Ampeg J-12R Jet Reissue

Bought Jet Reissue used in late '98. Single channel, very basic tube amp. Loud for 15 watts. Nice reverb and tremelo, non-footsitchable.
2 inputs (guitar, accordian !!)Not particularly vesatile, but you don't expect versatility from small tube amps with just volume, tone, reverb level, and tremelo speed, intensity knobs.

I use the amp in stereo with a Vox AC-15 playing oldies, classic hits and some country in small clubs, unmiked. The guitar is a Les Paul Special with Seymour Duncan P-90s instead of the stock P-100s. The two amps sound good together, with the Jet sounding a little cruder and more midrangey. I set the amps so that if you strike the strings hard, it's right on the verge of distortion, and then an overdrive pedal can add more distortion. The reverb is more dramatic on the Jet,so that's where my 'verb comes from. The Vox's tremelo is footswitchable, so the tremelo is Vox. So even without a stereo chorus (Boss Dimension C) I'm getting pseudo-stereo.

The amp sounded cool from day one, but the speaker left somethig to be desired (and eventually blew). That has since been replaced with an Eminence, which improved the sound, and the reliability. Although I play in stereo, I would bring the Jet without a backup to a gig.
Some of the other reviews talked about reliability problem, and I'm not surprised. Ampeg is now made by Crate, a company not known for reliability (I once owned a Crate 50 watt tube pre-amp/solid state power hybrid combo with a Celestion...at first I was impressed with the 5-year warranty, later realizing it needed such a warranty)Having said that, other than the cheap stock speaker, my Jet has been reliable.

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I like this amp. An all tube amp with spring reverb and tremelo at this price ? It's a bargain. Jets in the early 60s were like Fender Champs...your first amp when you were in your bedroom learning Stones songs. People weren't using them in bands, like I'm doing now (But I don't play quite as loud as I used to back then !!)But if low volume tube tone is what you crave, and your wallet isn't as fat as you'd like, the Jet definitely gives good bang for the buck.

Volume,Treb, Bass, Reverb. 1X12 15 class A watts from a pair of 84's. 2 12 AX7 in the front end. Not a lot of features at all, just the way I like it.

I got it as a back-up amp and ocassional extra amp when playing bigger clubs. Plenty of volume for pactice and small gigs in live rooms. Using a 335 I used it last night for the first time in a medium sized club that was very busy along with my main amp ( a 15 watt class A 2X10 Bedrock ) and it sounded great. Towards the end of the night I used the Ampeg alone to really check it out. I was very impressed with it's Vox like drive when maxed out. It breaks up around 5 with the 335 but I'm sure it'll stay cleaner with a Tele. Sitting around the house I really like the clean tones for jazzy stuff. The treb and bass are effective, there is no mid control but the amp is voiced nicely with a bit less mid than say a fender Pro Jr. The reverb is pretty good considering the small tank. All in all this a lot of tone for the bucks.

I've only giged once with it so...but I always have extra tubes, fuses, and amp at gigs. Looks to be built well. I've read some reports of rattleing but mine is very quiet at max settings.

For the money it's amazing. I'd recomend it to anyone looking for a back-up/practce/maybe even recording amp.

Nice little amp with cool looks. I wish it had an effects loop.

I like the warm sound of the amp but it seems a little hissy and won't distort until it's very loud.

I've had very bad luck with the reliability of this amp. The first one I bought didn't work at all and the second broke down within 3 months.

I left about 10 messages with the number the music store gave me and they never called me back nor were the repairs done very quickly.

I like the overall sound and the looks and layout but haven't been impressed by it's reliability or hiss. I wouldn't buy it again but am not very unhappy with it.

Great small almost all tube amp (the reverb is driven by op amps but, so what) Very basic amp at a great price. Looks real cool too. Ampeg (SLM) has done a great job producing this cost-reduced version of the original Jet. If they were built exactly like the old ones they would cost $900.00 with todays labor costs.

One limitation of the sound is the speaker. I changed mine to the Eminance Alnico 12" I often use the attenuated input for a more gradual turnup. A full size reverb tank would be nice too, but you can't expect too much for that price. I use this amp in tandem with my 1962 Jet, but I would consider buying another re-issue Jet so the old one could be kept at home. The amp has a great apparent loudness.

Had it 10 months with no problem. But I carry spare tubes for any amp that I take out to a gig.

Do my own repairs.

I would buy a stack of ten and play through them all! There no amp that does it all, but for the small amp catagory, this is a winner. I prefer the low price so I can change things like the speaker and still keep the total cost down.

Pretty basic one channel all tubedesign with reverb(no footswitchable). I use for practice and bedroom recording. Great looking blue tolex. Stock with Sovtek(Russian) tubes, but I recommend switching to American 12AX7's.

Clean tones are marginal. Amp needs to be a 5 to really sound. Wish it overdrived sooner than 8. Reverb is great. Rich echo tones. Distortion is crunchy, but biting. This amp sweetens up if you add a Celestion G12L - 35. Larger Celestion don't fit. Good choice if you are bored with Fender.

No troubles. Ampeg builds them great.

Ampeg has always been helpful.

All tube American built for $500 retail is a great deal. This amp is worth a look if you need a studio amp. A few mods and this amp will sing. I plan to keep mine

This Jet "re-issue" is a simple "plug & play" amplifier. 15 Watts, class A (2-EL84s), a single 12" speaker, Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb single channel preamp. The amp does not have a "distortion" channel but when you crank it up, the overtones are really cool! The reverb has a great sound to it but it is not footswitchable (not that big of a deal for my application)

I first heard about the amp from a magazine review (Guitar Shop) and was intrigued by the looks. When I check it out at the local store, the salesperson plugged in a PRS and cranked up the amp -I was sold. It has blue-sy overdrive sound but has a usable clean by just turning down the pot on the guitar. The bass control when fully turned up actually cuts the mids to give more of the "V" EQ sound which is good for a full bodied clean. The amp also sounds great with my Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal to give it more versatility and a more metal sound.

Since I've only had the amp a few weeks, I haven't had any problems with it but it has a five year warranty.

I have not dealt with Ampeg but they are built in the same city where I live and expect no problems?!??!!

I would certainly buy the amp again. In fact, I am considering buying another one. I saw John Hiatt using four Jets while he's on tour so it's certainly "stage-able". Also it looks too cool with the blue checked vinyl and chrome highlights. Check out the three Jets on the Tea Leone's NBC sitcom "Naked Truth" during the promo they show every week and you'll see what I mean about the look of multiple units. Ampeg also has a more powerful Jet (50 Watts) called a Super Jet. I may add one of those instead of another Jet.

It's a simple and straight forward 15W re-issue (?) so I didn't expect bells and whistles. A Middle tone control (in addition to Bass and Treble) would help. A cabinet simulated output would be nice as this amp has a lot of chimey clean headroom that might be nice to feed into a PA or power amp. 25W or 30W would be nicer than 15W.

POSITIVE: The basic sound of this amp is somewhere between Byrds jangle and Get Your Ya Ya's Out Rolling Stones...very hard to beat at this price. I compared the basic clean sound and mid-volume throaty sound from this amp to a Fender Vibroverb, an old Fender Champ, an old Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Marshall JTM 312, a Marshall JCM 900 4502, a Laney tube amp, Roland JC-120, Peavey 30W and 50W Classics, new Crates, Mesa Boogies, etc. etc.etc. This little amp won hands down. Ringing airy harmonics and just enough sandpaper burr to make me feel like I was home. NEGATIVE: The amp is so poorly constructed that at 1/2 volume certain bass-heavy single or double notes caused the cabinet, electronic chassis and tubes to vibrate as if there was something seriously wrong. NOTE: I have never heard any another amp (except fot the 50W Ampeg SuperJet reissues) vibrate this badly...and I tried several of this model. SUMMARY: Ampeg took a fantastic circuit and destroyed it with thoroughly shoddy manufacturing practices.

See the Sounds section above. I bought this amp because I love it's fundamental sound. However, I had to return it for a refund because I tried 7 or 8 of them and they all sounded like they were structurally broken...some much worse than others. (By the way, I have never had to return any other brand of amp, except for the Ampeg SuperJet...for the same reason, for any problem. I don't expect perfection but I don't expect to be insulted by a manufacturer's total disregard for quality and the consumer). I returned the amp because I thought the problem would only get worse with time. Also, if Ampeg DOES ever fix the problem, I didn't want to be stuck with one of the defective earlier models.

No idea. E.U Wurlitzer in Boston was great about the whole experience. I took one home for a week and then I sat with the sales reps and we listened to a bunch of these amps. They could hear the crappy structural vibrations too.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat if Ampeg would build it solidly enough so it wouldn't rattle and buzz to the degree that destroys the sound. They must think that consumers are stupid enough to pay for junk. Great circuit and design - poor workmanship ansd manufacturing practices. I'm very let down by this. I went to 4 different music stores and all the sales reps shook their heads knowingly about the sad state of these amps. If Ampeg won't build quality into their own products, I hope someone will base a clone amp on this circuit and just construct it solidly. I'd pay significantly more to get this sound in a well-built amp maybe with a little more wattage too..