@R.J. Ronquillo ...and super nasty, aggressive with whole lotta clarity and punch. Great for early Zep, Kossoff, Cream era Clapton stuff...and also nearly every 70s Brit hard rock riff... To put it in a nutshell...it sounds better than the Plexi clone I‘ve been jonesing for for a few months...
@@ROOKTABULA I think turning up at a studio in the 70s with a stack would have raised a few eyebrows!! I think you would have wiped out the mics in those days.
Uh...Rhett... “you can’t use it for gigging.” 1973, I was touring and playing in clubs getting tired of lugging a Super Reverb with a Sun bass cab. We had a good PA system and I started using my 73 Fender Champ mic’d through the PA. Not only is it do-able, a small amp like the Skylark or the Champ can sound great, and it’s easier to lug than a big rig. Nice work and good info. Thanks Rhett!
I have been using an amp I found from a friend of mine that I bought for a $150- virtually brand-new. It is a Fender Mustang Mark III V.2 - from Studio to Stage it is indispensable. The emulations are spot-on including the reverbs. All Digital emulations but the Reverb sounds so real it seems like you should be able to pick it up and drop it and you're waiting for the splash from the Springs but it doesn't happen...!! I took this amp and I put it on a Princeton reverb mid 60s era setting and did a take, then plugged into a real Princeton and I'll be darned if you couldn't tell the difference---- you just could not tell the difference between the two. One single 12 celestion silverback being pushed by a hundred Watts with a plethora of modulation delay and stomp box pedals built-in. If you're looking for a Workhorse of a little lamp or would just like to check out its capabilities just search Mustang III V.2 demo .... I guarantee you you will be very surprised! All of y'all hang tough, stay safe, and don't sweat the of the small shit. Peace, out.
Yep - the first band I heard of using mic'd up amps through PAs were the Tremeloes, a west London band. That was 1967/68 - certainly the only band at that time routing everything through the PA - so it was doable - just that we liked our stacks and we thought they were a bunch of softies for doing it!! (Softies is publishable - you can guess we had stronger terms than that!!)
Just a week ago I found out my grandma is passing down my grandpa's 57 ga-5 to me. Should be here in a week or two. So stoked! It's gonna need a bit of work but it's going to sound amazing
Mr. Shull -- killer tone at 0:50! Me and my buddy are big fans of your videos and playing. Two summers ago I was itching to build another tube amp and had done the Tweed thing and 18 watt build. I told my buddy I was wanting to do a single-ended amp running an EL84 that could get semi-Plexi tones. A few days later he says, "Let's build Gibson Skylarks!" I ordered material and he build two boards for us. In short, mine is in a Carvin Tweed (a former Vintage 16) cab running a Weber Sig 12F and Hammond transformers. My buddy brought into the circuit the tone stack from an amp called "Checkmate 17," which I believe was made by Teisco. We wired the amp to use the 6X4 recto tube but had issues and settled on diodes. My buddy rolled me an aluminum chassis and printed some amazing water decals for the gold front. I love this amp and it can roar when pushed! I pulled it out yesterday and started messing around with it and a Tele with P90s -- perfect combo! Anyway, wanted to give you a shout out and let you know there are other Skylark fans out here. Maybe I will post some pics to UA-cam. If so, I will let you know! Respectfully, Derek
I remember borrowing my friends 59 strat and 59 bassman for a gig. Wasnt grounded properly. When I stepped to the mic to sing the first line of Hallelujah (I couldnt make this up) ZAP!! I was out cold. Got some nice vintage burns on my lip too! Excellent video Rhett. -Mark
I still own the 1970 Super Lead amp I bought when I was 17 in 76, I just found a 1946 "Les Paul" Junior amp that is a GA 5 that has a oval speaker in it for a whopping $20 at a storage unit side of the raod stand. It fired right up and only has a newer two pronged cord installed looks like in the 60's.....I just had Ben Fargen service my old Marshall as it has not seen electricity for 35 years......I also got two 4x12 cabs with 25w. Greenbacks with it. I got the whole full stack in 76 for another whopping $500..... I have owned it for 46 years... Im a young 63 now.. ;)-~
Nice. Here in England I bought a 1953 radio amp. It has radio, and an aux imput for mic. It looks like it was installed in a factory for the radio and PA for the workers. It has the original handwired components and valves. It is the best sounding amp I have.
I have two of these I bought about ten years ago. Dimed out and close mic’d, they sound ten feet tall. Have a Ranger and a couple of other vintage Gibson amps. Vintage Fender too much $$$, Gibson vintage sounds great. Had a couple made stage ready up in Athens. I enjoy your channel Rhett. Keep up the good work.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times... always trust someone in an MC-5 t-shirt... even if it’s Dave. Congrats, that little amp is gonna rock your studio for a very long time. Oh, and before I forget, you are truly ballsy, if you keep putting that blue Novo in videos, Dennis is gonna remember you have it and demand it back. Btw. Got my shirt from the last show today, just waiting on the poster and some frames I bought and all 4 will be hanging in my little guitar office. Much love from Tulsa.
Nice. I like the way the tremolo gets overpowered when the power valves saturate, then it comes back in. Classic tone! My favourite small amp is not quite in the same category, its a hybrid: the Fender Superchamp X2. Very versatile. It's models of small Fender amps are awesome. More convincing than anything digital I've heard.
The riff at 4:30 is absolutely nuts through this amp. In one of your previous videos you made a statement that stuck around with me “Bigger amps doesn’t necessarily mean bigger sound” actually I think it was your low watt skylark video? But ever since then I’ve been using my Champ DIY kit I built and you are totally right
I have been using my Swart Space Tone Jr. (5 W 8 inch speaker) with glorious reverb tank Live at church in a full band. Miced of course. There is something to driving your amp to the edge that is magical.
I found one of these on craigslist about two months ago. 1964 model, not tweed. Tried it and it was pretty unremarkable. I know a lot of times the amps need work to sound their best but this amp had a clean bill and was recently serviced by a local shop that specializes in vintage amps. In any case, get an old Fender and never look back!
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s im not saying that the amp is good because its vintage, I’m saying that those older amps had a tendency to be inconsistent so he might have gotten a bad one.
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s I think it is just because these old Gibson amps are a little inconsistent. When you get a good one, they’re monsters, but if they are not, they’re nothing special.
Thank you so much for what you do! I have applied so many things I have learned from you! Also, you are the reason I didn’t miss the chance to see Songbirds in Chattanooga, I had just moved to town the weekend they were closing, and not for your video I would not have known I needed to go immediately and was there the final day, that was a priceless experience for a guitarist, and I will always be grateful to you for that!!!!
They're great. At one point, I was the custodian of a '58 GA-5 and '59 or '60 GA-40. Glad to see you enjoying this one. And the fact that it's pretty is just frosting on the cake.
I hear you! I am in love with the small amps for 10+ years, starting with a Laney LC-15R combo, then a Princeton 65 Reissue Reverb, then further down with a Vox Lil' NightTrain 2 Watts amp to finally land with a rather modern Marschall DSL-1HR with 2 channels, 1Watt, effects loop, and man, this tiny thing nails it! I can combine it with various boxes with 1x8", 1x10", two different 1x12" (one old Vox open Cab with a Celestion Greenback) or a 2x12" cab, depending on recording requirements and I am even using the 0.1 Watt attentuator sometimes!!!
Same, I'd love to hear his thoughts on this. I usually use a large diaphragm condenser paired with a 57 for lower wattage amps, but you can also use a ribbon and a dynamic mic (like the 57) paired on almost any amp and it'll sound good. Honestly, it just takes experimenting. Also, the closer you go to the center of the speaker, the brighter your tone, and vice versa. So, with that in mind, you can get a good estimate of where to start (I usually start with my 57 pointed to where the dust cap mets the speaker cone). After that just experiment with different mic combos and different placements and see what you like.
My favorite at the time is a pretty cheap 15 w Laney cub 212r, it screams and has great wide bass response, opens up and blooms like crazy when pushed.
I've had a obscure early 60s Lectrolab R500C for 40 years that is the favorite amp of mine. The best little recording amp ever. Have had to put a bit of money into it over the years but it's hanging in there.
Got a 80 year old Magnatone for less than $200 Canadian. With a simple solder that thing starting to sing. 6 Watts, and all the tubes have been out of production since the 60s. The replacement tubes I had to get were NOS surplus for US Navy Radar systems!
Loving this new ‘What is the ??? Sound’ series. Nice and simple demystification of the gear being looked at, especially when there are so many variables that affect a sound. Pretty tasty playing too.
I used to have a non-tremolo version that was just like this one. I only paid $8 for it. Of corse, that was 50 years ago. It sounded fabulous but, as you said, it was no where near loud enough to gig with. I still lament its loss. What a treasure.
I used to have one of these amps back in the day. Hate that mom sold it when I went to live with my dad as a child.. Ha! Memories!! So Rhett, love your channel, here's a band name: Topaz toupe`, or Punky and the Short Circuits - Cheers mate!! Alan Ekland
I got an original chassis of this amp about 20 years ago free from a friend who owned a music store. The power transformer was shot and the owner didn't want to spend the big bucks at that time to repair it. No cabinet. I pulled the circuitry and rewired it into a "tweed" champ with an old pre-CBS (blackface) champ output transformer I had with a 6V6. I built a cab out of cedar with two 10's and it's the main amp I use. There are times a separate treb/bass rather than tone would be nice.
Yes, yes, yes, yes! Absolutely one of my favorite amps of all time. I have the same one (1960) as in your demo. I've probably owned thirty amps over the years and still have ten. It's not only great for overdriven sounds but is super when set clean with pedals for OD. Single-ended amps have a very specific feel and touch and my guitars come alive through my Skylark. Easily as good or better than an AC-4 and a lot less expensive. You're right, it kills the Fender Champ. Miked up, I have gigged very well with my GA-5-t Skylark. I put a NOS Mullard12AX7 in V1 and it made the amp sound even better and bigger. An Amperex Bugle Boy, Sylvania, or a Black-Plate RCA is nice too. A NOS Sylvania JAN 5751 is very good for a cleaner, more detailed sound. It's a bit quieter, too. Another fave amp is a1950 Gibson GA-50, the brown one that looks like an old radio with one 12" and one 8" speaker. While it's not single-ended and has a more complicated circuit, it also provides amazing feel and touch. Never got a better sound than when in either of these two amps. Look, we know that Gibson amps are great, maybe the best of all, but hey, but as Drew said, let's keep it a secret so that they remain inexpensive, alright? Shuuuush.
These old gibson amps where great, one thing i have read about them is that they where designed with more headroom than most fenders had and where made for playing clean but once you make them overdrive they sound amazing and i love the tremolo on them, its great for playing a lot of chris stapleton stuff, and i just love it with a paf type pickup played with some reverb just barely overdriven.
I bought a 1966 GA-15RVT last year for $450 Canadian, all original, and it sounds great. It has a ton of headroom though, so nearly impossible to send into overdrive without pedals. Speaking of which, it takes pedals amazingly well.
Rumble & Shake it All Over are the first 2 songs I learned back in 5th grade from my brother on his 58 Les Paul Jr & Premiere twin 8 amp Widows Peak with Tremolo.He gave me the guitar & amp because he said I’m a natural. I still have the guitar but the amp.... well it died a horrible death down a flight of basement stairs. When I plugged it in it smoldered & sputtered. I was in 9th grade in 1971.I found another one in Houston but they won’t sell it. Really would like to have one again.
Buddy of mine stopped by one day and said he found "this" out on the curb around the corner and asked me if I wanted it! '65 GA5 T (10" spkr)! $100 at local shop for tune up and dropped a spare eminence spkr in. Sounds amazing on the rare occasions when I can crank it up. THE TONE IS THERE!
Sounds amazing! In the early '60s our band used to rent Gibson Falcons for gigs, but I've never seen one on Utube. I also had a '57 Fender Tremolux that sounded deadly. Cheers Rhett.
I had one of those for several years that I had modded with a speaker out to drive a cab. Ended up selling it with some other stuff to fund my Collings, but a nice memory!
good amp great choice , I had a old gibson amp like that, for about ten years, loved it. I was jammin' with some guys and they yell your amps on fire, your amps on fire, turned around and was burning , a sacrifice to Great Jammers in the Sky. What a hoot ! Gibson should remake little amps again , 5- up 20 watts wood be great.
When I built my champ a few years ago I built it to have an optional output section. So it's either the stock 6V6 or an EL84 which is more typically a GA-5/Skylark tube (although Gibson had many different schematics for the Skylark over the years with different output tubes). I also added other mods on push pull pots so that what I basically have is a Fender Champ and Gibson Skylark in one amp. The 6V6 with the stock settings does that champ thing all day and I love it and the EL84 with the mods selected (and NFB loop defeated) sounds more aggressive and breaks up sooner. It's also louder for a given volume than the 6V6 at that same volume because the EL84 requires less input signal than the 6V6. Anyways I love that amp, for tubes I'm currently running a NOS Sylvania 7025 (us 12ax7 designation) for the preamp tube, a NOS Soviet era 6N6C (6V6 equivalent) and for the EL84 I'm using a current production JJ EL84. I have a few NOS RCA EL84s and a single Telefunken EL84 that all sound great but in this amp I just prefer the C.P. JJ EL84 by a small margin. Anyways I can't recommend Champs or Skylarks enough. They are the perfect practice amps cause they actually sound great and teach people with less amp experience how real tube amps react to your playing. They sound great which makes them satisfying to play and write/record with unlike modern modeling crap that just feels lifeless and doesn't inspire or motivate me like tube amps do. There are some great solid state amps circuits out there that are great back up amps and practice amps but this modern digital modeling amp stuff has likely discouraged so many would be guitarists. If you can't afford a Fender Champ reissue then you could either try to find a vintage one for cheaper or find someone to build one for you. I personally think building one yourself is the best option but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner to soldering and electronics. You could build a good Champ clone for $300 easily ($350-$380 if you are building it as a combo like a real champ, but I prefer it as a head with a 12"speaker) which is insane when you realize they are charging $1,200 for the reissues last I checked.
Rhett, I have a 1958 Skylark GA-5 which had an 8" Jensen Special Design speaker. I was able to find the identical speaker, made in Italy just like the original and yes, it sounds great!
Gibson did sell a GA-5 in the aughts. It was manufactured by MojoTone. The dimensions were about the same but it had a TV front, and it had the same color tolex and grill cloth as the one you have. I have one of those babies and it sounds great!
Gibson amps are awesome man. I own a BR6 that is awesome for recording. Ry Cooder has been using a GA 50T live with a BF Vibroverb. If he’s using one you know that they’re great.
Bought one of these bad boys right before the pandemic off ebay for ~$350. Had it serviced, ended up needing $120 in repairs. Ebay seller covered all of that for me, which was very nice of them. Wow. That's all I can say. This thing is insane. Definitely does better with humbuckers, but this thing is just nuts. I will have this for the rest of my life. Takes every pedal so extremely well.
The tone on that little amp is killer, love it. I totally agree Gibson should look at introducing remakes of some of their vintage amps especially if they were to sound as sweet as that little Gibson you have.
Rhett, I have a couple of small amplifiers, that are strictly for recording. I have a background in electronics, and I built both of them myself, based on the Fender Tweed Deluxe and Fender Blackface curcuits. Both can actually get really loud. Based on your video, I'd love to build a Skylark. It has that tone we, as guitarists, all love! Wattage is a funny thing, 100 watts is only twice as loud as 10 watts, and 1000 watts is twice as loud as 100 watts. 10 times the power = +10dB... 1/10 power = -10dB... So a 5 watt 'bedroom' amplifier is half as loud as a 50 watt amplifier.......still pretty freaking loud! I've gigged with both of my homemade amplifiers, I put XLR outputs on them, and I run them through the PA. They are so much easier to haul around than a big amplifier.
I watched your first video on the original Skylark; which led me to buy a late 50s Silvertone 1391. Absolute tone machine, and have been using it to record tracks and I love it. I bought it for like $250 with a new speaker and 3 prong cord. TLDR y’all need to snatch these up
Wow. Just came across this video. I picked a couple of these ‘60 or ‘61 amps - one with trem, the other without for about $125-150 off of fleabay about 18 years ago. Had no idea these had appreciated so much. I just like how they sound. I also use them as a head going into a 1x12 open back amp with a Celestion alnico blue. Sounds killer
My first electric, bought as a senior in high school, was a 59 Les Paul Jr. that came with a 59 GA-5 amp. Not quite the same as yours, no tremolo and a 6V6, but still an awesome sounding amp - and yeah, awesome for recording.
Tracked on this at Matt Goldman's studio. I kinda chuckled when he suggested it out of all the amps he had at the studio. The tone haunts me to this day (in the best way)!
The price for these have been up and down over the years. They will never hit and maintain true vintage price because there is no legacy of famous songs or memorable/legendary guitar players behind them.
You did. Old Gibson amps are so cool. I am partial to the white panel years myself. If you take a 1965/66 GA-20RVT and slap an Eminence Cannabis Rex in it... boy oh boy.
Whats your favorite small, low wattage amp?
I have 57’ GA-5, prettier than that one 😁
Recommend going all NOS with the tubes
Mine, the only one I have ever played because getting an amp where I live is like searching for big foot
If 20 is low enough then I love my Fender Champions 20 and the Orange 20RT sound as well.
BROWN 6G2 PRINCETON AMP!!
Fender Super Champ from the 80’s
Damn, sounds huge!
@R.J. Ronquillo ...and super nasty, aggressive with whole lotta clarity and punch. Great for early Zep, Kossoff, Cream era Clapton stuff...and also nearly every 70s Brit hard rock riff...
To put it in a nutshell...it sounds better than the Plexi clone I‘ve been jonesing for for a few months...
I'd why Page and many others recorded and gigged with annoys closer to this size vs stacks.
@@ROOKTABULA I think turning up at a studio in the 70s with a stack would have raised a few eyebrows!! I think you would have wiped out the mics in those days.
The fact that their quality is still so amazing 6 decades later is a truly wonderful thing. Just shows that they are true relics of guitar history.
Meow
Bork
@@moufuzz2759 tweet
Uh...Rhett... “you can’t use it for gigging.” 1973, I was touring and playing in clubs getting tired of lugging a Super Reverb with a Sun bass cab. We had a good PA system and I started using my 73 Fender Champ mic’d through the PA. Not only is it do-able, a small amp like the Skylark or the Champ can sound great, and it’s easier to lug than a big rig. Nice work and good info. Thanks Rhett!
I have been using an amp I found from a friend of mine that I bought for a $150- virtually brand-new. It is a Fender Mustang Mark III V.2 - from Studio to Stage it is indispensable. The emulations are spot-on including the reverbs. All Digital emulations but the Reverb sounds so real it seems like you should be able to pick it up and drop it and you're waiting for the splash from the Springs but it doesn't happen...!! I took this amp and I put it on a Princeton reverb mid 60s era setting and did a take, then plugged into a real Princeton and I'll be darned if you couldn't tell the difference---- you just could not tell the difference between the two. One single 12 celestion silverback being pushed by a hundred Watts with a plethora of modulation delay and stomp box pedals built-in. If you're looking for a Workhorse of a little lamp or would just like to check out its capabilities just search Mustang III V.2 demo .... I guarantee you you will be very surprised! All of y'all hang tough, stay safe, and don't sweat the of the small shit. Peace, out.
Wow in ‘73, thats cool, you were ahead of that time, in really like 20-25 years at least. I’m impressed. Keep well and greetings from Slovakia. Cheers
@@_-_Michael_-_ huh??
@@lueysixty-six7300 Michael was noting that Steve using a small amp mic'd through a PA in 1973 was not a common thing for guitarists.
Yep - the first band I heard of using mic'd up amps through PAs were the Tremeloes, a west London band. That was 1967/68 - certainly the only band at that time routing everything through the PA - so it was doable - just that we liked our stacks and we thought they were a bunch of softies for doing it!! (Softies is publishable - you can guess we had stronger terms than that!!)
Just a week ago I found out my grandma is passing down my grandpa's 57 ga-5 to me. Should be here in a week or two. So stoked! It's gonna need a bit of work but it's going to sound amazing
Did you get the amp? Is it working?
That is one sweet sounding amp and YES Gibson needs to reissue these amps! 🤘🏻
Killer Rhett! I have a 1959 Gibson GA18T! Gibsons are great for the money..
Mr. Shull -- killer tone at 0:50! Me and my buddy are big fans of your videos and playing. Two summers ago I was itching to build another tube amp and had done the Tweed thing and 18 watt build. I told my buddy I was wanting to do a single-ended amp running an EL84 that could get semi-Plexi tones. A few days later he says, "Let's build Gibson Skylarks!" I ordered material and he build two boards for us. In short, mine is in a Carvin Tweed (a former Vintage 16) cab running a Weber Sig 12F and Hammond transformers. My buddy brought into the circuit the tone stack from an amp called "Checkmate 17," which I believe was made by Teisco. We wired the amp to use the 6X4 recto tube but had issues and settled on diodes. My buddy rolled me an aluminum chassis and printed some amazing water decals for the gold front. I love this amp and it can roar when pushed! I pulled it out yesterday and started messing around with it and a Tele with P90s -- perfect combo! Anyway, wanted to give you a shout out and let you know there are other Skylark fans out here. Maybe I will post some pics to UA-cam. If so, I will let you know!
Respectfully,
Derek
They are super special. Love my 60's 5-watt Supro Tremo-Verb. No pedals. Just plug right in a go.
I remember borrowing my friends 59 strat and 59 bassman for a gig. Wasnt grounded properly. When I stepped to the mic to sing the first line of Hallelujah (I couldnt make this up) ZAP!! I was out cold. Got some nice vintage burns on my lip too! Excellent video Rhett. -Mark
I still own the 1970 Super Lead amp I bought when I was 17 in 76, I just found a 1946 "Les Paul" Junior amp that is a GA 5 that has a oval speaker in it for a whopping $20 at a storage unit side of the raod stand. It fired right up and only has a newer two pronged cord installed looks like in the 60's.....I just had Ben Fargen service my old Marshall as it has not seen electricity for 35 years......I also got two 4x12 cabs with 25w. Greenbacks with it. I got the whole full stack in 76 for another whopping $500..... I have owned it for 46 years... Im a young 63 now.. ;)-~
Nice. Here in England I bought a 1953 radio amp. It has radio, and an aux imput for mic. It looks like it was installed in a factory for the radio and PA for the workers. It has the original handwired components and valves. It is the best sounding amp I have.
I have two of these I bought about ten years ago. Dimed out and close mic’d, they sound ten feet tall. Have a Ranger and a couple of other vintage Gibson amps. Vintage Fender too much $$$, Gibson vintage sounds great. Had a couple made stage ready up in Athens. I enjoy your channel Rhett. Keep up the good work.
I have a 1960 GA-79 (stereo- two 15 watt channels) that I've owned since the mis '60s. I still play it every day.
I actually own a 20 year old Gibson GA-15 RV. It is arguably my favorite amp of all time. Great video!
Gat a Weber speaker. They are killer! I’m sure Dave would agree. I just put one into my custom kit built Princeton Reverb and it is Amazing!
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times... always trust someone in an MC-5 t-shirt... even if it’s Dave. Congrats, that little amp is gonna rock your studio for a very long time. Oh, and before I forget, you are truly ballsy, if you keep putting that blue Novo in videos, Dennis is gonna remember you have it and demand it back. Btw. Got my shirt from the last show today, just waiting on the poster and some frames I bought and all 4 will be hanging in my little guitar office. Much love from Tulsa.
Nice. I like the way the tremolo gets overpowered when the power valves saturate, then it comes back in. Classic tone! My favourite small amp is not quite in the same category, its a hybrid: the Fender Superchamp X2. Very versatile. It's models of small Fender amps are awesome. More convincing than anything digital I've heard.
The riff at 4:30 is absolutely nuts through this amp. In one of your previous videos you made a statement that stuck around with me “Bigger amps doesn’t necessarily mean bigger sound” actually I think it was your low watt skylark video? But ever since then I’ve been using my Champ DIY kit I built and you are totally right
Oh Man congrats! Skylark - my dream amp, recording beast, sounding massive! And this one mint condition... All the bests!
probably the best guitar tone i've heard in any gear demo
Another thing: If you can’t afford either a Champ or GA5 kits for them are quite affordable and really easy to build
I have been using my Swart Space Tone Jr. (5 W 8 inch speaker) with glorious reverb tank Live at church in a full band. Miced of course. There is something to driving your amp to the edge that is magical.
I found one of these on craigslist about two months ago. 1964 model, not tweed. Tried it and it was pretty unremarkable. I know a lot of times the amps need work to sound their best but this amp had a clean bill and was recently serviced by a local shop that specializes in vintage amps. In any case, get an old Fender and never look back!
Maybe you just got a bad one
@@Otis-Isom or maybe he doesn’t buy into the hype of a piece of equipment because it’s vintage?
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s Well, I thought it sounded good in the video
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s im not saying that the amp is good because its vintage, I’m saying that those older amps had a tendency to be inconsistent so he might have gotten a bad one.
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s I think it is just because these old Gibson amps are a little inconsistent. When you get a good one, they’re monsters, but if they are not, they’re nothing special.
Dang, that was original? That "quick track" you just "put together" was smooth man...I'll pay that!
Good job. 😎
Love small amps! Champs, Skylarks, Valco, Silvertone, so many good ones to choose from.
Just bought a 1967 GA5-t - bit apprehensive as I've never had anything so small in output. This video has put my mind at ease a little bit.
Thank you so much for what you do! I have applied so many things I have learned from you!
Also, you are the reason I didn’t miss the chance to see Songbirds in Chattanooga, I had just moved to town the weekend they were closing, and not for your video I would not have known I needed to go immediately and was there the final day, that was a priceless experience for a guitarist, and I will always be grateful to you for that!!!!
They're great. At one point, I was the custodian of a '58 GA-5 and '59 or '60 GA-40. Glad to see you enjoying this one. And the fact that it's pretty is just frosting on the cake.
I just got a 58 Gibson GA-8 Gibsonette. It's the best sounding amp I've ever had. Love it!
If you’re not listening to the Fretboard Journal’s “The Truth About Vintage Amps” you should be.
i could listen to you play guitar all day man. Your riffs are always so beautiful. Thanks for the content. BTW that amp is awesome.
I hear you! I am in love with the small amps for 10+ years, starting with a Laney LC-15R combo, then a Princeton 65 Reissue Reverb, then further down with a Vox Lil' NightTrain 2 Watts amp to finally land with a rather modern Marschall DSL-1HR with 2 channels, 1Watt, effects loop, and man, this tiny thing nails it!
I can combine it with various boxes with 1x8", 1x10", two different 1x12" (one old Vox open Cab with a Celestion Greenback) or a 2x12" cab, depending on recording requirements and I am even using the 0.1 Watt attentuator sometimes!!!
That one looks and sounds so good! I own a 1965 Lark that has been all over Western Europe. Enjoy!
Also: any chance you could do a video on mic'ing low wattage amps and mixing them appropriately?
Same, I'd love to hear his thoughts on this. I usually use a large diaphragm condenser paired with a 57 for lower wattage amps, but you can also use a ribbon and a dynamic mic (like the 57) paired on almost any amp and it'll sound good. Honestly, it just takes experimenting. Also, the closer you go to the center of the speaker, the brighter your tone, and vice versa. So, with that in mind, you can get a good estimate of where to start (I usually start with my 57 pointed to where the dust cap mets the speaker cone). After that just experiment with different mic combos and different placements and see what you like.
And are the two signals usually panned? or do you use mono but just like a double?
@@callmedeno I usually pan them hard left and right. It really depends on where it needs to sit in the mix
Worked at a studio for a few years that had a 1963 (I believe) Gibson Skylark that I loved! It sounded so much bigger than it's size.
My favorite at the time is a pretty cheap 15 w Laney cub 212r, it screams and has great wide bass response, opens up and blooms like crazy when pushed.
I've had a obscure early 60s Lectrolab R500C for 40 years that is the favorite amp of mine. The best little recording amp ever. Have had to put a bit of money into it over the years but it's hanging in there.
Yep, that sounds lovely.
Got a 80 year old Magnatone for less than $200 Canadian. With a simple solder that thing starting to sing. 6 Watts, and all the tubes have been out of production since the 60s. The replacement tubes I had to get were NOS surplus for US Navy Radar systems!
You made an awesome purchase! small amps always have great sound and for a long time were underrated from lack of knowledge. Have Fun!!!
Loving this new ‘What is the ??? Sound’ series. Nice and simple demystification of the gear being looked at, especially when there are so many variables that affect a sound. Pretty tasty playing too.
Love it, Rhett! I've got a '63 G-5, and It's awesome! You're absolutely right urging Gibson to re-issue! Rock on, bro!
I'm still favorable to my 1955 Fender tweed delux thats been in the family since new
I used to have a non-tremolo version that was just like this one. I only paid $8 for it. Of corse, that was 50 years ago. It sounded fabulous but, as you said, it was no where near loud enough to gig with. I still lament its loss. What a treasure.
Not a gear collector but gear is tending to collect over there. That thing's rad - love it!
I want one so bad, But Rhett keeps stelling 'em!!! No worries, great video!
I love small, low watt tube amps!
I use a 2 watt Fender Greta constantly for practice and living room jams with accoustic guitar and cajon.
That tremolo /vibrato sounds really nice. Thanks for posting
I used to have one of these amps back in the day. Hate that mom sold it when I went to live with my dad as a child.. Ha! Memories!! So Rhett, love your channel, here's a band name: Topaz toupe`, or Punky and the Short Circuits - Cheers mate!! Alan Ekland
Unbelievable tone.
I got an original chassis of this amp about 20 years ago free from a friend who owned a music store. The power transformer was shot and the owner didn't want to spend the big bucks at that time to repair it. No cabinet.
I pulled the circuitry and rewired it into a "tweed" champ with an old pre-CBS (blackface) champ output transformer I had with a 6V6. I built a cab out of cedar with two 10's and it's the main amp I use. There are times a separate treb/bass rather than tone would be nice.
I’ve played my 60s Gibson discoverer tremolo for years live and in the studio. It totally rocks and was cheap as dirt.
DAVE-O!!!
0:51 That breakup is so nice! Very unique!
Yes, yes, yes, yes! Absolutely one of my favorite amps of all time. I have the same one (1960) as in your demo. I've probably owned thirty amps over the years and still have ten. It's not only great for overdriven sounds but is super when set clean with pedals for OD. Single-ended amps have a very specific feel and touch and my guitars come alive through my Skylark. Easily as good or better than an AC-4 and a lot less expensive. You're right, it kills the Fender Champ.
Miked up, I have gigged very well with my GA-5-t Skylark.
I put a NOS Mullard12AX7 in V1 and it made the amp sound even better and bigger. An Amperex Bugle Boy, Sylvania, or a Black-Plate RCA is nice too. A NOS Sylvania JAN 5751 is very good for a cleaner, more detailed sound. It's a bit quieter, too.
Another fave amp is a1950 Gibson GA-50, the brown one that looks like an old radio with one 12" and one 8" speaker. While it's not single-ended and has a more complicated circuit, it also provides amazing feel and touch. Never got a better sound than when in either of these two amps.
Look, we know that Gibson amps are great, maybe the best of all, but hey, but as Drew said, let's keep it a secret so that they remain inexpensive, alright? Shuuuush.
Skylarks are fantastic! Great find! I just picked up a Gibson Discoverer Tremolo. Mind blowing!
Big Dave makes the scene.....great video Rhett...
I’m in the process of buying a 63 Skylark I’m so excited you have inspired this
These old gibson amps where great, one thing i have read about them is that they where designed with more headroom than most fenders had and where made for playing clean but once you make them overdrive they sound amazing and i love the tremolo on them, its great for playing a lot of chris stapleton stuff, and i just love it with a paf type pickup played with some reverb just barely overdriven.
I bought a 1966 GA-15RVT last year for $450 Canadian, all original, and it sounds great. It has a ton of headroom though, so nearly impossible to send into overdrive without pedals. Speaking of which, it takes pedals amazingly well.
Rumble & Shake it All Over are the first 2 songs I learned back in 5th grade from my brother on his 58 Les Paul Jr & Premiere twin 8 amp Widows Peak with Tremolo.He gave me the guitar & amp because he said I’m a natural. I still have the guitar but the amp.... well it died a horrible death down a flight of basement stairs. When I plugged it in it smoldered & sputtered. I was in 9th grade in 1971.I found another one in Houston but they won’t sell it. Really would like to have one again.
thanks for the Skylark video back then, I am still loving the one I bought soon after
Buddy of mine stopped by one day and said he found "this" out on the curb around the corner and asked me if I wanted it! '65 GA5 T (10" spkr)! $100 at local shop for tune up and dropped a spare eminence spkr in. Sounds amazing on the rare occasions when I can crank it up.
THE TONE IS THERE!
Sounds amazing! In the early '60s our band used to rent Gibson Falcons for gigs, but I've never seen one on Utube. I also had a '57 Fender Tremolux that sounded deadly. Cheers Rhett.
I had one of those for several years that I had modded with a speaker out to drive a cab. Ended up selling it with some other stuff to fund my Collings, but a nice memory!
Thanks Rhett
Your videos every time get better and better! Very nice.
good amp great choice , I had a old gibson amp like that, for about ten years, loved it. I was jammin' with some guys and they yell your amps on fire, your amps on fire, turned around and was burning , a sacrifice to Great Jammers in the Sky. What a hoot ! Gibson should remake little amps again , 5- up 20 watts wood be great.
When I built my champ a few years ago I built it to have an optional output section. So it's either the stock 6V6 or an EL84 which is more typically a GA-5/Skylark tube (although Gibson had many different schematics for the Skylark over the years with different output tubes). I also added other mods on push pull pots so that what I basically have is a Fender Champ and Gibson Skylark in one amp. The 6V6 with the stock settings does that champ thing all day and I love it and the EL84 with the mods selected (and NFB loop defeated) sounds more aggressive and breaks up sooner. It's also louder for a given volume than the 6V6 at that same volume because the EL84 requires less input signal than the 6V6. Anyways I love that amp, for tubes I'm currently running a NOS Sylvania 7025 (us 12ax7 designation) for the preamp tube, a NOS Soviet era 6N6C (6V6 equivalent) and for the EL84 I'm using a current production JJ EL84. I have a few NOS RCA EL84s and a single Telefunken EL84 that all sound great but in this amp I just prefer the C.P. JJ EL84 by a small margin. Anyways I can't recommend Champs or Skylarks enough. They are the perfect practice amps cause they actually sound great and teach people with less amp experience how real tube amps react to your playing. They sound great which makes them satisfying to play and write/record with unlike modern modeling crap that just feels lifeless and doesn't inspire or motivate me like tube amps do. There are some great solid state amps circuits out there that are great back up amps and practice amps but this modern digital modeling amp stuff has likely discouraged so many would be guitarists. If you can't afford a Fender Champ reissue then you could either try to find a vintage one for cheaper or find someone to build one for you. I personally think building one yourself is the best option but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner to soldering and electronics. You could build a good Champ clone for $300 easily ($350-$380 if you are building it as a combo like a real champ, but I prefer it as a head with a 12"speaker) which is insane when you realize they are charging $1,200 for the reissues last I checked.
Who really needs guitar pedals! I love smaller amps for gigin too, (UK folk/country/blues artist) Enjoyed your post Rhett 🎸👍
Love vintage Gibsons! I own a '57 GA-45T, '58 GA-5, '62 GA-8T, & a '63 M216RVT.
That little amp is tone for days ! Great buy and in your hands you take it to another level!
Knocked it out of the park. I LOVE small amps. I love "secret weapon" gear.
Gibson listened and delivered with the new Falcon amps!!
Over priced by about a $1000.
Rhett, I have a 1958 Skylark GA-5 which had an 8" Jensen Special Design speaker. I was able to find the identical speaker, made in Italy just like the original and yes, it sounds great!
I saw this on the podcast and I knew it was going to go!
Gibson did sell a GA-5 in the aughts. It was manufactured by MojoTone. The dimensions were about the same but it had a TV front, and it had the same color tolex and grill cloth as the one you have. I have one of those babies and it sounds great!
Sounds amazing with that blue and white T-style guitar!
Awesome amp Rhett! Love those old low wattage combos.
Gibson amps are awesome man. I own a BR6 that is awesome for recording. Ry Cooder has been using a GA 50T live with a BF Vibroverb. If he’s using one you know that they’re great.
Bought one of these bad boys right before the pandemic off ebay for ~$350. Had it serviced, ended up needing $120 in repairs. Ebay seller covered all of that for me, which was very nice of them. Wow. That's all I can say. This thing is insane. Definitely does better with humbuckers, but this thing is just nuts. I will have this for the rest of my life. Takes every pedal so extremely well.
The tone on that little amp is killer, love it. I totally agree Gibson should look at introducing remakes of some of their vintage amps especially if they were to sound as sweet as that little Gibson you have.
These would sell like crazy!
Show Michigan some love and build them in Kalamazoo. Or maybe Harmony will do so . . .
Excellent purchase !
Rhett, I have a couple of small amplifiers, that are strictly for recording. I have a background in electronics, and I built both of them myself, based on the Fender Tweed Deluxe and Fender Blackface curcuits. Both can actually get really loud. Based on your video, I'd love to build a Skylark. It has that tone we, as guitarists, all love!
Wattage is a funny thing, 100 watts is only twice as loud as 10 watts, and 1000 watts is twice as loud as 100 watts.
10 times the power = +10dB...
1/10 power = -10dB...
So a 5 watt 'bedroom' amplifier is half as loud as a 50 watt amplifier.......still pretty freaking loud!
I've gigged with both of my homemade amplifiers, I put XLR outputs on them, and I run them through the PA. They are so much easier to haul around than a big amplifier.
great channel. I love the fact that you show how something works in the context of a real song.
Great sounding little amp, Rhett! And totally agree... Gibson, start making amps again! There's definitely a market for those amps!
Your wish just came true
@@Davidthestratman7 Hey! Wow you're right... time to check out some reviews :)
I watched your first video on the original Skylark; which led me to buy a late 50s Silvertone 1391. Absolute tone machine, and have been using it to record tracks and I love it. I bought it for like $250 with a new speaker and 3 prong cord.
TLDR y’all need to snatch these up
Wow. Just came across this video. I picked a couple of these ‘60 or ‘61 amps - one with trem, the other without for about $125-150 off of fleabay about 18 years ago.
Had no idea these had appreciated so much.
I just like how they sound. I also use them as a head going into a 1x12 open back amp with a Celestion alnico blue. Sounds killer
My first electric, bought as a senior in high school, was a 59 Les Paul Jr. that came with a 59 GA-5 amp. Not quite the same as yours, no tremolo and a 6V6, but still an awesome sounding amp - and yeah, awesome for recording.
Tracked on this at Matt Goldman's studio. I kinda chuckled when he suggested it out of all the amps he had at the studio. The tone haunts me to this day (in the best way)!
Hey I've got one of those. Thanks for upping the value with this video.
Sounds huge. Love it
Shush up, these things won't be as cheap as fenders long!
Cheapest good condition one I found online was $975...so yeah
Too late.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Damn you, Rhett! lol...
The price for these have been up and down over the years. They will never hit and maintain true vintage price because there is no legacy of famous songs or memorable/legendary guitar players behind them.
Rhett just cemented his place in history...
Nice!! Thanks Rhett.
love it man the condition of it is unbelievable for its age sounds like theres tons of head room to really push it.
You did. Old Gibson amps are so cool. I am partial to the white panel years myself. If you take a 1965/66 GA-20RVT and slap an Eminence Cannabis Rex in it... boy oh boy.
I have this exact amp as well. Great little beauty!
I have a 1957 GA5. Pure heaven
Sounds pretty epic.. love the subtitles