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.

This is a Mid 60's non reissue version of the amp. 7591 power tubes, 12ax7 preamps, and a tube rectifier (which i'm stoked about)

The Features are: guitar and accordian input, Volume, Bass, Treble controls. For the Reverb and Vibe effects, there's a 2 button foot switch. The knobs on the amp which control these effects are Rate and Intensity for the Vibe, and Echo for the Reverb. With the eq on this amp in conjunction with the volume, tone, and pickup position on the guitar, you can get a really wide range of sounds ranging from ballsy low end, to ice-pick highs. It doesn't do overdrive on it's own, but I running a tube-screamer of some sort would remedy that.

The Wattage on it is around 20 Watts, and i use it for Jams, and small gigs. I play mostly Classic Rock and Blues, and this amp is perfect for those genres.

When I bought the amp, it had been equipped with a 12inch Mojotone speaker. I don't know how the original speaker sounded, but this one definately has Mojo Tone!

I believe the originals came with that diamond blue sort of covering, but this one was re-apolstered with vintage 60's car apolstery, so it looks like it's wearing blue jeans. It caught my eye because of that modification to it.

I play p-90s, single coils, active, and humbuckers through this amp, and it takes them all well. I am a little partial to the single coil strat sound however, but that shouldn't imply at all that a humbucker sounds bad, it doesn't. My 1983 Fender Elite Strat's active pick-ups sound the best through this amp as compared to other amps I own (59 Bassman Reissue, Gibson GA-15RV, 80's MArshall JCM-800)

being that it's older than I am, the amp is still pretty quiet. I do have a hum that starts coming on after 4-5 hours of playing, but i knew about the problem when i bought it.

It doesn't distort much until right about dimed, but when it is dimed, this sucker has BITE!...to die for. Contrarywise, it has a really nice low volume clean, and i have on occassion, played it soft after midnight.

I've used this to gig without back-up, and was bitten by that on 1 instance. However, the problem came from an electrical problem at the house I was playing at. Other than that, the amp has not ever given me problems of it's own, and considering it's around 40 years old, that's amazing. It did come to me with a 2 prong non-grounded plug, so after a few buzzes, I changed it to a 3-prong grounded plug and no problems. When I changed it, I had to open up the amp, and it was still very clean inside, point to point hand wired. But, the Hum that comes out of it after long playing prompts me to not give it a 9 or 10, but that's my personal situation.

I love this amp. I've been playing for about 7 years now. My gear are as follows:

Guits:
1977 Gibson 55 Les Paul reissue (55-77)
1979 Fender Strat
1980 Gibson ES-347
1983 Fender Elite Strat (active)
Late 90's Melancon Classic Artist (strat style www.melanconguitars.com)
1998 Fender Mexi Strat
1999 Gibson Les paul Smartwood Exotic

Amps:
Emerysound Microbaby > 2X10 Kendrick Cab (1-2 watt practice amp)
'59 reissue Bassman combo
Gibson GA-15RV combo
80's Marshall JCM-800 Head > 4X12 Slant cab
Tech-21 Trademark 20 (SS amp)

FX:
-Foxrox Captain Coconut II- fuzz, octave, vibe(www.foxroxelectronics.com)
-G. Teese RMC3Le Wah (www.realmccoycustom.com)
-T-rex Alberta Distortion
-Maxon AD-900 Analog Delay (Japanese Version, a little darker)

The only only gripe I have with this amp is it's lack of a standby switch.

Old as meself, black vinyl early 60's unit w/tube rectifier YEA! Turned out I got the r12rA. Even better, tube rect. with 7591's rather than the 6V6's. Not as loud as my DIY Deluxe, but that's cool with me.

Wow! it's love at first note. Sweeeet grind! Not quite as full as my DIY Deluxe, but that thing gets muddy. The neck pup shines on this thing whilst the bridge does no worse. Does all but shred...non issue. Dead silent with gtr. vol. off or gtr. unplugged.

I got exactly what I desired...something classic that really sings before they go for an arm and a leg. This peach made me realize my DIY Tweed Deluxe needs a bit of work. The 2 combine for a pretty sweet setup. Been playing for...geez, a few decades pretty much.
I'd get another and another if necessary.

50 watt 1x12" combo. 2 channels. Low, Mid, Treble, Master, Gain, Volume, Reverb knobs. 2 inputs (Guitar and Accordian which is buffered for hi-gain instruments). Effects loop. Blue LED. Standby switch. Footswitch. Tremolo would be kinda cool but whatever... This is a big ass amp. 24" wide even though it has just one 12" speaker. Weighs about 45 lbs.

I use a Squier Fat Tele with seymour duncan '59 in the neck position, and Jerry Donahue in the bridge. I shielded it and replaced ALL electronics/wiring with american made parts. The tone is exactly what I was looking for. The clean channel is unreal. Gives fender-clean a run for its money. The dirty channel is not bad either, but I prefer my vintage Maestro MFZ fuzz pedal. It isn't the loudest 50 watt amp, but I like that. I had a Peavey Classic 30 once upon a time and it seemed to powerful. Even though it was only 30 watts, its power hindered its quality/tone. This amp is 10 times the amp that a Classic 30 is. I play bluesrock and this amp is perfect for that. Nice fat musical tones. I may replace tubes/speaker as a matter of personal pref. but it certainly does not need it (although i bought it used and these are NOT the stock tubes). It does however have the stock Ampeg brand speaker. I might want a Jensen C12N.

It was made in 97 and still sounds bad ass. The footswitch doesn't work properly though. The reverb switch on the footswitch does not work. If the footswitch is plugged in, I get no reverb at all. Also, when I switch channels using the footswitch, there is a slight delay. Not ideal for live use i guess. But i don't gig so whatever.

Never had to call them. Amp is used and made in 97 so warrenty is probably non existant.

Perfect amp for me. Sounds good at any volume. Great tone and I got it for a great price compared to the $699 street value. If you dig blues/rock/classic rock pick one up. You will not be dissapointed. Best amp I have ever owned. A great alternative over a Classic 30 or a Blues Jr. I bought this amp mostly because Dan from the Black Keys uses vintage Ampeg amps like the Jet, Gemini, and Reverberocket, and his tones are outstanding. This re-issue really gets close.

The features on this amp are basic.Depending on the music\stlye you play it should be enough.One set of EQ for a two channel amp is a slight draw back.The EQ sounds different between the two channels.I use this amp to gig,medium to large venues,thru our sound system.The power is there,but setup is critical.Tube amps need to be worked with.I've had mine since 1996,when they first were introduced,and I'm still trying different combinations of settings.This amp has a personality of it's own.I like that.

My 1979 Stat,has EMG replacement pick-ups,a.k.a.81'best thing I did.This guitar sounds 90% perfect.There is no 100%.The R12R complements my guitar and blues\southern rock\SRV.Clean is best to about 7-8,overdrive @ 8-9 is smooth.This thing has sounded amazing at some gigs.Guys come to the stage to see what the hell I'm playing.This sound is hard to come by.

My model does not have the power tube retainer.So I've had a little tube rattle,not that bad.In the middle of a gig the speaker harness popped of the pin it was seated on attached to the speaker,ruined my night.That is the root of other crackling I've heard.Don't bang this amp around.

I've not had to call them,but I've always like Ampeg

I've had this amp almost 8 years.I'll never get rid of it.I've been playing 35 years,played lots of other stuff,and this is asgood as all of it.Although the price on this amp has gone up,it is a good amp in it's class,maybe all you'll ever need,probably all I will.One thing about being a guitarists,most of us are never satified.The R12R is close.Good Luck

Have no clue on the year of mine.
50 watt AB tube combo. Single 12in"ampeg" speaker.
I never use its distortion channel

I'm playing an Ibanez RT with a Boss Extreme distortion pedal.
This amp can really hit some good clean tones.
The distortion is ok, it is a bit chunky, but kinda good
for a tube amp, ...i guess.
Actually, i take it back... the distortion is too chunky, and not
very impressive.
The reverb is really nice, and smooth for a spring unit.
I use the Boss for my distortion, the dirty channel just won't cut it.
The amp is a bit noisy, but i just read about plugging directly into line in... i'm gonna give that a try soon here.
I've put some Boogie 12AX7's in and some GrooveTubes EL34's in.
The boogies give a much nicer sound at high volumes, much more "ballsy"!

Never had any proplems

YEah... Ive looked all over St.louis for the AMPEG footswitch for this amp... nobody stocks it. I called Ampeg today... they gave me some bullshit about not being able to sell it to me for some reason or another... Horseshit. Maybe it's an omen... i shouldnt have the footswitch?

Been playing aout 15 years now
If this thing was stolen, i probably wouldn't get another one, because i had to put different tubes, and the noise, and the support :P.
Sounds GOOD clean... Sounds mediocre distortion channel.

this is an older model.. not the reissue.. it's like 15-20 watts some weird tubespractically no features.one tone knob... three inputs.. one for guitar one for accordian. and one for mic .. but the best reverb ever, so i'll give it a five..

i am in love with this amp.. i just bought it. the tone knob dials in the perfect sounds.. i use it with a baker b1c and an epiphone sheraton ll. it is the best clean sound ever.. including jc120 and twin (of course not close to the volume) there isn't much variety .. just an amazing clean sound for jazz/blues/folk rock / country
it doesn't really break up at all.. i may get a more powerful speaker at some point.. it is point to point hand wired.. solid pine cabinet., awesome reverb.. it is the ultimate jazz amp

it's really old... and still kicking... although i just got it

i don't think they support these anymore

i love it... got it for cheap.. it's got vintage vibe.. makes me want to play.. i would love to find another one.. and go stereo into two of these.. it blows away so many amps that cost so much more, it's not even funny.. perfect for home, small gigs, studio ... all that stuff

just a follow up to my previous rating, the one purchased for $605 and highly rated

after a very short time the amp began to rattle, could not figure out if it was tubes or what. Took it back to the dealer and they had it for two weeks because the repairman forgot to bring it back. Then they said nothing was wrong and there was not rattle. Well I know there was and am now convinced it was the cabinet that was rattling. True enough it no longer rattled but it made me very uneasy that the trouble disappeared and no one knew why. SO as good as this thing sounded I did not want this kind of trouble that comes and goes and no one knows why so I just gave it backa nd got the Marshall DSL 50 head I was going to buy anyway. Too bad. I have seen this problem reported on other websites so maybe Ampeg has a problem with the cabinet design.

The features of this amp are simple and are pretty clear if you read the reviews below or the Ampeg website. I have a 2003 model which means it has the 6L6 Groove Tubes instead of the EL34s they used to use. Since many amps offer three or four foot switchable sounds I will give this an 8 because it does not do a lot of different things. The reverb makes everyone else look pretty sick. This reverb is so smooth and unobtrusive, just a real nice effect. Not surprising since Ampeg invented reverb. The distortion is also simple, there is pretty much one setting depending on your guitar and when you find it, that is it. The amp is friendly toward effects pedals, the speaker handles things pretty well. I have only used the amp at home and in a small hall and it does fine. Just fooling around I see that the clean has lots and lots of headroom. It is not the loudest 50 watts (such as the Mesa F 50) I have ever heard but it is really as loud or slightly louder than most. Quiet switching between channels. Footswitch lights tell you what is on or off. For my money i covers rock, blues, country, jazz, and folk music very, very well.

I have a Fender American series Strat with swamp ash body, maple neck and hard tail, a Fender Telesonic, a Rickenbacker 330-6, and a Heritage H 150 CM Les Paul style. The amp handles every one of these guitars just fine. I see a tendency toward treble and really have to back it off a bit on the Strat but otherwise the treble on 5-6, mid on 3, and bass on 5 or so comes across very well on these other guitars. The distortion channel seems to drop some of the highs but that is okay. I play a Beano Bluesbreaker sound with no trouble and a Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street. There is a nice Neil Young distortion from Cinnamon girl to the latest stuff with Pearl Jam and on. Fool around with the settings on distortion for each guitar and there is a spot on the dial that is just right. I could give it less than a 10 since it is so basic but it does the simple stuff it set out to do so well I will give the 10. Don't want to talk about brutal distortion, maybe I am too old for that question. One thing is for sure, this is not a modern Marshall or Mesa type of distortion and that is what I think of when I think brutal.

Cannot say what the deal is here since I have only had the amp a few months. I plan to get rid of the Groove Tube crap that it came with but that is not really the amp, that is just the tubes. How many amp manufacturers put really good tubes in the amp to bein with? You can count them on two fingers. This amp seems well built and the dealer I bought it from is an authorized St Louis Dealer. I am not expecting trouble here. Will give it a 7 but may change my mind down the road.

Warranty is 5 years on everything but the speaker which is 2 years. That is pretty good for the amplifier industry and it is also transferrable. Have not used the warranty yet but just on the terms as written I will give it a 9.

I paid $605 new since the dealer was trying to move this amp off of his floor. They really had it priced at $685. I have been playing since 1968 so that means 35 years now. I have had a "sound" obsession since I can remember. When I starting playing guitar the sound obsession found a new outlet and I have owned lots of guitars and lots of amps trying to find the sound that I heard in my head. Did the same thing with stereo equipment over the years. I have owned Fender, Crate, Marshall, Mesa, Orange, and Carvin amps. The guitars have gone from Schecter to Fender, Gibson, Carvin, Rickenbacker, Heritage, Danelectro and so on. It comes down to this; I am now sure that I prefer the sound of acoustic guitars (my Martin HD 28 to be exact) and really have a hard time finding an electric guitar and amp that is musical as well as electric. I never even looked at Ampeg before I bought this. Nevertheless this amp is musical and makes my electric guitars a joy to play. I cannot stress enough what a real pain in the ass I am about sound. This amp is the best electric sound I have ever heard. I will probably be getting a Marshall DSL 50 Head pretty soon for some other sounds but that is not really a musical amp, it is just a real nice noise. The Ampeg is musical, a pleasure to listen to and a pleasure to play through. Simple set up and off you go. For my style of rock, blues, jazz. country, english folk, folk-rock and the like I have never found anyting that will beat this amp. I know that "everything lead up to this day" and I forgive myself for never looking at Ampegs before, but I must admit that I never even considered an Ampeg before. It is a real obscure name in guitar amps and after all, who in the world plays Ampeg guitar amps??? Perhaps Peter Frampton idid a while back. So I stumbled upon this amp when I was looking at a guitar. By chance, I heard this amp a few months ago and I realized that I had finally hit pay dirt. I bought it as soon as I got over the feeling of who buys an Ampeg guitar amp? This is a musical sounding amp that handles humbuckers, single coils and Rickenbacker higain single coils all with equal aplomb. This is one very, very nice sound if you are ready for it. If not, it is just a box of rain, just pass it by and let someone who is ready have the chance.

It has reverb which is lovely. The distortion channel is awful. I modded my amp quite a bit and it sings now. The EQ is essentially useless. Only the treble knob makes a difference. I am working on by[passing teh whole thing to get more power out of the amp.

The clean is nice, but it is noisy. My secret is plug straight into the Line In Jack. It gives fatter sounds with less noise. I modded my amp so it always works this way. Then added the distortion channel as like a distortion pedal being switched in or out. I reccomend 6L6s for this amp. They sound really good, as do the EL34s. JJ preamp tubes sound awful for distortion though.

It broke once, which was because I got it used. Open Screen Grid Resistor. Cost me $40 at a tech ebcuase it was a $0.25 piece. I wish I nkew how to fix amps back then. The handle sucks on it. I bought large metal handles for the site and it feels so much lighter becuase I can use both hands now.

Great clean, reliable, small tube combo. Distortion is nice to have, but not the greatest. I replaced the opamp in there with a JRC4558 which helped the sound a bit. I'd defiantely buy it again, especially for the price.

R12R 2-channel tube amp w/3-12ax7's & 2/el34 power tubes in class ab config. appears to be solid-state driven reverb and effects loop. 1x12" "ampeg" speaker, appears to be emminence co. Long-spring reverb. 3-band e.q. w/standby switch. very basic and easy to maneuver on top-mount control panel. vintage-looking box. Would be nice if it had tremolo, but o.k. without it. plenty of power in 50 watts, and not too heavy. effects loop is unnecessary imho.

Amp sounds good with both single coils and humbucks. Very Marshall-sounding due to the el34's. Able to dial in just about any guitar tone one would need. the stock sovtek pre-amptubes are a bit harsh sounding-replacing them with some softer units would help. The ruby el34's rattle. they have nice chimey tone, but a better el34 would help. clean channel gets a good grind when turned up. tone controls have a wide range and can shape the sound very well. As much distortion as one would ever need, but a bit harsh with the stock tubes. Better tone than Mesa Boogie. Reverb is very good, but not as good as Fender.

Box appears to be made of 3/4" osb with a plwd spkr baffle. Handle on amp is marginal. Some components in chassis appear to be on the cheap side, especially the potentiometers. decent steel chassis, decent tube sockets & shields. Easy access to tubes & electronics. Seems to be well built for the money. Survived UPS across 4 states o.k.

n/a. have not had long enough.

I have been playing for 35 yrs. I have had every type and brand of amp. This is a good all-around amp in my opinion for the money. Good tone, volume and versatility for most situations. I also have a 1960 Reverberocket. The original is of course way better quality and wonderful tone. They are totally different amps. This re-issue is more versatile for gigging since it has the 2nd overdrive channel, and the tube config is modern. Not as warm sounding as original, but overall good tone. If it were lost(how does one lose an amplifier?)or stolen, I'd probably get a Fender Blues Deluxe or Hot Rod Deluxe.

Just to update the review I left here in April of 2002 which is below. I've had the amp about a year now. I've made one significant modification to the amp that I feel makes it even better. Basically, I added an external speaker jack to the amp. (Just wired it to the end of the speaker leads with a switch, so that I can select either the built in speaker or an external speaker.) I then built a 1X12 closed back speaker cabinet, based on a Mesa 1X12 Recto Cab, and put a Celestion Vintage 30 in it. Sounds great. I was thinking of just putting the V30 in the R-12R, but it was just slightly bigger than the Ampeg speaker, and made contact with the chassis! Kind of bummed about that. So I just carry the amp and the cab when we play gigs.

I've tried out a number of other tube and hybrid amps since I wrote that review, (Mesa Nomad 55, a decent amp, but not so much better than the Ampeg that's it's worth the extra $$, (however the Nomad 45 just might be!), Peavey Classic 50, Marshall AVT series, Fender Hot Rod and Cyber series, the new Crate V series (all-tube)), and every time I walk away thinking that they've got nothing over my current rig. I'm still very satisfied with my purchase and would most likely replace it if it was ever stolen.

all you need

well this thing kick ass it was in the store for a while and i played it a few times and loved the dirty chanal but when i bought it and took it home it turnd up the clean chanal and it was the best overdrive i have ever herd i own a AC30 and love but theis kicks its ass as far as tone and almost looks as cool i have a epi casino and tele it kicks ass the dirty chanal is still cool is just lick a good old marshal but i prefer the clean all the way up

only had it 2 days

i love it oh so much it is pefect for my style the who the stones the cars the sex pistols mc5 the hives the cure depche mode the yardbyirds the firs zepplin album so good old rawk and or roll and 80s new wave

It was made in the 90's,it is a reissue amp.This amp is great for blues ,jazz,funky,solid rock or even folk music.
It has two channel.A bright clean channel and a distortion channel.Two inputs ,one for guitar and one for accordion or something like that(one of my friends use it for harmonica).Beautiful blue diamond spot.Chicken knobs .So it has a real cool vintage style.

I use a Fender stratocaster (made in mexico).I usually play blues and funk.This amp was the perfect choice for these styles.It has an amazing clean sound (like SRV things).
I don't use the distortion channel because in my opinion it hasn't enough high frequency,a bit bassy.That is why i use an Boss Bd-2 bluesdriver for the perfect blues sound.
After the 7th volume setting at clean channel it starts to begin distorted, but not brutally.Just the other amp i used:Fender Hotrod Deluxe.On the other side this Ampeg has a better clean and distortion channel.

no problem with it

I've been playing for 6 or 7 years.I hate the weight of it:).
I love this amp,that's all a can say.

It's very easy to use it.It has nice chicken knobs with a real cool vintage design.

I use a standard Fender stratocaster(made in Mexico).It's sounds very good,clear bright sounds in the normal channel.The second(gain)channel hasn't a professional distortion.(Not too much treble,more bassy notclear sound).So that's why i use a Boss BD-2(BluesDriver) to have amazing power.

no problems with it so...

I usually play blues,funky and Jimi kind of rock.(Not hard).As i mentioned it has wonderful bright sounds that fits well for these kinds of music.I've played guitar for 6 or 7 years ,and i owned this amp for a year.They say (and i also feel)that Fender amps are the best for blues music.But this amp has a different unique sound.

50 watt tube amp (class A/B power--like a fender, not a marshall). Volume (clean channel), gain (distorted channel), treble, mid, bass, master volume, and reverb controls. I believe it has 6L6's for power tubes. Typical amp features, nothing outrageous, but at least it has two channels.

I sooooo want this amp. I've played it in a guitar store where my friend works a few times, and it sounds good. Very nice clean tone, similar to a fender. Of course different guitars sound different through it. Hollowbodies and strats sound much brighter, my les paul with a seymour duncan distortion sounds a bit dark, but still a hint of sparkly high end. The distortion sounds almost exactly like a Rat, I know because I played a Rat through it and then played with the amp distortion. The amp distortion is very fuzzy, with little compression. The Rat is similar but a bit more gain and enough compression to do metal stuff. I would like to have both, so I could switch between the two without really changing the tone all that much.
I should note that I only played this thing at low volume. Anyone who knows tube amps know that they operate better at high volumes, but I've never gotten the oppurtunity to just crank up.
If you like vintage tone this is a good amp to check out. I would recommend playing one for yourself instead of taking my advice.

The best thing I can say about this amp is that I want it. I'm tired of the Marshall sound. I play mostly fuzzy Sabbath-type stuff, with a few bluesy tunes and a few punk tunes mixed in. This amp is perfect for all of that stuff.

This is a new reissue ... All tube ... from the factory it comes with 3 Sovtec 12ax7s and 2 Groove Tube 6l6Bs (more on that later) ... It has channel switching and line out, along with effects loop ... and a 12" speaker with an Ampeg sticker on it ... This is a "big box" amp which helps the speaker really bloom it's 24" wide almost the size of a 2x12 amp. Oh and the cosmetics are really nice ...

I usually play bass in a band situation (so I know Ampeg) ... I do however, play guitar too, and for many years before I played bass ... Most if not all of my playing is in small to medium blues clubs ... I use a Tele equipped with "Joe Barden" pickups ... and a pedal board with an original TS-9 "Tube Screamer" into a "Blue Tube" then through an old MXR 10 band graphic eq ... Because the effects are used to do almost all of the gain level and overdrive, a clean amp with lots of headroom is required (I also use an old Celestion equipped Peavey Bandit} ... The R12R excells at headroom and nice clean reverby tone, with the highs on 5, mids at 1, and bass on 6 it has a Fender Deluxe Reverb vibe with maybe a little darker tone (but with 50 watts on tap will get much louder)... BUT as good as it is stock I knew it could sound better ... The 1st thing I did was replace the stock speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 (the Celestion website is great!) ... Every thing improved, the bass response, breakup, highs, even the volume ... Next I replaced the 6L6b output tubes with KT-66s (like in old Marshall "Bluesbreakers"} they are a direct replacement and the sound is bigger more bottom sweeter highs glassy and almost 3D in effect ... You will need however to scrap the metal 6L6 tube retainer and get the old Marshall style spring retainers (check the Torres engineering website for these, and the tubes too} ... Finally I replaced the Sovtec 12ax7 pre-amp tubes (they are the "shortplate" type) with old British Mullard "longplate" 12ax7s (you can use almost any good "longplate" tubes} ... The Torres or Groove Tube websites can help you here ... or check out eBay ... The total result is an amp that can run with most any "Custom" amp made, the sound difference in night and day! ... By the way the distortion in the overdrive channel is HOT ... think Jazz-Fusion ... pre mods I rate the sound a 7 ... post mods 10 (yeah 10!}

Reliability has not been a problem ...

Ampeg is high on my list ... shipped me a screw (I stripped) no charge ...

I can't even begin to tell you all the amps I've owned Fender, Marshall, VOX, Peavey, ... This one is a keeper maybe the best overall amp for what I need ever!

This production date on this amp is November 1995, which, if I understand correctly means it was one of the first of the reissue series. This amp is not versatile when compared to the many modeling amps available today, but I bought this amp after using a digital modeling pre-amp for about 18 months...I got tired of mediocre imitations and just wanted a fairly simple 100% tube amp that had excelled in both clean and overdrive channels, preferably for under $500. I've had the amp 2 months and am very pleased with it thus far. I play everything from AAA (Bruce Cockburn, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Mark Knopfler, etc.) to classic/contemporary rock (Skynrd, Hendrix, Boston, Beatles, Bryan Adams, Journey, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Creed, Dire Straits, U2, Kravitz, etc.) and blues (a la SRV and Clapton). This amp covers most of those bases well for me. It has two foot-switchable channels and an effects loop. Unofortunately, no headphone jack, but I still have the modeling preamp if I want to use headphones. Comes with Bass, Mid and Treble controls and Reverb (one of the best reverbs I've ever heard...extremely sweet). The amp is 50 Watts, which is more than plenty...I'm afraid of breaking glass in the house if I turn it up too far. I've gigged with it...we always mike our amps through a PA, and I rarely turn it up past 4, which gives me plenty of stage volume. I'm not giving it a 10 because I don't think there are any perfect amps out there...at least not for the kind of money I have to spend! But for the price, this gets way close! By the way, the tube complement on the early reissues is 3 12AX7's and 2 EL34's...mine came with Sovtek 12AX7's and Svetlana EL34's, there was some mechanical noise in the EL34's, so I replaced them with ElectroHarmonix EL34's and am pleased with the result.

I play a Charvel Surfcaster with a Jackson hummer in the bridge and a lipstick in the neck and a Mexican Tele with a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack in the bridge and a stock single coil in the neck. I have also plugged my Taylor 414CE acoustic into this amp (clean only) with very pleasing results. The clean channel on this amp is to die for!!! I compared this amp to a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and in my book, the clean channels were very comparable. The Reverberocket's clean channel is just as glassy and swirling as the Hot Rod's, very pleasing, especially with some reverb dialed in. The drive channel on the R-12R blows the Hot Rod Deluxe away...the Hot Rod is way too fuzzy/buzzy for my taste. The R-12R drive is smooth...fairly mid-rangey, but no in an ugly way. One complaint I have about the amp is that the tone controls seem to have little effect on the drive channel (though they are fine for the clean channel). I would prefer to cut the mids more and boost the bass more than the on-board tone controls allow, but this is easily remedied with a stomp-box 7-band EQ, or I can bypass the preamp on my modeling preamp and use the tone controls and effects in the R-12R's effects loop, which works pretty well. A complaint with the Effects Loop is that using it seems to add considerable noise...doesn't seem to matter what you've got in the loop, even if there's nothing there and you just plug a cord from the Effects Out to the Effects In ends up with the same result...once you're playing you don't really notice it, so I'm living with it at this point. As others have mentioned, there is some hum on the clean channel, but I've been told that's not all that uncommon with vintage style amps...probably due to cathode leakage. Others have said, and I will echo, this is not a metal amp. You can get some decent fairly high gain tones, but nothing resembling that California high gain sound...can't cut the mids or boost the bass enough. If you want this type of sound, you'd probably want to check into a stomp box...I may do that yet for my Creed type tones. However, with some added EQ, I've gotten some passable tones for doing these covers. Other reviews have said that the clean channel starts breaking up if you turn it up enough. I finally decided to try it the other day, and sure enough, at around 7 it does start to break up nicely...however, this is much too loud to be practical for me...my wife would throw me out of the house and my bandmates would kick me out!!! It would be nice to have a power attenuator switch on the amp, cutting it to 25 watts or something, but I suppose it's not really necessary. Since replacing the power tubes, the EH EL34's have started producing some mechanical noise...apparently this isn't uncommon with combo type amps...I plan to try to use some foam tape around the chassis to try to reduce vibrations...hopefully this will help...again, you don't usually notice it when playing at gig volumes, and I don't hear it that much at home either. Even though I'm very satisfied with the amp, I'm giving it an 8 here simply because as wonderful as it is, it's still not a Matchless (like I'll ever be able to afford one!)

I'm hoping this thing is reliable, especially since it's already 7 years old. I'm apparently the third owner...both previous owners kept the amp meticulously, so it's in mint condition. It seems built solidly enough, I'm not an electronics conisseuer, but the board looks like it's put together well enough. I think that there may be a loose component that buzzes on certain frequencies...will try to pinpoint that. I don't expect any problems here.

I've e-mailed Saint Louis Music a few times for different info and so far they've been fairly prompt in responding (usually 2-3 days), and have been very helpful, so I have no complaints here, or any reason to expect problems.

I've been playing guitar for 16 years. My most recent set up was a Yamaha DG Stomp into a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus (Solid State). Got a few decent tones out of the Yamaha, but wanted to simplify some... find a couple of great tones and stick with them, not get mired down spending days on end searching for a couple decent tones out of the millions possible (most of which are mediocre anyway) on these modelling amps...I even spent a few weeks borrowing a Fender Cyber Twin from a buddy of mine...would easily choose the Ampeg over the Cyber Twin...even if the Cyber Twin were selling for the same price or even less!! At this point, if the amp were stolen, I'd definitely replace it with another Reverberocket. As an overall rating, I will give it a 10, it IS a fantastic value. In an ideal world, I'd own a Matchless DC-30. But for the $$, this amp is awesome! And as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the best amps out there in the under $1000 category (shoot, even up to $1200) I will add here that a buddy that plays in a band with me just recently aqcuired a Peavey Classic 30, which is also a fairly sweet amp in the under $500 range...this guy has owned classic Fenders, Marshalls, Line 6 (which he ended up trading for the Peavey, and other assorted stuff) and Tech 21 and he thinks this is one of the best amps he's ever owned (though he still has and loves his Tech 21 Trademark 60), so it would be worth checking out if you're still looking. As for the Reverberocket, if you're interested, I would advise you to wait for the right one to come up on E-bay...while the amp may be worth the $700 catalog/internet price for a new one, why pay that much when you can pick a great used one up for under $500 on E-bay...there's usually at least one going at any given time...if not, just wait a couple of days. That's what I did and have no regrets!

Re-Issue Reverberocket, made 1997. Good vintagey amp combo, one 12" speaker. Plenty loud. It's a tube monster... three 12Ax7's and two 6L6 size tubes. chicken-head knobs, tolex and all that stuff. Not a ton of electronics in this thing, line in and line out, but it is a re-issue of the old reverberocket so it's not going to be stacked up like a Line 6 or a Fender Cybertwin....

I use this with a '71 Gibson SG with stock pickups and a modded 1986 Ibanez Roadstar II guitar. The amp isn't the cleanest I've heard, but it's very acceptable. I do a lot of indie type stuff mixed with a liberal dose of blues. This thing hits the bluesy type of stuff nice, also punk.

THIS AMP IS SCHIZO. As others here have pointed out, it gets a beautiful and buttery clean tone, and the reverb in it is very, very good. I'd put it in the same class soundwise as the old Fender Twins, just oozing warmth, tho some would consider that heresy. But i had a '60's Fender Twin, and i know exactly what they can do. The Gibson SG in the rhythm position going thru this amp clean is fantastic. Think the clean stuff on "live at leeds' by the who, if you know that record (i hope to god you do).

The distortion on this... It's weird. The gain is very very hot on this and I don't mean that in the most complimentary way. I'm one of these lazy players who doesn't want to screw around with the volume and tone knobs on my guitar all the time, I just want to play with the pickup selector switches, especially live. However, the way the gain stage is set up on the R12R, you almost have to. It seems like the pre-amp gain is all shades of '60's garagey stuff or stonesy stuff up until you get to about 8.5 (and they're mostly cool). Then look out !!! This thing heads into quasi-metal territory like no amp I've heard ! It's still meaty sounding, but the fuzz level gets ridiculous. I really like the tones, but you do have to work around things and play with the knobs a little more carefully than you may be used to.

You'd probably want to use this with your stompbox of choice for leads, i.e. use the lower gain settings to get cool rhythm guitar sounds, and then use a stompbox for the gain-ey stuff. This thing with the pre gain on 10 is 5000 icicles being jammed into your ear at the same time.

Final thing: The master volume is a hairline trigger... On 2-3 you're getting all kinds of cool sounds, you get up to around 4.5-5 and you're melting your own face off. A little TOO responsive IMHO.....

This is where the amp gets something of a beat down. I had consistent but intermittent problems with this amp in terms of weird sounds and a low roar for two years before I finally brought it to a good amp tech here in boston. two of the tubes had gone microphonic, so he replaced them, but on top of that the back plate (it's removable, has 6 screws i think) on the amp was causing that low vibrating roar which used to jump out during certain notes. he placed foam tape around the inside perimeter of the plate, which eliminated that problem. cool, but i was a little pissed off about this. I've read some of the other reviews here and 1 or 2 others referred to the same thing. If ampeg's going to charge $400 or so for this amp, they should spend 6 cents on some kind of foam reinforcement. i would imagine this would be a problem with others as well.... for what it's worth, this particular guitar tech had nothing but disdain for these ampeg re-issues. he said that the electronics on the inside are pretty cheapo. i have no way of commenting on this, i just pass it on. I also wasn't pleased the factory tubes went microphonic as quickly as they did. I've had tube amps before that went for several years before issues with the tubes cropped up.... I also have my suspicions about the stock speaker. It would be interesting to replace it with a good EV speaker or Celestion and see what it can do.

i have a lot of love for ampeg, but i haven't dealt with them personally.

I'm on the fence with this amp. although i tend to believe the guitar tech who worked on the amp saying it's kind of cheezy (most re-issues of anything are), i had to tell him to shut up after a while because i have heard very few amps which have as great a clean tone as this one does. The overdrive is very cool, but it's a one trick pony, very vintage tone. But that is what it's supposed to do anyway, so you can't fault Ampeg for that. You want rolling stones, garage rock, punk, rockabilly, well.. this is a good amp. you're not going to be doing any cradle of filth riffs thru this tho (or maybe you would now that you know what happens when the gain in on '10). Bottom line, i think this is a good recording amp for certain situations, especially clean guitar, but i wouldn't say it's a great all around amp for live situations unless you're doing some strain of garage rock. then it's great.

I bought this amp used in February 2000,I think it was made in 1998.It's about as versatileas can be expected considering that the two channels share the same tone controls.I play mostly bluesy rock,in the ballpark of earlier Jeff Beck and Hendrix of course.For the asking price,it has all the features one could reasonably expect.It has enough power for bar gigs w/o PA assistance.

I play a few different Strat type guitars through it,3 with EMG's and one with Gold Lace Sensors,plus an ES335 clone (Hamer) which has "Duncan Designed" humbuckers.There is an audible line hum always present,but at gig levels it gets masked by the band.The clean channel has my favorite sound on this amp,it is very nice and warm,and the reverb is exceptional.I have to say that I prefer the overdrive sounds that my Boogie makes to those on this Ampeg,but that's not to say it's unusable,just stating a preferewnce.When cranked,the clean channel gets a little hair on it which is nice for rockier rythm parts.I could hardly call the distortion brutal,but there is a sufficient amount of it.I'd like to say here that I have recently changed the speaker;I found an ElectroVoice Force 12 cheap ($50) and I put it in last week.The original speaker had a bump in the high mids which I found kind of harsh,but now it's better.I also put 3 Groove Tubes 12ax7 preamp tubes in it just today,and this also improved the overall tone,the amp is brighter and slightly louder now.

I haven't had any problems with it so far,but then again it hasn't been bounced around on tour or anything,just in my car locally.

I've yet to deal with Ampeg about this amp,but I own some Ampeg bass products and they have always answered my emails.5 year warranty.

I've been playing for almost 37 years.I own a bunch of stuff.If I lost and could find another one around the same price,I'd get it.I love the clean sound and the reverb and the cool blue light(!) I don't hate anything,but I use my Digitech RP200 for any overdrive sounds through it,and this combination works very well.It;s a moot point for me since I don't really use the overdrive it has,but I always prefer having a separate set of tone controls for each channel on an amp,but as stated above,I can tweak the tone on the RP200 to nail the overdrive sounds.

Ampeg R-12R Reverborocket Reissue. Made in 1996. 2 Channels. 50 watts. All tube. Reverb. Ampeg (Eminence) Diamond Blue tolex :)

Others have said it but I must reiterate. This amp sounds KILLER! I get little nervous when every review says something is really great but in this case it is accurate. This amp replaces a Boogie and a Rivera. It absolutely smokes the Rivera and is way more usable than the Boogie. Clean channel is Fendery with the most beautiful reverb you can imagine. Just_a_tad to gigantic_cavern - it's there. Distortion channel is very Marshall like but has a little bit of a HiWatt vibe to it. Stock speaker sounds good but I have a Weber C12B that I am going to try in it. It'll probably sound even better (yes!).

Freinds, if you are looking for a great sounding tube amp for Blues and Rock and Roll then do yourself a favor and check this baby out. I got mine for $400 used but in mint condition. Knowing what I know now I would GLADLY pay twice the price for it. Grab one while you can. Prices are sure to go up on this one.

BTW, this one had just been retubed with Sovtek 12ax7wa's Svetlana EL34's and sounded great. I had a set of NOS Philips 12ax7wa's and 7581a (6L6)'s and after installing and rebiasing it sounds even better. Man oh man, what a score!

Well I had the chassis apart today while rebiasing and everything looks clean. Not the beefiest PCB's in the world but looks like quality parts and construction. At least as good as a modern day Fender, Boogie or Marshall. Called the SLM tech line to get some info on bias test points and schematics and they were prompt and helpful. Looks like it'll take some pounding. Had it in my trunk for 2 days and played it outdoors at church the next with no problems. Clean channel hums a tiny bit. Probably cathode leakage. No biggie, almost every Marshall I have ever owned does the same thing. I'm probably the only one who hears it anyway :) Seems dependable. Time will tell. I'll keep my rating conservative.

See above.

I haven't been in love with a tube amp in a long time. This one's a keeper :)

I'm not sure exactly what year this amp was made in, but it is a relatively new Reverberocket reissue. It is a 1x12 all-tube amp rated at 50 watts. The preamp tubes are 3 12AX7s and the power tubes are 2L6 Groove Tubes. I play a variety of styles, leaning towards electric folk (i.e. just guitar/vocals, no band), and recently, laid-back slow-surf stuff. This amp has the basic Clean/Gain setup with a shared EQ (I leave it pretty flat, so I don't care about that). There is of course the hefty (four-spring?) reverb tank that sounds very good, and can crank out more reverb than anyone in their right mind would ever need, even for surf. It comes with a two-function (channel, reverb) footswitch, which is very nice to have. There is also an effects loop (which I don't use). A headphone jack would have been nice. This amp is plenty loud for the small shows I do (which isn't saying much, but I don't doubt that it could compete with drums and other noisy items in a medium-sized hall, although you might want to consider the 2x12 verion).
I should also mention how it looks. I am a bit of an aesthete, and I went amp shopping with the mindset that I was only concerned with how it sounded, not with how it looked. Imagine my glee when I plugged into this GREAT-looking amp and fell discovered that it sounded as good as it looked. If you like a retro look, and like me, think that the oxblood/tweed units (despite their nostalgic charm) are rather ugly, this everything from the checkered vinyl to the cool-ass blue light will push your buttons before you even hear it. There's a picture of it at <<http://express2.expressivetek.com/ampeg/>>.

I play an Epiphone Dot, which is the no-frills, striped-down, dot-inlayed Epi version of the Gibson 335 with two stock Gibson humbuckers. This amp has yet to come up short in terms of different sounds I can get out of it. Jazz, rock, blues, surf (my friend loves playing his Gretsch Beast through it)--it works well for all that stuff. Note: I don't play/like heavy metal music, and I haven't really tried getting a screaming metal sound out of it. My guess is that if metal is your cup of tea, this amp is probably a.) not loud enough, and b.) too mid-heavy for that kind of thing. Go buy a Peavy stack or something. But, if you want nice, full, lush, warm, tube tone that simply drips out of the amp like honey, you should DEFINITELY consider a Reverberocket combo. The clean channel is clear and vibrant, and the preamp breaks up very nicely when you push it hard. The distortion channel adds some nice warmth to the sound at low gains, and at about 4 or 5 is a good fat ballsy rock n' roll sound. (Again, I must point out to my metal-playing collegues that this is not a clean, slick, "lotsa low bass/lotsa high treble/the hell with everything in between" kind of sound. If you don't like the prospect of an amp that cranks out a whopping dose of solid, grinding midrange, then pick another amp.)
I don't play much high-gain stuff, (and I don't exactly play a gain-on-10 guitar) but the distortion's there if you need it. And I might add that when, just for the hell of it, I played the empirial march from Star Wars on my bass through it with the gain cranked, it sounded really scary and really cool.

Built like a tank. When I bought it used, it looked brand-new. It still looks brand-new. Pretty heavy for a 1x12, but I find that comforting, because it means that it's built from good solid stuff. I like the thick leather handle on the top.
I'm giving it a nine just because I've been very nice to it and therefore I don't know how it would hold up under abusive conditions, but I suspect that it would easily weather a good bit of banging around.

Nothing's gone wrong with the amp.
Never had to deal with them.

First of all, considering what an absurdly low price I paid for the amp, I'd be happy with it even if it was just a decent, run-of-the-mill 1x12. BUT...(sorry to reuse the simile, but what can I say--) the sound drips like honey out of this amp. It's worth every penny of the $600 it costs new, and if you can find one used, and you want a good, solidly-built, warm-toned tube amp, check this one out.

manufactured around 97 or 98. 2 channels, controls left to right - gain (overdrive channel) - volume (clean channel) - treble - mid - bass - master volume (volume for overdrive channel) - reverb.

it has a mono line in - line out effects loop, which is nice. the line out also serves as a speaker out. footswitch (with stereo cable) controls channel switching and reverb on/off. the preamp tubes came with metal guards on them to prevent rattle.

this is my main amp, i play bedroom rock, and small gigs with PA's. it has enough power - 50 watts - to go without a mic in small gigs.

the stock tube compliment is 3 12ax7s for the preamp and 2 6L6s for the poweramp section. the factory tubes are crap - the power tubes rattled like hell. i had mine re-tubed with new 12ax7s and EL-34s in the power section. improved the sound tremendously in my opinion.

an 8 rating comes from not having separate EQ's for clean and overdrive channels. for some people, this is an issue. however for me it is not, but i'm just trying to be unbiased.

I have a Gibson LP reissue with p-100s and an '89 American Std Tele. I play classic rock - zeppelin, cream, etc. I also dabble in jazz. this amp does both very well. the overdrive channel has *plenty* of gain. its not a triple rectifier, but with the gain on 10 you get plenty of crunch thats for sure. the clean channel breaks up nicely if you use a humbucker in the neck position.

my main overdrive is a visual sounds jekyll & hyde. i can pretty much get any kind of gain setting i want. the jekyll side i use mainly as a boost - it fattens up both the clean & overdrive channels nicely.

this amp isnt a Bogner or a Dr. Z, but its a helluva good sound for the money.

the only setback on this map. obviously, its a tube amp, so that requires regular maintenance. what i noticed, is if this amp is turned on for a long period of time - 3 hours or more - it gets HOT! the control plate around the standby and power switches becomes very uncomfortable to the touch. not the knobs, just the control plate itself. i wouldnt recommend using this amp in an all-day gig during the summer. other than that, it runs just fine.

never had to deal with them. came with a 1-year warranty, but i never had to use it.

I have been playing for about 3 years now, and this is my main amp. from a value standpoint, this is an incredible amp - an all tube 50 watt 2-channel 1x12 combo for around 500 bucks. on top of that, it sounds grreat! the clean channel is nice and warm. the gain channel goes from a warm clean sound, to a nice crunch, to a creamy saturated overdrive when dimed. i love it.

1963 Ampeg reverbrocket, with NOS GE 7591 power tubes, recapped, new tubes, serviced, bought it from my amp tech, the best, thanks John Landgraff. Oh yes, original Jensen Concert Series alnico, and the reverb, oh yes baby, blues with a feeling. This runs about 20 watts of power. I play diatonic harmonicas through this great harp amp, along with being a great guitar, and accordian? amp. Hardwood cab, point to point wiring, Kendrick/Victoria/Clark/Hoffman/Matchless boutique amp builders probably could build this same amp, and sell it 2 ya for $2,500-$3,000. I paid $375. 3 inputs(guitar, accordian, microphone), one volume control, tone, echo, and a couple others related to vibrato, which I don't use. No channel switching, master super duper volume, boost volumes, or other junk. Simplicity, quality, thank you.

I use a Shure green bullet dynamic mic., and soon a crystal element mic. Creamy overdrive, sound is a little dark,and can be midrangish, but a lot of range in the tone control, great sounds can be dialed in. The amp idles very quiet, probably due to it being recapped, tubes, serviced. By the way on preamp tubes, to reduce gain, using several 6SN7 NOS-Sylvania and Tung Sol preamp tubes(NOS from KCA NOS tubes(thanks Mike).The first time I played out with a 5 piece blues band the entire night when I would solo the other players kept turning and smiling at the reverbrocket, they like me were impressed.

I plan to use this without a backup, though I also own and use a 62 Fender tweed champ, which is also a great amp for harp. My service department is my amp tech, John Landgraff, of Pensacola, Florida, the best tech on the Florida, Alabama, Missisippi, Louisiana gulf coast. The power tubes(7591)are expensive, but can be found, have already lined up another matched pair(NOS GE). I love this amp.

The original real deal Ampeg people of Linden, New Jersey if around, don't work for I think the new Ampeg, of St. Louis, MO. Its safe to say my 63s warranty has expired, who cares.

I have played 28 years, semi pro over 20. Have played in blues, country,gospel/contemporary christian and string/bluegrass bands. I own and use a sweet 62 tweed champ. If my Ampeg was lost or stolen I would be sad, then look for an early 60s reverbrocket, or jet, with either 7591, or 6v6 power tubes. Early/mid 60s Ampegs are available, you just have to look around. To me, it is an affordable alternative to the boutique amps, and the vintage Fender amps like my little champ, which I paid more for than the ampeg.

This is a 50 watt 1x12 combo with two channels (clean and gain) and spring reverb. It has treble, mid, and bass knobs for both channesl (failure to have seperate EQs is reason for 8). Also has effects loop and came with a footswitch. Typical combo features.

I purchased this amp solely for my solos...I use a Mesa Boogie .50 cal. + for clean and distorted rhtyhm stuff. I was using a Marshall JMP combo with a TS-9 for gain solos but got sick of the weight and the hissing (even after retubing and cutting the wattage to 50). While demoing nosie gates to address the hiss problem I discovered this ampeg....with its gain dimed it gives a great, warm saturated gain sound for my solos (think late 1970s, early 1980s hard rock lead tone....Thin Lizzy, Rush, early Maiden, maybe even EVH). With the gain dimed the bass gets a somewhat flubby can't run the bass past seven but I am using this for single note solos only so that is not a problem. The clean channel is great too, especially with the reverb. I may run the clean channel in stereo with the Boogie in the future.

I have only played a single gig with it so I can't really comment.

n/a

I give it a nine soley because of shared EQ. It works wonderfully for what I require (single gain amp with volume cranked above that of regular amp for solo/gain boost.

This is a 50w reveberocket 1x12 tube combo made in '99. I bought this because I wanted a portable version of my Ampeg R-50H 50w head - It's the same amp in combo form and does have the same vibe. Two channels w/footswitch, mid, high, low, gain and reverb. Basic features - great for just plugging and playing with a minimum of tweaking. Good power - It's pretty loud for a single 12. Certainly loud enough for small clubs/bars. Only thing missing is an external speaker jack.

I mainly use a '72 Tele Thinline with Fender humbuckers and a '79 Strat with active single coil EMGs. This amp is perfect for classic rock, blues and surf. The clean channel starts to break up about halfway up and sounds great. Sometimes I use a Boss blues driver with the gain turned way down to boost the input signal a bit and get even more breakup. Not as much headroom as a Fender Twin, but I prefer a more dirty sound. The dirty channel can get a great Cream, Hendrix, Zep sound - Not quite enough drive and grind for heavy metal though. I would say that the hum and noise is about average for a tube amp, its not overwhelming but it's there. The revereb is amazing! It's worth the price of the amp! Great for surf sounds. I tried some Mesa combos, Fender Hot Rods and even Flextones - The Ampeg had just the right vibe for me. It not the most versatile combo, but it does what it does very well.

I'm pretty careful with my equipment when I transport it. But I do work the stuff hard on the job. I've been using this amp for about a year without any problems.

I've had excellent dealings with ampeg over the past few years (I own three Ampeg amps) both via telephone and email. Recently though, I noticed that the support link on their web site is no longer active. I don't know if this means that they're going to be harder to deal with or if their just in some sort of transition.

I've been playing for 20 years and own other Ampeg amps, Fenders, Peaveys and an Egnater. I play mostly Fender Starts and Teles but own one Les Paul. I would buy another one without question if it were lost or stolen. the only thing missing for me is an external speaker jack. It's a great amp for the price if you're doing a rock/blues thing!

1963 REVERBOROCKET WITH ORIGINAL JENSON SPEAKER. I'VE BEEN PLAYING 25 YEARS AND HAVE RUN THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF QUALITY AMPS. FEATURES ARE LESS IS MORE. THE BEST ONBOARD REVERB EVER MADE. VIBRATO FOR SOME SHAKING SOUNDS.

A TELECASTER PRODUCES BLOOMFIELD AND CROPPER TONE. A BLUES DREAM. NATURAL DISTORTION. DONT BRING A CRUMMY DISTORTION PEDAL NEAR THIS.
REMEMBER YOU YOUNGER PLAYERS TONE IS ABOUT FEELING. LESS IS BEST.

VINTAGE AMPEGS ARE KNOWN FOR HARD TO FIND TUBES ETC. SO WHAT. THE INTERNET HAS MANY AVAILABLE N. O. S. ETC. I LIKE THE CHALLENGE.

1963 ARE YOU KIDDING. MOST OF US HOPE WE LAST AS LONG.

LOVE IT. OWN TWO.

Late 95 first run of this reissue, all Groove tubes no tube retainer (I talk about that later)1 guitar input 1 accorian input gain, treble, mid, bass, volume and reverb controls 2 channel manual or foot switchable (only with a stero switch pedal)

Coolest damn amp I've evr owned, and I've owned a lot. Beefier than a Fender but not as fat as a Marshall. I've been told it sounds a lot like an AC30 or a Highwatt combo. I play alteropowerpoppunk and it fits the bill perfectly jangely and full all at once, clean channel is incredible and could be played exclusively with a couple of effects pedals, rarely does it feed back in this mode regardless of the effects. Dirty is another story can't run a distortion pedal in dirty without some feedback problem ( have since correcxted that with a volume pedal) none with chorus, but distortion is a problem. This problem can be easily eliminated by turning up the gain, with it turned over 6 you really don't need a distortion pedal. All bitching a side it has one hell of a groovy sound.

Here is where I have a slight problem with this amp ( this does not apply to this amp made from '97 on) the power tube rattle like hell at anything approaching a resonable volume level. Came with groove tubes, replaced after little over a year with Sovteks problem came back a couple of weeks later. Later models come with power tube retainers to eliminate this problem, I called St.Louis Music and they are having a tube retainer installed under warranty, I will put GT's back in when I get it back ( they sound much warmer). Other than that it has been very reliable, never shut down, never lost power or punch.

Had to wait a while to get a response via e-mail but I was told the e-mail guy was on vacation for a couple of weeks. They have been absolutley fantastic since then and offered to pay shipping if there wasn't an authorized repair shop nearby.

This is my favorite amp, I've played a number of amps, some good some bad, but none have met the quality that this amp has. The closest I can liken this to is the new Gibson (old Trace Elliot) 50W combo which costs more than 3 times what I paid for this. I've played the original Reverberocket and this thing stays pretty close to the cuff but in my opinion is better. I will admit I'm an old Ampeg fan I used to have an old V4 100 watt tube head that I played through a number of cabinets and it made Marshalls sound like practice amps. The only real draw back to this amp is it's weight, it is HEAVY, somewhere around 45-50 lbs. A local guitar dealer told me that they are discontinuing the combos and will only be selling the heads and cabinets (what a shame) he expects used ones to sell for more than the new ones did within a year. If your looking at one of these buy it you won't be disapointed, I'm seriously looking at buying a second one.

this all-tube amp has two channels (dirty/clean), reverb, hi-mid-low tone controls, and the famous blue diamond tolex covering. i bought one of probably the first run of these re-issue amps in early '96. it has a five-year warranty, which helped sell me on it. i played it up against a fender blues deville and a mesa boogie (i don't remember which model, most likely a blue angel or something). anyway, the ampeg had a great sound, cool looks, and the price was almost half of the other amps. this is definitely an "updated" amp with retro clothing which, in all truth, was what i was looking for. it has a front-end gain (unlike the real deal) which is good for getting a good break-up without the neighbors bitching. the clean channel works well for me too--it has a really nice break-up ~6 which is more attack sensitive. at low volume, the clean channel is a bit brittle and "planky" to me, but i rarely play totally clean,and chances are if that's what you're after, you're not reading this anyway. i do wish they had sprung for the tremolo like on the original reverberocket. hell, i would have paid another $100 for it, especially since the thing only ran me about $475. it seems silly that they didn't. oh well.

i write/play power-pop/rock a la replacements, posies, wilco, so i'm going for a fairly straight ahead rock vibe with some definite TONE. i switch guitars a lot and use some weird tunings as well. i use everything from an old '50's silvertone archtop to a thinline tele to an old supro to an SG custom 3-pickup model! people always seem to have good things to say about the actual sound of all of my guitars, and i hardly have to tweak once i get dailed in. there's a surprising amount of low end coming out of just a 1X12. this amp is great for any type of "american" music: rock, blues, honky-tonk, rockabilly, even trad. jazz ("smooth" jazzers, take a hike!)

okay, now for the interesting part...and to tell you the truth i'm glad to be here! like i said, i bought one of these when they first came out, and like anything that hasn't had years of "field testing" under it's belt, i wasn't surprised when i developed some trouble. if you've read about this amp at all, you most likely already know about it's tenedency to develop "tube rattle". i've never had the thing go down, but the rattle is unacceptable. which leads into...

this is where i think people need to take note. when you piss and moan and make it very clear that you will never buy this company's product again, you greatly reduce their incentive to help you, EVEN IF THEY ARE LEGALLY OBLIGATED! be friendly but firm. challenge them to make you happy, and let them know that they can! i used to work at a drum shop and i understand what it's like on BOTH sides of the counter. SO, i shot them a friendly e-mail telling them how much i liked the amp, and how much i wanted to be happy with it. i got a response 3 days later (not bad considering it was over memorial day weekend). they explained that, yes, i had a very early model and that they had recieved many complaints about the tube rattle. the service guy told me of 3 places i could go and have my amp retrofitted with a "tube retainer" (which appears on the newer models). the tubes (sovtek el34's) i would have to replaced on my dime, but they would at least be groove tube el34's (much better), or for a more fender-y kind of thing, i could get 6L6's, which they are using now (i think). i prefer the dirtier el34's.

first, KEEP YOUR RECIEPT. the warranty is even transferrable as long as you get the original bill of sale. ampeg is certainly not making the quality amps that they once did, BUT!, for the money, they're doing alright. i wouldn't have gotten it if it didn't sound great, look good, and sell at a reasonable price. don't listen to the prima-donnas. if you ever have a problem with a piece of gear, don't be an ass--try to give the manufacturer a REASON to keep you happy. i know that sounds lame, as you're the one keeping THEM afloat, but think about it, would you rather help someone who seems like a conceited jerk, or someone who seems nice, and might actually buy from you again if you treat them right. nobody wants this stuff to happen, but it does from time to time. i love my reverberocket:it's warm, tone-y, loud and cheap (like me!!)..

The Ampeg R12R Reverberocket is a reissue of the original amp that was introduced in 1961. Faithful to the original, it has a 12-inch speaker, sexy "diamond blue" covering, and two inputs, marked "guitar" and "accordian", the latter padded down 6db. (Ampeg's founder, Everett Hull, was an accordian player who reportedly hated rock-n-roll.) In a recent interview, Peter Buck of R.E.M. said of choosing amps, "If it's got an accordian input, I know it's gonna be a good one." (He's right!) The R-12-R's modern features are channel switching and a line-in and line-out. Both channels share EQ controls for bass, middle, and treble. It also has 50 watts of power compared to 35 watts for the original. The amp comes with a footswitch for switching channels and toggling the reverb. The R-12-R features GrooveTubes 12AX7's and 6L6's. The preamp tubes are protected by shields and the power tubes by a metal cage, the bottom of which has a strip of foam for additional protection and perhaps to prevent noise. The amp itself lacks an LED to indicate which channel is engaged, although the footswitch is so equipped. The reverb tank is bagged. The amp has very sturdy construction, with metal corner protectors. It weighs about 42 lbs. It is easier to carry by holding the bottom, as the leather strap is terribly uncomfortable (one vintage feature that it might have been better to replace).
The amp is used for gigs and rehearsals with my band. It is loud enough for both, although I use the line-out to connect to a PA for outdoor gigs. We play rockabilly, mid-60's (British Invasion era) pop rock, and CCR. It works great for these styles of music, especially with the guitar that I'm using, a Ric 360.

I tried several amps (both purchased and auditioned in store), including Fender HR Deluxe & Princeton Chorus, Marshall VS & JCM 2000 DSL 401, Crate VC-50, Roland JC90, and Vox AC-15 and AC-30. I was unable to get the sound I wanted (warm & bright & punchy, all at the same time) with any of these amps until I tried the Ampeg. It brings out the best qualities of the Ric, which apparently needs just the right amp to sound great. I typically use just the clean channel, with the EQ flat (12 o'clock position) and reverb on 2 or 3. I've used the gain channel for leads, but I've found I prefer my Daddy-O pedal for that. I will use the gain channel when the song calls for a crunchy rhythm part. Clearly not Marshall-like, but suitable for my needs. My bandmates have said that the only other amp that this amp compares to for quality of sound is the Fender HR Deluxe, which I sold because I couldn't control the volume --way too loud. The Ampeg's volume is very controllable and gets loud, but only when you want it to. No problem at all being heard above drums, bass and 2nd guitar. My bandmates have told me, "Keep this one!"

I have owned it less than a month, but the features -solid construction, excellent tube protection, Groove Tubes, plus good care on my part, make me believe that it should be reliable. I have had no problems whatsoever in the last month, playing two gigs and rehearsals, as well as practice by myself. I'll give it a "9" just because I haven't owned it that long.

No dealings with the company. Like their website, though.

I love the sound. As stated, my Ric 360 sounds better (which is wonderful) through this amp than any other amp I've tried. The first chord I hit, I thought, "Tom Petty!" I love the diamond blue covering, it's very cool and unlike any other amp. I don't like the leather handle, looks neat, but very hard to carry the amp with it. Yes, I'd buy it again. I wish I had two now, so I could use my "Ric-O-Sound" kit with both of them. I'd also consider the Ampeg SuperJet, with identical features except for channel switching. I think that Ampeg should be the preferred alternative to Fender and Marshall, even over Vox.

I bought this amp new in 1997. Sold my Marshall Valvestate because I could't get a good sound with the '62 Fender Jaguar Reissue that I had. Has 2 channels (clean and gain). Channel switching with footswitch. Effects send and recieve and reverb. I like the amp alot....quite versatile for what I play (classic rock and southern rock). Very loud and more than enough power to play out at medium/large venues. All tube with 2 EL34 power tubes and 3 12AX7 preamp tubes. Funky blue diamond tolex covering

Used this amp with the Jaguar but couldn't get a thick enough sound because of the single coil pickups. Sounded great for Rickenbacker-ish surf and twang sounds. Now playing an old Peavey T60 through it and this is a crushing combination. The humbuckers really hammer the front end of this amp and bring out it's beastly qualities. The clean channel is good for blues and jazz. Can yield a very smokey jazz club sound or good Tele twang depending on settings. With the gain set anywhere past 8, the amp can almost get into the metal zone. Roll back the gain to 5 or 6 and you have a good crunchy rythym sound a la China Grove.

Haven't used it extensively yet but have had zero problems with it so far. I'd gig with it without a backup cause I don't have another amp! Good warranty from Ampeg (5 years I think)

Haven't had to deal with them so can't say

I've been playing for 17 years. Mostly acoustic till a few years ago. Owned a '62 Fender Jaguar Reissue and a Marshall Valvestate 8080 before this. Had a Hagstrom Super Swede about 12 years ago but got rid of it after only 3 months. I'd buy another one if this one was lost or stolen. Can't say that I hate anything about it at the moment. I tried out a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket as well as this amp and I felt a little better about the Ampeg's tones (which is strange) also it was 50 watts and the Mesa was only 20 so I was worried about it being able to cut through the mix on stage. I wish it had a headphone jack though. If you're thinking of making the jump to a tube amp, give this one a try. You'll be surprised at how good it sounds. And they're not that expensive either.

1961 Reverb Rocket, 1x12, Volume, Tone, Reverb, Speed, Intensity, foot switch for reverb and tremolo. This amp has the basic "vintage" controls that you need to get a great blues or jazz sound. 1x12 Jensen speaker(original). It is original, stamped May, 1961 on the inside of the back cover. Used to be Grandpa Pat's, thanks grandpa.

When my 69 Twin caught on fire, I began to use the amp extensively, it sounds fantastic. Using a Strat with Texas specials you get the SRV sound you need. Very sensitive and clear.(tubes havent been changed in 20 yrs.) Turn the tone to 0 and reverb to 0 and using a Les Paul, you get the sweet tones of Reverend William F. Gibbons and the ZZ Top reformation church. Add a Danelectro Fab tone and you have the sounds from "Live Fandango" Jail House Rock. The sound is to beat - I a have seen this amp going for $500 at Guitar center(the vintage section), it was handed down from my grandpa and it sat at the house for years before I fired it up. Was he playing ZZ top at those square dances in the 60's though? maybe he was...

No problems yet....the tubes are bizarre, hope you never have to find NOS tubes for this...if you do need them ..look on the internet, they are out there. It used to have a bad buzz, but a re-seated the tubes and it was gone.(I also said a few Texas Blues prayers..it worked).

N/A. Pull the back panel and you will see a point to point hand wiring job that would make Dr. Z and Leo Fender smile.

Sounds as gob as a black face Fender Reverb. As for Re-issue AMPEQ's...sorry..lets not go there. Overal ratting is a 10+, for what you would pay to get this amp it is worth it..chicken head knobs and all. It has a great Jazz sound also with adding some reverb. Here I go - I think it sounds as #$@% good as any old Fender out there - it is only 25-30 Watts. Sound must be a function of the original Jensen speaker and hand wired magic added to it. Grandpa bought it at a pawn shop along with a 55 Les Paul Jr(I still have). He paid $60 for both in the early 60's. New tubes would probably do wonders. Very Light AMP. It did get the Ultimate nod of approval from Cleveland guitar God, Mr. Glenn Schwartz(James Gang, PG&E) and local Cleveland guitar zen master Micheal Bay. I heard next week's surmound at the ZZ Top Reformation Church by Willy F. Gibbons will be on the good deeds of the AMPEQ Reverb Rocket. Get your Les Paul or Strat, turn the AMP to 10 and place your hands on it brothers for some soul healing.....

This is an original early-60's reverbrocket. It has one channel, three inputs (guitar/mic/accordion), a volume control, a "tone" control, tremolo speed/intensity, and reverb (they call it "echo dimension"). It runs on two 7591 power amp tubes (used very rarely in amps...it's a hi-fi tube) and puts out about 25 watts. It has an excellent tone and a reverb that I find superior to any Fender built-in reverb, but not as nice as my '63 Fender reverb tank. The interior is really clean and solid looking, comparable to a tweed Fender or any other quality tube amp from the 50's or early 60's.

I used to use this amp at blues gigs with a Telecaster. I guess I didn't mind putting it on "7" and playing quietly because the band wasn't really loud. Now I play in a surf band, and man, we're LOUD, so the ampeg doesn't do stage duty any more. Nonetheless, this is an awesome amp. The clean sounds easily rival Fender's smaller combos (like Deluxe reverbs) and the overdriven sound is a bit like a tweed Fender but a little clearer and more "hi-fi" because of the 7591 tubes. Only complaint is that in some places the reverb picks up the radio. It's totally silent in a well-grounded environment.

When I got this amp it had an original Jensen alnico speaker. It sounded like a dream until I fried the speaker. Since then, I've gone through a bunch of 12" speakers trying to find one that sounds as good. I tried an Eminence and it sucked, I tried a different Jensen (ceramic) and it wasn't really right, either. Naylor speakers are pretty good, but man I wish I'd taken better care of that original Jensen. Otherwise, like anything else I've owned from the early 60's, it takes a beating and never complains. Now THAT'S American quality workmanship, not like that printed-circuit-board crap they make now.

I've never needed customer support, but considering how crappy new Ampeg reissues are (they aren't even CLOSE to the same circuit) I won't be counting on them.

This is a great little amp as far as 25-watters go. It's not loud enough for stage work (in my case, at least) but it sounds really good. I'd love it if the reverb tank didn't act as a radio receiver in about half the places I use it in, but oh well...I guess I should just get two more of these (they're cheap compared to early 60's Fenders...but for how much longer?) and play through three at the same time. If you ever see one of these (or a Gemini with a 15" speaker)grab it because it's a great deal for low-volume blues or rockabilly.

My amp was a 1-12 combo with 50 watts of power, channel switching, reverb and an effects loop. This amp could be used in severl diffenrt styles of music. I used it to ply funk, rock & roll, country, and jazz. It was powered by 3 12ax7 preamp tubes and 2 EL-34 power amp tubes.Getting heard over a loud drummer was not a problem with this amp. The only feature I wish this amp had was an external speaker jack.

I used a Gibson flying V for a majority of my playing through this amp. It really had a good sound that could be coaxed at all levels. I was really surprised at how much distortion this amp could produce on it's own. I stopped bringing my RAT distortion pedal.

This is where it lost me. I went through 3 pairs of power tubes in less than a year. The first was a pair of stock Sovtek's, the second a pair of Meas Boogie's(sounded best), and last a pair of Groove Tubes (noisiest). I would play with this amp at practice and the volume would just go down farther and farther. Turn it on standby for 15 minutes and the volume would return (This process would take about 2 hours). I finally sold the amp because the clean channel had more noise than the dirty(?!?)I also had the Groove Tubes in at the time.

Part of my tube problem was mine was an early model. Mine left the factory with no tube retainers on the power amp tubes. Looking at the new Ampegs they figured this out. They put what is called a tube cage around the power amp tubes. They also changed from the fragile EL-34's to a much durable 6L6. If you don't believe me look at how many more old Fenders are running than Marshalls.

I would give you guys a warning. If you buy this amp(it is a good one) i would reccommend the 6L6 version only. I think that it was an unhappy marriage of vintage vibe and contemporary features. Working musicians need relaiability not coolness. In all fairness i still play the new Ampegs. I now own a Super Jet 1-12 R With 6L6 Tubes. I use it in conjunction with my RAT distortion box. The super jet is a keeper.

Good features for the money

Like I said before, the distortion washes out the highs and it gets worse after only 1-2 months. Clean channel is still awesome. Great if you want an accoustic or strictly blues early rock sound.

Had to take it in after Nashville show, the distortion channel was fluctuating volume as well as highs. Midwest Music in Cincinnati bent over backwards to keep me happy. Great store. Handle came apart after 2 months.

Called about handle and they sent me one, COD! I didn't even bother to sign for it. If they don't stand behind their damn handles, what about the rest of it. Traded it in immediately.

Been playing 20 yrs and I hate to say that this is the worst luck I've had with an amp, but it is. It has a GREAT clean/blues/moderate distortion sound but you can't get very heavy. I traded it in for a Mesa Boogie DC-3 which I hope I'll love in 3 months as much as I do now. I would still recommend this amp for blues, jazz, and 60's rock, just have them throw in a couple of extra handles.

Great for blues classic rock style. 2 channels; 1 clean no master,2 overdrive with master volume. Reverb. 2 inputs guitar and accordian-6db adjustment. Line in/out for direct out recording or effects loop (not real good for a loop). 50W 1 12" 3 12ax7's 2 el34's Groove tube. Real cool blue tolex prism cover (gets noticed).

WOW what reverb! From light to Drainage tunnel echo! Better than I've heard on most fenders at higher prices. Beautiful clean channel. Overdrive as good or better than Fender Hot Rods, almost as good as Marshall JTM30 with much better reverb and clean. Use Lone Star Strat, Epi LP Custom, Jackson w/EMGs. Play Blues/classic rock. Get all kinds of positive comments on the sound and all I use is the amp and a Danelectro Daddy'O. With all distortion cranked can almost reach METAL land. Great controlled feedback, chirps etc.. A little noisy on overdrive channel in the studio. Overdrive channel washes highs a bit.

Seems to be built tough. Metal corners, muti layer leather carry strap. Gig with it a couple of times a month. Thought about selling it but fell in love after first full volume gig.

1 year warranty. Hope I don't find out.

Unless you need full metal, try it. Been playing 20yrs and it is probably most versatile. Compared it to above amps and chose it hands down. The only thing I would think of replacing it with would be a rack processor amp cabinet setup or digital modeling amp(but I don't need those). Less is more in this case.

This is the new 'retro' look amp line from Ampeg. It has 1 12 inch speaker (there's also a 2 12 config),and channel switching between two channels. The first channel is straight volume, no master. The second has the usual volume and gain. The reverb sounds very good, as close to fender as i've heard on the newer amps. The channels and 'verb are footswitchable. The other controls are bass, mid and treble. they actually function differently betwwen channels, with the gain channel not haiving as much mid boost. There's also a standby next to the power switch. It has two inputs, the first, labled guitar, is balanced at 0db- the second labled accordion has a -6db cut. There's a line in/out for fx as well. The retro tolex looks great, and the amp is very sturdily built. Tube-wise it has three 12ax7's and two el34's. (groove tube supplied)

The only reason i tried this amp to begin with was because i needed a spare, and the store owner had had this amp for a year and wanted to move it out, so he offered it to me for $275. Well, what the hell, right? i'd been using a peavey delta blues that served me real well, but i play five hours a night, three nights a week and i was a little nervous about the peavey holding up. SO... i tried the amp in the store with a 335 and it really sounded nice! the list was over $800 for the ampeg so $275 was a great deal, i thought.
The first night i got it on stage, however, i was in for a shock- it sang, it screamed, it purred...i use a '57 strat reissue and an epiphone les paul standard, and they sounded better than i'd ever heard them before! i'm in a house band at a notoriously rough club, and man, if they don't like you, you know it right away- and even the crowd was saying things like 'kickass sounds, dude!'
with the strat, the clean channel stays shimmery clean up 'til 6 or so, then it starts to get that bite that bites harder when you dig in to the strings- laying back keeps the chords sparkling on top. The bass response is nice and tight, no breakup at all. on the gain channel, it was a cakewalk to get the SRV sound- using the neck pickup even put out a scorching ritchie blackmore howl.
the les paul was a whole different story tho- on the clean channel on 6, i would swear it was running through a bassman- no real distortion, but the stinging and biting it put out felt like billy gibbons or clapton with the bluesbreakers- i haven't run it through the gain channel yet (no need) but i'm sure it'll be more of the same.

i've had this amp for three months now- so that's 36 five hour nights at high volume in a smoke filled, humid sticky environment with no problems- it has a five year warranty but since i haven't needed it, i don't know how responsive the company is.

the amp came with a little booklet on tube amp care which i thought was a good idea- but again, i haven't had any dealings with the company, so i don't know what their servive is like.

i've been playing 20 years- i have a couple of strats, a epiphone les paul standard, and old ibanez les paul custom as well as an ibanez korina flying 'v' and a samick copy of a gibson super 400, which is a monster- they ALL sound better through this ampeg!
i retired the peavey delta blues after i heard the full power of the reverbrocket- in fact, i'm going to see how much i can get in trade on it 'twords the 2-12 reverbrocket!
what i love most about this amp is it's sound- absolutly outstanding. i can't really find anything to dislike about it- maybe i wish they came in different colors? i absolutely love this amp.