Ampeg J-12R Jet Reissue

Mine is quite recent, 2002 i guess.
This amp has been THE solution for me : solving endless hesitation between Fender, old tube Musicman, expensive AC15 or AC30, really upgrading my old Carvin X-60.
This little one really does what it is aimed at for a 15W Class A for me, that is delivering a powerful, rich and precise rendition of my guitar and play. Excellent for 60s rock, blues, jazz, pop.
The little extra is its originality. I always get people saying "i thought Ampeg was only into Bass amps". Actually it is rather rare in Europe, as i discovered.
I wish it had a footswich even if i almost use the trem all the time.
Maybe a 3 band EQ could be a benefit ? Certainly a standby switch would be nice. An effect loop ?

It really renders my Jazzmaster, P90 SG, President Hofner Archtop and 330 Rick beautifully.
The Jazzmaster and the SG (due to big single coil pickups ?) are the ones that renders the best to me : deep bass, bright high ends, natural crunchy distortion coming really quick (round 2 or 3).
The reverb is excellent, superior to some fender to me, can be very hollow if necessary.
The tremolo is also excellent, i almost use it as a kind of second reverb, actually i love the way you can just add a touch of it and the way it is present but hardly noticeable. Of course you can also deal with very intense hard sixties psych trems..
The 1 knob EQ is really a nice surprise. Easy and straight to the point.

Actually each one of my guitars sounds really its own with it, the amp really improves each one's personality, which is a proof of real quality for me !

Cant really say, only use it for 2 months now. Will gig with it for sure. Pay attention to it, as you should normally do with a tube amp (no ?) Certainly look less robust than my old Musicman or even my Carvin but not fragile at all.
Heard bad things on the net at high volume, but cant say : i never went more than 3.5 (dont like my ears to bleed).

Ampeg is really far from France, dont know the local support.

Think i would buy it straight if it were stolen.
I really love the concept : small volume, nice vintage look, light weight, blowing sound, more power than i will need.
Maybe a hand-made-to-my-own-specs combo would be the only alternative i see.

I'm rating this amp a 6 in features only because it is so simple. Mine is a 1997 model. Not a lot of versatility by itself. For me, however, important features it has are simplicity, widely versatile with pedals, extremely portable at around 30 lbs., reacts to different tube selection, and I can completely disassemble it and put it back together in ten minutes. The only thing I wish it had is a stand by switch, but it's never had a tube problem. The amp did not come with speaker jacks, so I installed one myself-it was simple.

This is why I play this amp- great sound no noise in a portable package. I need to play all kinds of sounds and I use an overdrive, several distortion pedals, modulation pedals, wah and several delays. This amp handles it all. This is very important though: the original speaker has a definite midrange presence and lots of breakup. It also is soft in the bass range, all very typical to vintage type speakers. It handles everything well except heavy, tight distortion sounds. I replaced mine with an Eminence Black Powder. About replacing the speaker: the cabinet is very shallow and most speakers will hit the chassis or tubes. Only speakers with a mounting depth of 121 mm or less will fit unless the bell is very small. an Eminence Legend 1218, a weber F100, a Celestion seventy 80, the Black powder are all speakers I know fit. Each speakers creates a radically different combo. The actual power amp in this combo is very flat in response and has great bass response you would never suspect by listening to it in original trim.
Now the tubes. This amp reacts well to different tubes configurations. Contact Bob at Eurotubes.com and you can start experimenting. The best thing is there are only four tubes and you can retube the whole thing for about $30. Also no biasing on a matched set of power tubes- this amp is cathode biased. I prefer two long plate ECC803S JJ preamp tubes and JJ EL84s rated at 35 in mine. Every change in preamp tubes makes a difference in sound and feel and ditto the power tubes. The tubes are well protected and easy to change. I think the reverb is good, but the trail is long. This amp has a vox sound due to its EL84 tubes and vintage speaker.
Finally, this amp reacts to input level beautifully. Want super clean? plug in to the accordian jack to lower your input level. Want all those complex almost clean/almost driven harmonics and complexity? smash the preamp with a booster pedal. I tried this recently with a hot Tele neck pickup with the tone knob rolled down and got the thickest tone ever. This is the best thing this amp has to offer- it reacts like only a butt simple class A amp can: change input levels, change speakers, change tubes- the sound/feel changes. I've owned this amp for ten years and I only use three knobs on it and I'm still experimenting.

Another reason I prefer this amp is its reliability. It has never broken down in ten years. It has never had a tube go down. I play a rehearsal and a gig every week for my full time job plus practice time with the amp about an hour a day. I never have a backup amp. I carry tubes, and a direct multi-effects unit, but I've never needed them.

I've never had any repair needs, but I've emailed the company and acquired some schematics. They were prompt and friendly. The original warranty was five years and transferrable to subsequent owners. The company has changed hands since then, and veryhting is different.

10 years. I play for money every week. It's got to sound good and be reliable. It's got to be portable. Even in a flight case this amp fits in my trunk standing up! I recently picked one up on ebay for $150! That's value! I recently sold a THD Univalve because I didn't need it with this amp around. To be clear, I'm not comparing the two amps, the THD is a great amp. Anyway, if you fancy some tweaking and you have a little spare coin, pick up a used one. Best Value in Amps.

New, exactly what I wanted to play Dinner Jazz (low volume) But I use it for praise music (bright clean sound) and have used it for Blues -- it does distort nicely if you crank it up to nine!!

l952 Gibson ES140 -- p90 pickups. No noise!! One tone control gives me a bassy sound to play bassy guitar backup, turn it up to get some bright lead sounds. NO NOISE. It is totally predictable. The reverb is infinitely better than that on the Fender Blues Jr. which I also own.

Seems solid as a rock, but I've only had it for 6 mos.

N. A.

Been playing for 50 years. It is the best little amp I've ever owned. It is easy to carry. It is much better than my Fender Blues Jr. which had a bad reverb (couldn't turn it up past 7) It looks cool. (New amp -- looks old, to go with my 1952 Gibson!!)

Volume, tone, reverb, tremelo.
Not very complex.

I use this amp for practice, and some gigs. I play an American Standard Telecaster (for rock, blues, r&b) and a Guild Artist Award (for jazz). This amp can cover both pretty well. The reverb is absolutely wonderful. I picked this over a Fender Blues Jr. for that very reason.
The original speaker was rather poor. I had a Carvin 12" sitting around and popped it it. What a BIG difference! I also replaced the original tubes with Electro Harmonix. Nice. I would consider a new speaker as part of the cost of owning one of these. If it had a better one, this category would be a 10.

Replace the speakers, replace the tubes and this would be a 10. Otherwise, I've had no trouble with this amp.

I've had some e-mail correspondance with Ampeg and find them pretty helpful. It has never failed so I don't really know how they would deal with a major problem. In any case, I have a great service guy.

I love this little thing. Why would anyone get a dirt-bag solid state amp when you could get one of these? They'll go loud enough to gig with (unless you play metal). It is very toneful and sweet. It gets nice and crunchy at about "7." The blue check vinyl is beautiful. It plays rock and jazz very nicely. If Ampeg would upgrade the speaker, they'd have a perfect winner.

Just bought this amp used. Emailed serial number to Ampeg and they told me it was made in December of 1995.

Single channel amp. One tone knob, reverb knob, speed and intensity knobs for tremlo. Nice vintage look. Not troubled by lack of effects loop because I play it in my church and don't really turn it up loud enough to overdrive it's tubes. Distortion comes from my Korg AX1G and this amp handles that nicely. Amp is plenty loud to compete with drums, bass, another guitarist as a stage monitor. I mike it to the PA. I can get a very loud clean tone before overdriving it which is a big plus.

Tremendous sound! The tone knob gives me a lot of control. I compared this to a similarly priced Fenders Blues Jr. I had to crank the treble to 9 on the Fender to get a bright sound. On the Ampeg, I use the knob or 5/6 and at 9 it's very bitting.

I play a Parker P38 with this amp. The bridge humbucker and the neck/middle single coils sound so sweet through it. I play in my church and use a Korg AX1G for effects. The style is modern worship music (CCM) that ranges from soft ballads to hard rock. This amp handles it all.

Again, I use a clean sound about half the time and this amp won hands down in that catagory. The pedal overdrive settings sound very good too.

Not noisy at all. Reverb is nice. Tremlo is better than the pedal's tremlo.

Played it at the Houston Children's Festival this past weekend. Our other guitarist used a Fender Twin Reverb that the stage provided. My little 15 watt Ampeg blew it away. Because of stage volume limitations he could only set his Fender amp on 3, while my Ampeg was on 6. Therefore, I was able to get real character of my amp, while his more powerful amp had to be restrained. Word to the wise: amps sound best when they are really being pushed, so the most powerful amp is not always the best.

At my higher volumes, I was able to get some really crunchy distortion which sounded great.

This is the only electric guitar amp I own, so I don't have a backup. After the misty outdoor environment I had it in for 9 hours, I'm convinced it reliable. It is about 7 years old with all original parts too.

I sent a couple of emails asking questions over a couple of days to Ampeg and they were very prompt in responding.

I have been playing acoustic for about 16 years. I have a Taylor 812c and a Trace Elliot acoustic amp and am pretty picky about tone. I've been playing electric for about 8 months now and would definitely buy another one if this one was stolen. Go check them out.

This is a compact, all tube combo with a 12 inch speaker and minimal bells/whistles. I kinda like the early 60's retro styling with the blue diamond tolex, leather handle and stovetop control knobs. It has controls for volume, bass, treble, and reverb. Inputs for guitar and accordion(!?). 15 watts rated output from 2 el84 power tubes. The front end has a pair of 12ax7 tubes. Simple but effective.

Outstanding tone and amazing volume. This little thing will take care of business at gigs in clubs and bars. It's all I use. Typical Ampeg - it remains clean up to the point of earsplitting volume, then it begins to break up. I've replaced the stock speaker with a Jensen C12R and I'm very pleased with the sound. I use a Strat and a Tele to play mostly 60s and 70s rock and Chicago style blues. It's a perfect match.

I've owned this Jet for about a year and a half and I haven't had to do anything but play it. I give it a LOT of hours of use and there's never been a problem.

N/A

This is a super small tube combo for my purposes. I was considering a Fender Blues Junior when I was offered this deal at a bargain price. It's similar to the BJ in many respects; they're both 15 watt 1x12 retro style combos with el84 power. But I think the reverb is better in the Jet. Otherwise, they're pretty close. Needless to say, I'm happy with my choice.

This is a cool little amp. It's only one channel, but it's a good one.

This amp sounds great. It has a great, midrangey, warm tone. I play mostly blues and jazz, and it's been perfect for those. I'm thinking of replacing the speaker with a Celestion Alnico Blue or a Weber P12B, but haven't decided yet. This amp sounds great and has good reverb as well.

I have never had a problem with it, though it does have quite a bit of vibration. It seems strange, but it hasn't been a problem for me as it was for the earlier poster.

Have not had to deal with the company - no problems.

I've been playing for 15 years, play through a custom Carvin strat model, a Parker Fly deluxe, a Taylor acoustic, a Yamaha acoustic. My main amp is a Carvin SM212 combo - amazing amp, but I needed a smaller one for smaller gigs. I use a Tube Screamer, a Mesa V-Twin, a Crybaby wah, an Ibanez reissue analogue delay and a TC Electronics stereo chorus. If this was stolen, I would probably buy another one. It has great tone, but could be a little better about the vibration. I compared this to many other, more expensive amps of its size, but none had the tone this did.

Very simple controls: Volume, Bass, Treble, and Reverb. 15 watts from a pair of el84 tubes, with a pair of 12ax7a's in the preamp section. Looks cool, with its retro early 60's styling. This is NOT a versatile amp with many different sounds available. But that's not what Ampeg is all about, as you probably already know. Ampegs give powerful, loud, clean tone. This little reissue does that well. For 15 watts, it has a plenty of volume for gigging in clubs.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul that I've put Seymour Duncan hummers in. The style I play is blues-based rock ala CCR, ZZ Top, Zep, Stones. It doesn't like to break up until the volume is nearly maxed out, so I put a Boss BD-2 pedal in front of it for a little crunch, and it works real well. The reverb is nice, almost surfy if you max it. I use a little to make the sound a little deeper. This amp doesn't like single coils all that much. My Strat and Tele sound a little washed out through it. So, they spend their time hooked up to a Blues Deluxe.

Just keeps working. I've never had an Ampeg crap out on me. And I play bass, too, using only Ampeg amps and cabs.

Never been a problem.

For what it is, it's a great little amp. As I mentioned earlier, I have a Fender Blues Deluxe, too. The Jet won't keep up with it, but I can't expect it to. But it has a great clean tone and plenty of volume in a nice sized package that's easy to pick up and take to a gig or jam. I've played guitar for 18 years and this is one of my favorites.

This is a neat little retro styled 15 watt tube combo with a 12" speaker and two 12ax7a preamp tubes running into a pair of el84 output tubes. Two inputs - one for guitar and one for (oddly) accordian. It has controls for volume, bass, treble, bass, and reverb. Simple, but effective. Checked blue diamond tolex and vintage style grillecloth. Top rear mounted control panel with the "stovetop" knobs. It has that definite early 60's look to it with the Ampeg script logo.

I play a Fender Strat with Fat 50's pickups and a Les Paul copy with Seymour Duncan humbuckers. In a word, this is for clean sound. It will break up somewhat, but only when it's really cranked. Also, it seems to prefer the hummers over the single coils for some reason. The Strat sounds good through this amp, but it really sings with the LP. It has the sound I want for blues and 60's rock. Won't get enough grind for ZZ Top sounds without a pedal - that's when I step on the Boss BD-2. A buddy has a Fender Blues Junior (great little amp) and we did an A/B shootout recently to check 'em out side by side. He used his Tele while I used my LP. The Fender had slightly more volume and crunch, probably due to its master volume circuit. But the J12 had noticably better reverb. Both had very good tone. Both are definitely powerful enough to use at gigs in small venues, which is what I've used mine for - it cuts through nicely and the fact that it won't distort until its almost maxed gives me some headroom.

All I've ever had to do was change tubes.

I got it used.

I own several other amps in addition to this one. A Fender Blues Deluxe, a Pro Junior, and a Peavey Classic 30. This Ampeg fits nicely between the PJ and the larger combos. It gives you that clear, clean sound that Ampeg is known for. Looks great, too - has that vintage vibe. It won't hack it for a 300 seat venue, but it's fine for small clubs, which is why I picked it up. There are times I just don't feel like dragging the 45 pound combos out when this little guy will do nicely. Great piece of gear for low dollars on the used market.

It doesn't do much, it amplifies. It could use a effects loop I guess.
I took out the reverb, to make room for some stuff when traveling. They shouldn't have bothered putting it in.

I use a green bullet microphone and occasionally an octaver.
The sound is what made me buy it in the first place, I tried a lot of amps but this one had the best sound I could find, it was also about a thousand guildars cheaper than any amp that came close to sounding this good.
After wrecking one of the preamp tubes I replaced both with NOS philips 12at7's and the sound has improved to the point where I get emotional every time I play it.
It sounds great clean, gets that nice edge when you start pushing it and the harmonics that come up when you realy blow are to die for.

This is my second reisue jet, I had one from the first series, those had terrible resonance problems, all of them.
First series reissues can be identified by the back pannel. The first series had its back pannel fastened by four screws, later series by five. it was not the back pannel that was the problem, there where several problems, the most prominent one beeing a ringing resonance in the speaker at aproximately 440hz (good one, eh).

After I exchanged the jet the only problem I have had was with the tubes, they went microphonic, but they are easy to change.
They are not ment to last for ages.

When the first jet had resonance problems, the speaker was changed, when it failed a second time I was given a new one without question.

I would buy it again in a second, I was thinking of getting another amp for higher volume gigs and reading the other reviews made me realize you can also use these in tandem. If I ever buy another amp to get more volume on stage it will probably be another jet.

I love it, its portable, its loud enough for most small gigs.
There is almost no feedback problem, mick it to a PA and you have all the volume you want.
I have been back to the shop to try out amps but they all had their problems, none of them sounded as good as the jet, I tried several of the high priced amps, but they all lacked that magic sound.

So if you play harmonica, get two of these, replace the preamp tubes to something with a little less gain and blow.