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Having owned practically every Fender combo, my favorite amp of all time was the USA made 1970 Ampeg Gemini 12 I owned in 1980 and played until it finally started to get pretty road worn by 1990. Picture: http://www.catoosatrading.com/images/1968_ampeg_gemini12.jpg I began to look for a new amp trying everything on the market within my price range. I couldn't find anything that sounded as good as that single 12 Ampeg Gemini, and settled on a Fender Deluxe Reverb. The Deluxe Reverb is a great amp, but I couldn't get it to sound like the Ampeg, which is kind of a cross between a Fender and a Marshall tone. When Loud Technologies/ Mackie bought the Ampeg company I was hopeful that the new guitar amps would be like the classic combos I remembered. I can honestly say the GVT15 lives up to the Gemini's tone. The cabinet is a bit smaller, but it still gets great bass response. The stock Celestion speaker sounds adequate so far, and I haven't felt the immediate need to swap it out like I have in so many other amps. I may try an alnico speaker at some point, but mainly for my own tone preference. The GVT15 seems to be built as rugged if not more than my 1970 Ampeg. I like the way this amp's chassis is mounted bolted to the top of the cabinet in comparison. It came with JJ and EH tubes and they sound great. This amp sounds great with my Gibson alnico humbuckers and Fender single coils, Kent Armstrong lipstick tubes, and Bill Lawrence pickups. The dynamic response is great and follows the player's picking; staying clean when playing lightly and breaking into crunch when digging in. The eq tone controls are great to get lots of tones. It's spring reverb's 'drip' is not as pronounced as the signature Fender sound, but it's still there and can get surfy or just add a bit of depth. Over all I really love this new Ampeg. Will I sell my Fender Deluxe Reverb? Maybe, or just get an attenuator for it. At any rate, the Ampeg is the one that sits next to me at my desk and gets played the most. The only thing missing is the tremolo and I can buy a good pedal for that because the GVT15 takes pedals really well. Very satisfied.

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I checked out the Ampeg guitar amp after I remember my dad telling me about this Gemini he once owned. After going to listen to this amp in person, I was sold. It stays true to your picking (clean when not going hard, breaks up nicely when your attack increases). Overall, I'm really impressed with this amp. People may think the 15 watts isn't very loud, but it is. The great thing about this amp is that if you want to play at bedroom levels you can still get a nice tube break up from it. The baxandall eq is AMAZING. I've swapped out the stock JJ pre-amp tubes and EHX power tubes with TungSol pre amps and vintage 1964 GE Black Plate power tubes. The difference in sound is truly recognizable. I have achieved MY tone (kind of mix between Dan Sartain, Dex Romweber and Jack White). I haven't felt the need to replace the speakers as I feel any new speakers need to be given a chance to be broken in first. At any rate, they sound great to me. The build quality of the amp is solid and does not seem cheap at all. One thing that was a little annoying was changing the pre amp tubes. You have to know what you're doing or you'll bend the pins instantly (the sockets are placed far back and you'll have a hard time seeing what you are doing, so be careful and go slow).

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