Gibson GA30

1948/49 I think. Probably not the most versatile amp, 3 inputs, 2 volume knobs, 1 channel, 1 tone knob that rolls off the low end plus the tone expander switch, either you like how it sounds or you don't there's not much changing it.

2 speakers, one 12" and one 8" both Jensen Alnico's. Maybe the 8" add's a little high end? I dunno, but whatever's going on it sounds great!

I don't wish for any extra features, you don't really buy this kind of amp for features. I use this amp at home, seems pretty loud for me. More than enough power for the bedroom.

Sounds amazing with my G&L ASAT (from the 90's the one with the p90's) and an early 80's Ibanez Artist AS-100. Lots of low end, it's pretty overwhelming, you have to use the tone knob to get rid of a little. Probably call this a dark sounding amp. Great for Jazz, Blues and Older rock styles. I was after something near Jim Halls sound from the 50's and it doesn't disappoint.

It doesn't seem unusually noisey to me. Turn it up, i'm sure it distorts great, I haven't had it long enough to do that in my apartment.

Sounds fantastic with pedals, i use it with a Crowther Hotcake and Prunes and Custard, works well with a homemade tubescreamer and univibe too. I don't like it much with an Original Sansamp, just doesn't sound right. Very retro with some slap delay.

It's old and that makes me nervous so I baby it. It's not going to see much abuse while i own it. It's a very light amp, and it's covered it some fairly cheesy brown wall paperish material which doesn't inspire confidence the same way a nice tolex would.

I bought it recapped and with a 3 prong plug and new handle. No problems in the 6 months i've owned it.

Don't think i'd bother calling Gibson if it broke. It would go straight to the vintage amp repairman.

Maybe there was a warranty back in 1948, but after 61 years i think it's expired.

Best amp i've ever played or owned, not that i've had that many. It blows away the 60's Ampeg Jet I had a few years ago. It completely suits my needs, nice warm and mellow sound, but sounds great with a good overdrive pedal. I'm not after flexibility or modern rock sounds.

I have a love/hate with the fact that it's so old. I look at it as an antique, but worry about spending the money to get it repaired should there be problems.

I wouldn't add or remove anything from it. You have to want something this simple to really enjoy this amp. Either you like it or hate it, there's not much shaping it's sound, but what a sound!

I give it a 10 because it's got the sound I want and I don't have any need for features if it sounds good.

that amp appears to be a transition model from the GA25 to the GA30...i found the transfo inside the chassis is marked GA-25 and the amp has only two knobs instead of three commonly found on those amps.1 volume, 1 tone(from bass/left to normal/noon to treble/right) and the tone expander switch. 3 instruments inputs and 1 mic. input.sounds soooo warm and rich,darker than the fenders from those years and gibson always has this thing with design and beauty. so i'm desperatly looking for some pics to date this little guy.i think that having two different speakers 12 and 8 is great to cover all the guitar frequencies.

for me it,s the sound i've been looking for 10 years! i had some boogies,traynors,fenders...nothing's sweeter than those early Gibsons.it's definitely worth a try.. i you find one!i play senders strats an teles trough it and also lap steels and les pauls...all good!not noisy when grounds are good.not versatile but all of the effects i have comes from my board, just reacts good with the effects he keeps his tone.when you crank up the mic channel...it's not it's best feature with some old speakers.

....i dont know...looks to be okay for the moment i'll see in time. but it's still alive and will probably survive me!

i've called Gibson, the guy was really cool but couldn't help me with the year of my machine...but was very helpful to help me to get help not to be helpless..!

i've been playing for 20 years,and i am a gear enthusiast and if this amp was stolen i would definitely seek for another one

It was made around 1950 I was told. I bought the amp from Paul M arkwalter at Soflotubeamps.com
in Florida. Great guy to deal with. The amp has the light brown tolex cover already (the early ones
had dark brown cover). But still the early round tone knobs. And in fairly decent shape. The
logo is still on the front panel. Except the leather handle was missing but that apears to be normal for
Gibson amps of this age. It came with good RCA NOS tubes. 2x 6SJ7 and 1x 6SC7 phase splitter. A 5y3GT and
2x 6V6GT tubes. However I did replace the metal can tubes for glass Sylvania's and a Tol Sung phase splitter.
There are three(!) instrumentinputs of which two of them respond to a high-low control. And one microphone input
that has a bit more gain.
Two volumecontrols and a bass/treble control. That's it. And that's all you need!
The amp was almost completely recapped and the speakers (8" and 12" Jensens) reconed with
the right stuff. I presume the speakers are the original ones.
It is not a versatile amp. But I don't expect it to be versatile like a modern amp. It just delivers
that wonderful late 40's/early 50's jazz and blues sound I was looking for.
And that is what it does in spades! Think Tiny Grimes, T-Bone Walker and even
Elmore James when fully cranked. I play it at home and intend to use it for recording soon.
I play a lot of vintage jazz, blues and R&B and this amp is the ticket for that. Don't know if
the amp holds up when gigging. I still have to try. However when fully cranked it sure is load.
The reason I bought it was because I wanted an amp that matches the '51 ES-300
I play. I give it a six just for having enough features for me. But compared to other
amps it is a bit basic I guess. On the other hand you won't need a lot of controls to get a great tone out of it.
And if you really need effects, use a pedal.Good ones like Boss, that don't affect the tone.

I play solely big hollowbody archop guitars with single coils.
My main box is a '51 Gibson ES-300 with two original P-90's. And like I mentioned
above, I play vintage jazz and jumpblues and stuff. The T-Bone Walker style. And even try
to do some Charlie Christian style of playing. The GA-30 is made for these music styles. Like others have stated: TONE, TONE, TONE!
I must admit I had to get used to the sound when the amp first arrived. Ofcourse I'd searched for
everything I could find on these vintage Gibsons and I was aware of the great distorted sound they can put out.
Besides this I have a '65 Gibson GA-75 recording that sounds awesome. But completely different.
The GA-30 has a warm, full sound with a lot of grain in it. It distorts actually at almost every volume.
On the the lower volume level jazztones you can barely hear it, but it is there. At first I was a little frustrated
not getting any real clean tone out of it. However the gain is very nice.
But then I discovered something in combination with the ES-300. The 300 has an old wiring sceme including
two volume controls for each pickup and one tone control. That tone knob actually works
like volume control too but also adds more treble when dialed. Untill then I had been figuring
why this tone control acts like a volumecontrol also. Eureka! Now I finally know why. And now I know how
the guys in those days did it. The tonecontrol should actually be used as a master volume control.
Just set the both volume knobs for the pickups as I like it an d leave them there. And only adjust the
volume with the master/tone control. What happens is that when dialing the master volume the
sound gets louder but also more treble is added. So on top of the instantly grainy output more
treble tones (but still warm like a steamy summernight) are added that really cut through. Without getting muddy.
And that is excactly the tone you hear on the 40's Tiny Grimes recordings and others from that era.
That said, it appears a bit more tricky to get the same effect with a modern wired guitar without a master volume control.
I am not in the high gain thing. Just want to nail that vintage blues sound. And for that the GA-30 is it just awesome!
I hardly use any pedals. No drive pedal is needed here. Except for a Boss DD-3 delay sometimes. But the GA-30 is enough drive
to do the cooking.

Can't tell yet. The amp has had a recap and a recone.
It is more then 50 years old. But I'm sure it
will outlive me.

Sure

I have been playing guitar since 1975. And I have owned a lot of gear though the years. Including Fender amps.
And sold them again too. But now I've come to the the point I'm keeping the stuff I really like
and never want to part with. Still have a lush sounding '76 Fender Twin Reverb, a recently obtained
'65 Gibson GA-75 recording that has the greatest (Fender blackface) tone Im have ever heared, a Gibson ES-300, A 70's Aria PE-180 and a '52 Silvertone H-53 archtop. Great stuff that I'm sure I'll never sell.
When somebody stole this amp? I'd wish him luck from keeping me of is tail.

My Gibson model GA-30 'Invader' was made in 1948 and was designed by Seth Lover who invented and patented the Humbucking Pick-Up. My dad bought it at a swap meet for $10 when I was in high school and gave it to me. He said, "Hey, those old Jensen speakers are worth $10!" We took it home and it purred like a kitten. I like the versatility of this amp, even though it's a low power output, it has LOTS of possibilities.

Has a GREAT low volume Jazz tone that is the Charlie Christian tone all over again with the right guitar. I played my dad's '49 Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe Regent (with the FAT pick-ups NOT the later thin New York p/u's that have NO sound!) through it on Jazz gigs and it kicked booty! My ideal set-up was when I acquired a Rickenbacker model 450 solid body guitar. That guitar doesn't have the crunch of a Les Paul or the twang of a Strat or Tele, but ol' Ricky has a tone of it's own. I played LOTS of rock and roll gigs with this amp turned up on 10 and it sounds like a Marshall! I am told that the basic circuitry Marshall used on their amps was patterend off this amp with more power added. It has that syrupy rock and blues tone like the early guys had like T Bone Walker and turn it up on 10 you can get a vintage Clapton or Ritchie Blackmore tone. This amp just drips with tone! It distorts and sustains like a mutha-bear! I never used an effects pedal until I started using Fender amps and guitars. I gigged with this amp only for years until I realized I needed more power. I finally found a '67 Fender Princeton Reverb black face and I bi-amped the two of them in clubs, stacking them up with a killer sound! Had more power with the Fender and clarity BUT with more tone than any Fender ever got! Lots of growl, but turned low that Jazz thing is awesome. Great country and blues amp as well. I have did it all with this amp. I like a lot of styles and like to shift tones and styles, approaches mid-song sometimes. This is the set-up!
I did have to have to replace the capacitors after a few years in the clubs with all of that heat those old wax caps started leaking and finally some of them stopped working. It was making an awful lot of noise as well, kind of a whistle and another weird sound that sounded like aliens which was intermitant. At first I turned the amp up-side down and it cured the problem for a while.
There is one thing about this amp though and because of the black metal 'can' tubes (6SC7, 6SJ7 etc) which are 'microphonic') they pick up weird sounds at times. If they are bumped you can hear it like tapping an open mic. Any kind of noise that doesn't belong is going to be amplified by these tubes. They are hard to find as well. I have been picking them up for years and saving them for extras! Can anyone say Military surplus?
I have also had to have the on-board coil presnt on the 12 inch speaker re-wired. Seth Lover fixed it for me free. I rate it very veratile because if you need more power then mic it on the gig! This is a classic amp!

I have used about every guitar I own through it- Ricks, Fenders, Gibsons etc. It functions well with all of them! I love to plug into the Microphone Channel and turn the Tone Expander to Treble, then roll up the treble on the tone control. I had to replace the 8 inch speaker but still have the original, which I will have re-coned someday. Another thing I did which adds a LOT of output, tone and power is to yank the old 6V6 power tubes and replace them with 6L6's. It really heats it up, but the results are amazing! I have also did this to one of my Princeton Reverbs my '67 blackface, but the rare '68 doesn't like it. I'll bet it has '68 Silverface circuitry in it! Anyway watch it if you do this and if it starts smoking turn it off and put the 6V6's back in. I have had to replace a bias voltage capacitor on the Princeton and a resistor that goes in between the two 6V6's (or 6L6's) and upgraded to just a beefier version which will take more. The Gibson has had a tweak or two as well along the same lines. Mr. Lover wasn't crazy about the idea switching tubes and showed me on a slide rule and even wrote out a table in pencil on graph paper out of his head (what a genius!) why there was no more output in watts or power by switching out the tubes but the proof is in the pudding! The results are undeniable! The distortion is bloody great, but over all the low volume clarity is sweet and warm. Good thick tones. Typical Gibson!

I have pushed the heck out of this amp and it is like a proverbial Timex. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

The man who designed it worked on it for a lark, but he died a few years ago at the age of 90+. Basically it's very serviceable. Just make sure you take it to a REAL electronic tech who knows tube equipment AND sound equipment! Of course Gibson's warranty expired years before I was even born.

I have been playing 40 years, have lots of gear and would gladly buy another one if I saw it cheap enough! It was very reasonable for it's day when it first debuted.

If you want vintage tones Jazz, Electric Blues or Rock THIS is your amplifier! They don't make 'em like this anymore! The newer Gibson reissue amps aren't even close! NOT!! Now if they would just pull out that old circuit, they'd have it!

The amp I bought was early 50's, as evidenced by the exterior's condition... but inside was all I cared about and the tube chassis and speakers were still in great condition.
It is a very, very simple amp, and isn't extremely heavy at 40 lbs. You have 3 inputs for instruments and a mic in. It has a "tone expander" switch which doesn't do a whole heck of a lot, but frankly that didn't phase me. Other than that, you've got a volume for the mic input and a volume for the three instrument jacks plus a tone knob. I think most people can handle it. It pushes one 12" and one 8" Jensen. No reverb, no fancy. All meat.
Power wise, you aren't gonna be playing stadiums with it, but it settles right in to a studio. Still enough to aggravate your neighbors in an apartment, especially if you use a tubescreamer the way you should.
I guess the only ding is that NOBODY makes the preamp tubes or the phase splitter tube any more. They are still available as NOS, but are a relative pain to track down, and then you have to use the order and pray method. I had the best luck with www.thetubestore.com as far as actually having some. They'll be the good ol RCA Military spec tubes. Groove Tubes makes adapters called substi-tubes that convert these odd little preamp (two 6sj7) and phase splitter tubes (one 6sc7) into 12AX7's so that you can have a little more variety, consistency and control if you feel you need it.
The mic in is effectively useless if it hasn't been modified. I've heard others gush about it, but it really can't handle a signal hotter than an old ribbon mic. I don't know, maybe I'll mod it out and find something sweet as an extra bonus. We'll see. The instrument inputs are gorgeous, so I'm not in that big of a rush.

I use a Fender Strat with Duncan Antiquities and a Les Paul with Duncan 59's. I really love the basic clean tones, especially with the strat. I like the Les when it is cranked. Takes a little of the bite off the top of singles and warms them up dramatically. If you are looking for that old tube amp sound, add a little more smoothness vs. treble, and promise to play lots of blues then this is an amp that should be on your short list. You just can't get this type of sound out of new equipment.
You will need to bring your effects pedals - It has a great base to build on, but it is very simple. There are 2 tone choices: medium volume and clean around 4 o'clock or warm and round after 5. It never hits full on distortion... by itself. Tube screamers or Klon Centaurs make it open up and sing. If you need more than that, I would suggest a different amp, anger management, and possibly Xanax. It sings and cries. It does not scream.
The amp is absolutely SILENT, so much so that I regularly forget that it is on unless my reverb pedal is on (which adds noise because, well, reverb is noisy...).

Don't pay any attention to this. It's from the 50's, so it depends on how well it was maintained, how well you will keep it up, and of course how well you restored it to begin with. Mine is still in restoration stage. It's been recapped, retubed, lubed, and given a three prong power cable so I don't shock the snot out of myself. The amp's exterior is more luggage than Sherman tank, but the tube chassis is VERY solid. If you don't physically break the wood of the cab, I would feel fine depending on it for any use - except a bench.

Gibson is very happy to help you in tracking down what you've got and they'll give you any info they have on their old amps, but that isn't a whole lot. Most of the people there who have heard of email were born after this amp. Of course, repair and everything else is strictly on your own. So I'd have to rate them as kind, but the internet is more helpful. Hey, you found this to read, didn't you?

I have been playing for 10 years, and primarily play blues. I delve into some modern stuff, but not with this amp. I play mostly Fender amps, so I like clean and the option of pushing it way into OD with a tubescreamer. I also use a Marshall Bluesbreaker, a EH Holy Grail, a Big Muff, Some old chorus pedal, a couple of different Wahs (crybaby all the way with this amp), and a digital delay. The basics.
If somebody stole it, I would be back on ebay looking for a replacement the same day... but for an hour or two I'd be inconsoleable.
I wish it had modern (i.e. still manufactured somewhere) tubes, but that can be fixed with Substi-Tubes available from Groove Tubes. They'll convert it over to 12AX7's with no hardware mods.
Love the tone, hate that the controls are on the bottom in the back of the amp. Just inconvenient.
Compared to getting the cheapest NEW tube amp on the planet, you can sound better and still have the cash for an entire set of tubes when these go! I also like old princetons, but have you seen what people are paying for them? I don't think anyone bothered to tell them that my tube circuit is strikingly similar.

This is the early Ga-30, 1952. Basically looks like an old fifties suitcase with grill cloth. Brown leatherette covering, tan diamond hi-fi grill cloth,leather handle, gibson cloth logo in center of grill cloth. Brown-painted steel chassis mounted to bottom of cabinet, controls facing to the rear. Two channels-instrument and microphone. One vol. per channel and one tone (treble cut) control for a total of three controls. Bakelite chicken-head knobs. Four jacks-three for instruments (two of which share a "tone expander" tone slide switch) and one microphone jack. Tubes: 2-6v6, 1-5y3, 1-6sc7, 2-6sk7-all octal. Internally mounted output transformer and choke. Speakers: 1-8", 1-12" Jensen standard series.

I use a Hamer T-51, Hamer Special, Silvertone 2-pu danelectro. The instrument channel is fairly tame yet still very toneful. Plug into the microphone channel and baby, enter into Heaven! Tone charactoristics in the mic channel are extremely touch-sensitive. This channel loves to be spanked! Creamy gain with perfect note definition. This is the most toneful amp that I have ever owned.

Two days after purchace I blew the 12"- the pitfalls of buying a 47 year old amp. I slapped in a p12r I had laying around and I'm good to go. The amp does "motorboat" when the tone control is toward the zero range; not a real problem- I prefer it set toward 5-7- no problems in that range.

Yeah, right.

I did two things that run against my grain- paid alot for this amp and purchased it from a music store. I normally would have walked away from it but when I plugged in I was a gonner. I'm sure with deligence I can find another for less. Another store in town had one that was beat to hell for $250 more! There is nothing I don't like about this amp. Even the tubes are available and cheap (Antique Electronic Supply-www.tubesandmore.com).