Gibson GA-15R

Although I live in Western Canada I purchased this amp new from a small music store in Buffalo, NY in about 2004 after I had the opportunity to use it for a jam there. Paid around $700.00. The amp is a 15W tube amp that runs in class A mode. It has only volume, tone and reverb for controls but it also has a pentode/triode switch to reduce the output by half and offers both a high and low input jack. There is also a bright and normal toggle switch. There is only 1 channel and I believe this model is a re-make of sorts of the older Gibson models. I absolutely love this amp!! I've been playing professionally for 40 years and this is pretty much the best small amp I have ever played through. Although on stage I use it in stereo with a Crate 30W classA tube amp I have used the amp by itself on occasion and I am amazed at how much output it actually has for a 15W amp. It uses 12AX7's for the inputs and 2 EL84's for the output. It has lots of versatilty for different styles of music but because of it's lack of elaborate tone controls it is best suited for that creamy blues lead tone and chunk rythmn. Love the retro look of the amp as well.

This amp sound incrediby fat and clean at volumes under 5 and then starts to break up with a very smooth, fat and creamy tone all the way to 10. It never loses it's bottom end. On stage in combo with my 30W amp I can't even turn the Gibson past 5 but when I use it by itself I crank it and it sounds incredible. I mostly use my American Deluxe Strat with it and the combination works very well. The amp is designed to begin naturally overdriving at volume 5 so if you're looking for an amp that is clean all the way to 10 this is not it. It is a tone amp meant for players who want one very good tone at lower volumes and great sounding dirt at the higher volume. Although you don't really need pedals with this amp it marries very well with my analog Boss delay, and tube screamer pedals for when I want anything over and above what the amp gives.

Three negative things I have to say about the reliablity of the amp.
1. The controls are in the back at the bottom of the amp and while it keeps the front of the amp looking clean it is somewhat of a hassle on stage to get at them when you need to.
2. The Gold Gibson logo in the front of the amp is made of pot metal and protrudes from the profile of the amp and therefore is prone to breaking when packed against anything else. Mine broke into many pieces after about 6 months and you can neither buy a new one or fix the old one. I tried every glue known to man and every website and finally settled for a plastic replica bought online to replace it.
3. The reverb unit, while sounding great, is mechanically a poor design and broke a couple of times in the first 2 years of operation. The 2 wires bringing the sound into the reverb tank are attached using a 'clamp on' system which doesn't flex well with the spring unit and eventually breaks the connection. I resolved it by extending the wiring going into it so had more room to flex.
Please note none of these reliability issues have changed my overall positive view of this amp and I don't regret buying it for a moment.

I believe Gibson stopped building this amp around 2005 or 2006 and therefore I haven't looked into using the customer support. Since I mostly do my own repairs I don't usually use customer support anyways.

The only negative thing I can say about this amp is discussed under the 'reliability' section and those are minor things. I absolutely love the tone quality and simplicity of this amp! If it were stolen I would find it very difficult to replace due to it's rarity today but I would certainly try. In fact the only other one I've seen was a used one in another city and I almost bought it just so I would have 2 of them. I also own a Crate V30 212 amp which I use (very nice), a couple of Fender bandmasters, an old Fender Princeton, a Fender Blues Deville, a 70's Marshall JCM800 50W combo, and I am restoring an old Ampeg Rocket amp. Of all those amps I would rate the Gibson highest for tone, ease of use and portability.

Gibson GA-15RV, class A tube amp combo, 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker w/ Accutronics spring reverb.
I bought this amp new in 2004, and I have played it for a year and a half. I am sort of a purist, and don't like much between my guitar and my amp. This amp doesn't need two yards of pedals to sound good. It has three knobs and two switches: volume, tone, reverb, pentode/triode switch, and off/on/standby. One channels, class A. In my book the lack of features is good. Simple operation, simple tone. Most places I play I cannot crank it to the "sweet spot" at about half-gain on the pentode setting (15 Watts). I bought it because my old Vibrolux and my 130 watt Peavey were too stinking loud. This one, even though only 15/6 watts, is still pretty muscular. It will drive a 412 cabinet just fine when you need to move more air.

I use both single-coils and humbuckers with it, and play a variety of styles. It's sort of a live gig normally with a studio mindset, as I play with an instrumental ensemble offstage in a pit, and play a variety of styles with a Sure SM-81 taking the tone to the PA. My own personal style preferences are blues, classic rock, and edgier jazz. This is not a shredder, although it responds well to nasty distortion pedals like the Metal Zone. Once you crank up to about half-volume, a nice driven tone surfaces, with controllable feedback. Not all the harmonics are there at six watts that show up at the full 15, but it's still a pleasing tone (just a little different) that's not quite as balsy as the pentode setting. It's quieter than I expected from a class A rig. Some tube rattle has reared its ugly head at certain frequencies and high gain, and I cannot seem to isolate it.

When I have to turn down, I use a Tube Screamer to dirty the linen a bit, with a corresponding thinning of the bottom, but it's not the amp's fault. This is not a forgiving amp! Whatever noise you make, the world is gonna hear. It is responsive to picking dynamics and your guitar's volume pot. The attack is substantial and doesn't compress much at higher drive settings (this surprised me). Feedback is always lurking around when you have the amp dimed, so you must be careful where you stand, and you must play technically clean.

Outside of the afore-mentioned tube rattle, the thing has been flawless. Some Trace-Elliot versions and the early runs of the Gibson-tagged models had plastic tube sockets that weren't up to the heat that a class A circuit produces. Mine has ceramic tube sockets, so I ducked some of the reliability issues that accompany some of these amps. So far, I have never had a failure. It has done what I ask for about 18 months now, and I am tres happy.

I cannot speak to factory support, other than the amp lasted longer than the warranty. A schematic is downloadable from Gibson, and tubes are readily available all over.

I have been playing since 1968. In addition to the GA-15RV, I have a 1974 Fender Vibrolux Reverb (40 watts, 210 combo) and my token foray into solid state, a mid-80's Peavey Special 130, which continues to surprise me. If stolen, I'd probably get something else, because this amp is not made any more and is likely hard to find. I would look hard at its younger sibling from Gibson, though.

What I love about this amp is the ability to get really saturated tones at a volume level that doesn't kill small mammals. The reverb is quite good. I love playing this amp with a good guitar driving it and no pedals at all on those occasions when it can stretch its legs. It's not perfect, but close enough. I'd like maybe some more natural tube compression when it's cooking, but that would likely happen at the expense of its blindingly fast attack. This amp really has all it needs.

NOTE: this is the bigger Trace Elliot Velocette (12r, which is exactly the same as the Gibson Goldtone GA-15R, only cosmetic differences) w/ reverb, and NOT THE 10" VELOCETTE or the GA-15. Gibson bought Trace a while back and they decided to call the Velocettes "goldtone" and sell them inder the Gibson brand. They are still made by Trace Elliot, however, in the UK, using the same factory, parts, and design.

Same as the little Velocette-10 and Gibson GA15R, but with pentode/triode (15W/6W) selection, 12" Celestion Vintage 30, and 3-spring Accutronics reverb (foot-switchable). Dimensions are significantly larger, nearly twice the size. Knobs for vol, tone, and reverb. Pentode/triode switch, and bright-switch. 16-ohm spealer-out (disengages internal speaker), and 1-High/1-low inputs. Low input is for when running as a slave from another amp, High is for direct instrument connection. Black leatherette covering w/ annodized metal corners and plastic handle. Velocette logo is painted on chromed metal, Trace Elliot logo is the newer one with the swoosh. The Gibson model is the same, but with gold plated knobs, brown leatherette covering, and a gold Gibson logo, sort of like a ?Pimp? package)

Tubes (stock)= 2x sovtek 12AX7WB, 2x Tesla EL84 (sound generic, but OK)
***** (mine)= Ruby "silver special" (best preamp tube ever, I think) and a NOS Telefunkin 12AX7's; Sovtek EL84's (sounds amazing and overdrives at slightly lower vol w/ better gain and tone)

Best sounding contemporary amp I've ever heard. I own other small class-A combos, but this one is the first that lives up to all the fuss. The tones are magical, and the its very responsive to pick dynamics. Very easy to modulate gain by pick force, and the its growl is beautiful and dark.. Triode sounds a bit "darker" than pentode-mode, but both are very useable and full of rich tones. This thing is VERY loud in both modes, but the tubes saturate at lower volume in triode. Comparing this to my 10" Velocette, the same wattage goes much further in volume due to the 12" 16ohm celestion vintage-30, which is very efficient and produces better precussive sounds. 15-class A watts are really too much for the 10" celestion, and the 12" is a better choice. You truly have play through this amp for an afternoon to have a concept of how versitile, tone-rich, well-designed, and beautifully loud it is. I would, in retrospect, pay retail for the $1000 Gibson version of this if Trace had never made it before the Gibson buy-out. I would compare it in overall sound to a Matchless 30, Vox-AC30, or vintage Gibson (which is what the design was based on) and thats an educated comparison for I've played/or owned both. The reverb is very nice and is moderate in terms of its maximum accent with the knob max'd. The three knobs are capable of all the adjustment one needs. They should be tweaked for each fuitar you use, but it's very easy to find the sound you want with this amp. As with the Velocette 10, the bright switch sees no use from me. It's a more drastic bright-mode than that of the Twin-Reverb, and results in a super-glassy sound that I just dont like, but some folks may love it, especially if theyre into trebble.

Sole Gripe: I don't understand why so many amp makers put shitty tubes in otherwise perfectly concieved instruments. The replacement of the tubes is critical for this amp to sound its best. Mine came with the old-stock silver-special and Telefunkin, and I was skeptical of this being an improvement, but indeed it was when I put the stock tubes in for comparison. Much better gain, and midrang throughout the power sweep. Pretty minor beef, since there are lots of tubes floating around out there that would bring this amp up to its optimal state.

One run of the first year Velocette-10's (same as Gibson GA15, no reverb), from which my other amp was produced, had bad output transformers, but none of the Velocettes with the back-gril (the latter years, and the Gibson Goldtones currently made by Trace) have any reported defects. Same applies for those w/ the Gibson logo. It's built very solidly, and the workmanship is highly detailed. The older ones did have nicer chrome on the corners, but thats nit-picky. Overall, the quality is as high as it gets in all respects. NO RATTLES when cranked, which is rare these days, and all of the knobs turn without a sound, as does the bright switch.
As w/ all class-A amps, the output tubes will have much shorter lives than in A/B amps, but my other velocette has seen nearly a year of regular use since its last new set, so this amp is more reliable in that respect than most class-A's.

Can't say with this specific amp, but heres my history with Trace's support, which was recently under Gibson at the time: When my Velocette-10's transformer blew, 2yrs after its purchace and without a sales slip, Trace fixed it, fully retubed it, and cleaned it to like-new specs.... for free, including shipping. This was done quickly and without a hastle (and by their US shop, so it didn't have go back to the UK). Since then, I've become a loyal Trace customer and have purchaced this Velocette 12R, and a big all-valve Speed-Twin H100 head. Obviously, I trust this company very much and their tube amps. They always reply to questions via e-mail within a day, and with helpful answerw. I assume that this won;t change under Gibson's ownership, for the company has been prettymuch unchanged by the merger up to now (except for the Velocettes being made with the Gibson Goldtone insignia now).

Best little class-A tube amp on the market for under a grand, and now that Matchless is no more, the best class-A amp being produced for any price (some would protest, but I believe it). Functionally, this is ten times more versitile than the Velocette-10, and the Vintage 30 speaker sounds much better than the 10" model. This is the one amp that I'll never part with for any price.

If you cant hunt one down used, the Gibson "goldtone 15R" is the exact same amp, made in the same factory w/ the same componets, as the Velocette 12R. It just got a facelift (brown tolex, gold gril/knobs, and a Gibson logo). Gibson Goldtone 15R's are available from most Gibson dealers from $930 w/ shipping (musician's fiend) to $1149-retail.