Behringer GX212 Ultratwin 212 Combo

I have a 2003 model with the Jensen speakers. For the price, you can't beat the features. I play in church and use mostly clean and mildly distorted tones. At home, I tend to go a little heavier but the GX212 accomodates it. The effects are seemingly endless and it does take time to explore the possibilities. The onboard effects controls take some time to understand. Obviously, with so many options, it will take time to learn how to dial up what you're looking for. I suspect that those who criticized the sound of this amp haven't spent enough time delving into the possibilities. Also, this amp has all the I/O jacks you could ever need.

I use a mid-80s Ibanez with 2 very hot humbuckers, a Squier Tele, a strat-style Washburn with 2 singles and a humbucker, and a Fender acoustic with a Seymour Duncan soundhole pickup. I play traditional and contemporary Christian music in a praise band. At home, I lean toward the styles of Satriani and Vai. This amp sounds awesome. I'm able to get beautiful clean tones as well as some really nice distortions. I haven't tried to dial up any super heavy metal distortions yet but that's not really my thing. I've read that if you want that nu metal tone that this is not the amp for you. I imagine if you wanted that heavy tone, you could easily get it using a good distortion pedal with this amp.

I can't speak for the reliability yet. I haven't had it long enough. I understand that others have had it fry in a relatively short time. It may appear that a few too many have had a bad experience, but remember that Behringer is dedicated to offering a lot at a low price. They make less profit per item but they sell a whole lot more of them.

I haven't had to use customer support. To those who complained about having to pay international postage for registration, why didn't you just register online?

I've been playing for about 20 years. I also own a late 60's Ampeg Gemini II, a 70's(?) Traynor Studiomate, and a Vox Pathfinder. My Behringer will definitely be giving the others a well deserved rest. This amp is, in my opinion, the best deal out there. My advice is to write down the features and try to find another amp that offers as much for this price. You simply can't touch a 2x12 with DSP for anywhere near this price.

All the features have been previously listed. This is a very versatile amp with all the ins and outs, as well as the built in effects. I would prefer a little more control over the effects, but for $199, who's gonna complain about that? Considering the connectability and extensive effects and the price, I've got to give this a 10. You'll simply not find any new amp that compare to this, even at a much higher price.

I'm using a 1986 Hamer T.L.E. through an original Crybaby wah, into the amp. I play country, blues, hard rock, and even some fingerpick acoustic type stuff. The clean channel is a dandy. Add a combo effect such as chorus and reverb, and it can't be beat. I'd put this up against any Fender, any day. As for distortion, it does require a little more tweaking, but the sounds are in there. This amp isn't suitable for new age grunt and kill your family metal, but it can do anything else. I've dialed in a nice hotrod Marshall tone after about 20 minutes of feeling it out. I've found that it reacts nicely to my playing dynamics too. Very tubelike. I could probably knock off a point for the time it took to dial in the distortion, but I'm not gonna. Since I've bought this, I've been playing my guitar more than I have in years, just for fun--not learning tunes or anything, just enjoying playing. And again, you have to consider the price. What else are you gonna get for $199? This amp smokes many other popular brands and models, price not even considered.

I've only had about two weeks, so no comments on reliability yet. It seems very well built, though, and I don't anticipate any issues, but only time will tell.

Haven't dealt with them. Minus 1 for not having a postage paid warranty card. They're a German company and I don't want to pay postage. Many manuals were included in various languages, finally found the one in English at the bottom of the pile. It seems well written and they appear to care about their customers. Other than that, who knows?

I've been playing since 86, have owned a million guitars and amps over the years, and this one is a keeper. My Hamer matches up beautifully with this amp. The sounds are great, the versatility is impressive, and mine even came with Jensen speakers instead of the no-name ones it was supposed to have. Loud enough to gig, small enough to keep in the house, and it looks good too! I love this amp! I love it even more since I got it so cheap! Snatch one up if you get the chance, it's worth every penny, and a whole lot more.

Easily the best deal around!! Has lots of sounds very warm, and I got pretty descent distortion without any expensive pedals but you do have to put in some time. With the footpedal (included) I managed to get 4 "channels" (clean/clean+effects/distorted/distorted+effects). With little effort you can get a nice thick distortion. My ONLY complaint is that it does not have as much volume as everyone is making it sound unless you only play distortion. I only play in a small room with about 25 people and mixed with a acoustic-electric, bass guitar, and drums it's pretty hard to get a good comfortable volume where the highs arent drowned out without turning it past 7(which is pretty loud).

Easily the best deal around!! I play through an Ibanez rg220 with extra heavy jazz strings. Until now I havent liked a clean channel enough to incorporate it into my playing but this amp really has a lot of possibilities. The clean with a little phaser(like warm chorus) is gorgeous I almost fell asleep playing the other day cuz its so relaxing. This amp has so many effects you really can play almost anything. Ive gotten classic rock, modern crunch, kill yo friend crazy distortion, jazz, vintage clean, rythm clean and probably anything else you can name out of this amp. My amp wasn't noisy on any real level unless your crowd is dead quiet and youve got the gain channel cranked but get over it.

Easily the best deal around!! I was a little hesitant at first because people had said that theirs short circuited but mine has been fine no signs of any such defect. Its very solid. THE KNOBS ARE A little LOOSE BUT VERY little. I would and have used it without a backup.

Easily the best deal around!! I have had no experience with them but if you have the chance get this amp from a competitive dealer and you wont have to worry as much or just become certified as a repairman but lets be serious here.

Easily the best deal around!! Ive been playing long enough to annoy more than a few sales guys with questions and to do my own field testing on a good number of amps and this is Easily the best deal around!! I'd say the jump up from this is a good halfstack. Ive seriously spent about 20 solid hours over the last few days trying to find where to go from this amp because I need just a little more volume (I can always just add an external speaker cabinet and crank it). im beginning to see that I'm going to have to spend at least two times what i paid for this amp just to get a small jump in wattage to fix my problem so believe me that this amp is Easily the best deal around!! Its so nice its a pain to get rid of even when compared to a nice new half stack but i'll get over it. Just do your self a favor and buy this amp before theyre gone you can always mic it if need be.

Since this amp is at a nice price point and will interest a lot players. I had to write this review.I bought this amp 4/03 I play in church.I love the sound of the amp.I have the Jensen speakers. The effects are great but no flexabilty to move the presets where you want them like my Digitech RP100.I also like the distortion you have to play with it but it,s smooth.But after having the amp for five months.One Sunday in church the amp start smoking it was toast. I took the amp back to my dealer.They returned my amp to Behringer after about one month the amp came back Looking worse than when I sent it. I plugged up the amp and guess what no power.My dealer gave me a new one so far so good. But since then at a chruch event.I met a guitar player with this amp he said he loved it but that was his second amp his first one caught on fire.One good thing came from this when I went to try my amp when it came back from repair. I picked up the closet guitar .A Fender Squire Affinity Strat Limited Addition I bought it See That review on this site

Lots of extra inputs / outputs too, stereo aux in is handy.

Sound is good, but if you want modern high-gain distortion get a pedal... for everything else its very versatile, the "presence" and "morphing" control allow for lots of range.
The clean is very sharp, very nice!

Haven't used it at a gig yet, but in rehearsal rooms and half volume its gone for about an hour..

I've been playing for about two years. I played it through an Ibanez EDR470EX and also through a Digitech RP200 multifx pedal.
If it were stolen, I would certainly buy it again. The wattage for the price is far superior to anything even Marshall can offer, in my opinion! GREAT value!
I love the clean, I think the distortion's gain control should go to 30 rather than 10 :) But thats fixed easily with a simple pedal.

The feature everyone will talk about with this amp is the Virtuatube technology (or whatever it's called, I'm at work and don't remember). It's the best sounding transistor amp you'll ever hear or buy. It sounds light years better than a cheap tube amp, and at least as good if not better than most good to great tube amps. It sounds just like a tube amp - warm, glowing sound.

I play with a 72 strat, a 74 tele, and a late 80s music man. All three sound crystalline through this amp. I can get fantastic distortions if I try, but I don't really swing that way - I play almost all blues. This amp is just perfect for blues/jazz. Still, it's diverse enough to play anything. The 24-bit sounds are unreal. They are going to put my Boss pedals out of business!!

I've owned it for about three months and it's been picture perfect the whole time. Feels solid. Can't say anymore because I don't beat on it; but Behringer's other sound equipment is legendary for its durability - most German sound equipment is - so I would hazard a guess that it's pretty hardy.

This would be my only concern. You have to send the warranty card all the way to Germany via international post. If something DOES go wrong with the amp, I'd imagine you'd have to ship it all the way back there, unless they approve an American outpost to do repairs and warranty work, etc. I don't know enough about this, so I'm going to say No Opinion.

I've been playing for 25 years, and this is by far the best combo amp ever. In fact, it's one of the best amps I've ever owned, and that's including a classic Princeton, a wonderful old Marshall, and many others. This is a keeper. If it were stolen, I would just buy another.
I bought it after being recommended by a friend. I played it in a very large music store, and also played all the amps next to it. There was no comparison. It made the much more expensive Fender CyberTwin look like a joke.

Brand new Ultratwin GX212: 2x60watts, 2 Jensen speakers. 2 channels with DSP. Comes with footswitch for toggling between channels and turning the effects in each channel on/off. MIDI footswitch highly recommended. Headphone jack, line outs for recording, dedicated effects loop, speaker outs, internal speaker cutoffs, and more. Both hi and lo inputs.

This amp is INCREDIBLY versatile. It competes favorably with amps three times its price. The effects have to be heard to be believed - the chorus, flange, reverb and phasing have to be heard to be believed. I play just about every style of music - from metal to reggae to classical to blues - and this amp can handle it all.

The only feature I wish it had is the ability to chain the effects in any order you want. As it stands, you are more or less limited to the 99 presets, although you can tweak them to an incredible degree. Each preset has three parameters you can edit.

This amp is very VERY loud, and should be suitable for playing all kinds of live gigs whether with a PA system and a mic, or just by itself.

But perhaps the two most important features of the Ultratwin are the sound morphing knob, and the Virtube. This amp is solid state... but simulates a tube amp more completely than anything I have ever heard. I've played through all sorts of "virtual tube" solid states, but NOTHING comes close to the Behringer. They really did their homework. In fact, before I inspect the back of the amp, I thought it was a tube amp! The simulation is unreal - it is truly indistinguishable. Part of this is the new "morphing" control option on the overdrive channel. Between 1 and 10, the user can select from ALL sorts of tube sounds. I was able to dial in exact replicas of Sovtek, Marshall, Mesa-Boogie and Peavey 5150 I've played trhough. The morphing seems to control not only the harmonics produced by a tube amp, but also subtle changes in presence and resonance. Amazing effect.

I play mostly Fenders through the Behringer, but I have a home-built metal guitar with two super-high-output humbuckers. It sounds great with both. The clean channel, as noted by others, is exquisite - total silk with the Fenders, total glow with the humbuckers.

Others have said the distortion on this amp is poor for metal/hard rock. Not so! I submit that perhaps they have not explored all the available settings on this amp. True, if you just flip on the overdrive channel and turn overdrive up to 10, you won't get a hard distortion. BUT the amp modeling on this is *superb*. So to prospective buyers or those already owning one but displeased with the distortion - try the combo modeling settings (#s94-96) and turn the gain all the way up, and possibly the presence also. You'll get a great, full distortion with tons of harmonics and sustain.

I've only owned it a couple weeks now, but it seems sturdy and reliable so far. It weighs about 60 pounds, so it would be pretty tough to just kick over during a gig.

An excellent amp, I would recommend this to everone. It's absolutely a STEAL for $300 retail, or less if you can work a deal or trade in some old equipment. I've heard they can't keep these on the shelves, and I don't doubt it. A+ amp.

Made in 2003. 2 12" (60Watts each) Jensen Speakers. I play heavy metal and this amp can handle it to a great extent PROVIDED u hav a distortion pedal like metal zone or something coz the overdrive channel is not meant for heavy sounds. It has channel switching. It comes with a footswitch. Very impressive effects (24-bit fx processor), with stereo reverb, delay, etc etc. Very good value for money.

IT IS LOUD. My neighbours started to hate me when the volume was at 3. I tried playing it at 10 and was completely blown away (clean channel). I had to stand 12 ft away from the amp and play, or my ear drums would screw up. I use it with a yamaha rgx 420S, a guitar built for metal. The sounds are great. The fx processor really does the job well. I felt I saved quite a bit of money by not buying fx pedals like wah wah, flanger and all that. The fx processor does its job quite well. And its not noisy at all, even at full volume. But then, as far as the overdrive is concerned....well it leaves a lot to be desired. DO NOT BUY THIS AMP IF U WANNA PLAY METALLICA WITHOUT A METAL ZONE OR DS-2 COZ THE OVERDRIVE CHANNEL SUCKS. Rest all, the fx processor can handle quite well.

Just got it a few days back, so wouldnt know.

Never Dealt with them.

Overall, a great bang for the buck. The fx processor really does the job well. Not great overdrive or distortion, but an fx pedal can easily fix tht up. I now play metallica on it (with a metal zone) and would really go out and buy it again if stolen or lost.

Incredibly versatile 2x12 combo, huge range of tones to suit any style. I can only surmise that other reviewers didn't put much time and effort into experimenting and customising the presets, this amp does almost everything! Spin those dials and you will be rewarded!

I've been playing rock guitar for 20 years and have owned and used all sorts of gear in that time, this amp is the best value for money piece of equipment I have ever bought. Was almost put off my purchase because I didn't believe anything in this price range could really be any good....WRONG! I'll cut to the chase.
I used to own a '62 reissue strat, a vintage marshall 100w superlead head with a celestion loaded 4x12 cab and a small army of expensive boss pedals.
Using an inexpensive peavey raptor special and the GX212 I CAN GET THE SAME TONES! I'M NOT KIDDING!
Other reviewers have complained about lacklustre distortion/overdrive/crunch, I can't understand this. To be fair, you won't get ultra-modern techno-metal crunch tones out of the GX212,but you will get an impressive "Van-Halen" type of heavy overdrive if you try. I managed to get just as much crunch out of this amp as I did using a boss turbo-overdrive AND a boss turbo distortion through my old marshall stack. If your style leans more towards Richie Blackmore than Vernon Reid you can't go wrong.
This combo also has an impressive array of reverbs and delays, chorus/flange and phase effects as well as a few amp/cab modelling presets. You can also independantly assign effects to the clean or overdrive channels. Effects and channels are controlled with the included top quality aluminium footswitch, FX presets and parameters are contolled via the amp facia, but you can use a midi compatible pedal board if you prefer.

Only owned it 3 weeks so can't really make a value judgement yet.

Not had to use customer support yet.

Tried out the Line 6 gear, the Behringer wipes the floor with the nearest equivalent (Spider Series) OK, you can get that "metal Factor" out of the spider, but you could buy the GX212 AND a Behringer V-AMP 2 (My next purchase) for less than the cost of a Spider 212 if you shop around on the net. I haven't touched on a lot of the GX212's other features, all the I/O stuff because I've yet to try them out. This amp is more than powerful enough for rehersals and medium sized gigs and has enough whack to drive external cabs. The sound quality is equally good at either end of the volume scale.
For all those other reviewers that couldn't get the crunch they wanted, e-mail me and I'll tell you how.
In my opinion, you could spend four times the money and not get a better amp, I don't have the budget or the equipment that I used to have, but I sure as shit have the the sounds. Can't recommend this highly enough.

I don't have an exact year, but mine has the Jensen speakers. I purchased it mail order, and I was pleasantly surprised to get this quality of speaker in an under $300 amp.
Versatility is excellent because of the DSP, but as many have mentioned before, it is a rather clunky affair to switch to other patches. I use a Digitech GNX-1, so basically I use the GX212 as a power amp. It supplies this capacity VERY well.
It's pretty juicy, power wise. 2x60 watts is plenty for a club or stagemonitoring when mic'd. My band likes guitar in the monitors anyway, so I've had zero volume issue. It's perfect for practice.
As many have said, the overdrive channel is lackluster at best, a turd at worst. I recommend a more tube-like overdrive unit in front - BOSS Bluesdriver, Danelectro Daddy-O, Tubescreamer... you get the drift.
I simply can't disregard the useful things, hence the decent score.

I'm a humbucker kinda guy - but I like slinkier types of music on occasion in my very eclectic band - so I use the second input. I can get some very convincing single coil spank with a roll-off and a tweak. I use an LTD H-100, Dean Tonic S, Epiphone Dot, and a Strat knockoff.

This amp is snappy and has solid presence. As the only guitarist in my three-piece band, it does a great job of switching from rhythm to lead without a big sound drop-off.

I've occasionally gotten a little buzz on crowded stages (lots of lights and equipment packed close) or when the mic on the amp is super hot, but otherwise it's whisper quiet... even at higher power settings which I primarily use.

I've tried the direct-out into a very nice PA and I found it disappointing, the cab modeling it used was just thin and washy. Mic'ing it up is the way to go... and if you've got the Jensens, all the better.

The clean channel is VERY nice. Crisp and Fendery - with just a touch of the digital reverb (there are MANY reverbs available and it's amazing how you can set one side to have reverb and the other to not! It's a great stage effect and can make it sound like two different amps in series.)

The distortion, like I mentioned before, leaves much to be desired. You can a get a nice "sparkle-drive" effect by just slightly using it. This is nice if you want to have a three-channel approximation:

Good Overdrive/Distortion stomp - Rockin' Dirty
GX212 footswitch to OD set low - slightly crunchy clean
Clean channel - Shockingly decent clean
... and you're all set!

It's a solid chassis, from a company known for solid engineering. The only noticeable flaw in construction is the knob-panel. The knobs are brittle and the plate is glued on cheap. It's a shame when the rest of the machine is so solid! I have already busted and had to replace a knob. I must state that I am very rough on my equipment, though. Also, it's solid state - it should be with me a while!

N/A

I've been playing seven years and I own quite a lot of foreign guitars (still working for that first US made gem)and I also have a Fender HotRod Deluxe.
I love the clean channel and power - hate the distortion and the difficulty changing DSP patches. (a MIDI footcontroller would rectify this situation)
I also looked at the Drive and Rogue 2x12 offerings (and other cheap solid state 2x12s) and decided on the Behringer for it's name brand and better speakers.
I would like this amp even more if it included a cover and had reverb available full-time with all patches.

I highly recommend this product to anyone wanting a relatively portable, stageworthy amp with a respectable clean channel. This amp's a no-brainer for ska and funk players, or anyone wanting more versatility and spank from their humbuckers. Despite my negative comments, this amp does represent an excellent value for the money.