Gibson GA-19 RVT

1963 Crestline series Falcon with Loudness, Tone, Reverberation, Speed & Intensity controls. Attached footswitch for trem & reverb. 12-inch CTS ceramic speaker. 6EU7, 7199, 6V6 & 5Y3 tubes I believe.

This was my first amp with both tremolo and reverb. I owned it for about 4 years. Loud enough for fun, just right in the volume department. I played Strats & Tele's through it, and I could never get an ounce of overdrive out of it...just a little thickening of the clean tone. Trem sounded good, wish it could have gone a little slower. I always found the reverb to be interesting but not great sounding. A funky, spooky cave-like sound, but not exactly musical. I cannot understand why so many people gush enthusiastically about the sound of this amp in general and the reverb in particular. I sold it because these were getting popular with other people, and I found the sounds to be more of a novelty and less of an inspiration.

No problems. I took it to a tech once to "fix" the reverb (this was before I realized that this era of Gibson amps had such a unique reverb circuit). I didn't like the fact that, without changing the setting of the reverb itself, the wet-to-dry reverb effect gets drastically reduced the more you turn up the volume, and insanely wet when you turn down the volume. It was not possible to play loud with a deep reverb. I found out after getting the amp back from the tech that this is just the way these amps are.

Been playing for way too long for such mediocre skills. I've owned many vintage tube amps from Gibson (BR-9, GA-6, GA-8, GA-19RVT), Fender(Super Reverb, Princeton Reverb), Epiphone (EA-35), Gretsch (6161 Electromatic), Alamo (Dart, Montclair), Airline (8152), Traynor (YBA-1, YGM-3, YGL-3 Mark III), Silvertone (1481, 1483, 10XL), Univox (U-202R, U-155R), and Laney (AOR-30). I have also owned two newer amps, a Fender Blues Junior and Laney VC-30. I would not buy another GA-19RVT unless I found it for a crazy low price, then I would probably sell it for a profit.

1962 from what my tech tells me. This one takes the 7199 tube and has the tweed covering. This thing is way cool.

I have played this as my primary amp for over 10 years and it has performed flawlessly, but I still have the 2 prong plug so I get shocked sometimes on the mic from the PA if the plug is turned the wrong way. It is best to check this with your hands before you step up to the mic!

I gig with this amp regularly with a blues band and it rocks when miced to the PA.

I have 2 strats, an Ibanez artcore(es335 copy) and an acoustic with a humbucker and the sound cannot be matched by newer amps at any price. My buddy has an Orange amp and I think it is the only thing that has come close. This is a clean amp with nice drive at 10. Very quiet and the reverb and tremolo are incredible.

Never a problem. I replaced the filter caps and re-tubed it and I haul it all over without a problem.

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I have been playing for 30 years and this is the best sounding amp I have ever played through. I have owned vintage Fenders and they are sweet, but I love this amp. I am looking for another to run them in stereo.