Gibson GA-40 Les Paul

No effects loops, channel switching or reverb and I don't miss them. Four inputs, two channels with ind. vol. controls and shared tone control. Depth and Frequency controls for footswitch activated tremelo. I wish they had included speaker jacks in the original design, but it usually gets miked anyway. I favor rockabilly, cowpunk, rock, blues, soul and jazz. The only effect I use with this is echo. You can manipulate the tone thru your choice of guitar ( Tele or Gibson w/ p-90's for me)and it's volume control. It's only 15 watts output, but that's enough for alot of rooms and you can dime it!

With the volume below 4 and playing a tele, the tone is rich and on the verge of breakup. There is not much headroom in this amp, but plenty of definition. After five it doesen't get louder, just more compressed and overdriven in the best possible way. Single notes take on a violin like quality- smooth and full of sustain. I think it's the 5879 pre amp tubes are part of the unique tone, as well as the solid redwood cab. I have found there is no substitute for real built in tremelo and this amp has some of the best I've heard and I've heard plenty, although I've never owned a magnatone.

Judging by the looks of the amp when I purchased it, it had been thru alot-the good ones get played. Since then it has survived a flood. After being submerged for 10 hours it needed caps and power tubes (and a good cleaning!), everything I owned that was made of plywood or pressboard warped or came apart. I took it to the local guru (after moving to high ground) and it was up and running in a week after getting new tubes and caps. I gigged with it on a regular basis for years afterward. Maybe it was made on a Wednesday? It gets regular tune ups and still runs fine.

Gibson will send a schematic, but they can't tell you much about the amp. Holiday for Strings is a good website to find infornmation.

My first tweed amp and still my favorite. Here's the obligitory list of past and present amps I've had to compare this to: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Super Reverb, Vibro King and Tweed pro knockoff, Marshalls, and othe gibsons. I prefer the simple designs of tweed amps and think thay can deliver all you need, just not in easy presets. These are still a great deal, although they have increased rapidly in price in the last couple of years. I think this might be due to that "Beatles Gear" book-George played one in the Hamburg days.

1961 GA-40 tube amp. saw the ad in los angeles "recycler" newspaper, so took a drive down to santa monica & checked it out. turns out the seller is a guy who is VERY knowledgable when it comes to tube amps-- servicing, repairing, re-coning is his day job. anyway, he told me that the amp in question needed re-tubing, re-capping, & a new speaker when he acquired it; he had already performed these modifications, & therefore the amp was already a different sorta beast from an original 1961 GA-40 when i showed up at the guy's door. so is mine "vintage"? uh, that would be a "no". do i care? that would be another "no". all i want is SOUND-- big, beautiful SOUND. this amp's got it. so back to the title of this category: FEATURES. two channels, each w/two inputs. channel 2 inputs are for the tremolo circuit. volume knob for each channel, only one tone knob (so it's shared between the two channels), speed & intensity controls for the trem. trem sounds great, but i pretty much never use it. maybe someday.

i wanted a medium-wattage tube amp w/an awesome clean sound as a "jumping-off" point for pedals & effects. i know the very idea might make some country pickers cry:"why mess with that beautiful sparkle-y nashville clean sound?" & blues players are probably moaning:"why use pedals? just turn the volume knob to the right to get your overdrive, dummy!" to each his own. just thought i'd mention here that my GA-40 stays clean all the way up to 6 or 7 on the volume dial; some other reviewers have reported break-up as early as 3 or 4 on theirs. guitars i'm using: 1976 gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s, 1970s (year unknown) gibson marauder w/stock bill lawrence pick-ups, & 2005 epiphone les paul standard w/lollar humbuckers. so, single coils > p-90s > humbuckers: doesn't matter, the GA-40 loves 'em all.

1961 to 2006? that's 45 years! older than me! take a look around your house-- how much stuff do you have that's that old? unless you're fred sanford, my guess would be: NOT TOO MUCH. this suitcase was made the year roger maris broke the babe's singe-season home run record. & unless ya don't know nuthin 'bout this steroid scandal currently goin on, i shouldn't hafta tell ya which of the two has lasted longer (hint: choose the amp, not the 61 homers).

get real.

i mentioned earlier that i got the GA-40 primarily for use w/pedals. even though you may be yawning w/anticipation, i'm gonna tell ya what those pedals are. here goes.... COMPRESSION: barber tone press, kaden sapsucker. WAH: musician sound design silver machine, emma discombobulator. VIBE: roger mayer voodoo vibe jr. DISTORTION: maxon ds-830, emma reezafratzitz. FUZZ: euthymia icbm, euthymia crucible, homebrew(tn) beer buzz, homebrew(tn) li'l bastard, urso splinter. BOOST: tc jauernig luxury drive, tc jauernig atomic fet boy, homebrew(az) germania. EQ: mxr m-108 10-band eq. CHORUS-FLANGE-PHASE: maxon ch-550, mxr m-117 flanger, maxon ph-350 rotary phaser, red witch moon phaser. NOISE REDUCTION: isp tech decimator. DELAY: maxon ad-900, maxon ad-999, boss dd-20, danelectro back talk. CONDITIONING: ayan smooth & slim, bbe sonic stomp, barber launch pad. wotta dork, huh?

This is a 1960 GA-40 amp. Two tone, with rear-mounted controls, tremelo but no vibrato. Replaced speaker, make unknown. Two channels, two inputs (mic and instrument) each channel. Channel two is the tremolo channel. Mic inputs are much hotter, with more gain, the mic input of channel one being the hottest. Separate channel volumes, one voicing knob for both. Tremelo frequency and depth for channel 2. No standby. These are 6v6 amps. Supposed to be 14-16 watts, but mine has to be higher. It gets LOUD! I give it a 7 for lack of reverb. In fact, for this era and design, it's really a 10. The four input channel scheme is very useful.

I'm using a G&L ASAT Classic, tuned to open E. Play with slide and without. I've got it set up as follows: Guitar into EH Holy Grail reverb. Line out to A/B/Both box. A line to mic input channel one, volume 1 - 3. B line to instrument channel two, volume half-way. Guitar volume has yet to go all the way up.

Amp has idle noise. Not dead quiet, but once you play it's no factor. The tone is absolutely beautiful, one of the biggest, coolest sounds I've ever heard. This is my first non-Fender amp. I typically play a BF Deluxe Reverb, and totally love it. The Gibson is very different. Doesn't have the crystal clear, low-volume clean of a BF. Tubes start saturating around 3. Notes fatten up, and you start hearing an indescribably "push" on paired notes and chords. Hard to explain. Not yet overdrive. More that the sound gets thicker and rings. Turn up higher, and overdrive comes in. Notes sustain and sing. Chords are huge, big bass presence without flab. My G&L tends to crunch, so I keep the voicing most of the way up. The input jumpering or blending options are the coolest. Channel one mic input is really hot. Just a little bit of that pushes the cleaner sound of channel two. Way more volume than I can use. Especially with that channel one mic input, there's lots of overdrive available at non ear-bleed volumes.

Harp players love this amp. I can see why. I'd give it a 20 if I could.

The amp is new to me, but my guess is it'll be very reliable. The amp was owned by a well-known player. He clearly set it up right. Judging by the sound, he did everything necessary. I've played out with old amps for years. As long as they're set up right and maintained well, there's rarely ever a problem. I'm hoping this one is like that also.

Not likely.

I've been playing for close to 40 years. Own a lovely BF Deluxe Reverb, and a well-played, monster sounding '64 Super Reverb. Have tried many other modern amps, but the older tweeds and non-reverbs are pretty new to me. Now I can see what I've been missing. This amp totally surprised me in the store. So loud and heavy. I played another, much better condition and a bit older GA-40 a few days later. It was quiet, sort of lackluster. Also tried a variety of other Gibsons. Every one had something to offer, but none of them come close to this one. Being unemployed, I'm in no position to get more equipment. Luckily, I was able to trade something, as I couldn't have lived with myself if I let this one get away. If I lost it, I wouldn't even try to replace it. I'm not planning on losing it.

I play Blues Harp !!!. This is a 1952 Les Paul GA-40 (only 329 made premier year)Ams is verstile...has a mic input; and instrument input...The microphone input is for harp, deifinitely. 1 channel mic; 3 channels instrument. It has very good power driven from its original Jensen concert 12" speaker- sweeeeeeet. Has the tremolo foot switch at 3 speeds, keep at lower speed at harp, and the tremolo becomes your natural voice...Very loud, can handle a gig, but may need to be miked. (Tubes 5V4G rectifier; 3x 6V6GT; 1x 6SN7; 3x 6SJ7). This set-up was for 1952-through-1954; then tube complimenst changed

For blues harp, the best mic is a JT-30 astatic. Green bullet magnetic elements sound great tone, but a little bit too bassy, as the JT-30 is beyond sharp magnificant - perfect. I also tried my special RCA biscuit with special unknown very hot old crystal element, but mic sounds great, but actually too hot and tubes spit and whistle sometimes, so JT-30 rules (ask Kim Wilson or Rod Piazza...same rig- Purchase Piazza's "alphabet blues" CD for a sample)-The sound is beyond explanation, like being on another planet, a freak of nature..warm tone brown flat large 12" jensen. The tremolo circuit is powered by its own 6V6GT. I got a National Union 6V6GT and put that in replacing a Sovtek...big difference. Took out the other 2 sovtek reflector 6V6GT (They are underrated, these sovtek's are very good black-smoke glass). I tried Tung Sol 6V6, very bright brown loud tone..then finally settled with two matched JAN RCA CRC 6V6GT----these blended perfect phonics and circuitry with the National union (also underrated). Man, I am there, like having tantric sex with an amp- forever.

Seems like a workhouse, much wear on cabinet- it has been re-serviced by amp guru with some caps replaced, safer power cord 3-prong. I hear, though, you have to be careful with the old Jensen as the voice coil may melt away, so I only play through it for 25 minutes at a time, then rest it...better for longevity. Great for gigging...better for recording, built to last. Not afraid to make this my woman for life, make love to it with my harp any chance. Purchased at Phila Guitar show Nov. 04 (this best way to actually know what your buying; know it works, test it...baby it home/ e-bay is a risk for a 1952 unless your a fixer-upper)

The internet google search get me all info.

I have owned the GA-40 for 15 days...I own a '57 fender champ, a sears silvertone 1431 with 3 doctored speakers gerry-rigged in by previous owner, a '77 fender silverface champ; and finally a 1959 Gibson GA-18 explorer with termolo foot switch. If anything happens to this item (GA-40), I would commence the quest again. I love the fact it is 52 years old, and no equipment made before or after can compete with this awesome sound, amazingly in top shape, sounding same as a Kim Wilson or Rod Piazza record (I know how they did it now, chops + equipment = real deal (somewhere there are 328 of these 1952 versions possibly remaining in varying condition)...can you get as lucky as I?

1956 2 tone non "lp"grill version-
I have to say that saddly this forum is about 80% idiot-
These idiots go on praising everything and you trust there word ,go and buy what they have and its crap-however I agree with those that have praised this amp-this is a unique sounding rare gem-it doesnt even sound like other old gibsons Ive tried,like a earlier and the later version of the les paul ga40,br9,br1-those amps sound nice however this stands on its own-really nice trembelo as well
This has the original jensen p12 alnico speaker
No reverb ,however you wont care after hearing this

this amp sounds is differnt due to the 5879 preamp tubes-it almost has a slighty compressed sound-which sounds great at normal volumes and amazing when its overdriven no dull muffled farting here-its just beautiful for like blues or jazz and rock at high volumes -Everyone has difernt tastes however Ive been shopping for an amp for about 10 months,bought and sold 5 amps, tried many many others and this one stuck out and won me over with its basic straight out amazing sound-
Id been dying for this amp for 3 months-Id become an annoyance to the stores employees because I was trying it in the store about every other day-I had to save and payed through the nose for it (1080 at Guitar center ,alot when considering one in the same conditions goes for 600 on ebay)however I wanted this paticular one,it sounded that good-Words cant describe this amps tone and vibe-if you can go and try one and you might agree with me-a true original

its a 56-its been recaped and serviced recently-so hopefully it will keep going strng

the customer support people for this amp have probally all died

Golden-sweet-I must stress that the jensen alnico speaker is essential,ceramic speakers can ruin the sound of any amp,no matter how good it sounds ,as Ive leared with replacing my old ampeg's speaker-
at soft volumes think of 40's jazz or 50's movies sorta vibe-beautiful,classy dream-like with strong presence though
overdriven think of john lee hooker,Keith Richards,Muddy waters except with more kick and presence -I havent owned a finer amp-and I wish you could see all the bad reveiws Ive written on here to see that Im not one of the idiots that praise whatever the've bought because they dont know any better-try one and I think youll see what I mean-but please do before you buy,maybe our tastes are differnt

This is for a 1957 GA 40, in VG+++ condition, It is only 14/16 watts, so it can only be used in a studio unless miked. Can only get one tone but what a tone it is,, has two channels Mic. and Instrument input. Th instrument input is lower gain than the mic. input, two speed Trem. i bought this after I played one last year and thought it was one of the best sounding amps I have ever heard. It doesn't have "features" like todays amps, but who cares. You can go to Ebay look up Gibsaon GA 40 under completed items, it's the one that sold for $1224.00 with original cover and manual

I play a 58 Les paul R.I. with Tom Holmes p/u's a Firebird, a tele and a strat both with Fralin Blues Sp. and it sounds fantastic!!!!!! With the Les Paul does early E.C. (Cream) Free, ZZTop, that's about it. It's not noisy, can turn up all the way in the garage, no problem. breaks up at 1.5 on the voulme knob, after 4 just gets thicker, not louder.

would never take to a gig,,,period! it's lasted this long so I would say it's dependable. Has original tubes in it.

Emails Gibson to see what year it was, I had a answer the next day!!!! alright Gibson

Been playing 27 years, have a Germino Classic 45,(will post a review shortly) Ampeg VT 22 and my Gibson GA It won't get lost or stolen so that's not an issue. Love it because I understand what it was made to do, and dont ask anything from it that it can't do,,, If you never have played a GA 40, you owe it to yourself to see what a a no excuse amp can do, if you suck as a player you will really suck, if your good you will come across as a good player, enough said.

This is a review for a 1962 GA-40T Les Paul amp.
It is from the first year of the Gibson "Crestline" series. It was rated at 25 watts, with a single 12" speaker. The amp has a slightly grained brown tolex covering, which is smooth to the touch. The grille cloth is woven brown/tan - very nice appearance. Gibson logo is on the upper right of the grille cloth, and is plated silver with brown base. This amp has two channels - normal and tremolo. No reverb, tremolo only. Aluminum control panel with controls at the top front -two volumes, one tone, tremolo speed and depth, and a rotary on/off switch. Tubes - 3 6EU7, 1 12AU7 (or 6C4), Power tubes are 7591A, Rectifier- GZ34.

I mostly play jazz and occasionally rock and blues. I am using a Gibson hollowbody, or Les Paul. The GA-40T sounds great for jazz, as long as the volume is kept at around "7" or less. Very beautiful clean sound. Above "7" or so the amp moves into a ballsy overdrive.
The tremolo (vibrato) is terrific...very cool, if you're into that. The GA40T is only 25 watts, so it's not a super loud amp. My amp is very quiet, but I had it completely serviced - see comments below. I am giving the amp a "9" only because it doesn't have reverb.

I bought this amp from a well known vintage dealer...caveat emptor. It had numerous issues, and I had to have it serviced several times before everything was straightened out. It needed a new speaker (Jensen reissue P12N), partial cap job, new tubes, and the tube sockets needed to cleaned. It took about 6 months to get everything fixed. But now, it's one of my best amps. I would gig with it, if I was sure the venue was safe..this amp is in excellent condition. With any vintage amp, find a good amp tech, have it serviced, use good tubes, and handle it with care. It will perform better than a lot of the new junk out there.

Gibson had the schematic, and sent it to me...thanks guys!
Of course, you can't get factory parts or service any more.
The amp is 41 years old ! The web schematic_heaven.com has most Gibson amp schematics. My local amp tech is great.

I'm giving the GA-40T an "8", only because it's not that powerful and it doesn't have reverb. Judged on tone alone, it would rate 9+ if you like a clean mellow sound.

Found this amp 1/2 full of water under a mobile home in 1978...carried it home and dryed for several weeks..turned on and surprise...it works...have used it intermitently since..
4 jacks in one is for a mic and 3 6v6 but one is for vibrato(non working at this time)Carryed it to germany and spain and used it for dormitory jams.

use a 70's les paul copy with c22 carvin P.U. and a bogen tailpiece. Also use a 1965 SG/TV..Right now am using it as my main amp in a variety band(lead guitar)With only 13 watts(according to rca tubes specs) seems very loud and has a great harmonic smooth sound when driven hard. I mic it for larger venues. Tonal control is limited by the single knob but after replacing the capacitors in the tone control circuit was able to increase the brilliant when turned to the treble side

I have used this amp continuously for 18 months both for practice and playing out. My only complaint is the tubes fall out if the amp is too close to a bass amp..

Actually emailed gibson with the serial # and they returned rather quickly with 1952 as a year of manufacture and also offered repair as well as internet sites with similar information..since I have my own business of repairing electronics was not ness.

I have been playing guitar bass or drums since 1966 using amplifiers such as silvertone ampeg fender, alamo, casino, kustom sunn etc..would I replace it with a like item..probably not too had to find and there are many similar amps with a lower price tag. the only thing I wish it had is reverb

1952-54 GA-40 Les Paul Amp. (Speaker is dated 1956, but body features are pre-1955). Brown buffalo-grained/tan smooth leatherette covering and checkered grille cloth accented by plastic LP monogram trim. Two channels (three inputs, one high gain for mic.) with separate volume controls, one voicing (tone) control, and a three positions rotary switch for tremolo. Two (3 if tremolo tube is counted) 6V6s and a 12 inch Jensen Concert series speaker. 14 watts output.

This amp sounds great with my 1957 Historic Reissue Les Paul Goldtop and its '57 Classic humbuckers, but it REALLY loves big powerful single coils. My '54 Les Paul Junior, '56 Les Paul Special, and '52 reissue Tele sound awesome. This amp is nearly identical to a '55 tweed Bassman, except it has tremolo. That is the classic sound you get from it. You can drive it to distortion, but it's not brutal like a JCM 800 and it's not meant to be. Just classic rock and roll tone when ou're plugged straight in.

It's nearly 50 years old, so I intend to baby it at home. I can beat my Blues Deluxe instead.

Gibson has always been helpful to me when I sought informaition, but I would not expect them to help me with this. I would take it to a local amp guru if I needed help.

I have been playing for 12 years and I have a great collection of vintage and reissue Gibson and Fender guitars and amps. I bought this amp to add to the collection, but I love the classic tone too. It sounds especially good with my three 50s Les Paul Juniors and Special. There is just something unmatched about playing an old guitar through an old amp.

I like old Gibson amps because they sound great and are not nearly as expensive as old Fender amps. But don't tell anyone I said that, because the prices are creeping up.

1953 Gibson GA40 Les Paul, 12" Jensen P12Q, non-working three speed vibrato, 2 volumes and one tone (voicing).

Primarily used for bedroom plonking with a G&L Legacy, Fender California Edition Tele, Dean Stylist and Harmony Rocket

I only use this around the house but it's been fine after I fixed all the things that people did to it in 47 years of bodging. Main reason it was dead was that a chunk of solder had dropped down and bridged two terminals on a tube. Currently equipped with all new octal preamp tubes and a pair of DuMont 6V6Gts, the vibrato has an RCA 6V6 but it doesn't work so who cares?

I've been playing off and on for 15 years or so. Own a Champ, a Supro Thunderbolt, a 1956 Gibson GA20 and a 1953 Danelectro Pioneer in the workshop. This amp is useless with humbucking pickups, too muddy by far. Single coil pickups cut through the mud and produce a nice mellow tone with the single coil edge taken off.