50 year old virgin

johnk_10 · #1 11-01-2011, 12:38 AM

this one's not a bass amp, but it actually sounds really good with a bass at low volume. i just had to share this one with you guys since it's pretty rare that i see a 50 year old amp as untouched, 100% original and in near mint condition as this one, a 1961 Gibson Titan amp complete with all of it's original 1961 Raytheon tubes. this amp was brought to me from a good friend for a checkup (he's the second owner). anyway here's a few pics of it.

with original cloth cover:

and without it

:

arai · #2 11-01-2011, 12:42 AM

brocco · #3 11-01-2011, 02:20 AM

Incredible !

T-Bird · #4 11-01-2011, 02:48 AM

Hi.

I'd be worried sick to use an amp that clean.

Unfortunately there's often a good reason why a vintage item is in a pristine shape, I'm pretty sure it ain't the case here

.

Regards
Sam

One Drop · #5 11-01-2011, 02:48 AM

Gets the award for the coolest handle on a vintage amp.

SBsoundguy · #6 11-01-2011, 05:01 AM

Suggest to your friend that he put it in an air tight vacuum bag.

dmrogers · #7 11-01-2011, 05:05 AM

Wow! Just wow.............

beans-on-toast · #8 11-01-2011, 05:38 AM

Fantastic! Very well built as well.

I believe that the GA-6 is the same amp except for the 12" speaker. Designed to run on 110VAC.

johnk_10 · #9 11-01-2011, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

Fantastic! Very well built as well.

I believe that the GA-6 is the same amp except for the 12" speaker. Designed to run on 110VAC.

yep, you're exactly right. this one's called a GA-14 and they made 106 of them in 1961, and they made this model for three years.

shipping totals:
1959=1
1960=386
1961=106

beans-on-toast · #10 11-01-2011, 06:21 AM

It would be really interesting to test the amp, side by side, with a Fender Deluxe 5E3. I bet that the Fender would win tone wise but each has their merits. The design is a bit better but very close to the Gibson.

It is nice to have the Gibson production numbers available. You've got to give them credit for keeping the documentation and making it available.

PortableMadness · #11 11-01-2011, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Drop

Gets the award for the coolest handle on a vintage amp.

+1 That 's the first thing I thought too.

MuthaFunk · #12 11-01-2011, 09:21 AM

Funny, the first thing I thought to do was replace all the caps before one blows up and burns something inside that pristine chassis. At this stage in the game I gather it isn't used much and might as well be kept all original and never powered up. I'd be worried the second I flipped the power switch though as caps will degrade over time regardless of use or not.

What a treat to see an amp like that though... Thanks for the thread and excellent pics!!

johnk_10 · #13 11-01-2011, 10:45 AM

it actually sounds very similar to a 5E3. it has a little less headroom and distorts a bit sooner, but it sounds great.

my buddy intends to use the amp, since he's a player first and then a collector (he has ALOT of vintage amps), so the first thing that i did was slowly bring it up on a variac, but it's main 20/10/10 multicap and the 20uf/40V cap in parallel with the bias resistor were way out of spec and unusable (humming badly). they measured very leaky on my ESR meter and their uf measured more than 8-10X higher than they should have (so they were toast). to me, it was almost sacrilegious to change anything but i 'surgically' removed them and installed three single 450V caps shrink tubed together for the main filter caps and mounted it the same manner as the original and replaced the 20/40 with a sprague 20/50. i'm giving him back the originals just so he'll have them for documentation purposes. the amp is super quiet now and sounds great.

superbassman2000 · #14 11-01-2011, 11:15 AM

those old gibson tube amps are cool--I have an old gibson scout with tremolo and reverb and it really sounds good!

beans-on-toast · #15 11-01-2011, 12:45 PM

If the owner wants to use the amp, there's no question that the maintenance should be performed. I understand your concerns about changing out capacitors on an amp that has survived untouched for fifty years.

I believe that it is better for an amp to work and be useful than it is for it to remain original and never be used. It is always great to see an old amp in service.

capnjim · #16 11-01-2011, 01:19 PM

Thats awesome...I had a Fender Princeton like that. It was so nice I had to sell it. I couldn't bear the thought of me damaging it after 50yrs.

Alex1984 · #17 11-01-2011, 01:36 PM

Wow. Wish Vancouver had vintage gear like that. Nice amp!

johnk_10 · #18 11-01-2011, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

If the owner wants to use the amp, there's no question that the maintenance should be performed. I understand your concerns about changing out capacitors on an amp that has survived untouched for fifty years.

I believe that it is better for an amp to work and be useful than it is for it to remain original and never be used. It is always great to see an old amp in service.

that's exactly my thoughts on it too. if he ever sells it and the new owner wants a museum piece, he can always carefully solder the old caps back in and look at/display it in a glass case, but me and my buddy? we'd rather play thru it.

Mastermold · #19 11-01-2011, 02:07 PM

John -- love both the amp and that you guys play your vintage gear. The museum can wait, it will still be around after we die!

will33 · #20 11-01-2011, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastermold

John -- love both the amp and that you guys play your vintage gear. The museum can wait, it will still be around after we die!

+1

The stuff was made to make music and that is one absolutely gorgeous piece.