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#1
08-03-2022, 06:16 PM
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They aren't getting any lighter...
As I wrote up on another thread, I added an amp to the bunch last weekend. I've reached a point where it has to be one-in-one-out. There simply isn't any room in my guitar room for more amps. One had to go... to storage. We've got a climate-controlled locker for a bit while we figure out how to declutter. You know it is bad when you have to shift stuff to have room to dump stuff. It's thirty years in a home while inheriting stuff and living.
 Well anyway, this is my nostalgia amp. Back in the 1970s I owned a Gibson GA-55RVT Ranger, from Gibson's dread white face era. It was a 55 watt, 4x10" combo amp that was darned impressive and weighed seventy-five pounds. This thing put my buddy's Fender Super to shame. It had a really mellow sound with distortion beginning early and ending up very pretty. I traded it for a master volume amp and immediately missed it. A couple of years ago I found its little brother, a Gibson GA-45RVT Saturn in a shop, and snapped it up. The circuit is very near to the Ranger but it doesn't sound like its bigger brother because, while there isn't a midrange control on the front panel, the circuit has one - fixed at "0." Well that's a problem. I ran its bigger brother's midrange at "10" for my nice sound. I've been surveying it for a modification but haven't done it yet. Off to the shed it goes. And here is where the title comes in. I haven't lifted it since I bought it. I am now sixty-five years old, a wee lad to some, but your body does change over time. This monster has a thick, all-composite cabinet and tips the scale at sixty pounds!!! I had to take it down the stairs, load it into the SUV, and then reverse the process to get it into the storage locker. Wheew. There was no way to prevent a few cases of a cantilevered load projecting out from my body and straining some interesting muscles. I was exhausted when I finally got it to its new home. I woke up this morning stiff and sore from the effort, thinking that there's no way I'll ever gig this amp unless I hire a roadie! This despite the fact that all the horizontal movement was accomplished with a hand truck. So fair warning: The world is getting heavier. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) 
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#2
08-03-2022, 07:01 PM
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I saw the top of that in the Bugera thread and wondered when we’d hear about this one.
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#3
08-03-2022, 10:28 PM
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I'm with ya, Bob - first thing that's going will be my own '65 Super RI, and while I won't be unloading my tweaked Bugera V22 (53 pounds in present form) it'll be relegated almost exclusively to home use; put together a 2x10" rig recently, with a MojoTone Lite cab (20 pounds empty) and a pair of old Peavey Scorpions I had lying around - 35 pounds total, tested fine with my mini-amps (Hotone Mojo Attack and Britwind, Vox MV50 AC), looking at both the Bugera "cage" tube heads (T5 and T50) for small/large gigs in the interest of dividing the load...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased)
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#4
08-03-2022, 10:37 PM
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Yes, lifting those big amps is not as easy as it once was for sure!
I think this is one of the big benefits to the Fender Tonemaster amps! - Glenn
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My You Tube Channel
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#5
08-04-2022, 03:43 AM
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Quote:
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#6
08-04-2022, 05:48 AM
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I had a Gibson Goldtone GA30rvs,
it weighed 89lbs. yea.. It didn't move around much..
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Ray Gibson SJ200 Taylor Grand Symphony Taylor 514CE-NY Taylor 814CE Deluxe V-Class Guild F1512 Alvarez DY74 Snowflake ('78)
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#7
08-04-2022, 07:41 AM
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Quote:
 ; knew it was heavy after I installed it - certainly felt heavier than my Frontman 212R utility amp (50 pounds according to Fender) - but I admit I was shocked when I saw the 53-pound figure on my luggage scale... 
__________________
"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased)
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#8
08-04-2022, 06:53 PM
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Just a few years behind you, wanted to always hear a 4x10 (and 4x12 but that is another story). I managed to find a reasonably light piece of pine and crafted away. It did not hurt having some 50's Hammond 10's that have alnico magnets the size of an acorn. No covering on it, it will not get too much rough service, just a hair over 22 lbs. Pretty sure I can add a Bassman circuit to the cabinet for another 10 lbs, only 6V6's though. Some modern tricks to the power supply, who needs to carry all that weight.
 Still not sure about the speakers, might change them out yet.
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Fred
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#9
08-04-2022, 07:40 PM
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Nice, Fred. Torroidal transformers for reduced weight?
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#10
08-04-2022, 07:59 PM
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Quote:
 If you want the whole story on the Gibson amp, head right over HERE to my write-up. Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#11
08-05-2022, 07:48 AM
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Nice story, Bob.
I once had a Roland JC-120 with heavy duty JBL speakers. Gigged it a couple of times before coming to the realization that one of us had to go...  One of my playing partners had a Gibson GA-6 that was not working so he gave it to me. I had it around for a few years and gave it to another friend who is a great harp player. He took it in for filter caps, a new speaker, and a grounded AC cord and he's been gigging it consistently for several years.
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