Vintage 1962 Gibson Falcon GA-19RVT Tweed Guitar Amp Combo With Signed C.O.A. Owned by Brian Ray
The Falcon (GA-19RVT) was a guitar amplifier made by Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1961. With the Falcon and a few other models, Gibson was ahead of Fender in bringing an amplifier with reverb on the market. In addition, the Falcon also had tremolo and many vintage amp enthusiasts say the Gibson tremolo on the GA-19RVT is “what an amp tremolo should sound like”.
This particular one was owned and used by the extremely prolific musician Brian Ray, celebrated solo artist, guitarist for Paul McCartney, musical director for Etta James, and lead vocalist/guitarist of the Bayonets. He recently decided to part with a few select pieces - Truetone Music is quite proud to have partnered with him to bring them to the market for the first time.
The Falcon got 14 watts out of two 6V6 tubes (the same tubes used in the comparable Fender Deluxe), and had a Jensen 12" speaker. The pre-amp was powered by three 6EU7 tubes, and a 7199 for the reverb circuit. It also has a 5V3GT rectifier tube in the V7 socket. Unlike Fender's later reverb amps (such as the Princeton Reverb), the Falcon had a fairly unusual placement of the reverb circuit: rather than being placed after the pre-amp section and having the wet signal mixed with the dry, the Falcon's reverb circuit taps the signal before the volume and tone control, and mixes it with the dry signal via independent volume controls. In addition, the Falcon had a separate monitor output at line level, to connect the amp to a separate "Regular Amplifier" (the Falcon being referred to in the brochures as "Reverb Amplifier") and create a stereo effect.
The Falcon's sound is described as "full, rich" and "sweet-sounding", with a "raw, gnarly, compressed tone" at higher volumes. It is relatively rare: according to Gibson's records 204 were sold in 1961; the next year, the Crestline design was introduced, involving a redesign of the control panel as well as the circuit.
The amp is a great condition, especially considering it's age. Included is a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Brian Ray, as well as the original paperwork. It's quite the find!
Serial Number: 131105