Ampeg SR-212RT 212 Combo

100 W RMS. 2X12 Celestion Vintage speakers. 2 inputs, one guitar and one accordian attenuated 6dB to accomodate strong output signals. Gain knob controls overdrive in conjunction with the master control. Treble, mid, & bass controls. Fully adjustable reverb and tremolo. Footswitch controls reverb, tremolo, and clean to overdrive channel selection. Grill cover, tolex and construction are first rate. Tubes housed in protective cage.

My drummer loaned me his 70's era Fender Twin Reverb in the hope that I would buy it from him (asking price 650.00). Instead, I bought the SR-212RT and a side by side comparison shows there is nothing that the twin does that the SR doesn't do better. The SR is louder, sweeter, more versitile, and frankly more ruggedly buit and attractive. The twin, for many the gold standard for tube amps, sounds like a cheap toy by comparison. I play a G&L ASAT Special with twin P-90 soapbox pickups and the pairing with the SR is a match made in heaven. I can actually play it in the middle position and have it sound full and rich-something unattainable with the twin. The reverb and tremolo (especially when used together) are just filthy.

Don't know yet. Appears to be built for the long haul with quality comonents and features. I expect few if any problems.

Haven't had to use them.

I have been playing for about 40 years now, off and on. I own a 30 W Vox modeling amp that I will probably use only for semi-accoustic sets with our band's other guitarist (coffee house open-mike stuff). If it were stolen or lost, I would attempt to get another, although it might be difficult as these seem to be hard to find, despite being a fantastic value. What I love is the tone and quality of construction. I don't like lifting it. Beats anything Fender makes like an ugly redheaded stepchild. This amp is LOUD!!! Anything over 5 will run you out of the house. This is my amp for life, and I would have a hard time coveting anything else. Now I can concentrate on getting a couple more guitars.

The amp has what everone else mentioned so there is little point stating it again. I thought the tremolo was and interesting inclusion, not sure how often I will use is and the only thing I can really fault on the features is a shared EQ which I can live with and perhaps the reverb could be more versatile. Certainly powerfull thats for sure!

As mentioned before this is quite a vesatile amp, with a powerfull EQ. It has a nice rich warm tone and packs quite a punch at anything above 2. Only thing is its extremely loud! its has a lot of head room most probably to do with the fact they make a lot of bass amps and seems to sound good at any volume (im too scared to try it on 10 though :( ) It is also very heavy, being a girl I need to find a friend to help me lift it in and out of the car but it also comes with casters.
I play a varity of strats mostly using lace sensors and this is the best amp I could find to go with a strat, I also played a Les Paul through it and it also sounded sweet as.
I find the distortion perfect for Hard Rock which is what I moslty play, I also run through a BSM treble booster. I wouldnt go as far as saying anything metal with out an added effect.
Its also pretty quite considering.

As also mentioned, its built like a brick. I have every bit of confidence in this amp.

Never had to deal with them.

I spent a good few months looking for a good all tube amp and gives me the tone I have been looking for. I love everything about it bar the weight but its a small price to pay for the tone of this beast. Im glad I took the time to save for a good amp rather than buy a mediochre one as the soonest time. I think its a bit overpriced here in Australia compared to the US but that always seems to happen, Im sure you can get it a lot cheaper but the best I could do was get $600 AU off the retail price.

Very simple and easy to understand. Just the right amount of features

100% pure tube tone and power. More bottom than any Fender out there and no shrilly highs! Many say this amp has its own soul! I agree.

Never had a problem with it. Built like a tank!

I would search the Earth 10 times over to find another if anything ever happened to mine!

Ampeg Super Rocket - 2x12 100-watts - all tube.

Made around 2002. Great for nearly any type of music - Hard Rock, Rock'n'Roll, Blues, Pop - what I usually play. It has two independent channels; clean and overdrive. Here's the controls, jacks, switches and light from left to right (amp facicng forward, speaker towards you):

(2-jacks) guitar input, accordion input, (9-control knobs, black chicken-head style) gain (o/d channel), volume (clean channel), treble, mid, bass (all for both channels), master (o/d channel), tremolo speed, tremolo intensity, reverb, (4-jacks) line out, line in, footswitch plug (channel select & reverb), footswitch plug (tremolo), (1-switch) channel select (use when no footswitch), (1-light) blue jewel (on/off, and standby), (2-switches) standby, on/off.

The line-in and line-out are for sound board(s), recording equipment, external amplifiers, preamps, etc. and also for the effects loop. The accordion input seems quieter/cleaner than the regular input.

The F/S has two plugs (one stereo), three buttons and three LEDs, each a different color: red, orange, amber. Switching channels via the F/S is dummy-proof.

The rear panel has an impedence switch for changing the speaker (power-tube?) config. It also has a 100-watt RMS speaker out jack.

It has beautiful blue-diamond tolex and a vintage-looking silvery speaker covering. Speakers are (2) awesome Celestion Vintage 30's.

It uses three 12AX7-family preamp dual triodes and four 6L6GC-based power pentodes. I am using old stock preamps (12AX7, 12AT7, 5751) and only two (2) 6L6's instead of all four. For me, it's almost too powerful with all four power tubes. I'm not sure how it matters but I switched the impedence to match output-tube config. I looked it up on the net. I did it because the amp has tons of bone-jarring power.

That's a lot of features. If you don't have the footswitch you use the manual channel select switch.

The amp has a major plethora (did I say that?) of sounds. I can get chimey clean as well as super crunchy distortion. For me, all four power tubes gave too much power. I only use two, the inners. The reverb and tremolo both sound exceptional. Super old-school. Deep and psychotic when maxed. Subtle if need be, when dialed back. For guitars I use Fenders primarily, but I have several Humbucker guiters that sound very nice through the amp too. I do prefer the sound of single-coil pickups though. And none of my guitars is noisy at all through her. She runs quietly. When using a Tele on the clean channel with a bit of reverb and a hint of tremolo I get a fantastic country-billy spank. Just a tasty sound ya can chew on for days. The old-stock tubes really help in this respect. The standard Sovteks that came with the amp were lacking. My preamp tubes were well thought out and tested and retested in the amp before I settled on the current config. The tone is now delicious. And when the sound is higher in treble, it's not piercing at all, but cutting in a warmer, rounder, tube-esque way. I love this edgy clean tone. The gain ciruit is indeed cool, and it's pretty variable through proper tweaks, but the natural power-tube tone, the compression and overdrive on the clean side, move me. And I play on.

The amp takes pedals very well but I don't use them too much, eventhough I have a bunch of them. I like a Vox wah and a MXR preamp for a basic tone-shaping scenario. The less in the path the better.

I haven't had any problems, knock on wood. I don't like to move it too much since it's kind of a beast. About 70+ pounds. Thank goodnes it's got casters. It rolls very smoothly.

I've dealt with SLM (St. Lous Music) on other issues/amps once or twice. They were respectfull and responsive. On this amp I called to ask about power tubes. They gave me the info I was looking for. Most amp users/buyers don't realize you can just call up (or email) the techs or customer service when you are simply looking for advice. You don't have to always have repair or warranty issues. It's best to ask the experts sometimes.

I've been playing since the mid seventies. I'm not super old but I've been around, son. If this amp were stolen I'd recommend back surgery for the perp.

I own a bunch of guitars, electric and acoustic (one's an archtop), a bass, six tube amps (Fender, Mesa among them) and a bunch of pedals, percussion equipment, microphones, yadda, yadda, blah, blah. Who cares what I have or play?

With this amp you can get many, many tones in between your Fender, Marshal, Boogie, Vox, etc. In a way it does have a sound all it's own. Yet it's a damn good one. These are kind of hard to find but you might find one for a good price, like I did.

See the review below and laugh (or shake your head in disbelief).

The fact is, ... HE DOESN'T TALK ABOUT MUSIC or GEAR, BUT ONLY USES THE FEEDBACK TO TRASH AMPEG. Something's up here! It's obvious.

Doesn't say which store he bought the amp at or use anyone's name. No dates. No times. And, "Music 123" is pretty safe to use to make up a BS story. He also--alledgedly--talked to people at St. Louis Music (Ampeg). Who were they then? No names here either? The reviewer doesn't list equipment owned or used, what guitar/guitars; makes, models, features, upgrades? A coppout! Pretty easy for poser.

As before, "sounds like a disgruntled ex-employee". It's too bad that those with personal axes-to-grind use this feedback forum to try to damage the reputations of reputable businesses. Simply put: it's an attack. It's bull&h*t! HC should not be the place.

I've run across these instances in other gear reviews here.

Just makes you shake your head.

See my review (and others below) for some "real" facts, which are indeed, detailed. Those will let you know what this amp's about.

Never had any problems.

Friendly and fast. Local support is great.

I own number of tube amps. Among them, this amp and a Crate V58 (cool-as-hell little 5-watter) which both carry one of the best warranties in the industry. Five freakin years! Never returned either. I've had the SR-212RT several years. No problems. I've done tube swaps/testing in both amps. Tubes RULE!!!

Only had work on the V58 when I mixed the two tubes up (a 6BQ5/EL84 and 12AX7). I was checking out different tubes when I had the chassis out. I powered it up and, ... nothing. They're both 9-pin tubes/sockets and when I had the power tube's guard off I mixed them up; blew a resistor. No probs. Under warranty. It was fixed in a few days by Jon Blick of Milwaukee, WI. He's an amp guru in my town.

The SR-212RT is a ballsy amp. As always, USE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT. Don't listen to me (or dude below) when making the decision to buy. But I'm happy with my retro Super Rocket. (100watts with 4-6L6GC's and 2 Celestian Vintage-30's don't hurt either)

BTW, old stock 5881's sound great in this amp!

MO

This is an update to my earlier entry. I had purchased the Ampeg Sr121rt on two occasions and both times they were absolute junk. The first one, as I stated earlier, I ordered from music 123 and they refunded my money.
The second one I ordered from a music store in Phoenix and they also refunded my money. I really tried to like this amp and I just wanted to get ahold of one that was put together right.
Well, I did it again and strike 3, it ws a piece of crap.
The features are ok, what you see is what you get, except you get some features you can't see. Like, it picks up radio stations,
this could come in handy during breaks.

I ordered my 3rd amp from music 123. I unpacked it and it looked great. I thought oh boy, I got a good one. I use high quality professional guitars and cables. The first thing - after power up is
that it has a very very loud hum, even with every thing turned all the way down. This is not a 60 cycle hum. This is the hum you get when something is a piece of crap. I sounds like the Wards Airline Amplifer I got for Christmas in 1966 when I was 12 years old. It was also blue. The clean channel hums very loud and the dirty channel is actually more quiet. I talked to the product specialist at Ampeg about this And he said they were aware of this problem and there is a fix for it that is sometimes overlooked in manufacturing,(3 times).
The Amp also feeds back, squeels and the hum gets even louder as you walk around the room. Just like my old Wards Airline Amp.
This is in no way a professional guitar amplifer.
It also runs very very hot. It will actuallburn your hand if you touch the top of the amp. It probablly wasn't even biased properlly.
Although the 3rd amp I got looked like it was put together much better than the first 2 amps, it still didn't work properlly. I am almost certain that it was not manufactured to specification, nobody
in their right mind could put out a piece of crap like this and expect people to be dumb enought to buy and accept it. Also for some reason they don't even seal the reverb bag. I you lay the amp on its back, the reverb unit will fall out.

I have ordered 3 times and each time they were garbage.
P.S. I beleive some of these reviews are written by employees of the manufacturers, probablly the sales manager or product specialist, its not to hard to figure out.

I talked to the product specialist at ampeg and he said, oh yeah, we know about that hum problem and there is a fix for the printed circuit board that should have been added during manufacturing.
(the only problem is that nobody can read in Arkansas)

I have been playing for 40 years, by ear and I have formal music training. I have had many guitars and amps over the years and I know a piece of crap when I see it and this thing is truely a piece of shit!! The reason I writing this at all is to warn the readers to never buy an ampeg guitar amp. Im sure the bass are are the best but the guitar amps are totally shit. There is a reason they ony sell 50
of these per year and there is a reason Fender is Number 1..I wasted a lot of time and energy and gave them the benefit of the doubt 3 times.. I was a fool,, they are trash and they don't care aout fixing the problems, don't waste your time..P.S. I can't say enough
good things about Music 123, they refunded my money no questions asked. I have since ordered a New Twin Amp.

Mine is a 2003 model. Does pretty much everything I want it to. Has two channels. One cleaner, but gets gainy higher up on the volume. Has an overdrive channel too. Can become truly torrid, with loads o' searing sustain via cranked gain. Reverb, which is great. Very trebly, shimery. Seems to add the affect well past mid point. Tremolo, which is AWSOME! Don't know if reverb and trem are tube but they sure as hell sound like it. Trem is like vintage fender with more snap and depth. Borderline space delay territory. Has obligatory 'speed' and 'intensity'. The inputs are 'guitar' and 'accordion'. Accordion is the attenuated input, lower dB's. Has 'gain' level and 'master' volume for the crunch/OD channel. Has 'treble', 'mid', 'bass' for EQ. These affect the sound pretty well. The treble gives a nice push/boost to the overall tone, similar to a presence control on a Fender. Truely old-school. Has 'line in', 'line out', then footswitch inputs. Line in/out act as affects loop as well. On back has an impedence selector, 8ohm and 16ohm. I moved it to 8 from the standard 16 and removed two power tubes, outters. It's not really half as loud, but the power-tube saturation comes before without the wall-jarring volume. On back also is the main speaker jack and an external speaker jack(100-watt RMS). Has COOL AS HELL colored jewel--an aqua blue-green. Never seen anything like it. It's all put through two Celestian Vintage 30's. 100 watts 'o soul! ('bout 50 in my case) Bought the "four-button" footswitch later. Amp came without it. Nice long heavy-duty cables on it. Stock this combo has 4 Sovtek 6L6GC power tubes and 3 Sovtek 12AX7 preamp tubes. Many mass-production amp makers use these. An obvious upgrade area. Has Ampeg diamond-checked tolex, metal corner protectors, a super heavy duty leather handle and a silvery grill cloth. Has smooth casters underneath for easy manuvering.

I've gotta say, the previous reviewer is full of sh**. When I saw that one, ... well, I had to respond--trying to bring the rating up so it's true. What an ass. A one (1) for features!? Right. What's it have, just an on/off switch? You neanderthall. Dude made the review at about 3am too. Dunken M/F must have been put down by the tramps at his ol' watering hole. Came home ornery. Dude, chances are you never credibly put pick to string in your life. Hack! Loose your job at St. Louis Music, or what? "Amazing",... that Harmony-Central would accept an all-1's review for ANYTHING! Guys, ... what's up?! Asleep at the wheel? Well guess what, I'm doing my part to resurrect the ratings, and, unlike dude, giving REAL reasons for my point of view. Enough said of that spiel.

I use many guitars with this amp. Does well with my Strat and Tele. Also with a Samick 335 (Artist Series .650) and a Washburn with a locking Wonderbar system, both with humbuckers. Sounds great with either Humbuckers or single coils. I seem to rely less on pedals with this amp. Its all-tube tone seems to need little from any affects. Fell in love with it at the music store, Brass Bell, in Milwaukee, WI when I played my 1962 3-pickup (original) Fender Jaguar through it. I played it on the the clean channel with the trem and verb riding high and, whoa! Holy MUTHA!! I was in Dick Dale heaven. What a sweet sound. Even with the worn Sovtek tubes. After that experience I knew I must have it. One would not use this amp for in-your-face, ultra-high-gain Dimebag stuff. But it's tremendous for Rock 'n' Roll, blues, country, funk, pop, grunge... I used it in a Funk band and it did fine, even with the tired tubes. When I put in some GT 6L6GE's and NOS preamps, ... Mercy! It smokes a lot of pricier amps. As with all my tube amps, I've tried many preamp tube combos. Currently I like a triple-mica (Sylvania) 12AT7 in the phase inverter, a GT reissue Mullard (12AX7M) as the reverb driver/trem driver in the middle and a true NOS Mullard 12AX7 in gain stage 1. I also likes a 5751 in position 1 as well. In any case, this baby roars. When I first got it I was just checking it out and hitting chords with the volume on about 6, clean channel. As I sat on the amp, I was hanging my hand over the front of the amp after hitting a chord--letting it ring--sustaining. It was LOUD, ... and, by God, it felt like there was a fan blowing wind on my hand. It moves that much air! I swear it would have easily blown out a small flame. I'm continually impressed with this amp. It's a great product from Ampeg. I've owned for about a year and a half.

Only problem was with the original Sovetek tubes. I bought the amp after it had been used very often for a couple of years. Tubes made occasional noises. The power tubes were somewhat discolored.

The amp is very quiet for the amount of power it puts out.

I haven't abused this amp but I think it could stand up to serious gigging if that's what is was used for.

Called St. Louis Music in regards to putting 5881 power tubes in it. They said it should be fine. 5881's have a slightly lower power handling quotient, but it's not a real significant difference from the 6L6GC's. Can't wait to try them: a quartet of NOS Sylvanias on the way.

This amp has a 5-year warranty, which is transferable. Same company makes Crate and, I think, a few other amps. One of the best warranties in the business. Since they provided what I needed I give them a 10.

Has a mini dial/pot on the circuit board for setting bias. But don't mess with it if you don't know what you're doing. Leave to a tech.

I like most everything about this amp. But, I must say, the trem is to die for. It sounds so old school--so vintage. And, eventhough the gain channel can truely provide a raucous grind, with searing sustain, I chose this amp for the sound I got with my '62 Jaguar with the trem and reverb on the clean channel. From Blues, to Pop, to Rock 'N' Roll, and even Grunge, this amp really shines.

Been playing for around twenty-five years. This and my Mesa Boogie Nomad-55 are my best all-around amps. Have Fender, Crate, Peavey and Tonemaster (really a Magnatone) tube amps as well. Have about ten guitars, acoustics, six and twelve-string, solid bodies, semi-hollows and an archtop. I have a number of pedals, but, as my tone and technique evolve, ...well, let's just say I find less use for them as I advance as a guitarist. Man, the sound is really born in your mind and expressed in your fingers and your hand. If you can't play what you want--practice. Out to the wood shed. Nuff said.

If I somehow parted with this amp I'd cry, then bitch, then look for another. I probably wouldn't find one in as good a shape as the one I have. Especially for the price! I'm telling you, try it and buy it.

Don't know why it was allowed, but pay no attention to the previous review. Look at the other reviews. You'll find reality there.

Peace, love and Rock, ... yes. Long live ROCK!

Sr212rt 100 watt 2 12 inch speakers, clean and overdrive channel.
I was looking for a tube amp 100 watt that had a good clean and a good overdrive.

I after doing lots of reserch and reading reviews, I ordered one from music123. I couldn't find and music stores in Phoenix that had them in stock. I didn't like the idea of buying an amp that I had not played and tested out, but I had no choice. I know that Ampeg makes quality bass amps and had made quality guitar amps in the past,
so I thought it was a reasonable decision. When I unpacked the amp and powered it up, I was in fear for my life. I got nothing but loud
humming static.

I ordered one from music 123 and it was totally garbage.
I sent it back and they did refund my money..THANKS...
I thought, what the heck, it was probabally a defective amp,
so I ordered another one from a local music store in Phoenix.
When it arrived it was also a piece of garbage.
Not only did both amps have defects and very loud humming, but they were missing screws, parts were mis-aligned, it looked as thought
it had been put together by a bunch of hicks down in Arkansas
(which it was) who have trouble matching color coded wires.
This amp is not made in the same plant that the bass amps are made.
they are mede in Arkansas, probablly a contract electronic manufacturing facility, (outsourced) and they don't make a lot of them so nobody knows what the heck they are doing. And they can't
read or match colored wires. I think the amp would have been great If I could had one that was put together correctlly.
Lucky for me, I got my money back for both amps but I don't want to try for strike three.

I called them a couple or times and left messages.
My calls were never returned.

I think it would be a good amp if the management at St. Louis Music
could get their shit together. They own Ampeg, Crate and other name
brands so this is probablly not very hig on their priority list since they only sell about 50 of the amps per year. If they fixed the problems, they could sell lots of them because there is a great demand for a powerful combo that can do what this amp could probablly do if it was manufacured to spec..Any Questions,
DaveParker5@msn.com

Bought the amp new in 2003. Has great features with awesome tremelo and reverb, for a tube amp it has the best features for the price. I play all styles of music, and with some simple effects in the effects loop, I can get any great sound I need. This amp really shines in the blues, rock, country department. I use this amp solely in the church band and it is all the amp that I'll ever need.

I have a collection of guitars mainly fitted with hot seymour duncans or dimarzio's. Amp is very quiet, especially for all tube. Has an awesome lead channel that is very versitle blues to almost fuzz-metal sound. The clean channel is amazing too. Great overtones and clarity. The bass in this amp is unreal. The bass player hates it because when I play low notes I have a better bass than he does. This amp really shines and cuts through in a band!! The sound quality is definately the forte of this amp. This amp also sounds great when playing my harmonica through it!!!

I've had the amp going on two years now and had to replace one 6L6 power tube that was being microphonic. Other than that it has been a real workhorse like ampeg claims. Thought I had another problem with it cutting out, but turned out to be a bad patch cord.

Ampeg has been great the few times I called them. No long waits on the phone and decent help. They were quick to refer me to a service center and didn't really give me all the info I wanted. Overall they were good.

Been playing 10 years. This is my first all tube amp. I've owned a marshall valvestate and crate v series. I would definately look for another if it were stolen. I compared this to fender,marshall, and mesa and got this one for the price, sound, and features. Noone else at the time could compare. This is a great amp. I would definetly recommend it for anyone looking for great tube sound!!

This is Ampeg's flagship offering in the vintage blue diamond tolex lead line. Per Ampeg's website date-by-serial number info, it's a 2003. 100 watts from 4-6L6's & 3 12AX7's. ALL tube signal path. It is set up with twin 12" Celestion vintage 30's, 8/16 ohm switchable. 2 channels .. clean and overdrive via the usual gain/master tweakability. EQ is treble/middle/bass. It is footswitchable and panel switchable. Has awesome tremolo and lush reverb to rival any of Leo's. Built like a Sherman tank/brick sh*thouse .. whatever similar analogy you'd like ( the 6L6's have a "cage" protecting them !! ). Has effects loop and line out. It IS heavy ... 75 lbs ... I dropped a nut when first I picked it up but, hey, tho testicals may come and go, a great amp is forever !!

I use a Hum/Single/Hum American Strat with a Warmoth braz r'wood neck and a stock 2003 Fender Am Dlx Flametop strat with ebony f'bosrd snd S-C single/single/hum topload pickups. This amp has TONS of FAT/PHAT WARM tube clean headroom. OK, the benchmark seems to be the TWIN REVERB ... same tonal characteristics with more headroom.
The overdrive channel is STELLAR ! Nice range of slight edgy grit to gonzo, Cream - Era Eric approved violin overdrive... the operative word here is SMOOTH ... I've played many tube amps over the years and prefer the EL-84 type saturation for smoothness and lack of "graininess". Few 6L6 or EL34 amps can match that type of overdrive, especially in the ability of notes to "swell up" to the singing sustain and hang there .... this amp does it in spades ! It seems equally friendly to singles and 'buckers. This amp compares VERY favorably to my 2 reference amps ... a Fuchs Bandmaster mod and a Naylor Superdrive 60. It's not a metal amp unless you drop a pedal into the signal path. Fender only wishes their Hot Rod series gain tonalities sounded like this instead of the low-end rumbly, flabby, torn-speaker flatulence they exhibit ( IMHO ... the Hot Rod clean is typical superlative Fender )...

I've only had the amp a brief time, but surfing the forums indicates no reasons to worry about reliability. Again, the thing's built like Fort Knox.

I have several local repair guys who are killer, should I need service ... it's out of warranty. But, if the following's any indication, Ampeg support's a "10" ... got the amp used and it's missing 2 knobs ... emailed the Ampeg website today ( SUNDAY !! ) to inquire about the best source for replacement and got a reply back with 15 MINUTES ... thanks, Dino !! That is VERY encouraging !

Been playing 35 years .. began with the blues and continue to love the style & have added country, rock and jazz since then. J Winter, Page, Beck, Clapton, Green, Hendrix, Vaughan, Carlton, Breau, Ted Greene, Tommy Emmanuel, Chet, Django, Garland, Leon Rhodes, J Bryant, Yngwie, Brent Mason ... in no particular order ... stole stuff from all of them.
You want to hear the clean tone from this amp ? Go listen to Hank Garland's tone on JAZZ WINDS FROM A NEW DIRECTION. Overdrive ? Crossroads, Supernatural, Black Magic Woman, You Shook Me All Night Long ...
If stolen, I'd hunt the perp down, borrow some Spanish Inquisition torture apparatus, then .... no, no, never mind...you get the idea.
The amp really IS that good ... very hard to find.. I waited 4 years before I saw one available !