Les Moore Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 (edited) I've heard the Skylark (the silver face combo), and it was nice sounding...5 watts, all tubes, real simple controls, breaks up easily and nicely, I think Gibson had country music in mind when they did them and were made primarily for slide guitars; has a volume, bass and treble and some tremolo knobs, that's it. I don't know what they call that other beast, the head/cabinet pic, but it is good looking, don't know how it sounds, but how bad could it be? Would love to hear it. Probably more on the rare side to find one...they own the guitar market but Gibson never really broke through on the amp side of things. That Les Paul combo looks tasty too... Edited November 27, 2021 by Les Moore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 I played thru a Gibson G-20 back in the day. Early-mid 1970's, at a friend's house. It sounded nice, but my experience level was too low to be of much objective value to me today, 45+ years later. 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Nope! Never even seen one. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Still have my Skylark and Melody Maker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 I've worked on lots of them. Skylarks, Falcons, others. One of the nicest sounding 'modern' ones was the GA-40RVT. The GA-30RVT is nice too. I have a '52 BR-6 that needs major work and a '66 Kalamazoo Model 1 that's killer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Yes. rct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 No Brad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Les Moore said: II don't know what they call that other beast, the head/cabinet pic, but it is good looking, don't know how it sounds, but how bad could it be? Would love to hear it. I believe it is called a Goldtone and is basically a rebadged high-gain Trace-Elliott. I think @kidblast may have one in combo version. Gibson also bought Mesa-Boogie in January of this year. The founder Randall Smith is continuing to work there. Edited November 27, 2021 by jdgm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar God Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Don't think I ever have. Always been curious about trying one out, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutha Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 No but I would like to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 16 hours ago, Pinch said: Nope! Never even seen one. Same here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Moore Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 16 hours ago, jdgm said: I believe it is called a Goldtone and is basically a rebadged high-gain Trace-Elliott. I think @kidblast may have one in combo version. Gibson also bought Mesa-Boogie in January of this year. The founder Randall Smith is continuing to work there. Thanks for the info. So I heard, making a play for the amp market. Mesa's are great amps, but not ones I gravitate to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Moore Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 19 hours ago, badbluesplayer said: I've worked on lots of them. Skylarks, Falcons, others. One of the nicest sounding 'modern' ones was the GA-40RVT. The GA-30RVT is nice too. I have a '52 BR-6 that needs major work and a '66 Kalamazoo Model 1 that's killer. Sweet. I did really like the Skylark. At 5 watts of tube, it breaks up very nicely. I'd love to check out those others, they're just not around much to test and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Moore Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 Reverb has a lot of Gibson amps for sale, first time I checked actually, this thread got me curious...they're out there: https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=Gibson amps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 I had a 2002 Goldtone GA30RVS 2x12 combo Great amp, loud, clean raw punchy sounding, but it was as very heavy.. about 90lbs. so not really a good gigging combo unless you were the Hulk. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Back when I was first learning to play, my stepsister got a friend of hers to let me borrow her Fender tele( which I didn't at the time know what it was) and the Gibson amp she played it through. How good was it? well.. VERY good, as far as a novice 13 year old's critique is worth. I mean, at that time, ANY electric guitar and amp would have sounded great! Whitefang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Moore Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 There's some on that Reverb link I posted that date back to the 40's, and there's a few on there from the very early 50s and under $1000, now if that had a Fender name on them they'd be going for 1000s...those really early ones fascinate me...I would love to hear them. Put some modern pedals in front of them too...they're so simple. And they're all pretty much made in the Kalamazoo factory...I'm kind of amazed at some of the asking prices, that's some rich history Gibson behind them...tempting just because they're really not asking for much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 41 minutes ago, Les Moore said: There's some on that Reverb link I posted that date back to the 40's, and there's a few on there from the very early 50s and under $1000, now if that had a Fender name on them they'd be going for 1000s...those really early ones fascinate me...I would love to hear them. Put some modern pedals in front of them too...they're so simple. And they're all pretty much made in the Kalamazoo factory...I'm kind of amazed at some of the asking prices, that's some rich history Gibson behind them...tempting just because they're really not asking for much... I had an EH-150, $25 at a yard sale, late 90's. It worked, two prong lamp cord and all. Cleaned it up and it was in superb shape, used it once in a while at home as a little novelty thing, gave it to an amp repair friend who refurbished it and still uses it. Like all of the "classic" circuits of them old amps, it was pretty meh, for me. I don't use amps that way so it was just ok and I was glad to hand it off to someone that really dug it. rct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted November 28, 2021 Share Posted November 28, 2021 Here's a couple pix of my BR-6 from before I took the covering off. It was peach vinyl stuff, held on by upholstery tacks. It's been sitting in a dishpan waiting to get worked on for eighteen months. Mojotone makes a brown vinyl tolex that's pretty accurate repro of the original stuff. I paid $300 in trade with a shop for the thing. As long as the power transformer works, I'll be happy. 🤞 It'll need new electrolytic caps and whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Moore Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 1 hour ago, badbluesplayer said: Here's a couple pix of my BR-6 from before I took the covering off. It was peach vinyl stuff, held on by upholstery tacks. It's been sitting in a dishpan waiting to get worked on for eighteen months. Mojotone makes a brown vinyl tolex that's pretty accurate repro of the original stuff. I paid $300 in trade with a shop for the thing. As long as the power transformer works, I'll be happy. 🤞 It'll need new electrolytic caps and whatever. Really cool. Thanks for that. What did you have in mind for the finish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Talk about basic - one volume knob and that's it? So do you set the bias with a feeler gauge? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 (edited) On 11/28/2021 at 10:36 AM, kidblast said: I had a 2002 Goldtone GA30RVS 2x12 combo Great amp, loud, clean raw punchy sounding, but it was as very heavy.. about 90lbs. so not really a good gigging combo unless you were the Hulk. yea, I thought my 4x10 DeVille was heavy until I tried to lift a Goldtone at my buddy's store . I thought the damn thing was bolted to the floor ... Edited November 29, 2021 by Karloff grammar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 (edited) OK I was wrong in my earlier post (it was a long time ago). I bought a "Super Medalist" in about 1969. It had two 12 inch Jensen speakers, reverb and tremolo. As mentioned in my earlier incorrect post it sounded pretty good at low volume practicing alone, but when I played with the band and cranked it up it broke up pretty severely. I wasn't into that overdriven/distorted sound at that time and needed more headroom so traded it toward a Fender Bandmaster. Here is the Gibson amp I had for about 1 semester at college in 1969 1968 Gibson Super Medalist Vintage 2x12 Tube Amplifier Reverb & Tremolo, Jensen C12N Speakers | Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar | Reverb It was pretty compact, not much bigger than two 12 inch speakers stacked on top of each other. The pre-amp section was up top under the control knobs, but the power section was at the bottom of the amp. Notice how all the knobs go up to 12!! It was heavy, but not as heavy as say a Twin Reverb. Don't recall what I paid for it (bought it new), but when I traded it toward a Bandmaster I know I had to add more money to the deal. Edited November 29, 2021 by Twang Gang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 On 11/27/2021 at 11:50 AM, Pinch said: Nope! Never even seen one. I haven't either, nor heard of one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 On 11/29/2021 at 4:58 AM, SteveFord said: Talk about basic - one volume knob and that's it? So do you set the bias with a feeler gauge? You whack the side of the amp until it sounds about right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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