WTF Were They Thinking? The New GIBSON FALCON Reissue Amps

This isn't a video I wanted to make, but we really need to talk about the new Gibson Falcon 5 and Falcon 20 amps built by Mesa/Boogie. Real talk time. You probably knew it was coming. WARNING: Video includes disturbing images of amp guts / GUT SHOTS of the wacko internal 12ax7 tube sockets!
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[@UncleDoug]

Wow, Brad, I share your disgust with the new "Gibson" amps. To be honest, the innards remind me of the Stage Right amp I did a video on a couple years ago. The difference being that the SR was priced at a very reasonable $100, while the single-ended equivalent Gibson Falcon-5 is FIFTEEN times as expensive. It seems like a bait & switch scheme......lure customers with the Gibson/Mesa name, then sell them a $25 PCB circuit in a $100 cabinet. Style without substance. Viewers should thank you for issuing this warning. Once again.....you're the man (even with that crazy hat) ;)

[@TheGuitologist]

I knew I could count on Uncle Doug as a voice of reason. I'd forgotten about that Stage Right amp! Great amp at that price, actually. Ability to mod to your heart's content on the cheap. What's not to like? But $1500 for a SE 5W amp!? Nuts. Gibson should have consulted you and me about this reissue and we could have designed a killer amp for them. All killer, no filler.

[@tsloth1390]

Yeah the pricing of these amps is straight up crookery. They are such a nasty company. I worked for a guy who was a supplier for Fender, Collings, Jackson among other guitar companies. I asked him why we didn’t work with Gibson and he told me he supplied Gibson with wood for a while. He said that they paid him on time for each renewed contract. Their final contract they ordered more than usual and payment was taking a while. He went into Gibson HQ to get an explanation and to resolve the issue and the President of the company at the time (I forget if it was Norlin or Juszkiewicz or whatever) asked him if they had any outstanding orders with him. When he informed them that he had fulfilled all their orders in full and had no future orders from them the scumbag just looked at him and said “then why should I pay you?” I have no respect for the company and I wouldn’t be caught dead buying a new Gibson anything.

[@justgary4342]

​@@tsloth1390 "It's just business," the sheister said with confidence.

[@shawnlarock8089]

I love the bomber hat

[@michaelhager4270]

Gotta love Uncle Doug!

[@cameronstolhand7149]

The Gibson falcon reissue looks like a fantastic $200 Amp.

[@melexdy]

Id say a 500$ amp. If its not made in Us. Strap the Gibs logo and its 2k somehow!!!!

[@DomSchu]

They seriously should've considered a much lower price-point maybe made overseas for these. Maybe have a hand-wired made in America version for $2k

[@Da_Publick]

​@@DomSchuBut this IS the 'hand wired, made in the USA' version!

[@ickebins6948]

@@Da_Publick And it makes no freaking difference...

[@Da_Publick]

@@ickebins6948 There's my point. So now they're supposed to create a less expensive version?

[@TheGuitologist]

Before any of you say I don't know what I'm talking about. Here are some of my previous videos about original 1960s Gibson Falcons: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYSraIWulJqcjbc kzbin.info/www/bejne/joOcaXxpiLNkmdU kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJK4qIRrrbqsmdE kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXaUgXyKrdmnja8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJLNgWOYbaabntE kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXrSmKyLrsRmrqs kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZeklItomM2joMU

[@MrPaolo101]

Idiots everywhere dude….WE know that YOU know!. ;)

[@jDS-xh4zq]

These amps should be renamed "Gibson Planned Obsolescence" I'm fed up and really frustrated with companies selling absolute shit to hard working musicians. Knowledge is power, spread the truth!

[@sunsparkle8443]

Yeah, the GPO series by Gibson.!! Hurry, get them before they're gone!

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

These wont run 70 years plus likeold fender amps that are still running

[@rocinblues]

Just like the big 3 auto plants and unions destroyed affordable pickup trucks

[@Renshen1957]

@@rocinblues Unions didn't destroy affordable pickup trucks, Corporate management, "Modern trucks are often flagship vehicles for some of these brands. Think of the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500; Ram and Ford have invested serious money to build a worthwhile product". and priced them to make a profit as luxury vehicles. In other words, it's capitalism, Ford did release in 2022 theFord Maverick might be a small truck, but it does have legitimate utility, and had MSRP is $20,995. Do you enjoy 40 hour work weeks of 8 hour days? Two Weeks Vacation, safer work environments? Union's not management did this. How about Medical Benefits. Time and half for overtime, or extra pay for working Holidays, like Christmas? Unions, unless you live in a State like AZ with At will employment, none of these benefits, if your employer (and that includes Drug Store Chains say come to work at stratight pay or you are fired!

[@rocinblues]

That's funny, you should take some basic economic courses or at least study the automobile industry and the effects of payroll and benefits on the corporate bottom line. The Big 3 had significant layoffs to the white collar workforce (look it up) over the past two year. 2024, GM expects 5000 white collar (WC) employee to be pink slipped, and both Stellantis and Ford have similar numbers. With Stellantis offering 50% of WC employees buyouts, and you know what happens if the don't take the buyout? Right? Pinkslips. The greed of the UAW to have a 25% pay increase will be a death blow to many UAW workers, and may very well kill Stellantis. In addition, Ford pointed to an $8.8 billion hit to the bottom line from the UAW contract. An $8B hit to the bottom line screws stockholders and drives automobile price increases in the short and long term. Stellantis as of Jan 24', has over a 300 day supply of vehicle in the yard, so the pink slips already hit their employees (Jan 24); 500 blue collar jobs (part-time flex) were permanently axed Sad to strike and pay over inflated wages with the economy already in the tank!@n1957

[@matthewotremba9230]

Love how you called them out PRICELESS

[@shotgunrebels]

People are so programmed to be told what to think. These are $499 amps at best. By the real thing or get a peavey. Thanks for the video Brad.

[@mark5150ty]

The Monoprice stage right 15 is of the exact same build quality and it only cost a little over $200, even $499 for this amplifier is more than twice what it's worth.

[@CapstoneTider]

I'd pay $1499 for a handwired Classic 30.

[@jonathanstrand2474]

Yes at least peavey is honest for an honest price

[@jonathanstrand2474]

Or buy a Wangs, at least they are priced properly, by a small dedicated group, actually hand wired models for under $1000

[@petarticinovic2710]

Yeah. People are programmed to bitch about Gibson these days.😅

[@garystevens6831]

In next years video: 15 Gibson Falcons laying in the road meets a steamroller Firebird X slyle...

[@GranvilleGuitars]

Along with the Theodores!

[@drv4859]

My biggest issue is that the amp says "Hand wired." Thats such a stretch.

[@mohamedtlass3842]

Beat me to saying it! What a joke!

[@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer]

it is hand wired... after all the components are blasted into the board by a robot and wave soldered by a solder bath with the finest chinesium parts available

[@mohamedtlass3842]

@@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer and woke homosexuals in California plug the computer cables in

[@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer]

@@mohamedtlass3842 hahaha

[@flogginga_dead_horse4022]

@@mohamedtlass3842 a step up from you doing it

[@buildyourowntone]

Thank you for the HONEST review. The prices are totally SILLY! Being in Canada, these prices would be much worse for Canadians. The designs are NOT something I would ever desire in a tube amplifier.

[@OrvilleRickenbacker]

This isn’t a honest review. He doesn’t have the product to review. Just a usual Gibson hater. If PRs or fender bought mesa he’d be all for it

[@gonzoengineering4894]

​@@OrvilleRickenbackeryeah those silly Gibson haters and their reasonable expectations.

[@OrvilleRickenbacker]

@@gonzoengineering4894 I’m sorry you can’t afford one honey

[@gonzoengineering4894]

@@OrvilleRickenbacker I litterally impulse spent this much on gear in the past week alone and I'm no worse for wear, but your concern is touching. The issue isn't price, it's value. Strip off the logo and this is a 400 dollar amp

[@imunknownsource8696]

​@@OrvilleRickenbacker lmao who need to spend their money for overpriced garbage??? We're not dumb

[@UTubeHandlesSuck]

I really love the "hand-wired" on the back panel. Yeah, they plugged the connectors for the pots to the PCB completely by hand! Just...wow. 🙄

[@briankehew579]

That's a key point!!!

[@noahpauley]

Why does anyone care about handwired???

[@standupstraight9691]

Ease of maintenance.

[@ickebins6948]

@@noahpauley Because people think it makes a HUUUUUUUUUGE tonal difference (guess what... I does not).

[@edboijewlery]

​@ickebins6948 it's more of an ease of repair thing in my opinion

[@ravenslaves]

Brad, you're missing the boat on these amps, and why they're such a great value as well as a great amp. Just look at them. Take a real, in depth look at these amps. Now do you see it? Now do you see why everyone needs one of these amps? They're cute! Very cute! And they're named after a bird. A pretty bird. Just like these amps. Long after these amps stop working, in a few months, these amps will still look cute for years to come. And that is what I call a great value.

[@TheGuitologist]

OMG, you're right! How could I have been so blind?

[@cirenosnor5768]

duh

[@scottriddle5468]

I'm glad you have the amp knowledge to inform the guitar public about crap like this. Keep on rockin brother

[@johnnyxmusic]

This is the guy to hear from regarding these new amps. Because he’s been inside them.

[@kevinc8387]

You're so correct. I watched the KZbin videos on it and wondered why they didn't look inside. They would turn it then turn it right back. Watch people amp shopping at a retail store or a show. First thing everyone does is turn the amp around and look inside. New amps at the store always sound good. How long will the pcb thing last? Lastly, the cost is crazy. Thanks Brad

[@motownrockerusa]

After watching a couple of demo videos I was quite intrigued. Thank you for pointing this out. For that kind of money, it should be point-to-point wiring for sure. I would rather buy a original 65 Deluxe Reverb for that kind of money.

[@TheGuitologist]

You won't get a 65 DR for that kind of money anymore. Ship's sailed on that one. SF maybe.

[@a-nus]

​@@TheGuitologistThere are original 65s on reverb right now for 1500.

[@GreenDistantStar]

There's so many amazing, high-quality amps around, it's difficult to understand why anyone would pay so much for so little. It's not a bad amp, it's just very bad value imo.

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

No. Thise are re issues

[@watersnortmoment3734]

Considering they’re in the range of boutique handwired amp makers like Ceriatone, you’d genuinely have to be a moron to even consider one of these Gibsons.

[@ExPostFactoBass]

I'm pretty sure that when Gibson agrees to send these reviewers an amp they include a check list of things that the Youtoobers are allowed to point out and what they are NOT allowed to talk about.

[@jekempton62609]

Yeah… this is not a thing.

[@rickya3877]

Definitely

[@pCeLobster]

There's absolutely no way Gibson marketing is going to risk having some influencer sink their launch with a negative "review". They are absolutely controlling the talking points.

[@jekempton62609]

@@pCeLobster i run a Gibson dealership for a living and we work with influencers who have done reviews of the amp. Gibson hasn’t said a word to any of us about how to do anything other than not to post about it before the launch date. People love to hate on Gibson, but most of the theories about them pulling the strings behind the curtains are pure crap.

[@vrcimino1250]

I believe you and kudos to you for sticking to a business in the musical instrument world, that's a tough business. I think the reviewers were more enamored by the looks and probably the sound. It is a shame that this stuff is being built and sold for those prices, but consumerism and marketing is where it's at. Hopefully the consumers get more knowledge about how important a well built amp is for longevity and ease of repair.@@jekempton62609

[@mikeeben1491]

This only stands to reason on Gibson’s part. They build $1000 quality guitars and people buy for $3000+ Why not build a $500 quality amps and sell them for $1800?

[@cirenosnor5768]

What it entails to build a inexpensive guitar vs a inexpensive amp are different animals

[@sunsparkle8443]

@@cirenosnor5768 - You are correct, but He/She is referring to the pricing mindset of the Gibson bosses, I believe.

[@theuserthatishere]

makes sense if you don't think about it

[@samiam5557]

The CME guy said, "they won't last long." LOL.

[@TheGuitologist]

The most truthful thing he said the entire video.

[@mikewhitfield2994]

🤣

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

I just assumed that he meant that they would quickly be discontinued!

[@rickya3877]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@robbergin9586]

🤣🤣

[@tctrio]

Wild that they print "No User Serviceable Parts Inside" and proceed to put the preamp tubes in the chassis.

[@michaeldeas1969]

This is exactly why you need to build a part list. That people can build their own amp from. I'd buy it!

[@scottriddle5468]

Me too

[@dyamariv3628]

Mojo tone has full specs to build a point to point GA5 on their site. I built mine for $300-$350 dollars and it sounds amazing

[@kevinking2468]

@@dyamariv3628Thank you so much!

[@84kjk]

I recently bought a fender Princeton 5F2 mini head. It Sounds amazing with my 1x12 mesa cabinet. It’s kind of all you need. The guy builds Gibson skylark, champ clones.

[@rickmccl71]

All you need is a schematic and there are tons of those around.

[@jtbracknell]

Totally agree with you and got sick watching all the demos from the KZbin fudge packers who are only interested in getting likes and subs with no clue about inside the amp. Preach it brother and share the truth.

[@steveniannuccilli3147]

Thank you! I wrote a comment about how insane these prices are in their Instagram post and I got killed by people. These are not worth the insane price. Give me a AC10 all day at half the price

[@TheGuitologist]

The voice of reason is ALWAYS ridiculed at first.

[@bensharp4164]

I had an AC10C1 for a while, sick sounding amp but built just the same. I sold it after opening it up, the tubes are mounted way to close the the speaker. While great sounding the reverb is digital, no way vox/korg will be making replacement pcbs for that 5-10 years down the line, let alone the main board once its been cooked and vibrated to death.

[@justgary4342]

You got killed by paid-for bots and people that can't distinguish beep boop from English.

[@allstopblue5717]

An AC-10 is quite literally built the exact same way

[@Xpyburnt_ndz]

GR8 vid Brad!!! Was surprised by some of the tubers that were praising this thing...Glad there's someone like you to set peeps straight!

[@mikeystaats]

i bought my original Falcon last summer from an estate sale for $75, and it was serviced, the only thing it needed was a grounded power chord, and I ended up following your video to do the mods to it and rewired the preamp section to take 12ax7 style tubes, I did have to put a 12ay7 in V1 though because it gave the amp some weird overdrive with the extra output from the 12ax7. I have been gigging that amp ever since. It beats this new one by a long shot!

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

Except you robbed yourself of tone with the 3 prong. Justt adk eric johnson and jobo

[@edwardjons8684]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I spent some time trying find gut photos of some of the more ‘affordable’ new Magnatone amps and came to the conclusion that they are not handwired either - it stinks when both reviewers and manufacturers are reluctant to show the build quality of their products.

[@youropionmattersnot]

If you want a good, reliable tube amp, look on the used market for boutique amps. There a so many handwired fender champ, twin, tweed clones out there both new and used. Plan on spending 500 to 1000 dollars and just keep looking. I picked up a used Goodsell Super 17 for $1,000. All hardwired with point to point soldering. No circuit boards just wires, electrical parts and tubes. Ive had one issue with it in 7 years of daily use. 2 days, 150 bucks two tubes and a couple of diodes and it was back in service.

[@kitchenspider]

Gibson Falcon now available with Hanned Wyerd™ technology

[@richarddresden6869]

Thanks for keeping it real, Brad.

[@TheGuitologist]

I bite my tongue a lot, but this...whew.

[@keithgurley9409]

All I can say is GA20T. RANGER!

[@lycidas8875]

Thanks for the video and sharing your thoughts. The prices are simply ridiculous... almost € 1900 incl. VAT in Europe for the Falcon 5.

[@pedroleal7118]

Tell it how it is Brad! You're offering great advice to people who know nothing about amps! Thank you!

[@AndyDemos]

Yikes, I would have certainly taken the back off during the photo shoot had I demoed it. Thanks for sharing ✌️

[@lazyboyandtherockers8050]

Wow Brad, I'm glad you brought this up. First Thank You.. I understood that these were hand wired!!! I was thinking of buying one. I probably would have bought it and never opened it up to check. $1799.!!!! Got to be kidding me. Gibson is digging a Hole and it's getting DEEP!!!!

[@ggman946]

Once again, you’re spot on. Thank you for keeping it real. ❤

[@imacmadman22]

As you said Brad, the Gibson amps to buy are the old ones. I can't see a reason to spend a dime on what is a re-badged Mesa-Boogie at those prices. Good insight and good call out to all of the KZbinrs fawning all over this nonsense.

[@jamieshaffer2128]

Bless you Brad. Well played.

[@Mrav79]

Just bought a Marshall DSL 20 head, would not get mad if it's PCB design, it's a full blown tube amp, sounds good, and has two separate channels and switchable reverb + simulated speaker output, but I paid 400 euros for it. 1500$ for that thing? are they nuts?

[@TheGuitologist]

And $400 is a fair right price for that DSL! Your point is valid!

[@cliffords2315]

The DSL 20 is an outstanding Amp has good ole EL34s and a pretty good speaker (easily upgraded to a Vintage 30 or Creamback) the price is Right for this Amp and it craps on all og these amps.

[@Mrav79]

@@cliffords2315 I have a head, so can have my pick of speakers

[@douglasnielson8250]

The DSL is good bang for the buck.

[@gonzoengineering4894]

Those guts look like they belong in a joyo lunchbox head copy 😂

[@southernpride2003]

🤣

[@mark5150ty]

At this point nothing Gibson does surprises me.

[@Hugh_Manitee]

They should be careful and not end up like Sears.. .

[@mark5150ty]

@@Hugh_Manitee I hope they go completely bankrupt, their business practices are horrible and everyone else makes their models better than they do.

[@JamesSClapperton]

The craziest thing they could do is make a Gibson that isn’t garbage and under $2k

[@westernrider100]

@@Hugh_Manitee Sears was in a position to take over the country; however, they decided that the internet was not the way to go.... Department stores and catalog stores in medium and small towns across the country!!!

[@southernpride2003]

​@@Hugh_Maniteeexcept Sears Silvertone actually used to have good amps back in the late 40s early 50s I've used a 1948 Sears Silvertone 1300 and that was and is my favorite tube amp along with my modified Gibson ga5 LP reissue amp

[@_-_Michael_-_]

I don’t care about lot of stuff Dave is about in last years but this video is on point. Thanks mate.

[@MashaT22]

Preach!! Thanks for saying this!! I noticed that the launch day vids were trying to dig deep to find nice things to say (including the video the it “seems well built” that literally made me do this: 🤣🤣🤣) without showcasing the inside as is usually done when tube amps are released. They should also be half the price at best for what they are. It would be amazing if you had a way to get a hold of an original Falcon and new one to give a more up close tear down, comparison and demo to help more people understand why they are overpaying for an amp that isn’t going to last and probably doesn’t sound as good as the originals without PCB’s. You should also make video suggesting alternatives with other similarly designed amp that have tubes mounted on PCB’s and better designed amps with tubes and zero PCB’s that cost much less than these new Falcons. Thanks, Brad!

[@mrbuttons1243]

That's exactly how I expected it to look. Gibson made a Blues Junior, congratulations.

[@max_archer]

My gut when I saw these was that they should be priced to compete with the Fender "Junior" amps, but then I thought I must be wrong for some reason because everybody else was saying they were priced right. Glad to know I wasn't so off base after all.

[@Ro-Bucks]

Them tubes are just fine where they are on a modern PCB, before that PCB was printed they can test to see if there's going to be any issues. Get used to change, its a good thing. Don't knock it till you try it!

[@rickjason215]

Exactly. The old amps had tons of problems. Welcome to the future. How does it sound?

[@Ro-Bucks]

@@rickjason215 I'm to pour to answer that now but from the reviews, like after watching 10 I think I'm getting one. Good sounding old tube amps keep going up in price, might as well try a new one. I do wish it had a the 3 tone knobs though. going to need an old eq or something with a mid knob.

[@NoStringsAttached777]

I thought what you wrote was a pisstake and laughed. When I realised you were sincere I laughed even more.😂😂😂

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

This is why I’ve accumulated a pile of solid state Peavey. That shit will work as long as the grid provides power. On a serious note, I did decide to offload my older Mesa purely because I kept looking at it as a ticking timebomb to become an expensive doorstop.

[@TheGuitologist]

Whether it lasts or not, at least you paid prices commensurate with the build.

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

i just commented about having a peavey pa-200. ill never get rid of it or buy another amp. i love it.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

@@frigglebiscuit7484 I’ve ran a X600B as an amp and it sounded surpringly good

[@cnilecnile6748]

500 years from now, when the cockroaches rule the Earth after the coming nuclear war, they will be using Peavey amps, because they are totally impervious to anything less than an asteroid impact, and will probably survive that. At least the ones that were still made in Mississippi, not sure about the Chicom stuff, though, probably not.

[@marzsit9833]

some of the old peavey tube amps are pretty bulletproof, i have an early butcher from 1981 that is built like a tank. the circuit boards are nice and thick and aren't discolored at all.

[@Chino_kochino]

Im glad you did this video, I had my reservations on this when I saw the price, that’s nuts! What’s wrong with these manufacturers lately

[@TheGuitologist]

Not enough people like us calling them out on it. It's that fucking simple.

[@cirenosnor5768]

Part of the problem is that there’s too many people doing reviews who don’t have the necessary amp knowledge to be informative on the aspects of the amp mentioned by Brad

[@Chino_kochino]

@@cirenosnor5768 It doesn’t help that everything is sunshine and rainbows, everything that comes out is amazing. Nothing is terrible because obviously they are being paid or compensated by the company (which ever it is). Few content creators actually tell you that the product sucks or is worth x vs. the amount suggested. I think this is the way of the world now.

[@greatwhite3676]

@@cirenosnor5768 thats true. But they are paid mouthpieces. They are like CNN talking heads with skinny jeans on pushing a narrative

[@chrishenderson9130]

Capitalism

[@instrumentsaudioetc]

Had the same experience with the vox "hand wired". Bought one, cracked it open and made a video on my channel showing the guts, brought it back and bought an all original 1965 fender princeton. was unimpressed with the quality of the modern hand wired amp, and the price was more than my vintage fender I bought after returning the new vox.

[@doofwop]

My cousin put two 100w tube amp heads up for sale at the same time. One was a 2203 and the other was a Dual Rectifier. Guess which one I snagged for the ole family discount?

[@JacksonCharvelRULE]

imagine the dude bros forced to make that in the MESA shop... I'm sure they're just ecstatic

[@VN9001]

I agree. I'm sure that Gibson just gave them a totally ridiculous price point to design the amp to, and said "just make it look pretty on the outside". 😐 I can imagine them all cringing at the design.

[@CTBlaze]

has it been confirmed these are made in Petaluma?

[@JacksonCharvelRULE]

4:38@@CTBlaze

[@Tom-90210]

100% agree with this Brad

[@dananthony6258]

If you agree with him or not everyone should appreciate channels like this that keep it honest. You could probably buy a kit that’s 1/3 the price.

[@ibanezleftyclub]

“Cut every corner and squeeze every penny you can” - The new Gibson motto.

[@richardjohnson2331]

I own a 1960s Gibson GA-5 and GA-10 (dual single ended!). The new amps are derived from Mesa designs, not the originals. Repairs are going to be a pain on the new ones.

[@Manley156]

I came everywhere to this and I am not ashamed at all. Thanks bro

[@Patbwoy]

Hey Brad, you're honesty about these things is always refreshing. Then again, are you really surprised? Not only do we know that Gibson is a rather shady company, we also know full well how the KZbin game works. All these gear youtubers like to come across like nice fellow guitarists, guys like you and me, but they really are merely paid promoters for the industry. On the bright side: Gibson releasing reale valve amps now might mean that valve amps aren't dead just yet.

[@sup1e]

Thankfully guitar youtube has had some good additions over the last several years. Makes it way easier to avoid the gear shills.

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

My 280 euro new Bugera V22 i have had now for 5 years is going strong and never let me down. All those people junking on the amp and I couldnt be more pleased with it !

[@zachsmith3376]

When they said made in California, I wondered who was doing it.

[@editorjuno]

I could be wrong, but I suspect it's *assembled* in CA, with all the key components, including a pre-populated PCB or two, being imported.

[@jallenshaw]

Come on, man….they’re “hand wired”….sez so right on the chassis 😆😂

[@Purezshock]

i have been waiting for this video ever since they came out haha

[@joshscott3271]

This is a great video, you have been like Toto from Wizard of Oz, thanks for pulling back the curtain so we can all see the fat little "Wizard" pulling his levers and blowing his smoke over his mirrors... Oh my, this isn't Kalamazoo any more Toto.

[@dwarden3]

Hey Brad, I bought this great car! It will go 0-a certain speed in 12 seconds and get 43 mpgs. What size engine? I dont know I wont even open the hood.

[@TheGuitologist]

this.

[@jonathanmeyer1164]

Nothing beats the tone of an "authentic" PCB. Depending on the condition, you can probably buy a vintage falcon and have it serviced for the price of this new one. Give it a few years, and people will want to make hand wired versions of this.

[@pablo.l]

Gibson is no longer surprising with the number of robberies he commits using his logo. And the lack of ethics of gear reviewers is becoming increasingly evident. Thanks for telling it like it is Brad.

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

I like how the internet has rotted your brain so much, you think Gibson is some dude, some comic book villain.

[@Renshen1957]

@@rocketpigrecords3719 Gibson is a Corporation, and legally artificial entitiy, of course there's that failed Presidential candidate (and corporate robber) who said "Corporations are People..." back in 2011.

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

@@Renshen1957 could you go be special needs somewhere else?

[@allgrainbrewer10]

@@Renshen1957 Hope you limbered up before you stretched that far.

[@allgrainbrewer10]

@@rocketpigrecords3719 Thought the same thing. What a clown.

[@halbertking2683]

The vents are where the beer goes in .

[@TheGuitologist]

Beer, cigarette butts, ashes, dust, roaches.

[@wesleymorris1]

They could of easily did turret board and tube sockets and good pots

[@gloriouspeanut]

Then they wouldn’t be pocketing so much money per amp… can’t have that

[@JamesSClapperton]

For that money. Yeah. I built a 5w amp that sounds impeccable for $400 and it has MM transformer.

[@allstopblue5717]

@@JamesSClappertongood for you?

[@alanpecherer5705]

No, not as easily. Building a point to point amp probably takes 3-5 times as much time as a PCB amp. I've done dozens and dozens of both, I am not religious about only hand wired or only PCB, but I can assure you, the time it takes to nicely wire a P2P is enormous. Also, pots and tube sockets are generally more expensive.

[@wesleymorris1]

@@alanpecherer5705 i myself have tbe gibson ga19rvt and rebuilt it aswell as many custom builds of my own design, if build the boards out of the amp, i can build that board in an hour with all the wire runs connected. The old ga19s where very simple layout, and there chargeing 1700 for a amp with the preamp tubes inside the chassis. Makes no sense to me. Plus them boards get hot and the traces will become weak, plus you can easily to sockets with pcb connections on them, each having a seperate board. It could have been done better, handwired is always better, hire more people. Mesa boogie designs are mostly horrible, they create problems in the future. I got a custom champ i built with a kt88, that sounds way better then both of them all handwired and will outlast any pcb amp. I built the whole board and wired the sockets inafew hours.

[@steelheadize]

it says on the chassis hand wired that would lead one to believe it's hand wired but it's not

[@matt996]

Someone plugged the wires from the pots into the headers on the PCB...by hand

[@JamesSClapperton]

So dumb but it is technically handwired. Most people don’t understand the difference between handwired and point to point. It’s a hugely misleading sales tactic

[@Notinserviceij]

@@JamesSClapperton true but no less shade should be thrown at manufactures for this, regardless of technicalities...its beyond misleading and into shady territory

[@tacosaretasty]

Preamp tubes inside mounted directly to the pcb is insane. It’s only acceptable in a Simington $500 amp.

[@LitesLAB]

Thx Brad!

[@MichaelMYouTube]

Great video, way to educate people shopping and trying to understand value / build quality. A few of years I picked up a 1964 Gibson Skylark and then sent it to you to refurbish and modified (the subject of one of your videos). It is now an incredible sounding amp that will keep its value. I was interested when I saw these new ones, figured it was cool of Gibson to get back to producing amazing amps of their past. I guess they are NOT reproducing amazing amps of the past but selling crap with their name on it. Sad.

[@MajicFreeman]

Hahahaha, the thumbnail said it all. Tubes right on the printed circuit boards. oof. Not Surprised, I stopped paying attention to new Gibson Products in the mid aughts

[@drummer4hire12]

Thanks for always keeping it real, Brad!!!!

[@kevingriffin8854]

At first i thought cool, Gibson is doing amps again. The price, which i can afford, but is still really high is off putting. But this is a no go. 1500 bux i want a forever amp. $1,500+ is a lot for amp. If im gonna spend that, id probably go for a tone king or a vintage fender.

[@cirenosnor5768]

Gibson hadn’t built Amos in decades. They buy companies like Trace Elliot and Mesa and then rebrand those amps. Or thise companies design something for Gibson

[@JonnySoundSounds]

love seeing uncle doug comment you guys are my two most watched channels a far as gear and amps

[@davedeville6540]

It says “Handwired in Petaluna California”. What’s hand wired?

[@Da_Publick]

You asked the most profound question on this whole thread, and nobody even responded.

[@gtr1952]

I was glad to see Uncle Doug's post here also. I've subbed to both of you for a long time now. Uncle Doug taught my 75% of what I know about tube amps, while I was quietly sitting in the corner of the back row. 8) I've been looking for a new small amp to gig with. So far, Dr. Z (model omitted on purpose) is #1 on the short list. An all tube Deluxe is not far behind. Thanks Brad!! Hope things are well, and have a great day! 8) --gary

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

Uncke doug ruins vintage amps

[@tenlittleindians]

Here's a comparison for you: I got a white Gibson Gibsonette amplifier and a Fender Harvard amplifier. They are both from the late 50's and about the same power. They are perfect sized amplifiers for playing at home. Between the two I prefer the Gibson for tone. I also have an all original Fender Deluxe Twin Reverb sitting here and it's a screamer. Granted the practice amps can't shake the pit of your stomach like the Twin Reverb but I rarely turn on my bigger amps anymore. Even if I started playing live again I doubt I'd want to drag those heavy big amps to gigs. It sucked bad enough when I was a third of the age I am now. I'd rather take a lighter and smaller amp that fits in a car and run it through the P.A. these days.

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

You dont have a dolly? Easy to move a twin

[@tenlittleindians]

@@johnsmith-bk4ps You must be a flatlander. Dolly's are worthless for lifting heavy awkward amplifiers in and out of trunks or for climbing stairwells up or down to clubs and to stage areas.

[@ronjinks8932]

The best video so far about the crap that is being marketed out there . Cudos Brad ...

[@Superjet113]

Its about as hand wired as a JHS NotaKlon pedal kit lmao.. Plug and play.

[@a-iz4pg]

I'm surprised that Gibson didn't just buy Bugara and have them build the reissues.

[@czeckboy100]

I'm so glad you posted this informative video. I was very excited about the Falcon 20. I have a Maestro branded GA2 RVT and the Falcon looked really inviting.I contacted Gibson directly to ask exactly what "hand wired in Petaluma" really meant and got the Mesa Boogie blanket response that the same quality build ethic is being employed with the Falcon series. PC board construction done well. We know that it can be done with chassis mount controls and tube sockets giving some chance of success. After asking if they would share tech notes or diagram I was told that info was NOT available. Thanks for having the hair to open it up and showing us what's going on in there. PCB mounted tube sockets are the Achilles heel of PCB builds and low and behold..... I'm so thankful you let us know what's really going on this this just under $2K amp that I've just lost interest in. Thanks, Danny

[@IamtheFerryMan]

I thought Trump and Biden were divisive but here comes Brad with that hat

[@TranceMasterJack]

Man that hat has got to go!😄

[@jasondorsey7110]

​@@TranceMasterJackNot my style...looks warm though

[@jonathanstrand2474]

I’ve got one in red plaid, warm ears are a good thing🤣

[@mikewhitfield2994]

🤣

[@joeman5220]

It does look like something left over from the Fargo TV show

[@Hue_Nery]

Thanks for your honesty. This is exactly what I expect from Gibson.

[@samanderson9077]

Having this layout where your average guitar player is sticking their hands into a chassis for the first time just to get to the preamp tubes is probably a bad thing

[@daveanderson5680]

Brad is Back speaking truth to power

[@micahwatz1148]

Thankfully none of my pcb amps have broken. Theyre all only like 10 years old tho. But theyre still trucking

[@jonathanstrand2474]

I’ve watched you for years, I have 2 5:25 heads, that output tube cage is the very one on my amps, & although the preamp tubes are visible on the 5:25 heads, to change any involves removing the chassis, it’s a very compact amp, so I don’t mind, but your video’s show them in a different light, thank you,a fair assessment is welcome, you are the only person doing that!!! I bought my second head recently, only because I put 5,000 hours on the 1st, and all it needed was a new preamp tube, but I replaced them all anyway, the output tubes are still great

[@Rockriverboarder]

Thanks for the insights Brad. My 70s silver faces seem better all the time. 45-50 years old and work fine with normal service. A good speaker and you’re set!

[@TheGuitologist]

Hold onto it! Even the ones the corksniffers say aren't worth owning are 10X the amp these new pieces of garbage are.

[@RockyFranklin]

Gibson gear is off the charts ,a Vox AC 10c1 with a tube upgrade and speaker would blow the Gibson away at 1/4 the price.I’ll never buy a Gibson product.Thanks for the great content on your channel Brad

[@SDPickups]

YEP! Brad is wrong though, the Silverface Fenders are going up price very quickly. I have 3 Silverface Fenders all from 1973. Fantastic amplifiers, easy to maintain. Bought the Deluxe Reverb, Vobroluxe Reverb, and the Princeton Reverb. None were over $500 15 years ago. Now they are hitting $3000!

[@johnsmith-bk4ps]

The 73 fenders arent fantastic. Tolex oaier the and the cabinets fall apart. The amp itself is great but fantastic..? Wrong

[@SDPickups]

@@johnsmith-bk4ps Really??? I have a '73 Vibroluxe Reverb, '73 Deluxe Reverb, and '73 Princeton Reverb. ALL of them ARE fantastic amps. I took each to blues jams and players begged me to play thru them. If you want an amp with 27 gain channels on a PCB board and foot switches, those amps are all garbage. My amps are 51 years old and in perfect shape. None of the need pedals, either. And none of them are "falling apart." They all have tripled in value as well.

[@jeffsmiley1967]

What I like about watching your videos your honest and show what you can be getting into

[@anomalouswoof2554]

Brad, I'm new to working on amps with tubes mounted to PC boards. How do these G10 fiberglass boards become conductive? Is it high-voltage leakage and arcing causing carbon tracks, or overheating causing carbonization (burning) of the PC board itself?

[@Pan_Galactic_Gargle_Blaster]

yeah, his kvetching reeks of a luddite, but I'd be glad to hear from him why it's impossible to fix a simple through hole soldered board (I fully understand that at this price point a PCB is not the norm, and paying for the higher labor of full hand wiring is part of the cost. but I fail to see why a PCB wouldn't be fine for a tube amp in general).

[@jukelemon]

Good to hear you again brother. Hope you're well man!

[@atech9020]

Something a little alarming is that the board is already on Revision 4. It was released a month ago perhaps and they are already 3-4 revisions into the PCB. It makes me wonder what issues they were having with them during Beta testing.

[@TheGuitologist]

I'm thinking maybe the board is repurposed from another Mesa Boogie project perhaps.

[@GranvilleGuitars]

I love my Gibson guitars. I'm a Gibson guy. But the company is SO off course. Have you seen the Theodore? What in the actual f***?? Just when you think that Gibson has gotten all the ugly guitars out of their system, they lower the bar even further. That might be the ugliest guitar I've ever seen. Mesa is not worth owning. I've said this for many years. I was authorized service for them for awhile. I learned my lesson. Gibson buying Mesa is simply the latest misstep in a long series of mistakes. It makes me sad honestly. Thanks for having the balls to stand up and speak the truth. That is a rare thing these days.

[@Johnny_Dregs]

For me personally, what I take away from your knowledge helps me find afforable gems. I have a lot of fun searching for the cheaper hidden gems and working on them. I appreciate your honesty, because these mofos easily trick people like me. I rely on your opinion, a lot tbh.

[@TheGuitologist]

I'm not infallible. I'm human. But you can count on me to tell you everything I know truthfully.

[@benjaminsalinas862]

I'm happy for Gibson. I'm not a mesa fan at all but I love the direction they're going. Looking forward to more products

[@EvLoutonian]

Will be interesting to see/hear how these amps go over time.

[@JamesSClapperton]

I predict they’ll go the route of a fender cybertwin when they stop making boards for them and all the ogs have melted.

[@EvLoutonian]

it's interesting with the Fender Blues Hot Rod etc, where they've really been a massive success for Fender, as far as I know, even though there are known weaknesses or failure points with the PCB-based design and construction.. I suppose overall they are for the most part still serviceable (to enough of a degree), or else not so expensive that they can't just be replaced every 10 years or so if they're being churned over by a backline touring company or so

[@mjones6983]

Brad… keep doing what you’re doing brother you always make me laugh. 😊

[@bottomkitchen250]

Now what I really want to know is about the new coming vox hand wired amps supposedly coming in June. I'd love to have a hand wired ac10 if it's done right and has spring reverb.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

I'm a huge Vox nerd and have an AC30 and AC10 that they done a few years ago and I LOVE that AC10 but a true handwired one would be awesome. I got the AC10 brand new for less than $500. They've went up now but they're still VASTLY cheaper than these "youtube sensation" amps. I'm telling you it's these "influencers" that companies are using to sell gutted products for bloated prices. Mark Agnesi might put a hit out on Brad. Lol!

[@mikefromusa6902]

Hold on to your good amps folks. 🖕🏿the big corporations.

[@shytweedabone2663]

Nice work Brad!!

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

My favorite new gear-channel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@garretazonsa]

This makes me proud to be an owner of these amps: 1. MIJ Fender Sidekick 20R Tube for $30 2. VHT Special 6 combo for $85 3. Vox Pathfinder 15R for $110 Gibson is nothing more than a placebo.

[@TheGuitologist]

You know, buying cheap amps is fine if you're paying appropriate prices for them.

[@archloy]

A VHT Special 6 for 85$, nice deal !

[@UltimateEngineering]

MIJ is just quality!!!

[@sauce_aux]

Awesome. The insides look like the peavey amps I own, so I should be able to fix it easily when it inevitably fails 👌🏽I hope I can find the OEM hot glue though.