Gibson GA16T Maestro Viscount Combo

VERY basic controls: Volume, Tone, Tremelo Depth & Speed. There is 3 inputs and all sound slightly different. The simplicity is a BIG plus in my opinion. The tube line up is two 12AX7s, two 6V6s and one 5Y3 rectifier. I play a wide variety of styles including finger-picking, folk, country, classic rock, and some jazz.

Very awesome sound overall. Every guitar I've played through it (including acoustic-electrics) sounds excellent. Mine is all original with a Jensen P10 alnico speaker. I recapped it, replace a couple of resistors and the output tubes. It will get VERY loud and doesn't start to break up until you get on about 7 or 8 on the volume. By this point, your ears are nearly bleeding. This is in a room size of 15' x 15' with 8' ceiling. Plugged in a newer digital effects pedal for distortion/overdrive and I thought it was unmatched in tone. Sounded huge with deep bass, thick mids and soaring highs. It is a very quiet amp considering it's all tube. I've had solid-state amps that were more noisy. I've used a 70's Univox Les Paul Black-Beauty copy with newer Gibson PAF pickups, a 1974 Gibson Les Paul Recording, a late 70's Fender Telecaster Deluxe, a 60's Gretsch Country Gentleman, a 1978 Gretsch Super Axe, a 80's Yamaha RGX, an Applause by Ovation acoustic-electric and finally a Ibanez acoustic-electric.

Since I got the amp and recapped it, replaced a couple of resistors and the output tubes... No problems at all. VERY reliable and built very well. It's a real wood cabinet. The pedal for tremelo is also solid wood.

Give me a break. This thing is about a 1960 model.

I've been playing for 30 years. I've owned and still own many other brands and types of amps. Mostly solid-state. But I would rate this amp up there with the best of them; including fenders. The single TONE knob seemed too simple to get any control out of it at first look. Boy was I wrong! You have a wide range of possiblities. Especially when using a pedal. You just can't go wrong with this little overlooked amp. From my understanding, this particular model is pretty rare and not seen much. I can see why after finding production totals (1959: 1092, 1960: 949, 1961: 114)

Made by Gibson in the late 50s/early 60s. Three inputs, volume, single tone knob, depth and frequency controls for tremolo (operated by hardwired wooden footswitch). Two 6V6 power tubes, two 12AX7 pre's and a 5Y3. Nice blond tolex covering with a faux "tweed" weave imprint. Beautiful oxblood-ish grillcloth. This is a really good-looking amp. Original speaker was gone (replaced by a Motorola alnico - yuck), so I replaced it with a Jensen P10R reissue. I had a local tech go through it and replace bad filter caps, etc. and restore the circuit to original. It gets a 10 rating for being simple and having no unnecessary controls.

Sounds really nice with all my guitars - a Tele, LP Jr., Gibson ES330TDC and an Ibanez PF300 (LP copy). Nice fender-ish clean sound, and a great screaming raunchy but smooth overdrive at very reasonable volume. Some input/guitar combinations are a bit shrill (all 3 inputs sound different from one another), but pulling the tone back to 9 or 8 solves the problem and smooths things out. This may also iron itself out as the speaker breaks in. Its sound reminds me a lot of my friend's Gibson GA-79 RVT, and it was a hell of a lot cheaper (though not stereo & no reverb). Very quiet, especially with the new caps.

Who knows? No longer made, waranteed or supported by Gibson. Seems sturdy enough though.

I doubt there is any...Gibson amps are now made by the Trace Elliott guys (who Gibson bought not long ago).

Very happy overall, especially for the price. Gibson made some really attractive looking amplifiers in the late 50s & early 60s - very mid-century modern looking with angled baffles and cool lucite handles. I'm almost positive this Maestro is the same amp as the Gibson GA-18 Discoverer - it has GA-18 printed on the transformers and identical tubes, controls & layout. Good sounding Gibson-made tube amps are hit or miss, but I got lucky with this one - I once owned a horrible sounding early 50s Gibsonette. I have a 62 Princeton, but unlike most people I actually like the Maestro more and plan to sell the Princeton. The price I paid was $115 on Ebay plus speaker & repairs.