I FINALLY got my Vintage Gibson!! --- 1953 Gibson GA-40 Les Paul Amp (pt.1)

[@MichaelSmith-rn1qw]

Nice find, it will be interesting to see you troubleshoot it.

[@joeschlicht]

Very cool. My friend had a 50's GA20T that was kept at my house for a couple years, but he has since sold it, damn it. The trem was really good on it.

[@WestWoods54]

All my amps are early KENDRICK builds by Gerald Weber who just retired and no longer takes orders for amps. Also own a pristine vintage 1958 narrow panel Fender Tweed Princeton that I use with an all original vintage doublecut 1958 Les Paul Jr. The California guitar show scenes are just amazing. Finding an affordable amp like you did is also amazing. Very nice reporting that hopefully we'll see more of in the future. 😊 Great job!

[@scottjua]

Awesome! I’ve also been looking for a GA40… kinda got stuck on a 60, but played a 53/54 at Carter a couple months ago and LOVED it. First gotta snag a brown panel super… then the GA40 will come someday. Nice score and can’t wait to see the deep dive.

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Yeah I think all of the revisions of the GA40 are cool. My favorite outside of this version, which imo is the coolest (but perhaps not the "best sounding" in the traditional sense), is the end of the 50's big box version.

[@Guitar5986]

Hmm I commented earlier but I guess it got nuked? Anyway that is a cool amp! This one is probably early enough that it is open point to point with no circuit board. That will simplify things because Gibson typically wired their boards with components on both sides. The tone control on these has very little effect as you've discovered. You can add a bright cap, mod to a Princeton style tone control, or do what I like which is use these with a treble booster. Being a bass heavy dark amp it really adds a lot of versatility with a rangemaster. With the pedal engaged you can actually roll back your volume & get clean tones out of these nonexistent headroom amps. If there are any old caps in there I would replace them immediately. The resistors in these are often over-rated 1 watt carbon comps. Typically they hold up really well & don't need to be replaced but it's always good to check. You can also improve the ground scheme on a lot of these old Gibson's & reduce their noise floor. But it might not need it. Nice score dude!

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

You're not the first person to say that, no clue why but some comments just disappear without me doing anything. Correct, P2P wiring no board (heard those are a major pain like you say). I actually really enjoy the warmer tone, it's a vibe and I'm good with it doing that one thing and that's it. I haven't opened it up yet, we took a quick look at the guitar show and it definitely had work done but I'll be doing a deep dive here pretty soon. Appreciate the insights, looking forward to it!

[@J.C...]

KZbin nukes comments for the most ridiculous things sometimes. There's times when I write a paragraph about whatever the subject is and the thing gets deleted when there's nothing in it to make it need deleting. So I'll literally go through it word by word, changing 1 at a time to figure out what it is that they don't like. Here's the kicker: I CAN'T EVER FIND IT. Doesnt matter what I replace, it still gets deleted. It's maddening to say the least. It's to the point that I copy my reply before I hit submit almost every time because they randomly get nuked for absolutely no reason.

[@Guitar5986]

@@YeatzeeGuitar I'm with you. Enjoy the character of these amps. But I do kick on a treble booster quite often with them. Gonna be interesting to see what kind of differences there are between these super early versions & the later ones.

[@Zelleram55]

Cool looking amp. Also cool that Skip Simmons and Bill Krinard had their hands on it. I just discovered Skip a few months ago through his and Jason’s Podcast “Truth about Vintage amps.” Very entertaining worth checking out if you’re into this stuff. I will be looking foreword to future videos on this amp. Keep up the good work.

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Thanks! Yes, they're content is great for the nerdy folks into this stuff

[@SteveSterlacci]

Officially the only other person i know with one of these! Mines way more beat. Gibson logo is long gone. Careful with that handle!!!

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

🙌

[@bretfuzz925]

I have the same model. Mine is substantially more beat. I was told mine was owned by Tal Farlow but some people will tell you anything. It needs some work which I plan on doing when the weather warms up where I live. When they work well they sound really sweet. Some good growl with a humbucker. I will be following your trials and tribulations with this one. Oh, the rectifier is supposed to be a 5V4. When you get the schematic you will see how one of the 6v6’s is used for the tremolo.

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Yeah I mispoke, it's got a 5V4 now. Very bizarre setup with that 3rd 6v6!

[@jcsk8]

Nice amp.

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Thanks!

[@matthewf1979]

Score!

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Come on over and check it out some time!

[@matthewf1979]

@@YeatzeeGuitar Definitely!

[@jonnybeck6723]

Please post after a tech goes through it... Cheers

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

I am the tech 😆

[@jonnybeck6723]

@@YeatzeeGuitarBravo... then, even more so, please repost after you sort out any issues with this beast... The 6V6 trem and pentode pre make it a real novelty. Cheerios (but not the cereal)

[@mohamedtlass3842]

1500$?

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Yes

[@5018jamesb]

@@YeatzeeGuitar Seems like a very fair price. I'd have a hard time walking away for that much, though I paid $250 for mine but isn't nearly as nice.