Gibson GA-30RV Super Goldtone

Class A 30 watt via 4 EL84's. It features 2 channels (one for clean, one for dirty) and a boost for each. Effects loop, 6 spring accutronics reverb (Splittable). One Vintage 30 12 inch celestion and one Vintage 10 inch celestion speakers. The 5-button foot switch is a must. You can play thru both preamps at once. It is like playing thru 2 different amps! Plenty of power for any situation.

The sound of this amp is nothing less than stellar. I play an old tele ('65) and is rips apart anything else in its price range. Of course everyone says it sounds better than this Marshall or this Fender. I really don't care to compare twenty other amps to this, just try one for yourself and you'll hear an incedible tone monster!!!

Very solid and heavy. Works all night long, move after move.

I have not needed them but I hear they are okay.

Could be one of the greatest amps ever built. I love the wide variety of real tube tones and the ability to switch from genuine sweet and clean to genuine splendid ac/dc tone. I am getting another one and running stereo effect loops. I would sure replace it if I had to!!!

30 watts of all tube, class a, pure tone better than most 50 or 100 watt amps that exist!!! it'll make ya want to play your guitars like they were super models on spanish flys and you just took an large amount of viagra. amps just don't get too much better than this for features..best in class for its reverb, effects loop and tone.

His majesty Jimi Hendrix once told me "getting gear and playing music on that gear is like a sh*t sandwich, the more bread you have, the less sh*t you eat" (or something like that). Anyway, single coil, humbuckings, PRS, Strat, Les Paul, Tele, SG, pre CBS, paf, it really doesn't matter junior, just play hard and play long and this amp will outdo any Fender, Peavey, Vox, Mesa, Marshall or Matchless for tone variety. Now for $1,500.00 you better be scoring some babes with this tone monster or else you ain't practicing enough! Most babes will settle for the modeling amps such as the Line 6 or the Cyber Twin. Now son, you could save alot of dough buy just gettin one of these modeling pieces of crap cause hey, we all know the chicks don't know the difference in tone anyway, so why spend the extra bread? Because it is your ears and your music bros ears and the bands ears and the record companys' ears etc...now if mom can only afford a Crate amp, then you had better be buying those ladies alot of extra drinks cause their eyes are gonna be wandering towards that darn bass player all night long. The Goldtone rules, buy one brothers and you'll hear why they named it gold tone.

Made in England or United States of America!!!! The two most decent places left of this forsaken planet. What, you gonna rely on an amp made in Iraq? The only good gear is made in England and the US, heck yea I'd rely on it without a backup.

Gibson is the best Guitar company ever. If Leo had not sold to CBS, he maybe could give 'em a run for their money.

Been playing many years. I own some other stuff and have played through the very best, (real Marshall Plexis, Matchless dc30s, every Fender amp ever made, Vox ac30s, Mesa Boogie and countless others, in the many bands and studios over the years, though I can't say I have ever played an amp as nice as this. Lets see, the last two questions, is there anything else I wish it had?...uh...yea...a vagina... any thing else I'd like to share?...The Gibson Goldtone RV30 is one of the best amps ever made regardless of price, looks, features, ego, blah blah woof woof...these schmucks that rate the sound of this amp less than a 9 or 10 don't own one, (their mom) can't afford one, are posers, have never tried one and are jealous of those of us who know tone and play with soul.

100% valve single path, dual channel, 15+15 cass a wats (very loud), boost switch, 6 spring reverb, external out, sb switch, 12 & 10 speakers. this one is still pretty new. i bought it brand new about 3 monthes ago. i also have the ga15rvs and loved it so i got this one and was completely blown away from day one. i thought maybe i should give it sometime before making up my mind because the initial blow can wear off. it did, but the more i played the more was impressed. there are not gagdets, effects, programs, models, etc here, but for me thats a huge plus because they consentrated on give the amp a pure voice of its own!

short and sweet- i will keep this amp til im a golden-oldie myself. i have played alot of high priced amps (not really owned them though), and there is no such thing as the best. everyone likes different voicings, so there are alot to choose from. hoowever this one is the best for me. i find it easy to shape the sound with additional equipment/pedals. i love both my goldtones (i have the ga15rvs also) and while i won some other amps (marshall dsl50, mesa nomad, cybertwin & genz benz el diablo combo) these are definately my favorite.

i played everyting 8 hours per day. i have a 72 strat, an ibanez vai model, and a prs custom 24. clean sounds great to the limit, but brak up eventually, distortion without is not for the high gain/metal players, but very nice with bd-1.

so far so good

my favorite amp. play before you buy, and play as much as possible to compare. good luck

bought a new one about 8 monthes ago, and have been glues to it ever since. it has two channels, clean & vintage gain, both extremely high class and ready to serve up anything depending on set up you use. series & parallel effects loops (use with a stereo pedal like TCE chorus and this thing has an immmaculate stereo vibe), spring reverb is nice, and this is true class a warmth here. not a whole lot of gadgets, channels, modes, switches, but thats because your talking about a real amp with its own distinct vibe, feel and especially tone. 15+15 class a watts, or there is an external output jack that will drive a 4X12 with 30 class a watts, and believe me thats plenty loud enough (about 100-120 watts ss/digital)

to cut all the advertisement out of my explination i am going to tell you what i use to play, and now what i play. i have owned marshalls, fenders, mesas, a bad cat, a dc30, an ac30, a 101b, a vht & even the vetta (which clearly doesn't belong on the list, but hey i owned it). a friend of mine has and SLO and ive played it alot too.

now i have this amp, two cabinets, a crybaby, a tonebone classic (which helps make the difference in conjunction with this amp), & a tce chorus pedal. i would take this set up over any of these any day of the week every week of the year for the rest of my life. this amp in combination with these pedals is the best set up i feel there is to own. the amp is naturally a jazz clean & bluesy rock creamy amp, but the tonebone helps turn it up to adams jones of tool is i so desire, and the crunch is puuuuuurrrrrrfect! whoever gave this thing a two can't possibly know what they are doing; sorry but you can't if you gave this amp a 2 in sound quality, this thing humbles botiques with its quality, you just have to understand what your buying before you buy it. try the pedal with it, i bet you print a retraction real fast.

never had a problem yet, seems built very sturdy.

N/A. maybe because of the reliability!

i think there is nothing better then this amp for many reason, but they are of course my own personal reasons built on taste, playing style and such. class a tube amps are a great STARTING point from which to build your tone. if your into jazz/blues/vintage rock, then this is the best amp out there; if your into heavier modern & high gain stuff, i still say this is the best place to start building from. IMO, good luck.

I bought this amp on ebay for $1000 from a music store in CA.
I play original rock and occasionally fill in guitar for a motown/hip hop/funk cover band
feature wise it had everything i needed.
2 channels with switching, good solid tube tone, enough power to cut through any mix.

When I first played the amp i loved the way it would break up. I sold my Matchless because I knew this would be the last amp i would ever buy.
Boy was I wrong. This thing just started sounding bad. I took it to my guitar tech who also bought one. He went through it and said it was fine. I don't know if it's my ears or what but this thing just didn't have any tonal range. Very strong mids, lacks pressence, depth, and bass response. Someone else had described it being goosey. That is exactly the best way to describe it.

I giged with it for about 2 months, probably 12 shows, no problems. I did buy an ATA Hardshall Road Case for it though.

NA

I've been playing 20 years, I own a Les Paul Standard, American Tele, American Strat, American Deluxe Toronado, 65 Melody Maker, Gretsch Beast 5000, ES-335. I played all of them through the amp. The amp was more partial to the fenders. I have gone full circle back to my 1990 fender super 60 1x12 with a marshall 1912 ext 1x12. you just can't beat the punch of 6L6 tubes. I also have a marshall DSL 401. i think i will stick to these untill i can get another dc. Save your money and keep looking. if you have to have a gibson, i would try the ga30-rvs. my guitar tech sold his rv for the same reason i stated and bought the rvs and he is much happier.

This amp has great features. It is so verstal. I love being able to switch from squeeky clean timbrel to awesome blues tone and being able to integrate the two tones simo. It is like having two good tube amps.

Right now I am driving a '70 Gibson Les Paul Standard and an '86 Fender Strat Plus. The only thing this doesn't do is heavy metal vomit sounds. I only go there occasionally and I also have a Mesa Boogie to handle those chores. This is the perfect amp for country, blues and rock.

Been perfect so far

Like I said, perfect so far

I also own a Mesa Boogie Mark III, an '86 Marshall 100 watt model 800, Matchless Chieftan, and a bunch of Fender and a variety of wierd practice amps. Too many guitars to list. I would replace this Goldtone if I ever lost it as it is the most versital amp ever made!!

THIS AMP DOES IT ALL, (EXCEPT TREMELO). THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I DON'T GIVE IT A "10". I JUST SUPPLAMENT W/A DEMETER TREMELO TREMULATOR STOMP BOX. OTHER THAN THAT, IT BEATS THE S__T OUT OF EVERYTHING OUT THERE FOR FEATURES. TOSS OUT THE FENDER, VOX, MARSHALL, MESA, AND ANY OTHER OVER-THE COUNTER OR BOUTIQUE AMPS OUT THERE!!!

OKAY, I KNOW THIS IS THE HARDEST CATIGORIE TO BE TRUTHFUL WITH, SO I'LL BE AS HONEST AS POSSIBLE! THIS AMP IS THE BEST!!!!! THESE AMPS DON'T COME CHEAP AND THEY DON'T DO EVERYTHING, AND NO OTHER AMP OUT THERE DOES EITHER. IF YOU YOU WANT THE BEST CLEAN, BLUES, ROCK, JAZZ AND POP SOUNDS, BUY THIS AMP, (AT LEAST GIVE ONE A TRY WITH THE 5 BUTTON FOOTSWITCH). DOESN'T MATTER WHAT GUITAR YOU PLAY THROUGH IT, IT RIVALS OR OUT-DOES ALL OTHER AMPS IN THESE STYLES. IF YOU CAN FIND/AFFORD A DUMBLE, SOME COMMENTS ARE RECINDED. OTHER THAN THAT, THIS WILL DO ORIG. MARSHALL PLEXI, ORIG. FENDER PRE-CBS BLACKFACE AND TWEED, MATCHLESS, ORIG. VOX AC30, ROLAND JC120, MESA/BOOGIE AND SOLDANO. I CURRENTLY OWN ALL OF THE ABOVE AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS AND COUNTLESS GUITARS. I ALWAYS PLAY THROUGH MULTIPLE AMPS USING WHIRLWIND A/B/Y'S AND THE GOLDTONE IS NOT THE PANACEA. I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH ENOUGH MONEY TO ACQUIRE WHAT EVER GEAR I DESIRE SO I CAN DISCRIMINATE AND COMPARE WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT "IF I ONLY HAD MORE FUNDS I COULD HAVE GOT THE VIBROKING OR THE EGNATOR". IF YOU CAN ONLY AFFORD ONE OR TWO AMPS, BUY THIS AMP! ANY NEGATIVE STUFF HERE YOU READ AS TO THE SOUNDS OF THIS AMP ARE EITHER SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T OWN ONE OR SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY REGRETS PARTING WITH ONE KNOWING THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE GOLDTONE RV30. THE BEST THING ABOUT THE SOUNDS OF THIS AMP ARE THE HOT CLEAN SOUNDS AND THE HIGHLY OVERDRIVEN GLASSY TONE (NEAR CLIPPING YET ARTICULATE AND BLOSSOMING INTO UNBELIEVABLE HARMONIC FEEDBACK). BTW, THE ENGLISH VERSION SEEMS A LITTLE BETTER IN THIS REALM. I REALLY DIG THE AMERICAN VERSION THOUGH BECAUSE OF THE 'MODERN FURNITURE LIKE' BEAUTY OF THE AMP. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND ANYONE ABOUT TO PURCHASE ANY AMP, YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELFS TO DEMO ONE OF THESE WITH THE 5 BUTTON FOOTSWITCH. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY GIBSON DOESN'T INCLUDE THIS, AS WITHOUT IT, THIS AMP IS LESS THAN HALF AS COOL.

LIKE A ROCK

HAVEN'T NEEDED 'EM YET AFTER QUITE SOME TIME AND A LOT OF ROAD!!

YOU DON'T REALLY NEED TO HEAR ABOUT ALL THE OTHER GEAR I HAVE EXCEPT TO SAY I HAVE ENOUGH MAKE THIS REVIEW WORTH READING AS I'M AN OLD FART AND HAVE BEEN PLAYING AND COLLECTING GEAR SINCE THE 50'S. IF SOMEBODY JACKED THIS FINE PIECE OF WORK, AFTER I HUNTED THEM DOWN AND MADE THEM BEG TO SAVE THEIR PRIVATES, I WOULD ACQUIRE ANOTHER ONE OF THESE AS THERE IS NOTHING THIS VERSITLE OUT THERE. GIBSON NEEDS TO INCLUDE THE 5 BUTTON FOOTSWITCH. A TUBE TREMELO, AND THIS WOULD BE THE AMP ON MY DESERT ISLAND GEAR LIST OR THE AMP I'M BURIED WITH

same. This is an update to my previous review. I guess I owe everybody that much - because I sold the amp.

The sound wore thin after awhile. Guess it just didn't stand up to my ear. What I liked first in the sound, became a honky goose like tone. I called it "The Super Goosetone" amplifier. Everything took on this thin midrangey tone, lacking the real bottom or real presence. It just lacks presence.

I tried some other speakers - like the alnico celestions, and a weber blue pup 10" - it was improved. But it is one of those things that once your ear hears, you can't get rid of.

The clean channel was good, and the sparkly sound great. But I can get that sound from other amps. It just ended up being a struggle to a sound my ear liked from the amp.

For that slightly broken up Voxy type of clean sound, it is very good, albeit thin. Other than that.... I would look elsewhere.

Sorry about the previous review -- but I am trying to make it up here.

This amp features ten tons of something! I will have to get into a body building routine or hire a gorilla to pack this thing around. Besides the weight, this Gibson features two channels: Clean and Crunch. By increasing the volume control on the clean side, you can even give the clean channel some mild crunch. Likewise, the crunchy side creates more distortion as you increase the gain. Folks, with this much latitude between two channels, you can aquire a wide range of sounds.
This amp also has a 1/4" emulated output to the board as well as an effects loop which operates in series or parrellel. I run the 1/4" line chord into a DI, then into the board. When I choose to, I use a Line 6 distortion stomp box on the clean side with a Fender Strat. No gripes. The amp forgives me for this. I also loop a racked chorus effect which I use with a Taylor acoustic. No gripes. The sounds good plugged into anything.
I play a mix of Christian rock and pop. This amp covers anything I need to do and it is LOUD for 30 watts. Good grief! Class A amplification totally rocks.
Nothing is perfect in this world except God. If I could change any feature about this amp it would be to rotate all the controls (i.e. volume, gain, treble, bass, reverb, etc.) 180 degrees to be viewed from the front of the amp and not the back. When you walk up to the amp you have to read everything backwards or go behind it.

I love this amp. It has a great retro look and I can get all the sound variety I need. It suits my music style just fine. A word of caution though, it is very responsive. If your fingers get sloppy and your having a bad day, everybody hears it. This amp is extremely articulate.
As mentioned above, I use a Fender Strat with 3 single coils (stock) wired to facilitate a 5-position blade switch (neck-middle-bridge). Because of this, I get some minor humming when choosing a single pickup. It is just the nature of the beast I play, not the amp. I usually play everything with the neck-middle combination anyway. Hey if it bothered me that much then I would buy a guitar with a couple of humbuckers in it!

I have not owned this amp long enough to judge it's reliability but I would bet it would go the distance. It feels like it is built like a Sherman tank. Because of the faith I have in Gibson as a company, I would not be surprised if my heirs find themselves reading the instruction manual one day. For consistancy, a rating of 9 is suitable. (Nothing is perfect, except......)

I emailed Gibson with a question concerning extra cab configs. (I didn't feel that the manual explanation satisfied my curiosity). It has been a month and I have not heard from them yet. Well, email is probably not the best way to do business anyway. I'll just phone those folks.

I have been in the music biz since the age of 14. I'm into my 40's now. This product is a keeper and I would replace it if it were stolen or happen to fall out of the crop duster. I like the amp because of its simplicity. The "keep-it-simple-stupid" method is well utilized here. If I could ask Gibson to add anything, it would probably be four of the best casters available. Thanks for a good product folks. It is worth the money!

Two channels with boost on each.seperate reverb controls and tube fx loop.very loud 30 watts...

I tour with a major label country artist and play jazz locally it covers both bases well.It also has a nice classic rock tone ala tom petty.I was willing to spend what it took to get my sound.I looked at matchless and bad cat etc and this amp was the clear winner.Nice jazz tones and tight purring overdriven chords can be had.I can play a A 13flat 9 chord on the drive channel and hear all the notes.very nice.I usually run the gain around 3-4 and have a nice singing lead sound.I changed the speakers to weber blue dog and c10n because I read that a lot of people dont like the celestions and to be honest,it does sound a little nicer to my ears but the speakers that were in it sound great.If I could do over I would hane saved my money.

No problems in the year or so on tour.

the company sent me a schematic the day I asked for it.There was nothing wrong with it I just wanted to have it for my tech in case it needed work on the road.

Check one out if you are a traditional player and you will be impressed.I say traditional because there are better choices if you are after scooped modern rock-metal tone.