Gibson GA-77 RV Vanguard Tube Amplifier (1961)
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Item # 9808
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Gibson GA-77 RV Vanguard Model Tube Amplifier (1961), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 87063, lacquered tweed covering finish.
This is a nice example of a Gibson GA-77RV Vanguard amp from the dawn of the 1960s. This is one of the company's best and most interesting offerings from what arguably was their best period for amp design. As Fender's narrow panel tweed amps of the late 50's had taken the industry by storm, Gibson (not too soon) followed suit, releasing their own "Tweed-clad" line-up in the early 60s before moving on to the more clunky and awkward grey-Tolex cabinet designs by the middle of the decade.
This fairly rare iteration of the newly named GA-77 "Vanguard" model amplifier made by Gibson in Kalamazoo, MI, only existed for one year and only 337 of them were shipped. However, the GA-77 circuit hails back to the mid-50s, and was in fact the basis for Vox's top boost AC-30 circuit, which was copied verbatim from the GA-77 high gain circuit. Along with a new name, a new shell, the dawn of the new decade gave the GA-77 an onboard spring reverb effect, mounted on its side within the cabinet with a mute/damping lever, much like the tanks on Fender's standalone reverb units had.
The amp otherwise featured the same four-input, two-channel design with volume, treble and bass controls for channel one and volume, tone and reverb controls for channel two (the predecessor had a "fidelity" control instead of reverb). A push-pull dual-6L6 power section yields around 25 watts into a single 15" Jensen C15N speaker. The tweed-covered lacquered cabinet has a slanted baffle (unlike Fender's slanted fronts) with an oxblood grille cloth, top rear-mounted control panel and a very cool metal and plastic handle with the Gibson-logo embedded on a piece of leather inside. This is one of our favorite Gibson amps, one we wish there had been many more of!
Height is 20 in. (50.8 cm.), 22 in. (55.9 cm.) width, and 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) deep.
Externally, this amp is in good shape for its age, if looking a bit dirty on the outside. The rather fragile tweed covering shows some staining, particularly on the sides, as well as some moderate scuffing on the corners and edges. The control panel shows some light signs of corrosion but is overall clean with a nice sheen. All the somewhat fragile original knobs are present as well, as is the often lost even more fragile plastic Gibson logo on the front. The amp also comes with a hardwired footswitch for the reverb effect.
Electrically, the Vanguard is nicely original. The 15" ceramic Jensen C15N is original to the amp and bears the marking 220-124, dating it to the 24th week of 1961. It still retains its original cone and sounds phenomenal. The power, output, choke and reverb transformers are all original to the amp and are marked 166-049, GA-70-02, 166-043 and 166-114, respectively. The ones bearing date codes date to the 49th and 43rd week of 1960 and the 14th of 1961. The pots date to 1961 as well. The amp has seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytic caps, a new grounded 3-prong power cord, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and biasing to spec.
This is a really nicely preserved great sounding specimen of a Gibson rarity from their best era for amps, with a big and clean tone with plenty of growl when pushed, not unlike the Fender tweed Pro amps of the late 50s! Overall Very Good + Condition.
This is a nice example of a Gibson GA-77RV Vanguard amp from the dawn of the 1960s. This is one of the company's best and most interesting offerings from what arguably was their best period for amp design. As Fender's narrow panel tweed amps of the late 50's had taken the industry by storm, Gibson (not too soon) followed suit, releasing their own "Tweed-clad" line-up in the early 60s before moving on to the more clunky and awkward grey-Tolex cabinet designs by the middle of the decade.
This fairly rare iteration of the newly named GA-77 "Vanguard" model amplifier made by Gibson in Kalamazoo, MI, only existed for one year and only 337 of them were shipped. However, the GA-77 circuit hails back to the mid-50s, and was in fact the basis for Vox's top boost AC-30 circuit, which was copied verbatim from the GA-77 high gain circuit. Along with a new name, a new shell, the dawn of the new decade gave the GA-77 an onboard spring reverb effect, mounted on its side within the cabinet with a mute/damping lever, much like the tanks on Fender's standalone reverb units had.
The amp otherwise featured the same four-input, two-channel design with volume, treble and bass controls for channel one and volume, tone and reverb controls for channel two (the predecessor had a "fidelity" control instead of reverb). A push-pull dual-6L6 power section yields around 25 watts into a single 15" Jensen C15N speaker. The tweed-covered lacquered cabinet has a slanted baffle (unlike Fender's slanted fronts) with an oxblood grille cloth, top rear-mounted control panel and a very cool metal and plastic handle with the Gibson-logo embedded on a piece of leather inside. This is one of our favorite Gibson amps, one we wish there had been many more of!
Height is 20 in. (50.8 cm.), 22 in. (55.9 cm.) width, and 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) deep.
Externally, this amp is in good shape for its age, if looking a bit dirty on the outside. The rather fragile tweed covering shows some staining, particularly on the sides, as well as some moderate scuffing on the corners and edges. The control panel shows some light signs of corrosion but is overall clean with a nice sheen. All the somewhat fragile original knobs are present as well, as is the often lost even more fragile plastic Gibson logo on the front. The amp also comes with a hardwired footswitch for the reverb effect.
Electrically, the Vanguard is nicely original. The 15" ceramic Jensen C15N is original to the amp and bears the marking 220-124, dating it to the 24th week of 1961. It still retains its original cone and sounds phenomenal. The power, output, choke and reverb transformers are all original to the amp and are marked 166-049, GA-70-02, 166-043 and 166-114, respectively. The ones bearing date codes date to the 49th and 43rd week of 1960 and the 14th of 1961. The pots date to 1961 as well. The amp has seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytic caps, a new grounded 3-prong power cord, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and biasing to spec.
This is a really nicely preserved great sounding specimen of a Gibson rarity from their best era for amps, with a big and clean tone with plenty of growl when pushed, not unlike the Fender tweed Pro amps of the late 50s! Overall Very Good + Condition.