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WillyG

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  1. I see that you have a Telecaster. I found a gorgeous one (also in a junk store, but that's another story) and that guitar sounds fantastic with the Falcon amp.
  2. I have been playing it for a few months now and it really has a great sound, like a Princeton, but better.
  3. We did some more polishing of the turd, minor surgery and new tubes. I believe this is the offending bit Dkevin pointed out. The amp now sounds terrific, thanks for all your help.
  4. I like thrift stores and pawn shops. 99% of the time, there isn't anything of interest but if I keep checking them, eventually something cool turns up. This is why I call my music room "the island of misfit toys".
  5. So the update is that I gave this amp to my friend, who is an electrical engineer and geek for old guitar amps, a few days ago. He called and said "I've polished your turd!" All he did was change out a few leaky caps, fried resistors, put in a three pronged chord, and replace a few dried wires. The reverb hum is gone and "The Turd" now has much better low end response and overall tone. I'm going to order some new tubes and we may make some incremental changes including replacing the Sprague P.O.S. Tone taffy mess but it is GREATLY improved and I think it may be a sleeper cool amplifier, the reverb and tremelo are badass. Thanks for your collective advice!
  6. Thanks all for your advice. I played the amp some more, and the observation about the sound being thin probably comes from the high end response of the amp. If I twist the tone knob all the way to the right, dogs start howling. I think it's pretty loud. I've got a Blackstar HT 60 soloist (insanely loud) and the Gibson is less so, but it's not out of the ballpark. The reverb hum is not a big deal and I'm going to play it and research techs! Dkevin, the model number is GA 19 RVT if that tells you anything more. There is a serial number stamped into the chassis but I haven't found a resource for that yet.
  7. There are legions of amp techs around here but I have never seen one of these and as they only made around 200, I doubt anyone else has either. I can't imagine it sounding much better, other than the reverb hum. I'm more concerned about accidentally seeing my skeleton, or it bursting into flames. Maybe it's worth a call to Gibson USA to locate the right tech.
  8. I write to ask your collective wisdom about this rusty, dusty Gibson Falcon Amp that I literally tripped over in a thrift store near my house in New York. I've never owned one or even played one. I pulled it out, plugged it in (old brown two prong power cord). Red light. Plugged in a Squire from the corner and it operates, and I strike a deal with the guy. From what I can dig up, it was made in 1961, and they only shipped 204 of them. It's rated at 14 watts, and the speaker is a 12" Jensen that appears to be original. It's got the foot pedal, which works. I just vacuumed it inside and out, and plugged my Les Paul into it and ran it through the various settings. This amp is blisteringly loud and clear and turned up, it will peel paint off the wall. The tremolo is super cool and works great, the reverb has a bit of a hum that's not noticeable when the amp is turned up loud, but is at low volume (it stays the same). I don't know anything about fixing amps, tubes, etc. so I can't guess if what's in there is original, but it all looks old to me. My question is this, what do I do with this thing? I'm inclined to just play it, and try to leave it all as is, but I am concerned about the power cord. What do you all do, replace it with a grounded one? I'd love lose the hum on the reverb but I don't want to get into major surgery if it basically works anyway, and I am not sure I'd know who to bring something like this to. What do you guys/girls think? Thanks! Bill
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