B-52 Pro Audio AT-212 212 Combo

THE AMP WAS MADE IN 2005, IT WAS A NICE AMP WHEN IT WAS WORKING EXCEPT IT HAD A SMELL LIKE THE BABOONS AT THE ST.LOUIS ZOO!!! THE CABINET IS VERY TOUGH AND APPEARS TO BE MADE WELL.IT DOES HAVE ENOUGH POWER WHEN IT WORKS!!!IT SAYS ON A STICKER MADE IN THE USA IT SHOULD HAVE SAID ASSEMBLED PARTIALLY IN THE USA WITH ALOT OF FOREIGN PARTS.I WANTED AN AMERICAN MADE AMP I SHOULD HAVE PURCHACED A MESA WHICH I AM PLANNING ON DOING.

I USE LES PAUL STUDIO GUITARS WITH HUMBUCKING PICKUPS,THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS VERY NICE FOR BLUES,JAZZ AND GENERAL PLAYING. THE TWO GAIN CHANNELS ARE VERY HARD TO CONTROL THE SOUND.I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR OVER 40 YEARS PLUS SO I AM QUALIFIED TO MAKE THAT STATEMENT!

THE AMP IS THE HOTTEST RUNNING AMP I HAVE EVER USED.I WAS AFRAID TO WALK AWAY FROM IT FOR EVEN A MINUTE,FEARING MY HOUSE WOULD BURN DOWN!!! THE AMP DOES NOT WORK NOW,THE GAIN CHANNELS ARE GONE,THE CLEAN CHANNEL STILL WORKS.THE AMP WAS KEPT FREE OF DUST AND WAS TREATED VERY WELL,IT DID NOT RETURN THE FAVOR.

AT B-52 THE LADY THAT ANSWERS THE PHONE MUST HAVE CAME FROM MARS,I LEFT NUMEROUS VOICE MAILS NO ONE WOULD RETURN MY CALLS.I TALKED TO ONE OF THE BEST AMP GUYS IN MY AREA THAT USED TO WORK FOR ST.LOUIS MUSIC AND NOW WORKS AT ANOTHER PLACE THAT I WILL NOT NAME,I WILL TAKE IT TO HIM TO REPAIR,HE REPAIRED MY SONS MESA BOOGIE DUAL RECTIFIER AND DID AN EXCELLENT JOB I WILL NOT DEAL WITH B-52 ANYMORE NOR WILL I EVER BUY THERE PRODUCTS!

AGAIN I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR OVER 40 YEARS,IF I HAD A AT-212 FOURTY YEARS AGO I PROBABALLY WOULD HAVE NOT KEEP PLAYING FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS FROM AGGRAVATION WITH THAT AMP!THE ONLY OTHER THING THAT THE AMP COULD USE IS A ROTISSERIE FOR COOKING CHICKENS!

Seems like a recent build. I play mostly metal and have a pension for blues, so the three different channels is great (in theory--more on that later) and gives a lot of berth for tone exploration. The master and independent volumes really help unify the three channels and helps create dramatic or seamless changes between tones, depending on what you want. The contour thing is...interesting. For me, it's sort of worthless since I like my mids (favorite tones are early Sabbath and, these days, the Sword), but if you're into that solid state stuff, I guess this option would prove worthwhile. Bright switch is great, I never turn it off on the clean. Reverb is decent, nothing compared to my buddy's Fender combo, but it's nothing awful. "Low Resonance" control knob: I don't understand what this is for really. I can make the amp shake the walls more or less. Maybe it's to better adjust if a bassist is present? Don't know...certainly not hurting anything. Two inputs (High/Low) can be fun with a friend (or a loop station). I'm very curious about clamping a Y-adapter on the end of my final-input cable for the same guitar and into both channels at once to see what happens.

I'm with an earlier reviewer on this number: the tone is HORRIBLE. I use high-end Epiphones with their stock Gibson-made humbuckers running through a Dunlop Crybaby w/Fasel inductor and True Bypass circuit and Monster cables--and that's IT; I am completely confident that it's NOT the instrument/pedal/cable (not) making the noise belching forth from these speakers. Okay, to be fair, it's only the dirty channels that are wretched. The clean is really, really nice. Trouble is, I don't use it very often! The first distorted channel actually seems listenable for blues, possibly classic rock, though I wouldn't get my hopes up. Then there's the second, "lead" channel. It can barely handle a two-note powerchord without going to mud. The low end is definitely there, but the highs, not so much. It's very much like thunder sans lightning: a lot of rumble with no flash. I used to use a Digitech Metal Master (which I absolutely adore, by the by) in my pre-AT-212 set-up, but I can't on this amp. Too much hiss, and unfortunately the pedal only corrects my complaints (sloppy harmonics, non-existent highs) at the expense of the lumbering "whomp" and thick mids I so longed for in my first tube amp.

I'll give this thing a higher rating here because it hasn't broken down in 6 months and it arrived beaten the hell up from shipping. HEAVY though!

No opinion.

I, like the guy earlier, had read a bunch of good reviews for the AT-212 as a discount powerhouse. I was wrong. SAVE YOUR MONEY and get a hand-wired Orange or Laney or Engl instead. It's worth it! The B-52 AT-212 cost a little less than $750--for $900, you can get a Laney Lionheart on Musicians Friend, a REAL classic metal's friend. It's cheap, and you get exactly what you pay for.

All said before .This thing does everything .I have a MESA dual rectifier and the cleans espesially kick its ass ,,,espesially the sustain!
With this thing you dont need footpedals ,all the sounds you need are already in the box. 3 channels of everything you could ever need . The cleanest cleans to the most stupid Metal.
Weighs a ton !

If you spend a couple of minutes on it you can get any sound you want . The thing is noisy especially on the lead channel.The blues tones from the first overdrive is really well suited to a vintage strat .Great sustain ( Way better than my MESA ) . The lead channel can get waaaaay too saturated .I have mine set to the 12 o clock position . You have a feature ( for the metal heads , of which I am NOT! ) to scoop the mids to give you that modern Soldano Metal sound .
The reverb on this thing is subtle and could be more rich , but i find playing over a live band,you wouldnt need it more "wet" as the effectiveness to cut through the mix would somewhat diminish .
The footpedal is extremely solidano robust,NOT like tose LINE 6 "Toys" along with the construction of the cabinet (13 ply Birch); which is part of the reason this thing is BULLSHIT heavy . (Still way lighter than my recto). I bought this thing cos it was so cheap .Actaully I went in the shop to get a set of strings and heard this sound from the corner of the shop . I sat and watched for half an hour thinking this this was a boutique amp ,as I hadnever heard of them before . I ended up buying it for the same price as the LINE 6 twin valve thing next to it . Side by side there is no comparison ,especially for the price . Good thing is I'll get good money for the MESA thankful to the Brand whores ( which I am one !!) out there.
Any one who can't get a great sound out of this thing ,really needs to NOT blame the AMP !!It really does it all. I am concerned about the excesive noise on the lead channel though, I may change the valves if it pisses me off further!

I have been told the reverbs are dodgy !And the heat issues ,but I have been witness to none if this.I have the newer ones with the fan installed,( Which is annoyingly loud ). The valves are quality Electro Harmonix for most part. I dont know why they use Crappy chinese valves for the others . I think all the preamp valves are E-H valves.
I have also been told the internals are also a composite of chinese parts which i am a bit worried about !! At the minute.....all is well ,,,fingers crossed

Been playing since .....er 1985....Sheesh thats showing my age !and play mostly 80's Van Halen ,Malmsteen,Stevie Ray Vaughn,and most things in between , bar Death metal .I have a MESA Dual Rectifier ,That does some great things ,but not this versatile . I believe the build quality to be inferior to the MESA ,not externally ,but in the internal componantry of the amp. I hope it lasts and give same the trouble free nature of the MESA.Time will tell . The cleans crap on my MESA and the blues tone are on par if not better !I hate new age metal so apparently thats what this thing does better than a Boogie, But I couldnt tell you . I believe if your gain is so cranked that if you have a Les Paul or a mandolin pluged in and you cant tell the diff.....WTF !!I need to hear the srtings , the wood and most importantly my expression , and thats what this thing does .

TONS of features...EXCEPT a 100 W / 50 W powertube switch. Just too loud for a practice amp.

So I read all these glowing reviews of the AT-100 212 and I finally got the idea that I was going to walk into my friendly Guitar Center and buy this "poor man's Mesa". I figured that the worst scenario would be that I would have to but it and replace the tubes.

I really can't begin to describe how magnificently horrible it sounded. It had this hissing noise and the only time it didn't was when it was too busy blaring out feedback. At first, I thought I just could not figure out the settings. Then the guitar techs came over to the rescue and laughed at each other as they all manged to make it sound worse.

For gags I played the Line6 Spider Valve (which i didn't like) and it blew the AT out of the water just on the gain channel...all of a sudden that "sort-of" Line 6 tube amp sounded like a sweet deal if I was strapped for cash.

Bottom line...I'm just going to save up and buy the Mesa Recto. It's gonna hurt dropping that cash on an amp, but its better than being pissed that I threw away 500 for a footrest.

I really WANTED to like this amp ---especially for the $$$. I mean, it sounded like I was gonna end up with a Mesa Recto-esq combo that has a slight hiss - I could live with that! Instead it sounded like sloshing through mud (regardless of where the gain and presence were set). Don't believe me? Go try it.

I have no personal experience with this but I keep reading on here and other places that many of the units of these spend as much time in the shop as being played.

I was fortunate enough not to buy it; so I have no idea.

Assuming you can also find one with a scratch on it for 445 as well...I'd say that it's not a horrible deal - for the price.

That being said...there was no way I was spending any of my money on an amp whose only distinguishing characteristic was it's bad sound.

Kick Ass versatility, the direct out in the back has adjustable volume control which is a nice bonus and the sound from that is great for recording, much better than my freind's Marshall

It gives me the distortions of the Soldano Super Lead Overdrive (SLO) 100 watt that I love (ex: Mike Houser from Widespread Panic)

had it a year and it has never let me down

have not ever needed it

The only problem is that it is sooooo heavy...my wife had to get shoulder surgery after bringing it home for my Christmas present last year, and I think I hurt mine last month, they should do handles on the sides not the one handle on the top, but it comes iwth wheels and carries ok if you bear hug it from the back and lift with your legs not your back, the one handle on the top is dangerous to use...That said, I think other similar amps are just as heavy (fender twin)

Just bought this for my son at Guitar Center for 600.00 + 87.00 for a 7 year warranty in which everything except tubes are covererd and shipping for any repairs is also covered.

I had him grab a Gibson SG and a Schecter c-1 classic with genuine Duncans off the wall and he tried the allthe Fender tube amp combos, all the Peavy tube amp combos, a Mesa rectifier, a Marshall DSL 401, and an 800.00 Line 6 amp.

He owns the two guitars he auditioned with, and the B-52 seem to be the clear winner of all these amps as far as doing it all.
The clean class tones, and the rock, hard rock and even metal tones were only capable on this amp with no drive petals.

When we got it home, it took both of us to get this beast out of the truck.
We hooked up the brand new amp and my 14 year old son preceeded to play for hours non stop...which is something I hadn't heard him do with his Marshall solid state amp that we traded in.

This is the only combo tube amp in the entire stores stock that could do clean class A blues...to all out metal without pedals.

I never noticed it being noisy and it barely gets warm with the installed fan.

My sons pickups are Duncan jazz/59 in the C-1 Classic, and 490t/Dimebucker in the SG, and you can clearly hear the different pickups in both guitars.
It doesn't need to be turned up past 1-1.5 in his room for amplification thats short of hearing damage that is.

Its new, and we paid less than 700.00 for it with a 7 year warranty that includes free shipping back to the manufactuer..so I am not sweating any future problems.

My son is 14, and has been playing for a couple of years now self taught.
I did teach hime around 12 chords on his first acoustic years ago...but he has been a natural self learner ever since....and far better than I was at his age after pro lessons.
The sales guy was impressed with his playing, and he has a natural knack for it.

He owns a Langejans handbuilt acoustic from 1973, a Washburn d-10, and an older Blureridge dread that the previous owner tore the model label out of.
Numerous Boss pedals that will probably get sold now, and a few other gizmos.

100 watts of all tube power. This amp contains has a clean channel with treble, mid, and bass along with a bright switch which adds more treble to give you a "sparkly" tone, and a volume knob for that channel.

The lead channel also has treble mid and bass but has two gain knobs and allows you to switch between them. The second "channel" has more
gain than the other. It also had a countour knob that you can activiate for either gain channels. Individual eq for each gain channel would have been nice but isn't really needed. This channel also has an individual volume.

The amp contains and master volume also with is great if you are practicing by yourself and you don't want to disturb anyone else. It has a low-res knob and reverb.

The amp has 3 different rectifier modes with are tube a, tube ab, and solid state. Tube a gives you a more warmer tone and solid state gives you a "tighter" sound with is good for high gain stuff while tube ab is in the middle. It also has a tube driven effects loop and includes a footswitch which allows you to switch between gain channels, lead and clean channel, reverb on/off, and effects on/off.

I use an Ibanez RG321MH with a DiMarzio D-Sonic in bridge and the stock pickup in the neck.

This amp is REALLY versatile. It has a very good clean channel which is something most high gain amps do not have. It can do a wide range of styles. This channel also does not break up (start to distort) which for me is good but for others it may not be.

The overdrive channel is very good as well. If you want a sort of hard rock crunch, then the first overdrive channel is good. How ever if you want a brutal metal tone, then the second overdrive channel is perfect.
If you want a bluesy or jazz type tone, the first OD channel can do it very well. This is a very versatile amp however for some metal heads out there it may not be enough but a good OD pedal can fix that.

There is one problem though. Noise. This amp is very noisy. If you turn the amp's gain up high, you get loads of feedback. However its nothing a noise reducer can't handle. (ISP Decimator is a really good one)

The stock tube aren't the greatest and they are actually responsible for the amount of noise this thing makes. A good tube swap will do wonders for this amp.

Had it for a couple of months and it shows no signs of dying on me.

Haven't dealt with them.

I took a risk spending 750$ on an amp like this and so far it was well worth it. It is very versatile and can pretty do whatever you throw at it. The amp itself is pretty heavy however (~85 pounds!!) so you may need a couple of people to lug it around.

If you need an all tube amp for almost any genre and don't want to wipe out your bank account, then this is the one for you. Unless you go used, it doesn't get better than this.

Manufactured late 2006. Though, not my first one. That one was stolen from our van in August. 100 watt all tube combo with footswitch. Three channels with reverb. I use it for my metal band and my blues project.

The distortion channels are over the top. Tons of gain, maybe too much. Reminds me a bit of some of the modified Marshall JCM800s and JCM900s. The clean is nice a sparkley like a Fender. I use mine with an Ibanez RG570 with Dimarzio Evolution pickups.

I waited a couple months to write this. In the last 2 months, I've pused it hard. I never had the overheating problems. Though mine is a newer one with fans. If you have an old one, B-52 will send you a fan kit and set you up with a guy to install it for free. I couldn't be happier with the sound and quality. My old one also never experienced the heat problem either.

Awesome!!! I called just to see if they knew about the heat problem and to see if mine was one of the ones with the old design. He said anything with the serial # ending in 1200 as the last four digits would have the fans. On my first one, I bought used and called to see if I could order a footswitch. They sent one for free.

I've been playing for nearly 20 years. I bought this on a whim. I also have a Dual Rectifier and wanted a small combo. My Recto has broken down twice. I never had a problem with this one and I like the sound better. Not bad at all. In fact it's been nearly perfect.

As most high gain amps, this one features a clean channel, and two overdriven channels with shared EQ, this means that both distortion channels use one single EQ. On the clean channel you get bass, mid and high pots as well as a bright switch that will increase the high frecuencies more than just a bit, and volume. On the dist channels yoo dont get the bright switch but you do have a contour knob.

I do not think this amp laks on features, if you want more knobs, potentiometers and switches go get a Mesa Mark IV or a digital Line 6 crap.

Most of the time this amp gets used for recording purposes because it blends perfectly a expensive fenderish clean and a nonsense distortion that reminds me of a tripple rectifier.

There is a great option which is the Tri-mode rectifier, don't mislead this... this is not a tripple rectifier amp, it only has a knob that lets you switch between solid state, tube AB and tube A rectifier types.

You get a tube driven effects loop with I/O levels, a line out with level, OHM load switch (4, 8 or 16ohm) for exernal cab purposes, a ground lift swtich (which it does not seem to work at all) and a spring reverb tank, (which sometimes comes with the cables inverted and seems not to work, but switching its I/O cables will solve the issue).

I voted 8 because of the ground lift switch which seems not to work.

PD> it comes with a four button pedal, switch channels, effects on of, reverb on of.

Think of this amp as you would do on a Fender Twin, or '65 Reverb... just a clean channel comes to your head, there you go, a great clean channel with plenty of different tones to try out; plenty of dynamics, of power, of hours and hours of enjoyable sound.

Again, you may think of it as the Famous High Gain, for me nothing beats a mesa boogie when it comes to distortion, excep for this amp. I wish I had on my arsenal a 6505, and Tripple recto but as backup for this one. For all metal players, hard rock players, blues players, and even jazz players... try it out, get up your lazzy ass and try this thing out.

I used to have about 3 or 4 different distortion pedals until I got this amp, and got rid of them, now I conect the guitar straight into the amp and feel the pleasure of electric guitar dynamics right into your brain and body...

I haven't tryed it with an extension cab, but for a 100W amp, I think there is plenty of power to spread day and night.

I do not use backup even if my amp sucks... This thing is heavy as hell and ussually needs two people to be carried. Yes it fits your car backseat, it is an inch smaller than the Roland jazz chorus but twice its weight.

I haven't changed tubes yet, it came with Electro Harmonix tubes and I believe they will last for 2007 as it only gets used for recording and see no gigs at all. The only you need to be carefull with is moving ir aroung while still hot, you will damage the tubes right away.

It does get very hot, and a fan upgrade appeared right in front of my door to be installed on it, and I did, but still runs pretty warm.

As you would want everyone of them to be, attent, helfull, HONEST, and without horsing around.

They do their jobs, so they get a 10 here...

I've tryed several different amps, and this one is the one I kept, if stonel I would get the head version for splitting the weight, but I wouln'd get anything else... I could add more amps to my wishes, but this is one I will keep around until it totally dies or something better comes out, which I doubt.

I wish I could have a 2x12" extension cab to get a total of 4x12, but so far there is no need for it. This amp is really really loud so be carefull with your ears, try not to go deaf.

Bought this amp new in July 2006. 3 channels. 1 clean, 2 gain. Nice effects loop. This amp can get very loud.

Beautiful on the clean. Gain 1 gives you a nice overdrive and 2 can give you heavy distortion. Just be careful as too much gain on #2 will get a little noisy. Play mainly with a Kramer Pacer custom II and a PRS CE 24 with tremonti pickups in it. Get nice tones with both. Play everything from Waylon to Metallica.

I gig every weekend with this and it works great, however I am on my 3rd reverb tank. The reverb units are cheap but when it breaks, I call B-52 and they send me a new one. It's very annoying but as long as it's under warranty (5 yrs), I'll let them keep sending me a new one. Just call B-52 tech department and tell them you need a new one. Maybe if enough people complain, they will get a better reverb unit.

Speak to Daniel in the tech department. All others I have dealed with were idiots. Last time I spoke with him he asked me how I liked the amp, I told him it was great other than the cheap reverb and that it gets damn hot (like everyone else's). He told me that they have corrected that problem on the newer ones by installing a small cooling fan in the back and asked me if I would like them to send me one for mine. I said yes and when I received my last reverb tank, they sent me the coolong fan kit with instructions on installing it (free of charge!!). It was actually quite easy, other than you have to disassemble the amp. Only took about an hour to do and now the amp works great and doesn't get hot at all, barely warm to the touch on the front pannel.
I recommend that any of you that have this amp, call them and get a fan kit for yours.

I,ve been playing for about 25 years and for the money, this is probably the best bang for the buck out there as far as an all tube amp. Downside is it's heavy! I doubt if I would replace it with another one if this one broke, it's just too damn heavy to lug around all the time. I would probably replace it with the 1x12 model that just came out. Overall I think this is a great amp with great sound.

This amp has most of the features I was looking for in an amp. I like being able to switch between Class A/AB/Solidstate modes. The contour feature is nice.

This is a tough one because the tube sound is great, and the EQ offers tonal variety, but it is very noisy even on the clean channel.

Ok here's my B52 story...
So I had this important gig coming up in a month, but I was in need of a new amp and decided to try the B52 AT212.
The first one I got, the reverb didn't work so I took it back for another.
I rehearsed with it for a month, and I thought it sounded great, but it was noisy and it ran hot and I could smell the heat from 30 feet away. When I touched the control knobs they nearly burned the tips of my fingers.
I decided to research the amp a bit on the net and discovered others with this amp (including on this forum)having the same issue; sounded great but concerns about the heat & noise.
Others also seemed to be having other problems like the amp doing weird things, but for me no issues other than the heat & noise.
Oh, and the red power-on light on the front panel stopped working.
Now I'm thinking, I've encountered a bad reverb, bad power light, noise and heat. It got me worried about holding on to this amp.

Finally important gig day arrives. It's an outdoor festival and the weather turned out to be rather blustery and cold.
We go up to set up rigs and the B52 starts crapping out on me--that low voltage or low battery sound, or a loose jack connection.
I think it in my pedals but while I'm trying to track it down I bypass the pedals and run direct from my guitar to the B52.
The crappy sound is still there, cutting in and out. So it turned out to be the B52!!!! I'm pissed!!!
I had to go on with the gig using another bands amp.
I don't know why it was doing that... I can only assume it didn't like the cold air.
The guy at guitar center who sold it to me finally admitted to me that lots of other customers have had problems with it.
Bottom line... it's unreliable. A sweet sounding but badly built piece o crap.

No experience with customer service yet

I'm staying away from it. Too bad because it had so much potential.

All the features have been listed elsewhere. This is a re-review.

This is one of the areas I want to offer new info. It's very noisy. I guess I just didn't notice it at first. But I had to send it in for repair. While it was in the shop I went back to using my Peavey Delta Blues 210. And I noticed how quiet the Peavey is in comparison. The B-52 is just noisier than it should be.

Six months into using the thing it starts making this gigantic HONK sound. I turn it on, play for a bit and ... HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK. So loud it makes you wince. Like a cruise ship just went sailing by. So here begins my so far 3 month journey...

So I take it up to Guitar Center and they send it in for warranty repair. (I found out later that it sat in Guitar Center's back room for a month before it went off to the shop - very irritating. More on that and B-52's customer service in the next section.) This shop in Akron, Ohio, has the amp for 6 weeks, they replace the power tubes, and take another 2 weeks send it back to Guitar Center. Now I pick it up, take it home and I can't get any sound out of it at all.

It's now been three months I am without my main amp. So tomorrow I am shipping it back to Akron so that they can "fix" it again. I'm not sure who to blame for all of this -- the shop? the amp? All I know is the thing AIN'T WORKING.

I struggle with this one. Before I bought the amp I called B-52 with some questions. I got a guy on the phone who was very helpful, answered all my questions, gave me a lot of info on the amp.

I emailed B-52 once with a question about the amp -- no response.

After my amp had been in for repair for about a month I called B-52 intending to ask them to track it down (at the time I didn't know it had gone to the Akron shop). I got this lady on the phone and I would have sworn I was on candid camera. I explained the deal to her and then it was like "so who are you again?" I explain more. She says, "and you're with Guitar Center?" I repeat myself. She puts me on hold for several minutes then comes back on and says "So you bought the amp at Guitar Center?" I explain again. She puts me on hold again and comes back and says "So, where is the amp now?" It was all I could do to not freak out. Finally, she put me on with the director of operations who explained where my amp was likely to be and that I would need to get the info from Guitar Center.

When the amp came back from the shop and wasn't fixed the operations guy at B-52 agreed to cover the cost of my shipping the amp directly to the shop instead of sending it back through Guitar Center. They have been responsive to my problem. But the people who answer the phones there seem to have no conception of what's going on.

So I give them a 4 as a compromise between an 8 when dealing with the operations guy and a 0 when dealing with the receptionist.

Overall I'll give it a 5 because it's a good amp for all the reasons listed in my other review but my experience with it has been less than stellar.

This is the most versatile amp I've ever played. It has 2 separate gain channels, with independent eq's, plus a contour knob. I play mostly hardrock and little metal, but Im also an avid blues player. Its got 3 different volume knobs - gain 1, gain 2, and clean, plus a master volume. I use this amp in my room and at band practice, but this amp could EASILY fill a good size venue with its 100 watts of all tube power. This is LOUD. I havent turned it past 3 since I've had it. What I really like about it, is its three rectifier sections, Tube A, Tube AB1, and Solid State, my favorite is tube AB1, I think it sounds the best, but Tube A sounds very very warm really good for blues and stuff. My second favorite thing is the low res. knob on the amp, it adds a really nice low end to the sound. This amp has everything for me.

Like I said, with the 2 gain options and the contour knob, theres all kinds of sounds you can get out of this thing. Gain 1 is really good for blues and stuff, if the gain knob is kept down, but when its cranked to the max, it can handle metal very very well. Gain 2 is a little has a little more dirt than the first gain. It suites hardrock and metal very well. You can just go crazy with this gain. The clean channel is amazing, I dont like the clean channels that break up at high volumes, I like crystal clear clean sounds, and this amp definitely has it. I own a couple guitars, a modded Ibanez RG470, with a dimarzio X2N in the bridge, and a fender Red Lace Sensor in the Middle, my other guitar is a Fender Deluxe American Strat, with a fender dh-1 humbucker in the bridge, both deliver the styles that I play. Of course, all amps have a little hum to them until you get a noise suppressor, but it doesnt bother me at all. I think its better than the Marshall JCM2000 I played at the same place. The only reason Im giving this a 9, is because it doesnt sound as good as my digitech gnx4 does through the clean channel, BUT its very close, I give it a 9.5.

So far, nothing has gone wrong. I was a bit skeptical about getting this brand, because I had never heard of it, but wow, Im so glad I got one, I wouldnt play anyhing else now. Nt much else to say since it hasnt broken down yet.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for about 4 years. The last amp I owned was a Peavey Bandit 112, needless to say this was a huge upgrade. I love everything about this amp, I really wish everyone would try one, I think most people would like them. If it were stolen, I'd for sure get it again. This is the best amp for the money, hands down.

Two channels, contour, EQ, Reverb... Not too many, just right.

The reason I traded in my Marshall that I had for over a decade. I couldn't believe how good it sounds! Waaaaarm OD and a clean channel with a lot of depth.

Uh, oh.... I wouldn't believe this story if I didnt experience it myself. In short: After playing the floor demo.. I bought one, brought it home, turned it on, and no sound. Dead. Guitar Center had to have a replacemment amp shipped. A week later, a new one arrives... brought it home, turned it on and NO SOUND! Same thing. Guitar Center overnights one for me from Chicago. As I'm driving over to GC to get it, the manager calls to tell me the thing just started smoking as they checked it in the store. WOW!!!! 3 brand new amps in 8 days. NO THANK YOU!

Hats off to Guitar Center for trying to make it right.

I absolutely love the sound of the B52, the best I've heard. But there's obviously some reliability issues. (It's the whole reason I'm doing a review). I'm getting a Fender or Crate.. I'm DONE WITH B-52. They suddenly scare the hell out of me! Too bad I can't recommend one, because it was the sound I was looking for. I'll give it an overall rating of 2 with hopes they win me back one day.

Features I found to be great.

Using an Ibanez RG 570, The sound from the amp is great. I did find that it did have quite a bit of un wanted noise, especially when using different overdrive pedals in front of it.

Well, heres where thing's start to suck. About 1 1/2 months after purchace from guitar center I turn the amp on one day and the back of it lit up, blew the fuse, and basically died. This just day's before a scheduled recording project was supposed to start.

So...I call Guitar center and they refuse to do anything being that it was after their 30 day responsability cut off. So I call the company, after a series of question's, they tell me I have to take it to a repair center 1 1/2 hour's away from me, ONE WAY !!. So, I do, well it's been 3 week's, they still havent figured out what's wrong, B52 is basically saying too bad!!, won't return phone calls, and so on. I gotta say, this is the worst service I've ever got.

I've been playing for about 20 yrs. Recording for 5. I would definitely NOT do business with this company again, but would save a little more and go Marshall. I've hade probably 10-15 amps in my life and this one sounded great, but if it only last's 2 month's for $700.00 ...NOT worth it. I just wish that B52 would stand behind their product, but after talking to a few service techs about it, I'm sorry thet I bought it. Don't waste your money, because if this is the quality of workmanship and "customer service" we can expect, then It's not worth your hard earned money.

This is a re-review. After playing through the amp for almost a year, I started noticing some problems.

First, the reverb starts to feedback a lot when I'm switched to the overdrive channel. Very annoying.

Second, I took the grill off the back to access the tubes and left it off for a couple of weeks. Much to my dismay, part of the cabinet had cracked just beneath the back control panel. Not very sturdy construction.

Third, I still get a lot of humming from the clean channel even after replacing all the power tubes and five of the preamp tubes. Can't can't seem to figure out why this is happening.

I called and sent a couple of e-mails to B-52 about the before mentioned problem. When I called, the lady didn't sound like she knew where to send me and she said the only had one tech support rep. So I sat on hold for about fifteen minutes then hung up. I think they need to hire somemore reliable people. Also, my e-mails were never answered.

Looks sexy. Nice layout on the channel config. Was hoping for a stereo effects loop. No go on this model. Maybe a quiet cooling fan would be a nice addition to future models. Nice low end resonance adjustment. I like the Freq contour knob between the channels also. Reverb sounds good to me. I like the fact you can plug in a second cabinet and still have the speakers on. Nice impedence selection option, ground lift, and the independant gain pots for the effects loop add some balancing options. The effects loop does seem to make the signal thinner when used. Plugging into the front with your effects of choice inline seems to offer the best sound/signal.

I play through a dual humbucker, neck and bridge positions respectivly. Amazing sound across the channels. Clean is sweet and smooth, you can color it up with the right tweaking. I also pipe a Roland VG-8 guitar emulator into it with decent frequency responce. GODLIKE overdrive in the all tube (A)mode, METAL HEAD EXTREME. I was sold on that alone with no effects. This one just filled up the tone gap the best. LOUDER THAN HELL..

On my second one. Had to take the rear grill off due to cabinet resonation vibration on certain notes. And during low tremolo bar dives, there are certain points of the signal that cause an anoying cabinet buzzing. Not great for the miked studio performance. Acts as a room heater on cold winter days. Yes, It gets VERY HOT! Hotter than I expected. The first one I bought got hot, so hot, the power lamp blew out and then I started getting noise/humming/buzzing without the guitar plugged in. It started to smell like something was cooking. Yes, new electronics smell until burned in, but this sucker will keep your coffee warm. Use it in a well ventilated area.. The power switches are hot enough to not want to keep your fingers on them more than a few seconds.

I called there CA office and asked for some operating temperature specs. They did'nt have an answer for me. Worried. They told me to take it to one of their service co-ops. I just bought it and don't plan on leaving it there for a month. Kind of a brush off after the rep stated that if I am getting noise, to take it in. Must be a common problem, too hot and induced noise. If it bursts into flames, we can write it off as stage effects.

22 years of wire pushing & plectrum grinding. If it got stolen, I have the police do a thermal scan or could watch the local news for burnt down homes and find the thief. I would definatley buy another if they work on the thermal problem. My first REAL TUBE combo. The sound is not comparable. IT IS KILLER. Can't beat the price either.
It simply surpasses Marshall, Mesa, Fender. I tried them all for a week. The THICKEST metal crunch ever. This amp has some serious power and will rattle the picture off your wall! No lie. Hate the HEAT problem. Maybe because it is just really juiced up. Hope your electric bill doesn't double.

You've read it all before. Very versatile. Would be nice if the bright switch on the clean channel and the contour control on the overdrive channels were footswitchable, so it gets a 9

I play a lot of 80's thrash metal such as Slayer, Megadeth, yada yada, Class A/B this bad boy and scoop some mids and contour and BAM. Thats all i have to say. BAM.

I also like to jam on some Beatles, Jimi, SRV, Dead, moe., EC, etc etc and It works for those too. Class A is nice for these.

Clean is so sweet, i love it. I really reminds me of an old 69 Fender Bandmaster I had a few years ago.

The reverb is nothing special, but I am not one for tons of it, and to be honest, what it gives on 10 is perfect for me. For others it might be lacking.

This thing is LOUD. Beware, your bassist will do nothing but cry to you that he can't hear himself. :)

Here's where I was a bit concerned. Out of the box, the reverb channel was dead. Just plain did nothing. So I returned it and picked up the floor model I tried before I bought it and so far so good. I've had it for about a month now without problem.

Called up with a few question, things were good, they handled all my questions well. Can't complain here.

I am not one for buying something just because it has a certain name on it, nor am I one for buying something thats cheaper and less worthy of my money thats doesn't have a big name on it. I research stuff and then I try before I buy, regardless of name.

The b-52 met all my expectations, and exceeded them in terms of certain things ( clean channel is very sweet, bell like even. )


Very happy, and for 700 bucks, you just cannot beat it. Hell, even for 1200 bucks you can't beat it

3 channels - Clean, OD1, and OD2. Tri-Mode Rectifier lets you pick between Class A, AB, or Solid State output. Reverb, effects loop, master volume. Oh yeah, it weighs a TON! Get a roadie!

My main guitar is a Highway 1 Tele with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails at the bridge. I'm in a gigging band playing all original hard rock (kind of like Clutch, Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam). I use mainly the overdrive channels but like some clean with a bit of break up every now and then. This amp has absolutley no break up on the clean channel, which is good for some, but not for me. I rarely use the clean channel but am thinking of running a dist. pedal through it and using the OD channels for my clean tones. I'm also thinking of swapping out the stock speakers for some Celestion V30's. The stock speakers sound good, but I just like the breakup of the Celestions.

Anyway, the distortion sounds great and it's quite versatile. You can go from a light blues tone, to heavy Dual Rectifier type distortion. There is a bit of a "hissing" sound that comes out of the amp when I'm switched to OD2. Of course, this is only when the guitar is idle (no strumming), so it hasn't caused huge problems for me.

And of course you have the MASTER VOLUME control. This allows you to have the tubes cranked and burning at their hottest. And having three independent volume controls for each channel makes for a lot of diversity.

It does get really hot, though. So if you decide to get one, don't be surprised if you burn your hand when you reach to turn the thing off (just kdding, it's not that bad).

Overall, I'm very happy with the sound. Just not the clean; too clean for me.

I've had this amp for about six months and gig at least once a month. It's held up very well and performs great everytime. However, I do think it's already time to change the power tubes (that's what I get for buying the floor model).

N/A

I've been playing for eleven years, gigging for five and this is definetly one of the best amps I have got for the price. I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it out. It sounded awesome and had everything I was looking for in an amp. And I thought the price was very, very reasonable if not a steal.

If it were to be lost or stolen, I would consider buying another one if I don't have more money at the time. Otherwise, I might buy an Orange or a Mesa.

There are three things I don't like about it: It's heavy as hell, I'm not too keen on the stock speakers, and the clean channel is TOO clean for me. But other than that, it's a great amp at a great price.

Too many. Look at previous reviews, nothings changed since the last one.

Hmmm. I'm still trying to make up my mind. It does sound good, I just don't know if it's for me. It's my first tube amp, i was using a Peavey XXL prior to this with a Boss GT-6. I felt that the XXL colored the GT-6 sound too much and was looking for something with a nice neutral clean channel. I played it and found it to be "Fenderish". Which is ideal for me. I use an ESP Eclipse with Seymour Duncan Mayhem set, Jackson RR V with a Dimebucker and a bluesbucker and a Frankenstrat with Lace Sensor Holy Grail in the neck and a Hot rail in the bridge. They do sound very different now, on the XXL they sounded very close. I just plugged straight in to he amp with only a wah pedal and I felt like Slash. The sound was dead on. Hard Rock tones seem to be easy to dial in. Metal takes a little more tweeking. The reverb should be deleted. I can barely tell it's on. I've e mailed them twice and still no response. I won't rate it sound wise because I need a little more time to dial it in.

I hope it will be reliable. I'm not worried about tubes, it's like buying tires for a car.

So far I'm a little disappointed. I have emailed them twice and no response regarding the reverb. I still have 3 weeks to my return policy.

I've been playing for 20 years. My gear is simple as mentioned above. I also use a BBE sonic Maximizer and ISP Decimator. If it were stolen I'd probably get a Fender Twin amp ( Ultimate clean tone ). I don't love it or hate it. I wish it would Wow me though. I compared this to the JC 120 ( my search was for an amp with a good clean channel ).
I only wish it had more gain it's good but a little more, like going to 12. Hot is an understatement, it's brutal. Use a fan and start lifting weights, this thing is heavy.

- 100 watt 5881/6L6 tube amp with 2 gain channels and 1 clean channel, reverb, contour switch, independent EQ for clean and gain channels, speaker line out, adjustable ohm for speaker load, effects loop with adjustable levels for send and return, selectable rectifier, actually quite a lot of goodies for the money.

I use a PRS custom 24 with stock pickups and a Les Paul studio w/ ebony fretboard and stock pickups and both guitars sound impressive through the amp, but a little dry sounding even with the reverb turned up half way, but still very usable sounds. I tend to use heavy distortion and this amp is a little noisy with the gain turned up past 7, but I deal with it. Clean channel is nice and chimey, actually the cleans are what sold me on the amp. I also own an older Mesa Dual rectifier running through a Marshall 4x12 1960BV cab and in comparison to that setup the B52 combo really can't compete, but I did take the speaker line out of the B52 into my 4x12 cab @ 4ohms and the sound was actually very tight and the distortion sounded very full, actually since both amps sound so different, I think I've got the best of both worlds. So if you can run it into a 4x12 celestion cab with vintage 30's, you'll probaly be very happy.

It gets very hot near the output transformer running in class A mode, but it's never cut out on me or caused any issues. I'm a tube junky and I've got plenty of tubes laying around, so if there's a problem it's an easy fix. I don't gig out, and all my gear is studio kept. I had the amp 2 weeks and have used it almost everyday. No problems.

Actually I've never had to call any manufacturer about any of my gear, so I feel lucky. I setup my guitars myself and try not push my amps to much, trying to keep everything reliable. But from what I've read, the guys at B52 care about their customers.

I've been playing 17 years and I've used quite a variety of studio gear, amps and probably could open my own music store if I kept everything I ever bought (ha..ha). Overall the amp is well worth the price tag, actually after playing it for only 20 minutes I bought it. If it were stolen, I'd proably buy the 100 watt head version instead, but having a powerful combo amp does come in handy. The only thing I'm not sure about yet is the headroom on the distortion channels. Seems to get noisy if used for heavy music styles, but does have a great AC/DC type sound with little hiss. When used for guitar solo's the amp has nice harmonics and cleans up nice when rolling the guitar volume down. I'm happy with this purchase. Did I mention it's heavy?
Good tube amp for a good price...enough said.

I been looking weeks for an Amp to replace my JCM2000 DSL-100 head that was stolen from a gig. Don't ask how, I have no clue and I wasn't wasted either, for once. I figured I would buy another JCM2000, ($1500) but wanted to check out what was out there. I stroled into Guitar Center the other day and played a few Voxs', wasn't impressed at all. I saw the B-52 AT-212 sitting alone and decided ah what the heck, let me check this out. After about 20 minutes of playing it, I bought it. I ran the speaker out at 16 ohm to my Marshall 412 cab, and man what a f***** sound, makes my nuts rattle. This Amp has it all,,the clean channel is extraordinary clean and brite, even going into hi gain, you got all the sustain you want, and still hear every note. The only problem I have is trying to find which settings I like the best, because it all sounds great. I bid farewell to Marshall.
I have an 86 Gibson Les Paul Standard, an 87 USA Fat Strat, and a 98 Fernandes Revolver Pro. They all sounded great, from Playing Eric Clapton blues style to Angus Young Balls to the Wall Distortion,, and the B-52 did it all with no effects added. I might stick a chorus in the EFX loop, but not sure if I really need it, the harmonics this Amp puts out is just above and beyond any Amp I ever played. It makes the peavey Classic 30 sound like a toy,,

I love it,,

2005 Model. This area is where the AT212 really shines. It has a boat-load of features. (And the price is amazing!)

100-Watt, all tube, 2x12 combo amp with a switchable triple rectifier (Class A, Class AB, or solid state). Clean channel and two overdrive channels. Master reverb. Master resonance (like a master low-end). Effects loop (tube driven) with input and output level controls. Each channel has an independent volume control, making it a great choice for someone who needs to quickly switch between a variety of tones. Bright switch on the clean channel. Presence control which can be engaged on either gain channels. 3-band EQ for the clean channel and a separate 3-band shared by the gain channels.

It's a tweaker's dream. You can dial and dial to your heart's content. It runs REALLY hot in Class A mode. Class A does produce the most waste heat by definition - even with no signal the tubes are still drawing 50% of their maximum power. But it is still a little surprising how HOT the face of the amp gets. It's almost hot enough to burn skin. I mean HOT.

I was a little concerned to purchase a 100 watt amp until I played it. I forget the exact formula but if you think of how wattage/dB works, a 100 watt amp is not double the loudness of a 50 watt amp.

American Standard Strat w/ SD hotrail in the bridge.

Three channels plus switchable rectifier makes it very versatile. The clean channel is purposely designed with a ton of headroom, so there's really no breakup. Some people like a little breakup in their clean, but I set my gain channel 1 to a very light overdrive and my gain channel 2 to a medium overdrive. (I don't use a super-saturated high gain sound much.) You have a great variety of tones right at your fingertips.

So far I have not used the class AB or solid state rectifier settings, just class A.

The distortion is very nice. Warm, class A tube distortion - you can't beat it. It will go to a very high gain and it's not too noisy.

My only complaint about the sound is a bit hard to describe. Somehow I feel the sound is lacking in depth. As if some higher order harmonics were missing. It's just not a ... "rich" sound. A little flat. Just a little, don't get me wrong. Overall it's a pretty damn good sound. But its strength of sound is in versatility rather than tonal quality per se.

I just got it and it's also a new product. And B-52 is relatively new to guitar amps. So it's hard to say.

I know a number of people have voiced complaints about problems with the reverb tank. I called them on the phone before I bought. (An actual live person answered, by the way.) They told me they were aware of the problem, had taken steps to fix it, and would totally cover any amp that had the problem.

Seems to be well built. As a matter of fact I think it's likely to survive a head-on collision with a Hummer quite well. It's hard to say which weighs more, the amp or the Hummer.

Based on my phone call described above I can only say I'm hopeful.

Have been playing 22 years.

If it were stolen today I would likely get a couple more models to line up next to it and compare them. And I'd still probably end up with the B-52 because the features for the price are just unbelievable.

To sum up...

PROS
Features/variety of sounds

Footswitch functions


CONS

Did I mention it gets HOT?

Cost of a small boom truck in order to move it from place to place. I want to take it up to my den but haven't gotten up the gumption to tackle the stairs with it yet.

PRetty new amp series. I'm the kind of guy who plays whatever comes to mind, from blues... to rock, alternative, jazz... you name it. I'm focused mostly on Heavy....Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, Creed, Led Zeppelin... All of them are playable trough this amp. Its got clean, dist. I and dist. II channels. 3 channels in total. Contour knob fot distorted channels and active eq. Eq for clean as well. Reverb and presence. Well, you'd better check the manual for features and stuff. I wish the reverb was a bit more wet ("wetter").

I use it on my bedroom at very low levels of course... and it can deafen you if you'd like it, so be careful with volume.

The thing that really calls me in... is the knob where you choose the rectifier mode: Solid State, Tube A/B and Tube A. So you choose whatever you like.

Speaker Ohm selector and ext. speaker output. Also it comes with the Channle switch pedal... wich also switches reverb and ext. effects.

I use Seymour duncan picks on a strato. The amp may be noisy when you crank the main level to its max. otherwise, you'll never get any noise unless you have defective ground line or probles with your guitar.

The clean channel is fenderish... I afirm that it is much better thoug. I compared with Line6, Mesa, Fender (Bassman 10, Deluxe, Deville 212, Deluxe 90), Marshall... and none of them can beat this amp's clean. The Deville 212 get's a bit close. The cristal and transparent sound you get from this channel is freaking awesome.

The Dist. channels... if Mesa Rules... mmmm... I think this kicks some Mesa ass.

Brutal distortion and different flavors with the Rectifier Switch mode.

I never use a backup... I trut my gear. Of course you can never be too carefull. Try not to put liquids close to the amp to avoid spilling. Do not clean it with wet stuff and spryes to avoid damaging the tubes (I thinkk they are 11 or so)...

When replacing tubes... make sure you have a full pocket $$$$.

Never dealt with them. I think it's a 5 year warranty.

I've been playing for quite a while... and recording for some years now. I'm a "tone freak" and know when an amp rocks. I just sit in front of this amp and it takes me to another level of sound. I do not use pedals and stuff, jut my guitar and my amp. (occassionally I use the Line6 MM4).

I hate the reverb... it is plain crap. THE ONLY COMPLAIN.
I wish it came with Celestion speakers...

Try it and you'll find out for yourselfe how this amp is worth it.

I compared with lots of amps... check the "Sound" tab.