Played a nice amp the other day (Gibson...)

[Ocifer]

I was at a local store and they had an old Gibson (ca. 1958, apparently). Roughed up, definetely gigged, but freshly serviced and in good working order. $985 CDN. A steal for this thing!

A tone monster, very warm clean sounds, very dynamic. It had a simple layout too, with a tone knob (bass to treble) for all 4 inputs, and individual volumes for different inputs. Two inst/mic inputs, and two instrument inputs.

I didn't get to crank it or try bridging any of the channels in the store, but I have read online about these amps. Got good reviews even on HC. Supposed to have that honey overdrive tone when pushed, sort of like Eric Johnson.

Anyway, it'll probably get bought before I can scrounge up $1000 bucks or so.

[Tweed]

Re: Played a nice amp the other day (Gibson...)

Hmm...that's $850 USD. That's pretty pricey for some of these 50's Gibsons. What model is it? What's the tube layout? What's it look like? How do you know it's from '58?

These old Gibsons can sound very different from each other. Some models are practically clones of Fenders from the same period. Others are not. There is a thorough listing of Gibson amps here:

http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~dace/gg/index.html

Lots of pics, and specs for a lot of them. Maybe you can find the one you're looking at and post a pic here.

I love old Gibson amps. They sound great, and still fall under the radar, price-wise. That's changing tho. I have 3 at the moment, from early to late '50s. Many of the early 50's amps used a 6SJ7 preamp tube. Very warm and smooth. Later Gibson started using 12ax7 preamp tubes and different designs. Some of these amps were more tweed-like in sound. I have a '57 GA-8 Discoverer. It sounds very much like a tweed deluxe, and it cost me $250 (with a new cap job and tubes). 9 watts of sonic bliss. Killer blues amp.

Maybe the amp you're looking at is priced right, but I'd look around and make sure.

[kevlar3000]

Re: Played a nice amp the other day (Gibson...)

There are much better deals than that. I have 2 Atlas heads and a Mercury head as well, 2- 1963 and a 64 I believe. These particular models are not the best in their stock form. But you change a few caps and they are hot Texas, all the way. I love em. Search around, with some patience you can track them down.

[Ocifer]

Re: Played a nice amp the other day (Gibson...)

My mistake guys. I just thought that they would have much bigger vintage value to people. Anyway, where have you guys found them? Online at e-bay and the like? Or did you just scout out stores in your area? I don't really have a car, so I can't go too far out of my area, but there is a fair amount of stores I could go to.

Anyway, I'm confident it's legit. The store specializes in vintage gear, building, and repair. They have a great repair shop, nice stuff, and are very reputable.

http://www.12fret.com

Also, I think these guys would let you negotiate the price.