1960 Gibson GA-20-RVT MINUTEMAN

Jazzman301 · #1 11-29-2011, 10:00 AM

A friend of mine hipped me to one of these for reasonably cheap money on a somewhat local CL ad. Anyone know of their suitability for clean jazz tones? All I really know is they have EL84s and a 12" speaker...I have been told this was Gibsons answer to the Princeton Reverb...

'Mike

jmstritt · #2 11-29-2011, 11:22 AM

Those old Gibson amps are the sleepers of the vintage amp market. You can still pick those up on the cheap and they are great clean amps.

oldane · #3 11-29-2011, 11:37 AM

I don't know that particular amp, but I have a 1961 Gibson 79RV Stereo collecting dust in the basement. I bought it very cheaply in 1973 when I couldn't at all afford the Fender amp I really wanted. Those Gibson Stereo amps were designed to be used with the "stereo" guitars of the time like the ES355, which could sound one pickup in one channel and the other in the other channel. I don't think the idea ever caught on and just around 900 of these amps were made. For me, it's a museum piece. Despite the grail status among some nerds, to my ears, it frankly sounds awful. Part of the reason for that is the two speakers which, in order to bring out the stereo effect, are offset at a 90 degrees angle to each other which tends to dissipate the sound in the room in an unfocused manner. But even when I choose to play with only one channel and only one speaker, the sound is very underwelming.

I think there was a reason why Fender sold many more amps than Gibson.

Franz 1997 · #4 11-29-2011, 11:48 AM

[QUOTE
I think there was a reason why Fender sold many more amps than Gibson.[/quote]
I agree, and I think part of that reason was the fender amp's tone controls and mid-dipped response curve, which gibson ( and ampeg) amps didn't have, and which made most guitars sound good for clean sounds, and still does. That, the serviceability, the cosmetics, and the build quality.

I don't know the particular amp model in question here, but I wouldn't expect it to sound like a princeton or deluxe....

Little Jay · #5 11-29-2011, 12:44 PM

Didn't know this amp, so I quickly googled it.
Check this out: GA20-RVT c. 1966

jmstritt · #6 11-29-2011, 01:12 PM

It really depends what are your intentions with the amp. If you are just looking for a nice amp to play around the house or a new piece for a collection I would jump on it. To me anyways, it definitely has some "vibe."

However I tend to stay away from vintage amps in general for frequent gigging. The reason is simple... things wear out! You may go buy this amp and then discover that you need a new set of power tubes, the speaker needs to be reconed, and the transformers are rusted over. Well if you fix those issues you will have to double your investment in that amp!

If you just want a reasonably affordable good sounding jazz amp for gigging, you can pick up a Roland Cube 60, or an Ibanez Wholetone for cheap and be well satisfied. Of course you won't have the, "Wow!" factor of a cool vintage amp, if that matters to you. ;-)

Jazzman301 · #7 11-29-2011, 03:00 PM

I already have a Roland Cube 80XL that is pretty nice. I would even call it a poor mans Polytone. Despite how much I like it I am trying to get a warmer tube like sound for playing around the house. I can get a PRRI or a DRRI without issue BUT I want tone not just a name. I feel like it may be worth my time and money to look around and find something that might not be Fender that will still give me a nice warm tube sound. My ideal sounds are a es like tone and a Ted Greene kind of tone.
I feel like its possible to find this tone looking outside of Fender for tube amps.

'Mike