old Gibson Maestro Amp

[diehardcrew]

So I bought a Gibson Maestro Amp for like $10 at a garage sale sometime in early 1990's and at the time they said it was about 30 years old. So I guess it might be from the 60's or something.

Anyhow, it's kind of beat up and stuff. It's a stereo cabinet with a foot pedal that has tremelo on it and reverb (oops I originally said chorus). It's a 2-prong non-polarized plug, but there is a polarity switch on the amp (or is that for the input jack??). Anyhow, if you're holding your strings and touch the metal plate on the top of the amp you kind of get shocked. Other than that and the wicked buzz it has, it sounds pretty good. But because I don't want to die, I have stopped playing through it.

So I guess my questions are:

-Has anyone heard of these or seen them?

-Is it sacriledge to want to fix this amp, replace the power plug for it, the tubes and whatever is making a horrible buzzing noise (transformer???) and add grounding to it?

[Brian]

You can find the schematics for it on this page, any idea which model you have? I have a neighbor with a Model 1rt in the original shipping box and a letter from Gibson.

[diehardcrew]

Thanks for the link! I just checked it out, and I saw:

Model GA 161830

Then on the right side of the top it says Maestro stereo 30 RVT.

By looking at the link you provided, I'd have to guess its a "GA-30rvt Invader" unless that page doesn't have all of the models.

Although I just did some searching (just now literally) and someone listed having a "Maestro stereo 30" and put (GA-78 rv) in parenthesis right next to it. Unfortunately, on the left side in small print where it says Model GA .......it's so badly worn off that I couldn't tell if it even said GA or SA. So there was probably a number next to that that is no longer readable.

I'll bust out the flashlight and look around inside for more signs. I can't find any pictures on the web of either of these models so I can't compare. I'll try to get a picture up here if you're interested.

Thanks for the help. I think I'll be able to figure out which it is by comparing the schematics and descriptions I've found to what I have.

[diehardcrew]

Now I'm confused. The tube lineup listed in the schematic of the GA-78RV matches with what I have, but mine is a RVT, which I found out of course means that it has reverb AND tremelo which mine does, but the GA-78RV does not.

Maybe I'll look for a vintage Gibson amp book with pictures or something.

[Drak]

HERE ya go.

I just call this the 'ekabjan' site. It's the best source for old Gibson amps I've ever come across.

Someone turned me on to it long ago when I was researching my little '48 BR6.

There's more than one section, so you might have to bop back up to the top page and cross-tree it over. If you need to search again, just use the words Gibson, ekabjan, and Holiday For Strings, those key words will get you there.

[diehardcrew]

Thanks a lot for the info. So far I think it's a GA-79rvt, but I don't know for sure, and I don't know what year yet. But I'm getting closer!!!

[syxxstring]

Remember some tube numbers are substituable for others. Especially in the preamp.

[Drak]

You ARE kidding, right?

You don't seriously have a Gibson 79RVT Stereo sitting there do you?

Holy crap dude. You got a winner sitting there.

Gibson made a mothertruckload of different amps over time, far, far more models than Fender ever did.

Problem is, some are screamers and some are complete duds.

OK, since it sounds like you've got a live one there, I would recommend you go HERE.

Go there, look over on the right hand side, under 'Information'. Second one down, 'bulletin boards', Click on that.

Then look along the left-hand side menu and pick/click on 'amps'.

Once you get there, stick a post up there, title it something like this...'Gibson Stereo 79RVT(?) ...Looking For Tim Schwartz' then in the post describing what it is you have and asking for Tim Schwartz.

You will get all the help and shortcuts and verifications you need there.

Good luck, I think you've stumbled onto a real winner there. Of course, 'winner' is in the ear of the beholder, hehehe...

[diehardcrew]

Well unless the GA-79rvt's were also called "Maestro Stereo 30" which so far I don't think they were, I actually probably have a GA-78rvt. But if it is a 1961, I guess Gibson's records show that only 1 was shipped that year, which is pretty wild. I have to find out what year mine is I guess. Thanks a lot for the references and info, I really appreciate it a lot!!

I don't have a digital camera, but once I get some photo's developed I'll scan them in and post them. I'll also follow up when I do hopefully find out what it is exactly that I have!

Thanks,

Mike

[diehardcrew]

Here's what I got from emailing Gibson:

"Mike,

Thanks for writing. The Gibson Maestro Stereo 30 was also called the GA-78 RV or RVT if it had tremolo. Those were available in 1961. I've attached the schematic of the amp, but unfortunately we don't have an owner's manual. Thanks again for the inquiry.

Regards,

Blake R. Howard

Gibson Musical Instruments

309 Plus Park Blvd.

Nashville, TN 37217

1-800-4GIBSON "

Also, from talking with others (with the help of the people here that posted THANKS!) it seems that I must have a GA-78RVT from 1961. According to the records, there was only 1 of those shipped in 1961. I'm sure there were more made, but I'm looking into how many.

Also, for those interested, the GA-78RV schematics were pretty much identical to the GA-79RV schematics, but since no one has GA-78RVT schematics, I'll have to use the ones from the GA-79RVT. I would imagine that since everything else lines up almost exactly, that the additional tremolo circuit must have been the same on both. The difference being that the RVT's have tremolo and reverb, whereas the RV just have reverb.

I think the only difference between the 2 models besides the name and logos printed on them was that one had a separate bass & treble control for each of the 2 inputs, and the other amp had a combined bass & treble control for both inputs.

Other than that I can't tell any difference, and in fact since the schematics so far look indentical, I can't even find this difference in controls that I mentioned, I just read it somewhere.

Thanks to everyone for their help, and hopefully someday soon I'll have some pictures of this old beat up thing that is a gem in disguise.