Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her tweed Gibson amp ....

capnjuan

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Down By The Riverside Hot licks at 1:40 ...

Can't ID the model ... could be anything from a GA9 to a GA20; link from a member on the Vintage Gibson Amp BB. CJ
 

capnjuan

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Down By The Riverside Hot licks at 1:40 ...

Can't ID the model ... could be anything from a GA9 to a GA20; link from a member on the Vintage Gibson Amp BB. CJ
 

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All three of you guys are on "the big list" now for distracting me from my homework!!!!!






Well, maybe not "the big list", but I'm going to bail for today, otherwise I'm going to lose three hours to youtube again. :p
 

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All three of you guys are on "the big list" now for distracting me from my homework!!!!!






Well, maybe not "the big list", but I'm going to bail for today, otherwise I'm going to lose three hours to youtube again. :p
 

capnjuan

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The guitar she's playing is the same model (same one?) she's playing here in Up Above My Head. The group sure knew what to buy in the way of amps; This one, furthest on the right, is similar to a Marshall

tharpe03.jpg



... and the next one to the left is similar to a Vox AC30

tharpe04.jpg



CJ
 

capnjuan

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I really dig that thumb pick / strumming finger action; looks so simple but so much music.
 

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Good links all. I really dig Sister Tharpe. Love that version of Didn't Rain!

Vintage Gibson Amp BB? Do tell.
 

capnjuan

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Hi JP: This is The Link. Started by Rob__?__ d/b/a Buffalo Amps. He has done some astonishing rebuilds / recovers of Gibson '50s amps. If you get to the front page, you'll see one of his projects. Unlike the phpBB software that Don uses, that BB is a Yahoo/Groups platform; considerably less functionality but with advertising in the margins; Vonnage, links to Fl vacation homes ... It has the minimum Post/Reply and Send a Message functionality but pics, drawings, schematics whatever are confined to another area and can't be embedded in posts ... I'm charitably ignoring the Yahoo ID/password red-tape to join the thing.

It's a good enough group but, so far, too few people to generate much 'atmosphere' and it doesn't have the technical leadership and participation like the real 'cj' provides on the Maggie board and that Richard 'oil can delay' provided on the Tel Ray Oil Can BB. Unless there's a surge in interest, it may go the way of our good friend David's 'Boomer to Boomer' BB; only 3 posts on the Gibson BB in September ... CJ
 

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Ahh the Buffalo Amp guy--makes sense. I recall seeing either an amazing resto on a GA-79RVT or a beautiful Buffalo Amp clone BA79 from his shop. Maybe on the Gear Pages BB? I'll have to pay attention. I have a feeling there's a GA40 in my future some day. . . after the AC15 that is.

Thanks capn.
 

capnjuan

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Hi JP: yes, he has posted his stuff on the Gear Page and in the Weber Amp Tech forum. I posted one of his GA40s - Cowboy model - into your Tonequest Thread, page 3. Rob tried to move his recovered, later-model tweed GA40 w/ a killer 15" speaker Here and Here but he was late v. the 1st quarter premium prices and, IMO, he didn't include any 'before' pics providing a justification of sorts for the recover. The guy can upholster like crazy but bidders might have wanted to see why it was necessary ... who knows.

Since the first quarter of this year, the 2nd value-tier GA14s/16s/18s/20s have slipped but the good-condition, top line GA40s like Mad Dog's haven't budged off of +/- $1,500. I was tempted recently by a couple of GA20Ts Here; and Here; a rare model and similar to the GA40 but with only one, not two, 5879 pentode in the preamp said by many to be the source of the GA40's extraordinary - as Michael called it 'swirling' - sound. I think in both cases, the sellers were setting their expectations v. eBay sales prices from 9 months ago ... not nine weeks ago.

If any of us wants a GA40, we'd better double the size of our paper routes ... take the coke bottles back for deposit ... cut a few more lawns ... help Uncle Elmer clean out his attic ... :( :wink: J
 

Walter Broes

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Capn', you've been giving me SERIOUS amp GAS for amps that are slightly "off the beaten path", and it sucks, because a lot of those amps (Gibsons, Ampegs, Magnatones,...) barely got imported here, and importing them now, ànd paying for an overhaul "takes the cheap right out of it".

Not fair.....the odd European "off-brand" amp you run into over here is often not worth the trouble of finding the weird tubes and paying a tech....all the farfisa's, Geloso's, Dynacords, etc....

One exception to that though, is my trusty little Dynacord "Amigo" amp - my living room practice amp, and I've also recorded quite a bit with it.
It's single ended (1X6L6), and has two ceramic magnet (fairly bad) 6" speakers, that I'm going to replace with Webers when money permits. It has great tremolo that's labeled "Vibrator"!

The good news is that there's now someone who imports Webers in Belgium!

Here's the amp :
IMG_2844.jpg
 

capnjuan

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Hi Walter; interesting amp! I think it's pretty well established that, in absolute terms, tone quality is inversely proportional to power and degree of variability. Broadcasting 'pure' tone to 1,000 people necessarily means trade-offs and 'nailing' a particular sound requires variability. For practice, informal settings, and home/studio recording, a few pedals and a single-ended amp are about all that's needed and I think this is the reason for the wide-spread interest in the 2nd tier amps and kit-building ... and to a lesser degree, repudiating the 'Fender' standard ... no point in dragging a BF twin reverb into a bedroom just to record 'Louie Louie'!
 

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Cool thread. Here I am, trying to find a good gig shirt, and there's Sister Rosetta, with a kick-ass gig dress. Maybe if I tried that I'd play better??

Looks like a '59 or more likely '60 GA20 for her in that clip. Hard to say. If the video size was compressed vertically, it's more likely a GA40. These have gotten pricey. Mine is ragged on the tweed, thought often of shipping it off to Buffalo Bob for a recover, then realize that would probably blow the value. Wonder how Victoria's new homage to this amp fares? At those prices, vintage value won't be negatively affected.

There are still some great values out there on the old and odd front. Ampeg Mercury is high on my list for that tweedy sortof 6v6 thing. Not as dark and swirly as the GA40 to be sure, but has its own magic. Magnatone 260 (or any other rebranded name, twilighter, panaramic, titano et al.) are just too cool. Not really tweedy. Then again, not really like anything else at all. Completely distinctive, wonderful tones in here. If you can find one, grab it, get it tuned up and put in some better speakers. Very fine stuff.

Then there are the old Gretsches. Harder to find. I would so love to grab a 6165 or 6166.

Michael D.
 
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