Product: Gibson BR 4
Price Paid: US $6 used
Submitted
11/21/2000
at
02:38pm
by
Anonymous
Features
:
No Opinion
1946 Gibson amp. 3 Channel, 2 Instrument, 1 Mic. Instrument Vol., Mic Vol., Tone (one treb to bass). 6 tubes, 12" electro mechanical speaker (no magnet, there is a transformer feeding an electromagnet at the back of the speaker.
I ive this a 10 because the features were incredible for 1946.
Sound Quality
:
10
Standard strat, I use this for blues. It is a kick a$$ harp amp, but I like it for guitar also. Much more full than a Fender Champ, more mid, more bass punch. She breaks up very, very nicely. The pots are a tad noisy, but they are, after all, 54 years old. This amp also does a nice clean, in addition to grinding dirty. Sound like nothing I've played (and I've played many). This is, by far, my favorite amp (I have Fenders and Peaveys)...
Again, this is an AWESOME BLUES amp, and I rate it as such...
Reliability
:
10
EVERYTHING except ONE preamp tube was made in 1946. If that ain't reliable, I dunno what is...I will be adding a spare preamp tube, power tube (6L5) and rectifier tube (5Y3) to my rig for when they go...
Customer Support
:
6
They pointed me to a very knowledgeable vintage amp dealer, thanks Gibson!
Overall Rating
:
10
The amp was recently appraised at $300-400. It originally came from St. Vincent De Paul, where it was markes As-Is for $6. The rectifier tube was lose inside, and once plugged in, it was the sweetest amp in my collection. If you can find one of these (only made between 1946 and 1948) BUY IT! They are not as pricey as vintage 50s Fenders, but the tone is WAY UP THERE. I like this better than anything other than a Twin Reverb, or maybe a Vibrolux, but this baby only weighs 20 lbs.
