Gibson GA-5 Skylark

1963 (part of their Crestline series built from 62 - 64). One volume knob. Original CTS 10" speaker RRRRRRRRIPS!! I always hear the 'i've replaced it with the much-preferred #&^@)! after-market brand' -- DON'T believe 'em. Old/aged and unabused original speakers are HARD to come by - trust me - they just get sweeter with age and temperance.

With 1 volume knob - this amp is "very limited" to the ONLY essential in sound! I do all of the adjusting from the guitar.

With my 355 - if Chuck Berry hadn't existed I would have invented him. Breaks up right at the "6" position. This is pure tube-overdriven sound I wouldn't dare plug a pedal into. Really rootsy, ballsy, Exile on Main Street straight ahead rock. Incredible sustain that snarls nicely with P-90's and PAF's.

It's funny...i've got a '64 Vibro Champ with stock CTS speaker - and it's built 10X's better. Fender's pine boxes are super-rugged in comparison. The Gibson seems like a cheap panelling job. BUT, in terms of growl - the Gibson is much more 'trashy' and preferred. Doesn't have nearly the top end of the VC which has more snap and sparkle.

Absolutely the very best amp for under $300 I have EVER played over the last 17 years.

My new amp is a circa 1965 Gibson GA-5 Skylark with a Gibson-labeled original 10 inch speaker, 2 Original 6BQ5 (EL84) power tubes, and a single 12AU7 preamp tube (also original). The rectifier is solid state, which gives it that snappy attack that I like. This amp was purchased at a yard sale along with a 1965 Epiphone guitar for $5. It has been sitting in a barn for at least 20 years. Cosmetically it was a mess, but I spent some time cleaning it and now it looks somewhat less of a mess. The electronics are all in really good condition and I'm guessing this amp had very little playing time. I have attempted to research this amp and have found that Gibson made 9 million versions of amps named the GA-5 Skylark, so information is sketchy. I believe this amplifer is around 4.5 watts (although the 2 EL84 power section might lead one to believe it should be around 15-20 watts. However, the amp could easily by buried by any 15 watt tube combo, so I'm sticking with the 4.5 watts story. It has a single channel, no effects loop, headphone jack...nothing but great tone.

I play Blues-Rock along the lines of SRV, John Mayer, Clapton (BluesBreakers & Cream), Van Halen, etc... This amp seems to nail those sounds and more, but isn't really useful for the Van Halen sound, or any high-gain metal sound. It's very responsive to the type of pickups in the guitar. With a humbucker equipped guitar, it nails that Free "All Right now" sound. With my strat, there's that SRV/Mayer sound that I'm shooting for. I pretty much dime all of the controls (Volume, treble, and bass) and rely on the guitar's voluime knob to clean up the sound when I want it that way. It's pretty noisy. I'm hoping that proper grounding will remedy at least some of this noise...it currently only has a two prong power cable. The distortion is very pleasing and musical. My only real potential problem with the amp is that I have to turn everything up to ten to get those sounds I want, and it's pretty loud (After 2 hours of playing at a buddy's house yesterday, our ears were ringing).

I get nervous playing through such an old tube amp with such a checkered past, making overdriven sounds that the amp wasn't meant to make. I have a digital/solid state rig (Johnson J-Station/Tech21 Power Engine 60) that will serve when (not if) this thing fails. I will probably play the newer rig more in an effort to preserve this little jewel of an amp. It should be an easy amp to service because of it's Point-to-point wiring and it's general simplicity.

HA!

I've been playing since I was a kid...about 24 years now. As mentioned before, my other amp is a Johnson J-Station through a Tech21 Power Engine 60, which sounds very good and is probably a more sensible rig for daily practicing, etc. My guitars are a Japan made mid-80's Squier Stratocaster, a new Indonesian Squier Telecaster, and an Ibanez Artcore AFS75T. If it were lost or stolen I would get over it...it's just an amp, for Christ sakes...and look for another. I love it's tone...wish I didn't have to play so loud to get that tone. It just sort of fell into my lap, so I wasn't comparison shopping or anything. In the past I've owned a Fender Blues Jr. (Not enough breakup, didn't really dig the sound that much), a Johnson JM150 (one complicated amp!), and various other junk that wasn't very good. When I was shopping for amps, I've played the Crate V1512 (great sounding amp) and the Ampeg reissues (also great sounding) and I'd have to say this little amp matches or exceeds the sounds of those new amps. Small low-wattage amps can still be had for cheap and they're probably built a lot better than new amps!

Skylark, got it with a Gibson Les Paul TV model, one pickup. The guitar is for sure a '59, so the amp is from that same era.

One knob, volume. On/off switch. That's all you get. And that's all you need. For years I miked this amp into a Twin and that was my sound. A Gibson 345 Stereo, the little yellow TV model, and eventually a '74 Les Paul Deluxe with the mini humbuckers ran through that amp and it sounded like a stack of Marshalls. Then it blew up and I had to replace some diodes or a capacitor. It worked again but would sometimes cut out. Too bad. I still have it though. I've seen these going for big bucks on Ebay.

Only one tone, but if it's the one you want, then you will be satisfied beyond measure.

If you loved Clapton's tone on the Bluesbreakers album, then you need this amp. Single stage distortion, like the Vox Beatle amps, is very smooth. And this thing produces the loudest 5 amps you'll ever hear. I have played this thing in an auditorium and it was too loud!!! I have been told by club owners to turn it down, also.

It very nicely gets louder to a certain point, then just distorts more and more, so you can control how much crunch you want with the volume knobs on your guitar.

I used it every weekend for years and it never let me down. It died quietly one evening at practice among friends, and has been resurrected for a few return engagements. Now on semi-retirement, "the little amp that could" may return to the stage for a reunion tour.

been playing for a long time. I own mostly Gibsons from 1959 to mid-70s and a Fender Strat '62 reissue, an Ibanez Artist (80s), aneat Hamer copy of the Gibson special double cutaway (an exact neck and body reproduction of the little yellow LP TV model except with two humbuckers, plus it has a very nice bridge with individually adjustable string saddles, strings can be adjusted for intonation as well as string height). I've also put some guitars together following Van Halen's "less is more principle," i.e., one knob, volume, no tone

Gibson GA-5 was made from 1959 to 1961, GA-5T, "T=Tremlo", was made from 1960 to 1961. I have a GA5T, got it in 1963, have never spent a penney on it, work's great.

I have a 1963 Epiphone,Olympic Deluxe,Double cutaway, duel pick up, solid body. Got it new. A new Fender,"stratocaster". A Harmony Sovereign acoustic, don't know year. A 1975 Horner 12 string acoustic, I got new. I use a Larence sound hole pick up, on the acoustic's. It sound's good clean and reverb.

I have had it forty years, it was three yrs old, when I got it. I think that speaks for it's self.

N/A

I have been playing for fifty yrs. I have a twin 60amp, with two 12" 100 watt speakers, FX with 99 + 30. Will make any sound, from clean to ???. But, I will allways have my Gibson Skylark, It's all I could afford in 1963. My EPIPHONE, was over $200. I paid about $250.00 for both. Wounder what that would be in 2003 dollar's ?

I believe it was made in the mid 60's,tube.I use it pretty well for my harp,(blues).It has excacly the sound I was looking for,although my buddies have plugged their guitars in and love the sound.Not many features,volume,bass,trebble,good for me,I'm not that technical.

It hums a fair amount initially but quitens down, great distortion at full vulume great for a harp.

I've only had it a couple of months, no problems yet. It was repaired just before I bought it.

Been playing about a year.If this one was to go I probably would get another.I like it cuz it's simple,portable,great sound,not much I don't like about it, sometimes more horsepower would be o.k. When I bought it I was also looking at a new fender blues jr,it was more $$, and I thought it would be nice to have a vintage tube amp,(it makes for good conversation and opinions when the buddies are over).

Think it's a '62.
Not many features. On / Off and a loudness (volume) dial.
All vintage tube and the sound to match.

Like to run it with my Epiphone 335 and an old Harmony Sovereign acoustic with a Dean Markley pickup in the sound hole.
I like to play blues and old rock and roll. Seems very well suited to these styles. This thing won't distort worth a damn on it's own but with my Danelectro daddy-O and Big Muff, it blows the doors off the place. It's not a loud amp but the stomp boxes help that a lot. It's my first tube amp I've owned, although I've played Fenders. The tone of this thing is just amazing and I'm amazed how good the pedals sound thru it. I feel like i've rediscovered my Dunlop Crybaby Wah and my Big Muff, they sound so good through this amp.

No breakdowns yet. But you should have extra tubes.

Warranty? Yeah, probably had one 40 years ago.

Been playing for 2 years.
If it were stolen or lost I'd definately find another.
I did some research on this amp before I bought it and from what I found there was nothing bad to say about the sound of this amp. And it was all true. Sweet, Sweet tone.