Ampeg Gemini II

PARENTS BOUGHT ME THIS AMP & FENDER JAG IN 1965 I STILL OWN IT 44 YEARS LATER & ITS IN CHERRY CONDITION WITH AMPEG DOLLY. I HAD NEW TUBES PUT IN 3 YEARS AGO, & ALSO COMPLETELY BENCH CHECKED BY COMPANY RECOMENDED BY WILLY'S GUITAR IN ST. PAUL MINNESOTA, THINKING OF SELLING IT SOON, AS I'M NOW A SOLO ACT..USING TRACKS

Made in 1967.Back then,companies cared about their amps,and this is reflected in the quality of the gemini.Air-moving 15 inch speaker that (as stated by a previous reviewer) really fills the room up and cuts through a band without bursting an eardrum.The cabinet leaves space for the speaker to breathe,which provides a unique 'umph' to the tone.The 35 watts are plenty for small to medium sized gigs.Above that,you're gonna have to stick a mic in.
Effects loop?Headphone jack?bugger off.This amp is meant to be played LOUD.
'nuff said.

I use as little pedals as possible,limiting myself to a few quality essentials.I keep things natural and minimalistic (why would you buy an expensive tube amp to just go and place a bunch of solid state effects in front of it?) I only use a quality fuzz,boost,and wah.
As stated by a previous reviewer (again),the tone is 'earthy'. By that I mean an organic,woody,warm,and totally natural sound dripping from that massive speaker.Actually,replace the 'dripping' with 'leaping'.This amp ROARS when cranked.Clean for a while,but smooth breakup occurs just past half-way.By then,things are ******* loud. From then on it gets dirtier.What I do is to crank 'till it breaks up,then kick in my fuzz to obtain abso-*******-lutely ungodly tone. I cannot help but grin stupidly as I play.
Also,i must say,this thing has one of the sweetest reverb circuits ever.It's so lush and dreamy,and possibly my favorite 'verb ever.Blows any fender out of the water.Trem is also very deep,psychedelic,and mesmerizing.It's (literally) incredible.

Cannot say,as i've only had this for a limited period of time,but I was told mine was totally original with the same tubes!It is a tank and holds up great for it's age.The handle is crap at the moment,and the tubes need a change.But that's the way I like them.I love that pushed,over the edge responsiveness of a cooked tube.Shame it cannot stay like that forever.

Dude,this thing is older than me.

I have searched for my tone a long time,and am ecstatic it has come to a (tempory) halt.I have been through many vintage fenders and marshalls,as well as tried many boutique amplifiers(matchless,bad cat,electrosonic,Dr.Z,cornford...)and although all fine amps,they all sound stale compared to this one.I feel snug that I paid a mere 500$ for this one,whilst I could have have obtained a lesser tone for 3000$.It is so unique(looks cool too-you can play chess on it-)and has a character of it's own.Definitely the most under-rated amp of all time.
I think i'm in love.

Original sales receipt says it's from '68. Two channels, with two inputs each, all tube with solid state rectifier...yada yada. It has trem and echo, which is the most gorgeous I've ever heard. I give it a ten just because in my book, less effects/features=more tone, therefore for the better.

This is basically the best amp I have ever heard, considering the price ($400 used.) It is a clean amp, as everyone else has said so far, but try diming it and then complain about how clean it is. It gets an awesome distortion that is classy as hell, not at all muddy or cheesy as 99% of modern amps are and even some vintage ones. You're never going to emulate a good dimed tube amp that's pushing it's speakers to the limit with any pre-amped POS. I'd even take this over a vintage fender such as a bassman or the like, which are real chimey and can sometimes be annoying and are usually louder so if you want to dime it not only are you going to be extrodinarily loud, but that piercing tone makes it feel like you're going deaf..not so with the Gemini. Anyway...the clean sound is fantastic-warm, earthy, just phenomenal...If you don't like clean amps, either dime it or just go with the flow of the amp...I started out liking tons of distortion and in reality didn't even know what good distortion sounded like until I got this amp. I molded my sound around it, instead of the other way around, and it was all for the better. It is a phenomenal amp for rock, if you like real rock, that is...Clean (in modern terms) with a nice bite when you want it, that is, the amp is very responsive to picking pressure and so on.

It's broken once about 2-3 years ago, and only because it got rained on and caught on fire when I turned it on. And that was after 5 years of heavy use. I gig with it and it takes the abuse (so far.)

Never dealt w/company, and since the thing is about 40 years old I wouldn't really assume there was any warranty.

I've been playing about 7 years (I guess not that long compared to some) but I believe I have a good idea of what is GOOD and what is BAD. Ampeg Gemini= good. Modern transistor-ized Marshall with 5,000 knobs and a whole galaxy of effects and pedals= bad.

This is a 1967 Ampeg Gemini II. I purchased it from the original owner who gigged it with his lounge band. Its been on my bench from time to time and here is what is inside. This version of the Gemini II is a fixed bias 6L6 power stage driven by a cathodyne phase splitter. Gain for the cathodyne is provided by a pentode (both are the 7199). This layout is similar to many tube hi-fi amps such as Scott, except in the Ampeg, the cathodyne is AC coupled rather than direct coupled. Upstream there are two preamp channels, each composed of one 12AX7. These are common cathode preamps with minimal or no cathode bypass. The tone stack is called a Bandaxall, which is a type of shelving equalizer really quite different than the Fender tone stack. In the layout the first triode is a gain stage, then comes a volume control, then a triode, then the tone stack; therefore there is no formant control if you are trying to overdrive the second triode. Each channel has an accordion and guitar input, where the accordion is the ground switched jack, so if you plug your guitar into the accordion jack you will get more signal. The power supply does not have a choke, there are no screen grid resistors on the output tubes, there is no dedicated power transformer winding for the bias supply and rectification is full-wave solid state. The Piazza schematic of the 6L6 version is common on the web and there are some errors. The 10pf on the 7199 is 100pf and the 25pf bright caps are 250pf; the rest seems correct Additionally, my specimen came with a factory schematic and the parts in the amp were clearly altered at the factory (coupling caps in the preamp were 0.022uf, not 0.1uf) in reference to the schematic. Amp chassis is a steel U-channel with one multi-section capacitor. Parts are mounted on a PCB that runs the width of the amp and the tube sockets are soldered to the PCB. There are daughterboards for the tone stacks of each channel and the pots are soldered directly to these. The components of the tone stacks are constructed with thick-film technology, so individual parts cannot be altered. The jacks and all the inter-board wiring are made with shielded cable. My amp has a JBL D130F :) The box is plywood covered in Tolex and all the screws are the weird butterfly head security screw.

Nice warm sound at lower volumes. Nice growling JBL at higher volumes. Really quite loud, good for a small club. Like the man said, the 15" fills the room without piercing the ear drums of the dancers.

I think there are some issues. It has the 2-prong power cord with "death cap" which is a drawback. The standby function is a switched ground. The negative bias for the power tubes is developed by tapping off the full-wave rectifier with a capacitor. In standby, the bias reads about -40V. Flip the standby on and it jumps to -50V or so, the operating point. I think this change in bias causes the amp to dim the lights momentarily when you turn it on, maybe a cool effect, maybe not. The footswitch for trem and verb is hard wired so you will never loose it. Comes with a cover that doesn't quite fit. Opto for the trem is discrete and was covered with tape, so there is some room for light leakage. Proper multi-section cap is now widely available.

I enjoy fooling around with these tube amps. I remanufactured the power supply by replacing all the caps, and some of the resistors. I added Orange Drops here and there and replaced all of the cathode bypass caps. Added the three-prong power cord and removed the "death cap". The amp really came back to life! Plenty of parts are available for this amp now.

I am just a noodler and sleepy bedroom guitarist. The amp is fun to have around but way too loud for my apartment.

What we have here is a 1967 Ampeg Gemini II. It comes with a tremolo effect (that goes to eleven) and an echo (read reverb). It has volume, treble (also goes to eleven), and bass on two channels. All tube, point to point wiring, class A blah, blah, blah. 35 rather loud watts. Stand by switch (this is taking way too long). Accepts pedals very well. Two guitar and two accordian (did I say accordian?) plug ins. No channel switching. One 15" Jensen concert speaker. Needs more cowbell.

Very warm, organic, volumous. After playing on a Fender 15r for about a year, I plugged this in, let ring an open E followed by a short run down the neck of my Stratocaster followed by sh%tting my pants and giggling like school girl. From a foot away you get a little controlable feedback, other than that it's very quiet. It breaks up a little after five on the volume. Tremolo? Think Stones "Just my imagination". Best reverb ever (period). Not enough cowbell.

I bought it from a guy who got it from a studio, therefore, I'd say it had been well cared for and I've had it about a year and not had any problems. The tubes are now readily available and these, like all tubes, will eventually fail. It's never left my house but it did ship over 500 miles with no problem. Cowbell broken when I got it.

Called about the broken cowbell. They said they had no time for punks like me, they were too busy making badass amps and to quit calling. In the background I swear I heard cowbell.

I have played for about three years. I primarily play an Ibanez AS120 or a studio 50 and sometimes a standard strat, any of those through a big muff, ue30c, and dano PB&J. I play mainly 'wall of sound' type rock influenced by jazz and funk and believe it or not an air of metal. This amp would suit anyone (unless your in a 80's retro metal hair band) for blues, jazz, rock or whatever. I wish it were forty pounds lighter. Any amp that sounds remotley close to this good (Fender Bassman, Dr. Z) costs at least five to ten times as much. I didn't buy it for the value it is, but for the sound, and would do so if need be over and over again.

It has a guitar input and an accordian input. The accordian input sounds slightly more compressed to me, but both sounds are very useable. Reverb and tremolo are footswitchable. It also has a bright switch that clicks in when you turn the treble all the way up. It is not super loud but the tone makes me want to just buy another one to run in stereo.

I use a Hamer Special with very hot wired P-90s and a Fernandez Tele with a Duncan Hot Stack in the bridge. This amp LOVES my hamer! The Hamer is solid mahogany and very dark tonally, kinda like an SG. With the bright switch engaged and the volume rolled off to 4 or 5 this amp gets the best clean sound I've had ever. I've owned vintage Fenders (Supers, Twins, Bassmans) and this is THE sound I've been wanting all along. Turning up the volume makes this thing overdrive like crazy and when I kick in my Tube Screamer (Orig green one) it just sings. I play indie rock meets dirty blues and I have never been so happy with an amp.

It is definately old and wouldn't go dropping it, but other than tube replacement, it has been very good to me.

If it were stolen, I'd buy another. I'm looking for a second one to use in stereo.

This was built sometime in the sixties, I'm not postive which year. This amp seems to be built for acordians and guitars as it has two channels with both have a guitar & acordian input so technically If you really wanted to you could plug in four instruments and play, but you would have to share the eq with people. I'm a little disapointed that it doesn't have a line out though. I almost forgot to mention, 100 watts of all tube power :)

I have used so many different guitars through this amp and even a cheap plywood guitar (Hondo) sounded decent. This amp suits all my styles and I play metal aswell as blues, rock, and reggae, I have to use a couple distortion pedals however because this amp is CLEAN. It has no distortion but older amps didn't really have that anyway unless you cranked the volume. However the sound of this guitar is amazing, the tone is incredible and I would never give this amp up.

The amp was broken when it was given to me and I had it repaired. But since then I haven't had any problems and I've used it in gigs without backups. I always bring a small Ibanez 10w solid state amp as a backup now though because I've smarted up and tubes could go at any moment on any amp. The Ibanez 10w sucks compared to the ampeg though, and if the ampeg ever did fail at a gig I would use the Ibanez through the PA, no problems with volume on that.

Haven't dealt with ampeg, but the amp repairmen had to contact ampeg for some parts and he got hold of them.

Best amp I have ever owned and I'd rank it right up there with some of the Fender combo amps I've played. I haven't played a marshall so no comparison there.

I just got to respond to the idiot that wrote a bad review 2 reviews down-remember,this forum is not idiot proof-just read all the good reviews for the fender re-issuse crap ampsand boss pedals-This amp is a work of art-point to point wiring-Tube driven reverb and tremelo and a treble boost and a 15 alnico jensen,if your lucky enough to find one un-molested-(that jerk was probally looking for the distortion dial for and hour n a half)-I hope I meet this guy and he "rips me off"by selling the amp to me-No cheezy built in overdrive here guys,but thats how it is in most real amps

Ive been lucky enough to own 2 of these,and stupid enough to of sold them-I miss this amp and will buy one again when I have a chance-The reverb in ampegs is known to even the most yuppish collector to rival any amp-including their precious fender amps-The tremolo has a modern-ish (meaning 60's modern compared to 50's)sound to it,and can make a pink floyd-ish square wave effect-this amp has a very distinct beautiful clean sound to it,and works very well with a variety of overdrive/distorion pedals-its the first amp I owned with point to point wiring,and youll never go back to a nasty pc board amp again after you play this one -for blues or rock or jazz its great-for that authentic 80's nasal sound you might want to hold on to that peavy/marshall practice amp

There foot switch somtimes seems to bug out,leaving you without reverb or tremelo,but its woth the fix if it does happen-though remember to check the tubes in the back if this is the case,it might be the cause of the problem

Maybe I should'nt write that this amp cost about ( in today's money equivelent)1000 new in '65 and you can get it for about 4-500 today-
Ampegs are the musician's best kept secret due to they dont demand the collectors prices like fenders and some gibson amps do,however the gemini and some of their other models are in the same league-
the guy that wrote that bad review wouldnt know a good amp if it tossed his salad,keep in mind the idiot factor in any public forum-
Perhaps Im an idiot as well,however I think if you try one of these it will clear my name-

These amps were made in the mid-1960's. I'm not sure of the exact date. This is a great amp for surf guitar, not bad for blues and great for jazz. Also, this has, in my opinion, the best reverb you'll ever hear and a really great trem too.

Man, I read the last guy and just had to respond. Only a 1 rating? I mean, I don't know about you, but I could plug my guitar in someone's butt and get a 1, right? This is an old technology amp that has its own charm, and, like I said, an absolutely great reverb sound. The one I'm using has been very solid. It was serviced about 4 or 5 years ago and I've had no problems since. No hum, buzz, at all. Without a pedal I'd say good luck distorting this amp, it was made for clean tones. That said, a good distortion pedal - I'm very happy with what ZVex makes - will get you a heavy sound if that's what you're looking for. But this is an Ampeg, not a Marshall.

Very reliable. New caps is all this has gotten in some 50 years and it never crapped out on a gig.

Haven't tried to contact them.

You can pick these up for the 300 to 400 hundred range. If they don't need work and were recently serviced, I'd say that's a fair deal. These are sweet little amps.

My first amp in '66. Had these weird old power tubes, 6502's or something. Had a treble boost like a little extra click overdrive on the treble knob. Always had it on. The rest as below.

I used it with my first guitar: Hagstrom II. A low-output single coil affair that was probably the worst possible ax with this amp. Clean clean clean, nuthin but clean. The big 15" Jensen had this warm, mellow sound. The worst possible amp for blues and rock. It's an accordian amp, fer cripesake! A relatively weakass 30 watts. I could barely get heard in any size hall. A ridiculous amp for rock. The Ampeg guys used to reject any amp that showed any sign of distortion. This amp was strictly for jazz, accordians and portable organ amplification. The Amppeg guys hated rock n' roll, and this monstrously heavy cream puff proves that contention. Run screaming from this amp if you're looking for soul. I dumped it after about 3 gigs for a '65 Twin. Big mistake, too, but that's another story.

Oh yeah, you could use this as a bomb detonation container. Built like a shick brickhouse. A family of immigrants probably lives in it today. And hates the tone.

These guys were commited, or shoulda been.

It's not unlike its bass cousin, the original "hi, I'm the amp that lives upside down inside my" B-15, in that it was all about clean, warm rather dull sound. Which you could barely hear in a band. In fact, our Vox organist/Wurlitzer pianist used the B-15 as his only stage amp. And you could barely hear him on stage. Which was cool as he sucked. Life has a way of working stuff out.