Ampeg J-12T 112 Combo

i dont know when this was amp was made, but i do know its a kick *** little amp. Class A, which suggest more responsiveness to the nuances of a player. Myself i love to play anything; from jazz to slipknot. One channel, 12 inch speaker(stock ampeg), reverb, tremolo...also a high/low(accordian)input, one tone knob, volme, tremolo and reverb control. you can play any gig, with most amps, with the right P.A. and mic, but just let me say this is a loud f@#@$#! amp. Enough for any band that can play with dynamics. i must say i wish it had an external speaker jack, just to push more air, and an effects loop. if ampeg had incorpaorated this then this amp in my honest opinion would be worth way more than a higher price tag might indicate, and as it stands now, it is a solid amp, and a good deal for the money

okay...for jazz...this is the amp. Clean, without paying above fifteen hndred dollars, this is as good as it gets, very nice amp clean.2nd. Ive played country through this twangy sonofa*****. it Did a good job. so now lets talk about this amp not having an effects loop. Oh yeah, before i forget, the reverb isnt the best but far from being bad at all. And for the tremolo i can say the same. Now, i Like effects,Distortion, delay, the list goes on and on and this has no effects loop. so i have to plug straight in.6 pedal chain. vox bulldog distortion, 2 ts-9, line 6 green and blu four button effects pedals for delay and other stuff, and a sonic stomp maximizer, tuner, and volume pedal. In a nutshell, i didnt skimp on pedals so it sounds pretty F#$#$%^ nice. No S#$t, it sounds impressive. When i play heavy, its heavy, and everything else sounds great too. very articulate amp. speaker sounds great but would sound super F$%^%% great if upgraded. I can say the same about the tubes,however im not sure what types of tubes you can use. it is self biasing. so all in all. with lack of eq, I bought a sonic maximizer, with only one channel, ibought two ts-9, one for clean boost, and the second for overdrive lead and rythum, as well as a vox bulldog distortion..for modern gain and classic gain, and the sonic maximizer balances out the frequencies so that the highs and lows are articulate and consistent. Essentially i have a four channel amp now, and the amp can take it and give it! This amp has great tube dynamics...so as is its fairly simple- this is a quality amp that lets the player sound great when your on, in other words this amp does the job...the rest is in your fingers and imagination.

havnt had any problems. had it two years, play the hell out of it. knock on wood!

only called once, professional service.

this amp gets a overall rating of nine and a half. heres why. sounds great, but i wish there were an effects loop, even though withot one it sounds great, and i also wish there were an external speaker jack for stereo. well it sounds great with just one speaker and by spending some money on all true bypass, quality pedals, this amp sounds bad ***!! so i paid 500 dollars for the amp and about eleven hundred on pedals, and *%^@ing A my amp now sounds as good as a two thousand dollar amp. So i at this time have enough money to buy something really really nice, but probably wont be an amp because this is doing the job, instead maybe ill buy another guitar.

New Ampeg, fresh out of the box. Single volume, single tone control, trem and reverb. Sweet amp. Single channel, no master volume.

2xEL84's and 2x12AX7's. Solid state rectifier. Nice home studio amp, bedroom amp, very small venue amp. Keeping things simple and great tone follows.

Nice early breakup. Get that classic tube distortion at levels that won't kill your ears.

Think of it as a baby marshall JCM800. I know I'll get flamed for that, but this little amp will do Led Zep, AC/DC and ZZ with ease. Breaks up early, clean headroom is rather limited and very sweet, but I didn't buy it for the cleans.

It's a simple amp that has good reverb and very good tremelo and will give you some great sounds. What sort of amazes me is that I had a Celestion G12H30 12" speaker ready to pop in there, but the stock speaker is very good. So good, I sold that extra Celestion.

Too soon to tell.

I compared this amp to the blues jr by Fender. The BJ had rattling problems. I sent it back and got another one. Same rattles. Went with the Ampeg instead. I think the design for retaining the power tubes is so much better with the Ampeg. No springs to vibrate like the Fender.

This amp is a real sleeper.

Reissue Jet, purchased on eBay, very clean...it even still had the clear plastic sheeting on the chrome control panel. Very basic controls on top of the amp...on/off switch, single volume control (Class A gets you NO master volume), single tone control, tremolo speed, tremolo intensity, reverb. One channel 15 watt tube amp (but solid-state rectifier, tremolo, and reverb), 2 x 12AX7's, 2 x EL84's, 12" Ampeg speaker. Retro-look with blue diamond tolex covering (who needs tweed, right?), chicken head control knobs, and leather handle. Blue power light. Beautifully simple. No effects loop, no headphone jack, no external speaker jack (a point off here), no footswitch for reverb or tremolo (another point off). I play blues, some 'swamp rock', some rockabilly, some old R&B, and some other rock. It fills the bill perfectly for me for practice, jams, and small clubs. It gets plenty loud. In fact, like my other EL84 Class A amps, it sounds better the harder it's driven. Not the best constructed amp - PC board is OK, but the control pots and tube sockets are connected directly to the board, unfortunate internal fuse location (keep a screwdriver handy), and no standby switch for tube warmup (another point off). Having played Fenders for years, I can say that for the money, you get a lot! Manual control for the tremolo, though, just ain't real convenient at times. It's a small, light, cool looking package, though, and it sounds great.

Satisfaction with an amp's sound is a highly subjective matter, but here goes: I've played this amp with a Strat w/Fralin SP42's, Les Paul Classic Double Cutaway w/P-90's, LP Special Faded DC w/P-90's, ES-335 dot reissue w/PAF's, and a Gold Tone ES banjitar. They all sound different, but good. My favorites through this amp are the P-90's. I sparingly use a variety of all-analog stomp boxes...delay, chorus, flanger, Mutron III; a Mr. Squishy compressor and a Keeley-modded Sparkle Drive stay in my signal chain pretty much all the time. The amp's only noisy if I get too close with the single-coil pickups, but then, that's what single-coils do, eh ? With the effects, I can get a lot of different sounds, but with just the amp, the compressor, and the Keeley Sparkle Drive, I can get the full range of tones I want, from BB King and John Fogerty clean to Johnny Winter/George Thorogood dirty. The amp gets more crunch the louder I turn it up past 3-4, but it stays articulate and not very muddy. I find I can set the amp to 7-8, and use the guitar's controls to set the tone. THAT is just exactly what I want from an amp, and why most of my other amps are EL84 powered as well. The amp itself doesn't have a lot of tone variety, but it's not built for that, so some pedals (like boost, OD, or EQ) might do it for you. Speaking of EL84's, for me, they're the way to go for what I play. Plenty of warmth, punch, midrange bite, and perfect 'on the edge' crunch (I call it 'sizzle'). The only negative here is the speaker, which loses definition when the amp is cranked. Tried a Weber from another amp, and that's the right answer for me, so one point off for the speaker. Since quality tubes aren't available like they were (once upon a time before the world went solid-state), all my amps get the cheap stock tubes replaced with quality NOS tubes, so I don't count tubes in assessing an amp. Otherwise, I'd deduct a point for the cheap-ass stock Sovteks, but they helps hold down manufacturing costs, so whatcha gonna do? If they were Groove Tubes or Ruby Tubes, I'd replace 'em anyway, but that's another story. IMHO, NOS tubes rule! I do keep the originals for backups, but haven't had to use any yet. The reverb isn't as lush as a 6-spring Accutronics, and the tremolo isn't as nice as a tube opto-isolator unit, but hey, it's a little 15 watt combo, and it sounds good enough. Besides, most folks in the audience can't tell the damn difference anyway - they're too busy drinking and dancing.

I've had it about 6 months now, and it seems as reliable as it is simple. Maintenance is easy, as Class A amps are generally self-biasing, so it's just a matter of changing out tubes when needed and keeping drinks and rain out of the innards. Being born on a Friday the 13th, though, I always bring a backup. Remember, Murphy was an optimist, so you know what'll happen the first time I don't bring a backup! If I didn't already have another amp, I'd get another J-12T for backup, and I may do that anyway. They're reasonably enough priced...check eBay for clean used ones.

No dealings with Saint Louis Music, who currently owns Ampeg. Kudos though, for ease of getting an owner's manual online!

I've been playing since 1969, and have been through a lot of gear and styles of music. These days, I favor smallish amps, as the style and places I play don't need a lot of sound pressure to get the job done. Besides, you can always mike a small amp and get some pretty big sound if needed. At the time I got this amp, I also had a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue, a Marshall JCM-900 212 combo, and a '66 Fender Vibro-Champ. I've kept the Vibro Champ and the J-12T, and sold the others. Now, I also use a Mesa Subway Rocket and a Gibson Gold Tone GA15RV. I've found that some guitars suit some amps better than others, but the J-12T is my best all-around workhorse. The only thing that keeps me from giving it a 10 on the all-around rating is the lack of footswitch for the tremolo, lack of a standby switch for tube warm-up, and lack of external speaker jack. If it died or were stolen, I'd get another. The Jet reissue ain't for shredders and scooped powerplayers, but for what it is, what it costs, and what it does, I'd recommend it!