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Topic: Gibson Skylark |
Bill McCloskey
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 4:12 am |
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Played a Gibson Skylark amp at a music store yesterday and was completely taken with it for my Clinesmith lap. The guy didn't want to sell it but I'm trying to trade him.
Anyone know more about these amps? and what they go for? Incredible little amp. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 5:08 am
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There are several versions of this amp, this page details them pretty well - http://www.angelfire.com/blues/rockinjohn/skylark_ga_5.html
I've owned one or more of most of these over the years, including the GA-5 Les Paul Junior from which the Skylark came. My fave of any of the small Gibson amps, including the Skylark, are the gold/tweed or white-tolex tremelo models using the 6BM8 triode/pentode tube - in this case the white-tolex Skylark GA-5T, the other great one is the GA-8T Gibsonette. They're killer for guitar or lap steel. I think the white-tolex Skylark came in both tremelo and non-tremelo versions, i.e., GA-5T and GA-5. Before that, just non-tremelo, after that, just the tremelo version was made. The non-trem models used a single 6V6 power tube.
I have a friend who swears by the later, 62-64 black elephant-hide or brown wood-grain Skylark 'Crestline' series using 6AQ5 power tubes for a Tele - they're generally inexpensive and still very good sounding.
"Book" type prices are in this general range
Tweed/White ca 57-62: 350-500
Black/Brown Crestline ca 62-64: 250-300
Later Black covering ca 65-67: 250-300
Norlin vertical cabinet: 225-275
There are several on fleabay right now, including white-tolex, Crestlines, and a later black covering amp. Not usually hard to turn these up. Most guitar players still strangely turn their noses up at old Gibson amps. That many more for the rest of us.  |
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Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 5:30 am
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| I had written some stuff but by the time I posted the post above appeared and made mine redundant. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 5:34 am
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| It has an off white covering. It is really small. Just seemed to have a volume control and on off switch on the back. I cranked it to 10 and controlled the volume and tone with the Clinesmith. It really felt like it completed the sound I've been looking for. |
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Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 7:06 am
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Bill,
I think you found out why these amps are know as "Champ Killers" to Gibson fans.
There are many other Gibson amps that are also excellent and very affordable compared to Fender amps of that era or modern boutique amps.
The models that come to mind are the BR-1, GA-6 and EH-185. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 8:25 am
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Yeah, I agree with Richard completely. The GA-6/Lancer is Gibson's tweed Deluxe type thing - 2-6V6 output section, fabulous. But the tweed or white-tolex GA-5/GA-5T Skylark and the GA-8/GA-8T Gibsonette are definitely tweed Champ/Princeton/Harvard killers, to me. If it just has On/Off and volume, that's a simple GA-5, no tremelo. I personally love the tremelo for guitar, but for lap steel, it may be better without it.
There are several even older amps that are great, as Richard mentioned. The EH-100/150/185 are killer amps from the 30s and early 40s. I had an EH-150 to go with my ES-150 Charlie Christian guitar for some time - killer. Some of the BR series are cool too. Only one I'd avoid is the BR-9, which to me just didn't have enough poop to pop, but YMMV.
My main old Gibson right now is a '59 tweed GA-20T Ranger. Sort of like a tweed Vibrolux killer, and I'd have it over any small tweed Fender. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fenders, but these things have a tonality unlike anything I've heard. They generate very sweet harmonics, but the fundamental still holds up well. I don't know how to describe it any better than that.
One of the celebrated things about one version of the white-tolex GA-8 (no tremelo) is that it has two output tubes but truly run singled-ended class A. Twice the poop but not push-pull. I need to grab another one of these before the class A hounds really discover them. I've been through several and wound up selling to people I knew, figuring I'd be able to find another easily. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 9:13 am
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| I'm going to go see the amp again now that I have some background. Saw a number of them up on Ebay, so if i can't make a deal with the guy, I know were to go. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2010 10:31 am
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| I have a BR-1. Killer amp! I got it when people were just starting to talk about old tube amps. The field coil speaker was blown, and not knowing where to find another, my tech put in a Bandmaster (I believe) output xformer and a Jensen. Wish I knew where to get a correct handle for it. Wonderful amp for lapsteel and Tele. |
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Bill McCloskey
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