The Rose Hill/Photo Shoot

 Let us welcome The Rose Hill into the RDK family! 

The Rose Hill has been taking the Cincinnati metal scene by storm since 2007. After a name and several lineup changes, they found themselves under the wing of Sancrosanct Records. Since then they've been hitting the road and taking the ministry with them. RDK is proud to endorse and support bands with such drive and conviction. Keep an eye out for these guys and gals. 

Playing to a sellout crowd with their RDK backline in Cincinnati, Ohio

Check out their stuff here. Pick up The Rose Hill's second full length, Powerless here.

In October we did a photo shoot introducing our standard series of cabinets. This included a 2x12, 3x12, and 6x12 guitar cabs as well as an 8x10 bass. In this series we're keeping to the sealed back/front loaded design with Eminence selection speakers. A few things we've added to the designs are recessed handles/jack plates and the grey grill cloth. Before long each cabinet produced will be featuring ID plates with model/production no., ohm, and power rating specific to that cabinet. 

Hello, Los Angeles!

We're quite proud of this build. Its an original designed 4x12 for a gentleman by the name of Nick Perri. Nick is a guitarist, tattoo artist, and entrepreneur in Los Angeles, Ca. He owns a tattoo shop called Perri Ink, builds custom guitars and motorcycles.  Nick toured the world with musical acts Shinedown, Silvertide, and a new self titled project, Nick Perri. The design of this cabinet was inspired by one of Nick's custom guitars, The Anthem (see video below). Needless to say this was a fun project and we're looking forward to working with Mr. Perri in the future. 

Just another day at the shop

Where the magic happens

A preview of whats to come

Dracula!

Have we mentioned just how much we LOVE building custom cabinets? Well, we do!
Bela Lugosi (1931)

A sealed 4x10 bass cabinet. Metal grill. 1000w handling power.

Our customers have the finest taste. An early design of our 2x12 model.

Poor photo quality, but you get the idea. This is our original designed MadMan 6x12. The top 4 speakers are sealed in their own compartment while the bottom two 12s are separated/sealed/ported. Welcome to the TONE ZONE!

A few photos from this weekend

We will be prototyping our MadMan 6x12 as a 4x12 in the next few days. This will include two sealed/ported enclosures inside one of our standard 4x12 design cabinets. A full report coming soon!

It's a Smiths kind of day

Enough said. Enjoy!

Good Morning Friends

Home of the Brave

We're pleased to have this as part of our personal collection. If only we could get The Boss in front of one of these bad boys. A guy can dream, can't he?

Mixtapes

In early 2012 we were approached by our longtime friends in Mixtapes about building cabinets for them. Without hesitation RDK hit the drawing board and then into the shop. Weeks later we delivered their two custom guitar cabinets. Since then they've been touring the U.S. with such bands as The Wonder Years, Set Your Goals and H20. We are honored and proud to have built for this fine group of individuals. Do yourself a favor and check these guys (and gal) out if you haven't already. They're doing great things and deserve your attention.

Custom 4x12 guitar cabinets by RDK Sound Design

You can order their record "Even on the Worst Nights" from No Sleep Records

Back in 2008 we constructed a 4x12 out of bamboo. It is now referred to as "The BamBOOM"

Wake up Dead

Here we have the second cabinet ordered by Cincinnati punk veterans, The Messengers. 

On top is a 2x12 built to just kick around the shop with. Nothing fancy, just 800w of pure filth.

Within the next couple of weeks we are going to release pricing and information for unloaded cabinets. So for those of you who love and adore your speakers but want a cabinet upgrade, we will now be at your service. Until then, BANG YOUR HEAD!

Three cabinets

.. are currently in the shop. We have an 8x10 bass,  2x12 guitar, and 3x12 guitar cabinets being built.  While 8x10 bass cabinet is tailored to an industry "standard", the two guitar cabs are a bit different. The customer wanted the feel and response of a 6x12 without the hassle of lugging it around. So we decided on a 2x12/3x12 combination. Why go with a 3x12 instead of a 4x12? The 3x12 allowed us to trim some height of the total build to accommodate the customer's personal needs. However, it is still tuned for the correct amount of air to be pushed by our selection of Eminence speakers.

Allies Aside take the stage

Allies Aside  bringing the noise with a 2x12/3x12 combination

Check them out  here! 

RDK Mp3 player?!

Out of boredom, gifts are made for those closest to us. Friends and family are everything. Happy Mothers Day from RDK Sound Design.

RDK is at it again!

After a few long days in the shop, we've finally finished building our first PA enclosures. We love building for bands, but we also love learning. That's what this whole experience was about. We're broadening our horizons day after day. Our mission is to service our customers in every aspect of creating, recording, and performing live music. The name RDK Sound Design insists just that. You can catch Arrivalry jamming these bad boys all over the Greater Cincinnati area. 

NEW GEAR!

First off, I (Lance) can't wait to jam my new Yamaha t100 head. Yamaha hired Mike Soldano to design them a tube amp in the 80s and here it is; 100watts, 2 channel, reverb. For all intensive purposes it's an early design of Soldano's infamous SLO-100. I'll probably run this through a 6x12 bi-amped with a 6505 or simply a 4x12. 

It turns out that I wasn't the only one trying to party. Corey recently picked up his dream guitar.. An american Fender Telecaster. As shown he's playing through a Kustom 72 and his 3x12 cabinet.

While we've been insanely busy in the shop this month, I want to highlight just one of our current projects. Here are photos of two nearly finished 2x15 pa enclosures. Eminence electronics were used as with all of our designs. There with be more details to come with the finished photos.

Our Mission

First and foremost our mission is to fulfill the needs of our fellow guitar and bassist. We provide superior quality products with and honest price tag. Whether it be in the recording studio or on the road for 10 months at a time, we don't want our customers to ever feel let down with their purchase. Thus countless hours have been spent choosing solid hardware, researching the science of speakers, and trying out various jointing/construction techniques. With that said, one of our main focuses with RDK is redo what turns us off about some of the larger cabinet manufacturers; everything from peeling tolex to broken casters to burnt out circuit boards. RDK Sound Design is set on producing quality cabinets to stand the test of time.

We're just two guys having a good time!

Let's talk about...

... how much fun these cabinets were to build! First up is a 2x12 for the Louisville, KY, band Late Ones. They're currently wrapping tracks up in the studio for a new LP to be released this summer.  Check these dudes out if you get a chance. It's 90s era melodic punk at it's finest. Now about the 2x12... it's a sealed enclosure with Eminence speakers. Wired at 8ohm/240 watts. This is our first cabinet with a wheat grill cloth. Chances are it will be an option carried into our Standard Series of guitar cabinets.

While I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk's classic Fight Club and 6x12 cabinets, never in a million years would I have imagined intertwining the two. However, that day has come and we/the client couldn't be any happier with the outcome!

WE THREW A SPEAKER CABINET OFF A ROOF!

Fresh off the Press!

Last night we delivered cabinets for the Cincinnati pop punk band, Car Rides. First off let us say that they're great dudes. Enthusiastic and passionate about their music, tone, and convictions. The cabinets prepared for them are 4x12, sealed back enclosures. Each cab is wired at 8ohm/480 watt power handling. The speaker configurations are (2) Eminence Legend V128 and (2) Eminence Man O War. A mixture of the two inside of a sealed enclosure are just amazing; heavy but clean with little cone breakup on the low end. This giving their unique blend of pop punk and hardcore plenty of room to sound great. These cabs really are PERFECT for Car Rides, all the way down to the X grill cloth.

We're currently in the process of building for two midwest bands. The melodic hardcore giants of Late Ones and the easycore dudes in Car Rides. Great guys, great bands. We're super excited to get these bad boys completed and on stage! The 6x12 at the bottom is for a client with wild taste. It has a sealed back (just like all of our cabs) as well as two completely sealed/ported 1x12 enclosures. It's tuned to get the most low-end and clear mid-to-high frequency response. All four cabinets will be getting custom grill cloths. We'll post more photos soon!

What is RDK Sound Design?

We are a custom speaker cabinet company based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. We began building guitar and bass enclosures for ourselves in 2008. Since then, we have built dozens of custom cabinets for a variety of customers and applications. In 2011 we decided to take this to the next level and start building full-time. For the past six months we have spent a lot of time in the shop refining our art and learning more than ever. Please check back for more updates. Here are a few photos of what we do!

6x12 guitar 

4x12 guitar

(2) 6x12 guitar for Dead Words (Cleveland, OH)

(2) 4x12 guitar for MIXTAPES (on tour now)

4x10, 1x18 bass

4x12 guitar for The Messengers

(1) 2x12 and (1) 4x12 guitar