SRV riff with Ampeg Gemini I

Just a short recording using my new (old school) guitar amp. Picked up this 66' Ampeg Gemini I at a local music shop.
Setup: Fender Deluxe Players strat - TS9/808 - Ampeg Gemini I
Recording: Shure SM58 - Yamaha MG10/2 mixer - Behringer Composer Pro-XL - UCA202 interface - Adobe Audition

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Fender
• Deluxe
• Ampeg
• Gemini
• SM58
• SRV

[willeng84]

I just got the same ampeg as your's exactly, had it gone through by a tech, and it doesn't seem to have any headroom, yours sounds great so i figured i ask you, it distorts pretty early and isn't very loud any ideas on what it could be?

[westondc]

did you try your guitar on one input and then the other? i think the accordion inputs are hotter then the ones labeled guitar. the type of guitar and pickups will also effect the amount of headroom. humbuckers will drive the amp to distortion earlier than single coils. i changed out my factory ceramic speaker for an Eminence Legend 1258 and it made a huge difference, more headroom and cleaner tone. the power tubes are EH 7591, i tried two different sets of JJs with bad results

[eluxoso]

I generally dislike the guitar playing I see on Youtube but this is nicely original with a great feel. Thanks.

Just one question about your Gemini. After listening to this video and reading about this amp, I'm thinking of getting one for myself. I've got a Twin reverb but I'm after a cleaner Ampeg like sound for jazz. How high were you on the volume knob when you played this ?

[westondc]

hey thanks for the comment. knob was about 1/4 volume and amp will start to get crunchy between 1/2 and 3/4 volume. Best reverb and overdrive sound. compared it to few Fender HotRods and stayed cleaner longer, better overdrive, but not as loud at 22 watts. i'd does live shows just fine. checkout The Black Keys album "the big come up" same amp used.

[setum99]

mine works, but its picking up static. any tips on maintenance?

[westondc]

these old amps need the tubes and caps gone through after a while. good idea would be to take it to a good guitar tech. spend a little cash and get it sounding like new again.

[luit13]

@eluxoso You are after a cleaner sound than a Twin Reverb? The Twin Rev. is the king of clean! It won't get any cleaner than that, especially not from a small amp as this Ampeg (great amp by the way). And you generally dislike the guitar playing on YouTube? You can find all the guitar greats on YouTube, so what's not to like? Do you even play the guitar?

[SixStringHarmonies]

Great demo! You get that true Gem sound when it's properly miked like that.

I replaced the orig Jensen with an Eminence FDM Maverick. Great speaker choice for being able to brighten/darken the amp by the turn of the speaker's knob.

Sometimes these Geminis need a little treble reduction imo, and the FDM adjustment on the Maverick makes that a cinch without messing with the amp's tone stack too much and cutting the overall output signal.

[evanfrmheaven]

it's too good to be true!

[sayspain]

@BoothJudas they break up really sweetly, but you gotta crank them at least to 50%

[sayspain]

JUST got mine!!!

[carolinastringband]

STOP BUYING GEMINI's!!! They're noooo good... terrible amps, really! Nah, beautiful amps but guy's, we're lettin' the cat out of the bag here, lol. Shall we keep the secret, at least until I can buy couple more before everyone finds out what they've been missing and start wanting $1000.00 for 'em.

[FuhrerKaiser]

lenny!!!!!!

[BoothJudas]

I can't get over how amazing these amps sound...do the gemini's break up nicely? Ive seen mostly videos with a straight clean sound that is blowing me away

[testoboost]

I just repaired one of these for a customer. Ampeg's are tough. Worked on many different models, some sound great, like this one, others...eehh. Re-cap electrolytics, check coupling caps for leakage (and they do leak trust me) and check screen resistors.

[bobert995]

i getting one tomorrow!!! can't wait!!!