Gibson Amps.

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spikeymikey

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Do any of you guy's have any experience of the older gibson amp's like the Skylark, Maestro, GA30 and Les Paul amps?

Cheers,

Mike.
 
G5 is similar to Fender Champ. Gibson used odd tubes on their models altough.Rapairmen say it?s very difficult to work inside because all is very near and there is no room enough to work comfortable.
 
spikeymikey said:
Do any of you guy's have any experience of the older gibson amp's like the Skylark, Maestro, GA30 and Les Paul amps? Mike.

Mike,
I have a 1960 Skylark GA-5T (has tremelo). Here is a description of the one i have. As you can read from the website mentioned below, there were various incarnations. Mine is a restored 1960 version with the 1x8" speaker. I would upload a pic but i haven't set up that feature here yet. The website is http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/gg/amps.html#GA-5T_Skylark_Two-Tone

GA-5T Skylark (two-tone)

5W 1x8" Guitar Combo with Tremolo
Speakers: 1x8" (Jensen 'Special Design'?)
Inputs (instr. + mic.): 2
Channels: 1
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: No
Tremolo: Yes
Tubes: 3? (12AX7, 6V6, 5Y3 or 1x12AX7 (pre amp), 1x6BM8 (power amp and tremolo), 1x5Y3 (rectifier)?)
Watts Output: 4 1/2
Shipping Totals: 1960: 123, 1961: 2094

A cool amp for doing some different studio sounds, and the tremelo circuit in mine is awesome. Got mine for @ $300 which is not bad for the excellent (restored) condition it is in. My speaker is a new Weber 1x8".

James
 
Wow! great response Luis and Stone Free. Thank's a bunch for that. The link was a real help too.

SF, how does the Skylark break up - smooth or champ style? I hear that Warren haynes uses one in the studio?

Cheers,

Mike.
 
Yep...I have a 60's GA 15 RVT Explorer (with reverb and tremolo). Nice small amp that just rips - very distinct, old Ampeg kind of vibe. Built like a brick - the tolex has to be a half inch thick.

I Love it but my amp guy hates working on it. The old Gibson amps were wired ridiculously and they're difficult to work on. The old amps had Gibson's name on them and as I understand it, several other companies made them for Gibson - each tackling the wiring differently.

But the sound is worth the hassle (and the extra cash to have them worked on). There are a couple currently listed on ebay.....

Cheers,

Marcus
 
I've had a lot of Gibson amps. The very early ones are a bit dark sounding, but the 50's ones that often came in a swirly wallpaper print/sometimes two tone with brown are excellent, and very close to equivalent Fenders in design - maybe a little warmer. The 60's dark brown ridged tolex amps are less good in my opinion and really need humbuckers. Not surprising, as humbuckers became standard issue from the late 50's. They're quite cheap though, relatively.

50's Gibson amps are no1 choice for many harmonica players, which is normally a good sign in a guitar amp.

I still have Gibsons ranging from a 1936 EH150 to a 60's GA77RVT. My favourite is a 50's GA6 which is very like a tweed Deluxe, and an early Skylark which is equivalent to a Tweed champ.

104_0453.jpg
 
Still works, amazingly. The speaker is mains powered, as they all were in those days...
 
I have a bunch of these and am actually looking for an early 60's Ga 20 T (Ranger). I have a cabinet for a GA-19 if anyone needs it.
 
Hi LPJ, what's the spec on the cab? Any pictures and where are you located?
Cheers'
Mike. :D
 

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