Ampeg SJ-12R Super Jet

The Jet Reissue was made in '97 or '98. Like many vintage amps, or reproductions, versatility wasn't the main factor when they designed it. But as an extra amp for srereo setups, or as a single amp with pedals, it's fine for low volume gigs, with one modification...the speaker it came with was kinda lame...

I'm playing oldies, classic rock and some country in a trio with a Les Paul Special (with P-90s in place of the stock P-100s). Boss pedalboard feeds the Jet and Vox AC-15. The reverb in the Jet is more dramatic, and The AC-15 tremelo is foot-switchable, so even with the chorus off I can get pseudo-stereo with dry/reverb or reverb/tremelo.
The Jet sounds good, not noisy (that would be the P-90s). The stock speaker blew up not long after I bought it used, so I replaced it with an Eminence. Sounds great, and the Eminence can take the power.

Other than the crappy speaker, the amp has been reliable. No contact with manufacturer since I bought it used.

The Jet is an excellent value in a recording or practice amp, as part of a low volume stereo rig, or for real low volume gigs on its own.
The bang for the buck is very good. The tremelo sounds good, but isn't footswitchable. The reverb is quite nice for this price range.
Along with my AC-15, and my Fender Deluxe, it's one of my favorite amps. Highly recommended, other than the stock speaker. Even with the cost of a better speaker, his amp is a sweet deal.

1996 combo, 12" Ampeg ceramic spkr, spring reverb

Very clean and sparkly, lots of headroom, no distortion detected on the oscope until volume at about 6

Major problems with chassis construction. The power tubes are very close to the speaker magnet, essentially vibrating the hell out of the tubes and consequently the entire chassis. This major design mistake by St Louis Music causes expensive EL-34 pairs to be shaken beyond usability after about 30 hours. I replaced the tubes twice, but they only lasted a couple of weeks. At $35 a matched pair, that's expensive. The warranty doesn't help, because the three qualified Ampeg servicemen in Los Angeles couldn't figure out how to get rid of the low frequency crumbling which makes the amp unusable. Phone calls to Jay Lee only amount to : "Try new tubes." My servicemen recommended chopping off the chassis from the speaker and building a new separate speaker cabinet. He had four exact same SuperJets in his shop, all with the exact same problem. St Louis Music has no real remedy, and are probably flooded with calls from individuals like me.

They have a problem with this model, and can't admit it.

1996 50 Watts, All tube( 2 6L6 ), single 12" Ampeg Paper Cone Speaker, reverb, no effects loops or channels, footswitch for reverb and 15db boost, 35 pounds. This amp has everything I wanted except tremelo. Ampeg makes a similar model SJ12T with tremelo, but seemingly much less power. This amp is ggod for home(volume 1 - 2), band practice (volume 4), small clubs (5) or studio (2 - 8). I tried several in the store and blew one out at volume 10. Careful with quality issues, the Tolex can get marred or ripped. I don't know anything about the Ampeg speaker, maybe I'll replace it for fun.

I am using it with a single coil guitar to play basic rock. Would be very good for blues also. I can replace the 6L6s with EL-34 tubes to get the more British Marshall and Hiwatt sound. There was some trouble with vibration in the cabinet that was fixed easily. The 15 db footswitch is handy for taking solos live, although I wish the gain was more like 6 db. The gain is done with a transistor/op-amp config.

Parts are accessible, no service calls yet... I would suggest spending at least two hours in the store playing, leaning, moving, and inspecting the amp. The quality of soldering, drilling, stapling, etc. is all very noticeable... Watch the Tolex cover.

No calls yet. 5 year warranty with original receipt.

Great combo amp for the price. I liked it better than some $1000 Marshalls I tried, and it is much better than anything Fender has put out recently. 50 watts is good enough for stage and studio, so I chose this amp on that fact alone. The reverb is short pan and good enough to notice. Some electronic components are probably cheap, but should not ever fail... but the important thing is to have a 50 watt all-tube amp for under $400.

I bouight this amp strongly onthe reviews here in Harmony Central. This amp DOES kickass for the money. I paid $400 even and you just can't beat it. The 50watts, the size, the looks, all tube...too much! The 15db boost works as a sweet, creamy overdrive on a 57 reissue Strat that I don't need a distortion pedal or a channel switching feature. We play mainly smaller clubs in downtown Chicago and play rock/country/no depression type of music. No problem with this amp keeping up the rest of the band. I can carry this amp with one hand, but Ithinkit weighs more than the 35-40 lbs. that Ampeg claims it weighs. I wish it came with an amp cover. I love the simple set up of threetone knobs, volume and reverb. Thats it. No presence, push-pull, overdrive, gain...pure and simple.

I use a '57 reissue Fender Strat and get a great clean tone and a good creamy distortion with the boost. I doubt this would be good for metal, but any rock/country music, or even r&b would be served by this amp. I have had the volume at 6/7 which is pretty loud. The amp starts to break up pretty easily at this level, but in a pleasing way. No extra/outside noise problems. I know the purists will groan when I say this, but this amp reminds me of a pre-CBS Fender Princeton with a little more juice. I must note,howver, that this is after some tube replacement which I will explain below.

This is the only amp I take to a gig and the thing is built like a tank. The cabinet is thick plywood of some kind with about a million screws holding it together. It feels very sturdy. An amp guru told me that the printed circuit board is pretty flimsy as far as circuit boards go, but as long as you don't go poking around inside the amp it should not be a problem.

Mixed feelings on the service. Contacting St. Louis Music is very easy via e-mail and the phone. I got replies the next day on e-mail and have spoken with J. Hayes on the phone 4 times. Only once did I sit on hold for a long time. Otherwise, answers were fast and friendly. The warranty is for 5 years and is transferable. I had a very bad time finding a service rep near by. Ampeg did give me a list of authorized repairs but the closest went out of business and the rest were farther away than I like to drive. I would mix my ranking only because of this. Excellent from the company. Very difficult from local standpoint.

This is the second SJ12R I have had this year. The first was a sweet sounding Svetlana EL-34 equipped dream. The problem was an annoying buzz in the chassis/cabinet which could not be pin pointed. I called Ampeg and they recommended switching the EL-34s to 6L6s.They said that there was a buzzing problem with the EL-34s and that they were switching to 6L6s. I made the switch but nothing improved. I tried to find an authorized repair guy, but had no luck. I took it back to the place I bought it and told them to fix it, get me a new one or give me my money back. After yanking me around for two weeks, they admitted that it was bad and ordered a new one. The new came with Groove Tube 6L6s which were just tone dogs. The sound was flat, no response and the boost pedal gave no hint of the distortion which was so nice on the first one. I contacted amp wizzard Mark Baier, who makes top notch (but out of my price range) Victoria Amps in my home town. He re-tubed it with some Svetlana EL-34s and a Yugoslavian 12AX7 called an Ei and the thing sings like you wouldn't believe. Even the drummer and bass player in my band (who could care less about my tone) noticed how sweet the amp sounded. If you buy one of these amps, rip out the 6L6s and get those Svetlanas in there. I believet that Ampeg switched to Groove Tubes for economic reasons, not technical reasons. I would buy this amp again, but do the same modifications. I might add a Celestion Green Back, but I just love Celestion. For the money, you can't beat this amp. I love it (now). I have been rating this amp very high. These are sincere and honest opinions.

This is an all tube 50 watt amp. This thing sounds great!!! And looks great too! It even has an accordian input like the old Ampegs =) It has a foot switch for turning the reverb on/off and adding a 15 db. boost. I absolutly love the blue tolex and the chrome. The cabinet construction is also awesome. It feels very sturdy. This amp can play Blues through Metal and everything in between!

I'm Using a Strat copy. And it makes it sing!! The amp sounds very clean when it isn't plugged in with anything. But when it is plugged with other stuff it is somewhat noisy. the clean channel does not break up when turned up. In fact I prefer to Put it up because it really sings man! Their is no is dtortion on it but you can just get a pedal for that. I use the Danelectro Fab Tone for distortion.

I'm pretty sure I can depend on this amp. Altough I haven't had it for more than a week.

Haven't had it long enough.

I would definitly buy this amp again for it's price and features and don't forget, TUBE-TONE at a killer price. Everyone get this Fantastic amp.

This 50 Watt tube amp has none of the fancy features of some of its' competitors but it had every thing I wanted. Tone! After a short while and a couple of loud gigs the speaker "bloomed" and I am supprized at how much I like this amp (Eminence speakers are known to be buzzy prior to break in). I paid roughly $400.00 for a 50 w tube combo that I can carry to the gig, beat that.This amp uses one 12AX7A tube for the preamp stage, and one as a Phase splitter for the power tubes. Very simple setup (Read: less to go wrong). The amp id powered by two EL-34's made by Svetlana, good tubes by all acounts. The amp sound great with an old pre-amp pedal stuck in front of it at low volumes, just like a channel switching. ya know. From 6 on it wails. The reverb sound very cool, but this is not a feature I dwell on. This amp also sports a "Boost" stage (not why I bought it), it sounds a little shrill. I found out why. The boost comes from op-amp transistors, gets really loud though. The main reason, besides the sound, I bought the amp was for the Treb-Mid-Bass tone controls, very versitile. Looking for good "chunck", in a Marshally way, in a reasonably priced amp? Get a SuperJet.

I use a Fender Strat-Plus (Gold Lace Sensors) and a Gibson SG (P-94 neck/custom Humbucker Bridge)in blues and country bands, this amp covers My needs. After 6 or so on the volume the amp starts to get a very punchy, and aggresive distortion. Not a "whistle/chirp/squeel" agression but