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Topic: Lap Steel Amps-Gibson? |
Jim Landers
From:
Spokane, Wash.
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Posted 27 Jul 2001 1:41 pm |
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I was just wondering if any of you have tried any of the old Gibson tube amps from the 60s or earlier with your lap steels? How did they sound, and which models were the best?
Jim
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 27 Jul 2001 9:57 pm
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A year or so ago, I purchased a re-issue of the old Fender '65 twin-reverb amp....and was terribly disappointed in it's SOUND. It did nothing for my Rick's OR my Emmons.
I've tried nearly a dozen different amps to see if I could match up the system with my Ricks. The 1941, 12 inch, 15 watt, Prof. Mdl. was perhaps the best match but it was stolen along with my original six string Rick.
Out here in Oregon, the music stores seem to be operated mostly by long haired, wild eyed young men......who care little about customer service and the like.
Thus, I went back home and sat down with my 12 inch, 250 watt Peavy, LA-400. Using my Rick's, I set the "SATURATION" level between 2.5 and 5.....and it seems to give me a really soft, tube-like sound when the strings are plucked.
As a result, I'm now very happy with this combination and will stick with it. Hope it works for you. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 28 Jul 2001 4:04 am
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| For the most part, I find better results with old National and Supro amps than with Gibsons. Some of thse Valco-made amplifiers sound sensational with lap steel. Some of the little Gibsons like the BR-9 sound pretty good too, but usually more as a 'dirty'than a 'clean' amp. The larger Gibson amps I generally find don't stand up to comparable Fenders or other brands, at least with lap steel. The one exception is the Les Paul model. I've only tried two of these. One sounded okay, but the other was one of the sweetest, warmest sounding amps I've ever played. |
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Jim Landers
From:
Spokane, Wash.
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Posted 28 Jul 2001 7:20 pm
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Ray and Ian thanks for the responce. It is kind of a surprise to me, that as heavy into the steel market as Gibson was in the early days that they did'nt come up with a super sounding amp to go with them.
Ian, you said "some" of the Valco and Supro amps are really good. They show up on Ebay pretty regular, is there any thing special to look for in trying to come up with one of the good ones? Speaker size, wattage, year they were made, etc?
Jim |
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Chris DeBarge
From:
Boston, Mass
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Posted 29 Jul 2001 6:31 am
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| It is odd that Gibson amps are looked upon as almost a novelty by most amp guys. I guess there's a reason for it, overall their line was trounced by superior sounding Fenders. Nice thing about them is that they're cheap and some of 'em do actually sound pretty good, but try before you buy! |
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Chris DeBarge
From:
Boston, Mass
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2001 10:15 am
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quote:
Ray and Ian thanks for the responce. It is kind of a surprise to me, that as heavy into the steel market as Gibson was in
the early days that they did'nt come up with a super sounding amp to go with them.
You might want to give a listen to the early '50s Gibson GA-50T, the one with a 12" and an 8" speaker, it's clearly head and shoulders above the Fenders from that era. Personally, I think the best sounding amps were made by Standel |
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Garry Pugh
From:
Nashville Indiana
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Posted 30 Jul 2001 4:55 am
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| I use a Gibson Falcon, 1-12" Jenson @ 20watts and I like it. You can find various 60's model Gibsons priced very resonably on EBAY, Harmony Central, etc. |
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