Gibson GA 8-T Discoverer Tremolo

Depends on what you mean by "features". Four knobs and 1 on/off switch. Volume, Tone, Tremolo depth and speed. If you need more than that, this is probably not the amp for you. Wish it had reverb, though, but 'verb wasn't standard in amps (maybe not even invented?) when this one was made- late '50s to maaaaaaybe '60 or '61. "Tweed" Gibson style but covered in white tolex. If you're familiar with old Gibsons, this means earlier than the brown ones with front-mounted controls, this is a very Fender-ish amp, cosmetically. Own another '50s Tweed Gibson and have played through piles of 'em, if you don't like the '60s Brown ones, maybe check these out, they sound a LOT better, cicrcuits are not the same as the later ones. Trem is footswitchable but I've never had a footswitch for it. Single 12" Jensen speaker, 6BM8 output tubes- dual-triodes, I believe, half of each tube functions in the power section and half does the trem business. For an amp of its age/era, I give it an 8 for features, as there wasn't a lot else besides presence controls and seperate bass, mid, and treble controls on much of anything back then.

I have owned and used LOTS of guitars, right now using two Teles- a Baja with an OC Duff bridge pickup, a '76 with a humbucker at the neck, and a '78 Fender Musicmaster with a humbucker. This amp sounds great with all of them. Nice clean sound, thicker than a Fender of the era. Overall tone is somewhere between a Tweed Deluxe and maybe an AC15. Can be pretty brutal cranked, and has plenty of lovely shades of distortion in between. Also, for an 8 or so watt amp, it's fairly loud, as old Gibson tend to be. Tone is so subjective, but I'd rate it highly. It's pretty awesome. Should note I replaced the 50-something year old Jensen with a 40-something year old Jensen (both AlNiCo)that was a little beefier, and it improved the tone a little, made it a little more "rock" sounding, if that makes sense. Had a couple of minor noise issues that repairs solved. No big deal, especially considering it's between 50 and 60 years old.

Aside from the currently burned out bulb in the jewel light (again, 50-60 years it took to burn out!), it's solid as can be. Of course, if you get one, have it serviced. Get it recapped and generally checked out and it should be fine for another 50 years. Gibson amps are pretty stout!

Uhm...yeah. This amp was built when my dad was in preschool! That said, I have talked to Gibson CS people for info about other stuff in the past, and they've always been as helpful and courteous as possible.

Been playing 16 years, half my life. Owned and have owned other Gibsons, BF and SF Fenders, Mesa/Boogies, Marshalls, Dano/Silvertones, Epiphones (also note that there are Epi versions of all the old Gibbie amps, covered in Grey tolex), for guitars...sheesh. Long list. Partial to Teles, SG Jrs, Short-scale Fenders, etc., personally. LOTS of pedals. Also, used this amp with various homemade experimental instruments to good effect, and I put it through some pretty harsh circumstances in regard to the amounts of low end I put into it, and it took it like a champ and sounded great. Only wish is that it had reverb! These are great. DOn't buy one, so the price will stay low and I can stock up on 'em. FWIW, the store I used to work in is where I first fell in love with a similar-era GA-8T, and I can testify that it is PHENOMENAL for harp.

This 1964 Gibson amp is versatile; 1 channel, no line out, efx loop, etc; of course '64) I have taken the amp "out" because it's weight is agreeable to transport etc;, enough power for small/mid venues. The tremelo is top notch!

This amp is not noisy! It doen't break up very easy; I don't think mine has the proper tubes in it. 2-6au7's and 3-el84's. That doesn'tsound right but has never given me any trouble.
The tone of this amp sucks! I lately found a pretty good remedy; Use a Y cable and use both inputs. It helps the tone. OR put a POD in front of it.

The Discover Tremelo broke down with the previous owner but has been dependable with me.

I think the amp was made in 1964. It is somewhat versatile. 1 channel.
It is in excellent condition. There is enough power. Wish it had a better preamp.

It is not noisy; the tone of this amp is very lame and undesireable;
it is helped if the volume is at least on 5 and up. It needs an attenuator to help it and it probably wouldn't sound great at that.
I've retubed it and a new speaker. Tremelo works well; even strong and square if needed. Pretty dependable but the tone sucks.

I would use a backup amp if used in a hard long gig. It has broken down in the past.

I would not replace the gibson discover ga8t. wish it had 12ax7 preamp instead of 6au7 preamp.

This is a 1963 1 x 12 combo with tremolo, with controls on slant-front panel (pre-63 the controls were top/rear mounted). I'm not aware of what dates these were made exactly, but the pots date to 63. Looking left to right, the amp has two inputs, plus a "monitor" jack, loudness, bass, treble tremolo depth and tremolo frequency controls. It also has an out for "reverb speaker", on off & jewel lamp and 1 amp fuse. The stock speaker is a 12" blue label Jensen. It comes with wood-block tremolo footswitch. The tubes 6CA4 - 6BQ5 (2) - 6EU7 (2), so you're not going to knock anyone over with power. The brown tolex and orangish tweed are enough to make you gast at first, but it grows on you...
This is a really nice sounding amp for recording or for practice, but really too low-powered for gigs, unless you bi-amp or mic in a really small club. This amp is not really flexible in terms of sound, but what it does, it does well. You'll spend most of your time with everything turned to between 7 and 10. But oh, is it vintage tremolicious. No reverb is a drawback, and besides the lack of power, is its major weakness.

There is no pre-gain, so you have to turn it up to get the nice warm overdrive that it's capable of. You'll either need hot humbuckers or another pre-input gain to get it cranked up. I use a limiter/sustain with level control when I'm playing with single coils. Using a distortion with this really would more interfere with the vintage tone.
You won't be shredding any metal here, but for ska, alternative, and especially Blues - this amp has a nice warm, tube sound. The tremolo is simple and smooth - spend your time on the lowest frequency setting.
I've been playing solid-state for so long, I'd forgotten what tubes are all about - and for a pretty cheap pricetag - I was able to get back into the tube swing. Just remember, this is NOT a high-power amp. It's a solid little recording or practice amp (or very small gigs, or low-key blues combos) similar to the other 1 x 10, 1 x 12 Gibson combos.

These are pretty simple, solid amps. Bigger than the Skylarks and similar amps, and a little more durable I think. The real concern is trying to overextend the amp - using too much pre-input gain for example - and burning out a tube. Replacement tubes can be come by pretty cheaply, but would be a major bummer to burn out in the middle of a gig.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this as a beginners amp - more for folks that either have been away from playing for a while, for folks that no longer need 100 watts to prove they know how to riff a blues lick, or for folks like me who are past gigging, and into recording and knocking around.

Gibson may be able to provide a schematic if'n you ask real nice, but that's about it. But with an amp as simple as this, it's a do-it-yourself anyway. If you've got a problem that you need a tech to fix, think about buying another one instead.

On the ultimate scale of great amps, this ranks among heaps in the middle, but compared to the trash that's out today, this is a real value. It isn't an amp you're going to spend hours and $$ tweaking, and it won't pretend to be a Marshall or Big Fender, but it's among the more personable amps I've had.
In the world of vintage Gibsons (which IMHO are underappreciated) this ranks behind the Falcon, but has a fuller sound than the Skylark. The amp has just a few sounds, but they are very good, and the amp will hold it's value over time.
If you're into a multitude of features, or into raw power and high volume, this bag ain't for you, but if you know the vintage Gibson sound, and that's what you're looking for, this is a good value.