Ampeg G-20

All features clearly outlined by others on this page. Two channels are nice, and reverb is excellent. Does't have a midrange switch or knob, which would be nice. But as a result, the sounds is like a cross between a Fender and Ampeg. Nice! External Speaker jack only handles 16ohms cabinet, which is a drag, and footswitch for reverb/tremelo is hard wired. The only things I don't like about its features.

I use both a Strat with Seymour Duncan's and a Gibson Sonex with black and cream open humbuckers. I play 60/70s rock, blues, and it works perfectly for those sounds. It would also be a good jazz amp in my opinion. The Clean is very nice! I play both a strat adn gibson with open, black and white humbuckers. Strat breaks up at around 9, although not distorted. Gibson breaks up at 7 and gets decent old-fashioned overdrive at 10. Will need a pedal if you want more! But pedals sound good with this amp. The 6L6 tubes give it a little more punch than 7027s. I use a VT 40 for gigs, but this would work fine for a small club or miked on a good PA. Doesn't have as much headroom as the VT 40 (60 Watts, 4-10s) but is a killer 2-10 amp none the less! It has a good full sound for 2-10s, with more meat than the Fender Vibrolux reverb. Again, not quite as meaty sounding as other late 60s Ampegs, but that's what make it unique.

It's a 1968, and I had my amp guy (Dan Russell, Blitz Ampfliers) give it a tune up and new tubes, and now it sound great! Ampegs are work horses (used to have a V4 and beat it to hell in the 70s and it never quit!)

Doesn't apply-Bltiz Amplifiers is my customer support!

I love this amp. I like a VT 40 a little better, but its a lot heavier. If you want a slimmed-down VT 40, this is it!

My Mom bought it new in 1970. She bought it to play an electric piano through. I seem to remember her saying that she payed CAN$500 for it. I "inherited" it in 1989. Features have been well stated by the others. Simple 2-channel amp, no channel switching, no master volumes. Has a standby switch which (IMHO) is essential on a tube amp (I can't believe manufacturers make tube amps nowadays without a standby!) Footswitchable spring reverb and tremelo effects. Not sure of the wattage. Others have stated 35W and 50W. It can get very loud but I think it's about 35W. It's a little heavy and bulky too. I've had to buy a smaller combo because I got tired of lugging it around.

I use both single coils and humbuckers. Sounds good with both. Excellent clean sound with good response to pick action and plenty of punch. Cranked, it will distort a bit but I've never been impressed with the way the tubes break up at all-out volume. Stays clean up to at least 3/4 volume. Reverb and tremelo are very useful and sound excellent. I find it to be an extremely quiet amp. I generally plug into the bright inputs and leave the "ultra hi" input off. It takes pedals well. I use compressor, distortion, and chorus pedals. I also use a Digitech RP10 and this amp provides a great clean-sounding palette to run the RP10 preamp to.

Built like a tank! I did update the power cord to a modern 3-prong. It had an old two-prong power cord and after almost getting electrocuted, I needed a ground. I've replaced the 6L6 power tubes. Some of the preamp tubes are still original. It's got an oddball 7199 tube that I should probably find a backup for while I still can. One of the speaker wires disconnected from the speaker a few years ago but that was probably my fault when I put the footswitch away. Strangely, I only "discovered" the cool spring on the inside of the cabinet for storing the footswitch a few years ago!!!

I did email St. Louis Music (who owns Ampeg now) a number of years ago to try and find out info and when the amp was made but no response.

I've been playing for about 14 years. I own one other amp, a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket. I prefer the Ampeg when I want to just plug in and play some nice clean blues or jazz. Great clean sound, different than a Fender but unique nonetheless. In fact, it's probably defined my sound for the past 14 years because it is so unique-sounding. People have always asked why I play guitar through an Ampeg (i.e. "That's a bass amp isn't it?) but really it works well for almost anything. If it was stolen I would probably cry. Partly because of sentimental value since it's been in the family since it was "born" but also because I think it's a great amp.

The G-20 was introduced in '69 and discontinued in '70. Rara avis indeed. Ampeg's first foray into the land of 10" speakers. It's from the elusive Unimusic era, and is built MUCH more heavily than its blue check predecessors. Mine has cool chromed knobs with black caps, (shaped like those found on Guild guitars)in addition to black tolex, cast aluminum chassis, and dead simple layout. Interestingly, it uses the exact same cabinet and control layout as the G-12 (the Deluxe Reverb killer) which had morphed out of the the old Gem 12. This one is the Vibrolux Reverb killer.

It's a 2 channel amp, with bright and normal inputs to each. Volume, bass and treble controls for each channel. Channel 1 is the reverb/trem channel, and both effects work VERY well. The afterbeat on the trem is quite noticeable. The only problem with the trem is that, even at its slowest speed, it's pretty fast. GREAT reverb, as usual for Ampeg. The effects are foot switchable, and I find the hard-wired footswitch a convenience - it stores neatly in a sprung holster in the amp and doesn't get lost. Channel 2 is the dry channel. Both channels have a bright(Ultra Hi)switch. No channel switching. No master volume. No effects loop. No headphone jack. It does have a speaker out, and an AC outlet on the back so you can use your Norelco onstage (or plug in a 2-prong AC powered stompbox). Standby switch on the back, polarity switch on the front. 35 watts, running off 2 x 6L6 with ss rectification.

I think it's quite versatile in its ability to produce different sounds, from clean to surf to blues to rock.

Unlike the first reviewer, I find this to be a very versatile amp, especially at low to mid-volume. I use it for clean playing, blues, and rock, and typically run it anywhere from 1/4 up to flat out. I occasionally use it when playing jazz, but it doesn't have the roundness of an equivalent 2 x 12" or 1 x 15" combo (like the Ampeg GV-22 or GV-15).

I just gigged with it a couple of days ago on a blues date at a medium sized club, using a Les Paul '57 Goldtop RI w/PAF-style pups, and it worked great. Up to 2/3, it acts like an older Ampeg - great clean sound, great blues edge. Beyond the 2/3 mark - it becomes a rock amp. Mick & Keef. No mud at all. Very responsive rolling off the volume on the guitar.

I was pleasantly surprised at the gig by how quiet the amp was, as the venue is reknowned for its proximity to a giant set of transformers that power a nearby subway and trams.

I got mine with a burnt trace. The circuit board is so primitive and the traces so big I was able to repair it with a wire jumper. The shock mounts were also shot, but were easy to fix with some new nuts, bolts and rubber plumbing washers. It has worked like a charm since then.

The tubes hang upside down, so I installed tube brassieres in mine. Simple precaution, since the tube sockets are built right into the board, and pushing them in a tad too energetically to ensure proper fit might be a bad thing. The sockets were a bit loose when I got the amp.

On the other hand, the amp is 30 years old and works great. I've had it for over 5 years, and have had no problems whatsoever.

Er, I called up Dennis Kager once. He was really helpful. Ampeg, they dead. St. Louis Music may be using the name, but none of their various Ampeg guitar amp reissues are related to the '68-'71 Ampegs, in style or substance.

I started out in the '70's, when most of today's vintage gear was just plain used. I have a fondness for Ampeg amps, especially those from the '68 - '71 Unimusic era. I have had many offers from musicians wanting to buy the G-20, but I have declined, as these amps seem quite hard to come by.

Overall, I'd stack this amp up next to any hyper-expensive boutique amp anyday. If I found another, I'd grab it in an instant.

This amp should not be mistaken for the more common Gemini II amps, this is from the late sixties and has the modern Ampeg styling, like the VT22, SVT, etc. A straightforward 60s style tube combo; two channels each with bright and normal input, volume, bass, treble, "ultra hi" (bright) switch (in addition to the bright input!). Reverb and tremelo operate only on channel one. Has a 1/4" line out (rare for this vintage), hum balance control. The tremelo is really bizarre. There is a normal tremelo mode and then "after-beat" mode which uses a square wave to modulate the tremelo; sounds more like a repeating echo, way cool sound like no other amp I've heard. Has two 10" speakers wired in series (if one blows, you get no sound!), about 50 watts with two 6L6 tubes. You can run an extension cabinet but it MUST be 16 ohms. The permanently attached footswitch for reverb and tremelo actual carries the audio through the cable! This means the amp is crippled if the cord is damaged, silly design, but common to many Ampeg combos.

As you'd expect from an Ampeg this thing has a fat clean sound with plenty of headroom. You can crank the volume to get overdrive but you have to crank it a LOT. Noise is typical for a tube amp. The reverb is very usable, high settings give a Fendery "surf" sound. The "after beat" tremelo is very unique and a nice feature for those players looking for really "out" sounds. For distortion, so you'll need a pedal to get any dirt. Overall, somewhat limited like most amps of this type; a good solid basic tone that you either love or hate.

Built like a tank. Ampegs are if anything even tougher than Fenders. Except for one thing: this particular amp uses nylon shaft pots, and those will break much more easily than steel shaft pots. In fact one of the pots on this particlar amp is broken off. The power tubes are unusual for Ampeg, two 6L^ which is cool because they are much easier to find than the oddball tubes used in other Ampegs. The only odd tube is the 7199 used as the power stage driver. I have to give it an 8 for the pots, otherwise, this would get a 10.

No comment, never dealt with Ampeg about this amp.

For $20, I'd buy as many of these as I could find! I'd say that at prices up to about $250 this would be a great amp if you need a powerful tube combo. It's hard to say anything bad about it considering the price I paid.