Did anyone notice that sweetwater busted down the prices of their Gibson amps? Gibson Labs Les Paul Junior Amplifier that is 399.99.. Musicians Friend is selling the same amp at 699.99 MF Price matches Sweetwater so it shouldn't be a problem buying one. They also have a really sweet amp Gibson Labs GA42 Which is a Gibson GA42RVT Amplifier Features: 30W Class A 2 Channels Tube Reverb and Tube Tremolo All tube signal path 2X 6L6/5881 Pentode/Triode Switch Hand Wired Point-to Point 2X12" Eminence Legend If you call and speak to a salesperson you can get that amp for mid 700's Not to shabby for a handwired Amp with tube trem and 2x12's! http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GA42RVT/
I played a GA5 at a local shop and really liked it.... until I saw it was $700.00 at $400.00 I like it much more. It seemed very well made.
I believe that the GA 5's are or at least were ghostbuilt by Mojotone, who by the way sells the same turret board to Dr Z for the Mini Z. Both the Mini Z and GA 5 use the same Heyboer tranformers (the circuitry is slightly different on the Mini Z). I used to have one and it has a nice clean tone to OD with single coils, never played it with humbuckers. MikeY
damnit! wasn't the GA42 out in 6v6 version as the GA30?? I really loved the ga15, but i needed more headroom. the GA42 could have saved me a lot of aggravation.
I just sold a used GA5 for $350 shipped... Damn fun amp with only a volume knob! Obviously it is a little box-y sounding, but it is surprisingly loud and has wonderful tone.
I used to have a GA5, neat little amp, but rattled a bit when you cranked it. Too bad they are $400+ when they have about $100 worth of parts in them.
Mine sounded great, I regret selling it. Can you supply me with parts? Here is a list of about how much the parts actually cost: Cabinet $150 Chassis $ 40 Transformers $ 70 Speaker $ 20 Resistors $ 10 Capacitors $ 20 Potentiometer $ 2 On/Off switch $ 4 Pilot lamp $ 3 (w/lamp) Fuse holder $ 3 (w/fuse) Turret board $ 40 (includes tube sockets) input jack $ 1 output jack $ 1 tubes $ 12 diodes $ 1 misc $ 20 (wire, solder and hardware) Total $418 If you buy the parts in mass quantities (1000's) then take 30% off. Not to mention, they are made in the USA. Great little amp at an unbelievable price!! MikeY
How does anyone rate the Gibson Goldtone 8" with ceramic magnet, 4 ohm speaker rated at 15 Watts RMS I am thinking the speaker is Ghostbuilt as well?
I have a GA5 RI. I e-mailed Ted Weber a while back last year about a replacement speaker. I mentioned the Goldtone 8". It's a relabelled Weber Signature S - straight from the horse's mouth. I got mine sometime in 2006, used $400 Cdn. (about $325 US at the time). I think of it as a grittier Champ. Starts breaking up real early with humbuckers - about 9:30. Changing the preamp tube to 5751 can tame that a bit.
I've got a GA5 that I really like a lot. Picked it up 2-3 years ago for under $400 IIRC. Initially purchased for a little guitar jam that I host as a second amp but I find myself playing it a lot. Truthfully, I had a love/hate relationship for a while and when I started using a reverb pedal and EQ it's turned mostly to love. While I was looking for simplicity, I had too much urge to tweak... Here's what it looks like inside.
That little GA-5 is my only amp at present (until I find a Princeton Reverb) and I absolutely love it. I have it tilted back on an amp stand at home and seldom go above 4 on the dial. No, it doesn't sound as big as an amp with a 12" speaker, but it's surprisingly full and loud for its size. And it's quiet. I compared it side-by-side to a Fender Pro Junior and, well, there was no comparison for me. I pump in a little delay to add some ambience to the more mellow stuff and use a Barber Barb E.Q. when I want to dial back some highs with a Tele or add some bass with the Strat. Great little amps. And a good price. Paid about that for mine a few years back.
I bought one and they told me it would be a month wait.. then the salesperson called me and said that they were discontinued and they would not be getting any more in. I am wondering if Gibson is getting out of the amp buisness or retooling their line of amps??
Question for the GA-5 owners ... what do you use for OD, besides the amp itself? I've been using a Hot Cake, but am getting bored with it.
Just keep turning up that volume knob!!! I found it to work well with lots of my pedals...especially the Gristle King...so a souped up tube screamer should be just fine...
