Ampeg R-212R

The R212R is a reissue of the ReverbeRocket. Previous reviewers have listed all of the features. I play the classic rock of the 60s and 70s
as a weekend warrior. The amp has all of the power and tonal variations that are required.

I just want to say that I am a bit of an Ampeg collector. I have an SVT, Pro III, V4BH, V4, VT-22, VT-40 and two R212Rs. I started playing in the 60's as a bass player using a V4B with a pair of Traynor 6X10 cabinets and have favoured Ampegs ever since. I now play guitar and favorite amp is the R212R.

From my experience, Ampegs are reliable enough.

I take my amps to a local tech who does a good job.

In addition to the Ampegs, I have a couple point to point Fenders and a Peavey JSX Combo. The R212R is the amp that I play through most of the time but the others get hauled out every now and then for some variety.

The only feature this amp lacks IMO is tremolo- and tremolo is not exactly something you would "expect" an amp to have. It's more of a bonus feature. That being said, it DOES have 2 channels (footswitchable), reverb (footswitchable), effects loop, standby mode, 3-knob EQ for bass/mid/treble. Clean channel has "volume" knob and dirty channel has "gain" and "master" knobs. Reverb is heavenly! Blue diamond tolex and blue on/off lamp are sexy. 50 watts of Class AB power. Two 12" speakers. Bought mine used and it came with a real nice set of caster wheels installed, which is nice because the amp is heavy as hell.

I use a Mexican Fender Telecaster with GFS Dream-90 in the neck pos and a Dimarzio Fast Track T in the bridge pos. This amp sounds incredible once you have it setup properly (new set of tubes and biased correctly). I did some upgrading to mine once I got it because it was used and as the previous owner put it "it has seen its fair share of the road". The Groove Tubes it came with were looking pretty cruddy and some of them fell out of their sockets during shipping so they were immediately replaced with a matched pair of JJ 6L6GC's and three JJ 12AX7's. The reverb was not working so I went with my gut and replaced the reverb tank with a new Accutronics 4BB3C1B tank, and PRESTO! Glorious reverb! I replaced the stock speakers with a Weber 12F150A and a Weber 12F150B (both 16-ohm and 50 watts) and I am EXTREMELY happy with the results. The stock speakers are very good but I always put Weber's in my amps. I set the bias correctly and this amp freakin' SMOKES! It can be louder than all hell if you crank it. Beautiful cleans and the dirty channel is pretty sweet too. Nice rock and roll overdrive. This amp takes pedals VERY well, which is a huge plus. I gave it a 9, but I would give it a 10 after the upgrades. Oh, the previous owner spilled candle wax all down the front grill cloth, so I found a place (FlipTops) on the web and got perfect 60's Ampeg replacement cloth. It looks perfect now that I replaced the cloth.

This amp was has seen "it's fair share of the road". It also survived a UPS journey from Nashville to Chicago. Very solid/heavy amp. I'm not worried in the least now that I've done some upgrading. The reverb tank is a weak point- I've heard of other owners having to replace them. Luckily that's a cheap fix. Other than the reverb tank, this thing is reliable for sure. And really, all reverb tanks are vulnerable and shouldn't be bounced around too much, so you can't really fault this amp for that.

I emailed Ampeg (which is now some company called LOUD, which is owned by Crate) because I am missing a couple screws for the back panel and they responded very quickly.

Been playing for approx 10 years and I LOVE this amp. I've had many (Peavy Classic 30, Laney, Orange, Roland, Epiphone, etc) and this is my favorite for sure. I love just about everything about this amp. It sounds great at many different volume levels and many different settings. One of the guitarists from Kings of Leon uses this exact same amp and he gets some pretty rad tones with it. If you don't want a big heavy amp, try the 1x12 version of this amp. I had one years ago and it was awesome too!

Straight up! I gave it an "8" because there are not a lot of features. 2 channel clean and overdrive, reverb, line in/out, 2 channel input. Just how I like it...simple.

Great clean channel, classic Ampeg overdrive. Using clean channel with my Tele and an acoustifier type pedal-wonderful at any volume.

The overdrive channel kicks in with a little bit of gain, and it's absolutely classic.

The reverb is beyond compare-clean, wide, classic.

I'll be using this in small clubs, running live, and this amp is perfect for that venue.

I finally found an amp for my Jazz Box as well. This amp is it!

I bought this on Ebay and I found it was not working when sold to me. Spent $200 at the local shop (still a deal at $340 total), I'm waiting for a rebate from the seller), works like a charm. From my research, this amp is a work horse, but I haven't used it enough to make a reliability determination

I figure warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on, and I bought this used, which voided this warranty. My local guy does great amp work anyhow.

I've toured internationally, spent countless hours on the road and studio, I know equipment, build my own guitars, etc.. I finally found an amp my son will enjoy after I die a very old man, I'm keeping this baby. I would replace it in a heartbeat, and track down the person who stole it and kill them dead with my gun and let my big black dog eat the remains. I wouldn't add anything to this amp. It's basic, and sounds fabulous.

In its own right, this matches a Twin Reverb. It's classic Ampeg sound, however.

If you're looking for a real classic sounding amp, this is the one. The combo of solid state and tubes really makes for an all around sound.

I waited a long time to write this review, as I wanted a few miles on the tires first. I got this one off eBay about three years ago, and just guessing, it was built sometime in the 1990's. I use it for a wide variety of gigs, everything from studio to live, including big rooms mic'd and unmic'd, small rooms, and very critical praise and worship performances. I sometimes even use two of them in stereo, and I'll go into that a little more later. I'll bounce back to some of my other amps from time to time, but I always go back to the Reverberocket. It seems like no matter what kind of gig it is, rock 'n roll to jazz, the Reverberocket, or its little brother the R-12R (same amp, one 12 inch speaker instead of two) works the best. To summarize the features, the Reverberocket is a tube preamp (3 12AX7's) and tube power amp (2 6L6) guitar amp with two channels and reverb. It has channel switching and a Line In/Line Out. One of the best things about these amps is the lack of features; no bright switch, no deep switch, no presence knob, no graphic eq, no gizmos. It has Treble, Mid, Bass, Reverb, and a separate Gain and Master for the Lead Channel. It has nothing you don???t need, and most of what you do ??? Tone, Tone, Tone. Where I find it lacking is in the lead channel, which I believe uses a chip for distortion rather than the tubes, and in the Line In/Line Out, which needs help if you intend to use it as an fx loop.

The clean sounds you get out of this amp are magical. At very low volume, it sounds pretty uninteresting, but as you crank it up into its comfort zone, which for my strat is between 5 and 7, things start to happen. Musical things. It gets a little bit of hair on it, compresses slightly, and becomes very rich and round sounding. It's not as loud as say a Fender Blues DeVille, but to my ears it has a much more musical tone. I've heard other people compare the Reverberocket to a Peavey Classic 30. I've got one of those too, and it's really a nice underrated amp, but the Reverberocket is in a different league in terms of power and clean to fairly clean tone. Compared to a Mesa/Boogie Lone Star Special, the Reverberocket is less compressed sounding on the clean channel. All in all, the clean channel is the best I've ever heard, and this amp replaced both my Twin Reverb and Mesa/Boogie on most of my gigs. If you run the clean channel volume wide open, it sounds reminiscent of Humble Pie Rocking the Fillmore. When I was first looking at this amp in the store, I put it side-by-side with a Marshall combo, and the Reverberocket blew it away. The distortion channel is usable, especially if you use it in conjunction with an eq. I cut an entire album using nothing but the pair of Reverberockets, and I used an eq in the "fx loop" mainly for the lead channel. I cut two tracks with a different distortion setup; for one I used a Barber Direct Drive into the amp, and when I listen to this track now I'm not at all happy with it. The other one I used a Menatone King of the Britains, and that one sounds pretty good. For most of the tracks though, I used the amp's distortion channel, which sounds better than almost any distortion pedal. Its main drawback is the big sonic hump it introduces at around 800 Hz, much like a Tube Screamer. If you like the Tube Screamer, you???ll love the distortion channel on this amp. I don???t, so I treat it with some eq. That being said, I???ve also played entire gigs plugged straight into the amp with every knob set to 5, and the tone controls are so well-voiced that this works pretty well. For pretty much every gig with this amp (or the pair in stereo), here???s the setup: Guitar > MXR DynaComp > Chandler Tube Driver > Amp > Line Out > Ebtech Hum Eliminator/Line Level Shifter > Rocktron XPression > Line In. The Line In/Out isn???t really an fx loop. You have to boost the signal coming out of the Line Out before it gets to the rack unit, and the Ebtech unit (it was about $65) does this and kills the hum both. Highly recommended. I still can???t get the signal up quite where I want it, and if anybody has a good suggestion for this, please contact me. In the studio or a critical live application the Rocktron noise gate is dead quiet, but you can sometimes hear a little too much of the noise floor in the effect. With the right amount of input signal though, it???s absolutely quiet. I use the Rocktron XPression as both a variable parametric eq to bring out the best in the amp, and for either mono or stereo fx. Using this with both Reverberockets is amazing, but it???s really loud! The Chandler Tube Driver (mine is the old rackmount version from the 80???s) combined with the Reverberocket is a match made in heaven. It leaves me with a total of 3 overall settings ??? clean, crunchy, and go get ???em. I???m very happy with this setup, and it sounds great with my Strats, Les Pauls, and lap steels. If you use pedals and not the fx loop, that would work very well with this amp. It???s all in the tone you start out with plugged straight into the amp, and this thing???s got it.

I've got an interesting story. I bought one of these on ebay for $365. I was tracking its shipment progress on the UPS site, and one day it said "damaged in transit". I called UPS, and they told me it had been destroyed. I contacted my seller, and arranged for a refund and he would be reimbused by shipping insurance. I bid on another one, and won that auction for $350. In the meantime, the first one shows up looking like it had fallen off the back of a truck at 80 mph, and the box had been put back together with packing tape. i took the amp out, plugged it up, and it sounded great! Liked it so much I kept both of them. The amp that was "damaged in transit" eventually needed to have the lead channel relays replaced, and that was a $45 job by my local tech. Other than that, not a lick of trouble out of either one of them. They seem to be built solidly, and the design of the tube protectors is especially noteworthy.

Never dealt with Ampeg customer support.

Overall, this amp gets high marks from me. Ive been playing 35 years, and I've been through a few amps. The one twelve model, the R-12R, gets high marks for the absolute best sounding 1-12 combo out there. This has a lot to do with the cabinet size, which is big for a 1-12. The 2-12 is a little louder and a little more open sounding, which is what you'd expect. Overall, these amps have a beautiful crystalline top, warm mids, and huge bottom end. The bottom end holds up extremely well with my baritone guitar. To me they sound generally Fenderish, with a more complex and musical midrange. The built in reverb is outstanding as well. Built in tremolo would be nice, as would a real fx loop and a real tube lead channel, but for price/tone ratio, this amp would be very hard to beat.

I really wasn't looking for an amp with a ton of features ( built in this and that to replace effects)

I wanted an amp that was basic ...but with good quality reverb, that could be cranked up to get- power tube saturation.

with the addition of one more pre-amp tube, I feel this amp could kill anything out there for true tone.

Believe it or not , I got this amp because I'm into early Van Halen.

I use a Boss delay and a BBE sonic Maximizer in the loop.

And other pedals through the front.

I can nail the "Women and Children First" tone , and that is what I was looking to do.

I didn't want that harsh or swarm of bees distortion that is now common in every amp you plug into.

This is a true 70's tone in a new package.

Very dependable so far.

Better tubes is the TRUE secret to open this thing up !

I have been playing since I saw Van Halen open for Black Sabbath in 1978!!!!!!

Not only would I buy a new one if stolen, I'm buying them up off of E-bay, so I can try my own mods at a later date!!

I have 2 I run in stereo.

If you need an amp to mask your playing...go for peavey.
If you can play good , know how to bend a note and let it sing for days.....this your amp!

I have owned numerous Marshalls, Laneys ( tube from the 80's ),Peaveys (5150's) a killer Gallien-Krueger SEL2100 ( this amp blew up and I cried !)

BUT, this has a special tone and quality that I prefer over Marshall-
which has a harshness I'm trying to avoid.

For some sound clips go to www.stifflersmomrocks.com

go to tunes/media

We did 5 quick demo tunes in 3 hours for an upcoming 80's show.

Without touching a Knob, we did Def Leppard,Ratt,Warrant,Black & Blue and Motley crue.

You can hear the versatility.

This is a very simple, easy to use amp. There aren't a lot of frills and special features, which is one of the reasons I bought it. There are two channels, clean and drive. The drive channel has master volume and gain controls. There is a send output, return input (both of which double as an effects loop), a footswitch (mine came with one), and of course really nice all-tube reverb. I would say the 50W all tube power is adequate for small to medium size shows (you can crank it up to piss-off-the-neighbors volume easily). 2 6L6 tubes and four pre-amp tubes give it a nice warm yet punchy tone. There are two inputs, one for guitar and one for accordian (the accordian input is rated for high output instruments. Simple E.Q.--Treble, Mid, and Bass, which is good enough for me.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio. I wanted a clean, loud amp that complimented the smooth rich Les Paul sound. I play experimental, instrumental guitar with lots of delay effects, and the clarity of the amp facilitates that nicely. I don't like the distortion on this amp. Its a little to crunchy for me, but if you play blues you will probably like it. I have a Big Muff, which sounds AMAZING on the clean channel. The best part about this amp is the warm, clear, clean tone. The reverb is also really great, and it adds sustain--very smooth. I've got to crank up the clean channel before it distorts. It is generally a very clean amp, with the expected white noise that comes with all tube amps. I like a good strong bass response, and this one's is OK. I leave the bass level at 8 or 10, depending on how loud I'm playing.

This thing looks like if you dropped it out of a moving car it would sustain little damage. Its ruggedly built but not that heavy for the size of it (around 60 lbs). I bought it used, but had to ask the shop to fix the guitar input before I paid for it. The tech said it had a loose "cold solder joint" and they fixed it for free. No problems since then. I wonder if the input problems are comon with this amp. I would use it without a backup. I don't have a backup, though, so maybe it would be different if I was rich. Soon, perhaps. Anyway, a cool thing about this amp is the tough looking steel grill that covers the 6L6 tubes. Nice. My perception is that this is an all-around solidly built amp.

When I bought this amp used, it had no casters. I called up SLM Electronics (the Ampeg/ Crate parent company in St. Louis) to ask what size I needed. The nice customer support woman who answered my call was very helpful and placed an order over the phone. I know this seems like a little thing, but I would definately call them first if there was ever a problem with my amp, before bringing it to a tech. That kind of service tends to make an impression on me, I guess. I don't know about the warranty. I bought it used. I live in Minneapolis and I know of at least 2 authorized Ampeg techs in the immediate area, so I think it would be quite eas to get it fixed.

The only thing I wish this amp had was smoother distortion. I didn't buy it for that, though. I've been playing guitar for 12 years. For half of that time I've had the same guitar (ol' trusty) and I've cycled through many amps--Vox, Fender, Laney, Peavey (yuck)...etc. A few years ago when I started listening to Don Caballero and Storm and Stress I wanted to copy that sparkly clear-as-a-bell sound they sometimes used. I tried the high quality solid state route (like the Roland JC sound) but that sound was a little too flat and thin for me. I think the R212R would be a good amp for a player who wants a stripped-down simple amp that is loud and very clean yet warm and full sounding. I would definately buy another one if this one is stolen. It's not as great or loud as a vintage Fender, but for half the price you get comparatively more for your money. I like that its not a "boutique" amp (at least not the re-issue model that I have). I hate collectors for driving up the price of vintage amps, but on the other hand its nice to have amp companies re-issue great sounding amps that are highly sought after. Us poor musicians appreciate a good sound for a good deal.

Not sure of the year, but it looked brand new when I bought it used. It's got the 6L6 power tubes.
This really isnt a "reissue", as it's not built the same way the old ones were (i.e. point to point wiring, tube rect, etc). It's more of a modern rendering of a vintage amp in a vintage package. It's made by the same people who make Crate's, so it is similar in alot of ways.
Features well covered here, as well as on Ampegs site. This is a class A/B circuit, which some people say is less "dynamic" than a class A. Maybe I'm not very sophisticated, but it sounds good to me.
I wasnt looking for versatility when I bought this, just rich, warm tube sound and that's what I got. Perfect for the blues/rock/country/jazz and other miscellaneous crap that I play.
I don't think you're going to do any shredding on this thing. In fact, the guy I bought it from sold it because it didnt fit his metal style and he was getting a JSX. If you want effects, nobs, bells and whistles, you might want to look elsewhere. It's my 1st 2x12 amp and I love the way those 2 twelves push air. It's got a big sound without being ear-splitingly loud.
It's plenty loud for jamming, playing in bars, etc. It has a bit of hum, but swapping tubes will probably fix that. I wasnt too happy with the hum in the effects loop either, so I've been plugging everything straight through.

I have used it with USA strat (lace sensors), Gibson es (P-100's) and G&L ASAT bluesboy (SD humbucker and single coil). Any decent pickup would sound awesome through this.
This amp, like me, is a blues machine. Does a great Clapton bluesbreakers crunch, nice Willie Johnson distortion or beautiful clean tones as loud as I need them. I have to crank mine up to about 7 to get the clean to break up. The gain channel can give me that broken up clean sound at about 2, up to some pretty heavy classic rock sounding distortion in the higher settings. I don't use heavy distortion, so the gain is usually from about 2 to 5.
This is not a very common amp, so people are usually surprised when I show up with it, cause they remember the old ones. Then they usually comment on the great tone. I don't really care for terms like "marshally" or "fendery" because I don't really know what they mean. This thing has a warmth and tone about it that I don't hear out of Marshalls and Fenders, its definately different. It doesnt do everything, but my 10 rating is based on its ability to deliver what I want, warm tube tone.
I usually use a blues driver, chorus and delay and it reacts very well to these pedals.

Seems very simple, so it should be reliable. The retainers on the preamp tubes have an o-ring on them that dries up and cracks off. You can find them in the plumbing (faucet) section of the hardware store. I paid 23 cents each for mine. If you leave them off, you get a bad metallic rattle that is unbearable. Tubes are very easy to access and change. These tubes are also very cheap. I have sovteck 12ax7wa's in there now, but I'm going to try some 5751's to try and get an even warmer tone.
Never gig without a backup.

Dont know, never dealt with them.
Downloaded the manual for free.
Emailed them a question and they never got back to me.

Been playing a while (since the 70's, man). Weekend warrior type, not a pro.
I really like this amp and everything about it.
I really like being "that guy with the ampeg" wading through the sea of Fenders. Don't get me wrong, Fenders are great and I looked at them when I was shopping for this one. I also looked at Crates, Peavey's, Traynors and Randall. There are alot of great amps out there, but for this price and with this tone, I could not have done better. It's just what I need. I would buy another in a minute. I have a 1965 Reverberocket (1x12, about 15 watts). I kind of wish this had that tremolo, but I can live without it. The reverb sounds similar, but not quite as good as the old one. I would recommend this amp to you if you're looking for "your" sound, I know I found mine.

My 212 was a christmas gift bought new in 2004 for $800, and has been outstanding for country , blues and a little contemporary Christian. Its got treble, mid and bass for the EQ, a master and gain for the lead channel, and a volume for the clean channel. The reverb works on both. As for the other specs, you probably already know them. If you don't they're on the Ampeg website. the only thing that would be nice would be a tremolo, but a good all-tube pedal would be beter than an in-amp circuit for the versitilty of having different styles of trems/vibratos

You can't plug anything into this amp and not have it sound good. With my vintage SG w/ PAF's I can get the nicest clean sounds ever (think jazz). They can be nice and bottom heavy or sweet and glassy (NOT FENDERY THOUGH). By throwing in a little reverb and cutting the mids a little in the amp, 1960's country (think Patsy Clineish) sounds sing out. With a strat plugged in, you can get anything from smooth even response to country twang, just set it how you want it. The wide range controls do the hard work. On the lead side, the overdrive can go from mild and blusey to all out vintage rock crunch with wonderful harmonics. Its not that good for someone that wants a super high gain sound. Look elsewhere for that.

Its a tube amp and, and all that that implies. Its not bad on tubes though, just take care of it o na regular basis, ans it WON'T let you down. I trust it enough for it to be my only amp.

Haven't needed it, but the info that came with it was pretty good for a general here's-the-goods-on-your-new-toy type of thing. The website only has the basics on it and a printable version of what came with the amp from the factory.

I've been playing off and on since I was about 10. That puts the mark at about 12 years. I've played other amps of different varieties and nothing comes close to the sound of this thing unless you go to a high-end or custom piece. The fenders were all different in they're own right, but still had that distinctive sound they're known for. I want that sound when it comes to my bass amp, but not guitar. The ampeg seemed to let the voice of the giutar come through more than any others I played. If it were stolen, there would be another in the very near future. Its the tone and the versitility within the music I play that keeps me coming back

ReverbeRocket 2x12 combo.
If you want great combo, look no further. Thes are the best 2 channel combo out there. I mostly use the gain channel, the clean channel is great too. Reverb sounds good, although I'm not a reverb guy.

Rich tube blues/hard rock distortion. It doesn't get the low-end fart that the Fender hot rod deluxes & devilles get. The gain is really nice Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Cheap Trick. No hi-gain here. Just good tube overdrive.

Only had one preamp tube go out on me.
It always fires up.

Ampeg is cool to deal with. Peavey is the best USA company to deal with. Ampeg doesn't have the phone support you might like.

Been playing a LONG, LONG time. I really like everything about this combo. I'm amazed at the way it overdrives. I have an Ampeg VL-1001 it doesn't come close to that with gain, but the VL-1001 is a low/hi gain type amp. This is a different monster all together. I probably have too many amps & most of them I don't give stellar reviews like this. If you can find one of these, new or used buy it. It has warm, fat, rich tone. Ampeg's not just a Bass Amp company? I wish I would have found that out earlier in my Rock & Roll life.

Great clean channel. This has been echo'ed over and over, but its true, very clean, warm and punchy. I gigged with it turned to about 5 and it still was very clean with just a slight bit of attitude to the tone. Bass response is excellent, something I like. I'm not into the bright voiced offerings by Fender these days. I'm not sure who is testing the supposed reissue Fenders but with the exception of maybe the super reverb and the custom point to point amps, most of them are very very bright for my taste. Feature wise, hey its got all of the modern appointments so I'd have to give it a 10 here.

I've used three guitars through it, a Ibanez Talman with humbuckings, a 90' Gibson Lucille and a 90' Deluxe Strat Plus. Its a treat with any of them. Gain can get a bit over the top, but put on about 5 and adjusting volume with the master gives just a great blues/british blues invasion sound for lead work. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to even use the gain channel, but with it backed off a bit, I left my trusty DS1 pedal at home and plug straight in using just the gain channel for leads. Great deal, I leave the guitar volume dimmed, adjust my rhythm volume with the volume and then adjust the master for my max lead volume. For quieter passages just back off on your pick hand and the amps dynamics allow it to be quiet, just dig in a bit and you have all the bit you need at least for the Blues I play.

To early to say, but its a 97' and looks very new still, perhaps it was a closet queen, but so far so good.

Haven't dealt with them, but it wouldn't be necessary as its out of warranty, my amp tech would take care of it though.

Overal, best I've played, I can honestly say that. I've played for 38 years and it just gives me a blues sound that so inspires my playing that my band mates just grin. I've played tube amps for years and bang for the buck, it beat all of the moderate to damn expensive amps I played while shopping for a new amp in the 50-60 watt range. Mine has the tube retainer and has none of the problems of tube rattle others have mentioned. I'd buy another in a minute and I will, I'll also probably look around for the 100 watt version for outdoor stuff. If you play the blues, maybe you should just look for a fender and keep the price of these low so I can still afford them, after all, who ever heard of using a Ampeg for playing the blues, yeah thats it, just get a Fender cause after all, thats what SRV and all the greats played... (why be different after all!)