TopHat T-35A Ambassador 212

Mine is a used 2000 TopHat Ambassador 35 2x12. It has the two "new" switches on it: clean/fat normal/bright. The power section runs four 6V6s in single-ended class A. Low input and Hi inputs. It has a really nice reverb with controls for Mix and Dwell. Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Cut, Master Volume.
It came with the original speakers - a Jensen C12N and a Celestion Vintage 30.

35 watts, 4,8,16 Ohm speaker selector. Line out send level (right from the speaker out.) The TopHat website also offers an optional effects loop, which my unit doesn't have.

I rate it a 7 for features - it only has one channel, but the best one channel amp I've ever tried.

I'm using a G&L S-500 with stock pickups, an Ernie Ball/Music Man Albert Lee, and a 1969 Gretsch Tennessean.

This is the best "clean" amp I've ever played. Sorry, I hate to rate anything a 10, but this is really the best sounding amp I've ever played.

Using guitar magazine vernacular, it's a Fender-type clean amp with reverb. I've owned at least a dozen Fenders, and have repaired/maintained another 50. I've never heard a better fendery clean from any amp.

The Ambassador has a clean, smooth sound. Creamy where and when you want, clear and sparkling everywhere else. As much bass as you could ask for but easy to tame. The mid-range circuit apparently "separates the mids from the bass and treble" Whatever - it sounds great and really changes the character of the amp depending where it's set. The treble covers a broad range and can dial in "chimy-ness" or "shimmer" or in between. The cut acts like a presence, but isn't. It sounds like a super-high-frequency roll-off. For ceramic pickups like the ones in my S-500 this is a god-send!

The reverb is very sweet. Not as shockingly good as the tone-stack, but easily among the best sounding reverbs out there.

The amp breaks up nicely. Almost "sophisticated" tone. But I haven't used it for OD - the cleaqns are really where this amp shines.

I rate it a 10. An unapologetic 10.

I'm the second owner of this Ambassador 35 2x12. It came with the original speakers, a Jensen C12N and a Celestion V30. This was a lightly gigged amp before I got it, 9 years after it was made. Everything was mechanically sound. I opened up the amp and it looked like it could have been made yesterday. No scorched resisters, no blown caps. It looks like it was made by someone suffering OCD. All the wires are pin-straight and bend on 90 degree angles. All solders are shiny. Great quality parts.

I would trust this to never poop out, but never gig without some sort of backup! Even a POD. And always bring extra tubes! And strings....

Judging by the build quality it will outlive me. But with no long-term experience I feel like I can't really comment.

I've written two emails to TopHat Amps and had a response for each within 24 hours. For the most part they were dumb questions, so it's nice he replied.

Playing for 24 or so years. I've owned a dozen Fenders (Concerts, Vibroverbs, Champs, Twins), Ampegs, Allen Amps (which are now my #2 favourites) Marshall, Gibsons, lots of others. Right now I own two amps I built, 2 Allens, a Mesa Stiletto Ace, and now this Ambassador.

The Ambassador is now my favourite amp, nudging out my Allen Accomplice which was my #1 for 7 years now! Now I find myself getting lost for hours with this amp. That hasn't happened for 20 years!

I'm going to sell off more of my gear to get another TopHat. I'm sold.

The amp is definitely versatile enough for anything I want to play... but for some players the single channel and lack of any rectified gain may be a problem. There is no effects loop, headphone jack, and no channel switching. For me this is a plus, as I prefer simplicy and tone over complexity and fake tone.

The cut knob is great. I can maintain my favoritve EQ settings no matter what guitar I am playing. My Les Paul has a much deeper low end, and bringing down the cut fixes it right up. I just bring up the cut when I'm playing a tele.

I use this amp everywhere. Its definitely loud enough for any situation. People seem to think big amps are required for big shows... not true. I use this amp in small 100 person clubs, and for 15,000 seat arenas.

Dont let the 35 watts fool you... I've owned 100 watt marshalls, 50 watt oranges and marshalls... and they cant compete tone for volume wise.

I give the features a 7, because it doesnt have a lot of em. Which is a GOOD thing.

This amp is a freight train!

The amp can go from crystal clear bell like clean, to a vintage overdriven, punchy type of natural gain that few amps can produce.

They only way to get true distortion, is to crank an amp like this.

I wouldnt say the distortion is brutal, its just very smooth and crisp. You wont get that clipping diode fake computer tone many of these modern marshall make these days...

I use fenders with texas specials in them, and les pauls with burstbuckers - all sound awesome with this amp.

My style is blues rock, and a little southern rock/country. This amp is right at home playing anything but metal and cRAP.

The amp is as silent as any class A amp should be, if you arent using any overdrive pedals of course. If you bring up the master to about 12, and the volume to 3, anything on the volume from 3 to 5 will instantly add alittle woosh, but its expected.

So far I havent had any problems, I always have a backup regardless - but I wouldnt be worried if I didnt have one. I've only had an amp go out on me once and it was a Fender.

I have my amps checked out every 6 months or so.

I've never dealt with TopHat... though I hear great things.

Just a great amp. Zero issues.

Play on one, I guarentee you will love it!

Not sure what year this amp was made in, poss. 1999 with a bluesbreaker cloth finish. This is a one-channel super-amp, which has bar none the best clean tone I've ever heard. My amp has been modded with Eminence Red Tonker speakers, which give it additional body and warmth than the stock speakers. This amp also comes equipped with natural spring reverb, a standby switch and additional eq-ing with the use of a 'cut' frequency pot. This amp is by no means a channel switching, ultra-configurable tone library hence it's rating of 6, however for what this amp is and what it's designed to do - my personal rating is much higher.

I use a Fender Thinline Telecaster, Ernie Ball Musicman Axis, Taylor 612CE and a Godin Multiac Nylon SA through this amp. The Ambassador admirably adapts itself to the unique tonal characteristics of all my guitars. For a 35-watt amp, this thing is LOUD! It maintains its clean sound even at volumes higher than my very loud drummer can pound! I can go from a nice, thick jazzy clean to all out Fenderish Surf. Stylewise, this amp will deliver 10/10 performance for all styles outside rock. Now, with the use of my Barber Burn unit, Keeley Modded Blues Driver I can get some really epic distortion, albeit with a little noise. To cancel some of the excess hum, I threw in a Carl Martin Noise Terminator at a very mild setting, which worked out well. Then there's the reverb. If there's a reverb that can out-do Fender's this is it.

This amp is built like a tank, like all Top Hats. It's never broken down on me yet, however I do not see it ever flaking out on me. I would gig without a backup.

Haven't had to call them yet. Besides, I have my Top Hat pro buddy Chris to help me should anything happen!

I've been playing for about 20 years and I now have the two amps of my dreams: Top Hat Ambassador Combo and Bogner Ecstasy Stack. Between these two amps, there isn't any tone that I could possibly want beyond the realm of these Godly amplifiers. Effects are effects, however if the tone isn't there in the first place - all the effects in the world won't save you. This is where my two amps really shine - they're the best in the business at what they do with regard to tone and I could not be any prouder as an owner. I'd like to thank my buddy Chris for his awesome recommendations leading to my complete tonal satisfaction. If the amp was stolen or lost, I'd rush out and buy another and have it modded just like before. There aren't many amps that can match the Ambassador for the sounds it targets, or its durability. The $1450 I paid for this amp was a STEAL! Truly fantastic value.

Very straight forward single channel, 6V6 powered class A amp. Master volume, bass, mid, treble, nice reverb with mix and dwell and a cut control to take the highs out of the power section. Once celestion V30 and one Jensen. This was the older model without the new switches that Top Hat explains on their site. Simple and straight forward, but really for only one kind of sound...read on.

I first tried this in the store. It was used and was in immaculate condition. I plugged my Am Fat Strat Texas Special into the amp with only a cord and got a very full, extemely transparent and dynamiic tone that was very touch sensitive. The tone wasn't as chimey as I was hoping for (but very close), nor was it as "harsh" as a Vox. It was somewhere in between the Fender and Vox tone, leaning more towards the Vox side of the spectrum with a little more Warmth than an AC 30. The problem is that - in my opinion - this is a one tone amp. When I got it home, I tried to put Overdrive and Distortion units in front of this, and the amp farted out at moderate volumes. I soon realized that a) I needed to dial in considerable mids to reduce this problem and b) I couldn't run the pre gain very high (which made it harder to break the amp up when playing clean). The problem is that these settings left me with a clean tone that I didn't like. I took it back the next day.

Only owned it for a day. No experience here, but I can't imagine an amp of this build quality having very many problems

No experience. I would likely have a local tech work on an amp like this if anything went wrong - that's one of the beauties of amps that are built like this.

This is probably a great amp for some, but it wasn't for me. I was so disappointed with the sound of overdrive units in the front end that I returned the amp the next day and went back to what I know: Fender. I need to produce a number of tones for the band I'm in, and this simply could not deliver. One nice clean tone is all I could squeeze out of it. Again, its a really great amp, just not for me.

Please refer to the other fine posts for the features and specs on this amp. There's no need to be redundant.

I came across my first TopHat amp quite by accident while visiting Sam Ash in Cleveland, OH. I wanted to test out a cute little $119.00 Choirboy guitar. I saw this interesting looking TopHat Ambassador amp so I thought I'd check out two cool things at once. I plugged that cheap guitar into the TopHat Ambassador and WOW what a tone...

This amp is for the player who values stunning tone quality over high gain distortion. All you really need to make great music with this single channel amp is a guitar and a cable. That's all I need when I'm playing at home.

However, I run a GT-6 in front of this amp when gigging. The GT-6 is fairly transparent and doesn't affect the clean/bypass tone as much as other effects I've used. When I kick in an overdrive patch this amp just sings. When I go for a clean chorus setting the sound has a rich complex chime that's just amazing.

This amp originally came with a Jensen C12N (very harsh painful highs) and a Celestion G12-H (a real midrange honker). After some time I decided that this speaker combo wasn't right for me. I ended up removing both of those 12's and after some patient experimentation I ended up installing a vintage 100W EVM-12L that I've owned since the late 70's and a Mojo Tone 12" that I believe is modeled after a Celestion Vintage 30, at any rate, this US made speaker combo works well for me...The EV contributes a big tight buttery smooth round tone and the Mojo Tone adds some British teeth to the blend without the midrange honk of the G12H. If you're into midrange honk you can get that with the Ambassador's very powerful midrange tone control.

If you're looking for a Larry Carlton/Robben Ford style tone, this amp is capable of that hi-fi singing quality.

I've been gigging regularly with this amp and it has never let me down.

It's hand crafted in the USA and the quality is truly excellent.

Top notch.

I've been playing for over 30 years and I've played and owned Boogies, a number of Fender amps, and a few others. I still own two Fender's: an original 60's Blackface Super Reverb and a newer Custom Vibrolux. While both of these Fender amps are excellent, the TopHat Ambassador just has that "Class A" chime that the Fender's can't match. However, the Ambassador can get a great blackface tone as well as British sounds that could be considered Vox and Marshall like tones.

If you are considering a boutique amp...do yourself a favor and consider the TopHat Ambassador T35-A.

I'm not parting with mine.

I got one of the first models of this amp and have since had it put to current specs.This is a 1 channel tone monster.This amp has plenty of power and enough clean headroom for almost any club.

I play a real 52 tele,56 relic strat,les paul,supro lap steel,and a howard roberts though this amp and what a tone.I do sessions and club work and have got my best tones on tape with this amp and my black face deluxe.I love the reverb in the ambassador and I feel it smokes the fender reverb hand down.The tone tone contols are voice so perfect like a dumble.The mid is awsome,you can get fender blackface tones at 9:00 and marshall tones all the way up.It reacts to your dynamics like a dumble just not as touchy which IMO is a good thing.I own a matchless DC30 and I love it but IMO it doesn't do down on tape like the T-35A,it loves the mic.

This amp is built like a german tank.I know I've had mine for almost 4 years.I've had it all over the country and the only problem I've had was a bad tube.

I can honestly say this is the best company I've ever delt with.Brian and his wife truly care what their customers think.I've called brian several times and he has been so helpful.When you talk to them it's like talking to a old friend.I've had my amp sent back to be put to current specs and I couldn't believe how fast I got it back.

I've been playing 15 years.I own alot of old fenders,tweed,blackface and silver face amps.If this amp were stolen I'd pitty the fool who stole it cause I'd break his legs.I love the pure no nonsense tone of this amp.If I could only have 1 amp I would have to pic the tophat over my 65 deluxe because it's got the vibe.

The "Ambassador" is a 35 watt 2x12 combo, point to point handwired chassis, with reverb. Features are very limited, except for the reverb, which is excellent, very lush and expressive! Brian tends to build amps based solely on tone, so if tone is what you're after, look no further! Reverb features dwell and mix, so you can control signal sent, as well as signal returned, other controls are volume, treble, mid, and bass as well as a cut control, which rolls off highs, and a master volume. Don't let the master volume fool you, if high gain is your thing, look elsewhere! The master just seems to allow the tube saturation to occur slightly sooner. As far as speakers, mine came with one Celestion "vintage 30", and one Jensen blue chassis ("special design"???), though I've seen Tophats with other combinations, most notably a Celestion greenback and a Weber blue dog. What the standard for any Tophat model is, I couldn't tell you! Fit and finish looks very good, I had one small place at a corner where the tolex was slightly pushed back. Mine is blonde tolex with oxblood cloth and looks killer.

I play Strats exclusively, but the Ambassador brings them alive with very liquid tone, never mushy or muddy. Bass response is most impressive, VERY full and EXTREMELY tight, while leaving other frequencies loose and dynamic. However, if your chops ain't quite there, this amp will expose any weakness, as well as enhance any mastery, this thing doesn't miss a thing, from the barest fingernail scrape to the thunk of a Fender heavy. Amp is extremely quiet. You can get several very usable tones just by fiddling with the mid control, which is very versatile. You can get very convincing "blackface" tones (sans the muddy Fender bass) at low mid settings, and a very convincing plexi sound at high mid settings. Being only 35 watts, saturation occurs at a usable level still leaving plenty of headroom for small to midsized clubs. I can't say enough about the overall tone and vibe from this amp, as a friend of mine said "there's a lot of sound coming out of that box!" If high gain is your need, look for something else, but if pure unadulterated TONE, with a big ballsy sound is what you want, give it a try. I wish I could rank it higher than 10, it's got more tone than any amp I've ever played.

Haven't had it long, but it seems to be built like tank, and very simple construction with superb parts.

Only contacted the company once, to ask a few questions about changes they were making ( and they make a lot of changes all the time it seems, looking to improve) and the secretary put me on the phone with Brian Gerhard who answered all of my questions in a straightforward and honest manner, though he lost me in the engineering lesson.

I've been playing about 24 yrs and have played or owned most manufacturers products at one time or another, and this does it for me! The only thing I would add would be something to protect the corners of the cabinet. I have a Boogie for my high gain needs, and I won't say this is better than a Bogner or a DR.Z or a Victoria or whatever, for my classic rock and blues needs, but I prefer it to those brands because it fills MY needs and pleases MY ear. To each his own, and I certainly like a Shiva and a 66, but this just fits ME. It's simple and superbly built, with top quality parts with no corners cut, and TONE!