Gibson GA-30RV Super Goldtone

Gibson GA30RV Black and Gold 1 12 inch 1 10 inch vitage celes 30 and 10 speakers 2 channels clean & overdrive. Reverb controls for each channel.2 way foot switch channel change and boost.Built with complete quality porcelin tube sockets, 11 tubes and all gold plated connections. Speaker outs, 8 & 16 ohms ,effects loop with volumes for in & out. This thing weighs about 81 lbs and very solid. Looks Like PURE CLASS AND SOUNDS LIKE PURE CLASS. Rate at 9 only because no Trem.

The Sound quality is fantastic. I have a 1959 Gibson Discover and it is very simular to its sound but much much bigger. It breaks up adding the overdrive but also leaving a dry signal at the same time unless you crank the gain all the way. To me it articulates like the Billy Gibbons sound, very harmonic and very responsive and dynamic. I play Pauls and Strats through it and I'm in HEAVEN. Tired of the Fender sound? Concider a Gibson amp. They are incredible. This amp will break windows and send shivers up and down your spine. I hear these refered to as studio amps. They can handle studio or live set up no problem!

Treat it right. Don't bang it around, When turning it on and off let the tubes heat up and cool down for a moment. USE THE STANDBY! Always have a back-up any thing can happen not always being the amps fault!

I wrote to the service with Questions and they answered right back. Pretty cool.

Been playing 30 years. This amp is one of my best. I have Blk face fenders, Silver face, Orange, Gibson, There all fantastic. I will have many more stories and songs to write with this amp. The first one I ordered got dropped in shipping and smashed, think brown% I would search for months to find another in good condition! If after 4 hours you still have a ? Just keep playing!

this amp has it all "everything u need" been looking for this amp a while now. celestion speakers are my favorate, 10' and 12" 2 channels with 5 way swicth 3 channels (1 and blended) has a boost too. 2 effects loops. build like a tank not for the meek...

AWESOME TONE ac30 on the juice!!! flame thrower...best classic rock tone ever.. i've owned almost every thing out there, this amp is right for me...I ALSO use a discontinued nighthawk with it perfect match.

dont know only been a few days, its 5 years old and it's mint...

called gibson and the ******** never called me back.. cant blame the amp..pencil pushers

the amp is killer!! it's very heavy fun just to open her up loud and tear it up....

This is one of the early 2000's model Gibson GA-30RV Super Goldtone combos. It's a 30-watt class A amp with 2 channels that are switchable with the standard 2-button footswitch and blendable with the optional 5-button footswitch. Each channel has its own EQ, reverb, and gain, and the amp has an overall master volume.

I use this amp for everything from indie/alt rock, to downtempo ambient metal, to pop, to acoustic accompaniment. It is incredibly versatile. It response incredibly well to humbuckers, both woody flat-response humbuckers and really bitey high-gain pickups.

Now the one thing that this amp continuously gets downgraded for is the difficulty in finding the 5-button footswitch option for this amp. Quite frankly, the amp is useless without it. The clean channel sounds great, but there's really no depth to the distortion channel by itself. The really unfortnate thing about the amp is that it has the ability to bridge channels, but only with the 5-button footswitch. This is really the only thing on the entire amp that's poorly designed.

BUT - there is hope. A company in Indiana by the name of British Audio Service makes an auxillary 2-button footswitch that plugs into the jack for the 5-button that allows you to bridge the channels and control the effects loop in addition to the single channel switch and boost on the standard 2-button. This is a godsend. Find it here:
http://www.britishaudioservice.com/shop_main_gibson.shtml

Trust me, this makes the amp go from a 6 or a 7 to an easy 10. The blended channels makes this the absolute most awesome sounding amp i have ever heard. If you own this amp and don't own a 5-button, please do yourself a favor and buy the auxillary. It will transform your tone in ways you couldn't imagine.

As mentioned, without the auxillary switch, this amp is probably a 7, but with it, it's the perfect sounding amp for me. Absolutely perfect.

The amp is a little on the trebly side (like any class A amp) but it is easily remedied because the EQ is so responsive.

I generally keep my settings at
6-2-2-10-7.5-1-7.5-4-9.5-6-2-6. It'll blow you out of the water when you bridge the channels and let it rip.

It's also a really quiet amp and responds well to pedals - my setup goes:
Gibson RD Artist with Burstbucker Pickups/Custom Telecaster with GFS Humbuckers -> EB Volume Jr, Boss TU-2, Boss DD-20 Gigadelay, Ibanez PH-99 DuoPhaser, Fulltone Supatrem, Fulltone Choralflange, Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, Teese RMC-2 Wah -> Super Goldtone with E/H Holier Grail Reverb in the effects loop. The only thing that I could vote it down on is that the delay repetitions tend to be a little over the top with high-end, but that's more the delay's fault than the amp's.

It fits my primary style beautifully - I play lead for Mansions, an indie/alt rock band, and I've used it for a number of other styles as well, and it's never really let me down. It's got a very marshall/vox distortion sound. So it's not going to hold water if you're playing scooped-mid speed metal, but anything requiring really thick, heavy, full distortion will be well-suited by this amp. It is a killer amp.

This is really the only reason i would downgrade this amp. I tour full-time and keep it in a road case, and I'm too poor to have a backup, so I really just have to hope. Unfortunately this guy has let me down a couple of times. Once before a gig in Kentucky a diode in the power section blew, which left me without an amp. When I brought it to my amp tech, he pointed out that about 3 of the diodes had degraded completely due to Gibson using cheap, average components. Frustrating to say the least.

In addition, the amp has a 12" Celestion Vintage 30 and a 10" Celestion Vintage 10. Both are rated at 60 watts, but I've now blown the V10 twice. It's really frustrating. Fortunately, Gibson has also set up the amp to run sufficiently on 1-speaker without altering the impedance load.

So reliability is my one complaint about this guy.

Customer service on this is kind of a pain because the amp has been discontinued, and the design has been moved to England and Trace Elliot is covering support, which makes it really difficult to find any information on it.

However, the manual is really useful and the schematics are available online, so if you're capable, you can fix a lot of the stuff yourself.

Also, Gibson was genius in labeling everything on the board, and labeling the tubes and what they control directly on the circuit board. So if you have a problem, it's really easy to troubleshoot.

And besides, it's way more useful to have your own local tech than send it off to the manufacturer every time something goes wrong on it.

This is the best amp I've ever owned. It's heavy as all hell - 80 lbs, but it's awesome. Buy the amp. Buy the auxillary footswitch. You'll love it. I've owned the amp for 2 or 3 years now and I've never kept an amp that long - usually I get tired of an amp within 6 months. This one will be with me for a while. Guaranteed

This is the tweed model falling between the 1950s two-tone GA30 and the mid-60s 'Crest' models; believed to have been made in 1960 or 1961. 20"h, 22"w, and 9.5"d covered in the darker of two Gibson tweed tolex materials. Two channels with twin inputs each, footswitched reverb on ch. 2, volume for each channel, tone, reverb depth, and a 'tone expander / tone snuffer' switch in the negative feedback loop that switches a cap in/out of loop; sounds pretty good in one position, like a blanket over the grillcloth in the other. 3X6EU7, 1X12AU7, 2X6V6, and a 5Y3 rectifier. Would have been nice if it had a speaker out. Finger-jointed cabinet construction is very sturdy. This amp has some of the common mold stains caused by the water in the tolex glue interacting with the cotton backing of the tolex. Some Gibson tweed amps have no stains at all; others are covered ... go figure.

I'm just a toe-tapping, back-room geezer. Play mostly 50s/60s classic R&R, a little C&W, and a little R&B on a Guild starfire w/ humbuckers. I have a limited repetoire however the GA30 does fine for the little I play. It's cleaner and louder than some of the other Gibsons from the period; more like a Fender Pro or Super. The reverb is lush enough; not rain forest and not too thin either. It has an 8" Jensen C8R and a 12" Jensen P12R but the 8" is a little quick to breakup; not the desireable distortion, the cruddy/muddy thing. Like most amps of the day, it's tonal range is limited by it's circuit and controls but generally a robust, strong, sweet sound tilted toward the bass end of things.

Most of the Gibson products from the period don't have the high build standard of comparable Fenders. I don't play out, don't push any of my amps too hard, and I do my own bench work. At 15 watts, this amp really isn't a serious gigging amp but in most other circumstances and when properly refurbished, it wouldn't be any less reliable than any other vintage amp. There isn't anything in the amp that an amp tech couldn't fix if it came to that; it just isn't that complicated.

N/A; easy enough to fix or have fixed.

This a fine amp if you like or prefer Gibson over Fender sound; rich, warm, harmonic, thickish, compressed, and chimey; very typical late 50s sound and appearance. Not as clean as a comparable Fender and not as much headroom. Probably more of a collector than player's amp. I own, or have owned, a series of Gibsons; GA1RT, GA5 Skylark (Crest), GA8 Gibsonette, GA18 Explorer, GA19RVT Falcon, and this GA30RV. Of these, my favorite is the 2X12AX7, 2X6V6 GA18 but the GA30 is right there; I like its reverb better than what I was able to get out of the GA19RVT that used a 7199 for reverb send/return as opposed to the GA30's 1/2 6EU7 and 1/2 12AU7 send/return respectively. Strong, warm amp; not especially versatile but that's what pedals are for.

This USA Made Gibson Super Goldtone GA-30RV amp was made and discontinued in 2005. I purchased one of the last three the retailer had in stock. Very lucky cat I am indeed!

Features:
30 watt Class A 1x10 + 1x12 combo. Yes two differently sized Celestions! 1x10??? and 1x12??? (Celestion Vintage 10
and Vintage 30
Tubes: 5 x 12AX7/ECC83???s ,2 x 12AT7/ECC81???s and 4 x EL84???s. Yes 11 tubes!

Weight: 75 lbs. Built like a brick....house. Yes Sir!

Has two channels with possibility of three if you are lucky enough to find the discontinued 5-way foot switch. Came with the 2-way unit.

I use this amp all the time with my Boss GT-8 effect unit and my new Dean Guitars USA Soltero. Wow, what a nice variety of sounds you can get with this baby. I bet eric Johnson would fall in love with this amp if he had one to try out.

Retail is/was $2395.00 and realistically sold for $!,595.99. Bought at closeout for $999.95. Gift if there ever was one. Thank you Lord.

Sound quality is awesome. Clean, dirty. Country, Jazz, Rock and even some serious metal if you have some additional effect pedals or the boss GT-8. That makes this thing complete I tell ya. Like i said I use it with my new Dean Soltero and wow, this amp should only be used with a serious guitar that is well suited for studio play. That way you can really hear and feel the quality it delivers. Not too many effects needed with this gal. Clean as clean/clear can get. Can get nasty too when driven hard. Sounds great at low and high volumes. man this Class A 30 Watt amp get loud. Very solid!

Well, it's been taken apart and put back together just to reset the tubes and check out the wiring and I tell ya, at 75 lbs. you better find a place to put it and just forget about moving it. Built to last and that's about it. I wish Gibson had kept in in their stables but they screwed up by building too much amp for the time/era we are in. Over engineered! Not one problem to speak of.

Gibson is pretty good about the support although this amp has and probably never will see the Gibson headquarters again.

Been playing several years and use a Dean Soltero, Steinberger, Fender stat and Dean Hardtail. Only effect unit is that awesome Boss GT-8. That being said I can cover any, and I mean any sound out there including what the combination of that 10" and 12" celestion speaker(s) offer with those 11 Tubes. Just awesome I tell you.

Continuation of previous review...
I use it now with the 5-way switch. Allows you to combine the two channels together. Absolutely amazing tone. This thing is a electric guitar players dream.
This amp deserves a 12 for tone shaping.

The amp matches all my guitars with very little fiddling around. Makes the Clapton Strat sound incredible (shimmery). The tele bites and growls with authority, and the Strat SSH becomes a nicely versital StratoPaul/LesCaster.

Did some tube swapping, found that NOS tubes really like the amp.
Used RCA&GE 5751's (blackface), Phillips 12ax7a(crunchy R&R), RCA 12ax7a (JTM45), a really old RCA 12ax7 that made it sound like a 50 year old bassman amp. I can only imaging what a mullard or telefunken set would sound like.
I can change tone tubes like a different suit of clothes. Way too much fun.
This amp is a stress reducer. It breathes big time.

Only gone one through one set of el84 power tubes in past 4 months.
Not bad considering the amount of hours per week this amp is used.
I'm a died in the wool 6L6 user. Didn't know what to expect with these, I'd only heard the complaints about voxes and some of the other boutiquers out there that had a crash and burn on stage.

Only had one bad day with a tube. Turned out to be a reverb return tube clattering with a heavy overtone. Replaced it, problem solved.
Give it a 11 for uummph, awe and inspiration.

Just like any other tube amp. Keep it dry, far from the kids and the wankers, give it TLC every few months and it will last a long long time.

Ended up getting the 5 way footswitch from a UK Trace Elliot ebayer.
Good discount price, but the shipping brought the price back up to US retail.
Tried Gibson for the footswitch. They sent me the schematic. Shucks.

My only complaint, this is one heavy box.
The celestions... which are great sounding speakers add so much weight to the thing.
Maybe a pair of lighter weight alnico blue english speakers or those new fangled Jenson NEO series speakers. We'll see.

Amp has two channels, both work well. 5 function footswitch adds channel switching, mixing, boost, effects loop, and reverb on/off.
Comes with a 2 button footswitch - channel switching and boost(add a stage of gain).
EL84 power tubes, Class A.
12ax7's pre-amp.
Two speakers - 10" & 12" Celestion Vintage 30's
Line out - pretransformer.
Discontinued amp, Might become hard to find. Mine is a demo.
Heavy.
Plenty of power even without the boost.
Haven't use effects loop.
Easy tube/circuit board/speaker access.
Great blue/rock/jazz/country amp.
No headphone jack.
Can play as a two speaker amp or a 1 speaker 10" or 1 speaker 12".
Can plug in a 16ohm cabinet along with internal speakers.

Strat S/S/H, Tele52.
Blues/Motown/Rock/Country/Jazz does it all.
Very little noise without boost. Boost adds gain and some hiss. No big deal. Filtering is top notch.

Amp chimes, chunks, sings, slaps you in the face. You do it, it comes out. So far so good.
Clean channel can be sweet at low settings or nasty when turned up.
Haven't needed the distortion channel yet on a gig. Still using my pedals until I get more comfy.
I've made it sound like a Tube Screamer, and a Plexi.
Distortion has a two knob set-up gain & volume with a master.

TONEbaby.

Talked to British Audio Service. The don't see these coming in for service like some of the other models.
Someday I might have to work on it. Schematics and parts lists are readily available.
Always carry a back-up.
Never broken down.

Gibson answered my questions right upfront.
Service with a smile. Patience.

Been playing 45 years.
Play a Gibson GA-15 as a back-up.
Use a Fender 69 Vibrolux Reverb.
I'd buy another.
I love its TONEbaby.
Took a couple months to decide.
Wish I had a oil well.
This amp makes you sound like yourself. It's not for someone looking to sound like a specific artist or stylist. If you have the chops it brings them out front to your audience.

Bought new, 30w,1x12,1x10 Celestions. The 12 and the 10 give it a great tone. I'll just mention some things that I don't think anybody else mentioned, maybe they did.

One of the coolest features of this amp that nobody mentioned here, was the fact that you can mix ch1 and ch2 with the 5way foot switch. How cool is that? How many other amps can you think of that can do that? That feature gives this amp a voice all of its own.

Another feature is the parallel and series effects loop switch. You can either mix the dry guitar signal with the loop signal or keep it separate keeping the dry guitar signal unmolested. Parallel effects loop is great. It keeps my guitar signal clean while using my full loop. Another great feature is that the 5 way switch can turn on or off the effects loop. One switch, great feature. Now I don't have to do the Irish Jig to turn on and off different effects. One switch, one foot stomp. Cool. Makes my life easier.

I think everyone else already mentioned the rest.

This amp is one of the best. From Clean to Dirty and everything in between. Class A cleans up the mud in those overwound humbuckers and single coils are just awesome.

I've been mainly using the 57 Goldtop with it but the 54 Goldtop sound great as well. The Strat, Tele, Jaguar all have their unique sound that actually come through this amp. No guitar gets muffled or squashed like some other amps are so great at doing. Gibson guitars, Fender, whatever, bring em all on, this amp will make you sound good.

So far so good...

Haven't had the need

This amp is the shit. Listen to Fuzzy (4/21/04), he know's what he's talkin about.

Class A amp. 30 watts of all tube signal. 12 inch and 10 inch vintage Celestions. 6 spring reverb (very good). 5 button footswitch. Great effects loop!!! A very loud amp that breathes with the player. Incredible response and sensitivity, while very quiet in the soft passages.

I play a Gibson ES335 and a stock USA Fender Strat. The other guitarist in our band plays a PRS 10 top custom 22, (he uses a Gibson Goldtone also). A former second guitarist in our band also had a Gibson Goldtone before he sold it to buy chemicals and tried to replace the Goldtone with a cheap Fender amp. He used to say that SRV, Hendrix, Page, Gary Moore, Angus Young, Keith Richards and The Beatles all had a "goosey" tone? He tried to convince us that all of these "goose" tones were worn out and old and we need a new garage sound. Well he lost the gig and is now washing dishes at a local diner and bragging to the bus boys and the other dishwasher,(his sound tech) about his fame in our band. We sound so great now with two Goldtones! They do a great class A Stones and Beatles sound and step on a footswitch and you are in the AC/DC zone. You want Led Zep, Jimi? Tweek a few knobs and presto!!! Our band is booked from the summer all the way through the holidays doing weddings, clubs and corporate parties. We play mostly classic rock and country and this amp is perfect for all of these tones!!!

Never failed!!!!

Have never used them but they have a great website!

This amp is perfectly suited for the classic rock or country sounds. There are lots of other good amps out there but the Goldtone is on the top of the list of Tone, Reliablity, Versatility, quality workmanship and price. I would honestly say that you can get real Marshall Plexi tones, real British Vox tones, real Blackface pre-CBS Fender tones and real Matchless tones without spending many thousands of dollars, spending extra money and down-time in repair shops and not use some trashey sounding modeling amp. Of course I would replace it if I was to lose it somehow. It took many years of experimenting with all kinds of different amps to finally settle on the Gibson Goldtone.

30 watts, class A tube amp. Two channels, clean and gain. Reverb, effects loop. Definitely get the 5 way foot switch. Does what I want it to do... i.e. it sounds like a guitar amp should in my opinion.

I have owned this amp for about two months and have fallen in love with it. To me it is everything I have been looking for since I got rid of an all tube combo in about 1978 (i think it was a Guild). SInce then I have owned an 70's Ampeg (to clean), Peavey (nice but no warmth),Marshall Valve State (decent), and Fender Twin (warm, clean, but no distortion w/o effects).. Nothing quite did it for me tone wise until I got this amp. I play a Les Paul through my GA30-RV, and use no efects. This amp sounds killer on it's own. I play classic rock like: Tom Petty, Stones, AC/DC, etc.. I generally play using both channels at once (clean vol on about 5, and gain channel on about 5, master around 4).. To my ears this amp sounds like a vintage Vox, or Marshall cranked.. but also has great clean warm sounds.. It's awesome.. beautiful sustain and feedback.. Crunchy when cranked but not dirty or harsh.. I can't say enough about how good the amp sounds to me.

Solid as a rock.

ok, called them once.. seemed a little clueless frankly, but doubt I'll ever need them.

Fantastic to my ears.. if you like Rick Nielsen, Angus Young, Tom Petty, et al tone.. then this is the amp for you.

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.

Wow. With the optional footswitch (I got the footswitch used from a local music store), you get basically 5 sounds:

Channel 1 - Clean to slight crunch, nice edge
Channel 2 - Very crunchy to high drive, ala Marshall (basic vox to marshall)
Channel 1 & 2 Together, mix 'em as you want them
Channel 1 with Boost
Channel 2 with Boost
Channel 1 & 2 with Boost.

On top of all this, you get cool speaker configurations:
The 10 and 12 together
The 10 alone
The 12 alone
Either of them, or both, with an external cabinet.

Add to this versaitility independent reverb controls (with some true sensibility, for instance, if you select channel one and two together, by default only reverb 2 sets the level (thank god)).

Add to all of this a Series/Parallel effects loop. You can make it sit in series with the Preamp - Poweramp, or parallel, and mix in the amount of effect with your straight signal!

TALK ABOUT FEATURES - This amp rules on features.

Oh My God. All I can say is get your best axe, and get yourself to the nearest dealer. This thing covers the tone, from Matchless to Marshall, with Vintage Vox inbetween.

I have sat with it and tweaked controls, and the speaker settings above, and gotten tones from edgy sparkle, to full Van Halen brown, or Steven Vai sustain. Can clean up pretty nice - but this is not a fender.

I love this amplifiers sounds. Really, get on over to a dealer and play with one.

I have no idea although it is a tube amp, and tubes do blow. But I like that! Because they are easy to change, and different valves give different sounds.

Other than that, they do say in the manual that they have laid out the amp with traditional point-to-point wiring priciples. However, there is still some circuit boards in the amp, although not in the sound chain.

Lastly they use all porcelain tube sockets with gold plated connectors.

Should last quite some time. I honestly havent had it long enough to speak to reliability.

I would anticipate the worst, ala typical Gibson and Fender.

This is the best amp I have ever had, or heard.

My main guitar (when not on my Vicente Carrillo Rio), is a PRS Custom 22 10 top, with tremolo. The only effect I use is a delay. The guitar has Dragon II pickups. Rotating through all of the selector positions on the guitar yields fantastic sounds from this amp. I have been hard pressed to set it to sound bad. For me, that is a first. I have used so many setups with a narrow sweet spot. With this rig the whole thing is sweet spot.

I am into playing alternative/indy pop with this setup, although the tone from this would stand up to nearly anything. However, if you are a shredder, find something else. This thing lacks noise, and does not create that false electronic wall of distortion. This amp is all warm, harmonic, sweet soul of guitar sound.

I think you really should at least go try one out - the sound is boggling.

I love this amp!!! I bought it brand new in 2001 and have had it for over a year and a half. 30 watts of class A power. Two GREAT sounding preamps-both with footswitchable boosts (very useful). Parallel or series effects loop. Interesting speaker configuration (1x12 and 1x10) but after you get used to it, the combination of the two speakers as well as individual speaker miking techniques, yields a wide pallet of tones. Very quiet channel switching. Surprisingly loud. This amp is at home in any venue. Tone controls are very precise, even a half notch of tweakage can entirely change the charactaristics of your tone (especially the Middle control on the Dirty channel). The preamps are both brilliantly tuned with vast versatility on either channel.

I've used about every type of guitar with this amp- Les Pauls, 335's, SG's, strats, teles, you name it. This amp responds very well to all of them. I typically use a Les Paul Classic with it though. The amp can dish out pretty much anything (unless you are looking for a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier distortion). This amp sounds like a hybrid between an AC-30 and a Marshall JCM 800/900. The clean channel sounds great! It gets really glassy when you give it some juice, and when you turn the channel volume fairly high it yields a great clean crunch (especially with the boost ON). This amp really shines through the dirty channel. By keeping the gain around four and cranking the channel volume, the tone is thick and ballsy with great clarity. By switching the boost ON, of course you get more gain, but the dynamic of the distortion is very tight and focused. I normally plug it in to my Mesa 4x12 with vintage 30's. You wouldn't believe how huge this amp can sound. It's my secret tone weapon. Oh yeah, and the accutronics reverb on this amp is lush but not overbearing. It doesn't color your tone, it just makes it BIGGER. So there you have it. Anything from a boxy Vox-esque clean/crunch (I A/Bed it with my AC-15) to a loose Orange like grind (A/Bed with my Orange AD-15 1x12) to a full on balls to the wall Marshall JCM 800/900 (I've worked with both) This amp really covers it all.

I've had this amp for a year and a half now. I play it often, and when I play it, I play it hard. I've never had even a glimpse of a problem with it. I've traveled all over the country with it and it's been a complete dream the whole way. I know I'm letting down my responsability tag, but I've never even had to change the tubes in it yet. Even though it's a handwired point to point class A amp, I don't even bring a backup amp. It's proved itself to me already.

I've never had to call Gibson.

I've been playing for 11 years. My gear collection rivals a music store and this amp is by far the best sounding amp I own. I'm even considering buying the head version of this amp too. The natural tones are great, the amp sounds great with pedals in front of it (which we all know is a rarety if we admit it), it's got just enough features to give you great tonal freedom, yet not enough to bog you down with a bunch of extra curcuitry that just eats up your tone. The only thing that bothers me about it is it's weight, but it's not a big enough issue to give this amp a less than perfect rating. So far I've had TWO of my fellow guitar playing friends hock their AC-30's for one of these bad boys.

I believe this is a 2001 model, Class A 30 watt via 4 EL84's. It features 2 independent preamps (one for clean, one for dirty) and a boost for each. Effects loop, 6 spring accutronics reverb (seperated by channel, which means you can have one level of reverb for one channel and another level for the other channel). One Vintage 30 and one Vintage 10 speaker. The 30 carries the low end while the 10 carries the shimmer of the high end. The optional 5-button foot controller is a must. You can play thru both preamps at the same time, almost like playing thru 2 different amps!!! It may cost another $100 but it's definitely worth it. The provided foot controller sucks. No LED lights or markings or anything! You don't know on stage if you're in boost mode or not, so get the 5-button.

I play classic style rock with a modern edge. This amp is PERFECT for anything classic rock or blues. I play a '93 Gibson Nighthawk, a '90 Les Paul Studio with EMG's and a '88 Amercian STD Strat with LSR Roller Nut, Schaller locking tuners and a Hipshot Tremsetter (Yeah it has a little bit of tone). Higher volumes give you a fuzz style distortion with humbuckers. It really will kick your ass. If you back off a little the overdrive is UNBELIEVABLE!!! I've never heard an amp sound so good. I also own a Fender Twin and it kicks it in the ass. I've searched for the perfect sound and have now found it. This amp will bring you one step closer to heaven. It is the definition of a rock guitar amp. I couldn't imagine anything sounding better.

When I first bought it I had some problems but took it in still under warranty and it sounds great with no problems now.

Warranty worked - no prob

This amp is incredible. It's made by Trace Elliot under the Gibson name, but they did a GREAT job on it. If I ever lost this or it was stolen I would have to track down the jerk that did it and execute him. This amp is better than sex. I've been playing 16 years and have found my bread and butter. Check this amp out.

This 30W 1x12 + 1x10 class A tube combo was manufactured in the UK around 2000 or 2001, weighs in at 75 lbs and is built to last a lifetime. Lists for $2,400, Musician's Friend sells for $1500, I got it from Mars Music during thier liquidation sale for $1000. Outer features include: heavy-duty handle, metal corner protectors, rugged rubber feet, black vinyl/tolex, gold piping, brass speaker grilles, no-nonsense two button foot switch, and heavy-duty switches and knobs. Guts include: 11 Tubes?4 EL84s, 5 12AX7s, and 2 12AT7s; 2 channels?channel one consists of master, volume, treb, mid, bass, boost, reverb-channel two is the same but substitute gain and level for volume; off/standby/on switch; speakers?one 12" Celestion Vintage 30 (50 oz magnet) and one 10" Celestion Vintage 10 (27 oz magnet); Reverb?6 spring accutronics; FX loop?send and return level controls & series/parallel switch. The complete signal path (preamps, FX loop, 'verb, & power stage is 100% class A tube. The GA-30RV is not hand made (though is a worthy opponent to most boutiques out there), but is built and laid out using very high quality components (no, it doesn't come stocked with NOS tubes) and point to point wiring principals. The tube sockets are porcelain and the jack sockets are gold plated; power/output transformers and chokes use high-grade laminations, and windings are resin soaked. This rig pumps out more than enough power (30W class A is hotter and louder that 30W A/B and which is much louder than 50-60W solid state-how is this possible? I don't know the electrical/physical reason for it, an engineer may tell you this is hype and bullshit generated by tube heads and amp manufacturers, but check it out for yourself it is true-) . Pit it against a 100W Line 6 Flextone II XL 2x12 and it held its own and more volume wise and kicked its ass in every direction tone wise (of course you know the tone wise part of it already, I'm just telling you that the Goldtone pumps out all the power you will need, unless you need a full stack.)

Using a Custom Shop Class 5 Les Paul with BurstBuckers and a cheap guitar with single coils. I use no FX because I have no FX (really don't want anything getting in the way of its natural tone). The Paul sounds great clean and great dirty. I use channel one for clean to super clean and warm country/jazz type sounds to slightly overdriven complex sounds ala Faces, Stones, Chuck Berry etc., and channel two for sound from Trower, Cream, Bluesbreakers, Zep, Allmans to clean and all in between. The gain is fat, creamy, and just blooms with all sorts of rich harmonic complexities, very easy on the ears, in fact it massages my ears as the notes decay and reveal themselves in all of their mathematical subdivisional fractional glory. The amp is capable of that expensive sweet warm tone (great for jazz and blues) as well as that brutal but soothing overdriven tone (picture John Bonham's drums but only on a guitar). This amp just inspires you to play, practice, and jam.
If you are looking for that Slayer/Pantera sound then keep shopping amps; although I have played some Priest, VH, Metallica, and Ozzy thru it and it does hold its own.
Overall, very responsive, full, robust, complex, detailed class A tube tone and power.

I've been using it at various volume levels and settings, hauling it all over hell's acre, and sitting on it since March 2002. No sign of any scars yet. In fact, it sounds better now than it did last month.

Very helpful customer service in Nashville; they'll talk to you about music and equipment all day long-they really seem to know their stuff.

Been playing 15 years and listening to music since I was a fetus.
I enjoy this amp immensely, but would probably replace it with a 1963 Vox, Bogner, Top Hat, Matchless, Victoria, or Peavey--NOT!
I love everything about it, and it looks like a cool piece of furniture to boot, very traditional and classic grille.
I realize that these reviews are somewhat self serving-we buy stuff, feel passionate about it want to sound off to someone, want reassurance that we bought the right thing, and want to read, talk, and think about our toys as much as we can. Truth is I don't visit chat rooms, bulletin boards, and the like, and quite honestly I'd rather be playing thru my GA-30RV right now, but my wife is sleeping and I can't be dissin' her at this hour, so here I am writin' all you foos. OUT!

Oh yea, gots me a Vibro King too and it Kicks the Gobson's ass on pure clean tone but not the dirty tones.