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Gibson GRC-70, Stereo Gold Chorus 2x12


WonderCouncil

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Hey everyone, new member here. I introduced myself a bit in the other sub-forum. Anyways I've been looking for information on a particular Gibson amp. The Gold Chorus GRC-70.

 

I've posted on quite a few different forums asking these same questions and I've never gotten a single response. Not sure why it took me so long to seek out a Gibson forum lol.

 

This is an amp I came across a while back but have never seen one or even heard any thing about them. So has anyone here had any experience or know the back story to this series of amps? Gibson had at least two different models from the same line.

 

These are the only pictures I could find of the amp. I thought there were more out there a year or so ago when I was looking but looks like this is all that pops up on Google.

gibson-gold-chorus-408670.jpg

gibson-gold-chorus-408671.jpg

gibson-gold-chorus-408672.jpg

gibson-gold-chorus-408675.jpg

gibson-gold-chorus-408674.jpg

gibson-gold-chorus-408673.jpg

 

I'm assuming they were only made for like one or two years or something. It wasn't like an over seas product that wasn't meant for the U.S. market I don't think. That's the only thing I can think of as to why they are darn near impossible to find.

 

No idea if I'd even like the tone out of it I like the looks of it and the features it has. I'd like to at least be able to try one out eventually. I think ultimately I'm going to settle on the Dean Markley DMC40 or 80. My ultimate amp would be the Yamaha VR6000...I'd even settle for a VR4000 lol. Those were strictly an over seas amps that were never released in the U.S. I don't believe. Yet you still see them on eBay....but not Gold Chorus lol.

 

Basically just want to know all there is to about them, as info is very scarce.

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I think your best shot is to email Customer Service and see what they can offer.

 

Guitar Amps and Gibson have been ships passing in the night for some time now.

 

My only guess would be from the late 80s? or at least before the Trace Elliot acquisition in the mid 90s.

That's when the Goldtones surfaced, and those were all tube amps. this one certainly looks to be solid state.

 

 

There's so many amps to chose from these days, What is your draw to these particular amps? just curious...

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I think your best shot is to email Customer Service and see what they can offer.

 

Guitar Amps and Gibson have been ships passing in the night for some time now.

 

My only guess would be from the late 80s? or at least before the Trace Elliot acquisition in the mid 90s.

That's when the Goldtones surfaced, and those were all tube amps. this one certainly looks to be solid state.

 

 

There's so many amps to chose from these days, What is your draw to these particular amps? just curious...

 

First I just want to say thanks for the reply! This is honestly the first one I got from anyone. Had this posted on probably four other forums.

 

Anyways I believe these amps were from the late 80's early 90's. Of course from what little I've been able to find on them they were meant to compete with the JC-120. Seems like that is said about EVERY stereo amp lol.

 

I did email Gibson a few weeks ago but never heard back. Maybe I'll try again then. I kind of figured given the items age they may not have really anything on it. Worth a shot though for sure.

 

Given that it says "Made in the USA" I'm going to assume it was in fact meat for the U.S. market. I know like the Yamaha VR4000/VR6000 stereo amps were only ever sold over seas. And for a while I thought perhaps this was was the same, only marketed over seas since I've never seen one for sale any where. And I've been searching off and on for a couple years.

 

Honestly I'm not sure what my draw is, I'm sure it being rare though has a bit to do with it. Not that I'm a collector, I do love odd and/or hard to find gear. More or less I'm in the market for a stereo amp, with stereo ins/outs for the FX loop. I'd prefer to stay away from the Roland JC's. I've played then many times before, a few different models in fact. I'm not going to say they don't sound good but they don't have much character to their tone. Perhaps that was intended, as a kind of blank canvas but yea, I just want something different. I don't even know if I'll like the tone of this particular Gibson but never the less I'd love to know about them, if only for reference.

 

The Amps I have it narrowed down to are the aforementioned Yamaha VR4000 and VR6000, Dean Markley DMC40 and DMC80, and the Ampeg SS140C and VH140C. As well as the Gibson amp this thread is about [biggrin] . All of them (except the Gibson possibly) have features and tones I like for different reasons.

 

Anyhow that's the jist of it all! Thanks again for the input. I'll post back if Gibson offers any more information.

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Hi Again,

 

yea I'm thinking 80s too. Once the Trace Elliot acquisition happened, all the amps were tube amps, and at first made in UK, eventually Gibson moved the MFG to the States, but soon after, they stopped making the Goldtones. Too bad because they were very cool amps.

 

http://www.gibson.com/Files/Downloads/PDFs/goldTone/goldtoneCatalog.pdf

 

That's too bad that customer service hasn't replied yet. Maybe some one will show up here. There are a few guys that do come here and contribute.

 

I have a Gibson Goldtone GA30RVS (see link for the PDF above) That one is a Class A Stereo combo tube amp (I think I got it back in 2002??). (it's essentially two GA15RVs bolted on a single chassis with 2x12s.)

 

Of course, they are no longer made, but you might find one in the second hand market if it's of any interest. (be forewarned, this sucker is heavy - about 90lbs) They are probably hard to find at this point. Not sure..

 

 

sounds great tho, it's got that distinct class A tone (think VAX Ac30). It's quite simplistic, volume, (push/pull - gain on, gain off) a tone control (well it's a bit more than a tone control) a spring reverb (the reverb is actually quite cool - "surround sound" and it does work.) and a bright switch. 2 FX loops (Stereo) Series and Parallel, A dual footswitch for gain on/off and reverb, and a single foot switch to by pass the FX loops.

 

Not sure if you're looking for channel switching capabilities, which this amp does not have, but a good over drive pedal will work too. It will start to break up at about 10 o'clock, but it's very loud at that point, so unless you're looking to alienate all your neighbors, will need to front end it with something. [biggrin]

 

Good luck in the search!

 

/KB

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Well I wrote them another polite email last night, see if anything comes of it. Were you referring to actual Gibson employees when you said there are a few that contribute? That would be pretty stellar.

 

I've always loved the looks of the Goldtone amps. I can distinctly remember my guitar teacher, many years ago playing through a Trace Elliot Velocette. Really sharp looking amp with the green tolex. Was it Gibson who acquired Trace Eillot? Just curious. I don't know my Gibson history all that well.

 

I thought I had looked into the GA30RVS, but didn't think they had a stereo FX loops on them. Maybe you can answer this for me as I couldn't find a manual online. Looking at a picture of a GA30RVS I see it has stereo returns on it, is the FX send a mono or stereo jack?

 

I'm really looking for an amp that allows for complete separate sends and returns for the left and right side. I know like the Fender Princeton Chorus has single send/return jacks but you can use stereo splitter cables to get individual sends/returns.

 

The Gibson Gold Chorus, as you can see in the picture is set up the way I'd like it, two sends (L,R) and two returns(L,R). I never did understand why so many stereo amps have mono sends on them. I suppose because most effects have mono inputs? I typically use is though with different effects in the left and right channel. Any kind of effect I want to go to both sides usually gets run through the front end/main input jack.

 

That's one really cool thing about the Yamaha VR stereo amps, both the 4000 and 6000 are literately two 1x12 amps in a single 2x12 cabinet. You have separate or switchable inputs, individual tone controls for both sides as well as individual line outs, and FX loops. You can also do channel switching on it, essentially switching between the two amp.

 

Channel switching isn't really high on my list of "must haves" though. I generally play pretty clean. What dirt or fuzz I do use has always been in pedal form so yea.

 

For a while I was thinking of building sort of stereo set up as I have a nice Carvin 4x10 tweed cabinet. Thought about buying two small 15-20 watt tube amps and making them into a single head unit. Just don't have the cash right now to try something like that. [unsure]

 

Anyways like I said I'll post back if I find out anything. Maybe in the meantime someone else will chime in.

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Were you referring to actual Gibson employees when you said there are a few that contribute? That would be pretty stellar.

 

Yep, there are customer service guys who post here often. They may not have your answer, but they do contribute here.

 

Was it Gibson who acquired Trace Eillot? Just curious. I don't know my Gibson history all that well.

 

yep and the velocette was the amp the goldtones were based from

 

I thought I had looked into the GA30RVS, but didn't think they had a stereo FX loops on them. Maybe you can answer this for me as I couldn't find a manual online. Looking at a picture of a GA30RVS I see it has stereo returns on it, is the FX send a mono or stereo jack?

 

Take a look at this pdf file: http://www.prowessamplifiers.com/schematics/images/Goldtone_Manual.pdf

Here you can see the back panel of the amp where it shows the connections.

 

I'm really looking for an amp that allows for complete separate sends and returns for the left and right side. I know like the Fender Princeton Chorus has single send/return jacks but you can use stereo splitter cables to get individual sends/returns.

 

The GA30RVS does not offer this feature the send is just a standard 1/4 jack, the returns are left and right

 

That's one really cool thing about the Yamaha VR stereo amps, both the 4000 and 6000 are literately two 1x12 amps in a single 2x12 cabinet. You have separate or switchable inputs, individual tone controls for both sides as well as individual line outs, and FX loops. You can also do channel switching on it, essentially switching between the two amp.

 

Yea, I hear ya.. The GA30RVS is pretty much the same (two 1x12 amps on a single chasis - notable exception is the FX loop.

 

Channel switching isn't really high on my list of "must haves" though. I generally play pretty clean. What dirt or fuzz I do use has always been in pedal form so yea.

 

I run in stereo, (two amps) right now I've paired the GA30RVS with a Fender Hot Rod Deville (4x10). I go out my pedal board (from a stereo Line6 DL4 delay) into each amp. This gives the true stereo separation. (that I have now craved since I started this some years back.) But the fact is the DEvill's gain channel leaves A LOT to be desired. So I front end this confi with a Tone Bone and a Burn Unit, and that gives me three different "gain/crunch/over-the-top" tones.

 

I've also got a Marshall 2x12 combo with a 2x12 extension cab. Either combo, works pretty good for what I'm doing.

 

The reality with the Goldtone, and the stereo FX loop for me is with the speakers so closely situated, I really don't "hear" the stereo thing happening.

but, when I take two amps, and get them at least a few feet away from each other, it's down right heavenly. You're comment about a similar setup is probably the ultimate state of where you would like to go. once you do this, you will probably never want to go back to a single amp. My bass player complains heavily when I omit one amp too...

 

 

Let us know if you get anything to run with from CS..

 

and good luck finding your next amp.

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The reality with the Goldtone, and the stereo FX loop for me is with the speakers so closely situated, I really don't "hear" the stereo thing happening. but, when I take two amps, and get them at least a few feet away from each other, it's down right heavenly. You're comment about a similar setup is probably the ultimate state of where you would like to go. once you do this, you will probably never want to go back to a single amp. My bass player complains heavily when I omit one amp too...

 

 

Let us know if you get anything to run with from CS..

 

and good luck finding your next amp.

 

That's some good info there. I've only "fooled" around with a stereo set up once or twice when I used to run a lot of rack effects. Mostly just to goof around with the ping pong delay. But the majority of solo stuff I'm recording now is getting to the point that it relies on the whole stereo separation thing.

 

A bit of good news, I got an email back from Gibson concerning the amp.

 

Thank you for contacting Gibson. The Gibson Gold series amplifiers were available in 1993. I have attached some information on these amps. Thanks.

So I guess that answers when they became available...I'll have to write him back to find out when production stopped on them I guess. He also included this ad for the amp. It gives a little bit of info. They have to have more then just this though...

ClassicGold_zpsb430384c.jpg

I'm going to write them back and see what else I can get out of him.

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I will! I responded thanking him and inquiring about the length or the production run, as well as where they were marketed. It really seems NO ONE knows anything about them, which is really really strange to me. I can only assume they made them for a split moment before ceasing. Perhaps to focus on the Gold Tone series, and to get out of solid state?

 

I also asked if they had any kind of owners manual or schematic available. That would at least give me a very rough idea of what the amps may have been based on. It does look like the Classic Gold was a hybrid amp, with a tube preamp, and a "unique Vintage Midrange Filter" for a "precise mid dip". I'd be curious to see what the tone section looks like, on a schematic.

 

Same goes for the Gold Chorus which is advertised as having "the most flexible and intelligent effects routing". Not sure exactly what makes it better then say a Dean Markley DMC80/DMC40 when it comes to effects routing.

 

So that's where I'm at now. The hunt continues!

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  • 2 months later...

Gold Chorus 212

 

Finally found one for sale!!! No clue if it's a good price though since this is the only one I've ever seen for sale. Sadly it's on the other side of the country. ](*,)

 

I emailed the seller on the off chance they would be willing to ship it. Any members here that live close by to where the seller is? lol.

 

Damn these are hard to find amps! <_<

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  • 1 year later...

Hey there. I just came across your post and thought I'd chime in to give you some info on this amp if you haven't learned about it already. It's kind of an old post. I was feeling nostalgic and searching a lot of old rare amps I used to own and this is one of them. Let me tell you the lowdown on it. It was made in 1993. Made only for a year. They were very limited so they were hard to find. They were also pretty darn expensive for back then. I believe they were made by Dean Markley. This amp is extremely solid. Pretty much bullet proof. It was made to be like a Roland JC-120. A bullet proof clean amp with great chorus. Unlike a JC-120, it has an overdrive channel. The overdrive is not high gain. Even with hum buckers it will not put out high gain, but sounds kind of cool and growly. The clean is very warm. If you play jazz or like to play clean with chorus, this amp is for you and extremely loud. I would like to have another one if anyone wants to get rid of one.

 

Willie

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  • 1 year later...

I bought a brand new Gibson Classic Gold amp (85 watt, single 12") back around 1989 or 1990. I only had it for about a month. I did not like it for what I did at the time, because I had always owned Fender, Gibson, Musicman and Mesa tube amps prior to that. I thought the amps looked super cool (great Gibson styling) and I wanted to try the new hybrid approach. As you might know, both Musicman and Peavey had made hybrid amps that used tube-powered amplifiers and solid state pre-amplifiers. That was a pretty successful combination. The concept here (and Gibson was not the only one doing this) was just the opposite: tubes for the pre-amp and power from transistors. It's a good concept, since it seems that tone comes from the pre-amp and power from the amp, but......it does not work exactly that way. As beautiful as the amp was, I sold it to a friend (who played in a country band and used a lot of pedals) and he liked it. However, I wouldn't mind having one now, because I actually could put it to use now.

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  • 1 year later...

I have the 1x12 75watt model of this amp and I can tell you it has an amazing dirty tone. The 12ax7 preamp is awesome. I called Gibson about some service documentation or any documentation at all. I gave them serial number and model number and the guy said your going to have to give me a minute. Well I was on hold for about 15 minutes and he comes back to tell me that the plant in California that made them went under and shredded all their files including all copies of owners manuals and service bulletin. I've only ever seen mine in person and found 2 online sales for my particular model over the 8 or so years I had mine. I check periodically cor manuals online and have yet to find even anything even closeso if anyone has an owners manual I could use a copy. Well that's my experience on the subject of "The Gold"

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  • 1 year later...

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