Ampeg Reverberocket 1962

Looks in really good condition, which is strange because it has a non-original handle. They're hard to find in condition that good.

I have a 1960 Reverberocket R12-R (2x 6V6) that is still going strong. It's been recapped and the original speaker dropped the voice coil so I stuck a Weber Blue in it. Three input jacks for guitar, mic, and accordion! Great amp.

 

Great sounding amps. A band mate back in the late 70’s had one and I loved it.

 

Those are sweet amps. I had a chance to buy one from a buddy of mine several years ago and didn’t do it. I’m still kicking myself.

 

Interesting that it found it's way to the UK!
A lot of those were built here in New Jersey, and they were EVERYWHERE in the 70s. I played a borrowed one for a few years as a grab and go. I knew 5 or 6 people that had them too.
Lovely Reverb and Trem, I wish I'd have found a way to keep it.

 

Nice save, Jon.

It's a Refurberocket!

 

Nice! Mine is a 1962 just like that one. It is a SWEET sounding amp. I look forward to the rest of the thread.

 

I have the 6SN7/7591 Rocket R-12A, mine is in decent shape but indeed, the handle had to be swapped. I have the old handle for whatever reason.

I could use ONE clutch screw if anyone has an extra.

 

Post a pic of the screw you need. I may have one rattling around in the parts bins.

 

Are you sure that it originally came with 6V6? My own 61 Reverberocket came with 7591. It has a tube chart with 6V6GT that had been crossed out and 7591 was pencilled in. Apparently Everett Hull hated the idea of any distortion in his amps, so the Reverberocket power tube was changed to 7591 pretty early in the run due to complaints of jazz players. I had mine switched back to 6V6 & it sounds killer. Way cooler than any Princeton Reverb. I believe the Reverberocket is the first amp to feature onboard spring reverb. This link has some other cool historic information. Ken Fischer was a fan of the amp:

https://www.vintageguitar.com/15188/ampeg-r-12-r-reverberocket/

 

It is the first amp with onboard reverb.

 

That is pretty !!!:

Input jack may need cleaning IMO ...

Or new tubes and a cap job ???

I'm guessing three to five bills for a good repair job...

 

I always hate when you open something up and find a hack job.

My Conrad-Johnson PV1 had some creative "fixes" to the power supply and hummed like crazy. Ended up doing a complete rebuild.

 

I’ve owned the R-12R T (7868 tubes) and currently have an R-12R B (7591 tubes).

Hint: On both of mine, the voltage divider resistors in the paraphase PI had to be replaced. The balance in the PI is sensitive to the relative values of these 470k/470k or 470k/510k resistors and they will have certainly drifted.

Hint 2: if the amp still has the death cap, getting rid of that leaves a space on the eyelet board for one of the caps now in the cap can. Also, you can add the power tube cathode bypass cap to the board across the bypass resistor. That should leave only 1 or 2 caps left in the can.

The oft-repeated story about Hull going to 7591 tubes for a cleaner sound makes people think that 7591s are inherently cleaner tubes than 6V6s. 7591s are more powerful tubes, and Hull used that to increase headroom by increasing NFB in later amps. Changing the NFB resistor from the later 5.6K back to the original 10K will restore much of the legendary breakup of the 6V6 model, just a little louder.