New Life for an Old Amp

ChasFred

ChasFred

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Well I have this old Gibson GA-15RVT. I have had it for a REALLY long time. Even did the mods that removes the "Tone Suck Circuit"
After watch a video that explains the theory behind why the "Tone Suck Circuit" was part of the design, I re-installed it on my amp.
Yes I did keep the parts when I removed them.

Now I will say this, before most of the time I played this amp it was with my Melody Maker or my Tele.
These early Gibson amps were designed especially for humbucker pickups.

After putting the parts back in and playing my SG and Epi 335 through it I have to say. It sounds pretty good.
Not stellar but it is good. It has a Weber 10" AlNico speaker inside. Would it slay a Princeton? Not sure.

But it is now getting a lot more love.Gibson Amp 1.jpgGibson Amp 3.jpg
 
ChasFred said:
Well I have this old Gibson GA-15RVT. I have had it for a REALLY long time. Even did the mods that removes the "Tone Suck Circuit"
After watch a video that explains the theory behind why the "Tone Suck Circuit" was part of the design, I re-installed it on my amp.
Yes I did keep the parts when I removed them.

Now I will say this, before most of the time I played this amp it was with my Melody Maker or my Tele.
These early Gibson amps were designed especially for humbucker pickups.

After putting the parts back in and playing my SG and Epi 335 through it I have to say. It sounds pretty good.
Not stellar but it is good. It has a Weber 10" AlNico speaker inside. Would it slay a Princeton? Not sure.

But it is now getting a lot more love.View attachment 34673View attachment 34675
Click to expand...

I got a nice Eminence 12"....if you feel like perhaps a slightly darker, fuller speaker might be in order????

Emminence Speaker 1.jpgEmminence Speaker 2.jpg
 

Attachments

@ChasFred - I mean nothing by it but every time I see your posts it reminds me of the Beatles "Fixing a Hole",
from the treatment for those spots on your head.
How is that healing / coming along? - hope all is well.

Awesome on the Gibson!! Glad that is getting some lovin'.
Have you considered the age and condition of the electrolytic caps?


The Princeton is a really nice blues amp......

:io:
:hide:

;)


I have been playing my 6G2 Brown Princeton almost completely cranked and then pushed with a TS as boost only.
PAFish HB guitars and P90s.
Sounds of the '70's.
Digging it.
Can roll it back at guitar volume for a bit less crunchy but punchy more Malcolm Young territory too.

A couple of Thin Lizzy and Aerosmith tunes I have been stumbling through sound great.
NOt exactly their tones, but period correct. Tone sounds good; my playing not so much.
 
jtcnj said:
@ChasFred - I mean nothing by it but every time I see your posts it reminds me of the Beatles "Fixing a Hole",
from the treatment for those spots on your head.
How is that healing / coming along? - hope all is well.

Awesome on the Gibson!! Glad that is getting some lovin'.
Have you considered the age and condition of the electrolytic caps?


The Princeton is a really nice blues amp......

:io:
:hide:

;)


I have been playing my 6G2 Brown Princeton almost completely cranked and then pushed with a TS as boost only.
PAFish HB guitars and P90s.
Sounds of the '70's.
Digging it.
Can roll it back at guitar volume for a bit less crunchy but punchy more Malcolm Young territory too.

A couple of Thin Lizzy and Aerosmith tunes I have been stumbling through sound great.
NOt exactly their tones, but period correct. Tone sounds good; my playing not so much.
Click to expand...

The "holes in my head" are healing. In fact I go see the surgeon this afternoon to get the stitches removed. I do appreciate your concern.
When I change the power cord I will swap the electrolytic caps also. Your right they do need to be addressed. This is an early to mid 60's amp.
 
gball said:
Seems like a very cool amp. Bet it sounds great.

I been thinking lately (quite out of character for me) that I should get something like a Princeton. Bet this would fit the bill for something like that.
Click to expand...

This model was Gibson's answer to the Princeton. Princeton Reverbs go for CRAZY money now.
You could score an amp like mine for half the price. I am not sure if I would get one online though.
I would look around locally first. I had mine up to 6 on volume yesterday and it was sounding great.
Would not call it a gigging amp, but is definitely a great at home amp.
 
ChasFred said:
This model was Gibson's answer to the Princeton. Princeton Reverbs go for CRAZY money now.
You could score an amp like mine for half the price. I am not sure if I would get one online though.
I would look around locally first. I had mine up to 6 on volume yesterday and it was sounding great.
Would not call it a gigging amp, but is definitely a great at home amp.
Click to expand...

TBH, I'm not into old amps. Don't get me wrong, they sound great, but seem to always be fussy and need some sort of maintenance, at least in my experience with the ones I've owned. I don't have time for any of that, so I am thinking of one of the reissues. I really liked the '68 Silverface reissue the couple times I played around with one, so likely leaning that direction.
 
gball said:
TBH, I'm not into old amps. Don't get me wrong, they sound great, but seem to always be fussy and need some sort of maintenance, at least in my experience with the ones I've owned. I don't have time for any of that, so I am thinking of one of the reissues. I really liked the '68 Silverface reissue the couple times I played around with one, so likely leaning that direction.
Click to expand...

I understand your position completely. I am retired so I have the time to tinker around with this stuff.
Plus I like using my tools and the smell of melted solder.
 
ChasFred said:
I understand your position completely. I am retired so I have the time to tinker around with this stuff.
Plus I like using my tools and the smell of melted solder.
Click to expand...

Oh, man, I wish I had "tinker time" but alas, my playing time is so limited these days that I don't do any modding/tinkering/fussing any more. Those are all things that take away from the precious playing time. But if I did have the time, I would have a couple old amps to be sure. Speaking of Fenders, one of the coolest I ever owned was a '73 Pro Reverb pre master volume, the 40-watt version of a Twin. My goodness, when it was dialed it was the best-sounding Fender amp I've ever run across, but it had two flaws: 1. Even at "just" 40 watts the damn thing was loud enough at its sweet spot to decapitate you from 50 feet away and, 2. It was finicky and It's sound would change radically with the weather - I lived in MD at the time and the amp tech told me it was because the turret boards would absorb moisture when it was humid and dissipate when dry, which changed the capacitance of, well, the entire freaking amp.
 
So now here is what is playing in my head. The Gibson amp sounds like :poo: with plain single coils, but sounds great with split humbuckers.
@DHart has me thinking about some FilterTron style pickups in my Epi 335.
What the Epi has now is ok but not as good as my Classic 57's in the SG.

I have a set of 498's but I am not sure they would suit the 335 that well.

Maybe I just think too much. I better just go practice some and stop tinkering.
 
Last edited:
ChasFred said:
So now here is what is playing in my head. The Gibson amp sounds like :poo: with plain single coils, but sounds great with split humbuckers.
@DHart has me thinking about some FilterTron style pickups in my Epi 335.
What the Epi has now is ok but not as good as my Classic 57's in the SG.

I have a set of 498's but I am not sure they would suit the 335 that well.

Maybe I just think too much. I better just go practice some and stop tinkering.
Click to expand...
Can you tell if the Gibson amp has a fixed bright cap somewhere between the input jack and the loudness control? If it does, you can put the cap on a simple switch and maybe that's all it would take to fatten-up the single coils thru the amp... :fingersx:
 
ChasFred said:
So now here is what is playing in my head. The Gibson amp sounds like :poo: with plain single coils, but sounds great with split humbuckers.
@DHart has me thinking about some FilterTron style pickups in my Epi 335.
What the Epi has now is ok but not as good as my Classic 57's in the SG.

I have a set of 498's but I am not sure they would suit the 335 that well.

Maybe I just think too much. I better just go practice some and stop tinkering.
Click to expand...
Last sentence = me too!!
 
syscokid said:
Can you tell if the Gibson amp has a fixed bright cap somewhere between the input jack and the loudness control? If it does, you can put the cap on a simple switch and maybe that's all it would take to fatten-up the single coils thru the amp... :fingersx:
Click to expand...

What your calling a bright cap is what most people refer to as the "tone suck circuit" of the old Gibson amps.
The Gibson tone stack is unlike any other amps.
Seth Lover actually help design some of the Gibson amps before going to Fender. So he tailored the tone stack for humbuckers.
 
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