AMPEG COMPANY INCORPORATED, LINDEN, NEW JERSEY, CIRCA 1964
Lot 99

AMPEG COMPANY INCORPORATED, LINDEN, NEW JERSEY, CIRCA 1964

A GUITAR AMPLIFIER, REVERBEROCKET, R-12-R

Closed31 January 2024

Price Realised

GBP 6,930

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AMPEG COMPANY INCORPORATED, LINDEN, NEW JERSEY, CIRCA 1964
A GUITAR AMPLIFIER, REVERBEROCKET, R-12-R
The case covered in grey checkerboard Tolex with the logo Ampeg applied at the top panel, and bearing the paper label internally MODEL NO. R-12-R SERIAL 207324 / the Ampeg / co., inc. 1570 WEST BLANCKE STREET / LINDEN, NEW JERSEY
20 7/8 in. (53 cm.) high; 18 3/8 in. (46.7 cm.) wide; 9 in. (22.9 cm.) deep
AMPEG

Specialist note


Acquired by Mark Knopfler in 2004, this amplifier was often tried for sound during the recording process at British Grove Studios. For each track to be recorded, Knopfler would rigorously test various amps and instruments to ensure the best sound possible for the song. Keyboardist and co-producer Guy Fletcher photographed this Reverberocket as part of a line-up of 13 amps during one such trial process, as seen in his 2011 online studio diaries chronicling the recording sessions for Knopfler’s seventh solo studio album Privateering.

AMPEG AMPS
The very name Ampeg, founded in 1947, took inspiration from founder Everett Hull’s amplification technique for the acoustic double bass, whereby he mounted a pickup in the endpin support peg, creating an amplified peg. By 1957, Ampeg was offering a complete line of guitar amplifiers. Unfortunately, due to the company's apparent disdain for rock and roll music and its musicians, Ampeg was unable to compete with Fender's growing prowess in this field. Whilst Ampeg were predominantly known to excel in the production of bass amplifiers, their new 12-watt combo guitar amplifier, the Reverberocket, was nonetheless well received. With an especially clean tone, light in weight, and easily transportable, a vintage Reverberocket competes well with the better-known Fender Princeton Reverb.