Although finest recognized for its iconic electrical guitars, Gibson additionally produced its personal amplifiers from the mid Nineteen Thirties till the late ’60s. A few years in the past,firm CEO Cesar Gueikian hinted at its return to tube amp manufacture, and now the primary two combos have launched.
The brand new tube amps are a contemporary reimagining of the corporate’s Skylark amps from the Nineteen Fifties and ’60s, and profit from Gibson’s acquisition of MESA/Boogie in 2021. That firm’s founder, Randall Smith, labored on all-new circuits with the Gibson design crew in Petaluma, California, to create the Falcon 5 and Falcon 20 fashions.
The newborn of the household is the Falcon 5, which options Class An influence from a single 6V6 tube, plus three 12AX7 preamp tubes. The seven-watt combo outputs by way of a 10-inch Jensen Blackbird 40 Alnico speaker for “touch-sensitive, harmonically wealthy tube tones,” however may be switched down to a few watts for bed room jamming. It additionally comes with cooked-in tube-driven reverb.
Gibson
The Falcon 20 rocks twin 6V6 tubes and 4 12AX7 preamp tubes with Multi-Watt expertise for switching between 12, 5 or one watt output modes. This taste comes with a 12-inch Jensen Blackbird 40 Alnico speaker, for the promise of improved bass response and wider projection. And together with the spring reverb, Gibson has added in a tremolo impact, chosen through the included two-button footswitch.
Every mannequin is encased in a birch cupboard mounted to an aluminum chassis that is wrapped in vintage-style cream vinyl with an oxblood-colored grille fabric. The one-channel amps sport two guitar inputs: regular for clear to overdriven tones, and low for cleaner voicings, and if the participant so wishes, the 6V6 energy tubes may be exchanged for non-obligatory 6L6 flavors for added “flexibility, headroom, and punch.”
Gibson
“During the last two years, I’ve witnessed the Gibson crew working collectively to design and develop the brand new Gibson amplifiers and I couldn’t be prouder and extra enthusiastic about what they’ve achieved,” mentioned Gueikian. “It began with Randy Smith researching the Gibson sound, exploring the sound of many unique Gibson amplifiers to design a brand new and improved circuit board that he handed on to the Lab crew.
“John Marshall, Tommy Waugh, Jim Aschow, Doug West, Steve Mueller, Mat Koehler, and Craig Hockenberry all got here collectively to create the amplifier and introduced the brand new Gibson Falcon to the end line. Upon enjoying the ultimate prototype I instantly known as Randy and instructed him, that is the Gibson sound, solely higher!”
Each Falcon amps can be found within the US now. The Falcon 5 is priced at $1,499, whereas the Falcon 20 is available in at $1,799. Worldwide availability is pegged for April. The video under has extra.
Introducing Gibson Amps: Falcon 5 & Falcon 20 Tube Amplifiers
Product web page: Gibson Falcon
