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The best Ampeg Guitars reviews

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Ampeg VL-503

« Ampeg VL-503 »
Playing blues for 25 years, rock for ten years prior. Personal tastes: Ry Cooder, Elmore James, Mr. Johnson, Son House......the primal guys. In no band but guest for several. Paid $300 for the first one in a friend's pawn shop about ten years ago. The second I bought this year used $400 at the local Guitar Center Store. It is the only amp I certainly will ever need..has POWER (with the 6550's) the best guitar speaker in the world (EV 12 in.)the three distinct peamps are outstanding. and typically solidly built and HEAVY like all Ampegs. (I also have a VL-502 head, an OLD Gemini 2, and a Rocket.) Both have broken and required the services of my famous amp guy...mostly having to do with the circuitboards getting failed solderings. The adjustable bias deals are twitchy....just set them a tad low and they're ok. Overall though, no worse than the Fender offerings that I have owned but always got rid of as they lacked the Ampeg OOMPH. I have had both my 503's fixed once. Two make a rather incredible stereo set-up, especially of you use a good Marshall Vibratrem...the tremolo sounds gigantic, tsunami-like rolling back and forth. Top notch and top tonnage; the cab is indestructable. The casters are swell, and don't try to wang it around by the sturdy handle with one hand; unless you're Arnold or Steve Reeves. You do not want to drop this honker on your foot. The circuit boards seem to be the weak link, as is the odd connection for the footswitch that looks like something off the wrong end of a telephone. But I'll say it ain't failed yet, even though it looks like it may at any moment! Like I said, each amp failed once...since then no problems and these things get played LOUD continually betwixt myself and my son. No tube failures and the EV is operating way under potential even with full volume cranking. Best amp I ever owned. Once broke,once fixed, stays fixed. While it can be painfully loud, Lee Jackson did such an excellent job designing this thing that tonal quality is preserved at excessive decibels. The range of the three preamps is astounding, the reverb is perfect, and the attenuator feature should be standard issue on all big strong amps...it is wonderful, and you don't need a big ol' Marshall Brake deal to lug around. The 503 is quite enough to lug around! And that EV speaker....what can one say about those things...just a perfect match to this amp. I've heard folks having unfixable problems with these units but this is not my experience in ten or so years with them. Buy 'em whenever youcan find them, E-Bay not withstanding. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

by MGR/Bill from Albuquerque 7/19/06
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Ampeg J-12T

« Ampeg J-12t »
I bought this amp off music 123 about a year ago now (https://www.music123.com/Ampeg-J12T-i59888.music), and play it consistantly every night, so i have a good impression of the pros and cons of this amp. Very basic layout with 2x EL84s in the power amp in 'class a', and two 12ax7's for preamp and phase splitter duties. Controls for volume, tone, tremolo intensity and speed, and reverb. I bought it to step up to my first tube amp after owning a Marshall MG15DFX for 2 years... Starting with a clean setting with the volume at 2, and tone at five and single coil pickups, you get a really shimmering tone that feels lively under your fingers. Adding a touch of tremolo present a great tone for airy fingerpicking work, and the whole feel extends itself to a great Jazz, Blues or Country style. Humbucker clean tones are not quite as impressive, but they still work well for smoother tones. Winding the volume up to 5 or 6 starts to drive the valves just a touch, and because of the interaction of the tone and volume control, i feel the need to bring back a bit of treble, rolling the tone up to seven. This is a nice blues setting for some SRV style licks, but the bottom end starts to lose defination and becomes wooly when playing two notes less harmonically related than a fifth. Im sure a speaker upgrade would be a cure here. Even so, the overdrive present is quite pleasing and smooth, and humbuckers are welcomed here with open arms, smoothing out the tone further and ridding you of the overly present noise factor with single coils. Pushing the amp harder still, and it begins to break up into nice distortion for lead work, but with the volume from 8 to 10, the bottom end justs farts out. Even with a single coil at the bridge and tone on 10, the lows are ill defined. So far ive been playing dry, but both the tremolo and reverb sound good. The reverb could be a bit more lush, but its still good for the price. The tremolo is great, going from slight shimmer to over the top warble. One invaluable item i have perchersed recently it a crispy cream treble booster (www.treblebooster.com), which brings the amp to life, curing the ill low end, and giving a really pleasing overdrive. One of my favourite tricks is to keep the treble boost set low, and max the volume for more power valve overdrive, giving sweeter distortion. A match made in heaven... *Poor low end defination *Average (but not bad) Reverb *Cheap Speaker Apart from that, nothing to complain about... It seems solidly built, and should last along time, Although my specimen has a strange (faulty?) volume knob which gets much louder quickly between 1.5 and 2... Overall, a great clean sounding amp, and nice breakup for lead playing. Without the treble booster (which i recommend very much) the lows really are quite mushy, but with the Treble Boost, this amp really sings... This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

by MGR/Alex Fiddes 9/26/04
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Ampeg VT-22

« Ampeg VT-22 »
Bought this combo back in 1976. Needed a decent amp that would support live work in local bar band. It was a previous year demo clearance, so I got a good deal-$350.00. List new was almost $700!! Rated at 120 watts, but I swear it's gotta be more. Tubes handle everything. Two channel w/distortion and bass, mid, treble controls. Spring reverb w/lock(Acutronics?). All birch plywood construction w/2 x 12" Altecs. HUGE magnets on these! The whole combo package probably weighs 130 lbs. easily. Good quality, overall. The SOUND! Very tubey and yet, clean. So clean, in fact, that it's hard to overdrive without getting to volumes that kill small animals and must be listed as a WMD! VERY LOUD, even at low settings(2-3). Easily carries through drums and bass. Starts to get a bluesey feel around 6, but you'd better be in Shea Stadium. I used an overdrive pedal for push at lower volumes. Clean levels great for effects because the full range of the effect can be heard. Great for my MXR Phase 90 and Cry Baby sounds. Completely indestructable. Has fallen off stage once from 6 feet and was still crankin'! Face down, no less. All tubes intact and cookin'. It's so G&* D@#% HEAVY!! Between hiking this thing to/from gigs and slinging a LP all night, I definitely stayed in shape. I finally got smart and made a castor cart for it. Takes a while to overdrive, making it difficult to get the advantages of a true "tube sound" in a small venue. Great for big clubs and open air. Spring reverb is pretty sensitive and will SPROINGG if you're not careful. This was made before the advent of "Master Volume". One of these controls would alleviate most of the problems above. NOT a good bedroom/practice amp, as this was before headphone jacks, too. As I've said...built like a HUUMVEE. I've had mine for years. It's played, been moved cross-country, been shipped to/from GERMANY, for Pete's sake! Never a problem. The tubes could stand to be replaced in the power section. Problem is, I'm afraid to change the tubes to 6L6's or something and change the original sound. Still pondering this. All birch plywood with tight dove joints. NO rattles. NO MDF in sight. Electronics tray seems to have some sort of shock absorber deal that evidently works well. It's a daisy! I guess it's true...they really DON'T make them like they used to. I can see why the big acts of the time(Rolling Stones, Doobie Bros.) were using these. Stone cold reliability and great sound. I've seen a few of these show up in vintage shops and EBay and for the prices I'm seeing, they're the best deal you'll get. Maybe not good for GenX'ers to play their Nu-Metal crap, but for classic rock and even 80s hair metal, they're all you need. Add a few of your favorite pedals and develop your own nuclear deterant capability! One word of caution...if you suck now, this amp will not Hendrix you up. It will faithfully reproduce your suckness at incredible volume. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

by MGR/Anonymous 3/24/04
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Ampeg VH-140C 2x12 Combo

« Ampeg VH140C »
I bought my Ampeg at a pawn shop for 189.00. Listed for around 900.00 new in 1993 I restarted my musical career (I'm 51 years old) I have owned many different amps Fender Super Reverb Gibson Titan V among them and didn't know what I was missing until I got my Ampeg home for a test ride. Only one word to describe it UNBELIEVABLE! This amp has so much punch, I can actually drive two 4x12 cabinets with ease. 140 watts stereo Has a great chorus feature, and fair reverb, not as nice as Fenders reverb but still acceptable. There really isn't anything I don't like Solid amp that will stand up to the abuse of many one night stands. Ampeg stopped making this model in the mid 90's a shame! if you find either the VH140C or the SS140C (earlier model basically the same amp. Buy it! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

by MGR/Mike Murphy \"The Rockfish\" 12/1/03
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Ampeg SS-70

« Ampeg SS-70 Combo Guitar Amp »
I purchased a used Ampeg ss-70 amp for $100 IT is by far the best amp I have ever played through. Granted I use a Gibson les paul, but I push a Marshall stack with it. It has one of best amp tones you could possibly want! I like the fact that it is simple, but yet such an ass kickin' amp! I don't like the reverb that is included, but that isn't a big deal if you use an effects processor. SOLID! VERY SOLID! High Quality! I have played Mesa/Boogie, Marshall, Roland,VHT, and I still would't trade for my Ampeg! I will never let it go! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

by MGR/Chris Stewart 11/25/03
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Ampeg Gemini 1

« Very compact »
I bought the Ampeg Gemini 1 from GC in Austin TX in June of 2009. I purchased it for use during a summer trip where space and weight would be an issue. I've played much bigger amps (who hasn't) and I've played better amps (who hasn't). But the Gemini 1 is a marvelous and a very serious instrument that completely dominates in it's own musical niche. Obviously with its small size, weight and option to run off of 6 AA sized batteries it turns your favorite electric guitar into a campfire side companion that can rival acoustic guitars in both volume and portability. UTILIZATION The integrated effects perform well and give you a tool-kit of effects that can cover most musical styles. The instrument is quite stout and can put up with a fair amount of travel. The sound from this little box can go from clear bell like cleans to copious amounts of distortion. I've had a great time playing through this little gem. I'd readily purchase this again if anything happened to mine. SOUNDS This amp is all the amp most people will ever need. I play for fun. I usually play on the street or do open mics. This Cube gives me the option of being electric ANYWHERE!!! This Cube has opened up a whole new world for me!!! This amp is amazingly loud. You would think you were playing through a stack. With the gain at 5, you would have to mic your voice with volume levels louder than 3. It's loud enough to play a small venue. I really love the delay OVERALL OPINION This is an amazing piece of equipment. It has the best (non spring) solid state reverb I have ever heard and when I got it to sound just about like a Mesa Boogie, I almost fell off the chair. Save a buck & get a bigger, muddier POS in the 15-25 watt range and live to reget it OR get one of these. Dare you to try this one first!

by yoTrakkz 11/8/11
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Ampeg VH-140C Head

nickname009's review
2 channels: Channel A: gain low,ultra mid, high and level. Channel B: Gain, low, mid, high and level. On board Reverb : Rev A and Rev B. On board Chorus: Depth A, Depth B, and universal Rate. Effects loop. UTILIZATION Just like the combo version, very simple to use once you get used to the fact that Channel A is the distortion channel and channel B is the clean channel. The chorus is very good, very jazz chorus-like and deep. The reverb is also decent. I'm not a HUGE fan of reverb generally, I seldom use it for cleans and nothing else. Has a footswitch to change the channels though i used a generic one just to kick the channels in and out. SOUNDS This has become one of the better solidstate amps for metal these days. The gain is clear, and bright but not shrill. There's also TONS of gain on tap and even when maxed out it's very very tight. of course everybody refers to this amp with the old suffocation records, and it's definitely the right amp for that sound. Though I also think it's quite capable of a lot more! It can pretty much suit any high gain application! The cleans are quite good too! Especially when you kick the chorus in, you get a really cool 80s, 90s metallica-ish clean. Lots of headroom too of course. I'd say this is a perfect amp for getting the 80s metal tones and good for the drop tuning stuff too! OVERALL OPINION I've owned both versions the combo and the head and both have been really consistent in how they sound. There has been some problems with the jacks the last time however, they've been replaced and now the amp seems to be fully functional. Great metal amp for super heavy and thrash sounds! Maybe even better for Meshuggah type, drop tune, 8 string etc stuff! It'd sound KILLER!

by nickname009 9/6/11
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Ampeg R-212R

moosers's review
The Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket is a tube guitar combo amp that has two channels. It delivers 50 watts of power and as the name states it has two 12" speakers. It has two 1/4 inch inputs for your instrument as well as line in and line out connections. It has parameters for treble, middle, and bass, as well as gain, reverb, and volume. The tube configuration is pretty basic as it has two 6L6s and three 12AX7s. UTILIZATION Using the Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket isn't hard at all as the make up is pretty basic as far as combo amps go and those with any experience with other combo amps of this nature won't have any trouble deciphering what is going on here. Everything is laid out nicely and I've never had any problems getting it to do what I want it to do. I haven't seen a manual for the Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket so I can't say how helpful it would be or not. SOUNDS The sound quality of the Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket is pretty top notch. It has a really fat and warm sound that you would expect from a tube amp and I'm really a big fan of that type of sound. It sounds great for both lead and rhythm guitars as well as clean or with some drive. I usually use it with a Fender Strat or a Gibson SG for recording and these both sound great through it in their own ways. I don't usually use effects with this amp as I find that the reverb and gain are enough for me most of the time. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket for about a year or so for recording at the studio that I work at and it is really a great sounding amp. While I've only used it for recording, it is more than suitable for live shows as well as it isn't too hard to bring around but of course packs a big punch. When I think of Ampeg I of course think of bass guitar amps, but this is a fabulous guitar amp that rivals some of the best out there. If you are looking for a great tube amp, the Ampeg R 212 R Reverbrocket is definitely one of them, but you will have to get one used as they no longer make these.

by moosers 9/6/09
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