Gibson GA-5 Goldtone Les Paul Junior Combo

Made in the USA 2006 the plate on the back has a serial number mine
ends /0406 I think it means April 2006 and the news seems to be that they are no longer making them.
Features if you want them then buy some other amp with all the bells and whistles personally I like it simple one knob and then control it all with my guitar,this is how they did it
in the fifties so thats fine by me.

Sound quality is a really subjective thing what some like others hate.
I own these valve amps a 5w Gretcsh G5222 and now the Gibson GA5 5w.
I'm plugging a Gibson ES335 into them I just love the sound of both but
the Gibson is the top dog when it comes to volume the speaker is bigger and the valves are of better quality.
The Gibson I have had a I bought it new of Ebay and imported in into New Zealand we have 240v here so I got a transformer to covert power to 120v but it was no good bad earthing and terrilbe hum so after a week of searching the web i found out that I could rewire the power transformer because it has multi tap very simple and bingo downunder thunder.

Looking at the schematic it's looks a very simple amp not many parts
point to point wiring where as the G5222 is a Printed circut and would
be a lot harder for me to repair.The gibson will take the heat a lot
better I believe, it just looks the part great first valve amp to understand what they are all about.

Don't know anyway after the rewire i better forget it

if lost or stolen i get another or maybe build it myself this amp has really got my interest in valves, caps,resisters,transformers etc
this is what tone is all about.

It's a basic one knob amp. Mine was made in 2006, and I'm assuming one of the last ones.

The five watts can still sting the ears. It's pretty damn articulate too. It'll make sure to let me know how I'm playing, especially driven.

I could use a tremolo, and maybe reverb, but I won't kick it for that.

Best tone I have at my fingertips right now. It eats up my Ric 360 and frankenstrat. (Yes, a la Eddie, but not my intention!) The Gretsch cries and the archtop sings.

I wouldn't really cut this out for clean riffing, just because it doesn't hold a loud clean tone, but the archtop with a P-90/HB mix sounds heavenly. It's got a quack of it's own! Again, I can't knock it's clean ability though. The low power 8 inch's straight cone and small size don't give it a chance to open up but they make for a hell of a break-up.

I usually use this for a classic rock, blues, or classic metal tone. (P-90/HB) It's my living room machine. I used my girlfriend's father's old Harmony-some weird circle shaped guitar-and the strange pickups on it made classic rock GOLD. Best sounding single coils I've heard in my life. If only the frets were usable above the 12th on that thing...

But I adore the tone this thing makes. I haven't even changed the tubes yet. I wanted to try a 12AU7 for cleaner tones, but I can't resist the tone right now even months in!! Plus, that's what my volume knob is for. ;)

PS- This thing makes me regret spending $250 on my Valve Junior stack. Come on, $300 for this? The tone isn't even comparable!

No problems thus far. We'll give it a few years before I can say!

Emailed them and got a pleasant response and the schematics/owner's manual. It took maybe 12 hours. 8 pm -> 8 am and I had a response.

Nobody stocks them anymore. I could've bought two of these suckers for less than I usually see them selling-and I should've! I've even planned up a custom design for one of these, but I don't know where to find one!

What features!! 2 Inputs and a volume knob, but thats all you really need.

This is a very VERY basic amp, but it has a nice sound to it. I play a variety of music from metal to classic rock and I think it should do ok. I use a Dean Vendetta 3 with Diesel metal shred pickups and it sounds great. After about half way on the volume knob you start to get a nice fat sound, turn it up higher and you can get a nice tube distortion. Real crunchy, but it wont do heavy metal with out a good pedal. Noise wise it's actually quiet. I'm extremely picky when it comes to hum and hiss and I have to say that I'm impressed. My hat goes off to Gibson for this one.

Ok i don't know if it was the factory or if it was the previous owner, but the tube shield on mine was slightly crushed. This caused the amp to short out and was probably the reason I paid a total of 300 bucks for this little gem. Long story short I removed it and it works fine. This is a basic circuit so if anything goes wrong it can easily be fixed. As far as gigging without a back up, thats always a no no. I don't care if you paid $10,000.00 for an amp, it can still break down during a show. Take something else just in case.

I've dealt with Gibson before and they were not as helpful as I'd hoped, but they did help so I have to give them an A for effort.

I have been playing for about 5 years and have owned Mesa'a, Peavey, and Custom built amps. This little amp is a keeper. If it was stolen I would buy another one if I could get another great deal on it. If not then I wouldn't buy it cause for the 800.00 retail I could buy a Bad Cat or Dr.Z or more likely a Reeves Custom 6. The only thing I don't like about this amp is the fact that it doesn't have any speaker out puts for powering another cab. I would also like a dedicated line out for recording. I was considering building myself a champ clone, but this thing was only 300 bucks and I couldn't buy the parts necessary to build an amp for that.

Not really any features but that's good in this case. Just two inputs & volume, nothing to get in the way of the tone.

Running a strat & tele through this little beauty. It does a nice clean tone but where it really shines is when it's cranked up. When I heard it for the first time with the volume at about 9 'clock I was floored! 5 watts into an 8" speaker never sounded so good, and it still cleaned right when I rolled back the guitar's volume. Just like a good tube amp should.

Got this just about a year ago & hasn't missed a beat yet! So far, its very dependable but if it does break down, it will be easy to fix. One thing worth mentioning is a while back the input jack started to static when I would plug/unplug the guitar cord, but a shot of WD40 fixed it right up. No problems since.

It is a pricey amp but to me, worth the money. It does a pretty good "tweed" sound which I like. I did replace the tubes with NOS but the JJ's it came with are not bad either. It doesn't really need any pedals but does take them well, but I only use a boost & a wah with it. That is what works for me. This amp isn't for everyone but for my needs it is great!

Reissue model. On and off switch. Volume Control. Regular and Low impedence inputs. What you see is what you get. Gave it an eight because it is designed for simplicity and tone.

Starts to break up a little prematurely, around 4 with an Epi Riviera, MIJ, c1978, dual regular HBs (not minis), The overdrive and distortion is wonderfully smooth and creamy though. Past 8, it's gone. Little noise. I play mostly blues and blues rock, so it's not a bad fit.

I'm going to try a different brand of power and a 5751 pre-amp to reduce the premature gain.

Purchased it used about three months ago. I use it only at home in the basement. It's still working.

Haven't contacted Gibson, haven't needed to.

I started playing during the Brtish Invasion and quit 10 years later. Started again in the Spring of 2005. Love the tone. Smooth dirty tweed. I can get a wide tone range with the 2 V, 2 T pots and 3 way switch. Last (real) amp I owned before this was 55-59 Tweed Tremolux and I sold it 30 years ago. So I can't really compare it to anything. If it were lost or stolen, I'd try something different for the hell of it,... after I gave the thief a good self-righteous tongue lashing (I'm Canadian - what do you expect)

I wonder what it would sound like with a 10" speaker though ( I think it will just fit one - have to cut a new baffle though ). I hope the tube swap will relieve a bit of the excessive gain. Other than that, I really it.

This one is a 2004 model. It provides good classic tube crunch at reasonable volume levels. It is a basic amplifier one channel one volume knob (should be called gain knob because the amp is loud from the get go). It uses a 12AX7 preamp tube and a EL84 power tube. The rectification is solid state (for this circuit design that is a plus).
The transformers are high quality Heyboer. I'm not sure who make the speaker, but it works well. I bought this amp for what it is, if I want effects I will use pedals or another amp.

The features provided work as designed.

I use a tele (bridge pup mainly) through this amp for hot rythym and some lead. It is very responsive to pick attack, you can get some killer clean high gain lead tones, or dig in for screaming distorion.

I have changed the power tube to a NOS RCA and the preamp to an NOS 12AX7. Amp placement is also a variable in the overall sound. I like to get the amp off the floor and away from the wall.

The amp does have the usual single ended amp hum, but I doesn't bother me once I start playing. I have built many single ended tube amps (Texas Tube Aplifier Company) and know that this amp could be made a little quieter, but there would be a trade off in how nice this amp breathes.

I bought this one used through ebay, its been shipped and is still in great condition. I leave it on for hours at a time. The only failures I can forsee happening would be tube related.

Never delt with Gibson. I read somewhere that these were built buy Mojo. Not worried about it, I know where to get replacement parts.

I've been playing guitar for 40 years. I use one tele (1989 USA Fender 52 RI) and one acoustic guitar (1977 Takamine D18 copy). I have several DIY tube amps. I bought this one to compare to the new Epiphone Valve Junior combo and it blows it away, but I will be modding the Epi to try to get the GA-5 sound (will try the Heyboer OT and Mojo speaker).

These are great sounding amps and worth the price.

This amp is pretty much as simple as possible. I have a new 2006 model that is slightly changed for the older ones. First of all, it has different inputs which are like "rubber coated" and a lot stronger than the previous ones. It also has a different transformer which is bigger and black (Im not sure what brand it is being that I do not know much about the internal structure of amps) compared to the smaller silver transformer in the older version. Finally, it has a different back. It's like the older version except it has a plastic cage limiting your access to the back of the amp. Which isnt that great especially if you want to hook up an extension speaker to it. Therefore, there is a little circular hole cut on the bottom right of the back panel where the AC power cable comes out of. This is hardwired to the amp (not detachable) so you have to hold the dangling cable when you transport it.

These things are very minor for me at least. If I want to put an extension speaker to the amp, I can always just get a longer speaker cable and force it through the hole that the AC power cable exits. Another inconvenience is that the speaker jack on the chasis is an RCA jack like on a Tweed Fender Champ instead of the standard 1/4 inch speaker jack on the chasis like on say a blackface. There are some cables at the Weber (tedweber.com) website under attenuator accesories if you want to hook it up to an attenuator or speaker cab. Look for the ones that are labeled "for Champs." Those might come in handy.

The other features are all you need for a little tone beast. Volume, 2 inputs, switch, thats it. 6 screaming watts. All tube, Class A Handwired goodness. But I didnt buy the amp for that, I baught it for tone. i played the amp in the store not knowing anything about it. The amp isnt the most historically accurate amp when it comes to some things. The original had a 6V6 (instead of the EL84 in the reissue), a tube rectifier (instead of the SS one in the reissue) and an AlNiCo magnet loaded speaker (instead of the ceramic magnet loaded speaker in the reissue). But once you hear the amp, you won't really care because it sounds so darn sweet! Also, the amp looks cool in it's blonde tolex, oxblood cloth, brown leather handle, chrome control panel and gold name plate.

I had this amp for about 4 months and is great for what I use it for. I play all blues and rock styles but mainly classic rock and Memphis blues (but Im a metal head too, not much though). I have a Gibson Les Paul R7 Goldtop and an Epiphone LP Standard loaded with duncans (Pearly Gates in the neck, Custom Custom in the brige). First off, clean. This amp has a lot more headroom than one would expect out of 6 watts. You know the drill, louder than it seems. The clean is very natural, but a little on the thin side, even with a Les Paul. I put my Boss Reverb RV5 in front of it to thicken it up a little bit and add some more depth (I use the hall setting). Cleans are like a Tweed Fender to me. Not ultra shimmering and warm like a blackface, but have a sharper attack with a hint of grit when taken up to about 11 oclock. The clean sounds are the most unforgiving ever. The amp will make you a much better player IMHO. The reason: dampening. If you dont mute the strings that you are not playing on, it will sound like garbage. Just stating the obvious here.

Now, the amp starts to break up at 12 oclock. Boutique style amps like this are very touch sensitive so if you hit a chord really hard anywhere on the volume, it's going to get a little raunchier. Amp does AC/DC impersonations perfectly. Or the Who's Next Era tones. Ultimate crunch! Cuts through amazingly but gets less touch sensitive as you wind up the volume. Cranked at 5 oclock is really loud, not bedroom levels here. I baught this amp as a practice amp when Im not with my band or gigging. Its loud for what I use it for, thats why I got a few pedals in front of it. Volume at 5 oclock has some qualities of a fuzz pedal. Bridge pickup with the tone at 10, if you pick over the neck pickup or just on the fretboard (I just pick there naturally), you will hear almost an octave up type sound a little bit. Sounds really cool actually. But I like the volume at about 4 oclock to 3 oclock to cut out some of the highs. The overdrive, especially with my Goldtop is really really fat. Most transparent amp too. I can really hear the difference between my Epi and Gibson - Epi is a little more progressive sounding with the high output bridge pickup and souped up neck pickup.

Like I said before, I got pedals for this amp. I have a Fulltone OCD which gives a great solo and treble boost (I got the tone on the pedal all the way up) for some Queen type sounds that arent really piercing. And I got a Seymour Duncan Tweak Fuzz I use to either drive the power amp tube (volume high, gain at medium levels) or to give a heavy metal type fuzz at lower volumes (like Smashing Pumpkins). Takes pedals well, I use the reverb on clean which really livens things up. I also like it with a Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser (a friend brought it over, I dont own it). Im going to get a Fulltone ChoralFlange soon which should be cool too.

Overall, the amp has a sick overdrive and pretty decent cleans too. Get a clean boost pedal if you want to enhance the cleans, add more sustain and increase the fatness. Nothing is perfect, so it gets a 9.

I can depend on the amp, but Im not going to rate it because I dont gig with it or anything. I just stays in my practice room for the most part.

Im going to buy an attenuator for this amp because its on the loud side. Even though I got the Fulltone OCD, its a different flavor of Ooverdrive compared to the amp's overdrive. And I only really use the OCD as a booster for solos (or if I want a more British sound or a more trebly sound). Its a great amp, responds to pick attack and rolling down the volume knob well (channel switching the old-fashioned way, turning the volume on the guitar down) and Im sure that you can mic it up for gigs like clubs and bars and stuff. Now that PA systems are pretty good these days, its not a big deal anymore. I plan to put some NOS tubes in it when the time comes that the stock JJs (which are actually not bad) get weaker. Maybe some RCAs if the wallet allows. Ill have to think about it. But until then, Ill keep on rockin on this little beast!

As I'm sure you know by now, it has a volume knob and that's it. I don't think that's a bad thing at all in this case, but it is what it is.

I'm playing mostly with a '91 Frat Ultra, still with the lace sensors. (I'm replacing them later this week with EMG's but that doesn't really matter here I guess).

Let me be another to say that the sound is amazing -- IF you're using it for what it's for. There's a million uses that this amp would not be good for just like any other amp. I got rid of a Fender Twin I had for years and I have to say, this amp sounds better to me. Much better.

What this amp does well is create a beautifully rich clean tone, warmer and fuller than the standard Fender clean tone that many like. It breaks up very nicely as you get the volume past 12 o'clock but it's certainly not a heavy drive/sustain kind of distortion. It's more of a classic overdrive sound. It's loud enough that playing in the basement I woke up the kids on the second floor playing with the volume at 9 o'clock (about one quarter power). But at the same time, I haven't tried it but I doubt it'd carry well enough to play with a drummer. On the other hand, it would be perfectly suitable for solo or non-drummer combo work in all but very big rooms.

Due to its simplicity it seems to get much more out of your guitar, both from the controls on your guitar and your touch. I can play with my pickup volume at full and the amp at about 10 o'clock and get a very nice warm clean tone. Then I crank the amp volume up to 3 o'clock for the nice overdrive sound (getting pretty loud at this point) but if I roll back the PICKUP volume to the same volume level as before, it still sounds the same as it did with the amp volume turned down. It doesn't muddy up or deaden like so many amps do when you roll back pup volume instead of amp volume. And it reacts extremely well to your touch on the strings.

No experience here, haven't had it long enough and haven't moved it around too much.

No experience.

I've been playing for over twenty years and have played through quite a few different guitars and amps. At this point, the greatest compliment I can pay to a guitar or amp is that it makes me want to play more. That's what this amp does. It's my practice amp, but I can't wait to practice with it. Of course it's not super flexible, you can't use it to immitate your favorite guitarists as you run through all your covers. It's more for practicing, for improvising and for exploring your guitar and your sound.

Depends on what you'd consider good features. I personally think the less knobs an amp has, the better the tone. This has exactly 1 knob which suits me just fine, so it has all the features I need.

This is probably one of the best(new)blues amps I've played through. I use a strat w/fat 50's & a les paul w/duncan pearly gates & both sound very good through this amp. The breakup is smooth & the cleans are warm and full. I was most impressed with the speaker. I usually end up changing the speaker & tubes after a while when I get a new amp just to try to get the best tone possible from it but with the GA5 I dont think it's necessary (I did, however, change the preamp to a nos Telefunken I had in another amp-it smoothed things out even more). It is a bit more noisy than other class a amps I have but is still acceptable.

Hey it's a tube amp, it's going to need something sooner or later. It's just the nature of the beast. Mine is still new but seems to be built very well.

Never delt with.

Been at this guitar thing for 23 years. I just love little class a low power amps because they can be driven into their natural overdrive & still allow you to be friends with your neighbors and the local law enforcement. I also have a '55 tweed Fender Princeton & an Epiphone Galaxy 10. Although the princeton wins out as my favorite, the GA5 is a very close second. It was a bit hard to swallow the $600 price but IMO it was worth it.

Brand new from the box. One volume and this is it. Class A . Not fair to rate features on this type of amp. Point to point wiring. Hand built

Sound pretty loud for a 5 watts . It sounds quite full for its size. It is in the same family as the old Fender Champ. When cranked, you hear Zeppelin, ACDc , very nice crunch tones. It is especialy good with single coils like a Telecaster. Mind you, I tried it with a 1984 Steinberger and it still sustains! The clean tone is very nice since it will break up early, giving you the Neil Young's dirty chords with some definition.
With humbuckers, it really distorts in the 1970 fashion. Good for recording and classic rock. It is not recommended for Surf music though.

Very well built. Attention to details very evident. No problems to date.

Did not have to use it.

The perfect little amp for recording and also avoid a divorce. Less is more. Since there are no bass , mid treble and reverb, Gibson really put top notch components in this little baby. Sound absolutly divine. If you do not like the sound, keep it as a conversation piece in your living room! Gorgeous to look at . If stolen, I would surely get another one , but they are pretty rare in my area and cost a bundle. I have been playing for over 35 years and owned quadzillion tons of gear. She is a keeper.

* Amp was manufactured in 2004.

*I find this little screamin' demon to be very adept and versatile at playing killer overdriven funky blues and old school punk but as for clean tone styles this is not the amp you would want to use as that is not really the point of this amp.

*It has one chanel and 2 inputs, input 1 is the high input and input 2 is the darker low input probably has a resistor or cap in the circut to help dampen and darken the tone so I guess that you could really consider these as features as well.

*The only feature that I would have loved for this amp to have would have been a normal 1/4 inch speaker jack out so that you could plug the little sucker straight into other cabs etc. Whatever possessed Gibson to go with the arcane and slightly eccentric vintage vibe of an RCA connector is beyond belief. Maybe they thought that we would all like to plug in our vintage reverb tanks there (HA! HA!).Apart from this one small niggle I tottaly accept the simplicity and the spirit of what this amplifier is aiming for, if you want more features from an amp then don't buy this. As DEVO like too say use your freedom of choice,it's not like Gibson sales reps are threatening you at guitar stores to buy it , or else you'll be sorry.

*I mainly use this amp at home for noodling and practice but I also take it to rehearsals for the jump blues band that I play in.I find it plenty loud enough at rehearsal for Louis Jordan style swing etc., I just add my Ibanez AD9 analog delay and I'm good to go.I have'nt used it to record with yet but all that is about to change very soon as the pyschobilly band that I play in are about to record our debut CD in my home studio.I have also gigged this amp with a Gretsch Dbl Anni 6118 in a duo with the piano player from the jump blues band playing an upright panio unmiked in a small intimate piano bar style setting and the amp performed quite well in this situation, with the piano player asking me to turn down on several occassions.So if you think that it's too small to gig, think again , just remember though it's horses for courses. You could'nt play a stadium with it but in the right setting it can be quite appropriate , for god's sake just use your common sense.

# Guitars that I currently use with this amp are as follows in no particular order 1 x Gretsch Dbl Anni re-issue with stock Filtertron humbuckers,1 x 1987 Gibson Les Paul Jnr with single P-90,1 x Tokai Love rock Les Paul Jnr dbl cut with a single vintage alnico p-90,1 x 1968 Tele with maple cap board loaded with a Texas special pickup in the bridge and finally a Gretsch 6121 re-issue Round -Up retro fitted with recent DeArmond Y2K single coil pick-up's.

#See above for how this amp suit the styles of music that I play.

#Noise is more than acceptable for a class A tube amp or class AB for that matter, I read quite a lot of reviews here that said that the amp is to noisy etc.Sometimes I wonder what people expect out of their amp's,maybe it's time to step up and learn a little bit of basic amp maintenance. Pretty soon you could be well on your way to solving many nasty little noise gremlin problems etc.But always remember this there are always so many variables when it comes to amp noise, it could be your pick-up's.Or, maybe it's a dirty power source, are you sharing the same power circuit as your fridge or maybe the fluro light's.Is it the crappy stompbox you're using that's causing the problem, do use $%^&@# cheap leads , basically the possibilty's are infinite.

#Yes the clean channel disorts beautifully at higher volumes (what do u mean there's only one channel)

#Finally how brutal is the distortion well I dont think ya will be playing any death metal with this sucker in the near future but as far as vintage blues distortion goes this amp has it it spades.

#I have gigged it quite a few times without a back-up and have had nothing but excellent results on each occassion.

#So far so good touch wood,no breakdowns to speak of just yet. As for neglect,well what can I say I'm a born tinkerer so I take care of general maintenance issues including re-valving,pot cleaning etc.

# I've never had to deal with Gibson in regards to warranty's etc.,so I guess I'll have to put that in the future file and see what happens. If it ever does come to crunch time I guess then I wil find out.I guess the warranty is for one year I could'nt tell you for sure because I purchased this used on EBAY.

#I have been playing for over 20 years and own heaps of other gear including drum kits,a DAW by Korg ,various mics,several amps etc.

#If financial circumstances allowed I would definately replace this amp if it were lost or stolen.

#I love the tone and the simplicity of the circuit I hate the fact that it has an RCA plug for the connecting it's speaker.

# I made no comparison's against other products, I bought this after I saw a Guitar Player review and had a total GAS attack.

#Finally if you' are like me and can't resist the look and vibe of small tube combo's, then this might just suit your needs.A lot of reviewers complain about the price versus feature's of this amp, well I ask this question. How much does a mint condition vintage Fender 'champ' cost these days? C'mon folks it's all relative, a brand new champ these days would more than likely have the same $599 retail/street $499 price tag if not more.And it all comes down to the fact of the costly and time consuming nature of point-to-point wiring and a more hands on approach.I noticed that one reviewer said that his was eating tubes, I have had mine for well over a year now and I use it more than any other amp in my collection(7 amp's in total) at this present stage.And mine still sounds as good as the first day that I played it and it still has the original El 84 in it, with virtually no noticable degradation within the overall tone, not to shabby if you ask me.PLEASE READ THIS BIT, WHEN I FIRST GOT THIS AMP I WAS'NT OVERLY IMPRESSED WITH THE GENERAL TONE BUT OVER TIME THIS AMP HAS GROWN ON ME LIKE A BAD RASH.NOW I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO GET ENOUGH OF IT. SO PLEASE FOLKS BE PATIENT AND EVENTUALLY YOU WILL BE REWARDED. I must say that overall I am very impressed with the collaberation undertaken by Gibson and mojotone and I must say what a cool sounding little amp they have come up with.The amp itself was put through many hours of testing according to Gibson litrature, special attention was given to the selection of a suitable speaker for this amp. Hence this was their reason for going with a ceramic magnet speaker as the litrature states, it kicked butt over all other contenders including several alnico speakers.So if you are like me and can't really afford a Mesa a Matchless or any other high end boutique model for that matter then maybe this is the amp for you.Last but not least because I bought mine from the USA I have to use a step-down transformer to convert it from 110 volts -240. It does however come standard with a jug plug of the IEC type making it an ideal candidate to convert to run in most world voltages so it's a nice easy fix for most reputable tech heads.

This is a 2005 GA-5. Bought from e-bay then resold to me. One volume. Thats about it

I own a Classic 20 Peavey, a Blues Junior fender and a Gibson GA-5.

The Peavey is good (and powerful) for rock things played loud. Clean is on the mid-rangy side. Blues Junior is a typical Fenderish clean. Very very nice (better than my hotrod Deluxe which has a tendency to boom in the bass).
The Gibson is a kind of a sweet candy. Very cute to look at and sounds quite rich for an 8" speaker. Sounds delightful with a Telecaster Deluxe (noiseless pickups). Excellent with my Guild Starfire IV. The GA-5 has a richer sound than the Clasic 20 when played softly. Very good for dirtier rythm guitar (CCR for ex). It also mates well with pedals (GFX4, Rotosphere and Wah).
My choices go like this:

1) Blues Junior: very versatile, good clean, excellent with pedals and can do a small gig. Good clean headroom. My favorite

2) GA-5 Breaks up very early and must be played with single coli to get any kind of clean. Excelllent for recording. Distortion is rich and not buzzy. The speaker in this little amp is amazing for an 8". One of the best amp I tried for recording. Very smppth response and not as harsch as many small amps (I use to have a Fender Superchamp: very peircing sound and boxy also).

3) Classic 20: tons of punch. more control on the sound (master volume very effective). Shines with distortion and sounds devastating when mated with a 112E extension cabinet. Mid boost is useless. Good for Zeppelin , ac-dc, 70 rock.

No problems sp far.

No need for it.

I have been playing since 1967. I am a schooled musician and was a teacher for a while. I was not supposeed to buy it and was just curious about it and wanted to try it.

Do not do this.
A) The looks is irresistible

B) I don't believe in "10". But frankly, this little beauty has a lot of Mojo.

C) If you try it with a good guitar, I am telling you , you'll end up with it. The same feeling as holding a small cute puppy in your arms; try to put it down after :)

The features of the Gibson GA-5 are well documented at www.gibson.com

Here's the deal. The Gibson GA-5 is a Class A, Single Ended, 5 watt simple practice amp with an 8" speaker and one knob: volume that goes from clean to overdrive, in a well built cabinet with high quality parts with a really cool retro look. It is not a high gain Mesa, Marshall, etc., it is designed as a pure tone machine, or a 50's reissue if you will.

Gibson considers this a practice amp and so do I. I can't imagine gigging with it unless the gig was a small blues/folk jam or something with no drummer or a very soft one.

I will say that I am impressed with the design and the quality of the workmanship and the components used. The only thing I wish it had was a decent quality reverb for a little "room" effect.

So based on what it was designed to do, I give it a 9 in this category

Sound/tone is where this amp shines. I am currently using a Gibson SG with P-90's, but will occassionally use a Les Paul or PRS with humbuckers, a Strat, or a Tele.

At low volume, below 9 o'clock, it is clear as a bell and delivers clarity on all stirngs/notes on the guitar. As you crank it, it does get loud enough to annoy anyone in the house, but the overdrive really sounds nice and complex ("buttery"). I have not maxed it out yet, but at 2 o'clock, the amp cranks out a real nice chuncky classic rock break up. Not cheesy distortion, but a pure tube Class A overdrive (I have both Class A and A/B Amps and yes, you can tell the sonic differences between the two. Not saying one or the other is better, there is just a difference).

For what I bought it for, it fits my needs and styles of music just fine. It also does well with quality effects pedals, even though classic tone buffs would scoff at that. In other words, add a Tube Screamer and you can go from clean to overdrive at the click of your footswitch, effectively creating two channels.

It does have the standard Class A Single-Ended humm. But you only notice it when the amp is sitting idle. Even at low volumes, the humm is not noticeable. And not as noisy as an Epiphone Valve Special (I have one of those as well. Nice for the money, but the Epi is noisy and the dsp effects are low quality).

The distortion on the Les Paul Junior Amp is not metal level. But a classic rocker can go from clean to creamy overdrive with the one volume knob. Overall, the best tone of any practice amp I have ever tried or owned. Lastly, it does respond well to your picking technique. Play soft and the amp is soft, clean and mellow...pick your guitar hard and you will get a nice edge and breakup, depending on how high you have the volume set.

For the way it was designed to sound, I give it a 10.

Too new to judge. based on my expereince with other Gibson products though, Gibson makes good stuff. I have a couple Les Paul's, an SG and a J-45 and they have all been great guitars.

Given the simplicity of this amp and the high quaility components used, I hope to enjoy many years of trouble free jammin'

I have only had one issue with Gibson Product ever and they took care of me. Also, I have the email address of a couple folks inside Gibson and they are always real responsive. So I expect that I will get well taken care of if I ever have an issue with this amp.

Based on my past excperience with Gibson, I give them an 8 (if they sent me free stuff I'd give them a 9 or a 10).

Well, I've been playing both professionally and just for fun for about 40 years now, so I think I am a pretty good judge of guitars, amps and tone. I have guitars from Gibson, Fender, PRS, Ovation, Takamine, Martin, etc., and amps from Mesa, Marshall, Peavey, Fender, Carvin, well just about everybody (I'm a gear junkie).

I play both for my own enjoyment now and with a few friends in a band and we do the occassional gig (we all have real jobs and families now). So for my own enjoyment, practicing, etc., this amp fills that need very well.

If it were lost or stolen I would somehow find a way to get another one. I have been eying these little "boutique" amps from Gibson for a long time, but could not bring myself to spend the average street price of $500 for one (and my wife would have killed me). So I tried ebay...no luck (I really hate ebay). Kept looking around. Finally, I called the guy at my local Guitar Center who I believe always sells me stuff at fair prices and asked him to give me the bottom line price on one I had seen in the store for a while. He offered to let it go for $350 out the door for this demo unit, so I jumped on it (a month ago he was around $400, so waiting worked I guess).

As I said above, I wish it had reverb, but that would have added another $100 or so to the price I'm sure. So I'll just use my multi-effects pedal when I just have to have some reverb, echo, etc.

I have a totally different setup for recording and for playing live, but this amp is great for the reason I bought it: a small, high quality, simple ALL TUBE practice amp to rock on in my upstairs bedroom when the family won't put up with the noise downstairs.

If you want a great small, REAL ALL TUBE practice amp (the SS modelers are ok, but they are not tube) and want to keep it simple, this is a great amp that matches up, or even surpasses boutiques costing 4 times as much, you have to get one of these. Besides, it has the coolest retro 50's look ever! I love it!

It's got two inputs, one volume control, and an on/off switch.

If you're looking for a small 5-watt practice amp that produces beautiful EL84 saturated tone, this thing rocks! I went into the music store intending to buy a Badcat Mini-Cat, but the LP Jr sounded much better to me, and was less expensive as well. I love this amp! It is so much fun to crank up -- you just don't want to stop.

It's a beautiful, point-to-point, handwired musical instrument that's worth every dollar.

Been playing since 1972. I've owned just about every make and model of guitar and amp out there. I currently favor Dr. Z, THD, and Reverend amps, and lower-output humbucker equipped guitars. I love playing through this amp as much or more than any I have ever owned, and would not hesitate to replace it if it were lost or stolen.

Pretty limited features, but I guess thats the point. I guess this is supposed to be like an amp from the 50s. It's class A with one power tube and a preamp tube. There;s one volume knob and two inputs, one channel, one speaker... that's about it.

Wow, this thing sounds great when you crank it! But when you don't crank it, it sounds pretty average, honestly. I cant always play it loud enough for it to sound really good, but it probably isn't really loud enough to compete with a full-on band. So I guess it's a practice amp for players who can practice really loud.

It's a Gibson, so it ought to hold up. I've only had it for a few weeks/

Never dealt with Gibson, their guitars are excellent though. Musician's Friend says they'll take it back in 45 days, so..... y'know.....

I play mostly classic rock (ZZ, Allmans, Eagles, James Gang) wih a Deluxe Strat and and SG faded. Like I said before, if you turn this baby up and it pretty much rips, but if you can't play at full-on max volume, it really doesn't sound that special. Maybe I'm an "ignoramus" like the other guy, but I think for this much money you should be able to get a good sound at ANY volume. If it got stolen, I'd take the insurance money and buy something else.. Cool retro vibe, but I dont think that it is realy worth $500. I've been playing for 11 years, so I haven't played every great amp or anything, but I was expecting more for my money. Maybe this is more for people who are interested in collecting them or something. I thought I'd be blown away, but I'm not.... at least not yet.

This amp is really great at what it does, but it does pretty much one thing. I can think of several amps that do that one thing just as well, and also do a bunch of other things, too, thanks to tone controls and a master volume. I think this amp is for guitarists who already have a bunch of other amps that do the things this one can't. I play primarily Muddy Waters-style blues, and this amp can really deliver "that" sound, but if anything else is required, fuggettaboutit. You're stuck.

I've used this mostly with my ES 135 (P-90s) or ES 335 ('57 humbuckers), but also with a Tele Custom (humbucker neck/singlecoil bridge). It sounds best with the P-90s, but I think most amps do. I LIKE the way this amp sounds, just like evryone else on this board. When you crank it up it sounds AWESOME. But for this much money, it's too bad it won't do anything except one sound. Your choices seem to be "loud" or "quiet." Jeez, how about a treble knob to cut the brightness, at least?

I think it's solid and haven't had any problems with tuibes being loose. But it does make a lot of noise even when you aren't playing it. I don't think I would ever use this to record because of the hum. Maybe a "hush" pedal or something would help. It does seem very reliable.

Gibson? Puh-leeze.

I think this is a good amp, but it obviously is very limited in it's sound and therefore it's overall usefulness. I wanted a small amp with natural distortion and REAL tube tone, not something modeled or emulated, so this is perfect for me. HOWEVER, when the only thing you can do to affect the sound of an amp is turn it up or turn it down, you aren't going to get much variety in your sound, so you either have to really like the sound the amp makes or get pedals to change it. Picking harder or softer only goes so far. I've been playing for 19 years and have had several Fender amps (Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Blues Junior), and one Traynor (20 watt all tube, dosn't remember the model). I wanted something smaller and lower-watt. I've never had anything but tube amps and I never will. If I could afford two amps, I would definitely keep this one, but I think this one is destined for eBay.

There is only one feature on the amp; there are two inputs one being to curcuit and the other that is buffered providing a slightly darker tone, my preference for practice. USA Built, hand wired Baltic Birch ply cabinet, not pressboard.

I have heard the amp with P-90's at thr store where I purchased the amp and was impressed, however, I just walked away from the amp and after a week or so of not getting that sound and clarity out of my head I took it home. I have only one electric, an LP Faded with 490/498 pickups. The drawback is there is a humm to it, not too bad and Gibson said the humm was normal in a class A tube amp. It is not bad and my Fender Frontman makes a variety of noises that are bothesome as well. The good, it is a fine sounding amp, very sweet and warm tone. The amp deliveres clear tone that I can listen to all day long, it nails the 50's early 60's sound that I was looking for.

The amp is too new and my contact with Gibson was mentioned above. I play this thing both quiet and loud, no rattles. The amp seems pretty tight to me.

Again the amp is just to new. I have owned it for about a month.

There is nothing that I do not like about this amp, except the humm mentioned above. I would not mind a more convenient AC plug location and a line out, neither feature is a real concern. What you see is what you get, a volume knob and two inputs. IMHO It is for those of us that want something simple and clear.

Made in '05. Everyone knows the features, couldn't be any more simple. Its got an on/off switch and volume knob. Don't buy this amp if you are a tweaker, you will get bored with it quick, get yourself a line 6 ya dumb ass. However it is made with high quality components, hand wired, well made and an attractive looking amp. I base my rating on the fact that it accomplishes what it is designed to. Not that it doesn't have a million stages to suck out and water down the tone.

I play an 04 Les Paul Standard w/ burstbucker pros, a Suhr Classic, American Standard tele and strat. I play primarily classic rock and blues, with some rockabilly, country and basic jazz thrown in. As you can see, I have some high quality guitars and this amp is simply fantastic with them all. It breaks up early, with my Lester I start to get breakup at 2, with my single coils at about 3 or 4. However you can keep it relatively clean by easing up on your pick technique. Its funny how you can do that with a high quality valve amp, regardless of its size. I get no hum or extraneous noise from my GA-5. The overdrive is creamy and thick especially for a little guy. No need for a pedal unless you want to play some Korn or some other throwup music. I want to emphasize that this amp is sensitive to your technique. It is for plug and play types like me, that rely on your hands and dynamics for your sound variety. It is relatively forgiving amp as an amp. It is loud for 5 tube watts, and sounds at its best cranked (use guitar volume and tone knobs to adjust). I do get decent bedroom level sounds out of though by keeping the volume down and diggin in to get my distortion. This amp will comply with what you want if you learn to operate it without the tone circuits found in most amps.

Well I got one new in box brought it home fired it up, and sounded like a blown speaker (go figure, on a nib amp). This was on a Friday evening when I was looking forward to playing it all night. I was a little ticked to say the least as the dealer I got it from was an hour away. Well, I got up Saturday morn and returned it. They gave me another nib one and this one was perfect. Sweet as honey. I haven't had it long, but so far so good.

I didn't have to deal with Gibson, but the dealer, Music Unlimited in Kingston MA. sure did. Hats off to them. They took the defective amp back no questions and gave me another brand new one. Good guys. I have made several purchases from the over the years. They are my favorite music store which is why I will drive an hour to them instead of 20 minutes to GC.

I've been playing 26 years with about a six year hiatus thrown in there. I traded my blues junior in for this and have no regrets at all! The blues junior is a fine amp, but I was no longer using it because I have better amps. I wanted to find a 5 watt all tube amp to replace the kendrick 118 (tweed champ clone) I had recently traded. I decided to give this a try based on price point compared to other five watt hand wired amps out there. I was pretty set on getting another tweed champ of some kind or another until I tried this. This is so much better than the tweed champ I had (not knocking that amp, its good, this is better). The distortion is much smoother on this amp, and it handles the Les Paul WAY BETTER than the tweed champ. I used to have the feeling the champ was going to explode when I cranked it with the Lester, the cabinet would rattle, speaker start farting, etc.. No issues with this amp in that regard. This amp loves the Les Paul. It also sounds killer with my single coil guitars as well. The only thing about the amp I don't like is the power chord gets plugged into the bottom of the chassis, not a big deal just a minor irritance. I also own a Headstrong Lil' King Reverb (PTP hand wired 64 Blackface Princeton Reverb clone), an Orange AD30 Head and matching 2x12 Orange cab, and a tech21 tm10. All great amps with great tone that serve a purpose. The GA-5 is my most played amp right now as I'm not gigging and I love low watt tube amps that you can crank the hell out of it and not blow out the windows in your house, although once the kids are in bed, I go to the tech 21 which is the best real low volume practice amp out there in my book. I simply love the amp. I also tried out a badcat mini cat and the GA-5 blows it out of the water. I also tried a Savage Macht 6 which sounds great (not better than the GA-5 imo), and had more clean headroom, and a 12' speaker but is also more than twice the price. You dont buy this kind of amp for clean anyways, its all about tube saturation. The GA-5 delivers it in spades. I have played and owned tons of gear and feel I know great tone when I hear it, a great buy when I see it, and quality when I evaluate it. You will not find a better 5 watt amp, all tube, handwired amp for $500 anywhere. With my Blues Jr. trade, I got mine brand new for $330 (including tax) out the door. I consider it the best amp purchase I've made to this point. Disregard the Ignoramus below that trashed this amp and obviously thinks this amp is supposed to be a line 6 or a marshall stack or something else other than what it is which is a kick ass class A 5 watt tone box. Try one and decide for yourself. If you know what good tone is, you will be very happy.

Hmmmm... let's see now. Here's an amp that has exactly two tubes, one 8-inch speaker, one channel, and one knob. It's about the size of a breadbox. No treble control, no bass control, no gain control, no midrange control, no standby switch. No line out. No headphone jack. And it currently retails for SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS. Gibson, please feel free to give us a freakin' break.

Just because I don't want to sound like a spiteful, negative guy, I won't even mention the ridiculous amount of hum this thing puts out when it's idling. I'll let you figure that out yourself when you try to mic this "recording amp."

This amp makes three sounds: 1) Clean, low volume, utterly devoid of any particular tonal characteristics; trebly. 2) Louder, maybe a little breakup under hard pick attack, and overall pretty bright. 3) really loud, breaking up nicely, a little like the speaker is being driven to its max (it isn't, by the way). Not as bright as before, but hey, what are you gonna do-- there's no tone control whatsoever, remember? And that's about it.

Oh yeah. Try to ignore the irritating rattle of the EL84 power tube being shaken to death. The little retaining gizmo someone else pegged as the culprit isn't what's responsible, it's the elongated tube being hammered by the nearby speaker, which is quaking the whole chassis due to the volume you need to maintain to get that "trademark Gibson sound." Some advice: get to know the guy at Eurotubes, because you're going to be ordering up replacement JJ's at an alarming rate.

I'm sorry, but those who are giving this amp a "10" in this category must play in Chuck Berry tribute bands. For 50s-era "spanktone" this is your amp. For anything else, try anything else.

It's handwired and damn simple. Carry extra tubes, and I can't see a problem. But the very idea of "gigging" with this amp is pretty much out of the question. Not to digress, but I honestly don't know what this amp is for. You can't record with it, because it hums so damn much and you have to drive it at max volume to get anything resembling a tone, but it's way too small at 5 watts to play out. I did take it into a music store once to show it to someone, and it was like the parting of the Red Sea: everyone stood back and went, "Ooooooh, that's a sweet li'l Gibson, buddy ... niiiiice....." So maybe that's what it's good for: impressing the wankers at the Guitar Center.

It seems like HC has two kinds of reviewers: those who hate everything and those who love everything. I'm actually a pretty forgiving guy who looks for what's good in equipment, understanding that all gear has its shortcomings and that what one person craves another may despise. I don't have golden ears, able to detect the most subtle nuance of tone that you mere mortals are deaf to. But I have been playing for a long time (24 years) and I've owned a lot of good equipment and a lot of bad equipment. I like Fender guitars AND I like Gibson guitars. I like tube amps AND I understand that direct recording often demands digital modeling. I like some Fords AND some Chevies. (Ah, that's bullshit. I hate Chevies). Here's the deal, in my humble (yet correct) opinion: Gibson is totally capitalizing on the whole "class A" retro craze, and the magazine reviews that wax eloquent about this amp are their partners in crime. This is NOT a bad amp. But it's not worth 600 dollars. At the end of the day, knowing that your amp was "hand-wired" means nothing if you don't like the tone. Just give me an amp with a master volume, a bass, treble, and midrange knob, a standby switch, and I'll be on my merry way. There is nothing that this amp won't do that a Hot Rod Deluxe won't do, and the HRD does so much more. If you want something small for recording (which is how Gibson is marketing this), may I suggest a Champ or a Reverend Goblin, or hell, one of those Sans-Amp things. In any of those cases, you'll walk away with $200 left in your pocket for Skittles and beer. If you have enough money to spend six bills on an amp that does ONE thing, you're either too rich to be reading this, or you are seriously in need of gearjunkie rehab. It's cute as a button, though, isn't it? Even the color is all creamy, so the sound must be, too... oooh, look, Trixie, they make a "plexi" one that matches my iMac!

NEXT: The "faded" series of Gibson amps, in which we tear the Tolex for you in an amazing re-creation of a true classic! (prices subject to change without notice)

Well, it's hard to say much about "features" on an amp that only has one knob. IUt dies have two inputs, though, and a little red jewel light. And a cord. For those of us who like simple things like Fender Telecasters, it has all the features you need.

I use this exclusively with a Fender US Telecaster. I finally purged the collection and hung onto the one guitar that does it all for me. The amp makes the guitar sound even better--the pairing of that guitar with this amp is like some sort of magic DNA match or something. Here's what I do: I turn the amp up. Way up. I turn the guitar volume down. On the bridge pup it's bright and chimey; on the neck it's dark and round. The rythm tones are now covered. Now I turn up the guitar, and let this amp do its magic mojo thing. On the bridge pickup you'd never know it was a single coil, except it's so damn crisp-sounding. On the neck, it's just rich and full and the edges are all worn smooth. The distortion and break-up are entirely contingent upon your pick attack. Dig in, and it crunches like a beer can. Back off, and it sings. To be able to control this huge a variety in tones simply by turning the guitar's volume knob and pickup switch is beyong belief. I've never owned an amp that sounds this good in over 30 years of playing. No kidding, it's that good.

Seems very solid. Two tubes, hand-wired, point-to-point, single ended class A, with an 8 inch speaker doesn't leave a lot to go go wrong. The wood cabinet is actually WOOD. The tolex is blond with tight seams and glue. Oxblood grill like in the olden days. My ONLY niggle here is that the tube retainer on the power amp tube rattles a little bit at high volumes. I think I can simply squeeze it to make it hold the tube tighter, but I honestly haven't tried, nor does it bother me much.

I have no clue

30 years as a guitarist, ALWAYS played Fenders -- I've had Twins, Pros, Deluxes, and Hot Rods. Love 'em. But in a small, simple, portable amp, I just have never played anything that compares to this. In fact, all things considered, I've never had an amp that plays this well. It's loud, but controllable. It totally nails the Tres Hombres Billy Gibbons thing, and it cleans up and rings like Mark Knopfler. It's got two tubes that always run at 100%, and you never have to re-bias the amp when you change tubes. For classic rock, blues, jazz, you name it, this is the one tool I can't do without. For recording, small gigs, and practicing, you won't find a better amplifier; it's a true "boutique" quality piece, and it delivers the tone you've always been looking for without floor pedals, modelers, or pods. Truly a serious piece of gear for the discerning rock guitarist. I'm blown away.

I'm goingto keep this short and sweet, because I honestly don't have a clue as to what the difference between class A and clas A-B is. I don't know what point-to-point wiring means. I don't know who made the speaker, or how many plys the plywood contains. This amp was sitting in the Austin Guitar Cente with a Les Paul Junior (singlecut P-90) plugged into it, and the little red light was glowing. So I picked it up. The amp has one plug and one knob. The guitar had one pickup and two knobs. I was getting that warm feeling again....

... and so I sat dwn on the little stool and chorded a B on the seventh fret and jsut about fell over. Not only was it louder than God, it had the most AMAZINGLY sweet creamy/crunchy edge to it. I thought I was back in 1976 again, learning Humble Pie's "Thirty Days In The Hole" all over again. My god, if you play rock and roll and need anything more than a P-90 and this GA-5, you are either spoiled rotten or deaf. I haven't heard anything like it in twenty years. Gritty, punchy, repsonsive to whatever you're doing with the pick, this thing is a flat-out baller of an amp.

I though tI had gotten rock & roll out of my system years ago, and have been playing acoustic and lap steel for a while. Then I started listening to "Exile on Main St." again. Then "Slaughter on 10th Avenue." Then "Rio Grande Mud." Uh oh. That warm feeling again... So I got the Melody Maker with the P-90 on it, slapped on a LP Junior pickguard, and started resurrecting Leslie West and exhuming Mick Ronson. No effects but reverb, just guitar, cord, amp, like God intended it to be. The GA-5 is the ULTIMATE old-geezer practice amp, because it makes us old guys actually sound like think we've always sounded, and it makes time go in reverse until you're back in your cousin's basement in the mid-70s when you got your first Gibson and finally learned what all the fuss was about. Plus it costs so much that only us old guys with real jobs can afford to have an in-home amp this expensive. Trade in, trade up. I love my Hot Rod Deluxe, but I love this amp more.

2004 edition.This is a simple design. 5 watts of class A power, and on/off switch and a volume knob. Clean and simple.

I use this amp in my bedroom with a Valley Arts Custom Pro with Burst Buster Pro pickups and a Les Paul Junior Special with P-100's. I mainly play blues but occassionally will dabble in the Jazz arena with some Rock on the side. The amp is virtually noiseless and has a very sweet sound clean and low volumes with a slight tube distortion past 3 o'clock. Great tones at wispher quite levels.

I have only had it for a month but there is very little that can go wrong with this amp.

I haven't had any reason to use Gibson's support staff very much. I did send them an e-mail wth a product question and it was immediately replied to. But other than that, I can't give an opinion.

I have been playing it for one month and find it preferable in a lot of ways to my other amps. When I was looking for a home amp, I played a Little Laneli at 1/4 watts and a Fender's Blues Junior. This amp won hands down. If it were stolen, I would buy another one in a heart beat as it is just what I needed. If you need excellent tone, want a tube amp that's reasonably priced and well built, and like to play in your home or apartment, you cannot go wrong with this amp.

I was torn between reviewing this amp on a public forum or keeping it a secret for those of us smart enough to overlook its size and give it a spin. The features have been well documented ? an eight-inch speaker, one volume knob, two inputs, two tubes, and five watts. While I had set out to purchase an amp with tremolo and reverb, the charm of the GA-5 is its simplicity.

It all comes down to sound, doesn't it? I had become increasingly dissatisfied with my Fender Blues Junior. The reverb buzzed terribly and I was unable to get inspired tones at low volumes, even with the requisite speaker and tube changes. I had dismissed the GA-5 on several occasions because of its size and single volume knob. At $500, it seemed like a ridiculously-priced beginner's amp. However curiosity got the best of me and I plugged in a Telecaster. It was how I imagined my Telecaster would sound when I bought it a few years ago. Fantastic note definition and clarity. The more I turned up the volume, the better it got. Bell-like highs, deep-voiced lows. Wonderful growl. Granted, I was in a Guitar Center competing with a cranked Marshall half-stack. Most impressive was the teenaged black girl peeling off Slash riffs as if she was reciting the alphabet. You don't witness that very often.

I have owned this amp for only a few months. I asked for an unopened box because the floor model had taken some abuse. The leather handle was cracked and torn and the blonde tolex was scuffed. Because of the condition of the handle, I don't use mine. If something goes wrong, there isn't much under the hood to complicate any repairs. The point-to-point wiring is clean and the tubes are easily accessible.

I base this rating on my experiences with Gibson. I bought a J-45 acoustic a few years ago and contacted customer support regarding an issue. They responded within a few hours. I also wrote asking about a cover for the GA-5. Gibson responded with the link to a small business that makes custom amp covers. Above and beyond. If only their guitars weren't so expensive.

I am approaching my twelfth anniversary of picking up a guitar for the first time. I have played through many amps, none of which sound as good at low volumes. Of course, the GA-5 won't hold up with a heavy drummer, but will hold its own in a small room with a roots/blues/jazz combo. Don't under estimate those five watts. As much as I endorse this amp, I was not willing to pay the common asking price of $499. That was out of budget and out of mind. I have found that having cash in hand goes a long way in negotiating price. I offered $400 flat, they responded with $400 plus tax. Seemed reasonable.

This amp is has a basic volume control and incredibly revealing sound. The components are well matched resulting in a minimal coloring throughout it's volume range. I use mine with three guitars: Les Paul with 57's; and Les Paul supreme with a 490 and 498 pick-up; and with a Standard Americam Strat. The true sound comes out of all three. It will break-up nicely about two-thirds of the way up. This amp ISN'T your typical bedroom amplifier. It will get very loud for it's size. If you plan to keep it the values is there.

It will break-up nicely about two-thirds of the way up. This amp ISN'T your typical bedroom amplifier.

no problems yet

NA. If you buy new register it right away, Gibson can be picky.

If you plan to keep it the values is there.

Their are few bells and whistles included with this amp. Among the meager features included are two inputs (input no. 1 offering higher gain) one "chicken head" volume knob and an 8" ceramic magnet speaker. A deceptive 5 watts of power are provided by the amps utilization of a 12AX7A pre-amp tube and an EL84 power tube. The unit is a "Class A" design and all of it's guts are connected the "old fashioned way", via hand wiring.

The unit's old school,good looks are achived by a well-applied covering of blonde tolex on the cabinet, ox-blood cloth on the "TV" style speaker grill and a vintage-looking leather handle on the top. A prominent gold plated "Gibson" logo on the amps face adds icing to the cake.

I initially spotted one of these amps in my local guitar "mega store". Due to my fondness with vintage small amp combos, I was immediately drawn to the little Gibson when I spotted one in the local guitar "mega store". After procuring a telecaster I plugged in, turned the amp a little past halfway and, presto! Instant Joe Walsh. After getting my "Funk 49" on, I turned down and was surprised by complex, chimey tones, accentuated with tasty mids and piano-like lows. I knew this amp would find its way home with me.

Now that I own the amp and play it on a regular basis I have found that it fits my playing style (vintage rock, hard-edged country and 60's-style R&B) to a T. I found the amp to be very pick responsive and love the way it achieves harmonics and dynamics. I have now owned this amp for one month and I can truly say it is my favorite out of a collection that includes a Fender Blues Jr., a silver-faced Fender Champ, a 6-Watt Danelectro and a 64 Fender Band Master.

So far so good

Luckily I have no problems to deal with.

Overall I feel this amp is truly a good value. The only other hand-wired amps of this quality are produced by small "boutique" shops that would charge over $1000 for the same product. All-in- all I find this amp to be the perfect unit for home or recording use. I could probably use it out on small gigs, miked for lead tones, but the gorgeous, lower-volume settings are probably a little to quiet for most rooms. Maybe, Gibson will come out with 15-20 watt version of the same amp which would make it the best club amp available.