with black logo ,they are really rare ,this was the time of the musicman revamp and thats why the move to solid state preamps,so sorry guys he could have played one of these amps,I'm not saying he did ,but he could have .

ok Bo here goes,yes he could have played this amp ,they were first unvailed jan of 1980,thats the solid state preamp black badge with silver logo ones .there were a few totally tube ones made with the old badge around late 78-79 .so you are right in saying there were no mid 70's rd'sbut there were a few late 70's ones .I have a book with a complete 1980 catalog in it and there are the rd/rp models,i own a 81rd.so i have no clue if he owned this one or not ,but he could have ,also remember artists always get new amps before they mass produce them,kinda like a beta test .so yes he could have,did he i don't know .

sorry for the double answer bo,i thought the first one didn't go though .

Claims regarding model attributes and years of production can only be honestly verified or derived using available factory documentation. Many of the Music Man catalogs, schematics and price lists are posted on this website so they are easy to check for facts.
The only silver-badge RD models I have seen are the RD65 and RD100 models that came out in 1978. This is confirmed by the fact that NO single-channel models were in the 1977 catalog or Price list and their first appearance is on the factory 1978 Price List. My very first MM amp happened to be an 112RD-65 purchased new in October of 1978.
The RD50 models were not widely available until 1981 (they did NOT appear in the 1980 catalog or 1980 Price List, although "smaller RD models" are hinted at in the amplifier section introduction).
I have never seen a silver-badged RD50... this design just didn't exist in the silver-badge era and it is distinctly different and more modern than the original RD65 & 100 models that preceded it by 3-4 years (check the schematics for output tube types and configuration, they are totally different beasts).
Speaking of schematics, the RD50 schematics are all dated and range from the first generation in late 1980 (earliest is 8/25/80) to the second generation RD50 in early 1982 (March 1, 1982). This means a general availability range from 1981-84 is indicated for the RD50 models and backed-up by the documentation.
Also, Music Man never commercially sold any amplifier with an all-tube preamp. The RD50 has a 12AX7 in the distortion-generating circuitry but the preamp is still solid state (similar to the 12AX7 found in the phase-splitter circuit in the early 65 & HD130 models).
I have never heard of or seen any prototypes or custom amps built by the MM factory using all-tube preamps. It is counter-productive for a manufacturer to have artist deals not involving standard product (it defeats the purpose).
As far as I am concerned, without documentation or photos it is all hearsay and urban-legend, just like the claims I have seen on eBay (i.e. "My RD50 amp has Leo Fender's signature on the PC board!").
Steve