Yamaha B212 212 Combo

Manufactured around 1976, has two channels, one simple straight forward, the other with distortion, reverb and bright. It's pretty basic and to the point, 100 watts, LOUD! LOUD! LOUD! I love this thing. clean, well built, good looking I modified mine for bass.

Sound quality is very clean, no hum, no buzz. As I stated earlier mine was modified for bass by removing the baffle, speakers and all and replacing it with a custom made 2x10" vented baffle with 2 Carvin 200 watt 8ohm 10 inch speakers, then installed a partition between the head,and speakers, and closed the back. It works beautifully and I use it with a Tech 21 SansAmp. I've been playing for about 34 years and this is one of my favorite amps. Because I am playing bass through it I don't ever use the reverb, although it is neat to fool around with, especially with a fretless. The amps original features still work perfectly with noticeable change through the full range of the knobs, no dead spots, commendable for a 30+ year old amp! I play pretty much anything anyone else will, and it gets a lot of comments.

I got it for free because it was not working from a keyboard player who forgot to turn it off after practice and so it sat "on" for a week. (fortunately the volume on his keyboard was all the way down) The first few notes into next weeks practice it shut off. After realizing what he had done he assumed he fried the head and stuck it in a studio closet. He was going to put it out with the trash and I got it as it was being lifted into the dumpster. It was nothing more than an internal fuse, 10 minute fix, never had a problem since. Even the original casters are still as smooth as silk!

Because it was not working when I got it I contacted Yamaha for schematics, they sent me all the literature and schematics for the amp and then followed up about two weeks later with an email to see how I made out, that's what I call service!

Considering that i am not using the amp for what it was designed for, and it performs flawlessly, I have nothing but praise! It's built like a brick ****house and kicks like a jackhammer. My nephew used it for about a year or so playing everything from shred, punk, ska, fusion jazz, and heavy metal before I modified it for bass use and he never had a problem. In my 34+ years of playing lugging the monster amps has gotten old, I now have a Peavey single 15" cab modified to an 18" Trace Elliot woofer with a Crate Powerblock head and my Tech 21 SansAmp as my other rig, but this Yamaha has been seeing almost as many gigs lately, Yamaha needs to revive this amp!

Never used the distortion or the reverb. Both are poor but if you use a good pedal the amp won't let you down. The power is quite enough to play live in small places, pubs, etc.

I've been using this amp for 5 years with a Strat, a synth and mainly a Precission Bass. Mostly metal, but also some jazz. As versatile as the pedal. If you keep the gear in a good condition the sound is perfectly clean. The distortion is ridiculous.

I got it as a present. It was built before I was born. I've used it for dozens of gigs and it always worked perfectly. It's almost immortal. Awesome.

Never used.

Its extremely long life and its price makes it a good choice. If it were stolen or lost I wouldn't be too sad because my amp is very old, but I would be glad to get a new one again.

It doesn't have too many features. That isn't bad. It is a guitar amp. If you want effects (distortion included) then you get a good pedal.

The sound is pure meat. It just whacks out sound. You can't beat it's umf!!!
I like the sound. It is raw and meaty. The balance of tine is good considering you are using one speaker here.
It can drown out a drum kit!!! That is good.

Reliability has been rather good consider the knocks it has had. Unfortunately, if has just had the main output transistors pop. Replaced them and now fully working but bot with the original balls it had before. Anyone have the circuit diagram?
Tough but not indestructable.

I am just about to check Yamaha to see if they have any contacts for diagrams but this is an old baby.

On the whole, a great amp worth searching out for. Has more balls than most I have used.

this amp is 100 watts 2 x 12 inchs speakers it has for 4 guitars and a very bad distortion, not to loud

i have used it with a line 6 variax i have, it suits my music style fully it a "pub made" amp really i dont have to much variety of sounds, the distortion is not too brutal

mmm, i dont know......

good enought

Same amp as everyone else is reviewing. That 70s Amp. Quite basic. I prefer a closed-back setup for a bit more "oomph" in the low end, and as everyone says, if the distortion were better channel switching'd be nice. Honestly, this is not a full-featured amp. More like a big power amp and speakers on wheels.

It makes one good sound. A very pure, clear, uncolored clean at whatever volume you want. As another person said, it's basically a sold-state Twin Reverb. Hard to lift, clean sounding, not too versatile, and loud as hell. The distortion is really not so bad, but it's not the sound I really wanted and you can't remotely switch it so they could have saved a few bucks by leaving it off. The reverb seems fine.

It is obviously very well made. 30 years old I suppose, and except for the dust it could have come off a showroom floor. A veritable tank.

I use it with a Yamaha DG Stomp, a Boss tuner, and an Effector 13 Soda Meiser fuzz for essentially a Yamaha digital combo amp but at a lower price and the option to split the preamp off. Run the tone knobs straight up and dial the sounds with the DG Stomp. For guitars, it's either a Sam Ash/Carlo Robelli hollowbody with humbuckers (a totally amazing guitar, believe it or not!) or a G&L F-100 with EMGs. Been playing most of my life and have a few aoustic guitars, a couple of basses, a smattering or recording gear, etc. My "style" is a shoegazer-punk-pop-riffing hybrid, not trying for any sort of classic tones but inventing my own. I really like this amp for it durability, simplicity, and volume. I was looking at a JC 120 but this was every bit as loud and reliable at a lower cost, plus it's quite unusual, which never hurts. I cannot complain about it, though if you don't use a preamp or a few pedals I think it'd be awfully limited. I'd definitely trt to find another if it disappeared, but they are hard to find so I'd likely end up with a JC 120.

very sturdy amp, i bought it four years ago (made in the 70's) does good with pretty much any style the built in distortion i only use if i dont have a pedal, or i want a really loud distortion. i play all kinds of music from heavy metal to ska to jazz on this, 2 channels, no switching...i dont really mind that though, the volume is surprisingly loud compared to other solid state amps ive used

i mainly use this amp with my strat copy with 3 single coils. i have tried it with friends guitars (Gibson, ESP, Etc) sounds good no matter what pickups in my opinion. very quiet amp with lots of headroom in the clean settings, distortion isnt very good but its no tube amp either, very nice sounding amp with a distorion or multi effects pedal (I use a V-amp through it)

never broken, which is surprising it was made about 30 years ago, i would use this amp at a gig without backup definately

This was my first guitar amp as i am a bass player aswell and it is very good for its age, if it were stolen/lost/destroyed i would probably upgrade to a newer marshall but i think ill hang onto this amp as long as i can, the only thing it could have used is an effects loop or a bigger distortion

I have no idea when this amp was made, probably late 70's, somewhere around that time. Bought it used for a ridiculously low price, in virtually mint condition, what a find! Not very versatile, as the "distortion" is an absolute joke. But hey, slap some pedals in front of it and off you go! Build quality is excellent, very solid, has all the signs of a quality product. Its all original, weighs a ton and produces volume by the containerload...this thing is very, very loud indeed. Two cannels, beautiful reverb, Featurewise its a bit limited, but what it does it does superbly well, and that is to produce a very clean, yet warm sound, it truly rings out. Has 2 channels, both with 3 band passive EQ, a prescence control, reverb, and that laughable distortion control, to be ignored.

I use it with a modded Yamaha pacifica strat and modded Telecaster, both have humbuckers. Its not a noisy amp at all, very quiet.
As mentioned before, not much variety in the sounds, but I use a Marshall for my overdrive sound anyway, this amp is for the cleaner stuff, and it does it beautifully. This is a 100 watt amp, you're not gonna run out of volume...believe me...

I would certainly depend on it. had a look inside, and its quality components and very good build quality all the way. As mentioned before, this thing is in superb condition for its age, wouldnt be surprised if it outlived me.

No idea about customer support, wouldnt think Yamaha offers any for such an old product. I tried emailing them once, no reponse at all, so who cares...

If this amp suddenly blew up I would salvage all the unbroken parts and certainly be on the lookout for another one. Its just an axcellent amp, no doubt. You do need some effects in front of it, unless you need just a gorgeous clean sound, in which case this amp is all you'll ever need. It doesnt do crunch, it doesnt do distortion, but fr clean stuff and some modulation, its hard to beat, especially since you should be able to pick one of these up for not too much money. I bought it from someone on a Dutch internet site, who was kind enough to bring the amp over...a good thing since it weighs a ton. But then again its on castors, so easily wheeled about...but avoid stairs. If you need a portable practise amp, dont buy this thing!

I bought this thing about 5 years ago. I traded a cheap 10 watt no-name practice amp for it. I am not kidding. I have been playng for nearly 37 of my 41 years on this earth and have made some good, and not so good, deals in my day. THIS WAS A GOOOD DEAL! the guy wanted a cheap practice amp and said he would trade me. So I picked up the first one I could find, and the deal was sealed. I'll not get into the features since my fellow guitar players have have described them so well. I consider this amp as a solid state version of the Fender Twin.

I basically use this amp as part of a duel practice amp set up when I don't feel like cranking up my stacks. I enjoy experimentation. I currently have a Boss GT-6 running thru a small Peavey Blazer (for a sweet clean sound) and a Digitech GNX3 running thru this Yamaha, usually with a bit of distortion. About a year after I 'stole it' (this thing was a steal), the old, original Yamaha 12 inchers had to go. So I replaced them with a pair of Vintage 30s. Talk a about a difference. I use whatever guitar in my collection suits my mood. My 335 sounds good thru it, as well as my PRS CE22, or my 1275 double neck. my main axe is a 70s Strat with red lace in the bridge, blue in the middle, and gold in thenck. I am very pleased with the sound of this amp. And at 1/4 volume, it will rattle every dish in your house.

After I got it, I was doing some cleaning on it, when a pot broke off while removing a knob. No fear....a little JB Weld, and Good-As-New! The grille cloth is in mint condition. The guy says he bought it in the late 70s. I also replaced one of the 1/4 plugs (there is a dual footswitch for reverb and distortion which has 2 1/4 in male plgs).

No crackling, no ppping, nothing. Very quiet amp, even at high volume.

I don't particularly care for the reverb or the distortion. I prefer to use external sources. If it were lst, I wold kick myself for being a moroon. If it were stolen, I would trust in what I have always beleved is true........Someday is ALWAYS payday. Oh, and the owners manuel can be purchased on Ebay for about 6 bucks.

The B212 I own since 1976 is a 76 or 75 model. I bought it from a retail store for 25.000 BEF, or +/- 625 EUR.
In the beginning, it was both my guitar amp and keyboard and mike PA. We worked small venues (up to 150-200 people) playing covers (Santana, Deep Purple, Beatles, Doors, Eagles...) just with this baby.
It has two channels, ch. 1 having Volume, 4-band EQ (Bass, Middle, Treble, Bright), a spring reverb and a distortion. These can be switched on and off with an optional footswitch. Ch. 2 has Vol, Bass, Mid, Treb and a small switch for Bright. Both channels have dual input jacks, Hi and Lo.
Output is direct to 2 very powerful 12" speakers.
I have measured power output of the amp, using a high power resistive load. RMS power was well in excess of 100W, I believe about 120W.

I have used many different guitars on it, including 6 and 12 string accoustics, with pick up or microphone, Les Paul, Tele and Strat, and since '79 an Ibanez Artist Equalizer (great guitar, but heavy on the shoulder). It requires little tweaking of the tone controls to get the sound right. As said, we used it for keyboards as well. The sound remained pure. Considering I started to play jazz later on, still using the Yam and the Artist, I would say that it is very versatile.
Noise and hum are very low, also on the line output. Never used a noise gate. The sound is very clean, on both channels. The spring reverb is as good as any other (of those years).
The distortion proved very useful. When fully open, the overall channel volume raises. This is the only (minor) remark I have.

After 27 years of intensive use, it has never let me down.
End of statement.....

I broke a button and tore the speaker cloth about 15 years ago (the amp fell of a cart). Yamaha Belgium (or Benelux) sent me both about one week later, but never billed me for it.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd replace it ASAP with another B212. If stolen, I would get the thief and wreck him, if lost, I would kick myself.

complete transistor amp 100 bloody watts it has tow separate channels .on with effects and the other clean.
I use it to play heavy metal I connect a metalzone and it sound like
pantera.

I use a guitar with humbuckings the tone is very variable the Eq is very good the amp could give a xtreme bass.
the clean sound no distort at high volumes.
the distortion is rare is like to play blues only.
the reberv is very good.
this is a transistor amp no a tube amp .
I think is one of the best transistor amp .

now I have a 1987 marshall amp witch is better for heavy metal but still the yamaha is a very good amp.

I never can find the schematic,.

this is was my first big amp . and it save me a lot