Gibson GA15RVT

this is a 15 watt 10 inch speaker 3 input 1 channel amp. i believe mine is from 1965. has reverb and tremolo. the tubes are 2x6 eu7, 1x12 au7, 2x6 bq5. tubes must have been replaced. don't know much about tube companies, but they look new. it's heavier than i expected. i'm giving it a seven because it has a decent reverb and a decent tremolo.

i play a 70's matsumoku les paul copy thats been refurbished and a silvertone jupiter semi hollowbody from the sixties. amp has a little hum not quiet. amp has a great sound but treble dominates at all volume levels. i dont use treble pick up selection with this amp. treble is at 2 or 3 and bass is at 10 at all times. i play garage rock with no effects except reverb and amp driven distortion. this amp has great distortion at higher volumes but still not a very versatile amp.

mid sixties amp, seems to have lasted this long.

1965 gibson amp. if it broke down it could be repaired locally.

i like this amp. cant say i like it as much as my 60's silvertone 1482 15 watt amp. wish it was more versatile and had some low end. this being said it's loud enough for me. i don't play live any more but i think it could gig at a small club.

All the features are mentioned below with the exception of a Jensen Mod 12(35w) replacing the original speaker.

I love the tremolo and the reverb on this amp. With that said, this is a very bright and average-sounding amp. Could be the speaker I used, but I think it's generally a bright amp regardless of what speaker you use. Good for 60's rock.

Very reliable. Replaced the filter caps when I bought it a few years ago. I use is as my practice amp and have used it on stage. No problems.

It's an ok amp. I've been playing for about 15 years and have a few other amps and a smattering of guitars. Comparing this to my Blues Junior, this amp sounds weak and tinny, nor is it anywhere near as loud as the junior. I wish it had a mid control.

If this were lost(hahah, "dude, I lost my amp") or stolen, I wouldn't buy another.

1965 Gibson GA-15RVT. A small practice amp that weighs less than 30-lbs. Controls are Volume (labeled Loudness), Treble, Bass, Reverb, Tremelo Depth & Frequency & a combination Power/Polarity switch. The amp has three inputs & are all produce the same sonics. A foot petal controls the reverb & tremelo.

Tube line-up is a pair of 6EU7, 12AU7 & a pair of EL84 (6BQ5). It appears to be missing a tube & that is because it has an interstage driver/phase shifter transformer driving the 6BQ5s.

Power output is about 15-watts.

Guitar is a JB Player with a humbucker at the bridge. All pickups sound ok with the humbucker making for best lower frequencies.

Sound is sparkle clean with little overdrive sonics at full volume. It has a chimey sound & that is what EL84s produce sound wise. The rest of the circuitry does make for almost an overly bright amp & having the treble control pass 5 is not needed or wanted. Amp is quiet without hum & the polarity switch does remove any background buzz.

As for distortion, it is about non-existant. I did place a new Jensen MOD 10" and have plenty of experience with that speaker in a few amps. I can say the Jensen fantastic in other amps, thus nothing against the Jensen MOD here. In fact, that little Jensen 10" will growl. But, no growl in this Gibson.

The sound is an overall just ok, but not anything to go after per my opinion.

I would believe the amp is reliable. I did replace the electrolytic capacitors for good measure. Most of the other caps are Sprague 'orange drops' well known for long life- no problem here.

Does not exist from Gibson, but any tech could repair this amp. Parts are no problem.

I would not replace this amp if it died or was stolen.

Gibson-ga15rvt explorer.
most info above sounds accurate. I don't think anyone else mentioned that this baby has a real heavy wood cabinet, I really like that about it.

I use a telecaster, and it sounds real fine with this amp. I disagree with the reviewer who claims this thing don't have enough power to distort, it starts to overdrive at about 7 for me, sounds real sweet. It is definately loud enough to play with a drum kit. I've played it in few smaller clubs, with volume at 10. I am currently looking for another Gibson, maybe another Gibson just a bit louder so I can turn it down a bit, then I can play at the edge of overdrive instead of full on.

Had it serviced about a year ago when it was a bit buzzy, but it's fine now. Use it a couple times a week with no problems since then.

n/a

i've been playing a little more seriously for the last year or so. I have a 5 watt Sears (Grenada) tube amp that distorts real nice too.. strictly a private practice amp. I like that this gibson can easily play with drums and the natural overdrive is possible at somewhat reasonable volume.

I think this amp was made in 65 or 66 from what some other people said. Versatility is good the amp covers classic rock such as hendrix led zeppelin as well as van halen with my tube driver. One channel but with tube driver its like a 2 channel amp. It has reverb and tremelo that doesn't work doesn't matter to me I bought it for it's clean sound. I'm a bedroom player plenty of power for that. Its all tube which is where you get your good tone that you cant find unless you spend a small fortune nowadays. The foot switch is missing but you get reverb without it. Ten inch speaker.

I play it with a Washburn WI-64Dl which has dual humbuckers with the vcc system which simulates single coil pickups. On the rhythm pickup I get a nice fat sound on the lead it cuts through. I play mostly classic rock led zep, a little hendrix, deep purple, tommy bolin its great for classic rock. Its pretty quite a little hum but what do you expect for a 36 year old amp. The clean sound is great with a little overdrive when you turn it up to 5. Kick in the tubedriver and a nice crunchy rhythm sound and singing lead sound. It does't really distort without the tubedriver. I'm just a bedroom or living room player this amp is great for that.

It seems very dependable I think it has original tubes it still pumps out great sounds. I ordered new tubes and a new reissue jensen speaker. I plan on putting in new caps as well just to be safe. I think it will go another 36 years after I service it.

I love this amp if lost or stolen I would definitely get another, maybe a bigger model. I choose it because I wanted an old tube combo for a long time but fenders are so expensive I got this for a song.

The GR 15 is a wonderful amp
reverb is very nice it has its own sound.
and its truly well made the price I paid
was $275. I buy lots of amps I like this one
its a keeper 4 sure. I'm having fun tube amp

Jazz Guitar Johnny Smith

Made in the 1960s. Has reverb, tremelo, treble, bass (no mids), ext. speaker jack, 10" alnico speaker (unknown brand). One channel, all tube construction with EL84 power tubes. Cabinet is real wood, although I don't know what kind. Of course, it's all point-to-point hand wired. 15 watts. I use this amp in my garage band with a VHT 1x12 cabinet.

I use this amp with single coil strats, teles and a les paul. sounds great with all. The amp is bright, so I turn the treble down with the single coil guitars. It does old rock and roll and punk rock very well. It is also well suited for blues. The EL84s are known as the "tone" tubes because of their warmth and sustain qualitites. They are small tubes, usually used in class A amps. I think this amp is push-pull, but I'm not 100% sure.

To me, this amp sounds like a small marshall, good for my favorite music-the who, ac/dc, stones, beatles, ramones. does a good old zz-top sound.

Strangely, the reverb can be played by itself (with the volume on "0") and it sounds real cool. With the volume, the reverb is deep, different from the classic fender reverb, but very good. The tremelo has fantastic range, and is better than any other amp tremelo I've heard.

When I bought this amp, there were two store employees lined up who were very sad to see it go. A pro-audio guy wanted it for his studio.

As a single channel, non-master volume amp, this thing must be turned up to distort, which it does very nicely at around 7-8. It has a nice volume, not terribly loud, and I play it dimed in my apartment all the time, so far no complaints. The distortion is real creamy and the thing sustains like no other amp I've tried, even without the reverb on. It has a wooden (!) footswitch for the reverb and tremolo,

I had it checked by a very good tech, it is in excellent shape, even though the outside looks like it's seen a lot of use. All original tubes. So I guess it is pretty reliable. I haven't owned it long enough to really put it to the test.

I'm sure I wouldn't get any from Gibson, especially with this amp, as its a good 40 years old

I give this a solid nine, as you just can not get this type of tone from a new amplifier under $1000. My review was for the amp by itself, but I also hook it up to a 1 x 12 closed back cabinet that really tightens up the bottom end and increases the volume significantly.

I have been playing for 16 years, and if this amp were lost, I would find another, or maybe another gibson amp from the 50s or 60s. They sound as good as fenders, and they are much cheaper on the vintage market.

This is a 1966 gibson ga 15 rvt combo with one 10 inch speaker.
It has 3 inputs, volume treble bass reverb and tremolo.
5 tubes in this amp with el 84's for power.
There is an extro speaker/cab input on the back.
I purchased this amp from an e=bay seller and paid over 400 dollars canadian plus shipping.
Unfortunately; the amp arrived with a dead reverb unit. (blame this on rough handling by canada post).
It took 3 weeks and a dozen long distance phone calls to find a
model specific replacement unit. It's exact, except for the color of the reverb unit= gold vs original grey.
This amp produces maybe 12 watts.
It's good for home use.

Sounds pretty nice with my les paul jr special with p-100 buckers and my es 325 with mini buckers.
Also use a strat, tele and gretsch anniversary through the little mint condition amp and they sound good too.
The amp doesn't really have enough power to "break up" naturally and is best for clean sounds. The trem is terrific and the reverb rocks!
You need pedals to produce any usable distortion.

I received two sets of tubes with this amp.
A set of n.o.s , rca's and a set of sovteks.
Aside from the reverb problem, so far, so good.

No warrenty because the amp is a 1966 model; but gibson web site folks
helped steer me to the original reverb maker; or at least the firm that took over from gibbs/hammond.

Been playing 40 plus years.
Own a fender princeton chorus dsp, strat , tele, les jr., gibson es 325, gretsch anni.
Nice little amp, but if it were stolen or lost, I'd buy something else.
Really bought this because I remembered how good the 60's gibson falcons sounded. This amp is smaller, and less powerful and sounds not a bit like the falcon. ALso paid far too much for the amp even though its close to mint.