Gibson GA30RVT

I was teaching guitar for Grinnell Brothers Studio in Port Huron Michigan and bought the amp with an employee's discount of 40%, in 1965. At that, I think it was around $200 which was lots of money for me--I was only 16 or so. The amp had a brown cover and a gold and brown grille cloth. Two channels, with tremelo and a great sounding reverb unit. One twelve, one ten inch speaker.

The amplifier had a nice sound. I originally played with an old 3-pickup Kay guitar, but bought a nice Rickenbacker FG 365 in 1968 which sounded much better. I played some jazz arrangements, a lot of pop songs, and mostly rock and roll. For jobs in bigger halls, I had to rent a slave amp and use the "monitor" output to drive the slave amp off my Invader--that was surprisingly powerful with a good sound. There were no overdrive features so no distortion available.

Well, the tremelo drove a purple-colored tube inside that would glow bright and dim. It eventually died and I couldn't get any replacement tube, so used the amp with just the reverb feature. The original tubes gradually got noisey so I went through a cheap set of replacement tubes from Radio Shack that sounded awful. Took it to an amp technician around 1983 and he put all new tubes in but there was still some noise. I finally retired the amp and bought a Seymour Duncan amp in 1988. I sold the Invader in 1995 for $35 and was glad to see it go; by then it was dusty, noisey, and hissy.

I wrote Gibson for a schematic in 1967 and they mailed it to me right away. No replacement parts for the tremelo tube.

When I first bought it, I liked the looks of the cabinet (at the time I thought Fender grey amps were hideous), combination of speaker sizes, and rich reverb, plus it was the very best amp I could afford as a 16-year old. Today, though, a Gibson Invader is more a curiosity than an amp of interest. There are lots better amps being built today. Cannot imagine any reason for buying a 40 year old amp that needs fresh tubes and tlc all the time.

Mid 1960s Two Channel. Ch 1 has loudness,tone control. Two inputs Mic and Instrument,Channel 1 also has tremolo with depth and frequency. Ch. 2 has loudness, tone control,Two inputs for Instruments also Reverb with control. Both foot operated. One 12" and one 10" speaker. Open Back.

I have a 1967 Gretsch, Gibson Humbuckers, and Fender single coils. No noise from amp, Nice and clean with single coils .I mainly play Chord solos with an Arch top now, Been playing 37 years. I also use this amp with Flat top with Di box. Taylor and Ibanez again no noise. I have a Marshall also Peavy Ultra sixty Tube 1/2 stack. And A Peavy KB/A 100. I like the sound of this the best it has a nice warm sound not hard and brittle like a transistor amp. Also the lighest to carry.

I have had it for ever. Just needs to be retube whenever. If you sit it down hard tubes may come loose.But it has never not worked. Can't remember when I bought it but it was in the early 70's. About $100.00 from some one who needed Money. Another Musician.

Called Once to ask about a schamatic.Was courious. But they had no idea what so ever. I find it hard to believe a company of that size would keep such poor records. Makes me wonder about all thier products.

Been playing 37 years. I have seen one other like mine in a pawn shop,they were asking $700.00 About three times what I think its worth. Its probably not replaceable, but it sure beats buying a new tube amp.If I was 40 years younger and had a Van I'd probably be using my Peavy Ultra, but if you ever owned one you would know what they weight. Its a two people Amp!

i believe this model said 1965 on it. It has the 2 channels, one for guitar, and another for a microphone or other instrument. 2 speakers of varying size. im not sure what tha wattage was, the other review here says 25. the pedal to activate the built in trem was broken.

i can't give a 100% answer here. i got the amp when i was 14, i had no clue about the inner workings of a tube amp, didnt know how it should sound. for all i knew, the tubes could have been bad.

it was big and heavy. i dont think you were going to break it to easily. as for electronically.....it was almost 30 years old when i got it, so the fact that it still powered up and made any noise was great. so just for that, i give it a 7

HA!

well, i wish i had kept it. i sold it to a friend who gutted it and spray painted the cabinet black. Had i kept it, i would have had the expertise that i now possess, and would have retubed it and taken it to a tech. GAH! i'm an idiot!.....well, was an idiot

Two chanels, two inputs each. Both with bass, mid (Very active) and treble, chanel two with reverb and tremelo. Twenty five watts. One 10" and one 12" speaker. The diffeent speaker sizes make a huge sound contribution. Breaks up well. A bit much on the high end for my tastes, but can be compensated.

I use a Les Paul Elite, an Epiphone Rivera (fully hollow; dual humbuckers) and a Strat. Much better with humbuckers. Single coil tends to sound a bit "tinny". Vintage tube, so no chanel switching. Would be right at home for country Tele twang.

I rescued this beauty from a pawn shop, and with the replacement of speakers, and tubes, it has been bullet proof. I use it on small gigs, and to also run a mic from my Motion Sound horn.

Warranty? On a 1965 amp? And Gibson knows less about this model than I can find on the web. Web based schematics are 100% accurate
so call your favorite amp tech.

I've been behind the strings since I was 15 (I'm 48). I LOVE the 10-12 combo...killer for guitar. Also love the long tail reverb. Hate.......well...aint crazy about the grey tolex. Would I buy anothet, sure! Compared favorably (I feel better) to a Delux...again the speaker arrangement makes for great sound. Wish it had a master volume, but alas, that was before the day... Great little amp.