Ampeg R-12R Reverberocket

My Reverberocket was made in around 1963 with 3)6SL7 and 1)6SN7 and a knew weber blue frame jensen reissue speaker. Great amp for slide guitar and blues and rock. 3 inputs vocals, accordion, and of course guitar. I've never had an amp that breaks up so perfectly with no hum. I've gig tested it in a blues bar and it had lots of snot half way up on the volume. I didn't have to push it at all. I play blues, rock, original, reggae, funk, cajun atc.

I have a PRS 24 with zebra pickups and a1937 dobro with an magnetic acoustic electric barcus berry pickup that works great. great sustain with great high mids. I love it. I've been playing in bars for 35 years I wished I would of had this amp 35 years ago. This is what I've been searchin' for all my life. I love the reverb which is called dimension COOL

So far it's been great no problemo

I can repair it my self No problem easy to figure out circuit

I use it with a modded WAHWAH, homemade orange squeezer and a home made Blue Magic. If it where stolen I would hunt down the thief and the cops would never hear from him again or maybe I would just get really mad and find another on ebay

the warranty is long gone now but mine is extremley dependable

this amp is the perfect amp for me. its sweet. i have the 1962 reverberocket. i love it. ill never give it up ever. i got it for free too. it was in my deceased grandparents attic and never used. if you dont like this tube amp then i dont know what to tell you.

It definitely has a strong gain, better than most tube amps ive played,reverb,clean, bass, treble, mid, and master volumes. it also has the standby switch, power, and a switch for the 2 channels.

like i said, the distortion is killer! more for the classic rock vibe i was searching. i currently use a Gibson Firebrand s 335 standard with dual single coil zebra humbuckers. very very beautiful combination. i also have a Gibson Standard faded that works very strong and clear. the clairty in the clean isnt as great as a fenders, but still sounds great.

Currently it does need to have its tubes replaced. at the moment there is alot of crackily sounds and sometimes, i feel the tube harness is loose and the tubes start to loosen from its place. not good. other than that it has not broken down and is pretty reliable. i would gig without using a backup. just need extra tubes.

Ive been playing for about 14-15 years. My current rig includes : A Gibson Firebrand s 335 standard, Gibson Les Paul standard faded, Fender hss Japanese Stratocaster, Breedlove Ac/12 string acoustic, Ampeg Reverberocket r12r, Mghdfx100 (good backup actually), and a crate g80xl.theres definately alot of better tube amps out there, but if your looking for a classic rock tone and vibe, this one provides. i think it kills the peavy classic in distortion. the reverb on this baby is strong too. if this was stolen i would definatly buy another one.

I got one of the last of the reissues in 2007. It's a 50 watt, 1-12 combo.It's got plenty of power and it looks beautiful. The reverb is lush and I mostly just keep it on the clean channel. I've messed around it the overdrive but I would never use it at a gig because it does not suit my style. However, the distortion is a lot of fun and gets downright nasty.

I mainly use an old Gretsch but it sounds great with a tele, LP, and a 335. It's just a real good amp and sounds good with almost any guitar.

So far, it's been reliable. However, the first gig I used it on was an outdoor event. Several times it made an ugly farting sound when I attacked a note. I attributed this to Ampeg putting a 50 watt speaker in a 50 watt amp. They put the same speakers in the 212 version. Anyway, I replaced it with a better speaker and I couldn't be happier.

I never called them.

I've been playing for over 40 years. I have several other tube amps including a Fender Bandmaster, Bassman, Blues Jr., Gibson Skylark, and a Peavey Bravo. They all have their place but the Ampeg is probably second only to the Blues Jr. for sound.

The Ampeg Reverberocket is a real winner for anyone looking for a versatile, powerful, and musical sounding amplifier. This amp does Fender clean as well as the old Super Reverbs of yore. I mean, it's really really good.
I'm sure many would lump this amp into the same category as Fender's Deville amps, but all one has to do to put that idea to rest is to fire up the drive channel. With a twist of the gain knob, It'll go from subtle front end Blues Driver style overdrive to all out in your face crunch. The Rocket positively kills anything Fender has ever put out, short of maybe the new EVH model.
The reverb sounds natural and classic. Only thing that I felt was missing was the tremolo circuit that the Jett series has.

The tone controls are more subtle than most, but I find the amp to be very sensitive to the players' touch, offering up biting highs or muffled sounds... depending on your picking attack.
I play an '85 Japanese Telecaster with Bill Lawrence Noiseless Pickups, or a G&L Legacy (strat style).
The clean channel will stay clean as loud as you can stand it with the stock Groove Tubes 6L6's. I found that using JJ 6V6's instead allows it to break up a little bit when you crank it up. I like that sound a lot better.
This amp suits most every style... with the exception of high gain modern metal tones. It being an open back design, it wasn't really meant to do that. But It'll get pretty darn close if you put an EH Metal Muff in front of it.
I've used it to play surf, Beatles, country, AC/DC style rock, Social Distortion style rock, Stevie Ray blues, John Mayer pop/blues, and even 90's style alternative rock.

I bought it used in fine working order. I re-tubed it with 6V6's as a matter of subjective taste, have had no reliability problems at all.
I would use it without a backup.

I have exchanged emails with Ampeg in the past (having nothing to do with this particular amp), and they have always been very helpful and supportive.

I've been playing guitar and bass for almost 20 years.
If it were lost or stolen, I would find another. Due to the relative unknown status of these amps (poor marketing on the part of Ampeg, IMO), they can be found for very good prices on ebay. Unfortunately, production of these gems has been discontinued.
Wish there was a trem circuit.
It stomps the Deville series in every category I can think of.

Manufacturing date on this amp is 1961. It has 6sl7s and 6sn7s in the preamp stage (some are used to drive the reverb), a 5y3 rectifier and two 6v6 tubes.

It has reverb and tremolo as well as a foot pedal to control both.

It has Three inputs and a 12 inch pine wood (i think) cabinet.

This particular amps was serviced by Jes Oliver (who worked for ampeg and designed it) and by Jack Kivolowitz of Rocknrollamps.com

I did a couple of upgrades to this amp that really shed some light on it's original sound.

The stock sound was pleasant, clean rounded and warm. It broke up gently around volume of 5 with my strat or my reverend wolfman due mainly to the vintage jensen C12N that it came with (speaker distortion not really tube distortion). It became warmer and more rounded as you turned up the volume number but never really went into the type of distortion levels you might associate with a vintage tweed fender (a good comparison for this amp).

I changed the vintage ceramic jensen with an AlNiCo weber 12A125. That speaker is bright, breaks up late and offers a lot lows and compression with volume.

Although a lovely speaker, it was perhaps a bit too clean with that amp for my tastes prior to the cap job. In other words, a lot of the stock amps' warmth is generated from that vintage jensen speaker.

I then took it to Jack Kivolowitz of rock-n-roll amps for a cap job. The cap job made it warmer and a bit more fender tweed-ish with far more clean headroom. It seems to offer greater and more pleasant distortion post cap job and its still very rounded, owing to the preamp tubes/circuit (6sn7, 6sl7). Gentle TUBE distortion starts at around 4-5 (depending on the guitar) and It gets nice and thick when you dime it. It sounds great now with that weber 12a125 that i considered too clean before the cap job.

It should be noted that Mark Sampson of Matchless fame recommends this ampeg as a good vintage amp deal and he suggests a cap job for it in Dave Hunter's "The Guitar Handbook." Its sound advice.

I have also tried this amp with a 12" 30 watt alnico weber blue dog (weber's interpretation of vintage celestion alnico blue). This is a nice combination. The warmth of the ampeg and the creamy chime of the weber mix nicely.

Tube wise, i have tried numerous NOS and russian tubes in the pre and power segment. The skinny: stick with NOS in the preamp as the russian tubes i tried were somewhat thin but the new tung sol 6v6s sound great (better than my vintage GE and other NOS 6v6s). The tung sols are smoky and quite warm. The NOS GE 6v6s sound more hifi.

The amp has reverb and tremolo but i NEVER use either. The amp does not need it to get a good sound.

The amp takes pedals extremely well. I use a zvex BoR, a crunch box and several menatone pedals with great results. The amp really sucks in pedals.

I went through a lot of bad 6sl7s and 6sn7s with this amp. Most were vintage. Some were new and russian.

This amp (made in 1961) is the first production amp to feature reverb. The reverb is subsequently a tad bit temperamental. Jes Oliver serviced it and added shielding to minimize feedback but be warned every vintage r-12r (the first reverberocket not the r-12-r-b, r-12-r-t, etc that follwed) I have tried (three to date) has had a temperamental reverb. By that i mean it can go into feedback if you add too much.

The amps does not need reverb to sound good and frankly i prefer it without so its not a problem for me.

This is a great amp and one of the last deals you will find in the vintage market.

The 15 watter is loud enough to play with a drummer (provided he is not beating up the drums) and quiet enough to use as a home studio amp.

The clean sounds are thick, rounded and warm and the amp plays nicely with different speakers and pedals, which provides a lot of opportunity to customize and alter your sound. The distortion is tweed fender-ish but still its own thing especially after the cap job. This one sounded good pre cap job but everyone i've heard (3) that has had a cap job sounds better to me.

Combining it with pedals creates a very powerful recording set up, especially in the home. You can place the volume at 3-6 (still quiet enough to avoid pissing off your neighbors, house mates, spouse, etc) and use a menatone or zvex BoR to generate a nice sound that sounds big. I do this via a shure sm57, beta58, or beyer160 with great results. You don't need to use a condenser (as you might with a smaller amp) to make it sound formidable. That is pretty important because the dynamics are cheaper and less likely to pick up room noise or bad echoes (if the room sucks)than a condensor and few homes i've seen have treated recording rooms.

Not many, but more than enough. Sexy blue diamond tolex and 50 watts of tube lovin.

Fantastic. My first "real" amp. Loud, proud, and full of sound. Run it with an Epi Les Paul, Big Muff and wah. This amp really starts to hit the sweet spot with master volume at 4-5, which is pretty damn loud. At that point the clean is just beautiful, a bit darker, but really bites. And the drive has a sweet retro crunch to it (sorta QOTSA).

No super high gain. Just throw in a pedal if need be.

Seems to be built super sturdy - all tubes are protected.

Been playing for roughly 15 years..all spent dicking around with solid state amps. I love this little monster, perfect for my style and needs (basement rock star). Would recommend this amp to anyone, it's totally gig worthy, looks great, sounds great and is relatively inexpensive. If you're considering other tube amps in this price range (Fender Hot Rods, Traynors etc), I would definately give this one a look.

bought the little beast to replace my v t 22 that we stuck a couple of sro speakers in and pushed the weight to about 140 pounds....... that ampeg got me a hernia operation ..... like most of the guys in here i've been playing forever and have a ton of guitar equipment to choose from, including a newer marshall avt 2000, a silver jubilee marshall, but i've always loved ampegs ....... i have never played a venue without another guitarist commenting about my sound, so this amp puts out what i'm hearing in my head, i think thats all any one of us is looking for ...... i play jazz, rock, blues, a little country, and i'm very pleased ....... if it fails, which no ampeg i've ever owned has, i'd immediately get another one ..... i'm old as dirt now so i think my little reverberocket will out-live me

old les paul custom, prs 20 anniv, custom shop strat ...... amp loves all of them, but i think the marshalls like the strat a little better......... i'm using an old mxr distortion plus so i use the distortion channel just a little dirty for power chords and such

never.........never........never even thought of taking a back-up ..... i first heard of ampeg reliability when rod stewart said an ampeg fell outta the belly of a 747 and they plugged the bitch in that night and could'nt believe it still worked ..... i'll give it a 20 on a scale of 1 to 10

next to the maytag man, i guess the ampeg repairman is bored to death

i've been playing over 40 years, every type of music, like most of the old dogs playing these things i can afford any amp or guitar i choose, but i always come back to ampeg ....... i do wish they would make a 2 piece amp so it would beak down some of the weight ..... i've always been a sucker for amps with 2 12's, and i've had all of them, but i like the simple operation of my little reverberocket, if it was lost, stolen, or broke, i would grieve it and seek another one immediatly.........

This is the reissue version of the amp (made in the last five years or so...I got it used...). It has 2 channels,a regular EQ and reverb. All in all pretty standard features

This amp is very good, but not for everyone. The sounds that come out of this amp tend to be trebly and midrangey and it breaks up easily. Overdriving the amp in this fashion sounds amazing. It's great for any kind of rock, but most brings to mind garage. Rolling back the volume on the guitar yeilds a nice, warm clean as well. It shouldn't be surprising, but the onboard distorted channel is only decent and is very one-dimensional.

Never had any problems, but haven't been rough on the amp. Owned for almost a year.

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy something different. I love this amp, but have no special loyalty to it. The new price (699 on musician's friend) is too high. Fender and Traynor make quality tube amps for less. If you can find one used though, check it out. It kinda rocks.

This USA made 50 watt 2 channel tube amp was made in 2004.This amplifier is versatile enough for the styles of music thatI play - mainly classic rock, blues, old R and B and country rock..
It has an effects loop - which I hardly use and channel switching with Low, Midrange, and treble pots. The distortion channel does not have its own EQ. The clean channel is where this amp really shines. I use the reverb which , in my opinion is the best there is.
The amp is used for both for practice and gigs. ( I do between 3 and 4 gigs per month). People at gigs make positive comments about the sound. I recently had a guest guitarist/gearhead play through it at a recent gig. He raved about it.
I wish the amp had an external speaker jack and the effects loop is a little noisy but as I said before, I hardly ever use it

My main ax is a 1989 Stratocasor plus. The pickups are Texas specials.
I replaced the stock pickups -Lace sensors- because they were too thin sounding for my taste and style. My main influences are Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, SRV, BB King, Albert King, Jimmy Page,and Steve Morse. I have a style that is kind of a mix of Rock, Blues, and country.

The amp is very quiet except of course when you open up the gain to 10.
I never do this however as I keep the gain on the distortion channel on 6 and the master on 6 or 7.
The clean channel has plenty of headroom. The distortion is not brutal
sounding, If you wanted this you would have to get a pedal.
The only effects I use are an Ibanez tube screamer, Dunlop crybaby wah,and Ibanez super chorus.

The amp is solidly built, much better than other amps in its price range.
I tried quite a few amps- fenders, peavys, etc. and none had the quality sound. I even compared it to a low end Rivera which was about 350 more that what I spent, I thought it sounded better.
I never bring a backup amp to gigs. It has never broken down so far.

I aven't had to deal with any service people yet.

I have been playing guitar for 42 years and gigging for about 25.
Other gear: Guild 1979 D40, Bauer 1951 Mandolin,German Strad copy Violin
Shecter- just bought- 2005 csh1 semi-hollow body electric guitar, Lab Series L5 100 watt amp, Yamaha 8 channel mixer, Crown 300 watt amp , Yamaha 6 channel mixer amp.
This is a great amp for the money-if it were lost or stolen I would definetely buy it again.