Garnet Session Man Combo

A mid 70's version of this amp. Has 2 channels, eq for both, reverb, trem and both are foot switchable, and master volume with 2 12" speakers. I only wish it had an efx loop. I have read that it ranges from 50-75w, all I know is it is loud.

I have a Fender Strat with vintage noiseless pickups, a parts firebird with Dimarzio pickup and a Washburn/Kramer parts guitar with Dimarzio pickups in it. I play lots of different music from jazzy stuff, to blues, classic rock to 80's metal to today's rock.

When using the Strat I get some great SRV style tones out of it. When the volume is cranked and the master is turned down I can get it to start breaking up a little bit, but very clean overall. When using either of the other guitars with Dimarzio's I can get it to break up a bit more, but for any good overdrive or distortion I need to add a pedal.

I have had this amp for over a year and have taken it to practices and played it at home a bunch. It has not failed and Gar Gilles has worked on this amp in the past for tube changes and tune ups but nothing major.

I have had Gar work on another amp of mine and he is great. But sadly he has passed in the last year.

I have been playing on and off for 20 years, a little more off than on. I also own a Line 6 Spider and will be getting another low watt tube amp for my over driven amp sounds and for playing at practices. I find this amp too heavy for practices and am not able to get the volume off 2 when I have the master all the way up for practices. For gigging this is a great amp and has the power and tone. If it was stolen it would be hard to get this back and would try, but would more than likely have to find a different amp.

78 "THE SESSION MAN" Showbiz white
60 watts All Tubes
Two 12" marshall 70th anniversary 30w speakers (the originals went south) two clean inputs, two gain inputs. reverb, tremolo, and massive tone and volume. I've had amps with enough buttons to keep you busy for months trying to find that perfect sound. This amp has all you'll ever need and then some.
A friend of mine gave me this amp. All I had to do was rescue it from his ex wifes basement. Thank god she didn't put up too much of a fight! I'd never heard of a Garnet but as soon as I saw it I knew it was a Jem.

I play a Deluxe Strat and a Les paul
Noisless pickup in the strat, There is no hum or buzz just warm bluesy tones. When I first got this amp I sent it to Gar Gillies and he set it up for the kind of sound I was after Clean with no breakup and that's what I got and then some.

other than the initial trouble likely due to the extended basement storage. I've had no problems

replaced two power tubes
not long after that the speakers went south and I replaces them with celestion 70th anniversary 30's
Sounds awsome

There was power loss and the amp was breaking up when I first got it. I found the Garnet Website on the internet and phoned and spoke with Gar Himself
After a brief phone conversation We agreed that since he was the man who built it who better to look it over that him pesonally. So I took the chassis out and made a custom box and sent it off It was shipped from Southern Ontario to Winnipeg. he looked it over, gave it a pass, mailed it back and as the way some things go, shortly thereafter the two powertubes failed. I phoned Gar and he actually mailed me out two new tubes right away at his cost. That say's alot for his reputation and service.
I wish everyone stood behind their products like that.
Thanks Gar

Obviously I can say Fantasic Value I didn't pay for it
I do consider myself very lucky to have had it given to me. I've owned quite a bit of equipment and have regretfully sold amps before in search of something new. This one however will have a permenant home with me.

i believe it is a 74 but im not sure ther is plenty of wear and tear.
i play in 2 bands right now, one is a hard core funkidelick band and a heavy grunge rock band. this amps tone has yet to let me down
it has 2 channels and 4 inputs it has a couple effects, just reverb and vibrato unfortunitly i cant find a foot switch that will work for these effects so there pretty much useless if anyone knows where i can aquire a garnet brand foot switch please let me know.
i would like to have a distortion option built in but I have quite an arsonal 0f pedals and wires so I dont need the amp to have to many bult in features but still an overdrive option would be nice.
i believe this amp is 60 watts i usualy play it at about 5 and it screams. now complaints on volume.
i used to own a 73 fender twin reverb but it was stolen about a year ago. it was my baby i had been looking for something to replace it with but there was no way i could afford a new one. when i close my eyes and play this amp i can't tell the difference this amp is the sh**!

i play a strat 3 single coil set up. my guitar screems through this amp. nothing is better than haveing good equipment to play through
i play with a blues driver distortion almost all the time and when im not srumming this amp creates no unwanted feedback and very little buzz even with my bluse driver cranked the clean channel is the cleanest i've ever heard. i think its better than my old fender

this amp is farly reliable but it does give me crap sometimes i think ther might be a loose or dirty connection to one of my tube ports, or the tubes might be worn out i, dont know. this amp hase had the crap kicked out of it from the looks it diddnt work at all when i bought it but i tore it apart and reconnected on wire took 5 minets now its a tank. it fallen over in my care a few times but it

ive never delt with the company although i know how supportive gar is by his reputation. this amp is older than me so there is no waranty. i do most of my own repairs on tube amps theres not much to them that you can mess up.

ive been playing a little over 8 years. i run a lot of effects though this amp, phase 90, blues driver, boss digital delay, boss eq7, dod chours, and a dan o wha (witch sucks). this beast handles all them flawlessly. once a gean i wish it had an over drive chanel but its not a big deal

This is a very versatile amp. Made in Winnipeg (My hometown) by a fine gentleman Gar Gilles sometime in the 70's. I play indie rock type stuff mostly and this amp is perfectly suited for it. 2 clean inputs 2 effect inputs. Seperate preamps for clean and effects channels, adjustable reverb and tremelo with footswitch jack, and "solo" footswitch jack (this just cranks the gain on the effects channel. you can set just how much with the pot on the back). I love all of the effects/posibilites of this amp. Oh yeah, and this is a LOUD amp for its size/wattage. They say 60 watts but my goodness! I haven't ever played it up past 5 in any setting and it goes up to 12.

Lots of features! I just wish it had an effects loop. Oh well, A/B boxes do alright and there's lots of inputs for em.

I really suggest to anyone who owns this amp to get to know the distortion posibilities without pedals before putting pedals down. Like some other posters here, I originally thought this was a clean-only amp. Not so. Sure you have to really really crank the pre-amps and hit the solo footswitch for the effects channels (if you don't have one, get one) but the warmth of the sound is awesome. The natural distortion is very warm and somewhat dark, but its easy to brighten it up on my strat using the bridge pickup or by laying down some trebly fuzz underneath the amp distortion. The resulting sound (without the fuzz) is very Neil Young and with the fuzz is very Weezer. Oh yeah, clean on this amp is also great, the tubes give it a nice natural compression. Sweet.

One thing that could be better: I wish I could brighten up the distortion sound just with the amp, but It's a miniscule price to pay for that crazy warm sound. Also, a word of caustion: you really have to play around with this amp to get the right sound but just remember: versatility is the whole point behind this amp.

When I bought the amp, it did not play, but it had been in a closet for something like 10 years so I can't really fault the amp. New tubes and speakers and it works like a dream. Very dependable amp. It's probably good to keep a couple of fuses around though just in case.

I can't say enough about the support I've had for this amp. When I bought it, it would not play at all. I brought it in to Gar (Gar Gilles, maker of the amp) and he fixed it up and put some great new tubes and speakers for me for just about $250. Now my amp is ready to roll for years and I still payed less than I would have for worse amps. Gar really cares about his amps and the people who own them. This truely is the most amazing man in his eighties I have ever seen.

I've been playing (on and off) for 7 years I play a '96 American Fender Strat through this amp sometimes alone (yes you can really make some great sounds with nothing but the amp) or with my boss ds-1, homemade fuzz, big muff, mxr phaser, and aria II analog delay. I would buy another one, or another Garnet amp if no session mans were around, in a heartbeat if it were stolen or lost. I absolutley love the sounds that you can get out of this amp (with a little knob twidling) but I do wish it had an effects loop.

Piad $300 for this new back in 1975. Still using it to this day. I've played everything from rock to country, celtic to christian and this amp handles them all. It has four channels and I can have four different instruments on it for quick changes. My Bass and fiddle are on the clean side and the acoustic and Ibanez les paul (also '76 vintage with the outlaw headstock) on the effects side. I use all features but did wish it had a built in distortion for low levels. It has more than enough power for my uses and the other mucisians I play with really want this one. The sound board man we use says he never has to work to hard to make this sound good on the board.

I have used this beast since 1976 and I have yet to change one single vacuum tube or have any other work done. Sadly, last week, one speaker finally started to rattle and will need to be replaced.

Never needed it and only recently found out the history of the Garnet company. Best amp I've ever heard of compared to my friends disasters

I've been playing 34 years and have had no other amp, but I have three Ibanez copies, (Les paul, Statocaster, and Precision Bass) two acoustics by Yamaki (one 6 string and one 12), a Morrelli fiddle and an unknown no name mandolin. If I lost it, I would get another is it were avalable. I only bought it as it was the one I could afford at the time, but it was the best investment I ever made.

I dunno when it was made, apparently 70s-80s from what I've read. It handles indie pop/rock stuff and punk rock quite nicely. I haven't been using the clean channel, as you can't use the reverb on it, but the effects channel is ultra-cool. This isn't a good amp for distortion, though - it is ultra clean even when cranked *way* up. That and its tone both remind me a lot of an old Pro Reverb my dad had. Mine's got 2 12ax7 tubes, a 12au7, and a pair of 6ca7/el34 tubes. Someone put Sylvania tubes in. Sounds good.

I play a '62 Gibson Melody Maker with a Super Distortion, which sounds excellent through this thing. I use a Rat for distortion; as I said, this thing is super clean all the way up. The "solo" channel will break up to a small degree, but you lose the tone controls when you kick it in. My dad called it "the Canadian Fender" after hearing it.

I've only had it a few days so far. Others report good reliability, so here's hoping.

They're out of business. Besides, I'm in the US.

Great, lucky pawnshop find. Apparently no one wanted it because of the name; I'd've had to pay $500 or more for a comparable Fender, which this thing sounds just like.

As others have stated, this amp would be better off with an effects loop. Other than that, though, it is loaded. Has two channels, with 2 inputs each. First channel only has gain, treble and bass controls, while channel 2 has gain, treble, mid, bass, as well as reverb, and tremolo (depth, and speed). Unit also has master volume control. Every control is set up so that changing it produces an immediate change in the sound. It is very versatile.

I am currently using a Gibson Firebird through a Digitech RP-6 and then into the Session Man. Sometimes, though, I like to just plug straight in to the amp. Cranking the gain on either channel produces a beautiful natural distortion, well rounded, with lots of harmonic content. The amp is not very noisy at all, unless the ground polarity switch is set wrong (hurts, too!) At reasonable gain levels, the sound is shimmeringly clean, without that headachey over-treble-ness that roland amps, and some Fenders have. This amp is good for just about any style of music you want to play. It's design was intended to give it a broad range of tonal options (it was meant for session players who couldn't cart around 3 or 4 amps for different tones).

I have had my session man for 5 years now, and have never had a problem with it. It has never failed me, and it STILL has the factory tube set in it. I have had it completely apart on several occasions, and it has always worked beautifully afterwards. I trust it implicitly.

The company is now defunct. As far as I've read, they went under in 1989. I have no idea about any warranty, etc. for this amp, but I know it was built in the late 1970's. If you need help with it, there are a few websites dedicated to Garnet amps, and I have read that Gar Gillies (the man who started Garnet amps) will still do repairs out of his Winnipeg workshop.

I love this amp, and I hesitate to play most others. I own 2 other Garnet amps, a Rebel bass head, and a Minibass (though I'm not a bass player). I have owned peavey, fender, traynor, and roland amps in the past, and was never satisfied with the tone. My uncle suggested a Garnet amp (he worked for them in the late 1960's), and I've been hooked ever since. Most people don't have a clue what this thing is when they see it, so they just turn their heads. Too bad for them; Garnets are amazing amps! Everything is hard-wired (no circuit board), and overpowered. I have never had to turn it up past 4, even when gigging! I have been playing for about 14 years now, and finally found the tone I had always wanted. If you see one sitting in a pawn shop somewhere, rescue it. It's well worth the small price you'll have to pay for it.

this amp is atleast 20 years old, hand made in winnepeg between '72 and '82, and like stated in the other review sounds identical to a twin. simply put THIS AMP ROCKS!! i have had it about 16 months and it has never let me down, the only service it needed was new tubes, it still had the stock tubes in. the internal tube overdrive is simply amazing, the reverb and tremolo do exactly as they should, and with it's size it is capable of playing at home or at a gig, it gets LOUD. with the tubes it has, it has the balls it needs. probably would have gotten a ten if it had an effects loop... but you can't have it all.

i am playing through a U.S.A. made B.C. Rich Warlock, heavily modified, with a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge, through a metal zone --> Marshall Jackhammer --> Garnet Sessioin man.
this setup rules for me cuz i play everything from metal to light original stuff. i can go from light Jazz sounds to full out super saturated distortion with a few pedals turned on and the gain put up on the Garnet

i have had it for a year and like i said never let me down, no weird buzz's or anything, i would definately gig with it without a backup (i have never needed a backup)

never had to get in touch with them tho their web site www.garnetamps.com told me alot of what i had to know without them, that plus they kinda don't exist as a company anymore...

i have been playing for 18 months and owned a line-6 spider previously, this amp kicks it's ass in sound and the fact it is tube so that is why i did a straight trade for it. if it were stolen i would look into getting a mesa boogie triple rect. before i tried to hunt down another one of these... tho i would miss it.

This amp is simply a Fender Twin. Same fonctions,2 chanels, reverb, tremolo, 2 x 12" made in Canada, probably a 100w. On the sticker on the back,the model is G250Tr, made in Winnipeg, Canada.The numbers 5\79 are also written, could it be a date?

It look like a Twin, but better thant that, it sounds like a Twin! I have put this Session Man on test with a Twin, they sounds the same!

I have it for 9 months, never had a problem.

N\A

If you like the Twin sound, and don't want to pay the price attach to those amps, find this Session Man! Just wich their would be an effect loop..