Gibson BR 1 112 Combo

Like the first reviewer I'm very fortunate to have two of these amazing amplifiers, I believe from 1947 and 1948. So far it's been impossible to to hear a "bad" sound or tone out of these old boxes. Perhaps the simplicity (elegance?) of the circuit design and implementation are responsible for this. This is a two channel amplifier having both "instrument" and "microphone" inputs; the microphone input having considerably more gain than the instrument side. One tone control varies the frequency from more treble to more bass. This tone control actually is after the main preamp section(s) and allows for a larger coupling capacitor between the last preamp stage and the phase inverter tube. Even at the lowest (most treble) setting the sound is rich and fat and just dripping with harmonics. When playing guitar through the mic channel I like to dial out alot of the bass as (to my ears) the tone can get too saturated-sounding. We're talking about intense power amp distortion here! Feedback on every note with my Telecaster or 3-humbucker Stratocaster. Probably my favorite sounds from a lap steel have emanated from these amps. This has been the perfect small/medium sized club amplifier for me playing everything from soul to jazz to blues and rock&roll. For a 15 watt amplifier (using 2 6L6's!) it really delivers the goods, so to speak. I usually play with the volume 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up in the mic channel and the guitar's volume pot controls the output and amount of distortion. Fantastic clean to intense grind at the turn of a knob, and all shades inbetween. The BR-1 could make a tweed Deluxe blush. A very dynamic and subtle machine this is! Alot of this may have to do with the field coil speaker, which instead of a permanent magnet has an electromagnet, basically a choke transformer in series with the power supply serving double-duty: removing hum and powering the speaker. As current and voltage requirements change with output and frequency, the speakers' magnetic field and cone excursion, among other things, varies, creating a very touch-sensitve responsiveness. I have to agree with the last reviewer that the field coil speaker has an overall fatter sound.

This is the most satisfying guitar amplifier I've played through feel-wise. They were on to something 60 years ago! Here's my theory: The band shows up at the gig, plays the first set, then hangs out at the bar. A few drinks later the guitar player plugs into the microphone input instead of the instrument input, cranks up the volume all the way up(the instrument channel stays clean on "10")and has the best night of playing their life! These amps can grind! Yet the attack of the note still comes through. I experimented with taking the perforated speaker cover off, and some of the "magic" went away. Seems that the cover not only acts as protection for the speaker, but limits the amount of low frequencies that can come out of the front of the amplifier and keeping the cone's excursion a little tighter. Am I making sense here? In any case I liked the sound with the cover on better. I also added an extra speaker jack which usually goes to a leslie speaker. This is a really sweet combination and when spread out across a room/stage is huge sounding. Hum isn't noticable when playing, but can be more than what we're used to when cranked up in the mic channel. Doesn't bother me at all.

This amplifier has been a great workhorse for me. Even though I have 2 of them only one leaves the house. No problems so far at all. Both amps needed new baffle boards as they were all warped and cracked, being thin, old wood holding up a very heavy speaker. Minor vibration issues corrected by regluing the cabinet bracing, no big deal. They still have the original filter capacitors and I still trust them. At least so far so good. Amp gets very hot after a few hours, don't sit on it at the end of the night!

This to me is one of those irreplaceable objects one encounters in life, and after 30+ years of playing and trying alot of what's been out there these are at the top of the heap, and I would definitely look for another one if something happened to mine. I suppose that's why I have two of them!

Actually I got two of them. And I was surprised to see that
no one has reviewed these amps yet. Am I the only one
using it? Anyway after nearly 60 years I figured it is about time someone
shines a light on the BR-1. Also because you can find very little to nothing on them
on the web.
What i know about the BR-1 amps that they were made from 1946 untill 1949
and are the best kept secrets in the world of very early vintage amps.
As the direct successor of the pre-war top of the line EH-185 Charlie Christian amp it shares
almost identical sound characteristics. The cabinet dimensions are about the same although the cosmetics are different.
The two I have are covered with brown tolex (one is light brown like the 50's GA-amps and the other is a darker red-brown) with stylishly rounded corners. One shows extensive use but fortunatly not abuse and the other looks as if it has been in a closet for decades. The speaker and front are covered with a sheet of aluminium, perforated with thousands of tiny holes and is nicely decorated by a printed 'G' (lots of times during gigs people ask me about that old Gretsch amp). Above that the Gibson name is printed in gold on the tolex in old style type. Very nice. Although I have to admit, the pre-war EH-185 had nicer looks. And the BR-1 did not have the removable top and amp-housing either.
The back shows the controlpanel in beige and sports the brown old style knobs. One volume control for the two instruments inputs and one for the microphone input. And one bass-treble control. An on/off switch, control light and fuse holder. That's all to the ball. The controlpanel has no Gibson name on it.
It is a closed cabinet combo. Behind the backpanel houses the huge and heavy Jensen field-coil speaker. Both speakers seem to be original but I can't be sure. If they were reconed it must have been done a long time ago. Somehow these field-coils produce a deeper and richer sound then the later fixed magnet speakers.
The control panel can be unscrewed and pulled out to reveal the tubes and all the innards (which is not that much). The old style resistors and caps are neatly arranged and surrounded by a birds-nest of old yellow coloured wiring.
Pre-amp tubes are a 6SC7, 6SJ7 and a 6SN7. A 5U4 rectifier and two 6L6 powertubes.
Output is officially rated at 18 Watts. And 20 Watts for the microphone output. I can not confirm this
because both the amps are incredibly loud. More then enough for practising and even loud enough to gig with low gain band situations in small to medium sized rooms.
You could mike it anyway.
No more features. As simple as an amp can get. What more features would you expect in a 60 year old amp? I love its' simplicity
Both amps do hum a little. Not disturbingly audible on stage but can be awkward when recording sometimes.
Especially with P-90 pickups.
I don't know how to rate the BR-1 for versatility. The bass/treble control and the six tubes made this a versatile top-of-the-line amp in 1946. It still has all I need. So it is versatile enough for me.
But for some one used to a Cyber Twin it could be too basic and a one-trick-pony I reckon.

Now here's the fun part. Both amps sound very differently. Although there are similarities in the
old tube sound characteristics, one puts out a very loud, clean, warm thick jazztone with huge low-end. I use a clean boost pedal to drive it into distortion. But by then my neighbours across the street will have called the cops (again). The other has the warm and thick tone too but distorts at nearly every volume level and doesn't respond as well to the bass/treble control as the other one does and it is not as loud. Would make a great harp amp too.
I had both amps checked up by my tech to adress the huge differences in tone.
I downloaded the scematic for the BR-1 from the web. Although at first sight some caps have been replaced, most of the innards look original. The wiring is original and most of the soldering still looks old as far as we could determine.
Well, what do you know? My tech told me he could not use the scematic at all because both circuitries appear to be very different and neither of them applies to the scematic! If he had to check the amps entirely he had to unsolder a lot of the old hardened bird-nest wiring and draw a new scematic for each amp. I told him not to do this yet.

Anyway, I play solely archtop guitars. The ones I frequently use through these amps are a 1951 Gibson ES-300
with two great P-90's and a late 70's Aria PE-180 with two Gibson Burstbucker #1 pups. I love to play old style jazz, blues (T-Bone), bebop (the Charly Christian-style) jump- and Westcoast blues, Rock-a-Billy and some extravagant rudimentary Las Vegas Casino Night Club rave from the grave Rock & Roll. One band I used to play in is called Big Bang & The Raw Materials. So go figure.
Okay call me old fashioned. I am. And I am proud of it!

In short: the BR-1 amps are made for this kind of music.
I have never heard a fatter and warmer tone like this from any tube amp I played. And I have had some and played some.
Definitly THE jazztone to me. Mr. Christians tone (Soloflight) is instantly there on steroids. Whatever you do or try, crank it, distort it, kick its' ass, you won't
get a bad tone of it . Gibson amps tend to sound on the dark side. So does the BR-1. You either love it or hate it. Fender fans might not appreciate it. Although I always heard the very early
Fender amps shared almost identical circuitries. Another great thing is that the different instruments and microphone inputs can be combined effortlessy to get an even more fatter tone. I do this often playing through both amps at the same time.
Then I have six(!) inputs filled and combined through a Barber Launch Pad (greatest clean boost pedal on earth) and a Boss DD-3 delay. A tone to die for.
The old p-90's sound awesome with these amps. You could say they were made for each other being both from the same era. But the great surprise came when i tried the burstbuckers equipped archtop through them. A huge, smokey, fat tone that is so rich. I just love to strum big jazz chords and listen to them to fade away. Single note soloing are as creamy as you want them.
Usings effect pedals would spoil the wonderful tone. Except for Barber the Boss delay that leave the amps' tone intact and even enhance it in a great way. However sometimes i secretly dog around with an Arion
Tube Mania pedal in front of it. Call me a sinner, but I feel the Arion and the BR-1 are some nasty couple.
The BR-1 is actually a low fidelity amp, like they all were in those days. But it sure can sound BIG with authority.
As I mentioned above there is some hum. Not annoying but it is there. In gig situations hardly noticable but can be cumbersome when recording.
For the sound I would rate the BR-1 even 11 or more.

Hard to say. Apart from a blown pre-amp tube I have had no serious
issues so far. The cabinets are getting a little fragile after 60 years.
I have replaced a baffle board in one of the amps. It was broken to pieces by the heavy field-coil speaker. But I still do gig with both amps. Without backups. I love to take risks.

" Hello, I like to speak to the oldest tenant of the Gibson House Of
Senior Employees, please..."

I have been playing guitar for over 25 years and have owned some gear. A bunch of mediocre low budget gear too.
But my latest amps were a '76 Fender Twin Reverb, 3 x Fender Blues Junior, Peavey Delta Blues 1x15, Marshall AS80, Polytone IV and III, Gibson GA-75 (60's) and a Gibson GA-30 ('50's).
I still have my first archtop: the Aria PE-180, '70's lawsuit model, high quality and very nice playing and sounding guitar. Superb guitar for bebop!.I replaced the stock pickups with Gibson Burstbuckers #1 though. And a great
'51 Gibson ES-300 with two P-90's. Plays like a dream. I have owned a ES-125, a Silvertone archtop, a DeArmond x-155, and some other lower-end jazz boxes.


The BR-1 amps are a real find! And still affordable! It is getting as rare as the pre-war EH-185 fast. And the prices are going up fast too for vintage Gibson amps. I would recommend them to any serious (vintage) jazz and blues guitar player. Or even harp players. If you are a fan for that great Charlie Christian sound with a punch find one and get it. The BR-1 are real gems.


What do i love about it? Everything. Even the smell of the tubes that fills the room when practising. There is nothing i hate about it. Or it must be the fact that Gibson was
notorious to alter the circuitries of their amps without changing the scematics. The amps are rather small but due to the big field coil speaker still heavy to lug around.
I compared these amps to all the amps i have owned so far in my memory. I have been looking for THAT tone for years and years. And now I am sure i have finally found it.
Anything else I wish it had? I wish it had more users who shared experiences in reviews like this (no need to be as enthousiastic as i am).
If it was lost or stolen I'd shure try to find another one. And I 'm pretty sure it would sound different. My wishlist contains a GA-50 also. But I'll never part with the BR-1. That is for sure.
Did i say I think the BR-1 is one of the best kept secrets in the vintage amp field?
Get one if you can.