50's Gibsonette...

capnjuan

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Hi Michael ... amazing condition! The schematic for it is Here. Two 6V6s in parallel just like the later GA8s - like mine - but with a 6SJ7 for a preamp/driver tube. 8/9 watts, no tone control. Can't tell by looking whether it's an 8" or 10" speaker ... field coil model .. means that a chunky thing like an output transformer is bolted to the frame of the speaker and effectively does the same thing as an OT.

The 6SJ7s back then were commonly the kind seen looking like a black metal can with a flat top ... later versions in glass and then the tube dropped out of favor. They do exactly the same thing as a 12A_7 except the filament/heater wiring is a little different. They also use octal/8-pin sockets ... a 12A_7 is not a drop-in replacement. They are around as NOS and used; are not too expensive but you might have to go through several before you find one that hits the sweet spot.

Finally, this one has the volume control after the phase inverter and before the output tubes; except for modern Master Volume amps, the only design I know of that has the volume control in the same place is the highly-regarded GA40 Les Paul ... like Mad Dog's. The Gibson road forked after this model; one path led to my amp, the blonde / twin parallel 6V6 / 10" speaker Gibsonette and terminated in the very rare, parallel 6V6 / 12" speaker tweed Discoverer. The other path led to the GA5 Skylark like yours; single 6V6, and later twin 6AQ5s, and so on ... that is to say that the early GA5s like yours were the later, less-expensive version of this amp.

Another product of Seth Lover and Ted McCarty; it operates at lower voltage than a Champ and into a higher impedance load ... meaning that you won't get the Fender Champ 'wolf tones' that Lover/McCarty were trying to avoid. If it's anything like mine, it's chocolate thunder; dark, smokey, meaty, thickish crunchy brown-sound powerhouse .. smoother breakup, like your GA5 but louder .. more power and presence especially if it has a 10" speaker. Priced about right ... includes some premium for it's very fine condition. J
 

fungusyoung

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Thanks a lot, John. I knew you would appreciate seeing this one. I haven't come across many of these from that era at all, let alone even close to the condition this one appears to be in. I'd love snag it because that seems like a fair price, but...
 

capnjuan

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It would've been a major upgrade to your GA5 ... it's not a great price ... but it's a reasonable one. In fact the guy to whom I traded my GA8 emailed me pointing to it .. he knows how crazy he and I are about the parallel 6V6 design ... the Fenderistas dis it as simple marketing one-upsmanship on the Champ from back in the day ... they just don't get it. :wink: Best, J
 
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