1967 Gibson GA-35RVT Lancer 1x12" Tube Amp

Update September '19: I posted on this back in February, but since then things have changed about it. I've taken new photos and a new video and have completely updated the description. Sorry about the gain in the video maxing-out the mic (and "fizzing" it) when I turned it up. So without further ado...

I've been using this cool old Gibson amp as a "hangout" amp in our living room for some time, now, as it's not huge and has a phenomenal reverb and great low-volume clean tone to it. When the family's out and about I could relax on the couch and play some retro kitsch licks without having to wobble into the store and patch myself into the amps in there. That reverb gets super-drippy and wet and so I could get myself into one of those "spring trances" with modal tunings and whatnot, too.

I'm not entirely sure of the year of manufacture, but my best guess is 1967 due to features and components. It's mostly-original and has a complement of older tubes on-board (all working as they should), but gained a three-prong cord (yay!) at some point in the past. The repairman hadn't snipped the "death cap" and so that was my only addition to the wiring mix. 

It came to me with a shrill-sounding replacement speaker (1980s PA speaker of the wrong impedance), so I fit a late-'50s/early-'60s alnico-magnet General Electric 12" speaker in there. This was a nice improvement (sweeter/warmer/mellower tone with a little less efficiency and sooner breakup) and one I took in trade from a fellow for $100 worth of work as I thought it was so cool.

I also replaced the icky grill-cloth with new fabric that my wifey supplied from her upstairs hoard. It's retro-'60s in flavor and shows a mountain scene (Vermonty!) in the snow. This was also an improvement!

So there you have it: a mid-power amp that plays low volume nicely with a clean, clear voice and four inputs (2 plain, 2 reverb), on-board tremolo and long-spring reverb that's accessible via its original footswitch (with an insanely-long cord), cool "artwork" on the grill, and a decent pedigree. It's a great recording or jamming box.

The controls are funny (the treble/bass dials seem to just allow for roll-off of those rather than addition of those factors, so they're best set to 10 and left there) and the tremolo is quite a mellow effect, but the unit itself is very cool and the absurdly-wonderful-weird reverb is worth the entrance fee. Heck, modern outboard surf units run $500 or more to emulate this sort of odd, saturated sound.

I haven't put it on a scale as my shipping scale only goes to 35, but it feels like it weighs between 35 and 40 lbs.