Modern metal rhythm is decided by tightness. Chugs don't crush, the low end doesn't swell, each note clears its place. We captured that sound with a Randall RH300 G3 Plus.
But with a slightly unusual recording method. Let me start there.
Randall as a brand — running metal on solid-state
Before the RH300 G3 Plus, I want to place the maker Randall.
In the guitar-amp world, the ranking "tubes are the real thing, solid-state is a cheap substitute" long dominated. But Randall is one of the few brands that, outside that ranking, actively chose solid-state — and it has an especially strong bond with heavy genres. Hard, tight semiconductor distortion that doesn't collapse even loud holds a value different from tubes' warm saturation, and metal understood that value early. Randall was a maker that answered that demand head-on. There's a design philosophy there: solid-state wasn't a compromise but the shortest path to the intended sound.
The nature of the RH300 G3 Plus
The RH300 G3 Plus is a high-gain solid-state head in that lineage — a powerful unit with 300W-class output.
Its character is clear. Hard, tight, fine-grained distortion. Palm mutes separate well; even fast chugging keeps each note's outline. The thickness and wobble a tube amp has, the sag that swells a beat late when struck — such "temporal smearing" isn't in this distortion. Because the semiconductor preamp's supply doesn't droop the voltage, the attack stands straight and the decay tightens. The temporal outline of fast rise and short decay that CSL wrote about in "what does tight in metal mean" is what this distortion has in its raw state. This is solid-state's strength and the decisive reason it suits modern metal.
There are two channels, Clean and Drive. The clean isn't the lead but a practical footing inside a metal amp; the center is Drive's hard high gain. On the Drive side, raise the Gain and the distortion doesn't saturate and crush — it grows denser while keeping grain into the deep. The tone controls, rather than entangling with the distortion to change expression like a tube tone stack, move the bands straight and honestly. So you reach the target band without hesitation. This "honesty, predictability" is also a design character of a semiconductor amp.
Why "tightness" is a weapon
This tightness isn't mere preference for modern metal rhythm — it's function.
In music that chugs low and fast in down-tunings, the longer a note trails, the more notes overlap and muddy. If the lows lag, the riff's outline disappears. A tube's pleasant bloom often gets in the way in this context. Which is exactly why solid-state distortion — no sag, tight lows, no late attack — works here. The RH300's hardness isn't a flaw but a character chosen for this music. To the metal guitarist's demand "I want a tight amp," the RH300 answers with its very design.
Why we didn't use the amp's own power stage
Now, the unusual point of this recording. This time, we didn't use the RH300's own power stage.
We ran the preamp output through a Fryette PS-2A tube power amp and mic'd a Marshall 1912 (Celestion G12B-150). Onto the hard, tight distortion the solid-state preamp makes, we layered a tube power stage's push and the slight return when you play — the response. Keeping the hardness, adding one sheet of tube push. That's the sound we wanted to keep — a combination aiming to take the best of the semiconductor preamp's tightness and the tube power stage's liveliness.
So this is a different thing from the sound with the RH300's stock power stage. CSL doesn't fudge that and honestly calls it "the PS-2A version." That it's an irregular capture is stated even in the product name. Not good or bad — we keep, conditions and all, the sound that actually rang in this combination. Not hiding what the sound passed through is CSL's very position of selling records.
Building modern metal with 10 voicings
The center of the pack is 10 voicings crafted per use.
With ModernRhythm as the base: DropTight (down-tuning tightness), ThrashAtk (attack-focused chugging), ModernLead (a lead with presence), BrutalScoop (a heavy scooped riff), up to ArticDjent (separation- and grain-focused). On the lighter side, CrunchTight and Groove90s; for clean, CleanBoost.
The names tell you what each is for. And the actual knob settings are disclosed, not hidden. Names are signposts; conditions are shown in full in a table. That's CSL's policy.
Mic and position are yours to choose
Each voicing is recorded with 3 mic setups (SM57 / GT-67 / 60:40 blend) × Center / Edge.
The SM57 is tight and forward; the GT-67 thick and round; the blend in between. Center brings out the core, Edge is soft and dark. Even the same voicing, choose by how you want to seat it in the mix.
What we're selling
Not the best sound, not the one correct answer. We hand over, in playable form, the record of the RH300's preamp rung under the conditions of a PS-2A power stage and a Marshall 1912. The hardness and tightness are kept as they are.
How it responds when you play changes with your guitar, pickups, and volume too. Start with the free sample and check with your own Kemper and ears.