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!)

It has everything you really need. If you want more, buy pedals. It has enough power in its 50 watts to play any club. I won't upgrade until I go on an arena tour. Even then, I might consider running a 4 x 12 cab. I'd have to make that adjustment myself as there is no exterior jack for such a cab.

I tried this out at a show using my friend's. I had it with my American Strat and Monster cables and the sound blew me away. I had been playing with a Marshall Valvestate and not even close. This has one of the best clean tones I have ever heard. It also has the footswitch for your distortion channel. I had to have one!

I would guess that it is as dependable as it is beautiful. It seems sturdy, but I also purchased the flite case for it due to I want it to stay in mint condition as we play about 5 times a week. It would stand up to quite a bit on its own.

N/A No problems to speak of.

I have been playing about 5 years. I have an american strat and a USA g&l classic. If something ever happened to this amp, I would easily cry until my wife said I could have a new one. I love everything about it. I wish it had an external jak for a 4 x 12 cab or something. I feel like I stole this amp for only 400.00

Reverbrocket Reissue purchased in 2004.
Dimensions: 25 x 19 x 11
Weight: 55 Pounds
# of Channels: 2
Power Amp Tubes: 2 x Groove Tube 6L6
Preamp Tubes: 3 x 12AX7
RMS Power Output: 50 Watts Class AB
Speakers: 2 x 12" Ampeg Vintage
Tone Controls: Bass, Mid, Treble

Reverb
Line Out/Line In
Footswitch Jack for Channel Select and Reverb On/Off

I play through a Fender fat strat MIM (gold lace sensors in the neck and middle, and a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge) and this thing just sings with this amp. The clean channel is unbelievably clean and works well with pedals. Only wish the second(distorted) channel had a little more crunch to it, but i guess thats why i use pedals(Big Muff backed by a Keeley tubescreamer).

This is my first tube amp and it is perfect as far as I am concerned. I play everything from blues to punk and this thing covers everything. Go out and pick this up for the clean channel if nothing else!

Seems to be built like a tank

havent dealt with them, but the 5 year warranty is nice

This amp rocks! If youre looking to break into the tube amp scene, this amp is what you want. Got it brand new on ebay at a more than affordable price compared to what these things are going for in shops.

I tried all the amps in the guitar store and decided on the Ampeg. I got it at a diccount price, so i picked it instead of the Peavey Classic 30 i was orginally going to buy. It has one set of eq's, volume, gain, and a master volume. It came with a footswitch and was one beutiful amp.

I plugged it in at home and was outraged. My amp was pickin up a radio station. I couldn't hear was playing, only "Bhoemian Rhaphsody" (laugh here). I tried three other tube amps to see if the same thing would happen and it didn't. It wasn't my house it seems... If it wasn't for the radio it seems this amp would have sounded great, though.

This amp is heavy, but built like a rock to justify it. I'm pretty sure i could have jumped on top of it and danced without a worry. Now if it wasn't for the radio...

After air guitaring for a few seconds i immediatly called customer service. squat. they were jackasses about it too. i then e-mailed them only to the the same answer-
That happens with tube amps from time to time. It is not the
outlet doing it. Try using a shorted guitar cable and reposition the amp.
That is really all you can try.
-Needless to say that didn't help at all, and as i moved around the amp, i just got different radio stations. So i bought a 600 dollar radio. Yee-haw.

I'll rate this catogory without adding in the radio. The amp was sounded great, and thanks to the store's discount came at a great price. However I traded it in for a Peavey Classic 30, which by the way, doesn't pick up radio

Plenty of features. Anyone who complains about features is a jackass. Do minimal research. If it doesn't have all the knobs you want, don't buy it. If you need a lot of knobs to sound good, you probably suck anyway.

My favorite amp ever. I wanted to replace it with a 4x10 Fender Hot Rod Deville, but I bought one and it doesn't compare. I play rock n roll with a Telecaster and a Les Paul Jr., but I often share this amp at gigs and everything I've ever heard plugged into this amp sounds great.

Still on original tubes. When I do gig there's no backup.

Never had a problem.

I've been playing guitar for about seven years now. I'm the lord of rock. If I lost this amp, I'd punch the nearest person and buy another one. I got this amp for next to nothing and I won't buy a stack until I go on another stadium tour.

I was lucky enough to run into an Ampeg rep when I was purchasing this bugger, and found out it was made in '97, and that I got a helluva deal on it.
it's standard, 212, fifty watts, 2 channels, footswitchable reverb/'overdrive....wish it had an output for an extension cab, but I'll have it modded,no prob there. Plenty of power, but the tubes ring when I push the amp too hard.

I use Les Pauls, a standard and a studio, and a bunch of pedals:Danelectro tuner, Dano octave, Boss V-wah, Route66 overdrive/compressor, and a Line6 delay modeler,into the amp.mainly I play bluesy rock, but my band does covers, everything from reggae, funk, and blues to Jamband, the dead, classic rock, you know , everything but metal and punk. When I push the amp, the tubes ring a bit, so I'll have to fix that, but other than that, it's all good. the od channel is pretty Matchless-esque, more chimey than a Marshall, but not so damn trebly like a Fender.

I haven't gigged it yet, but it's made it through my usual "new amp" pummeling(you know, dropping when you take it out of the car, standing on it and just WAILING.

nothing to report, as ofyet

I've been playing for 22 years, 18 seriously, 15 of those gigging semi regularly. the last 5 years, every weekend. I'm not sure if the theif would live to tell about it if he took ANY of my gear, much less my amp. I love everything about this amp, but I wish it could drive an ext. cab, so I could use a talk-box. I compared it to 3 other amps in the same class, ab, and for the money, it was a steal. then next amp up from that was a Marshall, that someone else bought anyway.

ampeg r212-r reverbrocket 2x12 combo, 50 watts all tube. factory 2nd. whatever they fixed it was cheap and sounds great now. reverb and hi-gain features, switchable, usual eq. no ext speaker jack but you can bypass it if you hook the speaker clips on a 1/4" terminal adapter - don't spend more than 10.00 to do this - hooked to a cab of your choice. use effects loop in front of the amp and your own distortion box, the hi-gain is nice but pretty useless unless you are a blues man.

i use the highest output humbuckers i can find on an sg, even balanced clean/dirty. i play hard rock and metal out of this thing no problem. the trick is customizing your pedal board and more importantly the cab. i pimped out my 4x12 with 2 eminence gb12s and 2 old model g12-80h by celestion - the thing is as close to matchless as you will get for a 500.00 amp. this thing rules, over the top lead, where i use my rival orange head for rhythm.

seeing it was a fully repaired and inspected factory 2nd i dont see have anymore problems, so far it hasn't flinched. i think it drives the ampeg vintage (greenback type) speakers a little hard, but its pry cuz of the low power handling on those cones. carry some spare tubes just in case, on a good class a/ab amp i'd be surprised if you had to replace them more than once a year.

the dealer tried to get me a reverbrocket r50h head with el34s instead of the combo 6l6 - my beef was no ext jack, i wanted a head, until the adapter idea came to me, st. louis music tried their best to find one. no dice.

my setup is an sg or les paul type guitar (ltd and epiphone), boss mega distortion and other effects. i've had lots of amps and this one seriously reminds me of the matchless sound clips i heard. had a piece of shit vox that cost me more to scrap then it was worth, various marshalls that sound like hell, etc. the only other amp i'd recommend is my trusty orange ad30tc head - very voxy and built like a tank. after years of searching i will stick with this for awhile. do yourself and customize it if you can to get the best sound for your money.

2003. very versatile amp. I play different types of rock, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Beatles, Zeppelin, Floyd, stuff like that. It fits my style very well. 2 channels, clean, overdrive. effects loop. bagged reverb. 2x12 all tube combo. 2 Ampeg vintage speakers. 2 6L6, 3 12AX7. comes with footswitch for channel switching and reverb.

I play a Gibson SG Standard, Epiphone Special II, and Jay Turser JT-LT custom. Suits my style very well. Not very noisy, nice and clean for the most pary. Amazing clean channel, distorts nicely at high volumes. Decent overdrive channel, works in conjuction with my DS-1. Very pedal friendly amp, largely due to the great clean channel. Amazing reverb, if you turn it all the way up gets very verby, somewhat trippy. With my big muff it sounds nice and sustainy-creamy, just as a Big Muff was intended to sound.

very reliable, never had any problems, very sturdy. i bought this "blem" at musiciansfriend but i couldnt find any problems, cosmetic or otherwise, must've been involving the packaging, as musiciansfriend says blems can.

N/A never needed it

Overall a great amp, versatile, sounds great, looks great. Very good price for this amp too.

2000 Reverberocket. Standard features.

Running an LP Standard, Strat, and Lucille through this. Play all kinds of different styles except metal. Pretty quiet amp. Forte is for clean playing as echoed by other reviewers. Distortion channel pretty weak - seems to lose base punch, but lots of mids and trebles - cool for upper register playing, not fun for digging into low notes. Clean - plenty of bass punch. I play this stereo with a Super Jet to keep the amp volume down lower in the clean sweet spot. I agree that this is the best clean I've heard - bar none. It's kind of a spanky clean that gives a little - kind of glassy. Also, sort of a round tone - whatever that means! I also have a Fender Custom Shop Dual Pro - and its clean doesn't quite hold up to this. It sounds better w/ humbuckers vs. single coils - I think it's voiced for humbuckers.

Can't really speak to this since I'm not using it 3-5 times a week on steady gigs. But - nothing wrong so far.

In the past I've called SLM for questions - very responsive.

Please refer to sound category above. Bottom line - nails the tone I've been looking for.

I bought the amp a year ago over ebay. I thought i'd review it because i looked at the reviews here before i bought it. i wont bother listing all the features since its already in other reviews. I wish it had an effects loop. This amp has plenty of power, its totally loud enough for almost any indoor gig without having to be miked.

All i really want to say is that this amp has a REALLY nice sounding clean channel, the best i have heard so far. although i havent played out of every amp, this one has the best clean channel i have heard. Buy it if you want a great clean tube sound. It sounds especially good when cranked up quite a bit, you get a natural overdrive that just sparkles. the distortion is nothing special at all, in fact I hate it, but there are plenty of other options for distorion! i am keeping this amp for its clean channel. i also have a peavey half stack that i run a digitech 2112 preamp in front of, so on stage I will have an a/b switch to be able to switch between the two amps, or mix them. This amp just sounds too good to sell. oh and one more thing, the reverb on it is awesome too.

hasnt broken yet, although i will probably repplace the 6l6's soon.

if i have a warrenty i'm sure i've lost it by now, or haven't activated it. heh

Overall, a great amp and i got a sweet deal on it. and it seems that there are others who have got it for 400 bucks new. its totally worth it. like i said, the clean is amazing with this amp, and thats why i value the amp so much

Purchased on E-Bay in 2002, New, I think this amp is being discontinued. I am not an experienced player, but feel I have a pretty good ear. I play mostly blues and R&R, this amp is dynamite for both. Has clean and dirty channel, 50 Watt, 2 12's, Groove Tubes, pretty good looking amp /w a bluish check tolex, and silver grill. Stovetop knobs on back of amp. Also has an accordian jack, which I believe is an attenuated input. Tubes are in a cage and reverb is in a leather bag. Comes w/ a footswitch that goes High/Low and reverb on/off. Also has an effects in/out.
This amp does not have a headphone jack which is no issue for me.Pretty simple and direct set up.

I have a Godin Radiator which is pretty jangly, and a big ol' Hondo jazz guitar w/ 2 humbuckers and is just the sweetest $200 I've ever spent. Both sound really nice through this amp. This thing cranks out beautiful tone, period. I tried out a lot of amps from the Peavey classic 30 and the Delta Blues, the Fender Blues Jr, and Hot Rod Deluxe. I also tried some SS and modeling amps, I honestly thought they were all pretty darned nice, especially the tube amps and would probably be very happy w/ the Fender or Peavey, but the Ampeg still had an edge on all of them. The clean channel absolutely screams and is very pure all the way to obscene volume. The dirty channel just growls with the gain around 2-/2 and the master turned up. I don't have any use for more crunch (?) than that. This amp just absolutely puts out the sweetest tone imaginable for the money. I have friends who are very accomplished players that gig w/ Mesa Booogie combo and a Marshall stack. Both were completely impressed with the Ampeg, and just about shit when I told them I got it for $400 new.
Oh yeah the reverb is magnificent. Unfortunately I mostly practice at night after the kids are in bed, which means low volume. This amp sounds very nice at lower volume, but just kicks tail when you can turn it up a little.

So far so good. Still pretty new.

Not needed yet, hopefully never will

I've seen where people have changed tubes and speakers w/ positive results. I think this amp is great right out of the box and have no intention of changing anything (at least until I start breaking or wearing stuff out)
Overall this is a beautiful amp for the buck, I can not understand why these are not more popular, but believe me, everyone who plays through this (all better than me) would seriously consider buying one if they were to get another amp.

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.

See next submission

Just an update on the next submission... Still love the amp, great clean tone, overdrive improves with better tubes, still slightly mushy on low end. Maybe it's in the pickups....

Here's the update. This thing isn't exactly reliable right out of the box. Sure, it has Groove Tubes 6l6's (not el34), but the preamp tubes are cheap Chinese Groove Tubes (Boooo). The overdrive tube died within the first few months, but fortunately I was able to get it replaced while it was still under warranty. The power tubes (which are supposed to last a year or so) died a few months later, and cost *$50* to replace (grrrrr)>:(. However, once that was taken care of, and *good* tubes were put in, the amp has been totally reliable.

Here's a plus. They have excellent online customer support. When I had the preamp tube trouble, I e-mailed a tech guy @ ampeg, and he responded quickly with possible causes and solutions. I e-mailed him again during my power tube woes, and he was just as helpful. Thanks a bunch, guys.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great sounding amp, and I am totally happy with it. As I am not as proficient in adjectives as some people, I recommend you check out the submissions for the r-12r amp. It's the same amp, only minus a 12 inch speaker. Those reviews accurately describe the amp, and do it justice. Last thing: when pricing the amp, expect to add about $75 for tube replacements in the next 6 months. That's just the way it is.......

This is a new Blue Diamond re-issue of the Ampeg Reverberocket. It has two 12 inch Ampeg brand speakers, 2 EL34 Groove Tubes power tubes (!) and three 12AX7 Sovtex(?) preamp tubes, spring reverb, overdrive & clean channels easily switchable from amp and included footswitch, three-band EQ, universal reverb, and line in and out jacks. It's a walloping 50 watts, walloping because this puppy gets LOUD. In by bedroom, I can get by great with the volume on about 3. Could have some more features (I was looking at a Marshall Valvestate combo before this one, which is loaded with features). Overall, though, I'm happy with the current features.

JUST AMAZING! This amp really sings on just about any level (haven't cranked it yet, though). I use a Yamaha strat-copy with stock pickups and with my amp set right, I can really nail a great Eric Clapton tone. For what I play, it's perfect. The clean channel has that beautiful tube sound to it, and the first time I heard it, it blew me away. I've heard that this amp's tone is comparable to a Vox AC-30, but I wouldn't know. The reverb is heavenly. Nothing compares to tube driven reverb, especially Ampeg's. The only minor complaint that I have with this amp is the overdrive. Don't get me wrong, it's great. However, it's rather mid-rangey, which I'm not accustomed to. The overdrive also lacks some presence. It seems sort of far off. However, the sweet tone of it overcomes these downfalls.

Looks like it's sturdy enough, would probably trust it in a gig without a backup. One thing I have noticed: it rattles every now and then. I think that rattle comes from the metal cage that surrounds the power tubes. I might just get that caged removed...

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing for 4-5 years, and I've really come to appreciate tube amps in that time. If it were lost or stolen, I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Think about it: $535 for heavenly tube-amp tone. I played this amp against a Fender DeVille, and one of the Crate Vintage series, and hands down, this was the best one. When played with a Strat, it sounds pleasingly raunchy on the overdrive, but crisp and smooth on the clean. Played with a Les Paul, it's just out of this world. My mom was standing in Guitar Center while I was playing the Les Paul through it, and she was blown away. Overall, this amp is absolutely amazing. I would recommend buying it, even if you aren't in the market for a tube amp.
One more thing::: anyone who reads this and owns a reverberocket, please e-mail me with your favorite settings for it. thanks

This amp is known as the "Revererocket". It's a 50 watt all tube unit with 2 12" speakers. Two channels - one clean and one dirty. Channel switching is done via the foot switch. Has Line-in and Line-out for EFX. No headphone jack. To see the control panel, go to the following site: "http://www.ampeg.com/r12rfspec.html". I use this amp for my personal pleasure. I do not play in a band any more, so I can't attest as to this amps "gigability". However, during my band playing days, I worked with several Ampeg products, and they withstood travel well. This particular model seems well built. I have heard some complaints about "rattling" at volume, but I haven't had that problem with this amp. It cranks out a nice 50 Watts through two Ampeg 12" speakers. The speakers sound good, but I'll eventually replace them, probably with Celestions.

I play a 1983 Jap Strat with original single coils. At volume (4+) there is some hum, but it's not bad. When playing, you don't hear it. Clean channel really sings when cranked. Nice sound for blues or rock. Sound is fairly adjustable with individual Bass, Mid, and Treble controls. Reverb sounds lush, although it's most effective at a lower setting. Anything above 5 is a bit much. Distortion sounds pretty good on this amp; not sure what other models I'd compare it to; I would just say that it's not brutal - certainly not for the metal crowd. Note that the only external device I use is a Crybaby Wah. I would guess that with an EFX in the loop that you could make this baby sound however you want. This amp like like to emphasize the low end; you need to adjust the controls to kkep from getting too muddy here. However, the adjustments are easy. Between the control panel and your guitar controls, you can eliminate this muddiness. Midrange and highs are typically sparkling clear. Those who play blues and rock riffs will like this amp. Crank up the volume and this baby wails. I can't attest to the amps ability to "cut through" at a gig, but my guess is that for everything but the largest venues, you're gonna be heard.

I've had this amp one week. I bought it used (8 months old) from a dealer in Atlanta. It seems sturdy, and I have not experienced any rattling. When I was younger and playing alot, Ampegs had a reputation as workhorses. I'll report back in 6 months.

I called St. Louis Music (makers of Ampegs) to get a list of Atlanta-area dealers. The phone was answered right away, and my question was answered quickly. I have not had any technical questions yet - and probably won't have - so I can't attest to how good they are in this area.

Before I bought this amp, I checked out and played through a variety of other amps; Fender Deville (4x10); Trace Elliot (can't remember the model); smaller Ampegs like the SJ-12T and SJ12R; Line6 Flextone and AxSys; various Crate and Marshall combo units. Then I ran across this used model. It was in excellent shape; the dealer had it on consignment; I played it for an hour in the store against other models, and decided to go for it. I'm am taking a risk on the warranty. I could have gotten a new unit for 579 with a 5-year warranty. Instead, I bought this one for 395, but the dealer did not have the original sales receipt from the original buyer. I asked the dealer to try to get the original receipt when he payed the original owner, but I haven't heard from him yet. I have all the other documentation for the amp, and the documentation makes a point of stating that the warranty is transferrable with original sales reciept only, and only when the amp was sold originally by an authorized Ampeg dealer. Soooo..yes, I took a risk. If anything bad happens, I'll let you know. says that the

Two channels w/footswitch, effects loop, NO extension speaker jack, but I'm having one put in as we speak. I use this amp live and in the studio and find in quite versitile for the money. I am running this in stero with my Fender Twin and both sounds blend very well.

I have 2 custom guitars one strat style with 3 Tom Anderson pickups (SD-1, SD-1R, SD-2) and a tele with 2 Seymore Duncan humbuckers ('59 & Custom Custom) both guitars sound good I prefer the strat pluged into the Accordian (low) Input. I play in a Alt/Rock band and it suits it very well. I find the gain channel has a great crunch sound almost too much for me, but the EQ seemes almost useless. I think the eq was made for the clean channel, because it has a significant effect on the sound. The clean channel sounds great but I can't help but use my twin for cleans. I don't find the amp all that noisy, unless the gain is fully cranked. The bottom end is fairly mushy but my Twin makes up for that. I just used this amp for an entire album and a little Eqing made it sound great.

I havn't had any problems yet (2 months old) I always have two amps at a gig anyway but I probably would use it without a backup.

I e-mail the company 3 weeks ago and havn't gotten a reply which is a little annoying. I bought the amp new in Boston and I live in Toronto, when I left the store there was a big envelope in the back of the amp which I thought would be the manual, warrenty and footswitch. In my stupidity I didn't check until I got home. The footswitch and cable were there but no warrenty info or manual. I checked their website and the online manual said the amp had EL-34 power tubes and mine has 6L6 tubes. So I e-mailed trying to find out what the deal was and about the warrenty and haven't gotten a reply yet. I hear the warrenty is 5 years transferable. My rating for this category is dropping daily!

I've been playing for over 10 years and lately have been doing a lot of session work. I wanted a second amp for some different tones. When I went to Boston I was hoping to find a used Mesa/Boogie Maverick but came across this amp. I'm glad I bought this amp it's a great deal for the money. If it was lost or stolen and I only had $500 to spend on an amp I'd buy it again. I wish it came with an extension speaker jack and I wish the bottom end was tighter, but you can't win'em all. If anyone from Ampeg reads this please contact me!

2-12 50 watt EL34's 3 ax7's.

Well... was trying to find a amp that could do it all... sounded good in the store sucks at home.. bottom end is TOO mushy. tone changes to much when you turn the amp up.. loses its treble.

Well... had it one night had to replace the power tubes due to rattling. New tubes rattle after one day.. seems to be a prob. have also heard of this prob from other people.

Havent had it worked on yet

Would consider it again... all in all not to bad.. needs seperate tone for each channel good reverb of course... played with Rio grade tallboy humbuckers it is to tinny

Effects loop is a good thing, but is not switchable and has no level control. I wish there were separate tone controls for each channel as well.

I play rhythm guitar in a ska band, and I attempt to achieve a big, round, clean tone 95% of the time. This amp is an absolute Godsend in helping me get that tone! The crunch channel is pretty damn fine to my ears, too. The only drawback: if I want extra trebel, I have to switch from my neck to my bridge PU (and that's something I just don't like to do!).

I just bought it 2 days ago, but from e-mailing people from all around, I think I'll have little if no problems with it.

Five year, transferable warranties are hard to beat! I'm sure I'll be fine.

I compared this amp against the Peavey Duel, Fender HotRod series, Crate Vintage Club, and all variants on the above themes, and the Ampeg was the clear winner. I'd buy this amp again without thinking twice. Of note: the rumors I had heard about "rattleing tubes" is true. If you crank up the bass, there is a audible buzzing sound, but when playing with a full band you dont even notice it.

This is a fifty watt tube amp with two 12 inch speakers. It has two inputs and a classic reissue look. Plenty of power as with all tube amps. Recently purchased this amp to replace my old peavy in order to get the tube sound and to get better sound quality as well as volume. Features clean and dirty channels with a reverb tank.

Currently playing semore duncan humbuckers through it. As with all tube amps it is very hot, when cranked up on the overdrive channel it has plenty of feedback. The bottom end is very muddy but it can cut through if you clean it up a bit by adding some mid and lowering the bass Perfect for the rock alternative cover songs that my band plays and has plenty of power to gig small clubs with. Really sings when you give it a good solo.

Don't know yet, hope it is as good as their name.

Good warranty, hopefully won't need to do any work on it.

so far I am pleased. Would like to know how which tubes to put in it in order to get a crunchier bottom end.