TRYING TO FIND A RARE AMP!!!

[NeonDis75]

When I was very young, I played through a very cheap, low-quality amp, but I have been trying like hell to track one down again, for the past 30 years.
It was a gorilla bass stack, very low wattage. It had two separate cabinets that each had a 12 " speaker. It was covered in greyish fuzzy fabric. Has anyone got one of these, and would be willing to part with it for a reasonable price?

 

[31HZ]

The heart wants, what the heart wants.

I haven't seen one in decades. My first guitar amp (in 1985?) was a Gorilla -- thanks Mom!

 

[Wasnex]

I believe Pignose was the last owner of the brand.

Lot's of used amps listed for sale.

Various Gorilla amp models start with GB, TC, and CG. There may be more. GB are the bass/keyboard models. My guess is the model with a 12 was the GB70. Here's a current listing.: Vintage 1988 Gorilla GB-70 Bass/Keyboard Amplifier Amp Tested Working Read | eBay

CG was guitar models.


I could only find combo bass amps and no ext speakers. TC is tube crusher. I found images of a TC-40 head and two cabs with pairs of 8s. This was covered in rat fur.

I also found images of a pair of Gorilla monitors (GSR)-112PM

 

[ahbradot]

I found that same amp at the thrift store 15 years ago for next to nothing. It worked just fine. 10 years later I had water damage and it had mold on it. I discarded it.

 

[higain617]

Gorilla: when only the worst will do.

 

[Reedt2000]

Man, haven't thought about Gorilla amps in several decades. In The early 90s you couldn't go into a used music shop without tripping over a ton of em!

 

[tpaul]

I remember when those came out. I played guitar exclusively back then. The Gorilla guitar amps were popular for about five minutes or however long it took for people to realize how crappy they were.

 

[Ostie]

A friend of mine played harp through one of the CG guitar models. It sounded like crap.

 

[kodiakblair]

Might be an idea if some folk would actually read the OP's post.

They're not asking for any opinions on how those amps sound, OP knows how it sounds as they describe it as "very cheap, low quality".

OP just wants to know where they could buy one.

 

[Swerve]

Couldn't find any for sale but thought I'd add some pics. Not exactly it but probably close. TC-40LH. Gnarly but cool looking.

 

[sunburst79]

If Your Patient Goodwill.com is good for stuff like this.

Web searches don't seem to crawl Goodwill so the results don't show up in Google. Which is good and bad. Bad you need to check the site often. Good in that there's not the instant gratification of Google showing the results. Which is good in that you have a decent chance of finding almost any type of cheap practice amp cheap. I thinks it's actually ShopGoodwill.com.

It's turned a lot of oddities for a friend and I. Inexpensive Fretlights. Several Fender 25R's. 15R's. Rivera era MIJ solid state combos that actually are well thought out.

I used to see Gorilla Guitar amps quite often.

Anything really nice does get bid up. Old Fender tube amps for example. But solid state practice amps? Not so much.

It's a good source of cheap amps.

The Frontman Series stuff like the 25R is actually is not bad once you stick a Celestion VT Jr in it. Or a Jenson C8 in a 15R.

Kinda changed my mind on small SS practice amps.

Which is way off topic but related.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I guess it's the Gorilla your dreams .

 

[tubedude]

Couldn't find any for sale but thought I'd add some pics. Not exactly it but probably close. TC-40LH. Gnarly but cool looking.

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Man that's a lot of thick rat fur in one place.

 

[sunburst79]

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GC on Mayfied Rd has a Gorilla Bass Amp

 

[Fender_Bender]

Man that's a lot of thick rat fur in one place.

Reminds me of a Gypsy exotic dancer I once saw .

 

[Artman]

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GC on Mayfied Rd has a Gorilla Bass Amp

$99.99! They were less than that brand new in the early 1980s!
These aren't exactly highly sought after collectors items.

 

[sunburst79]

Yes.

$99.99! They were less than that brand new in the early 1980s!
These aren't exactly highly sought after collectors items.

I'm looking at asking prices and chuckling. I remember 79.00 new as retail on the guitar amps. I never owned one. A acquaintance came back from college with the guitar version and a Arion Hot Watt. My memory is there was a button or knob labeled "Turbo". All things in the eighties had to have a "Turbo" mode

If your tone was centered on flat sounding chainsaw can of bees speaker flapping cabinet rattling over the top filth they did to that well. In retrospect they sounded a lot like a maxed out Boss HM2 Metal Pedal. I suspect a high percentage blew their own speakers or cabinets apart.

I can remember seeing this bass stack in a AMS catalog or someplace.

I do believe that these may be the first amps with rat fur I saw in person. I will say the one pictured is resplendent in luxurious rat fur.

Copiously thatched it is.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I could only find combo bass amps and no ext speakers. TC is tube crusher. I found images of a TC-40 head and two cabs with pairs of 8s. This was covered in rat fur.

From the listing:

Gorilla TC-40 mini full stack with 2 x 6" slant cab and 2 x 6" speaker cabinet. Get your novelty mini full stack without spending $500+ on a marshall. It's shaggy, smelly, and sounds terrible. The tiny 6" speakers fart out pretty quick and the tube overdrive is awful. It's awesome.



According to the interwebs AI, no Gorilla bass amp like that ever existed. The bass amps for Gorilla consisted of the GB-20, 30, and 70 all Bass/Keyboard combo amps. The only thing close is the TC 40 head and cabinets above.

 

[sunburst79]

"It's shaggy, smelly, and sounds terrible. The tiny 6" speakers fart out pretty quick and the tube overdrive is awful. It's awesome"

That's Mojo.

 

[Sid the Kid]

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GC on Mayfied Rd has a Gorilla Bass Amp

That was my first bass amp, haven't thought of that thing in years! Once I needed something louder dad took the Gorilla and came home with a Peavey Combo 300 with the Black Widow 15. Imagine my surprise the first time I fired the amp up. Hooked for life.