Gibson GA15RV Goldtone 112 Combo

REAL SIMPLE, BUT THE TONE CONTROL IS THE KEY

THIS THING IS GREAT WITH ANY GUITAR. MY NIGHTHAWK KICKS ASS, MY TELE WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF. RETUBED WITH JJs what a difference WOW!!I LOVE TO PIN THE VOLUME AND WORK TH GUITARS VOLUME. THE REVERB IS OK ANYTHING PAST 3 IS WEIRD.

A FEW PROBLEMS SOME CHEAP PARTS. THE CABINET IS ROCK SOLID.

MY FREIND IS A AMP TECH. NO NEED!

ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDING SMALL 15 WATT AMPS AROUND. I HAD THE FIRST VERSION OF THIS AMP, AND IT WAS BETTER THEN THE NEWER ONES

This is an update to a review I wrote about two years ago. In that review I complained that the Celestion Vintage 30 was too harsh and "honky" and that the amp sounded "boxey". Consequently I always played it through an external cabinet.

But recently I bought a Warehouse Guitar Speakers Veteran 30 speaker and I think it is a great match for the amp at gig volumes. The speaker has a similar punchy and tight bottom end like the Vintage 30, but it sounds less honky and the highs are much smoother. Even though the "honky" mids are tamed, it still cuts through the mix very well. I also use a Weber Beam Blocker to diffuse the highs. Now the amp doesn't sound quite so boxey.

Lately, at gigs, I've been using the 15-watt mode (which gives you more bass and highs), bright switch off, tone around 9:00, volume around 10:00. At this volume the amp starts to "open up". The bass is somewhat punchy (however, no Metallica-like thump, which is fine by me) and the highs are smooth. I mainly use an Xotic BB Preamp pedal for distortion.

You may find this speaker to be too bassy in 15-watt mode if you run the volume high enough to get overdrive. I think the 6-watt triode mode would be better when running the amp like that since there is less bass in that mode and the amp isn't as bright.

I had also tried the amp with some other speakers that I also liked better than the Celestion Vintage 30:

- Eminence Tonespotter: this is somewhat similar to the Veteran 30, except I think it had less bass, and, surprisingly, the highs weren't as smooth as the Veteran 30. However, the high end was smoother than a Vintage 30.

- Scumback H55 30-watt: this is a very "classic rock" sounding speaker that is a clone of a 60's "bass" version of the Celestion G12H-30. It has a big bottom end and creamy highs. It gets a crunch, but never sounds harsh. The veteran 30 sounds much more neutral and clean compared to this speaker which has a definite tonal coloring. But I found the speaker to be a little too inefficient. At gig volumes, you can't really get a clean sound in the 6-watt mode. It is also too dark in the 6-watt mode. It seems like their more efficient XH55 speaker would be a better match.

Lately I've been having trouble with the reverb tank. The wires running from the input jack of the tank to the spring assembly keep breaking. First one wire in the plastic connector broke, so I discarded the plastic connector and soldered the wire instead. Then the other wire broke. Then my first solder job broke. But now it's been holding up.

I noticed someone selling one of these amps on eBay said the reverb stopped working, I'm assuming that person had the same problem.

3 knobs, a bright switch, and full power / half power switch. They all work.

I've got 2 of these jobs, both Made in the USA. I personally like the made in USA versions better, as they are not quite as bright, and have a bit more low end. They are basically a clean amp, but break up much more than, say, any classic Fender amp, and much more smooth than a Marshall Plexi. Plenty loud to gig with.

They do not have quite as much low end as classic Fender amps, but have much more drive, and to me, a much better mid. Please see www.myspace.com/thejujubeans

No problems. Bought them through ebay, and they still work. Amazing!

They work perfect for what I do, which is boogie woogie blues.

Mine is a tan one. Still says Trace Elliott on the circuitboard. 2 inputs (hi/low), volume, tone, reverb, half power switch, 15 or 7 watts.

I use this amp for its portability. I just don't like lugging my half stack much anymore. This easily fits in the trunk of a small car or on the back seat. It's plenty loud enough to keep up with a band or for pretty much any club. It's actually almost too loud for practicing by yourself if you want any breakup.

The controls being on the bottom in the back is pretty inconvenient, but the amp is good enough to just set-it-and-forget-it. Which actually is good for me when I'm practicing because I focus more on my playing rather than tweaking knobs.

It has nice tone. A great clean, though not quite as rich as a Fender twin IMO. It breaks up pretty nicely, though it needs to be pretty loud to get there. The half power mode is useful for this, but it does reduce the bass a little.

It sounds great on its own, but sometimes I put a graphic EQ in front for a little more tonal control.

I don't really like the reverb. I'm a fan of reverb, but this is nowhere near as nice as the reverb on a twin -- not as 3-dimensional and washes out way to quickly. I never turn the reverb up even 1/4 of the way because after that it's useless to me.

It does have some cheaper components. The on/off switch is plastic, but hasn't broken on me yet.

The controls being in the back caused me to forget that I had left it in standby mode at one point and I ended up leaving it on all night. This melted the cheap plastic power valve sockets, so I had to have them replaced because they shorted out.

NA

Very useful for what I use it for -- practice and portability for clubs and rehearsal. Would be good for recording as well. An all around good basic amp.

Straight forward here: Volume, Tone, Reverb. Two inputs: Hi/Lo. There is a subtle bright/normal switch, the difference between the two is mild. And last but not least a pentode(15 watt)/Triode(6 watt) switch. That's what i was initially attracted to about the amp. I have experimented with Marshall, Fender, Orange and Vox amps which all had good qualities, but I was looking for a bedroom/studio rehearsal & recording amp. I needed something with low watts and this seemed to be the best bang for my buck.

I'd be far more happier with the amp if it had a 2nd channel or built in gain, but I knew what i was getting when i bought it.

Bought it used on ebay and was inredibly disappointed with the amp the first few days, but only because it clearly needed a good setup and a new pair of tubes. After that was all done I was really happy with the tone of the amp. I play an american telecaster with seymour duncan antiquity single coils, an epiphone sheraton with Gibson burstbuckers, and a gisbon SG with P-90s.

The amp i've found to be great at relatively clean settings. It's a one trick pony so you have to put pedals in front of it to dial in most kinds of tones. The reverb is good, but not overly strong compared to my fender hot rod. Sometimes i like to drown the tone in reverb when i'm practicing at home and it isn't possible with this amp.

I had my eyes on this amp for a long time and I still think it's good. But the amp alone isn't enough to get a great tone out of. I've found that it doesn't "break up" as it gets louder like some people say about tube amps, it just gets louder!! In order to really get more character out of this amp I'll need to invest in some higher quality overdrive and boost pedals and i'm just not interested in spending any more money on this. Some people prefer simple one channel amps and they use their pedals to color in various tones. If you're that kind of person, this is the amp for you. Personally I'm more interested in a simple guitar + amp combination that rocks all by itself. I'm going to sell this off and use the money to get a two channel amp with built in gain and a stronger reverb.

I can say that 6 watts is PLENTY loud! I pretty much never use the 15 watt setting but i have no doubt the 6 watt setting would be enough to keep up with a heavy hitting drummer on stage.

It was in need of a tune up when i got it. I've had it for about a month now with the fresh tubes and biasing and I've had no problems with it at all. Seeing as how they don't make these anymore though may be problematic down the road if something goes wrong with it.

I love the 6 watt setting. For the most part I play it with a Boss Blues Driver pedal with the volume around 3 and the gain between 4 and 8. It's a great amp to have in my bedroom, but I wouldn't gig with it unless I had a dual channel overdrive pedal, like a jekyll & hide, or SD twin tube classic pedal. Like i said before, too much of a one trick pony.

This is the most purist concept : Three knobs, one for Voloume, one for Tone and one for Reverb. Threre is a bright switch and and a normal and high Instrument input Jack. The Amp can be switched from Pentode to Triode, also lowering the Power from 15 to 5 Watts.
One 12 inch Speaker and a Grab to handle. The design is completly Retro, the 40??s of the past century.

The Amp covers everything from Jazz to Heavy 60??s Rock. With a distortion Pedal, Hendrix at Woodstock comes to Mind. This little Amp breathes Blues! Compared to my 66??Blackface Reverb Deluxe that Amp is not less sensationel! (It certainly blows my Hot Rod Deville 410) It Rocks very well in ZZTop and AC/DC Style as well. Lot??s of Highs, tight Bass. The Amp gives back what you put in it: when you hit a string stronger, it will always add something to the Sound. You really have to work to get into the Secrets of the Abilitys of this Amp, but when you play your stuff well, it??s a direct Ticket to Guitar Heaven. (Heavy Gauge strings highly recommanded) The Reverb is great. The Sound is sweeeeet. No Metal here. You can go from Jazz to Hard Rock just by using your Tone and Voloume Knobs at the Guitar. Didn??t try those very expensive Boutique Amps yet, only the Mesa Lonestar Special, against which the Goldtone holds up with ease, so I give it a 10.

I??m really addicted to the Sound putting the Amp to 5 Watts with the Voloume cranked all the way up. This will let the Tubes die fast! No other issues until now ( own this Amp two Years now)

Playing for more than 30 Years now. Several Years as a Professionel. I own a Studio and am very into Sound. Next to my Vintage Blackface Reverb Deluxe and my Hot Rod Deville I ??ve got a 60??s Plexi , an 76??2203 Marshall with Master Voloume, a Mesa Triaxis/2:90 Rack, an ADA MP 1 with Engl 2:35 Rack, etc....
I Play everything from Jazz , Blues to Punk and Metal. For heavy Music, this Amp is not made, but can be used with success. For Jazz it??s an 8 BECAUSE OF DISTORTION and for Blues certainly a Ten. Due to it??s Price ( I paid 800 EUR new) there is NO Way giving something different than a ten. You can spent 2000 EUR and won??t get a better Tone.

The amp is two years old. Purchased off ebay. 15watts/5 watts, (2) EL84 tubes, (2) 12AX7 tubes, 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, reverb, Controls: Volume, Tone, reverb. This amp is simple feature-wise (which I like) and great sounding. I had been playing Fenders for the past 25 years (Super Reverb, Twin or Deluxe) I had never really ever played a Class A amp. I always assumed that my Fenders were the best amps around so I didn't bother. This is, however, the best sonding amp I've ever played through. I initially borrowed one of these from my brother and did 2 gigs with it..I was sold ! HAD to have one ! It's not what you would call a versatile amp but I don't need effects or channel switching...just a little reverb, a touch of analog delay and my Klon pedal.

I play in a classic rock cover band that does a lot of Allman Brothers tunes..(basically an Allman Bros. tribute band) The amp is great for any kind of music though. It's plenty loud: the other guitar player has a Twin and this amp hold it's own volume-wise. I also mic the amp with an SM57 and it cuts through the mix real well. I did buy this amp because I was tired of the volume on stage with my Super (I already wear a hearing aid in one ear because of years of BEING TOO LOUD) and I just wanted a smaller amp of high quality in this price range. I should have done this years ago. Believe me..this is a LOUD 15 watts...you could easily lose your hearing with this one also. The tone of this amp is so irresistable it makes me play my guitar at home more...it has a more immediate sound than a Fender..the notes seem to be more present and defined. My Clapton Strat definitely sounds better through this amp. I love it ! Here's something that works real well in regard to hearing yourself on stage: I have an amp stand (Ultimate AMP-150)...it angles the speaker up towards you...I can hear this much better...good idea for small amps.

I've only played 4 gigs with this...I've been told that the Class A amps are harder on power tubes so I have a spare set of those. I bring a '65 Deluxe Reissue as a back up. I would never to a job without a spare amp or guitar.

I've been playing professionally for 25 years...I recommend this amp simply because it sounds great and are available for between $4-$600 used. Quite a bargain. They are discontinued however. A very nice looking amp too ! I guess the controls in the back are kind of a pain but here's what's nice about this amp: You can put the volume at around 1 or 2 o'clock and it's gets a nice overdrive in this range but it REALLY cleans up well when I turn the volume knob down on my guitar...not much of a volume loss..just cleaner..I love this. Chords sound better on this amp than on my Fenders...real distinct. I always seemed to lose a little definition on the lower strings with Fender amps..not with this amp though. I like the lower power triode option..lowers the amp to 5 watts...fun to mess around at home and get good sound at reasonable volume. And I do not miss hauling that 70 Lb. Super Reverb around...it's retired ! Also an ideal amp for recording. I probably wouldn't use this amp at an outdoor gig...but I wish I could !

I don't know what year the amp was made in, only that it was made in Britian. For features the amp has a single channel, a pentode/triode switch, a bright switch, and a lo/link jack. The tone control is very effective and has a wide sweep. My favorite features are the pentode/triode switch and the lo/link jack. For gigs that really count I use two amps, this one and one I built. I use the Gibson in the pentode mode for clean and the other for a dirty amp. I link through the Gibson via the lo/link jack, and together the two amps have enough power for any gig that I've been called to play in the last several years. For causual jam sessions and the like I take this amp alone. It's a great pick up and go combo, the best I've ever owned.
I play blues based rock/roots stuff, and this amp has plenty of features for all that, since it's not loaded with other features it gets a 5.

This amp has a fine clean sound and a very articulate overdriven crunch. I really have to hand it to Gibson on this one. This is one sophisticated sounding amp for the money. I use the amp with single coils and humbuckers, and it works well with both. The amp is very quiet.

I always have two amps at paying gigs, but the amp has never broken down on me. I've heard stories about bad transformers and melting plastic sockets, and yeah, my sockets are looking a little shriveled and crumbly, but hey, I'll get 'em replaced some day. They looked shriveled when I got the amp and I've run it pretty hard since then, so maybe that's as shriveled as they'll get. In four years I've replaced the power tubes twice and it didn't seem to do the sockets any harm.

No contact. If it broke down I might call Gibson and see what they had to say, but I can't imagine that they would be any more helpful than directing me to an authorized repair center, and I already know where that is. I don't like working on PCBs, so I would take it to a local tech for repair. If the amp went down for the count, I would clone it.

I've been playing for 38 years. This is the only production amp I own now; I built the other 4 I use. If it were lost or stolen I would try and find another, but if I could not find one for the sort of price I paid for this one, I would build another.

This amp was made in the UK right after Gibson bought Trace Elliot.
It's a very basic amp and if you're reading this review, you know what it is.
I own another Gibson Goldtone with a 10" speaker. After listening to my son's Trace Elliot 12 I decided to buy a larger Goldtone.
You don't buy an amp like this for all the features, you buy and amp like this for sound.

For my ear this amp is perfect. It's clean, warm and great sounding. When you overdrive the amp it sounds absolutely awesome. It sounds great with a Strat and great with my PRS. I'm sure it will also sound great with my Gibson Howard Roberts.
I've played and owned many amps including vintage Fender black face amps back in the 60's, I own a Blin modified Blues Jr and have played through just about every boutique amp on the market.
For me this is the amp. This is the sound I want. Nothing sounds better.

It's built like a tank. It's a tube amp so I would always carry spare tubes but would not hesitate to gig out with it. I'd probably bring the smaller Goldtone as a spare.

Never broken down, doubt that it will.

Have never had to deal with customer support. I'd probably bring the amp to Savage Audio here locally if I ever had problems. By the way, Savage also builds great amps. They're just a little pricey for me and not as warm sounding as the Goldtone.

I've been playing for over 30 years but as a bass player, not a guitar player. I've just started playing guitar seriously a few years ago and have been searching for my perfect set up. Found the amp ;)

GA-15Rv, this is an update from a review I did approx. one year ago. The amp is a 15 watt class A style with minimal features, vol.,tone and reverb knob. Vintage 30 celestion speaker, mine is completely stock. I find that this 15 watt amp is more than loud enough for any gig I've played in the last year, it will give an surpising amount of clean headroom on the pentode mode and good early breakup on the triode mode. The amp is very quiet and is solidly built.

This amp has the sweetest tone in a small package that I have found. I am very picky about my tone, I like my clean to shimmer and my overdrive to be warm and fat. I have several gibson's, fender's and gretsch's and they are all take to this amp nicely. I bought this amp because the music store was blowing them out due to gibson discontinuing the line, I was going to use it as a practice amp only but as I began to explore the differents tones this thing has I find that it is quickly becoming my favorite amp. (I have a original 62 blone bassman and cab, 2 Sewell combo's, Deluxe reverb and a new Supersonic) Nothing beats the sound of the 62 Bassman when I'm in a large room, like the ballroom at the local Marriot, but I find that 75% of my playing is in much smaller places. In fact, sometimes the stage is so small that there isn't enough room for a large amp! The GA-15RV can go from jazz to blues to classic rock easily and loves every pedal I've tried through it. Lately I've become a minimalist and leave my pedal board at home and use a Fender custom shop Nocaster into a keeley moded Rat pedal into the Ga-15RV, this rig allows me to play a wide range of music (yes, I even do a few jazz numbers) with a 5 minute set-up time! My favorite tone is a Gary Moore like lead sound that I get with the Rat into the amp, the sustain is wonderful and amp is very touch sensitive to my playing. The reverb is more in the background than on a fender amp, but I find that it works better for overdrive that way. I have experimented with putting the amp up on a chair or stand but I really couldn't hear any significant difference. Tone-wise this is probably one of the best buys for a tube amp on ebay.

After one year there have been no problems, but on the internet forums it seems that the amps made in England have transformer problems and plastic tube sockets that melted. Mine is the black version that was made in America and has a bigger transformer and ceramic tube sockets, this version seems to hold up better because class A amps tend to run hot.

I've been playing for 30 years and have had one of every amp made at one time or another. For pure tone and ease of operation this amp is probably in my top three all time best along with the Deluxe Reverb and my 62 Blonde Bassman. Never thought I would get excited about a Gibson made amp but this is truly unique in it's ability to produce a great tone with adequate volume in a portable package. I can see why Eric Johnson is such a fan of these amps.

See the other reviews for features.

My Goldtone has tan tolex and a gold grillcloth. It came with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. The circuit board says Trace Elliot Velocette 12R.

As others have said, it only has one tone control. Sometimes I find myself wanting more tonal control. On the other hand, its nice not to be endlessly tweaking it like some Mesa/Boogie amps I've tried.

I almost always run it in triode mode (6 watts)so it breaks up earlier. At 6 watts, it keeps up with the rest of the band. At gigs, we always mike our amps, but this amp could cut it even without a microphone at bar gigs. I run it with an external cabinet and I always run at less than half volume.

I think the tone sounds "small", "boxy" and "honky" at higher volumes. I think a Fender Princeton Reverb sounds "bigger" even though that is a 1x10 combo. So I always plug the amp into a Mesa Boogie 1x12 3/4 back cab with a Vintage 30 speaker to get more bottom and a much bigger and richer sound. That cabinet makes a world of difference.

The amp came with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. I think the tone is way too punchy and "in your face" with that speaker. It has a real spike at about 800 Hz. It was difficult getting good "strat quack" sounds with that speaker. So I replaced it with a speaker from my Crate Vintage Club 50 combo (similar to an Eminence Legend GB12?) which has a more mellow response. I then moved the Vintage 30 to my Mesa cabinet. But no speaker seems to remedy the small, "boxey" tone, so that is why I always just use my Mesa cab.

Some have said the amp is too bright. Yes it can be. But I tend to play dark-sounding guitars (Gibson, Reverend) in the darker 6-watt triode mode with the tone at 9:00, so I always have the bright switch on. It can get quite bright in the 15-watt pentode mode with the bright switch on. I suppose playing with an external cab tames the brightness too.

In the 6-watt triode mode, it stays clean until about 11:00-12:00 on the volume. That is when it starts to distort a little. I don't remember where it breaks up in 15-watt mode.

To me, the clean sounds more Vox-like than Fender-like. It cuts through more than a Fender. It has more midrange punch.

The amp really crunches at about 3:00 on the volume in 6-watt triode mode. It has that nice 70's crunch, sort of an AC/DC crunch. But at that point, the amp is too loud for my band situation.

This amp is much more distortion-pedal friendly than my Fender Twin Reverb. Distortion pedals through my Fender Twin Reverb tend to sound like amplified distortion pedals, while distortion pedals through this amp sound more like real amp overdrive. In fact I can pretty much duplicate the cranked tone of this amp by using the amp at a lower volume with my Barber Burn Unit distortion pedal and a little low-EQ boost. Using the boost channel of the Fulltone FullDrive 2 pedal in uncompressed mode with this amp produces a fat, singing lead, that has little buzziness. Although that borders on being too loud.

This amp has good clarity and really cuts through the band mix.

The reverb is not bad, but I prefer Fender. It seems like I can detect the reverb on a Fender while playing a note. On the Gibson, I don't notice the reverb as much until AFTER I've stopped playing the note. The Gibson seems to have a longer decay time than the Fender.

Stock, I'll give it a rating of 7.
Using it with an external cab, I'd give it a rating of 9

Really no problems.

I've heard it crackle and "blat" a few times when hitting a power chord. This usually happened in the first few minutes of use and then it quickly disappeared.

The power switch snapped off. It was a plastic toggle switch. I replaced it with a metal toggle switch.

I contacted Gibson about replacing the switch. I was surprised that they didn't carry them. But they directed me to another company that sold them. It didn't take them long to respond.

Been playing since about 1985. I've been gigging on and off since 1996.

My other amps are a Fender Twin Reverb and a Crate Vintage Club 50.
I sold my Reverend Hellhound amp to get this one since it was too dark.

Actually, many of the positive qualities I've attributed to this amp can also be attributed to my Crate Vintage Club 50 amp. The clean channel of the Crate amp sounds very similar to the Gibson plugged into an external cabinet and it has an overdrive channel too. However, with the Crate I only use one of the two speakers and the one I use is not the stock speaker. I also changed the stock preamp tubes.

If it were stolen, I'd probably check out some other amps. I've never found an amp I've been completely satisfied with.

Just a volume, tone and reverb with LO/LINK and Hi inputs, 12'' Celestion in an nice gold cabinet.

DESIGNED and originally built (mine as well in 1998) by Trace-Elliott in southern England, where the genleman-designer really knows his trade !

Gibson bought it and this (originally named Velocette combo) became GA15RV Goldtone as we review them here.

It has ALL the feature true guitarist NEEDS; I have modelling amps and these have tons of buttons and presets but what's the use of that when all I need is TONE and here I get it !

So it is 10 = VERY VERSATILE.

Very balanced design by a chap who understands guitars and music, hence the fabulous sound of an almost class A tube 112 combo (not quite as it isn't single ended design like my THD UniValve or Epiphone Valve Jr; also it has a solid state rectifier which is fine in 15Watter, yet not quite the vintage tube-rectigfier 'squashing tone').

Still it is perfect small medium club amp and I did use it in open spaces with a microphone through the PA : always sounds fabulous and I nowadays mostly use the 6W triode sweet sounding option.

In short it excells in jazz, pop, rock, blues, latino and actually anything as it can play metal and sing for days, when I DRIVE the input with a THD Univalve used as a preamp !

It loves all guitars (including bassy Les Pauls) as the designer obviously knew how to get the right range of vintage guitar tones.

All pedals work fine, and if you are desperate you can always add a Vox Valvetronix preamp if you need those zillion presets (that no serious guitarist ever needs on stage ...

In short, as compared to any amp I used, and there were at least 30 since early '60s this is the best sounding combo together with a Fender Prosonic combo and several expensive small boutique amps like Cornell or Bad Cat. Of course, $650 THD Univalve is in a league on it's own, yet that is a REFERENCE amp by now :-)

So, 10 = Sounds Awsome!

Several years of regular gigging and I didn't even change the tubes !

I have a back-up but I never had to use it, so it's 100% reliable = 10.

I wouldn't trust Gibson much as they are too big and arogant to be useful, but somewhere in these reviews is the name of the TRUE DESIGNER who was with Trace Elliott and who is still around in England and is still playing with amps. I phoned him once and we had a great chat as he appreciated people who love his amps and GREAT sounds ... if anything ever goes wrong I would contact him or any usual technical guy who understands classic amp designs like original Vox AC30 or similar.

So the designer gets 10 while Gibson get 7 (a grace :-)

With $650 THD Univalve that is clearly the very best class A true single ended design amp, this is the second best with Fender Prosonic combo not counting several famous yet >$2000+ boutique designs (Cornford, Matamp, Dr.Z, Carr, Alessandro, Cornell, Kendrick, Zinky, Budda, Koch, Fargen, Klancir etc ...).

In short, this is the best stage gig combo there is, as Prosonic weighs 25kgs and this GA15RV is only 17 which is important for serious musicians without a crew.

As to the sound - perfect and if there is anything you need on top you can add any pedal as it likes them all (Tubescreamers and similar).

Finally, I have even linked it in a series with a Fender Cyber Champ (that is mimicing 6 Fender amps and vintage sounds and effects) and the combination gives me any sound that I can possibly imagine (except death-acid-metal). 6W triode feature is superb for bluesy songs.

If you can still find one - buy it as this is the best kept secret in the business; I know as I play since early '60s and that's >40 yrs ...

Oh yes, even Variax (500 and acoustic) and Roland VG-88 and GR-33 sound great through this amp ... so it is almost perfect = 9.5 as I reserve full 10 for Andy Marshall's Univalve (THE best tube amp :-)

Two things that bother me - controls and inputs are at the bottom in teh back and it's a pain in the ass to adjust. There is no light showing teh amp is on, and as a result I've left in on for the whole day on several occasions.

This amp is awesome. I previously owned a Velocette SE with a 10-inch speaker, which also sounded very good until the power transformer got fried. I had it rewound, but it didn't sound the same and I no longer trusted it. After Gibson took over Trace, I took my amp to a store and compared with the Gibson equivalent of my Velocette. The Gibson sounded better. The sound was rounder and fuller, as opposed to the Velocette, whose sound just a bit too aggresive.

The 12-inch Goldtone with reverb is even better. I've done two major things, however, that improved the amp tremendously. I replaced the stock Vintage 30 with a Celestion Century Vintage. The Vintage 30 was not bad, but it was a bit too heavy for my tastes. I should say that I play clean jazz. The Century Vintage has a quick response and very similar sound to teh Vintage 30, but it's lighter overall.

In addition to a new speaker, I've had a local carpenter build me a custom cabinet from spruce. The original cab is MDF, which is a mixture of who knows what - it most likely consists of whatever happens to fall into the bin where they're mixing the shit that it's made from. It's heavy, ugly, and doesn't hold screws too good. The new cab not only looks 1000 times nice, it also sounds better. I had to laugh about one reviewer's assumption that the cab is made of Baltic birch... The construction is very cheap and very sloppy too - it's outrageous how much Gibson asks for it.

Back to the sound - for my needs it's pretty much the ideal amp. I also have a Boogie Mark I, which is a great piece of equipment, totally reliable, and at last - after also I put in a Century Vintage as well - it is managable. It weighs 22 kilos, however, as opposed to 15 kilos my Goldtone has after the above mods. What I like about the Goldtone is that it only has volume and tone and doesn't allow you to fiddle with teh sound - you plug in and it sounds great. Different tubes change the sound dramatically. The Velocette SE was even better in this regard, because it had a single power tube (6L6, 6V6, EL34) as opposed to the EL84s in the Goldtone.

Velocettes were known to get fried, and teh Goldtone is basically a Velocette. I usually bring along my AER Compact 60, as I don't entirely trust the Gibson.

Gibson once sent me a custom L-4 CES archtop after I bought an ES 165 and received about three replacement guitars that all had the same problem - basically they were falling apart. Otherwisem, getting spare parts from Gibson is impossible or incredibly expensive. Since I'm living in an obscure European country, I'm sure I'd have to look for some unauthorized repairmen to fix this thing if it breaks.

I've been playing for 35 years. I have a degree in music and used to be a pro for many years. I'm in a different (much more lucrative) business now, but I still play concerts in clubs and at festivals and record CDs. This is an excellent sounding amplifier, the only amp I like better than the Boogie Mark I. The amp really works as an extension of my guitar (Mark Campellone custom archtop) and does justice to it. The sound is alive - it is very colorful, cuts through well, and fills up space in a very musical way. BTW, I also have an AER Compact 60, which is an awesome piece of gear considering its size and weight.

2004 GA-15RV, built in America, Black tolex vinyl, one channel, bright switch, Volume & Tone controls, reverb control. Two imputs (high & low) and extra speaker jack (16 ohms). The tone control is actually all you need because it is a double pot. that adjusts treble and mid-range as you change positions, some people haven't liked it but I find it to be excellent for dialing in your tone and is very simple to use. 15 watts from 2 X EL84 and two 12AX7 pre-amp tubes. Pentode/triode switch to cut the power to 6 watts. I bought this amp as a small pick-up and go amp for small gatherings and gigs but I now have to admit that it is one of my favorite amps. Even rated at 15 watts it is just as loud as my Vintage Super Reverb, in fact in small places I have played on just the 6 watt mode and it is simply wonderful. This amp doesn't have alot of "features" but it is obvious that it was designed by a working musician who wanted a great tube sound in a simple yet versatile package. It's the simplicity of the design yet amazing number of tones that has impressed me so much about this amp.

I play a Eric Johnson strat, Nocaster, 57 Goldtop, and Gretsch 6120 into this amp and they all have there own sound, if fact this amp is my easiest to get a great tone with amp. The headroom is surprising because I like my clean sound to be "really clean", the sound is very full and warm with a nice "chime" on the top end. With my 6120 I can get a great jazz sound on the front pick-up. The reverb is nice and deep sounding and is one of the best I've ever heard. With my strat I turn the Volume control to max (the amp is very quiet even at full volume) and use my guitar's vol control to go from clean to crunch to full distortion. The amp's distortion is warm and articulate, you can feel the tubes working as you play, the amp is very touch sensitive. Tone wise this amp puts many of my vintage amps to shame, it really has a great blues/60's rock&roll feel to it. It is more than loud enough to gig with.

I've only had the amp 3 months, but so far no problems. The models made in England had some problems with bad transformers and the tube sockets melting but the ones made in America are well built and the problems have been solved.

Gibson has always been helpful with my guitars but this is the first amp I've ever owned from them.

I've been playing 30 years and have had one of every amp ever made and still have the following amps: Sewell Texaplex, Sewell Texaverb, 66 Super Reverb, 62 Blonde Bassman. These are great amps but I find that the portability and great tones + the simplicity of the Goldtone 15RV really appeals to me. If it where lost or stolen I would immdiately buy another. This is my only class A amp and I'm beginning to understand all the interest people have in that type of design. It's nice to have an amp that was clearly designed by a guitarist not an engineer.

This is a follow-up to my original review for this amp. Now that I've had the amp for almost a year, I figured I'd revisit it.

Quickly on the features...

* 12" speaker (I have both a Celestion Vintage 30 *and* an Eminence RedCoat)
* single tone control that controls bass, mids, treble
* SS reverb with short tank
* black leatherette vinyl covering with gold-toned appointments
* 15WRMS, class A; dual EL84's, several 12AX7's
* goldtone metal speaker grill
* weighs about 40lbs
* heavy duty handle - looks and feels like leather, but assume vinyl
* rear mounted chassis on bottom of cabinet
* rear mounted controls and input
* regular guitar input
* additional lo-link input that can be used for several things:
- plug in a guitar with active electronics
- slave one GA15RV to another for bigger sound
- direct out to a PA
* low and high power switches
* included foot pedal to toggle reverb
* personal computer-like removable power cord

The amp is single channel, no effects loop or headphone jack (though the lo-link jack might work for that!)

I originaly gave the amp a "6" for features for a less-is-more thing, but after discovering the mutli-use of the lo-link input, I'll bump it to a 7.

OK this part is simple - great clean tone! Though I don't use it, this amp has excellent OD tone, too.

I play Gibson archtops - P90's & humbucks and use multi-FX pedals for a variety of tone. This amp loves pedals of any kind. And the amp is very quiet.

The reverb is decent but over the top like any Fender amp with tube reverb. Reverb is much bettert than typical SS-driven reverb and for jazz with jsut an archtop, it works fine. If I use the reverb, I use it in small measure. I typically use reverb on my MFX pedal for the sake of convenience.

This amp does everything a Deluxe Reverb RI does, having recently owned one of those... it can get bright and chimey and unlike the DRRI can get bassy if you need it. I do think the trad BF look of the DRRI is cooler, but there's something to be said for the GA15RV's use of gold on black.

I still think the amp "sounds awesome", but had a bad experience with it...

With the Eminence Redcoat, the GA15RV sounded thin and shrill at a house party we played. It sounded like an AM radio to me. Afterwards, however, when I watched the video, the doggone thing sounded fantastic in the mix. I mean bloomin' fanatastic. Well, I didn't see the video for a month and ended up putting back a Celestion Vintage 30. So now the amp has a V30 and I'm loving the sound.

This amp seems very dependable. I don't take a backup amp to gigs, assuming that I cna plug my MFX unit into a PA if my amp goes down.

I've had the amp for a year; never had a problem - not a rattle, glitch or anything else. Then again, I've not gigged but for 2 house parties with this band. Still, I'm very happy with the stability of the amp.

One thing before I go... getting the speaker out proved to be a pain. You really should take out the chassis, but I'll be darned if I could even get the chassis out. I unscrewed the 4 screws under the amp that I assume hold the chassis (not the screws for the feet), but I still couldn't budge the chassis. It's like it's glued down. With time and effort I was able to dismantle the speaker baffle from the inside - the way the amp is deigned you have to change out speakers fro the inside. By not being able to remove the chassis, what should have been a 10 minute job turned into 60 minutes.

Made in 2004. Celestion vintage 30 speaker. Vintage style, all tube, non-master volume, class A 15-watter. Covers blues, jazz and classic rock with excellence. The "pentode/triode" switch is very useful: use one for gigging, the other for practice. The "bright" switch is great for sparkling up the humbuckers at lower volumes. Very neat dual tone control: simultaneously works with high and mid frequencies withouth touching the bass. I wish the reverb was tube driven and had a larger tank. A point-to-point wiring, tube driven tremolo and fx loop would be nice additions, but that would mean a lot steeper price tag and not so vintage style anymore. For what it was designed, the amp has plenty of features.

The sound of this amp is complex and mature, if I may. Nice full cleans, creamy overdrive, singing distortion. Equally beautiful and versatile with both humbuckers and single coils. Sounds are usable in virtually any control setting. To find a bad sound, one needs to really, really try. To those experienced with long-tank all tube reverbs, this reverb may sound unnatural. Signal-to-noise ratio is superb. Some audible hiss with the bright switch on. Reverb is somewhat noisy when maxed out. Overall the amp's noise levels are very low compared to the amps in its league. It's big brothers, Super Goldtones are quieter, but they cost 3 times as much.

The unit is dependable. The cab is well built and the construction is very stable: the center of mass is low due to the amp placement. The handle is comfortable and sturdy. The speaker and tubes are protected by metal grills. The thing would survive a nuclear attack better than I would. Once it started producing some buzz on certain notes (a common resonance problem in any combo amp). Titening the transformer screws solved the problem.

Requested the schematics and got them the next day.

Been playing for 16 years. Own mostly American built amps and guitars. If it were stolen/lost, I'd try replacing it with the same amp, which would be difficult as they are not made anymore. This amp's greatest feature is its tone, which I love. I am not fund of its reverb, so it's always turned to a minimum. Compared to the closest competition, e.g. Fender Blues Junior or Ampeg J12T, GA-15RV wins hands down, especially for humbucker equipped guitars. I wish it had tube driven reverb and tremolo, and that is answered by the Gibson's new GA line.

Mine is a late model production with ceramic tube sockets and an Eminence Governor. Reverb, Volume and a dual ganged Tone control. All valve signal path. There are ICs and transitors in the circuit but they are for the reverb and tube power supply.

The sound of the amp is remarkable. It?s extremely chimey and quiet. The tube filaments are run on DC which contributes to the quietness of this amp. Set up stock it sounds wonderful. I have since replaced the speaker with a Celestion Blue and the preamp tubes with an RCA blackplate and a Sylvania 12AX7 in the phase inverter slot. I?d say it?s world class now.
It has a unique voice. I have a ?71 Marshall Superlead, a Marshall Bluesbreaker Combo Reissue, a Fender Super Reverb reissue and it fits in nicely. Funny how I?ve assembled a fleet of amps that require hotplates in the clubs I play in. So I decided 15 watts was plenty for practice and gigging. It?s plenty loud and no hot plate needed..
I typically run this amp in pentode mode, volume about ? up and tone about ? up (extremely mellow). The guitar volume controls the overdrive. No 1 x12 is going to have the shake and smack of a 4x12 but set up in a MF stand I have plenty of stage volume. When we play bigger shows I can shove a 57 in front of the amp and dial up a little bass on the mixer so it sounds even bigger. But even on it?s own it sounds big.
The combo has a complex and intriguing tone. I can get the milkshake drive or a VOX chime and that?s really cool with a strat bridge. My les pauls and my fenders both sound great in their own way.
I can?t recommend this amp enough. I don?t ever think you can have enough voices for your guitars so consider this for a little different vibe. Had I acquired this first, I might have fewer amps now. .

Well built

I emailed Gibson for a schematic and they emailed one back to me in 30 minutes!!!

I?ve had this amp for 3 weeks and have used it for a live show and several practices. Great, well built, attractive and a lot of guys have mesas, fenders, marshals, but how many guys show up to a gig with Gibson amps? Well, there?s one more now.

Well, as far as features, they are minimal. As has been said, less is more. Volume, tone, reverb..and the pentode/triode switch. An effects loop might be nice, but I suppose the retro vibe might be lost. I had the Ga30 and it had one, but it was noisy. I rewired my pedalboard to go straight into the front and my God, what a sound!

I play mostly Gibson's..Les Paul and 335, a Carvin CT6m (now there's a GREAT guitar ) and an American Deluxe 50th anniversary strat....this amp has it all covered. Very bright, somewhat voxy and responsive. I almost bought a Vox, but the build quality of this is excellent. Very spanky AND receptive to pedals...WOW!

Built like a tank. Solid and serious

Don't know, but the Gibson support for guitars is great

I prefer this on the 6 watt setting....The volume is simply incredible...I'm overdriving it with pedals and the tones are simply amazing...don't let the low wattages fool you...she's LOUD and then some. For more, put it through a cab...i can't wait to do that. I bought this as a backup and can't seem to quit it...almost a class A bad habit! Good work Gibson! This is a classic in the making.

Follow up to my review directly below. Wrote a letter to customer service say ing that I preferred the V30 speaker the GA15RV was advertised to come with. They wrote back that they were sticking with the original position - no replacement speaker allowed.

Granted, the Eminence RedCoat sounds very good, but I wanted the amp as advertised - Celestion V30. Of course, now with the V30's being made in China, it's probably no biggie that it worked out the way it did, but they wouldn't budge on this issue.

My amp was one of the last batch of GA-15RV's before they were discontinued; made in 2005, I think. The amp is very versatile, but without channel switching to switch between clean and overdrive, you have to manually adjust the amp. Obviously, this would be difficult to impossible in a live situation, which is why you need 2 of 'em :)-

The amp has one channel, a single 12" speaker, 2XEL84 power tubes running in or near Class A, 2X12AX7 preamp tubes, SS/IC-driven reverb, dual (lo and hi) inputs, volume knob, tone know, reverb knob, speaker out for hooking up to a larger cab, a switch for low power (6W) or hi power (15W), a bright switch, black leatherette covering, gold-colored metal grill, gold-colored metal corners and knobs, and a removeable power cord ala a PC.

There is no effects loop.

All controls are on the bottom back of the amp, which leads me to "set it and forget it" when using the amp. I use pedals for effects, volume control, and OD, so it works out well for me.

The amp has a cool look to it - unlike most amps out there; very distinctive.

The GA-15RV weighs as much as a Fedner Deluxe Reverb and is almost the same size; it's slightly narrower.

This amp is a true example of where less is more.

I am using humbucker-equipped and P90 archtops for rock/pop and dabbling in jazz. The amp is very quiet on its own. you get some noice when you go ito low power mnode and dime the amp for distortion, but its neglible.

The amp has a very clear, articulate, yet thick tone. The amp can be warm or bright depending on your use fo the tone control and the bright switch.

Pedals work very well with this amp and its loud enough to play gigs; just mic it up for larger gigs.

My amp shipped with an Eminence RedCoat series - The Governor model speaker instead of the stock Celection Vintage 30 I had expected. The Eminence is a nice speaker and made in the USA, but I was expecting a Celestion V30... more on that in the support section.

All in all, it's a great sounding amp.

From what I understand, Gibson used double-sided epoxy boards and other top notch electronic components for long-term reliabiltiy. The amp ships with JJ Tesla EL84's.

Well, usually I love Gibson customer support for my guitars, but trying to get Gibson to provide a Celestion V30 in place fo the Eminence has been nothing short of a disaster. While friendly, they certainly are not helpful.

You see, they ran out of V30's for their last run of these amps and sub'ed in the Emeneice RedCoat speaker. I suppose they have severed ties with Celection as their new hand-wired series of amps use Eminence speakers now.

After a volley of emails to their customer service dept (not an appropriate title, if you ask me), I now have to write a manual letter to their HQ to get the V30 the amp was designed to work with and for which it was advertised.

Great amp, looks cool, has a Vox-ey type of vibe to its tone, loud, clean, well built, sounds great... eh what else is there.

Two inputs, three knobs and two switches yet all you need !

Brilliant design by a true conoisseur.

DIVINE class A sound. I prefer a triode to pentode sound but both are very usable. Loves all good pedals too.

In short, the sound of this Gibson-Trace-Eliott combo is close to boutique sounds of custom amps that cost 4 times more.

This is true 100 for sound (and yes you can gig with this combo).

I play regularly - no problem.

Do not need it.

>45 years of guitar playing and I played just about any amp there is including custom built ones. This British made golden ''Gibson'' has THE sound for jazz, blues and classic rock.

I might even buy the second one anyway.
One of the best purchases I ever made.

This is a follow up to my original submission from 11-21-2003, which is a bit over a year ago. The features are as described in all the reviews. Class A pentode/triode amp with minimal controls, reverb, and a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.

I use the amp for classic rock, blues, jazz/fusion, avante guard stuff and mainly use a 95 American Standard Telecaster with noiseless pickups installed. Some say this amp is too bright for single coils but I disagree. I can get my Tele sounding like a Gibson with this amp. If you could not see it was a Fender you would never know.

Even after breaking it in this amp has never produced any unwanted hum or extraneous noise other than rattle in the EL84s after extended usage.

Because of the tube rattle (I replaced the originals and that really took care of it) and the fact that even in the triode mode this amp is loud when you start to drive the tone, I run it through a THD HotPlate and a 1x12 Avatar Celestion Vintage 30 equipped cabinet.

The internal speaker is disabled when you connect to an external cabinet. At first I questioned the wisdom in this but now I really appreciate this feature. In fact, I really wish that Gibson sold this amp as a head only.

The external cabinet eliminates any tube rattle. The internal speaker simply pushes so much air and is so close to the tubes that it is inevitable that microphinics will eventually occur. The external cabinet is the perfect solution and the Avatar 1x12 does a great job preserving the similar speaker dynamics of the combo.

The THD HotPlate is a great way to drive this amp, get all the tone, and yet be able to play it at volumes that won't have your neighbors getting mad at you. Not to mention that it actually has been helpful in live performances too.

With the exception of the -16db setting where you loose too much of the speakers drive, this has proved to be an ideal solution to retaining tone while being able to lower volume. I am sure other attenuators such as Dr. Z or Marshall would work as well as the THD.

Even though it is small and of low wattage, this amp will cut through the room like a double edged sword. In a room the size of a basketball gym, in the 15 watt mode, I attenuate it down 8db with a THD Hot Plate and the leads easily power through the rest of the band.

I love this amp. It is all about tone and feel. Turn the volume knob past 12 and bring on the creamy overdriven tone. It is totally adjustable. Want a little; put it a little past 12. The further you turn it, the more it thickens. Yet it never becomes so distorted that note and chord definition is lost as it is in so many amps.

It is an amp that responds to your fingers. It is very expressive to your touch, your input. Perhaps that is why some don't like it, because it is ultra responsive and that sort of complexity takes some adjustment. But that is what I love most about it. Music is emotional and I can express my feelings through this amp.

Other guitarists I have jammed with love this amp for the same reasons. I simply can't tell you of all the comments I have gotten from peers who plugged in to it and expressed the same sentiments that I wrote in the above paragraph. They simply love the tone and response.

The reverb is above average for an amp this size but it could be better. It could use a little more depth.

One last thing, this really is two amps in one. The 6 & 15 watt modes do exhibit differing harmonic qualities. Personally, I prefer the 6 watt tone, but both are exceptional.

Also you can change the 12AX7 in the V1 position, which can be done any time without any need to worry about biasing. You can experiment with all kinds of tonal differences. I have used the GT Mullard reissue, Sovtek's, the latest Chinese, Ei's. . . You simply will be amazed at the changes they make, so again, it is easy to experiment and find other tones. Some tubes such as the Ei overdrive easier. Others, like the Mullard reissues have more head room. But the fact you can easily do this is just another bonus of this amp. That said, the JJs that come installed rock.

I have never had a problem with this amp. I see others have and I am sympathetic. All I can tell you is I have driven this thing hard and it has yet to fail in any respect.

It has a two year warranty and like anyone else I hope I don't have to use it.

Any time I have ever talked to Gibson they have been helpful and responded to all my questions in a timely manner. In that respect their support has been great but I will N/A it here only because I have never had to deal with a warranty issue and can't make a judgment there.

I have been playing for over 20 years. Unless you?re able to find a great deal on an AC-15, an old Ampeg Reverb-O-Rocket, or have the money for a Carr, Dr. Z or other boutique amp, do yourself a favor and spend some time with this amp. You won't get tone and feel like this in any other combo in this price range.

It is definitely old school in looks, function and tone, so if you?re into effects rather than getting your tone from only your guitar and amp, no need stop here. And that is fine if you are into all that. For me, I get all the tone I want with my guitar knobs dimed, a volume knob adjustment, and nothing in my signal path except a Boss TU-2 tuner.

I heard a rumor from the dealer where I bought this that Gibson is going to discontinue this model. If that is true my advice is get one while you still can.

see below or details. kinda wish the amp had a jewel light to remind me it is on, and I guess I'd like the controls on top, but honestly, I seldom adjust an amps actual tone settings once I set them. I do it at the guitar and eq through pedals. doesnt have sh*t for modern ammenities, really, which is fine cause it is a single channel amp...I thought maybe the lack of a tube rectifier would be an issue to me, but I've gotten to the point where I don't really see any advantage/disadvantage to the whole ss v. tube rectifier.

this is a very toneful amp. I dont know if it is TRULY 'class a' or just another one of those so-called 'class a' amps, but I do know it has a gorgeous tone that I'd describe as very articulate, depending on your guitar and what speaker you have installed. I put a weber blue in mine cause I think the greenback it came with was just too bright and tended to be kinda harsh on the high end when any volume was put forth. the alnico goes a real long ways to keeping the top spritely and controlled, especially when you are pushing some real air through this combo. the cab is real tight, and that is great. no rattles at all. feels real real solidly built. the ceramic sockets can handle the heat the el84's put out, and so I dont worry about that. it IS kinda two amps in one with the 1/2 power switch, which is really an excellent idea. If I want to do some recording but want an overdriven power tube tone at modest recording volumes -- not a problem; if I want some thick chunkiness, I can run it at 7 watts and just turn it up - really nice thicker break-up. Just great. Pretty voxy, ac-15ish with the alnico speaker. at 15 watts, it has decent legs for clean to be sure. 15 'class a' watts sound appreciably 'louder' than you might expect. the tone controls have a nice, effective sweep, and the reverb is fine, real fine. takes pedals REAL well and in fact, it is probably one of my fave sounding amps with any number of quality OD's pushing it in 15 watt mode (tim, banzai, keeley fuzzhead, ts9 - heck, even a nobles odr sounded real fine). I think it handles a compressor real well too - I hit it hard with a keeley and it just purrs. I cant stress enough how important a great speaker is to any amp, and having quality pu's in your guitar. I think it sounds better with HB's, but I am not really slagin' SC's. The amp sounds sweet. people who have good tone ears compliment it's sound, if not always my playin'...heh,heh,heh. Does a great neil young howl or an ac/dc snarl with a lp or gretsch and handles a brighter tele just great.

4 years, replace the power tubes as you should..otherwise, no problems at all.

dunno anything about this, bought it used.
I wouldn't send it to Gibson. HA! get real.

it is a 10 now, but remember I dropped a weber blue into it ($170). I find it likes jj's el84's. mine is the light tan model without the god awful gold grill - man that looks fugly, huh? Gibson, what were you thinking with those gold plated grills? HAHAHA! no, mine looks like a 50's blues amp with the dark brown speaker mesh, but understand it is so much cleaner and modern and TIGHTer in its EQ capabilities than some hissy and wool blanket covered, lower powered moldy crap fiddies amp. the 1/2 power switch is just so great. I love being able to open it up and letting it roar. gets a sweet tweed tone with some good pedals, and has no problem copin' a vox vibe. if you like that stuff, it's a great amp. qon't do metal but like any great amp, with some help, it can nail just about any genre. at 450 USD, sh*t...great tone amp. easy to fit into a trunk too.

One channel. Three knobs: Volume, Tone, and Reverb. I don't like the knobs being in the back of the amp. That's a hassle to get back there sometimes.

I had a Peavey Classic 50 410 that I had put new speakers in to try to get the tone I was looking for. It was clean and full...but way too heavy. So I got rid of it.
I took a chance on the Goldtone GA51RV, and to my ears it sounds almost identical to the Classic 50 410 I had after I put in the expensive speakers....only better.
For a small 40lb amp this thing really has a fat tone. It is very clean and clear. It's not as bright as some have stated, but it is bright if the Tone knob is turned all the way on.
It has one of the nicest clean tones I've heard.

It has a couple of minor problems.

They're pretty good.

If you're looking for a single channel amp with a great clean tone that works well with pedals, check this amp out.

This is a recent USA model with the black tolex/gold grill, bought 6 months ago. Celestion V30 speaker (sound nice). Two inputs, bright switch (useless). Basic controls: volume, tone, reverb, and the 15w/6w switch. Not a lot of controls, but plenty of versatility. As you've seen in other reviews, this thing has plenty of oomph-- I was surprised to see just how much power this little amp puts out. This little 40lb amp is loud. Class "A" tube power is fantastic. The one slightly annoying thing for me is that the controls are not on top of the amp.

I'm playing two guitars through this little gem: a Gibson ES-335 and a Fender American Deluxe Strat loaded with Lace Sensor Hot Gold pickups. The tone out of this amp brings a number of adjectives to mind: articulate, clear, bright, dynamic, nuanced. In my opinion I get the best sounds with the humbuckers, though the strat tones are nice too. Other reviewers have complained about thin or brittle tones. There's no question that this amp has "bright" trebly tone if you want it, but the tone control also lets you take out the highs and add more mids. I find myself rolling back on my guitar tone knobs too (especially with the strat). It is possible to make a *real* cutting, knife-edge tone with this amp, but I've also found a way to warm it up considerably. Also, the 6w setting on the amp is less bright than the 15w, so you have a number of options to shape tone. For the sake of comparison, my other amp is a 1995 Fender Twin. When the GA-15rv wasn't working for a couple of days(see below) I hauled out the 80lb beast to play. I couldn't believe how totally uninspired I was by the tone of the Fender-- the Gibson absolutely *buries* my Fender, and I didn't even realize it until I was forced to briefly go back to the Twin. Another thing I like about the amp is that I can put my Ts-9 in front of it or a Boss Ds-1 (both are modified Robert Keeley pedals (keeleyelectronics.com)) and the sound is great. You can also easily overdrive the amp on its own in the 6w setting. This amp sounds awesome, but like anything else, it takes a bit of tweaking to find your sweet spot tonally. It's got a unique voice, definitely not generic.

I had a crimp connector inside the amp get loose on me (a .99 cent part), causing me to be without it for a couple of days, but other than that, it's been perfect. The cabinet is very sturdy and I have gigged with this amp a coupld of times with no problems. The tubes that came in the amp (two 12ax7's and two el84's)are "JJ's"-- which are incredible tubes.

I haven't had to deal with Gibson a lot, but when I call they're always helpful and informative. My one complaint with regard to servicing this amp is that I live about 250 miles away from the nearest authorized Goldtone amp repair center. This means that if something goes really wrong I'll have to ship it out. I'm not worried (because it's a great, well-built amp), but it's not the most convenient thing. Gibson's website has a listing of Goldtone service centers if you're curious.

I have been playing guitar for 11 years and have gigged a bunch, playing mostly blues and classic rock-oriented music. I bought this amp before I played through it (a risky move for me), one of the reasons being its great reputation as one of the best amps your hard-earned dollars can buy for under $1000.00-- having had six months to play it I totally agree. I have yet to play an amp in this price range that sounds as nice to my ears. The tone is clear and articulate and very sweet, slightly favoring humbuckers over singles in my opinion. You would swoon if you heard my 335 through this amp-- fantastic jazz tone. The simplicity of the controls may be a liability to some, but I like this. I have no trouble getting the sounds I want. I will be holding on to this amp for years to come.

If you're looking to tweak your tone to the nth degree, this is not the amp you want. However, if, like me, you're a "less is more" kind of person, this amp is packed with features. Three knobs--volume, tone and reverb--is all you get to adjust your tone, but those three knobs are all I need. The triode/pentode switch on the back is great when you don't need to be so loud, and in the pentode mode this amp is unbelieveably LOUD. The amp has a bright switch, but I haven't found any use for it. With the bright switch on, it is too trebly for me.

The sound of this amp is what sold me on it. It has the sound I was looking for. It has a great blues tone. Good when it's clean. Fantastic when it's dirty. I was looking at a 40 watt Mesa Boogie combo, put when I plugged my guitar into the Gibson, I was immediately sold. It sounds so full, not your typical 15 watt amp with a 12 inch speaker. It must be the Class A design. I don't know, but it blew me away and still does. I play two guitars that I built myself. One is like a Les Paul Special with a DiMarzio bluesbucker in the neck position and an air zone at the bridge. It snarls at you through this amp through the air zone and feels as warm as a cozy fireplace with the bluesbucker. My other guitar is like a tele thinline loaded with Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials. This guitar sings through this amp--a perfect blues combination.

In the year I've owned this amp, I've only had one problem--the power amp tubes died after about six months. These were replaced and it's been great ever since. I'd like to pick up a used one of these for a back-up if this would happen again.

The tubes were replace by the dealer. Never had to deal with Gibson directly.

I've been playing for 35 years. Other than my 2 self-built guitars, I own an Epiphone Chet Atkins SST and a '65 Gibson J-50. Before the GA15RV, I played through a 70's Fender Princeton--great sound, not enough power. Now I'd like to sell the Princeton and pick up another GA15RV. If this amp were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another one. The only thing I really wish it had were an effects loop, but I don't use many effects anyway, just a tube screamer and a wah, so that is kind of moot.

Minimal features but if an amp has great tone who cares how many knobs it has?

I received this amp today from Musician's Friend and was surprised at how small and thin it sounded. I tried the pentode/triode switch to see if more power would help but it really didn't add an appreciable amount of low end.

It's possible that this amp is the same amp that the reviewer purchased and later returned in the 06/2004 post in this list. If so, this amp may have issues based on the glowing reviews I read here before ordering this amp.

For persective, I own an all orginal mint blackface Super Reverb, a class A TopHat Ambassador, and a cheap Epiphone Galaxie 25 that I drag around for small jams and band rehersals.

The Galaxie 25 is a very low quality amp but based on the sound of this Goldtone, the Epiphone Galaxie has a much more pleasant and full tone. (The reverb on the Epi is very poor however - extremely noisy.)

I expected this high quaility and priced GA15RV amp to allow me to replace the Galaxie 25 - but I'd rather keep the Epiphone made in freakin' China than this Gibson. How sad is that?

For those of you that like minimal low-end and bright to honky tones this amp is for you...not me.

I ordered one and waited to get it, not having heard it prior to purchasing it. I was going by what people said.
Having received it, it was very simple. Three knobs. As far as versatility, NONE.

I had spoken to a couple of people about this amp, and they raved about it.
I plugged my strat in, and started to play, adjusting the knobs, and what a HORIIBLE tone!
It sounded like it was in a box. The tone knob didn't do much to hlep it. If all the way off, you got a fatter tone. With the tone knob turned up, it was very thin and pathetic.
This is the biggest disappointment I have experienced in buying an amp. The tone was bad, really bad.
I like the tone of a Twin Reverb or Deluxe Reverb - even a Classic 50.
But the Gibson GA15RV wasn't even close.

Wouldn't know. I'm sending it back.

I've been playing a LONG time. And I've had many amps. This was the worst.

This amp is a Luxury in my book.The Gibson Goldtone 112 combo amp was in Morrey a music store I go to and started playing this amp.You can hear to tone of any guitar that you plug in to it With a Gibson SG I tried a crate 30 watt all tube and what a joke.Than I tried a Rocket Ampeg 15 watt all tube and the amp tried to sound like the Gibson but had its own sound not the sound of the guitar.So I paid $699 for the amp and couldn't be happyer.

I really like the tone of this amp.Its a blessing from God.I have had a lott of guitar amps,Fender,Marshall,just to name some and this amp for just a volume,tone,reverb sounds great and thats all you need.Its hard to find a guitar amp thats sounds this good for under $1000 dollars.I play at my church and I can get good clean guitar and good overdrive guitar out of it.The pedals I use help get the rest.The reverb in great too.

My Gibson guitars I can trust so why not a gibson amp.

Gibson is a house hold name in music so I would think I could get help if needed.

I have been playing for 30 + and I got the 10inch gibson GA15 too so out of the 12inch amp I put most of my pedals and out of my 10 inch amp a overdrive pedal only.I get a fat tone out of this combo. If it was lost I would know what amp to buy again this one.

for a low watt class A amp it has a lot of features. 12" celestion vintage 30, accutronics reverb, tons of gain and the all important pentode triod switch.

not the most versatile amp but the sound it does is a very good and authentic vintage class a tone. lots of shades of crunch and overdrive think hot rodded vox. It has a lot of gain and can get you to marshall land with the right guitar. the reverb is great and is not a common feature for a small class a amp of this caliber.

this amp is somewhat bright and picky as hell about what guitar it sounds good with. If you play a gibson with humbuckers this is it. I've never heard my les paul sound better. P-90's are also a good match. if you only play fenders save you're money because it is a harsh combination.

This amp has a "voice" and it is not an amp i would describe as transparent or neutral. If the guitar is naturally bright like a rickenbacker for instance your in ice pick in the ear land. If the guitar is natualy mid range flavored your golden. If the guitar is naturally fat and thick it might seem a bit thin; for instance it can't reproduce the huge bottom end of my harmoney stratotone h44. Some of the harshness can be tamed by switching to triod mode but you also loss some detail. I've also heard these vintage 30 speakers can be harsh so maybe a weber would be a better choice for some players.

I have 15 guitars that i play regularly and a bunch that just sit. of those i play loved 3 through this amp: my les paul, my framus archtop with single coils, and my gretsch jet. I ended up pulling out evey guitar i own and discovered some that i don't play much sound much better through this amp. An old harmony rocket sounded incredible. It also sounded awsome with an s.g. i recomend you try with your own guitar before you buy one.

I don't use pedals with this amp because it just sounds weird. If it had an effect loop i might try it but it doesn't.

not versatile enough to your only amp unless a les paul is your only guitar, but still a great addition to an amp arsenal if you can afford to have a few nice amps.

I think it is clear what gibson was trying to do with this: make a great amp for playing gibson guitars through. Mission accomplished.

the build quality is okay but not great, not on par with the price. the tolex is garbage. The cab should hold up and the amp electronics seem solid. The way the reverb is mounted sideways makes the wired come loose. I had to open it and fix the wires. You have to take out the chassis to get the last screw of the tank, not to thoughtfull.

I like gibsons support. they've allways been cool to me.

I would rate this higher if it wasn't so picky about guitars. A 10 for les paul players who don't need channel switching.

Ditto to the others below. Tone/Volume/Reverb with a Pentode/Triode switch that allows you to use the full 15 Class A watts or 7 watts. The two El84s and two preamp tubes have a nice warm glow behind the metal grill. This is a USA version with the black tolex, Celestion Vintage 30 with the USA upgrades (ceramic tube sockets, glass epoxy circuit board, etc.)

I'll tell you the truth, even though the way the amp is built looks really cool and retro, it's also a pain in the butt if you are constantly wishing to tweak the tone on your amp. I agree with the owners manual. Turn it up, find a sweet spot with the tone and reverb, and use your guitar's volume and tone controls. Fortunately, I have the amp in my living room, and have the speaker facing the room, while the back of the amp faces me in the recliner. I know, I know I'm a lazy SOB, but that damn drum throne I'm sitting on in my music room where my Twin is just kills my back. Plus, I now have no excuse to practice or take an amp out as this at 42 lbs. is a hell of a lot easier than toting that twin around up and down stairs.

I love the simple features, but I do hate where they are at. I'm over the initial inconvenience, however, and feel the sound and quality of this amp supercedes the placement of the knobs. Plus, it looks really cool. I give points for the Triode switch too!

This amp sounds great! I was going to get an AC-15 but decided against it as I've heard of reliability concerns, and the guy selling it said there was a problem with one of the input jacks....Uh, no thanks......Then I was going to get either a Pro Jr. or Blues Jr. for practice and for living room playing, but I saw this Goldtone on sale for cost at Chambers Guitars in Nashville. According to the salesman, they were not selling very well and they were closing them out. I think that's a shame as these are terrific amps, but it ended up being good for me since I saved about $250.00 for a new amp.

I've heard other reviewers talk about how warm this amp sounds. True to some extent, but I think it's really clean and articulate without being harsh. So, if warm suits that, then I suppose. However, this amp sings bright to my ears. Full power (pentode mode) even brightens it more. I forgot to mention in features there are hi and low inputs and a normal and bright switch, but I can't imagine anyone needing to use the bright switch unless they have very muddy humbuckers. Cutting the amp to Triode mode warms the amp up and also allows you to get power amp breakup without blowing your eardrums. I've got a Twin and tried doing that just once....Needless to say the Goldtone is a nice amp to get natural breakup with. I will warn you though. Just because it's only 7 watts doesn't mean this amp is a tame kitten. At 7 watts with the volume knob cranked, it is still very loud. The speaker/amp combination at full power (15 watts) is very gigable. Even the 7 watts is gigable if you want more hot mustard on your leads. I had a 40 watt Rivera Chubster that would break up way earlier than this guy does. In addition, the natural sound of this amp is very hard to beat. I find myself rarely ever using any kind of pedal in front of this amp. The brightness and mid-range bias of the Goldtone is really useful for playing with other guitars, which is another reason this 15 watt gem is absolutely useable in live situations. I really like my Twin, but this Goldtone gets just as much time as the blackface does if not more due to its portability and my willingness to use the GA15 over the Twin for quick jam/practice sessions. At the same time, It has a different kind of warm/clean vibe than the Twin and I like using this on gigs too. Run in series with the Twin is a sound I could patent and sell...lol

Seems to be reliable so far (hope I didn't jinx myself) and I understand Gibson's USA versions are a bit more dependable than the U.K. amps. I had a Trace Elliot Speed Twin and that was a very well-built amp, but as this design was based on the Velocette, and from what I have heard and read, that model had some features on it that may have been what was causing some owners of the earlier models trouble. Gibson seems to have fixed these oversights and I don't hear of too many problems coming from the US models. The housing is durable playwood and I haven't seen any tolex (besides the material Koch uses) that holds up extremely well. In fact, it seems the nicer the tolex looks when it's new, the easier it tears. The amp being placed at the base of the amp could be potentially problematic if you are not careful when transporting the amp, but as long as you don't try and be an airline baggage handler when lugging this guy around, you should be okay.

I wrote Gibson's customer once with a question I had on my old Speed Twin and I got a prompt reply. I've also been to the epiphone warehouse here in Nashville, and I have always been treated very curtiously. I've seen some folks who disapprove of Gibson's customer service, but I have had good experiences with them, which leads me to believe they are still doing a great job of answering customer's questions.

I got a great deal on this amp and while I would not have bought it at the normal selling price of $799.00 (which is still a great deal for this amp), it didn't take me too long to decide this was a much better deal than the Blues Jr. for not much more money. I think it's a real shame these amps have not caught on as well as they should, but I have a theory as to why they might not sell. 1.) The ergonomics of having the tone controls in the bottom rear probably scare many people away. 2.) People are told these are re-covered Trace Elliot Velocettes that you can find for around $250.00 on ebay. One might think "why pay $800.00 for an amp I can pay $250.00 for? What they don't realize is Gibson has improved not only the aesthetics, but has upgraded the internal components (sockets, circuit board, transformer) making these amps much more reliable than their predecessors. In addition you will have the warranty of a new amp 3.) I also believe Gibson has not pushed these amps very hard. People think of Gibson as a guitar maker and not an amp maker. I think the Gibson reps need to be out calling on music stores and demoing just how great these amps sound. Once you hear this amp and play around with the features, it should be an easy sell. Selling this through Guitar Center or Sam Ash is not the way to move units. Get these amps into the hands of smaller, independant music stores where professional musicans shop. This is the perfect studio amp, and once you start selling these amps to session players and it will be all over. The only problem after that is Gibson will then have a reason to sell these for over $1,000.00

People might dismiss Gibson at trying to crack not only the amp market, but the boutique crowd as well, and that's a shame too. This amp looks and feels boutique, but the mass-produced status probably frightens snobs with nothing better to do than spend $2000.00 on a hand wired amp so they can pad their egos. I came close to buying a Bogner Metropolis, but to be honest, I prefer the Goldtone. The Bogner is very nice, but in my opinion, it is not $1,450.00 better. There are a lot of amps that don't stack up very well (in price or features) with the GA15RV. For a semi-low wattage amp, it is nice to have the Triode switch, as well as reverb. While the reverb is not stellar, it's not bad, and with an amp that sounds this good, I don't end up using reverb too much and will often just depend on the delay pedal to serve as the verb. I will say an amp that does deserve to demand the higher price tag is the Carr Mercury. That may well be the best amp I have ever played through, but that's another day when I strike it rich or can quit buying guitars to feed my increasingly growing fondness for amps.

I do hope Gibson continues to persevere with the Goldtone line. If they do not, and you have one or are thinking of owning one, I can see this amp being a collectors item someday in the future. I am very happy with mine and plan to hold onto it. It serves my needs for a smaller, lighter weight amp I can play out with or practice at home with and still dial in some juice (as opposed to the Twin that has to stay on 1 1/2 or it will be too loud at home). Not only is the Goldtone portable, but it is extremely toneful. You will find this amp to be valid for many music styles. If you want a bigger, louder version, they make a few other models that will fit the bill.

Mine is a refurbished one made in the UK. The guy I bought it from put brown tolex on it, the previous owner stripped it to the wood and painted it black(?) Every thing else is the same. I am in a Chicago style Blues band and this is my #1 gig amp. The triod setting is my salvation and is more than enough power to fill a club. This is the amp I have been looking for. I believe in KISS Keep it Simple Stupid, and this amp fills the bill. Only complaint in design is the metal grill is a pain to remove quickly if needed.

I use a Gibson 135, Tele Nashville and a reissue Dano U1 for slide work Mostly i'm guitar-chord-amp, though I rigged a dano T-Bone to the U1 strap to get that much loved Houndog Taylor sound ;-).You cannot find a better Blues amp anywhere for any price. When I do Muddy type slide on the tele it just rips your head off!I never got that sharp, clean sound from my 74 twin. When I go neck on the 135, fatter than Rosie O'Donnell's ass! I set her and leave her and just tweak my guitar tone and volume knobs to get what I need.My other guitar player switches between a Blues Jr and a MarkIV and just drools over my tone. What is so cool about it, it the separation of tone we get, along with the harp player. I did get a buzz , but I switched out the sovtex AX7's w/ Electro Harmonix and problem soved. Made it break up a little quicker too! The reverb tank was trashed, but my harp player gave me his from his Princeton and problem solved.

Except for the reverb wiring falling a part, no prob. Just keep some extra tubes with me.

never used them

I have been playing for about 20 years, last ten seriuosly, three with this band. I would buy another if stolen, I love it that much. I am considering getting another to chain them if we start getting Festival gigs, but at Chicago Blues Fest on the Gibson stage, they just mic em.
Somebody below complained about the weight. He obviuosly has not picked up a 74 Twin w/ EV's. That's heavy! The cool retro look gets comments all the time, folks think I have a 40 year old amp!

Features: Very basic; covered by other reviewers. For me, less is more - I don't like having too many choices (my pedals already give me too many!). The knobs it does have are useful in most positions and they cover about all of what I need, so I'm not going to rate it too low in this category. In fact, I tend to leave it set one way and let my pedals do most of the tone altering work. Good thing, because it's a pain to reach down behind the amp to tweak knobs, especially if you have the amp leaning back during a gig.

My particular copy of the amp is supposedly one of the earlier ones in this line, which might explain the reliability issues mentioned below.

I play mostly classic rock covers, from early Stones and Beatles to CCR to Eagles to U-2 and, occasionally, Nirvana.

This is a wonderful sounding amp for its price and size. Gorgeous, warm clean tones; nice crunch when overdriven. What I really like is that it maintains clarity and crispness when overdriven without sounding harsh. Lush reverb. No full-bore metal sounds, but that's okay with me. Takes very well to the pedals I put in front of it: compressor-> (Fulldrive 2 or Proco Rat) -> EQ -> Chorus -> Delay -> amp. With these pedals and the various pickups in my Strat (including a Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon humbucker (full size) in the bridge), I can pretty much get anything I want for classic rock covers. My personal tone quest is over, after several years of being frustrated with my Fender Blues Jr. and a Peavey Special 212.

One "mod" I've done is to tape a small folded square of bubble-wrap over the center of the face plate. This seems to help cut the trebly "searchlight" effect that you get with 112 combos. Having done that, I get good enough tonal balance both in front of, and to the sides of, this amp, that I often use it unmiked in medium-size gigs. Lord knows it's loud enough! In fact, I once used it unmiked on an outdoor stage at a club known for having big shows, and I was actually asked to turn it down! Of course it coulda been my playing...

Before buying the amp, I researched both it and its predecessor, the Trace Elliott Velocette. I had heard rumors of bad output transformers, plastic tube sockets, etc. In fact, I actually tried to peer through the rear grill before buying and ended up convincing myself that the tube sockets were ceramic. Well, it turned out they were indeed *plastic*, and they did indeed partly melt. But that didn't come out until the amp suddenly quit on me about a month after purchase - the amp had blown a high-voltage fuse. The fuse, and the tube sockets, were replaced under warranty and I haven't had any problems since.

I do gig with it as my main amp, but I have a Peavey solid state 212 Special backup combo waiting in the wings, just in case. Never had to use it yet, thankfully; since the Goldtone sounds so much better for what I do.

Warranty service described above was handled by the store that sold it to me. However, I did have occasion to contact Gibson by e-mail about some of my technical concerns, and they were very helpful and informative.

I've been playing electric guitar for about 14 years; been gigging sporadically for about three. I guess I'd call myself a semi-serious semi-pro player (i.e., we get paid, more often than not), but I do care about my sound, and I was unhappy before getting the Goldtone. Now I'm content with my overall rig, and that's what counts for me. To get something that sounds marginally nicer (and I'm not really sure what that means), I expect I'd have to shell out close to $1500 to $2000 for a Matchless or some such thing. For the same money, I could buy two Goldtones and use one as a backup (or use them in tandem!).
If it were stolen, I'm pretty sure I'd replace it with the same thing, at least as long as I don't have any more reliability problems than I already had.

Old UK model, tan tolex, gold grille, super retro look. Standard features as below. Vol, Tone, Reverb. Only 3 knobs...hmmm???
Me. Musically. Live: Blues/Rock w countryish twist... STudio: same with some alt., roots rock. ie, American organic music. No heavy stuff. But... I do play loud when live as I do play with a very loud drummer and 2nd guitarist. And this thing can be very loud ! comprable to 40 - 60 watt Fenders and the like.

Amazing full, clean tone. Vintage OD distotion when cranked a bit or front end hit hard with gain from hotter pickups or pedals. Did I say full tone? Must be the simple class A circuit... mimimal tone draining EQ circuits, buzzy preamp gain, etc... CREAMY comes to mind. I use it with all my guitars...sounds killer. Les Paul w/ 59 duncans. Strats and like one other reviewer... to my suprise... makes my Am Tele sound great! Dare I say Vox AC15 territory... I have a Fender Super Reverb Reissue that the Tele gets shrill with. Voicing is spot on for my style of music. If 10 = "sounds awesome" I give it a 10... see what else I have below so you know I"m not full of crap...

Floor demo blow out when Mars music closed. Tolex is peeling... looked like bad job from the factory ( trace elliot). Got if for a song...It had bad /noisy power tubes when I got it... spoke to the local LA gibson rep... who refered me to the service center. YES. I actually got GREAT service from Gibson! Amp is solid. No problems or noise. Mines got the crappy plastic tube sockets, but they seem to have melted into a stable state now... we'll see. I gig with it...but always have backups anyway.

Super. See above. Amazing huh?

I've been playing for >30 yrs. I gig and record professionally. Got a freakin music store in my studio...( anyone else out there feel that way?). I found this amp by chance... I was checking out guitars and plugged into a " clean combo" just to hear the guitar and WOW. I didnt blieve it... so I waited a couple weeks, went back... boom. There is was again... "that sound". Still amp was a bit pricy at list price...then mars when under. I snagged it. Current amp lineup is: Rivera Knucklehead, head w various cabs as needed. Fender Super Rev RI, Boss modeling cube 15 watt (fuuuuunnnn toy! and LOUD) this amp and a bunch of recording stuff. This amp is quiet. Full bodied tone. OD's very naturally and is LOUD. Almost perfect power at 15 watts for Med Room live gig (100 people) with what I consider the loudest drummer in existense.( no joke, this guy is 6'5" and hits HARD!. I've plugged it into my Rivera cab and it sounded even "fuller"... and louder so dont overlook the speaker component to tone. BTW. I've toyed with the idea of converting it into a little head... If 10 = "fantastic value"...this is it.

The guy I bought it for claims that he got it from somebody who was a Gibson endorser and that this particular amp was given to him by Gibson, so the sound may not be representative of the normal GA-RV. It has a bright setting which is not of much use, it doesn't seem to brighten the sound as much as other amps' bright switches that I've had. The simple controls are nice and the 6 watt setting is very useful for smaller gigs. It is amazing how much volume can be produced by so little power. The 15 watts have been more than enough for any setting I've played, but I haven't played any outdoor gigs with it yet, which is usually the test for volume. I play swing, jazz, blues, country, and alt-country and this has been plenty versatile for that stuff. Much louder than my 40 watt Fender Custom viblrolux, and with much less noise.

I play either a Fender Custom shop '62 Tele or a 1935 Gibson L-10 archtop with a floating dearmond pickup through this amp. It suits the single coil pickups nicely. It is warm and very smooth sounding. It doesn't have any heavy metal sounds, but nobody with this amp would probably play metal on this amp anyway. I used to like to play old pre war Gibson eh-150 amps, but they break down and are not very loud. This amp sounds smooth and has the smooth break up that I like but is plenty cleaner sounding than my vintage amps. Not as clean as a fender, but much warmer sounding. I like the sound, but the eh-150 sounds much better to me for jazz. The tele sounds great through this amp and not overly harsh like it does through fender amps sometimes.

The reverb, which I never use, has broken. I would be pretty mad if I did use it as this amp doesn't look like it's been used much. Everything else seems sturdy and built like a tank (and weighs almost as much considering this is a 15 watt amp).

na

Even though my numbers aren't real high, I actually think this is a great little amp and I use it more then anything else I have when gigging. Its small, its loud, it sounds good, it is simple to use, and it has a detachable power cord. Ok, the power cord is a kind of nit picky thing, but I always have to replace the power cord sooner or later.

I have two of these. Both British. One with the cloth grille and a Greenback, and one with a gold grille and a Vintage 30. I've been playing blues for over 30 years, and this is the sound I've looked for all my life. I link them together when needed, and seperate them by six or seven feet, run them on triode (6 watts) and have yet to find a mix they will not cut right through. I'm an old school guy. Plug it in, turn it up, and play. I've got a couple other amps that look like mission control, and I can't for the life of me figure them out or find the one setting that makes them come alive. The Goldtones are always drop dead perfect. Out of curiosity I tried Groove Tubes in one of the amps and took them right back out after three notes and will now only run Sovteks in them. I'm giving this a 10 on features because this amp has everything it needs, and nothing it doesn't.

Tone. Plain and simple. This has to be the amp that God plays. No pedals for me, just straight from the guitar to the amp with a Monster Jazz cable, nothing to get in the way of the sound. I'm not interested in knocking off other people's tone when I play a tune. They had their turn, did it their way, and now it's my turn and I'm gonna sound like me, not them.

I play with two custom made Heritage Les Pauls, one with the HRW pickups and one with Duncan 59's, and a 1956 Les Paul Special, all original. The tones these produce with the Goldtones could make a rock cry.

They have both been reliable as hell. The amp with the Vintage 30 was an early run and had plastic tube sockets, which were badly melted causing the amp to sound like crap. The guy I bought it from was unaware of the problem and sold it dirt cheap thinking it was thrashed. For the record, I gave him every cent he asked for, and it was him that set the price, so I didn't feel like I cheated him. Besides, he's the kind of guy that always blames his equipment for his lack of talent. I suck, but am smart enough to know it's me, not my gear. Anyway, after I had the sockets replaced with ceramic, the thing has performed flawlessly.

I've talked to Gibson several times to ask questions and advice and they were always wonderful, even though I was up front with them about me buying the amps used.

The greatest amps I've ever owned, or heard. Unbelievable sound for an unbelievable price. This is one purchase that won't leave you with buyer's remorse. Go on, buy one. You deserve it.

Only 3 knobs (volume, tone, reverb) as decribed by others.

You can link the second amp and I use that !

I love the triode 6W mode and use it :-)

Well, THD Univalve and BiValve are the best tube amps in the world tonewise, yet this British designed (by Trace Elliott engineers) combo has just the perfect, optimized tone for jazzy-bluesy guitar so it's tough to beat it's tone ...

I play in latino jazzy band and use this combo in triode 6W mode linked to a small 11kgs $230 Laney LC15R 110 combo (I plug it as an extension - into the effects return, while the main input serves as my GR-33 synth amp) ... the sound is sufficienly loud and juicy and only ocasionally I add my tubescreamer if I need some singing Santany type of sound ...

I gig regularly and the small Laney 15R is a back up in extreme case and vice versa. Never had a problem.

Never dealt with Gibson but Trace Elliott engineers advised me as I have the original British model although it's 110V version ...

The best non-boutique class A combo and sound for a working guitarist's price ... if you play bues, jazz and the like - that's it :-)

This amp was built in the latest production run and was one of the first one shipped (November 2003). As it states on the back, "Designed in the UK, manufactured in the USA", so though it is still the basic Trace Elliot design with some modifications, it is the latest US version on this amp. I waited over 10 weeks for it as Gibson was out of stock and I went through my local Gibson dealer instead of going mail order. The nice part of that is I was the first person to touch the amp since the factory as I took it out of the box myself.
It has a single channel, single volume knob, single tone (dual gang potentiometer) knob and a single reverb knob. There is a high input jack, a low input/link jack that can be used for low impedance guitars or to link the amp in a chain to another amplifier. An external speaker jack is installed (16 ohms) but this disables the internal speaker which is a Celestion Vintage 30. A normal/bright switch is selectable and the power switch is a three way off/standby/on type. The key feature is the 15 watt pentode mode switchable to 6 watt triode. Everything is tube driven except the reverb which is solid state and drives a small 3 spring accutronics tank.
There is no effects loop but I have had no problems adding effects directly. It would be nice if Gibson included the footswitch for the reverb input and it is a mystery to me why they don't even manufacture a cover for any of their Goldtone amps.
I purchased this amp because my Fender Blues Junior just did not pack enough punch and tone for the low watt tube amp I was looking for. Playing my Hot Rod Deluxe at 1 on the volume knob obviously negated the tone you get from driving the tubes. (BTW, you can pick up Hot Rods cheap. For blistering 3 channel 40 watt tube power and heavenly reverb they can't be beat).
The features seem minimal, especially the tone knob, but there is a mountain of tone adjustments in this retro set up that you just would not think would be available.

I play everything from Gospel, classic rock, country, jazz, whatever appeals to me.
OK, let's be honest, nobody wants to say their latest purchase is a pile of garbage and when I read threads I wonder just how overboard a person is going when he says his Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue is the best amp he's ever owned as soon as he replaced it with better tubes and speakers. I've played a ton of amps and they all have a good specific purpose. I got the Fender Blues Junior for the purpose of having good tube tone in a low watt amp mostly for recording purposes or small rooms. My hope is that it would provide the tone my Hot Rod had at lower volume. Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case. A friend of mine who is a Fender zealot told me to check out the GA-15RV. Here is the bottom line:
Bar none, this is the best sounding amp I have ever owned. First, there is absolutely ZERO hum, hiss, noise; whatever you want to call it, with any knob maxed out or not. With the power on, until you touch a string, it is completely silent. As advertised, when the volume knob is placed to the mid point and past, the gain comes right is and it is sweet. In the 6 watt triode mode this amp still has almost too much power for a small recording room. Everything they say about Class A watts is true. At 15 watts your neighbors will be calling the cops. But it is all about tone and this amp has it in spades at every setting.
I mostly use a American Telecaster with noiseless pickups. I have heard some complaints about the speaker choice but the Celestion delivers shimmering tones. The tone is so clean and the headroom so large that it will force you to be a better guitarist. The sensitivity to string attack is something I have never encountered. The nuance between subtle volume and input changes are crystal clear so you have to be at your best because sloppiness will come right through. The distortion is tube driven joy which retains tonal distinction in the gain rather than loosing it in a mass of unintelligible fuzz that covers up your garbage. You can definitely work the feedback and sustain easily too.
That said, I was surprised when I plugged in my J-185EC and found the amp to be quite resistant to the feedback associated with acoustic guitars. I tried a few other acoustics also (including nylon) and the tone, while not exactly having great acoustic reproduction, was still a pleasant surprise for am amp of this type.
Finally, I want to talk about the reverb, because I am a reverb nut. For a small tank it gives as good or better reverb than about any small amp I've encountered. It is miles better than the Blues Junior. If there was one thing I would change it would be a full size tank installed along the top of the inside of the amp. I am certain as is, it will cover at least 95% of my reverb needs and I can use a nanoverb when I need a little more.

The warranty is for 2 years. I have not had a problem yet and of course hope I do not. I do want to say this about Gibson customer service though. They are the best. When waiting for this amp my dealer and I had to put up with all the usual salesman crap about shipping dates, etc. Gibson customer support went overboard getting the real deal for me and my dealer and when these amps finally shipped, I got one of the first ones and that is no BS (it was the third amp off the line). They are top notch in my book. I have never received such support from any company, they were simply great.

I've been playing since 1976. If this amp were stolen I would get another immediately. It perfectly fills the purpose I bought it for; recording and small rooms. If you are in a band where the PA system microphones the amps for the bands mix, this would be the perfect choice over stacks of high watt equipment you think you need to get tone.
I love the build quality. It is not flawless but close to it. The parts are top shelf. The knobs alone are the best I've seen on any amp. The amp section itself looks like a high end hi-fi chassis. Even the wiring is given first class attention. The cabinet is solid and well covered with no noticeable flaws. An effects loop would be nice as well as a bigger reverb tank. Other than that, this amp looks and sounds like a boutique amp that would cost you 3x as much.
If you want killer tone, I mean the stuff that everyone dreams about. If you want it in a low powered amp. If you want it in a solid, beautifully built package at a price that is simply a deal. If you want it in an amp that won't need "different tubes" or whatever to complete it, then this is the amp to get.
To be fair, after I've has this amp for about six months I'll give an update here. Until then I look forward to what others have to say about this amp.

This is a new (made is USA) GA-15RV and the feature set remains as simple as it gets. Volume, tone, reverb, all you should need with any good Class A amp.

This one sounded considerably different than the UK manufactured version, which has a smooth range from clean to distorted (Using a USA Strat+ with vintage noiseless pickups). The USA made GA-15RV seems to break up much more quickly, lacking the all important "in-between tones". Since the amp blew up almost immediately, I'm hoping what I heard wasn't the best this amp can do.

Second time I powered it up, the amp self-destructed in an impressive blue flash. The fuse did not blow, but the amp sure did. A clear sign of poor build quality, way to go Gibson! Took it right back to the dealer. I had researched this model, and was under the impression they had ironed out all the earlier design problems. So much for "made is the USA", should've kept building them in the UK... The amp looks great, but beware of the cheap work inside...

In my experience, Gibson is not helpful or friendly when it comes to thier product support. Lucky for me, it blew up on the first day I had it, so I took it up with my dealer. They've been most helpful.

Sounded OK, until it blew up. Not sure yet if I'll give Gibson a second chance to fail. I need a small Class A with reliability AND tone. I wouldn't trust this amp to survive the drive to the club, let alone a smoking 1 hour set.

As described by others: volume, tone, reverb, bright switch and 6/15W switching option, 12" speaker all in a very nice gold cabinet and brown grille ... mine was made in UK probably few years ago ... has all the features that a baby-boom guitarist needs: great tone, tube tone, warm valve TONE !

What shall I say: I play since 1960 (i.e. before Marshall made his first amp and before Hendrix made his impact ...) so I played all the best amps and even currently own the very best of them all: THE Univalve (see my review on that one too :-)

This baby sounds WARM and Tubey like the best boutique amps that normally cost $2000+ : it's a steel for the money !

GA-15RV is an extremely intelligent design: the cabinet is DEEPER than most 112 cabinets so this amp has THE TONE.

From clean jazz or funky riffs, bluesy leads, singing leads warm and musical - that's what this amp offers. Reverb is already almost like an slap-echo at 9am so I use it sparingly.

6W switch is great and I use it most of the time; 15W is just for the bigger gigs and you can use this amp anywhere as it sounds great and is sufficiently loud. My other 15W or 30W amps sounds thinner so probably the cabinet is partly the secret of this great tone that is OPTIMIZED for the guitar hence you need little tweaking - I use volume at noon and tone and reverb a 9am.

My band members LOVE it's tone and I gig with it all the time:
when I need singing Santana tone I use Fulltone Fulldrive up front and Cry Baby wah ... but for 90% of the time it is just one of my guitars directly to the amp. It likes Les Pauls (which is rare as most amps cannot handle bass boost so you have to use Smooth & Slim by Ayon Technologies!) but it also likes Strats ...

In summary, although only THD Univalve deserves 10, this amp
gets it also as it is great optimally designed inexpensive combo that provides Divine Tube sounds for all styles except metal.

I imported it from from New Mexico to Switzerland by snail mail ...
and it works as well as any new amp or better !

Do not need it but I wrote to the designer (with ex-Trace Elliott) and got a great reply and insights ... so I refer here to the original designer and not Gibson as I never dealt with them.

For non-metal gigs: from jazz to blues to classic rock I can strongly recommend it. I gig with it rather than with my THD Univalve as it covers all the sounds I need. And yes I would buy another one. I used to have Fender Prosonic 210 combo that sells in that price range these days yet I prefer this Gibson as it is lighter to carry and covers all the sounds that I need.

I strongly recommend this amp to any active baby-boom guitarist that plays mostly jazz-funk-blues or classic rock. I do not recommend this for nu-metal or any extreme category ...

For the money, it's one of the best kept secrets out there; test Fender Prosonic in the 2nd hand non-boutique market for comparison and then decide. If you want to go beyond this amp and tone - well, try THD Univalve or BiValve, Fargen, Dr.Z or British Cornford or MatAmp ... still at the end of the day you might as well buy GA-15RV immediately: i t is THAT GOOD !

Did I say that I LOVE it's TONE ! :-)

This is an update to a post I made about 5 or 6 montbs ago . See down below for my initial post.
NOTE: couple of thing I wish the amp had but, really it's no big deal.
1. I wish you could run the internal speaker and an external speaker at the same time
2. Gibson needs to offer a nice padded cover for it, my wife was nice enough to make one for me ...
3. I still wish it had a pilot light in the back somewhere
4. Those spring retainers can be tricky, I wish there was something else instead......
Rating is a seven because I only had a couple minor things to complain about..I love this amp its still knocking me out after a year of playing it every weekend on gigs..best amp I ever bought...It has paid for itself in just the fact that its so good sounding I have gotten more work from having great tone!!!

At this time I am playing a 1957 LesPaul Custom Historic or "Black Beauty" and it works so incredibly well with the amp that it almost plays itself....the 57 Classic Humbuckers absolutely love this amp...This amp is perfect for almost any style of music(jazz, blues, r&b, soul, country, surf,reggae, fusion,Americana, latin jazz this amp is superior and excels) except for the new heavy mental music that does not really use this type of amp tone..if it were the 80's again, put a Rat pedal in front of this thing, get some hair gel and go to town baby!!!Metal Mayhem!!!...Ok Im getting carried away
Volume!!!! this amp is loud when it needs it..I dont know how it does it,,,it just doesnt make sense...I used it outdoors a few weeks ago for a beach gig and it was plenty loud..I had the volume up there around 2 or 3 o'clock and that amp was singing man..I always put it up on a stool so I can hear it better and what happens is my vocal mic and the other vocal mics pick it up a little so it gets into the pa a little..This amp and a LesPaul Custom is a killer rig..you can do any gig with these two pieces..
Here is my favorite setup:
Put the bright switch to the off position, put the volume about noon time,tone control at 11 oclock (for warmer, less highs) 1:00 (still warm but a litte more highs) , put the reverb on about 9:00...Use your volume control and tone controls on your guitar now and dial in any tone you need..
Oh some of you guys playing this amp at home might think it is too midrange and not enough low end..the amp is voiced like this so that when your in a live situation with bass and drumms the amp sits righ in the middle not getting muddy or washed out like a fender amp..What happens is live you get the illusionary effect of this huge bandwidth of tone from a little 15 watt amp..really works neat...plenty of clean headroom...and you can overdrive it when you dime out your volume on the guitar...really a great setup..I like the Vintage 30 speaker..really nice tone with this amp.

I think guys from other amp companys come on Harmony Central and attack the Gibson amp...I think it might even be displaced Trace Elliot workers or something like that...my amp has given me no problems what so ever and next month will be one year of owning it..so far so good..and Im still happy with it...it still turns on , still sounds good, has not needed service, has not....oh wait..I did notice something last week..the reverb momenterily stopped working for a bit..after playing the amp very loudly on a gig..the room was very humid and hot..I put the amp on standby in between breaks and it came back on ..I used it two other times after that and forgot I had that one little prob...the verb seems to be working ok ...

My first set of tubes ..one em rattled and the Gibson rep sent me out a fresh brand new pair...they were excellent to deal with.

This amp is wonderful, toneful, great to look at and well built...Get one!! Get two!! Just get out there and by one..there are too many guys who sound like crap out there who could benefit from owning one of these amps...only problem is that once other musicians hear your tone..your gonna have gigs out the wazooo !!! so get ready to work.

Made in 2003. Parts from U.K. assembled in the USA. Cosmetically, the USA version has dark tolex covering w/gold-finished metal grille and corner protectors. My earlier Goldtones had honey tolex and brown grille cloth. Electrically this amp is very simple, few bells and whistles. One standout feature is the Pentode/Triode switch to get 1/2 power for quieter sessions. A Celestion Vintage 30 speaker is stock but one of my older Goldtones had a Greenback. It also has a pass-thru link feature that I will use. Other reviewers including myself have described the Goltone's features in greater detail. I will use this amp when I need a backup for my Peavey Classic 30, home practice, or Blues jam sessions. It has just the right power for my uses.

I have a 1990 Strat Ultra that I modified with Eric Clapton electronics and Bill Lawrence L-280 pickups. When I first plugged-in, I was totally blown away by how well my guitar matched this amp. It is quiet from an unwanted-noise perspective, and all guitar pickup settings are toneful. When I turn up the mid-boost on my Strat the amp pushes into awesome Blues territory. When I then dime the Volume on the amp, the Strat mid-boost gives me the best Blues-Lead tone I have heard from any rigs I've had. The combination of my Strat, Goldtone circuit, and Celestion speaker seems to produce just the right harmonic content that instantly pleases. I seem to remember that my older Goltones were louder and had a bit more "hair" in their tone when cranked. The one with the Greenback especially. I can't wait to finish breaking-in the speaker on my new amp. I haven't put pedals in front yet, but I intend to get a Boutique OD pedal like a Fulltone in the near future.

Well, I've had a couple of the older Goltones before. They blew internal fuses within a half hour after plugging-in for casual playing, so I returned them. But I couldn't forget the tone, so after learning that an American production line had started up and problems had been corrected, I came back. Time seems to heal some wounds. So far no problems, but I haven't had this one long enough to judge.

I actually had very good response when I've called Gibson back East. I got a schematic when I had my other Goltones.

Coincidentally, I got a new Peavey Classic 30 on the very same day, so I a/b'd the two amps. The Classic 30 sounds very good for it's price point and will be my "main" gigging amp, but to my ears the Gibson is a few notches higher in terms of tone. Granted, some non-guitarist folks wouldn't know the difference, but after playing Top Hats, Bad Cats, Bogners, Matchless' and the like I can certainly tell. Once I dial-in the Peavey and my Boss GT-6 effects setup for the Bands I'm in, I'll put the Classic 30 away and get out the Goldtone to satisfy my appetite for sweet tone. The Goltone is a great value for one who wants Boutique tone on an Iced Tea budget.

You know the features, most likely anyway, 15 Class A watts, 3 knobs (vol., tone, & reverb), Pentode/Triode switchable (to either 6 or 15 watts), 16 ohm speaker out, hi/lo inputs (lo can be used to link to another amp). Very basic features but I give it an "8" because in this case less is definately more.

I love the sounds this amp produces. Kinda Voxy...which in my opinion is always a good thing (talking about the old JMI Vox). Nice clean headroom and breakup is semi-smooth with the stock Ruby Tubes EL84's (2) and Sovtek 12AX7's (2). I'm gonna give Bob at JJ Electronics a call for 2 JJ EL84's and 2 JJ ECC83S tubes. GREAT TUBES THOSE JJ's!!! TRY them and see.

What I've noticed the most thus far is an extremely easy ability to get that old "Honky Tonk Woman" tones. Very full notes and nice definition. I'm an old schooler, so the sounds this amp produces are some of my most favorite classic rock sounds I've sought after for years.

I use several guitars: a Fender USA Fat Strat Texas Special, a Fender American Series Tele, a Gibson ES-135 with Classic 57 PAF's, a Reverend Rocco, an original 57 Goldtop Les Paul. Thus far, both single coils and humbuckers have given good results. I rarely use effects, other than a wah pedal and occasional chorus.

I play mostly a heavy blues based rock from the 60's and 70's...Cream, Led Zep, Robin Trower, ZZ Top, etc. and I have had no troubles finding the needed tones for this style of music.

My Goldtone GA-15RV was one of the last coming out of Trace Elliott's plant in the UK. It is a little noisy with rattles that others have complained about, but not bad. I do plan on changing out the plastic tube sockets with ceramic sockets and re-tubing.

I haven't had it long enough to give a fair rating. This amp sat "new" in the guitar store for 3 years or more before I got it for a GREAT price. So, it's had some demo playing by customers over the years, but nothing like I've put it through the last 2 weeks. Time will tell!!!!

Hmmmmmm......Gibson got back to me overnite via e-mail responding to my request for an owner's manual (store lost the original). Many others have complained about Gibson's CS; but I guess I have been lucky in my dealings with them.

I've been playing for over 33 years and have had some of the best and worst equipment. Never had a SS amp I liked other than a 1980 Lab Series L5, been a tube amp man ever since I started playing back in 1970. I will say that I have always been more of a Fender tube amp man than Marshall. This Goldtone really sounds great.... no other way to put it. I am totally happy with the purchase and product. I will be getting another one of these babies to link together. It sounds great now by itself or linked to my very modified Fender Blues Jr.

standard 'old school' features: reverb, tone controls, vol., stanby switch, hi/low imputs, bright switch...the 1/2 power switch is an excellent feature. more amps could use this feature. has imput for footswitch for reverb. mine has the brown tolex over dark brown speaker mesh. comes with a greenback. GT power tubes and sovtek preamps. dumped the sovtek for some telefunkens, kept the GT's. 15 watts class A power is plenty LOUD for clubs. ss rectifier tho. controls are on lower back, which I think is aesthetically pleasing but functionally weak. lack of a power light to indicate use can be a problem as you may forget. ceramic tubes sockets, spring reverb, birch ply cab. weighs only 25 lbs. no effects loop.

works just great with sc or hb's. great resonance, sparkles/harmonics. a tasty amp tone for a rather 'professional' sound. excellent articulation and clarity. variety of tones given 1/2 power capabilities. distorts easily at the 7 watt output. mild OD to fat break-up. full 15 watts gives decent headroom. crisp, somewhat bright a la Vox bright, not Fender bright. reverb is not Fender either, more quick responding and less surfy at heavier levels. 1/2 or full power output setting has appreciable affect on amp, so it is, sort of 2 amps in one. It has ALOT of soulful TONE. A beautiful sounding amp, and lovely looking. well made product. like most tube amps, it likes pedals. a fantastic pop/rock/blues/country non gainy amp. just some very sweet tone. voxy. greenback sounds FINE in this amp.

no problems yet. class A burn hot hot hot. watch the tubes, use the standby and don't leave it on for hours. if use regularly, keep an eye on the el84's. they don't last forever burnin' so bright!...no bias required as it is class A.

unknown except for what is said here...Gibson has a good public record of repairing these when and if they do falter.

mostly play thru a Fender DR with the standard array of guitars (lp,tele, mustang, 335) and pedals (ebs multi-comp, banzai fb2, dm-2, dc-2, ross distorion, sho, etc) but wanted to have a class A Vox-type sound. This baby NAILS that tonal swath. More reliable and less costly than a Vox ac-15RI, the Gibson ga15-rv is more than just a repackaged Velocette. They have upgraded just about EVERY single thing on the Elliot line, with outstanding results. Gibson has been trying to find it's niche with these amps in the midst of the Age of Gain Amps ascendance. The numerous repackagings of this exceptional Goldtone line explains this effort. I do wish they would rethink the control layout, and install a power lamp. Whether you have the 'iron works' version, or the more traditional 'old school' look version, you have a fine tone producing product. I enjoy the detail to everything Gibson has brought out in the GA15-RV.

3 knobs, volume, tone, reverb, 2003, durable strong handle, 1 channel,1-12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, birch? cabinent... simple but versatile tone, Class A 15 watts

AMAZING!! AMAZING!! Professional TONE!! Well rounded with alot of harmonics, smooooth overdrive past 3 o'clock w/ single coils. solid box no rattles or tube vibrations. It came with JJ's tubes PLUS a Vintage 30!! Lush reverb with incredibly FAST note response for a LOUD Class A 15 watt amp. gorgeous look with the black and gold corners, nice gloss black rear plate, the black tolex has a cool feel ...soft but super cool, very sexy looking amp, solid huge knobs with a cool design pattern on the grill front. No plastic inputs. The handle is nice and durable not that cheesy plastic one most companies use. Fatter and more midrange than a Fender. Just a powerhouse little amp. It resonants beautifully! I play Hendrix - SRV along with Albert King and the rest of the heavy hitters...you know who.

Strong, with quality parts and the sockets seem durable.

I have bought a tremendous amount of Fender amps from cyber to vintage to older Carvin X-100B heads with Vintage 30 type stuff and this by far, and I mean by far, has an awesome TONE. I've been playing over 5 years quite intensely 3 hours a night and this amp won my soul over in about 2 notes. I use it for blues jams and run a overdrive box with just 2 George L's and it is very well balanced in Bass,MId,Treble with just the one tone knob. I hate getting finicky with less bass, more mid, less treble, more this, or that.....Just give me a tone that can crank out Wind Cries Mary to Texas Flood. I will buy another to have in stereo. I bought this on EBAY a short time ago. Less than 10 hours so it was basically brand new. The speaker still needs to break in. Completely Satisfied. I would bring this on stage if ask to play with a professional musician...just dreaming...like Buddy Guy or Susan. TONE!!!

I use a pair of these in stereo for blues/rock -BB King to Hendrix. A simple one channel one tone/vol amp. I've played pubs, clubs outdoor festivals (with a PA) and recorded with these thru the internal speakers, 4X12 and leslie cabs

I Use a levinson blade, fender strat and Gibson les paul deluxe. I find the amps work great turned to 3 oclock, and control everything from your guitar. You can go from a gorgeous bell like clean through to a toasty blues break-up for lead, taking in Keef and Page rhythm tones. Recording wise it's virtualy noise free. Put it in a room off the main studio floor,(You need a good phones mix) turn it to max (half power if needs be) and ambient mike....it's amazing!! In so far as flexibility is concerned taking one to rehearsals and two to bigger gigs/stages is unbeatable in my view.
I've had the opportunity to play with a lot of touring bands. The Feelgoods, The Hoax, Canned Heat, The Fab Thunderbirds, Roger Chapman Nine below zero and others and these amps never sounded out of their league. One of my favourite nights was playing with the Hampsters( a notoriously good and busy Professional UK band playing original and Hendrix ZZTop tributes..........Hi Slim !!) The guitar player uses a very mod Mesa/Marshall rig with a christ knows what digi effects board and when we were sound checking he ran from the dressing room to find out what I was using!!! His face when he spotted my suitcase sized Goldtone was a picture !!!

HMMMMMMMMMMMM I previously used the vellocettes and have owned four goldtones. I've never had more trouble with amps. They seem to just rock themselves to pieces!! They've been back a number of times and I have to say that pre Gibson the service was significantly better.

Melvyn, the service guy is a genius and a credit to the organisation, Gibson don't deserve him!! Service is as great as he's allowed. Once they get it it gets dealt with but the amount of servicing needed is worrying.

I've played for 30 years and have used just about every amp you'd care to mention. I can't imagine a more flexible tonefull set up for the money. I love the tone, the weight (back problems from loading too many 4X12's into small vans in damp shirts in the early hours)
All you need in addition is a good valve powered drive pedal. I honestly don't think there's a better amp for the money, slap a matchless badge on this and you'd happily spend a grand on it !! These are among the best kept secrets in the bizz!!

Here's a post I took off the Les Paul forum regarding reliability of these amps, and I thought I'd share with you guys.

Dr. Bob,

Regarding your ost:
"The GA-15RV is a repackaged Trace Elliott Velocette with Gibson cosmetics. Open one up and you're likely to find a Trace Elliot marked PCB inside. This amp sounds great but has been reputed to have reliability problems."

I find that I must take exception with your comments and clarify for the readers of the LPF who may being thinking of a future amp purchase.

The GA-15RV is NOT a repackaged Velocette.

First of all:
PC boards. Yes the PC boards (up until now) have Trace Elliot markings on them. That's because they were made in the Trace Elliot U.K. factory, as TE had always fabricated their own boards. The circuits themselves are not identical - there were some minor changes made. BTW, Gibson Goldtone amps use double-sided, glass-epoxied PC boards, which are the best you can buy.

Reliabilty:
This is where lots of "whispered facts" turn up from people that are not true.

Velocettes did have a problem due to one shipment of bad transformers that were used (this, by the way was long before Gibson acquired Trace Elliot). However, there are over 1,000 Velocettes in the U.S., and to date Gibson has only had to replace about 20 of them for consumers, and not only did Gibson do so happily, Gibson has made no secret of what the cause was.

Gibson Goldtone amps use a different transformer and there have been ZERO blown transformers to date.

Velocettes used plastic tube sockets, which for a Class A amp was not the best choice for an amp which burns the tubes as hot as Class A amps do (which is a characteristic of the design in the first place). Gibson Goldtone amps utilize ceramic sockets with spring-loaded tube retainers.

Whether or not you actually own a Gibson Goldtone amp, I've no idea. But to make a claim such as yours is (what I would term) irresponsible. There are a lot of Goldtone amps out there making players happy. Did I happen to mention people like Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, (who just purchased 4 GA-30RVS and used them on their upcoming CD), Ian Hunter (loved his half stack so much he bought another?), Lonnie Brooks & Wayne Baker Brooks, Joe Perry (and his 12 or so GA-30RVS), Eric Johnson, Frank Blinkal (Buddy Guys' guitarist).... and on and on..... These guys seem to enjoy them without any issues.

FYI, Goldtone amps were used by 99% of the artists at the Chicago Bluesfest ths month (at the Gibson Crossroads stage) and were met with critical acclaim by every artist who used them, including the (experienced) sound man who proclaimed them to be the best-sounding amps he's ever worked with. And they worked outdoors under grueling conditions without one problem.

If you're going to slam the brand (and this is the second time I've come across you making "untrue" or unfair comments about the line), perhaps you should put a couple of miles behind you with one and then discuss.

Not to be a dick, but my post is to let LPF readers know that if they are considering trying out or purchasing a Gibson Goldtone amp, reliability and customer service are the last things they need to worry about. These are fine amps and will go up against anything like them on the market.

Made in 2000. This is the second version - with tan tolex, large leather handle and cloth speaker cover. -made in England. Non-master volume - pentode (15 watts) or triode (6watts) switchable. volume , tone, reverb knobs. 2 12AX7 (Sovtek WA) and 2 EL84 (Ruby tubes) - 12" greenback. bright switch. Also a useful "lowlink" jack - can run to a second amp. and a 16 ohm speaker out. - haven't tried it yet. I have owned it 1 1/2 years - have lots of hours on it with different guitars and gigs.

This amp has FINALLY given me what I've always wanted. My set up is '59 junior or an ES 295 korean clone with p-90s (or anything else with p-90s ----carl martin compressor---Budda Phatman (with tubes changed to,Raytheon black plate 12AX7's - this DOES make a difference - the phatman came with sovteks which weren't quite as punchy. -----Boss EQ (used as a solo volume boost----TS 10 (when I want a midrange heavy distortion) ----tape echo-----amp. I use the 6 watt triode setting only - bright switch on - tone control rolled all the way off. Maybe its the class A thing (I don't know) but it gives a very in your face clean sound - very immediate - but warm with lots of sparkle - not twangy clean like a twin. It also sounds great with my strat but I don't use it often, The phatman with the P90 gives me an awesome old school rock crunch - HUGE sound - I mean it - the puny little 6 watt amp moves some air - VERY plexi like. a neck P90 gives a blues breakup (but I can't stay off the bridge) FINALLY I have a sweet warm clean sound AND huge rock tone. (humbuckers don't work - too mushy with the low watts and the strat doesn't give the big bridge crunch) I guess I'm a P-90 fanatic. I get gorgeous rockabilly Brian Setzer-Scotty Moore sounds with the tape echo. - still sweet and less rigid than my fenders were. I get every sound with ONE GUITAR, ONE AMP, and 2 floor buttons - and the sound is REAL - not digital tin. I have played 40 years and never had such a gig friendly deal. I play 60's rock, R+B, rockabilly, a little blues. the 6 wattt setting did a gig in a pretty good size room and small club. The reverb is softer and less glassy than my tube fender reverbs and I prefer the Gibson reverb. This really earns the 10

Don't carry a backup - Do carry tubes - No trouble after many hours

haven't needed it

I sold my fender - only have the gibson. I own lots of stuff. By the way, I tried NOS Tesla and RCA 12 AX7's - The $4.95 sovteks are superior (go figure) - I wouldn't dream of changing out the greenback - it's perfect. I'm looking for another one of these - same 2000 specs. The earlier ones (tan and gold) have plastic tube sockets that melt.

2002 Gibson Goldtone GA -15 RV. I purchased it in Sept. of 2002
Just enough features and nothing you dont need. Minor issue and I dont dig the plug in power chord, why not hard wire one in? Also controls on the back and bottom of amp are some times aggravating..if the amp didnt sound so good it would of been gone a long time ago just for those two reasons..however I live with it because I love the tone of this amp. Oh one more thing it needs is a pilot light of some kind to let you know its on..
I use this amp to practice with, to record with and every weekend to gig with..Plenty of power and it does not feel like a 15 watt amp, it feels and sounds more like a 30 watt amp, voiced perfectly to lay right in between the bass and the highs of the cymbols from the drums..Im giving it a nine because of the power cord , lack of pilot light, the goofy handle that wont lay down flat drives me nuts making the top of the amp unusable for putting stuff on top of it, and layout of controls in the back of the amp...everything else about it is very cool

Ash bodied seventies Fender Stratocaster with EMG DG rig for pickups or a 68 Fender Telecaster. The GA-15RV is perfectly suited for Jazz, Blues, R&B, Country, Surf, Swing, Early Rock, Classic Rock, Smooth Jazz, Reggae and soundtrack work. The overdrive is very smooth and the amp stays pretty clean up to about 1 or 2 o'clock using a pretty beefy output from the EMG pickups. The amp does not do heavy guitar tones on its own, you would need a pedal to get that mega distortion tone however if you dig smooth classic overdrive ala Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow" or early Santana, Allman kind of stuff this amp will do that with just a guitar plugged in, providing the pickups have some nutsack to them...Single coils will get a very soulful overdrive..perfect for getting your point across musically without sounding phoney or over distorted..very sweet overdrive sound. I mostly play clean and the amp excels at clean. Much better than a Fender does..What you get with the Gibson is a really punchy sound that blends out perfectly in a live situation. The stronger mids give the tone definition, shape and tone!! With most Fenders you lose that definition, it washes out a bit with the Drums and Bass..with the Gibson it is perfect. I also love the way the amp responds when your playing it..it feels really good ...its a solid, warm and focused sound that never sounds muddy but doesnt sound thin..hard to explain however it just feels real solid when your playing it..you dont hear the speaker rattling or farting out , the cab doesnt rattle or buzz,,its just solid sounding ..you get pure guitar tones from it.
The jazz tones are just killer!!! I get so many compliments on my tone , I would like to think its my playing however I know its the great amplifier.

The amp has been used every weekend since its purchase in Sept. of 2002 and it has not given me any trouble. I use it during the week for recording and practicing however I like to not use it for everything as I want to save the power tube life so it's fresh on the gigs. For practice I plug into my old Twin or whatever is handy.
I think the amp will be reliable. The build quality seems to be over engineered and it feels so solid..

Gibson customer support really surprised me. About two months after owning the amp I started to hear some tube rattle from one of the JJTesla power tubes..really no big deal as this is common with tubes. I sent Gibson an email and by the end of the day they responded and 4 days later they sent me a brand new fresh set of matched power tubes!! I was very impressed with that..most company's would of said "Take a hike"

I have been playing guitar professionally for about 20 years and have owned many vintage Fender tube amps, some high tech rack gear, 1 Mesa Boogie MkIIb, Roland JC120 etc. and this little 15 watt tone box just kills everything I have owned...Some do certain things well, others were one trick ponys, some were the flavor of the month that I need for the gig ..this Gibson is a guitar players amp...Perfect for the guy who hears tones with his hands and doesnt need alot of pedals and toys and bells and whistles to play..This is a perfect performing amp..its small, compact , powerful and professional tone. Sound men love this amp, sidemen compliment its tone as it doesnt hurt anybody with harsh tones, club owners like it because its just enough juice to cut through without driving everybody out of the club with too loud of an amp..and last of all , guitarist love it because it makes you sound good and helps you get the sounds in your head and hands out to the ears in the audience ..

2002 Goldtone with black tolex. Gold metal grill. All tube class A power!! 2X el84's 2x 12ax7's. Volume, Tone and reverb knobs...bright switch, full and half power, two inputs (low/link and high). Not high in versatility but thats not what it's suppose to do. This amp does one thing...makes unbelievably beautiful tones. I'm giving this a nine because it does exactly what it is suppose to.

I play a fender 72 custom tele with a joe bardon bridge pickup and a modified gibson stop bar tailpiece bridge. My guitar sounds like nothing I have ever heard before through this amp! This amp is the holy grail of guitar amps. I've had 3 or 4 mesa's a line 6 flextone 2, and a few others...I've been playing for approx. 10 years....This amp slays them all. I knew this after about 2 notes. The clean is so nice and musical...it sounds like bells! The overdriven tube sound is one to die for. Put a pedal in front of it (tube screamer or reverend drivetrain) And prepare to step into SRV land.

I've only had this amp a short while but everything is a'ok so far.
The first one I got from Gibson had a bad reverb unit...I sent it back and got a new one fast. Very happy otherwise.

I have to say that my experience with Gibson has been great. I talked to the same guy there everytime I called...he helped me and called me back when he said he would. They sent me a new amp quickly and he also sent me some sets of strings. Very cool.

I'm giving this a 10....I know, I know,nothing is perfect. But this amp is as close as it gets for me, at least at this point...when I played throught this amp I thought I died and went to heaven. I didn't want to stop playing through it, This amp will make you a better player. If it were stolen or lost I would buy 2 more so I could link them together and be even happier. haha.