11-15-2017, 04:53 PM
When I was a kid, EVERYBODY had their Dad's old AMPEG. They were made here in Jersey; and they must've been inexpensive here too.I had a 5 dollar Tiesco Tulip, and an old retired solid state PA head from my dad's work; and an 8" speaker in a box. It sounded terrible.
When everyone blew their Ampegs up with Tube screamers I would eventually somehow inherit them; and despite my dad being a 40 year man at RCA; he wouldn't fix them. He thought his RCA amp was the best there was. they eventually got tossed. I think one was a mercury.
I bought a few in the 90's from an antique store: a reverberocket 2, a Gemini2, and another gemini with a 15" I forget which one.
I didn't have internet then, and could not get tubes.
When they all fizzled out I sold them.
That last Gemini; I had converted to use 6v6's but it sounded terrible after the conversion so I sold it too.
Around 2001, I bought a BEAUTIFUL black Gemini 2 with an Altec speaker. I bought tubes online, but they seemed to be rebranded or renumbered and didn't work well. I tried a few with the same result.
I lost my job and had to sell my stuff.
I sold the AMPEG.
I've got my life back together, for now; and I have a few Ampegs again.
There's just some magic with the 1960's Ampegs...for me.
I remember how badly I wanted one.
I remember my friend playing Van Halen thru a Gemini 1 with an MXR pedal and thinking "wow that sounds great".
That Reverb.
Every time I see one for sale now I struggle to walk away.
When everyone blew their Ampegs up with Tube screamers I would eventually somehow inherit them; and despite my dad being a 40 year man at RCA; he wouldn't fix them. He thought his RCA amp was the best there was. they eventually got tossed. I think one was a mercury.
I bought a few in the 90's from an antique store: a reverberocket 2, a Gemini2, and another gemini with a 15" I forget which one.
I didn't have internet then, and could not get tubes.
When they all fizzled out I sold them.
That last Gemini; I had converted to use 6v6's but it sounded terrible after the conversion so I sold it too.
Around 2001, I bought a BEAUTIFUL black Gemini 2 with an Altec speaker. I bought tubes online, but they seemed to be rebranded or renumbered and didn't work well. I tried a few with the same result.
I lost my job and had to sell my stuff.
I sold the AMPEG.
I've got my life back together, for now; and I have a few Ampegs again.
There's just some magic with the 1960's Ampegs...for me.
I remember how badly I wanted one.
I remember my friend playing Van Halen thru a Gemini 1 with an MXR pedal and thinking "wow that sounds great".
That Reverb.
Every time I see one for sale now I struggle to walk away.