Ebay Gibson GA-19RVT

capnjuan

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You're very welcome Dan; as I said before, I tried to get my GA19RVT to sound as good as your GA18 ... it never happened ... and I thought the trem was crazy good. For those of you who haven't seen it, say Hi to Dan's just-about-mint '60-'61 Gibson GA18; new beefy-boy power supply, Weber 10A125/P10Q, and nine-ply birch speaker baffleboard; electronically better than show-room condition - good to go for another life-time of Gibson golden tone.


DanKarlspicd.jpg
 

georgerarnold

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Thanks to the magic of eBay, the same tweed Gibson GA19RVT recently came and went and then came and went again on eBay; a tale of flippity dippity the amp sold here for $1,050 and it sold again here for $1,200.. The selling power of a good rug should never be underestimated. Gibson made three tweed reverb combos; this one, the GA30RV, and the GA77RV. The GA19RVT with reverb and tremolo uses 3 6EU7s, one 7199, and twin 6V6s with a 5Y3 rectifier. All were fitted with Jensen C12R speakers mostly for clearance ... a belled P12R wouldn't fit in the stock cabinet. In any event, it's one way to make $150 ... and justify keeping a good rug around.


For $1,050 ... (feet cropped out) ... average condition:

footfront.jpg



Original knobs and stains ... mold in the patterned cotton backing of the vinyl tolex interacting with the water-based glue. Without the stains, it would have sold for several hundred dollars more:

footback.jpg



Except for the cathode bypass caps and new power supply cap, all original electronics including the 'chocolate drop' caps that tend to mud up the tone:

footchassis.jpg



... this time for $1,200 ... nothing like a nice rug ..

front.jpg



If you're bored, you can compare the stains on the back in the pic above to the stains on the back in the pic below ... okay ... a different angle but big stain wad in the middle and above and below the vent on the visual left ... it's the same amp.

back.jpg



... and, when he flipped it, he shot the chassis from a different angle:

chassis.jpg



Below is a comparison between the GA19s reverb circuit (upper) and the Princeton Reverb (aa1164) circuit, also a twin 6V6 design with tremolo; Leo's acknowledgment that money could be made in small reverb combo amps; both using two tube sections to ramp the to-be-verbed signal up and another section to send the 'verbed signal back to the line.

comparereverb.jpg



Pretty good YouTube audio sampler of the tweed GA19 here. Not sure but I believe the sample model still has its ceramic Jensen in it.


My GA19 from a couple of years ago; fresh grillcloth but with after-market plastic badge:

jhfront.jpg



The chassis was in very good condition (including original Gibson-logo'ed tube set but cabinet nasty. Found another on eBay and then a back-panel but from the other shade of tolex used by Gibson:

GA19back026in.jpg



The chocolate drops are really bad; not going to argue with Fenderistas about the tone of blue- or brown-molded signal caps or the virtues of authenticity; in the tweed Gibsons, it better be mint to justify hanging onto them; anyway ... from my Orange Drop period and fresh mylars for the trem circuit. Except for Bluesdan's GA18, the best trem on the planet. Beefy boy blue Sprague Atom power supply filter caps slung between two wiring strips. Also fitted with a Weber 12A125/Jensen P12Q by cutting the lower speaker baffle batten, replacing the baffle, and dropping the speaker to the point where the lip was just above the bottom of the cabinet to generate the physical clearance between the pre- and power-amp tubes.

GA19chassis.jpg



The eBay amp sold (and resold) for about the going rate; the vgc models typically closer to $1,500 or so. They don't sound like Fenders but then again, they don't sound like Fenders ... smaller output transformers and different phase inverter design mostly but the better-grade Gibson amps are generally hanging on to their value.

Hi,

May I ask, Did you have to modify the amp or the baffle in order to fit the weber speaker in there?
There's no way I could fit one in my amp.
There's hardly any space.

Thank you.
 

Default

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Ugh, ancient thread. capnjuan has passed on. He's been gone for about ten years.
Sorry, I have no answers for you.😔
 

davismanLV

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Wow, that is an oldie! Haven't seen John's name pop up in years here. Still miss him, though. My "Use the good china. Life itself is the special occasion." was found the day he passed and I put it up here that day. Kinda like a tribute.....
 

georgerarnold

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He says above that he did replace the baffle. (I always enjoyed talking to John.)

On a related note I installed a ceramic blue Weber in a brown GA19 with no issues.
That's interesting.
I'm starting to think there may be some natural variations in the on these amps.
Do you have a picture of the weber in the GA19? I would love to see it and see how much space there is.
Thanks for replying.
 

teleharmonium

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And here it is with the first coats of lacquer. Crack is nearly invisible now.

A4D28976-790B-4D23-88FF-788DAD9B8EBE.jpeg

That's interesting.
I'm starting to think there may be some natural variations in the on these amps.
Do you have a picture of the weber in the GA19? I would love to see it and see how much space there is.
Thanks for replying.
I don't, I sold it to a friend around 2003. Then he died and his brother inherited, now I think it lives in Singapore.
It did sound great with that speaker.
 

georgerarnold

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I don't, I sold it to a friend around 2003. Then he died and his brother inherited, now I think it lives in Singapore.
It did sound great with that speaker.
When you say brown ga19 do you mean the crestline version? Not the tweed version?
If this is the speaker you mean, I can't imagine it fitting in my amp
 

teleharmonium

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georgerarnold - yes it was the Crestline version and the same model of speaker.
I know what you mean about the speaker fit issues. I have a Magnatone which would sound great with a P12N, but it ain't gonna happen. I also just hooked a friend up with a cast frame Goodmans for a 50s Gibson GA40 (two tone) but again, no go.
 

georgerarnold

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georgerarnold - yes it was the Crestline version and the same model of speaker.
I know what you mean about the speaker fit issues. I have a Magnatone which would sound great with a P12N, but it ain't gonna happen. I also just hooked a friend up with a cast frame Goodmans for a 50s Gibson GA40 (two tone) but again, no go.
Thank you for your answers.
I really like John's idea about moving the baffle and carving out a bit of the baton, the thought of being able to experiment with speakers inthis amp is very appealing indeed but I must admit such drastic surgery of my favourite amp does make me nervous!
 

teleharmonium

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Thank you for your answers.
I really like John's idea about moving the baffle and carving out a bit of the baton, the thought of being able to experiment with speakers inthis amp is very appealing indeed but I must admit such drastic surgery of my favourite amp does make me nervous!
Is the baffle glued in ?
 
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