Ampeg R-212R

I think it's about a 1998 or 1999. It was in great shape when I picked it up used. This is the ultimate bluesy reverb amp. I have heard nothing that approaches it. I even got rid of my Soldano after buying this.
It's all tube with a lot of knobs to adjust to get the sound just right, two channels with a footswitch.

Lots of different guitars, ranging from a 70 Les Paul Custom to a 77 Epi Dot to a 2000 Fender Texas Fat Strat to a Guild FS=46CE acoustic electric. It all sounds good with this amp. If for nothing else, you need this amp for the reverb.

Haven't been out gigging but I've used it at least once a day for over 6 months without any sign that I might need professional help (wait, that the amp might need professional hel). I still may need them.

This is an awesome amp, especially for the price. It replaced a Soldano and it has enough head room to compete with bigger Fender amps.
Oh, and don't forget reverb, reverb, reverb READY

2 channels Guitar & Accordion, 2x12 50 Watts 3 12ax7a's 2 6L6s power sectionits got a footswitch that can switch dirt /clean and the reverb section on/off
it does have an fx loop which could aparently double as a send, this is a brand new one...its a reissue but they didnt make 2 12s in the old ones this is a big improvement on an incredible amp!

I use a Gibson SG special I have only been playing electric guitar for about a year, Ive played bass for about 15 years (go figure I get an Ampeg guitar amp) and acoustic guitar for 5 or 6 years..so electric is new and a whole lot of fun for me...The SG sounds great through any amp but this one is really cool I havent even had a chance to gig with it yet but the sound is exciting enough for me to say a few things about it. The clean channel is great...great tone the dirt channel seems to have a great growly bite to it and the speakers bring out the neck through body sustain nicely I like the 6L6s a lot...oh the reverb gives you a lot of room to get some nice ambiance in your sound I used the treble and middle pickup selector and got a wide variety of tones and I must admit they all sounded excellent to me. I got this because I needed a bigger amp ( I have a 66 Ampeg jet I got from my band's bass player...)

Dont know I ve only had it a week but It seems very sturdy there is a cage around the power tubes andf the reverb has a leather cover...it seems like the new things are nice improvements

Actually I talked to someone before about replacing the tubes in my J-12 Jet, the amp had 8751a's which were basically next to impossible to locate, I did find one on the internet but not a mixed set, they helped me figure I should change a resistor and get a sovtek replacement set which works like a champ anyway I would assume they are fairly helpful

I use a Daddy O Danelectro Overdrive, DOD envelope filter, RAT distortion, Dan Echo analog delay, Flanger, my band sdoes punk-esque rock with some folkish influences as well I really love the sound of My Ampeg Jet but sometimes its not loud enough depending on the room, the Reverberocket is all that sound and more and you can really light it up when you push it. I think 620 was a steel for this amp...it can really get raucus but I love the fact that its tone is so majestic...it sounds as great playing thoughtful as it does when you want to get a little snarly and I am totally psyched about gigging with this...it looks totally cool with blue tolex or whatever you call that...the one thing I can say at this point is regardless of your style whatever you play through this thing sounds incredible I would highly recomend one on tone alone...I am as sold as you could be on Ampeg's guitar stuff I cant believe that more guitarists dont use these...I assume people probably associate Ampeg more with bass systems but wow they are missing out...this one is a gem any way you look at it...

great reverb, good sounds.

this amp was everything I wanted, EXCEPT for it did not have the headroom I needed, or enough low end. But for the money, this amp CANNOT and WILL NOT be beat. The only reason why I sold it is because I could finally afford a Bruno Underground 30 ( I have since sold that because it was too loud for apartment living). The Distortion on this amp is great, the reverb is amazing. Sure there was tube rattle noise, but I took it to the shop for "the mod" and that helped. For the money, no other amp sounds as good, and believe me I played EVERYTHING in the price-range. It burys every marshall and fender even close in price. Don't even bother with a crate or peavey that's priced similar, the Reverb Rocket rules its' class. (And that would be mid-priced class AB) I'm giving it a 9 because-- for the money, it's hard to beat.

If I lost everything and had to start over, a Reverb Rocket would certainly be apart of my rebuilding process. It's a great sounding amp. I'm not going to try explaining it, go play one.

bought new 2yrs ago. extrememly versatile for my uses. 2 channel switching. wish i could kill on-board speakers for recording out.
Home use/occasional gig use.

use primarily w/ES-135 Gibson/custom strat w/single bill lawrence blade humbucker. play mostly blue/rock. distortion is somewhat muddy on low end.

very dependable so far. regular use is 1-2 hrs day, 5 days or better a week.

basic questions are very slow to be followed up on. inquired about an output tube change-over, still 3 days and have not heard back.

i would replace this amp with another ampeg in a heartbeat-in over 38yrs of playing have not used another amp even close in build quality/tone/power for the bucks-HANDS DOWN!!!!!!

Beautiful American made all tube piece of heaven. It has two channels clean and distortion. Beautiful tube spring reverb. Effects loop. The precious accordion jack (for all you accordion players) as well as the guitar jack. Three band eq. 50Watts of power and two 12inch speakers for thump. Beautiful blue checkered tolex with silver grill cloth, yum. The only thing I wish it had was tremelo, but you dont really see tremelo offered in any new amps these days, except them evil fender re-issues of the twin reverb or is it dual I cant remember. Fender should be ashamed of itself for reissuing amps that are nothing like the ones that they steal their names from. They should learn from ampeg that reissues should be quality products and not cash in on the desire for vintage amps.

Heavenly sounds, its a tone monster with a es-335 and a fender tex-mex tele, and I feel like I take a trip back to the 50s/60s whenever I play. It has a fat surf/texas sound that I am in love with. But dont get me wrong, its not just a vintage sound time machine. I play anything from jazz, to classic rock, to heavy metal, to punk, to industrial, to blues, to country, to fusion, well you get the idea. And this amp just pounds out the tone. It handles effects wonderfully. Ive always had the problem with amps messing with effect pedals sound, but with this amp I swear a blind monkey could mess with my effect set up and it would still sound fantastic. I love the distortion. Unlike a lot of other people I think its wonderful for modern rock and a new sounds, however when I use an overdrive pedal, I get thick fat and warm overdrive. Overdrive the way overdrive was meant to be. I tried out alot of amps before I baught this. Mesa-boogie, vox, marshall, fender both vintage (the real fender sounds) and those evil new reissues, line6 yamaha, hughs knetter, soldano, etc And the ampeg had the best tone at the lowest price. Some of the real expensive amps at two to four thousand dollars could compete, but why pay that much money when the ampeg has as good of tone or better.

Its been a year and its still great. Havent even had to change the tubes yet. Just wish I could find my damn receipt. Oh for those of you who dont know your receipt is your warranty. According to Ampeg. And Ive kinda got the urge to take them crappy groove tubes out and put in svetlana's (I can just imagine the sounds it would make then lol!!!)but until they burn out or I get an infusion of cash them groove tubes will have to do. I dont trust the store from where I bought it, they seem kinda shady. If your in Minnesota dont go to Midway music, they're evil.

Again ampegs site says that the receipt is the warranty and just take it back to the store, and not to them. Again If youre in Minnesota Midway music sucks. Them bastards ripped me off. At first they said the amp was 550, but when they were checking me out the price became 650, when I complained the price jumped to 700. If only I could have resisted the lure of the amp and driven to chicago or something to find a more honest store. Cause at the time this was the only ampeg dealer in town.

Well besides getting ripped off by Midway music in St. paul Minnesota. The evil bastards. The More I haggled the higher the price went. Its a great amp. I wish guitar center was selling them at the time. A week after a bought mine guitar center started selling them for $585. In the 9 years Ive been playing Ive gone through your crappy peavys and crates and new fenders, to nice orange, hiwatt, soldano, mesas, ok marshalls, vox, line 6, hughs knetter, vintage fenders, them new digital tube emulators, and this has been one of the best sounding amps Ive ever heard. It has also, even after getting ripped off by Midway music located on university ave St. Paul Minnesota, was one of the cheapest great sounding amps I could find. I would defintely buy another one, hell Im tempted to buy another one so I can have two of them for that true stereo sound, if it got stolen or broken. And I would definitely hunt down anyone who damaged it and hurt them. So in other words buy ampeg.

Beautiful Blue Diamond tolex Reverbrocket. This amp pushes 50 watts of tube power with 2 6L6's and 3 12AX7's. There are controls for bass, mid, treble, reverb, gain, master volume for the drive channel, main volume, line in/line out, footswitch input, standby switch, power switch, and a guitar and accordian input. Only thing I wish it had was separate EQ's for clean/distortion, but hey, we can't have it all, and plus this amp rules anyways.

I reviewed this amp before, it was a brutally bad one. A year now with this amp, a year older, a bit more wiser....here we go.

The clean on this amp is something special. I've yet to hear any amp pound out a better clean than this thing. Sparky yet bassy all at the same time, yet enough mids to cut through a band mix well. It works beautifully with effects (I use an MXR Distortion + and Boss CH-5 Chorus). I usually have the EQ all at 5, so it doesn't cut in on my effects. Yet with them all at 5 it still gets a great clean sound that I've yet to hear better.

Distorted is ok. I really don't use it. The EQ in my opinion doesn't help it much. It's either too bassy or just too mushy sounding. Though for blues leads and classic rock leads it would cut through a band situation great.

I've put some Celestion Modern Lead speakers in the amp, and it works 10 times better. As far as tubes go, the stock preamp tubes died in aobut 4 months (not bad). I replaced them and a year later I get a popping sound, so I take it my power tubes are bad (1 year). Also not too bad on time.

Did I mention this amp rules?

Other than tubes, this amp is very reliable. Breaking of jacks or knobs isn't an issue with the controls on top of the amp. Only thing I keep an eye on is the covering over the speakers, though if you take care of it, it'll take care of you.

No clue. I took the amp to my local guitar shop and they were going to replace the preamp tubes under warranty, but unfortunately I was too late (warranty JUST ran out). I think Ampeg holds up against Marshall and others well, but I can't speak from experience.

I've now been playing for about 5 years. I don't call myself a Jimi Hendrix or Bob Mould, but I think I have a good grasp of the guitar as a instrument. People always say, "Boy that amp sounds great!", and then I know I made a great decision to go with it. I can't say I'm upset about this purchase at all, I love this amp and it has to be the best one I've ever had so far. It's going to stay with me for a long time, I can tell. Only thing that worried me was the tubes, but hey, stock tubes usually don't last long at all. People have said the amp is muddy sounding, I can't say that in the least (except the distortion channel).

Overall, a superb purchase. If you play any type of music and need a versatile tube amp platform for effects (distortion pedals, chourus, etc.) and a great clean channel for the price, go for this amp. You won't regret it.

Amp has all the necessary features, including two channels, 3 band EQ,and footswitch for reverb and channel switching. No fancy extras like chorus, but who needs it? That's why God created effects units.
2-12 inch speakers, 50 strong watts of power make for solid sound.

I play everything from pop to jazz to alternative to heavy metal. This amp sounds great!! I use primarily the clean channel with a Boss multi-effects processor for my different sounds. The amp's distortion channel won't quite work for modern metal, but is great for classic rock, alternative, or jazz fusion. The clean channel has great rich textures. If you have to turn the volume above 5, you're probably playing a stadium. Lots of head room. I primarily use this amp with an Ibanez S series custom guitar with 2 humbuckers and a single coil. Between the multiple pickups, effects unit, and amp, there are no sounds that I can't get.

New amp, so haven't had a chance to break it, yet. The material used to cover the amp is relatively fragile compared to Marshall et al., and prone to tears. If this amp is going to be used to gig, an amp cover or anvil case would be a good investment. I'm going to build an anvil type case for this one myself.

Haven't needed support, yet.

This is a great amp. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. It has fantastic power, great tones, and a great look. With a decent multi-effects unit, it can't be beat. It's easily the equal of a Marshall, Fender, or other similar size/power amp, with the added bonus of not having to pay for the "Marshall" name. I've been playing for 14 years, and graduated from GIT with honors. I've played just about everything, and this amp is top of the line...great value.

This amp was made in 1999 and is a 2x12 all tube "reissue" combo comparable in size to a Fender Twin, Vox AC-30, Matchless DC-30, etc. Its rated at 50 watts, and that seems to be more than enough power to make this one loud mofo. Its got two inputs, one for guitar and another for accordian that is attenuated ,-6db I'm told. I can't believe that an accordian has a hotter output than a guitar, and I have never seen an accordian equipped with a quarter inch jack, but I know little about the accordian, so I will leave the accordian jack to those accordian players who choose this amp; as for me, I have only tried the guitar input and it works flawlessly, and is mounted on top of the amp so your cable is less likely to pop out when you take a stage dive.
This bad boy has two channels, pretty and nasty, and a ridiculous reverb, both controlled by the included footswitch. The is an FX loop, but no headphone or external speaker jack. I hate headphones, they're worse for you ears than anything, especially prolonged usage. I avoid them like the plague. I didn't buy an amp to plug headphones into it, so I don't care that it lacks a headphone jack. Unlike many amps I tried, this amp can actually get quiet, even on the dirty channel. Many amps start with no sound and then suddenly kick in at 1 and can't be any quieter. The ampeg gets quiet enough to practice at night without disturbing the neighbors, and without headphones. As far as the external speaker jack goesE like I said, this amp is LOUD. If you want more speakers, may I suggest you try the Ampeg reverberocket stack. It is truly awesome, and inexpensive, but I ain't got the roadies for that action.
Other than that, this combo has three EQ dials, bass, mid, and treble. They work well. I put the bass on 3, mid on 5, and treble on 7, with my cheap strat clone, and all the pickups settings sing (different tone of course).
I give it a 9 for features cause it has everything I want; I'd give it a ten if it had those extra things that I don't want but are found on some other amps. But I'll tell you what, when it come to looks, this amp is a perfect ten. I mean its gorgeous. A piece of advice, if you try out the amp, try not to look at it too much, otherwise you'll undoubtedly buy it. Just look at one of the uglier amps in the store, like a Peavey or a Crate, so that you can listen more objectively.

I write music for film, so I love the versatility of this amp. As far as the reverb up past 5 (see other reviews)? Extreme reverb settings on this amp are actually perfect for a moody film noir guitar sound. Use the same extreme reverb on the nasty channel and play with an ebo and you might scare the whole neighborhood (you could easily let them hear you with the volume this amp delivers). But I can see how those sounds aren't for everyone. I also play in a rock band, and that's mainly what I bought the amp for. I compared the Ampeg to other amps you hear a lot in rock: Fender, Vox, Matchless, and Marshall, but only combos; unless you have roadies to haul your stacks around, I see a 2x12 combo as a perfect size for a rock band, so that's the average size of the combos I checked out. In the end I loved the Matchless, but couldn't dream of affording one. The best guitarists I know couldn't dream of affording a Matchless; what good's a great sounding amp if no one can afford to buy one. Then I saw this Ampeg, so I put the Matchless criteria to it: Does it sound as good as it looks? Because both the Ampeg and the Matchless are darn good lookin' amplifiers. I knew the Matchless sounded just as good. I plugged in the cheapest guitar with the worst pickups available, to simulate my own guitar, and that Ampeg made that sucker sing. When finally bought it and took it home I plugged in my piece of crap Lotus, 100$ Strat. copy, that is potentially the noisiest guitar on the planet, and the sucker sang too! The amp is quiet, my noisy Strat sounded clean and punchy on the pretty channel and I can't get enough of the smooth harmonics on the nasty channel. I read complaints that this amp is too mid -rangey, or only has one sound. I don't agree. If you sit in front of the amp, you can hear that it can get very bright or very muddy; but if you only stand to the side of the amp, the variety of sound is much lower, and the mid-range tends to cut the best. I've never thought of amps as being more or less directional than one another, but this one is definitely directional. And it is right in front of the speakers that I've heard a wide variety of tones produced by this amp.

I've been gigging for over 14 years and I've never taken a backup amp to a single gig. I mean, that's going way over board. If the gig pays enough to be worthy of hauling two amps to it, then you should have a roadie and a tour bus filled with amps. I just got this amp, so I'll have to check back with you on whether it breaks down or not. But its built very solid for such a pretty amp.

I'll get back to you if, God forbid, I ever need it.

I was going to wait and think about buying the Reverberocket. Then I heard that Ampeg is discontinuing them. Every now and then a company comes along with a product that is the real deal, and sometimes uniquely so, but no one buys it so they discontinue it. I regret that I never bought one of those Guild mini basses with latex strings because they were like that. Those basses were unique and ingenious. This amp is that too, its unique but doesn't leave you missing something else. I'm really happy that I grabbed one before they disappear for another 30 years when the next reissue happens. I got a great price, and I suppose that's because the amp is discontinued. Paying under six hundred dollars for anything new and made in the USA, let alone an all tube 2x12 combo amp, is unheard of. I couldn't believe the price, and I understand that its street price before it was discontinued was just above 600$. What can you get for that? You can get a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe on sale which sounds like @#$%, and Fender should be ashamed for making their prettiest looking amp one of their worst sounding. You could get a Vox AC-15 that fell out of the back of a truck if you're lucky (heck may as well be an AC-30 or a Matchless if you're really lucky). Or you could get a Marshall combo, and be the first person to show to the world that Marshall combos sound good (here more than luck is required, an act of God would help). Or you could probably get a used solid state Crate or Peavey head with at least 3 stacks of "black-widow" (ooh! scary!) speaker cabinets, and learn the hard way. If you can get this amp, get it. If you can afford a Matchless, get that, and then buy the Ampeg for your "backup" (see Reliability above).

Recent re-issue. Fabulous vintage tone. Two channels, one clean, one for gain. Deep dish reverb. Has an accordian input, which is just a low input. Mine has 6L6 groove tubes. 50w is very loud. Got line in and out. Trim pots to bias the tubes. Nice.

Well thats why I bought it. Its a tone machine. I play spagetti-western, surf, lounge type stuff, and this amp has more "twang" than an old Fender. Beautiful clean, beautiful crunch, beautiful cream. Just blew away my Fender Twin reissue or my Laney VC30. This amp is capable of a wide range of tonal effects. I can get Duane Eddy type sounds I never could recreate, before. Play a Godin LGXT and a Schecter Classic through it. Both sound fantastic! This sucker is LOUD, if you want.

Built like a tank. Really. Thick plywood sides, cages around the tubes, bagged reverb. Heavy blue diamond tolex, metal corner protectors. Weighs about 55lbs, which is rough for an old boy like me, but, what the hell, I wanted clean headroom, I got it.

I am told they are very responsive, but I don't know how to get in touch. Their number isn't on their web site.

Played 35 years. Had a bunch of amps, Silvertone, Fender, Sunn, home made, Laney, you name it. This is my favorite amp of the bunch, purely because of the tone. Sounds better than a lot of boutique amps I have heard at 3 times the price. When you go lookin for a tube amp these days, you don't have that many choices, for new gear. Unless you got with outrageously expensive boutique products. This is about the best deal going, in my opinion, and a real surprise from SML.

Brand new blue diamond tolex covered Reverbrocket reissue amp. 50 watts driven by 2 6L6's and 3 12AX7's. Bass, mid, treble, reverb (wow), gain, master volume for drive channel, overall volume, line in/line out, footswitch input, standby switch, power switch, guitar and accordian input, 2 Ampeg brand (made by Eminince) speakers (16 ohm, 50 watts apiece, 1.5 inch voice coil).

I use a Fender Squier with a SD screaming deamon humbucker in bridge, and a few effects such as a MXR Distortion +, Danelectro Fab Tone, BBE 422A sonic maximizer, etc.
The clean channel, I'm very impressed with. Nice and sparkly, but just muddy enough for some nice palm muting. Reverb is great up to about 5, then it gets a BIT TOO MUCHHHHHH... but I've found a use for it all the ways up, it just depends on who you are and what you play. But still superb tube driven reverb. The clean channel, though, takes a bit getting used to, because...YOU REALLY ONLY GET ONE SOUND. The EQ helps, but this amp is mostly a 1 sound amp (but that sound is GREAT).
Running distortion pedals through the clean channel is VERY tricky. I replaced the Eminince speakers in this amp with some Celestion 80 watt speakers, but my suggestion is to keep the regular speakers in this amp if you can help it, it doesn't like you changing speakers much (I'm going to change back soon). The clean channel actually breaks up VERY early, but its a nice break up, not harsh like some other amps (could be my pickups too, they are pretty hot). Distortion pedals sound very good through this amp, IMO. Just watch, analog ones will sound analog no matter what you put it through.
Distortion channel is usable. I like midrange more than probably anyone alive (my guitar god is Bob Mould, now THAT's midrange), but this amp goes WAY overboard on it. It's pretty good for a blues or early rock sound, but forget modern rock. But that's why I use distortion pedals. :)
Overall, great clean channel - I'd give it a 9, so-so distortion - I'd give it a 6. 8 Overall.

5 year warranty, so I feel safe, though I don't know how good Ampeg is on tech support or warranties.

Havent tried yet.

Ive been playing for about 6 years now. Ive played through everything from solid state Fenders to Marshall half stacks to Mesa-Boogie combos. This amp is great for it's price range. I only wish the distortion channel was a bit more modern, and it had a bit more headroom on the clean channel, but don't get me wrong, with the sound that comes out of this amp, I'll put up with those flaws (if you can call them that).
As I said though, IMO, don't change the speaker in this amp, and don't use Groove Tube preamp tubes in it (way too noisy). I'll be changing the speakers back to the originals and putting in some Marshall tubes soon, so I'll keep you all updated to how it goes.