Ampeg SJ-12T

volume tone tremolo speed/ intensity verb
guitar input (hotter)
accordion input (lame)
dumb but all you need

sounds amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! only because I cut the speaker wires in the back and soldered in a female 1/4 " jack from the amp and a 1/4" male end to the speaker so I could unplug the speaker and plug in my cab. The speaker is 8ohms so whatever cab you hook up must be 8ohms. I use the 2X12 25 watt celestion greenback cab (Carvin Legacy). It seems to be a cheap cab with a great sound. keep the cab closed back for bigger bass response. I turn it up to about 8 because it's mud after that, then I use a boss eq pedal with the sliders all the way up for a great boost and added dist for leads. Very musical amp. I use a thinline tele and an sg.

not so great, already returned one, had one break down, now it has a wierd rumbling vibration so i can't record with it.

never tried.

great value just wish I could figure out that vibration noise. reverb sucks and broke on it's own, so did my footswitch. tremolo sounds Amazing!

Early '90s reissue. 50 watt. Tremelo. Reverb. Single tone knob. Very sturdy.

Would be nice if there were more than a single tone control to shape the sound.
I don't use the tremelo regularly, but the reverb is very deep and rich.
Overall, a nice package. Plenty loud for most situations. Records superbly.

I play a Gibson ES 125 TDC and get great results from this amp. It produces a warm smooth sound that sings like a good amp should but is more focused on the midrange than a Fender. I am tempted to call this sound smoky or chalky. It is never shrill. I mostly play jazz and this amp produces a nice heavy body with clear articulation.
For a time I was shopping for a nicer (more expensive) replacement and played this one next to a number of $1000-$1500 amps including Fenders and other Ampegs. Frankly the difference in sound was not substantial enough to justifiy the upgrade. In some cases the SJ12T sounded better than the others. It is really a tremendous value.
I don't play at high volumes and so I can't speak for how well the amp breaks up.

I once had that faint popping sound that seemed connected to the speed of the tremelo. It has since dissapeared.
Also, the blue light stopped working on me almost immediatley, though there seems to be no effect on the sound. Not worth getting fixed.
The casing is extremely rugged unlike most vintage models. The 6L6s are encased in a metal cage. Very dependable.

Bought used.

This amp is a tremendous value. Much better than the blues junior and others in its class. Very solid construction and a very rich tube sound. I would trade it for a real '60s ampeg combo, but good ones are rare many twice as expensive. I expect to keep it for a long time.

Receieved the amp in October 2004; it was less than six months old when I bought it from its original owner, a bass player who had experimented with and given up guitar. I paid 240 dollars, only a third of its new cash price. An absolute steal if I had paid double what I did. All tube, single 12, reverb, tremolo. No BS channel switching so your amp can do all of the volume and tone work for you. No useless digital-super-just-like-tubes-really-we-mean-it effects processors built in. It's got the classic Ampeg vintage look and it's not too heavy at roughly 40 pounds. One nice touch was the retention of the 'accordion' input, which in this incarnation is a 6db padded input for guitars with really hot pickups. Because this is a slightly beefed up vintage reissue, I give it an 8 instead of 10 'cause this is an amp for people with specific tonal tastes in mind.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Classic with its stock pickups and an older (early 90s or so) stock Epiphone Les Paul Special, from back when the quality of the wood was a little better. I play blues, classic rock, soul and classic country. The amp has a wonderful clean sound, and for the first time, I am simply running the amp around 5 and using the guitar's volume control instead of leaving the guitar wide open. I find that the SuperJet keeps its fat and warm tone even at lower volumes. There is no noise at all in my rig. When I do open the guitar all the way up, I can coax some very nice bark out of it without the overall tone being described as distorted. The amp stays fairly clean till after 6, then the basic sound is rougher. At 50 watts of tube power, you'd have to either be in a large room or half-deaf to need to open the amp up all the way. Still, in the right settings or for recording, there is some nice vintage breakup to be had... think the Kinks or the Stones. Remember, kids, this is an overdriven sound from back when amps were NOT designed to do that. A 10 here from me, 'cause these are exactly the tones I want and cherish.

This amp is built like the proverbial friggin' tank. I would play anywhere for any amount of time with this amp without a backup. Here's why: My bass player is a sound tech/electronis whiz, and amp guru Dennis Kager (one of the people who made Ampeg happen) has his repair shop right up the road from me. No worries.

I have never dealt with the company before, but I am not hard to deal with as a customer, and I am sure that any problems could be resolved fairly easily. Once again, I have a veritable amp wizard in my locale, so service is always a breeze.

I have been playing for 15 years. The gear I use with this amp is the gear I own. If the amp were lost or stolen, I could not get such a deal again, but I would do my best to find one quickly. I love the vintage tone and look. There is nothing I do not like about the amp. The only thing I wish it had was an included footswitch.

15 watt classs a reverb, tremolo, tone, volume

i play a gibson sg classic, les paul studio,gretsh duo jet,epiphone sheraton,vox teardrop and a fender strat thru this baby.
Classic rock and blues. this little amp is a classic.sounds as good as any amp i have ever owned and that's a lot.The clean reminds me of a cross between my 1963 bassman and my vox ac 15 when it overdrives it sounds like my marshall jcm 800 / carvin belair
I got tired of lugging my other amps around and at 30 lb with this kind of tone.This is one great little amp.I do mike it when i play out and use a tube screamer to overdrive at lower volumes.Works great
when iv'e played out with it. 15 class a watts is very load folks.I usually play in small venues approx 50-100 people.If i play larger clubs or outdoor gigs i would bring one of my larger amps with a line out to the pa.Light weight tone monster!

no problems so far

Considering the price i paid ,the weight and magic tonal variations of this baby this is a great amp that hangs with the best of them.So if your old like me and want something light to lug around or don't want to fork out thousands of bucks this is the amp.I currently own a 1963 fender bassman,Marshall jcm 800 stack, carvin belair,1966 vox ac15tb(jmi)and fender 65 deluxe reverb reissue,Peavey classic 100.This amp has a sound all it's own and in my opinion sounds as nice as any amp i have in my arsenal.

Features are well documented for this amp. 6l6's 12ax7s reverb and trem... wish it had hi mid low controls, but it still sounds real good

i use a cheap ass lotus les paul copy that totally kicks ass. the clean sounds real good with the amp, i don't like the bridge pickup with it, but that's probly cause it's a 100 dollar guitar, all my stuff got stolen so i had to start over from scratch with gear. if you turn the amp up to 8 or 10 the distortion kicks in nice, i love the sound, my neighbors don't appreciate it too much though. i just through a boss ds-1 in front and play with that, i know it robs the tone or whatever, but i like distortion. i play all kinds of crap, from the white stripes, sabbath, zep, mostly bluesy rock kinda stuff i love the amp, my last amp was a fender super 60 witch had the best overdrive channel and the worst clean channel in the world, so this is a great. this amp has a great clean channel, i'd give it a 10, but there's no distortion kinda kills that

no break downs yet, only had it 6 months

who knows, who really calls the manufacturer

the amp is nice, looks nice, sounds nice, looking at one, go for it, it's no metal amp, but it sounds really smooth and goes with pedals nicely.

I traded a Bassman 4x10 for this amp due to size of the Fender only.
the amp is all tube and has 2 channels: guitar -- accordian. go figure..... it does have a footswitch to go between the reverb and tremelo but not like an AB thing. a headphone and cd out jack would have been a nice extra on this amp, but i can live w/o those. this amp is my only amp and i play blues rock (ala Trower, SRV, Allman Bros., and Rude Mood) ***after my amp met Jim Price, it got a new lease on life!!! i now give this amp a 10!!!

i play strats. one has texas sp's and the other is stock. this amp before was ok....here's where the problems came in. like i said, i traded for the amp. when i got it, it was ok, nothing to get too excited about. then, after about a month, it started popping and breaking up. sounded like i was tuning in tokyo or something. it was so bad, that i stopped playing through it for about a month. when i did play, it sounded terrible. besides the static, the amps natural break-up (distortion) started on 2 on the volume. WAY TOO EARLY!! so, i called Jim Price @ Omegaamps.com and gave him the symptoms. Jim promised he could fix my amp and clean up the headroom. he did and now it sounds cleaner and louder. he repaired the problems i was having and did this AWESOME headroom mod to give me back that Fender sound on the clean. when it does break up, it is pure SRV!!!! i really can't stress enough the difference his repair and mod made to this amp. it sounds like a $1000 combo instead of a $400 one!

i would and will gig with this amp anywhere, anytime, any way, and any how i can. i'm so impressed with his work, that i have been begging people to just play it and listen to the new sound. if i ever had to buy a new amp, i'd just have Jim build me one. but i would have to inflict serious pain and slow death on what ever caused me to lose this one.

Jim guarantees his work 100%!! his card gives his phone # and lists his hrs. as ANYTIME! he took my amp home w/him, and within a couple of hrs, it was ready to be picked up. he emailed me many times before he picked it up, called me a couple of times after, and called upon completion of his work. he also has phoned and emailed as a follow up on how the amp is doing and if i am still satisfied. how much better can it get?????? Jim@OmegaAmps.com

Phone:
(336) 667 - 1731

i have been playing for around 15 yrs. i've had many guitars and amps and effects. nothing has been so great as this amp, POST REPAIR AND MOD!!! before it was nothing special. now, it is the greatest thing since the wheel. words can't really describe the awesome sound and volume this thing gives. pure Rude Mood/SRV tones!!! clean as a FENDER, loud as a Marshall, and pure blues!!! if you don't buy an amp from jim/omega amps, or have yours modded by him,....you're only allowing yourself to sound inferior. the legends are great, but this guy makes them even better! if hendrix and gallahger are in heaven and still playing........they're wishing they had one of his mods! call jim or email him. you'll truly thank yourself!
Jim@OmegaAmps.com

Phone:
(336) 667 - 1731

This amp was made in Sept 1996 (going by the serial number).

The features include 2 inputs (guitar and accordian), volume, tone, speed (tremolo), intensity (tremolo) and reverb. 50 watts single channel tube amp, (2x) 6L6 and (2x) 12ax7a tubes. And the cool blue check covering (with blue power light).

A few things I wish this amp had are: a stand by switch and either a line out or ext. speaker jack.

Overall this amps sounds pretty good but there are a few downfalls (I'll get to that later).

I've had this amp now for almost 8 months (I bought it used off of Ebay) and the amp sounds fine as long as the amp (and guitar) volume stay pretty low. If I use a guitar with single coil pickups I can have the guitar's volume wide open and the amp's volume up to 4-5 before the amp starts to break up (distort) BUT if I use a guitar with humbuckers (the volume wide open as well) and the amp's volume at 3 the amp breaks up too easy. I don't care about having an amp break up so fast to me I can understand an amp breaking up at 5+ but not at 3. To me for a amp to be at 50 watts and the cleanest sound you can get (with a les paul) is only under 3 (on the amp) to me that's not really that loud. My dad has a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp (which is 40 watts) and it seems louder than my 50 watt amp (plus it has lots more headroom). I would rather have a clean amp and run a overdrive pedal to make the amp breakup. A few people have told me I might need to change the power tubes, but I just don't think that if I change the tubes it would make it any cleaner (it might but then again it might not).

BUT like I said eariler the amp sounds great as long as you don't turn up the amp up too loud.

The tremolo sounds pretty good as well, can go pretty slow to really fast and everywhere in between.

Now the reverb on this amp sounds good but it's not very strong. I've always liked the reverb in the fender amps (and this reverb tank is nowhere close to that sound) but it sounds nice.

I've only used this amp on two gigs.

The first gig made me relize I wanted more reverb (I had the reverb knob cranked to 10), so to fix that problem I went and bought a Holy Grail reverb pedal (which sounds great ... I had both the amp's reverb and the pedal on at the same time).

The second gig was when I relized the amp won't stay clean at higher volumes (I know you can always mic the amp, but not always), still the amp has been reliabe so I can't complain too much.

The cabinet seems to be very well built and looks like it can take the road pretty well.

I've called Ampeg a few times on the phone about different things about this amp and they have been very helpful.

Also the website is great as well.

I've been playing the guitar for over 10 years and have lots of gear (14+ guitars, 24 effects pedals, 5+ amps) and I play a wide varity of music styles (Gospel, blues, country, classic rock, etc.)
Overall it's not a bad amp it sounds great (when it stays clean) and when it breaks up it sounds great for blues lead playing (but you can't have that sound all the time if you don't play blues music all the time, etc.)

I would probably buy another Ampeg tube amp, probably the Reverbrocket (2x12), I would imagine the 2x12 would have a higher headroom type sound.

The main thing I do like about the Ampeg amps are the blue checked pattern covering ... very cool looking.

late '90s model. Versatile, reverb, trem. No speaker out. Reverb's useless. Plenty of power/headroom, power tube break-up at perfect levels. Everything one needs minus points for poopy-sounding reverb.

Using a '72 reissue telecaster custom, MXR 6-band, MXR Phase 100, Ts9, not in that order. My style can best be describeed as jazz/rock/experimental. Distortion/power tube break-up is nice and smooth and the speakers bark like a tweed bassman when up past 6 on the volume, I am aware that these two amps are quite different beasts. With the tone backed off on the amp, nice warm/big/bassy sounds are easily had. I recently had to replace the stock(?) Svetlana EL34 power tubes and opted for JJ/Teslas based on a 'tech's' review of the current production tubes. Damn shame, and I'm now out $120. Buy Svetlana EL34's for this amp. They are SO smoothly distorted and full of beautiful harmonics and top-end swirl. With the Svetlanas, I'd rate the sound of this amp a 15 out of a possible 10. With the JJs, I'd drop this amp from the highest of buildings and hope it did not hurt anynone but itself. Poor reverb = points deduction.

It's probably only as reliable as you make it/service it.

Nice amp. Beautiful with the Svetlana EL34. I'm going to have the reverb removed as the only thing it does is rattle and add to overall wieght. Amp is in desperate need of a speaker-out and standby for tube life purposes. Other than the above, it's not too heavy and the overall sound and tremolo are stunning.

1996-2000 model. The amp is very versatile in that it produces a good warm, clean sound. Similar to a barely driven AC-30. I am mostly into Radiohead, The Cure, Modest Mouse and American Analog set. I use this combo (50 Watt) in session with bass and drums and it cuts through just fine. We seldom play at 'permanent ear damage' levels so as not to permanently damage our ears. All tube, class AB 50 WATT 1X12 reverb, tremolo (depth and speed), tone, volume. Diamond blue. I'll rate the 'features' a seven. Wish it had a 1/4" speaker extention jack.

I am currently playing a 1972 Fender Telecaster Custom with the stock humbucker in the neck position and a solid maple neck. I use a tube-screamer (TS-9 original) to boost the power section and it seems to work beautifuly. I absoloutely love the warm, pushed sound this amp puts out. I'd say it's quite similar to a vox AC-30. Tremolo is lush, warm and generally very 'pretty'. Reverb on my particular amp basically sucks. It is a nice sounding verb' but lacks any strength and depth when turned up. Over all, this amp sounds georgeous. Who woulda' thunk?

I don't generally "trust" inanimate objects.

Been playing for some fifteen-odd years. I also own a Mesa/Boogie mkI 60/100 Watt 1X12 combo w/ reverb, a Gibson ES-335 dot, and a 1962 telecaster standard.If it were stolen, I might just kill, or I suppose I could just buy another for the price. These things are actually "affordable". I just happened accross this lil' gem in a for sale ad in the paper and am blown away by the sound. I've owned lots of the amps that cost literally thousands a piece and this is a NICE damn sound. An extension jack and more versatile reverb would only be icing on the cake. I'm not fat or lonely, just a new fan of a newly discovered, really cool amp.

New Ampeg Superjet Blue Diamond Classic model SJ-12T. 50 Watts all tube power, one 12 inch Ampeg Vintage speaker( I think Eminence), 2x 6L6 Groove Tubes, 2x 12AX7 preamp tubes, tone control, tremolo speed, tremolo intensity, reverb dimension, blue power on light, guitar input, accordion input?(high output), footswitch jack, two channel footswitch (tremolo/reverb).Very Cool looking amp and not too heavy at 40 pounds. Great midsize amp at 21"x17"x10.25" I will deduct one point for not having a standby switch and a ext. speaker jack.

This amp has great tone for all you old school tube heads! I play a Guild Starfire IV with humbuckers and the sound is very thick and warm. The amp starts to break up around 5 and at 6 to 7 is a great blues/classic rock sound. This amp is very quiet. The tremelo is very lush and deep (the best I have heard)The reverb is also very, very good,but not as good as a DRRI Fender. This amp is very loud!! Can easily gig with it. I have to deduct one point as the stock speaker is a little "flubby" at high volumes. I will replace it with a Weber C12B and it should take care of that problem. This amp is very under rated and overlooked.

There are no rattles or weird sounds coming from this amp and it is built like a tank.Nickel corners and very nice leather handle. I would never gig without a back up amp or extra tubes...no matter how good the amp is. Comes with a 5 year Warranty.

Customer support is great. Ampeg answered my email within 3 hours. They have a bulletin board on their website and a dedicated support person. Warranty is 5 year and transferable. Very nice. Also on the tag it has the name of the person that tested the amp and the name of the person that packed and checked the amp. Nice quality control!!

Come on...I don't give out 10's. No amp is a 10, but if you want a great tube amp that is different from the masses this is it. Great tube reverb and tremelo. Sweet 60's vibe with the blue checkered tolex and leather handle. Great alternative for the fender blues jr. or Hot Rod Deluxe. This amp needs a different speaker, but what new amp doesn't?? I have been playing 20+ years and have owned a lot of gear...Fender SF super reverb, Deluxe reverb, pro jr. Marshall JCM 800, Dr.Z Carmen Ghia, SF vibro champ......The Ampeg is a great small amp with lots of power that is different in looks and sound and it won't break the bank. Try one you may like it?