Gibson GA-18T Explorer

[foo_3001]

Hello all,

 

recently bought a GA-18T Explorer - the crestline version. I think it dates to ´62 or ´63, as they´re the only years I´ve found that they´ve been made.

 

It´s a strange amp, I think it differs quite a lot from the "standard" tweed Explorer, which has 6V6 power section - this one has 2 x EL84 for power. The sound is AC15 - like, with a touch of tweed mixed in. Haven´t had the chance to turn it up loud yet, but the sound get promisingly fat at 4-5 on the dial..

 

Does anyone over here have any more info on this kind of an amp? It´s almost impossible to find anything on google.. I really would apprecciate a schematic if someone should have one.. As the amp is flawless now, I´m quite sure I´ll have to fix it a some point and a schematic will come handy then..

[rl1968]

Here is a link with a schematic for a GA-18T amp. You are right, I checked several of my sources for Gibson amp info and this is the only thing that I found that might be helpful to you. I am currently in the process of restoring a 1964 Mercury I amp head.

 

http://www.el34world.com/charts/Schematics/gibson/GA-18T.pdf

[BobB]

A couple great resources for old Gibson schematics for tube amp would be www.schematicheaven.com or

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Support/TechSupport/ where Gibson has a link to schematics

[foo_3001]

Thank You for the help, found good-quality schematics!

 

Been playing the amp for a few weeks now, gotta say it´s really different from what I thought it was gonna be - but it´s just fantastic at what it does. I was expecting a low-headroom, tweed-y amp, but instead I got a high-headroom, vox-y type, sparkling beautiful amp that reproduces my guitars better than any other amp I have.

 

So, this amp is a weird one, the exterior is built like crap compared to Fenders of the same era, don´t even want to look inside how it´s done over there - but it sounds unique and beautiful. Like it a lot. Plus, they´re dirt cheap. Get one.