Ampeg J-12R Jet II 112 Combo

see customer support:

see customer support:

see customer support:

I really wanted to stress customer support on this amp in case anyone out there had the same problem as me. I purchased this amp in 1998 and was always a little upset about the "glassy, ringing, sound" that it made. I was 18, and just assumed it was the sound tube-amps made. A year later, I re-tubed it with Groove Tubes thinking it would fix the problem - still had the "glassy-ring". 3 years later I finally got it checked out. Turns out, this particular reissue Jet II amp was known to have that problem - it sounded like the tubes were resonating. The good people at Ampeg, vetted through a local music shop, fixed the problem gratis...and it sounded GREAT. I've been using it since and when looking for a vintage tone, am officially an Amepeg guy.
I have no idea how long the warranty was, but 3 years later, Ampeg really pulled through. Awesome.

This is a 15 watt class A/B amp, not class A as indicated previously. The manual reads "Class A", but then explains where the phase inverter tube is. According to the schematic and examination of the output transformer, it is clearly class A/B. Single channel, reverb, and an under-powered 12" speaker. I wish it had a standby switch and better speaker, but as-is it has a good feature set.
I use it for my own solo clean playing and the distorted playing in my band. It's loud enough for the former and rehearsals with the later. Live, a mic sending a small amount of signal to the PA gives enough volume.

It really sounds great once you learn how to set the EQ controls. I use it with an original Danelectro U1, a Fender Mustang, and a 335 (no pedals save for an occasional wah). I'm able to get a nice jazz sound with the Dano and the amp volume on 5. Pushing the volume up higher with the mustang or 335 gives a thick, rich overdrive sound with the EQ controls raised. Boosting the bass helps to add saturation and tame the sometimes overly punchy mids. Even when dimed, turning the guitar volume down leads to a natural crunchy sound which responds very well to picking dynamics. It never gets a clean sound at band levels, but that is to be expected with a 15 watt EL84 amp. As mentioned before, the controls are extremely interactive and hours of open-minded experimenting leads to great results. I would say it sounds most similar to a tweed Fender Deluxe, but with more EQ adjustment available. The reverb is nice, but a little buzzy depending on where you are playing. The tank isn't very well shielded.
The stock is speaker is underpowered. It sounds good at low to moderate volume, but farts at high settings. I replaced it with a higher wattage Weber Alnico speaker to get a softer breakup and better reliability. My tubes are a matched set of European GTs and some old long-plate USA 12AX7s. I like the long-plates for their low end depth, but cheaper ones will be microphonic in a combo - a little testing will help find the best ones.
The noise floor is almost non-existant. It is dead quiet.

My amp arrived in a sad state. It would only run for about 20 minutes before turning off. The problem turned out to be cold solder joints on the circuit board which would vibrate loose. It was easy to fix once I found the problem. I took the opportunity to go through and overbuild some parts of the amp. Now I feel it is very reliable. Many of the internal connections were poorly done, so I fixed them.
The complaints I have are plastic tube sockets, the flimsy handle, and the poor stock speaker. Besides those, the build quality is good. I feel comfortable using it because I have done so much tech-ing and work on my amps that I am confidant I can fix any issues.
The build quality is comparable with the Mexican-made Fender amps.

N/A

I've been playing for 13 years and owned dozens of guitars and several amps. For the price, I feel this is the best tube amp available for those on a budget. It's simple and has the air of a classic American tube amp. It sounds good and is quite loud for its size. I wish it had better tube sockets, handle, standby switch, etc but have no major issues with it. I chose it because I wanted the Ampeg clean sound and some distortion for my band in the same amp; I got both.
These can be found in the $200 range, and for that price they are an excellent value. Just budget a new speaker and some work from an amp tech if you are considering one. If it were stolen, I would probably buy the same amp again.

This is a one-channel, 15-watt Class A tube amp. One 12" speaker; controls for volume, treble, bass, and reverb "dimension"; two inputs allow you to amplify either your guitar or accordion. (This is cute, but after playing through each of them I'm not sure what the point is. There doesn't seem to be a huge difference in tone.) And that's it - no effects loop, no headphone or speaker outs, no foot-switch, nothing fancy like that. The sole built-in effect is reverb, but nothing's stopping you from running a bunch of crass pedals through it.

Since my major concern is that the amp sounds good, and I prefer not to bother with effects and whatnot, I actually like how simple everything is. Although it would be nice to be able to finesse the tone a little more (like, a knob to adjust the mid-range).

The Jet II's primary feature is its rich, expressive tone, and it's apparently quite sought-after among jazz and blues guitarists (and accordionists, I would guess). At low to medium volumes it's nice and clean, and as you turn it up it starts to get a gritty natural overdrive. In true jazz/blues fashion, one can have a nice range of tones by leaving the amp cranked up and just using the guitar's volume and tone controls.

In terms of volume, the Jet II has its limits. When I first bought it I was playing in a noisy indie band, with 2 other guitarists and a drummer who worked out, and it was swallowed up by the racket. I eventually had to get a Fender DeVille 212 (which is a loud beast of a thing) but I've still used the Jet for other things here and there. In the studio or in smaller group settings, where the drum kit is perhaps *not* being brutally assaulted, this amp works very well. I also highly recommend running a Rhodes piano through it.

The reverb controls are pretty minimal, but it does sound good (and a little bit of "Dimension" goes a long way). With both volume and reverb turned up recklessly high, the Jet II starts to sound chaotic and dangerous; I like this aspect of it. However, the amp starts to emit a disturbing high-pitched noise if you leave the 'verb on a high setting for too long. Moderation in all things.

This amp has been very dependable. I don't live in fear of the Jet giving up the ghost on stage, or in the middle of a potentially legendary guitar solo. I've been careful not to push the tubes too hard, because as a rule I can't afford new ones; they have lasted a long time and still sound pretty good. A thorough cleaning and tune-up wouldn't hurt, but I've been careful with it and it does what it's supposed to do.

Since I bought this amp secondhand, and I think it's at least ten to fifteen years old, it's safe to assume it's no longer covered by a manufacturer's warranty. Ampeg, to my limited knowledge, is a reputable company and most likely offers some kind of in-house service, or at least replacement parts. I've never actually had to deal with them. If/when my amp needs professional attention, I'll probably take it to a local music store or someone I know personally.

I've been playing guitar for about ten years and, naturally, during that time guitars and amps have come and gone. The Jet I've had just about as long as any other piece of gear I own, and it'll probably be my main amp for a while yet. It has the right kind of versatility and expressiveness for the kind of music I'm making (a kind of experimental prog-folk?) and it's a handy size/weight to carry around New York City, where I live. It may not be loud enough to effectively rock out with a full band, but I can live with that; even if I have to use a different amp with whatever band I'm in, I'll probably keep this one around.

If you like old school rock you love this amp
Cream Neil Young Bowie Zepplin all sound awsome though this Amp
The volume on this sucker is wild for it's size
Also know a guy who plays country with it and won't use anything else
Wish it had a preamp gain so I would not need a pedal or have to crank the volume so high
The look is perfect for the guys who like vintage
I find the amp at low volume either Super loud or to quite.
(the volume is to touchy)

I use a Les Paul classic
With a custom superoverdrive pedal with a bass mod.
My Tone dial is at about 7 and a half reverb is at 2
I play lots of blue's and rock
Zep Neil Young Cream Deep Purple Bowie
Also alot of folk rock Bryds Dylan etc
When distorted with pedal lead and rythm are both great
The clean is as good as I have ever heard on any amp
The tremolo and reverb are very clean and distinct
The distortion caused by cranking volume is very natural sounding
And also very powerful
The Whole sound of the amp is very fat

Watch, The tone dial can get to harsh with to much treble

My Jet II has never broken down in anyway even after I dropped it
My tubes have never been changed
Have had Amp for 2 years

The dealer I know (Mother's Music) Is very quick to fix what ever you need
Because my Ampeg hasnever broken can't tell you about the Ampeg company

I have owned a Marshall Valvestate 50 watt and a 25 watt torque
For my stuff the Ampeg Jett II is far above the others
Money for value I have not seen a better Amp

This is a 15 watt, Class A, all-tube amp.
It is a one-trick pony: cleans.
That's all it does. One channel, EQ, reverb.
Most people want more features.. I say quality features are better than many features. And this amp produces cleans like no other. So sexy.

The clean channel is the best i've ever heard.
It is not noisy at all.
Sometimes it picks up radio signals =[
It can get pretty friggin loud because it's class A.
don't be fooled by the 15 watts. It can be a beast.

ONE thing to note.. most tube amps start breaking up the sound around 12 o'clock on the volume knob.
This amp, however, does not do that. I don't notice any breakup or ditorted tone at all. Like I said, it is truly a one trick pony.

However, it takes pedals very very well. Most pedals I try on this amp sound amazing!
The trickiest pedals are the overdrive pedals. Mild overdrive pedals, i.e. Bad Monkey will sound like a clean boost unless you max out the gain on the pedal. The headroom on this amp is unreal.

This amp looks like its around 10 years old.
I got it second hand, and the original owner says it has never had a problem.
One time, after practice it was left on for the entire night.
the next day i was horrified, and i expected the amp to have died/blown something. But it was perfectly fine.
So far it's never failed me. That's a 10.

N/A

This is a great amp for practice, and gigging (mic'ed).
awesome tone. great with pedals. if I lost it, I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

But, you need pedals to get any sort of breakup/distortion.

I think mine is from 1996 or so (or at least that what's silkscreened on the PCB, so maybe that's just the design date). Although I'm mainly playing bass in my band now, I was looking for a nice simple 1x12 low-power tube combo to explore the blues and for portability. Otherwise I tend to use rack gear for the versatility (both guitar and bass).

I'm sure if you've read any of the other reviews, you know what features the Jet II J-12R has, but I'll run down the list anyway: one channel, single 12AX7 input stage, 12AX7 phase splitter, solid-state reverb drive and return, 2xEL84 push-pull "Class A" (or so they say) 15W power stage, 1x12" 8 Ohm 20W Ampeg "Vintage" speaker, short spring reverb tank. Two inputs (one attenuated), Vol, Treble, Bass, Reverb knobs, on/off switch.

I do wish it had a standby switch for peace of mind, but EL84's are cheap unless you're using NOS. I give it an "8" for Features--it has every thing you need and nothing you don't, but there could be a few little bits added to make it even nicer, like the aforementioned standby switch, an externally accessible fuse, removable power cord, ground lift.

My main guitar is a 1990 Rickenbacker 330JG with the Hi-Gain pickups. To my ears, it sounds great through this amp, but I think my favorite sound is the neck pickup only, as with the Rick pickups, the amp is a bit bright. I had tested the amp with a couple of PRS's (a CE 22 soapbar and a Custom 22). Both of the PRS's were particularly well-suited to this amp. My next guitar will be a PRS.

The amp isn't very noisy, even with single coil pickups. The EQ controls are reasonably effective. The reverb can get wetter than one can reasonably use is a small combo. In the store, with the PRS's, I was a bit afraid that the amp would be a bit too loud, but my Rick doesn't have as high an output, so now I'm wondering if it's not quite loud enough. It just about makes the threshold of loud gig-ability with the Rick, but I like to have a bit of reserve. The distorton is about what you would expect from an amp with only two 12AX7's and a pair of EL84's. Onset of distortion is relatively gradual, but happens in the second half of the dial.

Of course, that doesn't really describe the timbre...these amps are great for those of you out there who want something a bit different than the garden variety Fender Blues Jr. Ampeg's tend to have a sound unlike anything else out there, and I find that fellow Ampeg players appreciate having something a bit off the beaten path (well, the Ampeg guitar amp players, that is--Ampeg SVT bass amps are the standard by which all others are measured). Call the sound crisp, bell-like, and full. I give it a "9", because I've heard better (at a much higher price!).

I will say though, that the GC I bought this from had an original Jet with the 6BK11/7591 tubes, and the old one sounded a lot better (of course, they were asking $800 for an amp that might very well be impossible to retube until the rumors of someone restarting production of 7591's come true--personally I think it a crime to convert older Ampeg's to more common tubes).

Reliability? I don't know...I just bought it today (though I've been thinking about getting one for the last couple of years). Now, I trust SLM to build a decent product, as I gigged with my Ampeg VH-140C combo for years without any problems (except for blowing three sets of Celestion G12M-70's...but that was me, not the amp). I got this amp used at the local GC--it was missing a few screws, and the tubes look mismatched, but a trip to the hardware store and a raid of my tube drawer will solve that. So far, I've played it three times in the store and once tonight at rehearsal. It hasn't broken yet. I did discover that the amp requires 3/4 amp slo-blo fuses, which I didn't find at the hardware store or the Rad Shack. The PCB looks reasonably well-built at first glance.

I don't think I've ever has any piece of gear factory repaired, so my experiences with customer service in the MI industry have been limited to product information requests, mostly. This is a very simple tube amp. Any halfway decent electronics tech should be able to fix anything that could go wrong with it.

Bear in mind that this is a "first impression review". I don't have a long-term ownership experince with this amp yet. So far, I give it an 8, mainly because I think SLM could have invested a little more in the cabinet quality. I like this amp enough to get another should the need arise, but then I have so many different pieces of equipment and I'm not particularly attached to this one. Let's face it, it's a cheap re-issue, not a hand-built boutique amp. SLM did a great job here, but this amp doesn't go on a pedestal like my more esoteric items that would be difficult to replace.

But that's the beauty of this amp. J-12R's and J-12T's commonly go for about $300 used these days (sometimes even less), and they sound great...these things can easily compete with much more robustly built, higher priced amps from a sonic quality standpoint, so I think the high ratings are easy to justify. Yeah, a Carr Mercury or a Groove Tubes Soul-O would sound a bit better, but for the price of those, I can buy 5 used Ampeg Jets! And I wouldn't be embarrased to be seen with my Jet...

Master, Bass, Mid, treble, reverb. 2 12ax7 preamp tubes, 2 el34 mini power tubes. I'm giving it a 9 because although it's not very versatile at all, that's exactly what i was looking for.

I bought this amp for the sole reason of running my Line 6 POD through it. I used to run it through a Mesa Boogie studio combo, but this amp sounds MUCH better!! Gets loud, but at the same time, if you're putting a high-gain signal through it, it's totally silent when you're not playing, which is exactly what i was looking for. The speaker looks as though it was replaced w/ an Eminence (unless that's what they came with), and it sounds incredible.

Have yet to travel w/ it, but it's Ampeg, so i'm sure it'll hold up.

??

If it were stolen, i'd look for another Tube amp to run my POD through, but if i came accross another one of these, i'd buy it.

BOUGHT THIS AMP IN 2001(PRETTY SURE). !!ALL TUBE!! EL84 POWER & 12AX7 PREAMP. JUST VOLUME,TREBLE,BASS AND REVERB. ONLY 1 CHANNEL(ONLY REAL BAD POINT OF THE AMP), WISH IT HAD A PREAMP OVERDRIVE. I USE THIS AMP MAINLY AT HOME AND IT SUITS ME WELL FOR THAT. IT'S LOUD FOR ONLY 15 WATTS BUT YOU WOULD STILL HAVE TO MIC IT HEAR IT AT GIG. IT ALSO LOOKS GREAT SILVER SPARKLE GRILL, BLUE VINYL, CROME LOGO, AND CHICKEN HEAD KNOBS. ONLY A 6 BECAUSE OF ONE CHANNEL

I USE A STRATOCASTER WITH A SEYMOUR 'SCREAMIN DEMON' AT THE BRIDGE. I PLAY ALOT OF STYLES FROM 80'S TO BLUES AND IT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD, NICE ROUND SINGLE COIL SOUND WITH PLENTY OF SPANK FOR COUNTRY. THE ONLY BAD POINT IS THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE A SECOND CHANNEL. I WORKS WELL FOR ME BUT I USE A MULTI-EFFECTS UNIT(ZOOM 8080) THAT JUST LOVES THIS AMP. I PLAY ALOT AT CHURCH THROUGH A POD PRO OR A PEAVEY 212, PLAYING ANYTHING FROM COUNTRY TO LOUD DISTORTED ROCK AND THIS AMP JUST SOUNDS BETTER THAN THE POD OR THE PEAVEY IN ANY SETTING. MY ZOOM JUST COMES ALIVE ON THIS AMP, THE DISTORTION ON MY ZOOM REALLY ISN'T EVEN THAT GREAT BUT THIS AMP JUST MAKES UP FOR IT. SO THE SOUND IS GREAT, BUT.... IT'S ONLY 15 WATTS, NOT A LOT OF POWER, AND IT ONLY HAS ONE CHANNEL WITH NO PREAMP DRIVE. STILL IT'S A GREAT SOUNDING AMP.

I'VE HAD TO REPLACE THE TUBES THIS YEAR, I PUT IN MESA BOOGIE EL84'S AND THEY SOUND A LITTLE MORE PUNCHY THAN THE ORIGINAL TUBES. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY REAL TROUBLE WITH IT.

N/A

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 16 YEARS NOW AND I HAVE PLAYED THROUGH JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING. THIS AMP IS A GOOD SOUNDING AMP FOR STUDIO OR HOME BUT I WOULDN'T GIG WITH IT DUE TO THE 15 WATT THING. I HAVEN'T TRIED THE BIGGER SUPER JETS BUT THEY PROBABLY SOUND JUST AS GOOD. BEFORE I GOT THIS AMP I TRIED THE SAME MODEL BUT WITH TREMELO-IT SOUNDED MUFFLED. MAYBE IT WAS JUST THAT AMP BUT THE MODEL WITHOUT TREMELO JUST SOUNDS MORE OPEN,TUBEY. IF THIS ONE WAS STOLEN I WOULD DEFINTELY GET ANOTHER AMPEG TUBE AMP, JUST MAYBE IT'S BIG BROTHER.

bass treble reverb... isn't that all u need? turn down bass and/or treble to work on mids. if you don't kno how do that this amp isn't gonna fit u cus you're an idiot. it's not meant for built in effects and such and if you want that go with something else. i use peddles. it also features that nice bar room smell... it's spent many nights in there obviosly, cleaned up great, but still smells like an ash-tray ahh well. it adds good character, i like the smell, it's inspirational.

i give it a 10 cus mine sounds unblievable. but mine is also a little more costom than most peoples'. the speaker in mine was replaced becuase something happend to the original, who knows. it was replaced a jensen that came off a huge amp. it's an old jensen that never got used. the speaker is a monster. push up to six to get distortion but thats not the right word... the drive is super clean!! chorus peddal is a nice compliment and i play single/double coil switched guitar

who knows... solid like a brick it's old and it works so it must be good.. i haven't had it long

the guy who sold it to me was very nice. as were all the other people at the store. and he did a great job installing the new speaker and another minor repair.

good stuff man, but good luck finding one with a beast of a speaker like mine, if i ever sell it, which i probaly never will, i'll put a cheaper speaker back in it.

Pretty straightforward for a 15 watt Class A amp. Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb. 2 inputs, 1 for Guitar, 1 for Accordion(hey, it's a reissue!). What you see is what you get, for some players it'll fill the bill as is, or with an additional stomp box or two. If you want lots of bells and whistles, forget it. Outstanding for rehearsal and/or small gigs. Unless you mike it, could get lost real fast in a 4-5 piece band with a heavy handed drummer. For a small group playing blues or rootsy stuff, like a dream come true. Tube tone at a VERY reasonable price, won't break your back,either.

Have to differ from another review I read, to my ears, this puppy LOVES single coils. Use G&L ASAT Classic, G&L Legacy,Fender AmStd Tele,Boss Blues Driver & Dan-Echo as well. Discovered it one day when I was auditioning a tremolo pedal(as a comparison thru different amps). Gave back the tremolo, bought the amp instead! Fell in love with it IMMEDIATELY. Not quite Fender, not quite Vox, not quite Marshall or anything else, it really has a vibe all it's own. Can chime AND get nasty( though it is NOT a shredder's amp).

Blew the speaker the first night. Dealer replaced the speaker without a fuss, have had no problem since then other than tube replacement. Speaker is probably an Eminence, next will be a Greenback.

Here's where it gets a little tricky. Tried to find other dealers around the state to do some price comparisons, contacted St. Louis Music. Called the name of the dealer THEY gave me,he hadn't carried Ampeg for several YEARS. Another dealer I spoke with dropped the Ampeg line after experiencing too much frustration in dealing with St. Louis Music himself. I can't complain about warranty/service issues, but I find it puzzling that SLM doesn't promote Ampeg's guitar amps the way they do their bass gear. (When have you EVER seen an ad in ANY of the guitar mags for Jets, Super Jets, Reverbrockets,etc.?)I've run into quite a few players that don't even know Ampeg is MAKING guitar amps, let alone where to buy them.

Been playing about 35 years now, mostly classic rock, blues, surf ,rockabilly, country. Dedicated single coil guy. Playing this amp has made me want to check out the OTHER Ampeg combo stuff out there.Have owned Fenders(Twin,BDVille,VibroKing), Music Man & Marshall, have tried out a ton of others along the way.This is one of the best bang-for-the-buck deals out there, people hear this thing and just RAVE about the tone. It loves pedals, fits nicely on the floor between the seat and dashboard, won't break your back or your bank account. Would replace it in a heartbeat if it grew legs, although no one should have to steal them at this price. It is a laugh in the face of some of the "boutique" models on the market costing much, much more. WHY DOES ST.LOUIS MUSIC KEEP THEM A SECRET???

15 watts, 2xEl84, 2x12AX7, Vol, Treble, Bass, Reverb. Very simple. I often wish that it had a mid control, but by turning both treble and bass up or down you do get a bit of a humped or scooped sound. The simpliciity is nice if, like me, you don't like spending lots of time dialing in a sound, since you don't get radically different sounds, even with fairly drastic EQ shifts.

I've used a few different guitars with this amp, a Godin Radiator, Yamaha AES 800, Charvel Strat w/EMG 85, and an Epiphone Les Paul w/ SD Alnico II Pro in the bridge. When I first auditioned the amp at the guitar store, I tried it with a Dano 12-string, and it sounded really good clean with that ringy kind of sound. It was only months later that I got to really crank the amp up. I was disappointed with it. The stock speaker crapped out right away with any bass, and didn't like pedals at all. I replaced the Ampeg speaker with the Eminence 12" from my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The Eminence was harsher on the top end, but was able to handle far more volume and bass. I could crank the amp with the bass up too about 3 o'clock without too much fart on the low end. Still, although that sounded cool, it wasn't perfect. And, by the way, that setup with the volume cranked was really quite loud. You get a little of that floor rumble, and standing in front of the amp is almost too much. That's with the Eminence speaker. I tried plugging the amp into the Vintage 30 in my Hot Rod cabinet, by taking the amp apart and using it like a seperate head. This made quite a dramatic difference. Running through this setup, the sound was much fuller, bigger, and strangely enough, much louder. With the Jet II cranked through this cabinet it really was painfully loud. I found myself moving off too the side to avoid hearing the direct sound. If the amp had a speaker out jack this would have been a lot easier, the better cabinet really made a big difference. And, with the speaker change, the amp handled pedals, volume, and bass a lot better. The tradeoff was that it got a bit harsher, which was due too the speaker, rather than the amp itself. Stock, the amp did sound really good up to about 3, a cool, dark kind of sound, that took some of the harshness off my bridge pickups. The problem was that I wanted a small tube amp to get that power tube distortion at a reasonable level. So, I don't know how to rate this, up to about 3 on the volume, the sound was maybe an 8. Running through a nice speaker cabinet, it was maybe an 8 1/2. But, for louder sounds with the stock speaker, it just broke apart, and not in a cool way. So, if you have a decent 12" speaker kicking around to replace it, maybe look at this amp. Or, maybe the speaker in mine was shot. Make sure you get a chance to crank it before you buy it. Run the amp on 12 at least for a little while. So, maybe a 7? By the way, you only get straight clean sounds or mildly dirty sounds with the amp. You really cannot get anything like metal distortion, or even a heavy rock distortion without a pedal. I mostly just use the amp for quiet playing, or sometimes for practice with a fairly quiet church band, when I don't want to lug a heavy tube amp. This amp is nice and light, and I can usually keep up with the volume around 5 (unmiked).

I've heard that some of these get weird resonances at high volumes on certain notes, so that you'll get a rattle or buzz when you hit a certain note at a loud volume. If you make sure that all the screws are tightened down real good it shouldn't be too bad. My amp hasn't had too much of this. Of course, at that volume, it really is quite loud. If you have it cranked, you're going to get some noise anyway. I've owned the amp for about a year, and it always works when I turn it on. I've used it for gigs before without a backup, not big pressure gigs, but just playing in church, and it hasn't let me down. However, of the three amps I've used, none of them have ever really let me down. If I was running the amp flat out for long periods of time, then maybe I'd be worried, but I keep things pretty clean, moderate volumes for the most part. One nice thing is how simple the amp is, there isn't that many things that can go wrong, compared to some of these digital amps that could go down and only be serviced in Out-of-the-way, Ohio or something like that. Any decent amp tech should be able to fix something this simple. It hasn't failed me yet, so it deserves a pretty good mark

I like that it's small, light, pretty powerful, and bone simple. I never, ever, have to mess around for more than a few seconds to get a sound. I don't keep records of certain knob settings or anything. There's only four knobs, and I don't use the reverb very much, although it sounds fine if you like reverb. The size and simplicity I love, the speaker and overall cheapness of the cabinet aren't as good. However, there aren't a lot of competitors for tube amps this size at this price. There's the Blues Junior, but this was something different. If I saw it again, for maybe $100 less, I'd think about it. I definitely paid too much for it. That's the problem with buying used stuff in retail stores. If you see one for cheap, that sounds good loud, definitely consider it.

I don't know what year this amp was made, but I trust the guy that sold it to me from a local guitar shop. He said the previous owner said the amp never left his house. It looked brand new when I got it. The tones that come out of this thing are awesome. With only one clean channel I use an Ibanez Tube Screamer for dirt and this amp ROCKS! I never thought I'd ever hear 15watts like this. A poor man's Vox AC15 if I ever heard one. All tube class A tones!

I play a 97 Rickenbacker 370 with reissue toasters, not the scatter wound, and an Epiphone Casino with Seymour Duncan Antiquity P-90's. They both sound great, clean and dirty.

I haven't had it long enough so the jury is still out on realibility.

I used to have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp and I couldn't get the tones I was looking for. I almost bought a Vox Cambridge Twin Reverb 30 watt, but hybrid amps don't really have the power of an all tube class A amp. My Fender P-Bass doesn't sound bad through it either. This amp is all you'll need for home recording and small gigs (you can always mic it through a PA if needed).