Gibson Saturn GA45

capnjuan

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Hi Mark; that's quite an amp! GA45 RVT Schematic Here 50 watts of bruising Gibson 6L6 power and, because the Gummint stopped the commerical use of cobalt in the mid-60s, unusual to find alnico speakers with such late dates. Cosmetically, this is a 'white face' or 'dog house' model referring to the control panel and the knocked-off ears of the cabinet. Two channels with twin inputs; trem and reverb on channel 2. Didn't quite understand seller's remarks about the reverb transformer. This is a robust, gigging amp and not a museum piece; it can take a Fender or equivalent transformer and keep on ticking.

This amp relies on the much-misunderstood 6EU7 in the preamp. While there's a lot of 'cork-sniffing' associated with 12AX7s, with one exception and with different pinouts, the 6EU7 - like a 12AX7 - is just another twin triode but without the panache. Apart from pinouts, the filament or heater wiring is different from the 12AX7s which are wired 'humbucker' - built in propensity for noise cancelling like a humbucker pickup - while the 6EU7 isn't and gets hung with the 'noisy' tag. Gibson used the 6EU7 in a number of it's designs; GA5 Skylark ('Crest'), GA19RVT, GA30, and others. They are readily available NOS/NIB at about $20/ea although they will start to crawl up in price. People - like me for instance - are hesitant to re-wire 6EU7 sockets to accept the easily-located, less-costly, and better-regarded 12AX7.

Lacks some of the goodies like line out, effects loop, master volume, and channel switching by footswitch found on amps in the later 60s but no reason to doubt seller's characterization of tone; clean and loud is what 6L6s do. CJ
 

capnjuan

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Big brother to the GA45 linked above; the GA55 with 4 X 10" speakers eBay Auction Link 2X6L6 and a half a dozen 6EU7s in the preamp. The amp is in VGC; shipping listed at $100 - will take every bit of that; probably weighs 75-80 pounds.

gibsong55.jpg
 

capnjuan

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Hi Walter; me too. For built-in trem and reverb, Gibson's effects were as good as anyone's. This amp probably has a big, clean, reliable signal for anybody who's going to use multple pedals anyway; they typically sell for half of what a BF/SF Fender Super Reverb costs. This one is in exceptional condition. CJ
 

Walter Broes

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I haven't played many, but I've loved the reverb and trem on every Gibson amp I've played. Where the output transformers in this era Gibson amp more or less "Fender size"?
 

capnjuan

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Hi Walter; I really don't know. All of the 'lesser' Gibbies; GA5 through the GA20T in the 'tweed' era have smallish OTs; smaller than their Fender counterparts but none of these Gibbies have 6L6s which I think would drive OT size. CJ
 

Brown-Recluse

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My first amp was a Saturn that I got it new in the mid 60's. I still have it, however, I haven't played it in a very long time. It is a very clean sounding amp and very heavy. The same store had a very clean narrow panel tweed Deluxe at the same time. I often wonder how my life would have been different had I bought the Fender.
 

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Last time I saw BB, his other guitarist was playing through a 4 speaker Gibson and BB had the Lab 5. The band warmed up the crowd with some sweet instrumental jazz and BB finished the night with with a smoking jam. Best birthday present I've had in a long time!
 
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