Ampeg J20

shaunm

Hi all has anyone played one of these?



Andy makes them sound brilliant but I was wondering what the real world verdict was.

They seem to be very low key, don't see many about.

Cabicular

I have one Fabulous wee amp Best tremolo I've had bar the one on the matchless

redrighthand

I have had one for several years now. Awesome little thing - sounds fantastic and really light. Wish it had reverb, though the tremolo is a thing of utter beauty.  I also love the simplicity: just volume, tone and two controls for the trem. 

Dodge

I can only echo what's already been said - BEAUTIFUL tremelo, nice and simple and sounds great, if perhaps a little limited.  That video is pretty much what it does, and it does it very well.  It's pretty well made too.

The thing I liked about the circuit is the valve rectifier sag it has, hit it hard and it's squishy and gorgeous and seemed to 'bloom' out of compression.  It did it more than any other amp I've owned.  Perhaps not for everyone, but for old school tones it was delightful.

I moved mine on, but would have another in a heartbeat if it came in at the right price.

shaunm

Do they take pedals well?

EricTheWeary

shaunm said:

Do they take pedals well?

only Bad Monkeys ! |)

Dodge

shaunm said:

Do they take pedals well?

I'm more of an amp sound guy so I didn't try delay, mod or reverb.  It liked pretty much any OD pedal I put in front of it, but there's not massive headroom with humbuckers so I didn't use them too often, you might not need them depending on what you're looking for.

If I had another, I run it set up for my overdrive sound, back off the guitar for a cleaner tone and stick a Soul Food / Hotcake / Timmy or something fairly transparent in front for a boosted sound.

They're not versatile, but then like a 5E3 Deluxe or a Matchless Lightning, they do that one thing very very well.

koneguitarist

I had the 12w model, loved it, but it was not very reliable for me.

Cabicular

It takes pedals well but live I was running it pretty hot. I lent iot to my bassplayer when he was doing some recording. I'll need to get it back

Got it for a really cheap price when Red Dog music were blowing them out (to use a horrible american phrase). I think I paid <300 for it

shaunm

@Dodge - out of curiosity what is the right price?

Dodge

@shaunm - I paid £325 for mine, it was mint.  If I came across a mint one at less than that, I'd probably be interested myself but there are a lot of amps in that price bracket (I.e. vintage Traynor YGM3's) that sound as good, if not better.

shaunm

I'm glad you said that as I was considering a trade somebody offered me and he thought they were valued at £450 ish. He is a really nice guy but the fact that these amps seem to sell on so cheaply put me off

Dodge

@shaunm - there was one for sale on Ebay a while back, pickup only in London and it didn't sell at £400 after several listings.  There's no way I'd part with £450+ for one.

How about this?  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111565009476?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&amp;ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

£420 is a bit much, but it might be worth negotiating for a cash price.  I paid just over £310 for my mint example.