Ampeg SJ-12T

Verb, Volume, Trem Tone

Let me tell you something. At lower volumes, this feller works great with a tube screamer. At top volume, give it a little fuzz. Best of both worlds. Has tonal character of both Marshall (same power amp tubes) and better clean than almost any Fender on the Planet. No more thin Fender Blues Jr. for me. I have sold my Bassman, 1979 Marshall MK11 combo and Blues Junior because this is the only amp I ever play anymore. I have Tube Screaamer, Home-built fuzz and I just ordered a Klon pedal to go with it. The tremolo is a major part of my sound and I have purchased a 17' verb tank to replace the little fellow inside. I also swapped out to a V30. Don't change any tubes. They're already very good. At full volume, it snaps with very British old school sound. It records like a dream.

I once had that pooping noise but now it's gone. I don't know what happened!

It's my all purpose amp. I married it and we exchanged vows. Till death do us part! You go find a better all-around tube amp for $300. Good luck.

This is an update to my review below. I bought some Svetlana EL-34 power tubes to replace the old ones. When I took the amp apart to get the old tubes out, I realized one of the old tubes was very badly cracked. With the new tubes, the amp is louder, the trem's not noisy and I'm much happier with everything. Now, if it only had an extension jack...

Recent model amp, cool blue vinyl and chrome looking logo. 2 power tubes, 2 preamp tubes. Knobs for volume, tone, reverb, trem speed and trem depth. Guitar and accordian input. Currently has el34s but can take 6L6 also. Very basic setup.

Great tone. I play a custom made 3 pickup Tele w/ vintage style pickups, a steinberger, epiphone jr for slide. I'll run the tele straight into the amp for a wonderful, full, three dimensional organic sound. I have a POD which I'll sometimes use with it. I can't get any really super fantastic direct to the board tones with the POD, but with some tweaking I can get KILLER sounds through this amp.
The reverb sounds good but gets too chaotic at high settings. Comparable to Fender tube reverb. The trem also sounds really good but is too noisy to use. New tubes might fix this.
The amp breaks up nicely at volumes which are way too loud for the bedroom.

It's a tube amp, so I wouldn't use it without a backup, I've got the POD as insurance. The accordion jack shorts out, it was like that when I bought it. No big deal. Over all, it seems pretty sturdy.

no idea, never dealt with them

I've had the amp close to a year. Last night was the first time I used it at a practice/jam. It didn't have enough headroom/volume. I could (barely) keep up with a really really loud drummer and bass player, having the amp volume dimed. The good side to that, is that (playing someone's danelectro) it had a phenomenal smooth, yet razor sharp non piercing blues sound. I want more volume and headroom so I can play clean loudly, but I don't want to mess with current killer sound of the amp. I may cut the guts out, rebuild it as a head, and run it to a bigger cabinet. Or I may just leave it as it is for now and get a Twin for the loud, clean stuff. Whatever happens, I do really like this amp & would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a moderately loud blues amp. Much better value than a comparably priced Fender, you can occasionally find these for $250 used. I would pay more than that to replace it if neccessary.

Nice classic tube amp set up which is exactly what I wanted.

Fine, except for recurring harmonic noise, popping, clicking after warm-up. Nice reverb.

I bought one at Guitar and Keyboard City in Phoenix...returned it due to the noises described above. They "repaired" it and almost immediately the noises started again (tried different guitars, cables, sockets, etc.). After another repair attempt they ordered me a new one. Same problem. I tried to get a refund but was told that was "against store policy" (this ought to be a crime; it's against MY policy to get ripped off with crap amps, guys!). I sent the amp to the factory and it was "repaired" but the noises came back. Finally got a credit from Guitar and Keyboard City in Phoenix that I don't care to use. Crap amp; crap retailer.

St. Louis Music was very helpful (10)
Guitar and Keyboard City, Phoenix (see above - 0)

This is a reissue of an Ampeg combo from 20 years ago. The layout is simple with bass and tone controls, reverb and valve tremolo. Two inputs, one with higher impedence for an accordian. I use the accordian jack for my acoutic guitar which has an active pickup. The amp is quite loud and possibly a little on the over powered side for a practice amp. Rated 7 as its got most featured that I require.

I'm using a Godin ST-Artisan which is more or less a strat copy with mild stacked humbuckers and a Maton 335 acoustic. This amp gives very clear lead tones with a hint of darker undertones, especially when using the neck pickup. The sound is exceedingly clean and it requires a pedal in front before it begins to distort. Even when using a Boss Bluesdriver, quite high volume is required before any crunch is apparent. The valve tremolo sounds cool but is of more curiosity value than useful to me. The reverb is supurb. Because it is a vintage reissue it can be a littel noisy, even without a guitar plugged in, although I've gotten used to this idiosyncracy.

I have had the amp for 3 years with no major problems. I've been warned about rattles from this model and thre is a slight rattle apparent at higher volumes when playing certain notes. This should be easily fixed. Otherwise it appears to built like a tank.

I've been playing 5 years and have limited gear. I play a Godin ST-Artisan and a Maton 335 acoustic and very occasionally use a Boss Bluesdriver, Chorus, DS-1 Distortion and Compressor/sustainer pedals. I bought this amp because it had good clean vintage valve sound and because of it's simplicity. If I had to replace it would consider an Ampeg ReverbRocket or a Fender Hot Rod Delille 212.

This is apparently a reissue of a similiar 60's amp made by Ampeg. Straight ahead controls-Volume, Tone, Speed, Intensity and Reverb. Single 12" speaker, 2-6L6s and a couple of 12AX7's. Extremely cool covering, not too heavy. Comes with a footswitch for the trem and reverb. No f/x loop, standby or headphone jack but perfect for my current needs.

Well I also own a Fender Concert (60 W all-tube combo). I bought the Ampeg because I honestly found that I could dial in better sounds than the Fender even with just the one tone control. Finally got away from the thin "Fender" sound. I play a '94 Fender AmStand Strat (also extremely cool-looking) with a stacked JB jr. in the bridge. This amp has great reverb and the tremolo is just too cool! Add a bit or add alot, it does it all very well. I will likely try EL34's in the near future to compare the different sounds. I mainly play with a team at church so the type of music is contemporary Christian, however my buddy that sold me the Strat is a blues-aholic so we get together and jam occasionally. Needs a pedal for distortion otherwise it stays clean forever. Anyone want to buy a Fender amp?

Just got the amp a couple of weeks ago, but SLM provides a 5 year warranty so I'm not too worried. Besides there is not much to the amp and we have a great tech in town.

Answered my e-mail in a couple of days. I would probably be able to grow a Reverend Billy beard before Fender answers back to there messages.

Well, I haven't been for very long (2 years) but I play alot and I know what sounds good. I am extremely happy with the amp and will probably keep it for a long time. I was looking at the Mesa Boogie Subway amps and would have bought the Subway Blues if it wasn't so expensive. I looked at the Ampeg as an afterthought and was totally surprised with its sound. (I know...completely different amps but hey, I like it!) Way better than other similiar amps such as the Fender Pro Jr and Blues Jr and Mother's Music in Calgary was blowing them out the door so I figured I couldn't lose. I'll keep you posted if anything weird happens to the amp

This amp is all tube 50W for an unbelievable price of $249. You can't beat that. It comes with good Stovecks (not sure on that spelling). And for 50W this thing blasts. It also comes with a cool tremelo effect, and foot switch. Seems as though the bass and tone are combined? Well the only reason it gets an 8 is because it has no mid or all those cool knobs. But you can still get a very diverse sound out of it.

With my Sherraton II with humbuckers it sound so sweet. Very, very clean. In enclosed areas shakes the place, heh heh!!! Maxed out it still keep that great tone with no feedback or anything. For distortion I use a Danelectro Fab Tone, and man what a crunch. Very full, well-round crunch to. Reverbs not that great but I don't use it anyways. But the real kicker is the Tremelo, that thing is just so cool. Good quality all around.

From what I've read and what I've seen, this baby will kick FOREVER. But I can't really say sense I just got it.

5 year warranty. Never had to talk to Ampeg.

For a tube amplifier at a price of $249, you just cannot beat that. And the tone is so sweet. I compared this amp to the Marshall VS65R and it blew it away. I also compared it to the Fender Blues Junior and that was no comitition. So it doesn't have that many adjustmentale knobs, so what!!! If you want a tube amp and don't want to pay up the wasu buy this amp. It's Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!