Ampeg Gemini or GS-12R Reverberocket II ?

[Hammertone]

So, what does Ampeg call a Gemini GV-15, but with a single channel and single 10 in. or 12 in. speaker ? That would still have that killer spring reverb, but less weight. Or put another way, which ( smallest speaker ) Ampeg model would I look for which would still have their spring reverb ? Thx.

That would be either a
-(helmethead) Reverbojet - 18 watts, 1x12", reverb, trem
-(helmethead) GU-12 - 20 watts, 1x12", reverb, trem

Ampeg never made a 1x10" tube combo. From '71-'80 they made a heinous piece of garbage called the GT-10 (1x10", 15-watt solid state doorstop). In '76 they made more heinous garbage - the G-100 and B-100 (1x10", 20-watt solid state doorstops), and followed them with the even worse G-18 in '77 (1x8", 10 watt solid state smaller doorstop) but these are Ampegs in name only and are a cruel mockery of real Ampegs. Pure landfill.

From a size comparison POV, the next size up in tube Ampegs w/reverb is the (identical size) box used for the:
-G-20 (2x10", 35 watts);
-G-12 (1x12", 22 watts);
-ReverbRocket II (1x12", 20 watts);
These are bigger and heavier than the GU-12 and Reverbojet, but smaller and lighter than your old GV-15 or a similar GV-22. Here's a picture comparing the size of a Reverbrocket II to a GU-12 - both 1x12", 20 watts, similar control layout:

[powerwagonjohn]

I have a 1966 Gemini II and I like it just as much as my 1962 fender Pro. The Ampeg cost less than a third of what I paid for my Pro so I would say the Ampegs are a great deal on a vintage amp. When I bought my Ampeg it had a reconed original Jensen that sounded rather muffled to me. I took it out and tried a JBL D130F which sounded great but finally settled on a Altec 417.
When I showed the original speaker to my speaker guy he said the replacement cone is a much heaver, ribbed cone and nothing like the original light seamed cone. He also told me the light seamed cone kits are getting very hard to find and even he did not have access to one at the time. The reason I mention this is one may run into a similar situation and not give the amp the chance it deserves. I am very lucky to have both a great amp tech. and Midwest Speaker close to my location. My Gemini II is large and heavy but well worth the effort, if not my bass player would be happy to help as it is great for bass also.
Thanks John

[DaveCurrie]

Early Jet versions were lower wattage (12watts?) with 2x6V6 power tubes and 6SL7 preamp tubes - the octal preamp tubes had less gain than 12AX7, giving these amps more clarity, and a smooth-warm overdrive, or you can boost them with a pedal for more gain. Mike Campbell uses his 1959 version with funky grill swirls in the studio. I love my 1960 Jet version, and I also have a Rocket from that era, with three input holes in an angle. I have the first year 1961 Reverberocket, and 1957 Mercury/Atlas, which was a Mercury amp but Atlas branded. All these amps use 6V6 power tubes and 6SL7 or similar octal preamp tubes. The stock Jensen speakers, although sweet sounding, don't allow these amps to sing to their full potential. I upgraded all of their speakers, with Weber 12A150, a greenback in the Jet, and Jupiter C12N type in the Atlas, a Celestion Blue type in another. Getting into the 1960's I have the later Reverberocket with 7591a power tubes, SS rectifier, still octal preamp tubes. I don't yet have a Reverberocket-2, which is like a one channel Gemini-I in a smaller cabinet, same basic circuit, but lesser transformers and speaker? The one Ampeg "sleeper" amp most people don't know about is the 2007-2009 Jet J20, made in Korea but a real-deal PTP amp, which was designed with overbuilt transformers, so you can use 6L6 instead of the stock 6V6, maybe use a 4ohm speaker if you do? This amp is amazing, it's the same circuit as a Fender brownface Deluxe which Billy Gibbons used all over the early ZZ Top records! It comes with an AlNiCo speaker 30oz magnet, which sounds great, but not when you crank it, so a new speaker will be replacing it. It cost $500 instead of $5,000 for a real Fender brown-panel Deluxe costs, and sounds similar, but they are hard to find, so pounce on it if you do! Ampeg used their usual birch-ply cabinet instead of solid pine like Fender used, and the standby switch is a funky wiring, but easily fixable, and there are a couple other easy mods you can do to make it even better. I also have a SuperEchoTwin, and used to have a Gemini I and Gemini II, both of which I should have kept. The queen of my Ampeg collection has to be the B12X, only made for one year until morphing into the B12XT. It's the same circuit as the B15N bass amp, but with a 12" speaker, reverb and tremolo, it was designed for guitar. The original cone C12N and JBL horn are still functional. I bought it from the original owner who played accordian through it. Bass players say the 12" speaker sounds better for bass, and it sounds godly with guitars - especially strats. I'm just starting to learn bass playing, and it has that beautiful "James Jamerson" tone we love, although I'll probably get a bass cab to use with it so as to not damage the original C12N.

[DaveCurrie]

I have a 1966 Gemini II and I like it just as much as my 1962 fender Pro. The Ampeg cost less than a third of what I paid for my Pro so I would say the Ampegs are a great deal on a vintage amp. When I bought my Ampeg it had a reconed original Jensen that sounded rather muffled to me. I took it out and tried a JBL D130F which sounded great but finally settled on a Altec 417.
When I showed the original speaker to my speaker guy he said the replacement cone is a much heaver, ribbed cone and nothing like the original light seamed cone. He also told me the light seamed cone kits are getting very hard to find and even he did not have access to one at the time. The reason I mention this is one may run into a similar situation and not give the amp the chance it deserves. I am very lucky to have both a great amp tech. and Midwest Speaker close to my location. My Gemini II is large and heavy but well worth the effort, if not my bass player would be happy to help as it is great for bass also.
Thanks John

Good choice for the speaker upgrade, Altec 418b 12" and 417B 15" are two of the best sounding speakers in my experience. Gemini II isn't a loud amp, so the more efficient speaker helps with volume, but more importantly it sounds better too! My sisters friend had a JBL in his Gemini-II for playing steel guitar through. Gemini-I is becoming more popular (and expensive) too, with players like JD Simo and Austin John (Hi-Jivers) using them in smaller venues and recording. These amps are heavy though, so if I get ever get a Gemini-I or Gemini-II again they will be as heads, which I prefer in general anymore. Jensen speakers can be sweet for recording, but live at higher volumes they fart-out and lose their sweet voice.

[Brian859]

I think most of the New York guys were Ampeg players--certainly Smith was. It took some time for Fender to penetrate that market, probably because country, Western swing, and rock were not really New York phenomena. In Nashville, if you were "anybody" you had a Standel. Out west, though, it was Fender territory.

I've always been surprised that Rudy Van Gelder, who recorded so many of the great jazz guitarists on the New York scene at his studio out in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, kept a Fender Deluxe 5e3 tweed amp in his studio. Many artists--Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, etc., used that amplifier in Van Gelder's studio.

In the early-mid 60s, if you were a player, and you used Ampeg gear, you would have chosen either a Gemini Amp or perhaps the Super Echo Twin. The latter featured two channels (two 15 watt amps, really, that could be run in mono--30 watts--or stereo, 2 x 15 watts) and two 12" Jensen speakers. This was quite a sophisticated amplifier. It was the choice of Larry Coryell throughout the 60s. IIRC, Hammertone owns one (or more) of these great amps.

There is a echo twin up on goodwill. Its pickup only up in minnesota. If anyone is going up that way of lives there, you can probably get it for a great price. Might need some work though.
Vintage Ampeg Echo Twin Guitar Amplifier (For Parts/repair Only) (Pickup Only) | ShopGoodwill.com