Gibson GA-19RVT

[skyboltone]

Ok, so this thing is headed my way. Dartanion has a minty one but this is far from that. It's more like a super good relic job. So before the pictures go away:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0242029699

Should I change out badly drifted resistors, change ceramic coupleing caps to film and generally bring it up to date with new components where necessary

or

Derust and bondo the chassis, make a new silkscreen, repaint as close as possible, replace anything smokey NOS parts etc?

Dan

[dartanion]

I would leave it a relic, however use a rust treatment to stop it from corroding further. Check all the values of the innards and replace where needed. I would stick to stock type components as these sound pretty cool as is. You can check mine out and get parts #s and such off it if needed.

[CaseyJones]

Ok, so this thing is headed my way. Dartanion has a minty one but this is far from that. It's more like a super good relic job.

That's an understatement. But it's perfect for your situation... with the cruddy condition of the amp and your lack of space you can just tie a length of dock rope and a bleach bottle to the handle and toss it overboard! It looks like you wouldn't hurt it...

Should I change out badly drifted resistors, change ceramic coupling caps to film and generally bring it up to date with new components where necessary?

Don't do anything to it if it works. An immersion in salt water will simply add more mojo to its already mojo-laden crusty good looks.

Derust and bondo the chassis, make a new silkscreen, repaint as close as possible, replace anything smokey NOS parts etc?

Man... you're Old School! Doncha know relic jobs cost money and a "natural relic" is the most desirable of vintage gear?!!

Cleanin' it will surely suck the value out of it.

[sidehatch]

I had my recapped with atoms a few months ago and couldnt tell much difference. I just did it for reliability.

Great find!

[mumford]

I'd probably restore it, or maybe make a new box for it, but that rust has got to go.

[Structo]

Looks like a cool amp and the price wasn't tooo bad.

Kill the rust and recap it and play it!

[Phil_S]

Should I change out badly drifted resistors

This is a must do. Don't feel guilty about using metal film plate load resistors, and maybe don't worry about carbon comp's for the others, though you do need the CC's to be authentic.

, change ceramic coupleing caps to film

Only change them if they are out of spec or there is some other compelling reason. Not liking the tone might be compelling. You decide.

and generally bring it up to date with new components where necessary

Forget about can caps. Just get the right values and do the cap job. It will never look the same, but those new caps will stiffen things up and it wil improve the sound.

or
Derust and bondo the chassis, make a new silkscreen, repaint as close as possible, replace anything smokey NOS parts etc?

All that is problematic. Since the rust must go, I would probably not attempt to reproduce what's there because it will never look right. Just use some slide off transfers with a reasonably close font if you want pretty labels on the knobs. I'd take the minimalist approach.

Good luck. These are supposed to be pretty nice amps. BTW, see if you can find a foot for the bottom corner. It looked like there are only 3.

Regards,
Phil

[CaseyJones]

Since the rust must go...

Dude! Google "Rat Rod". Go to eBay, search "Rat Rod". Rust is in, paint is yesterday's news. Put on some Neil Young, plug in and play. Pretend it's a tweed Deluxe you've owned since you were six years old.

Anal retentive shiny paint Armor-All 'n' Turtle Wax mumble mumble grumble grumble...

Paint it flat black wif a brush. Leave it out and let it rust.

Paint is anti-Nature. If God liked paint She wouldn't do everything in Her power to remove it.

[Phil_S]

Since the rust must go...

Dude! Google "Rat Rod". Go to eBay, search "Rat Rod". Rust is in, paint is yesterday's news. Put on some Neil Young, plug in and play. Pretend it's a tweed Deluxe you've owned since you were six years old.

Anal retentive shiny paint Armor-All 'n' Turtle Wax mumble mumble grumble grumble...

Paint it flat black wif a brush. Leave it out and let it rust.

Paint is anti-Nature. If God liked paint She wouldn't do everything in Her power to remove it.

LOL! You've really got a way with words and your humor isn't lost on me. I suppose, I can't help myself when it comes to rust, though.

Unfortunately, rust is an insidious metal fatiguing disease. I say, fight with all your might (and Rustoleum) against it. Notice that I never said to shine it up and suggested not to silk screen it.

I think it would look very nice with a good brushing and a coat or two of Rustoleum spray-on white (or color of your choice, maybe this metalic silver is just right http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=114 ). I have at least two homebrews that I've done in white (new chassis) and think it looks great.

The only issues I've got with Rustoleum is that it stinks, especially the spray on stuff, so that the only place to apply it is outside. This means you need a window of clear weather and reasonably warm temperature. You also need to put a cover of some sort over it (like a large plastic container) to keep the wind from blowing any debris onto it while it's wet. The other issue that the the can says 24 hours to dry, but I find it really doesn't get good 'n' hard for more like 48 hours, so you really need to be patient. OTOH, you get a really great finish with it if you can resist handling it and ruining the spray job. Two coats requires 3-5 days, including drying time.

An alternative is to buy a powder-coating kit (Sears sells them) and that should cover a multitude of sins. I think, but comparison, that's ugly.

In either case, you've got to deal with keeping the coating on the outside of the chassis or else you've got to remove the innards and that's decidedly not fun.

[skyboltone]

If it stays relic it stays relic. There are rust inhibiting coatings around that chemically convert the rust to some black lumpy stuff. If I go that route I'll power brush that front edge and coat it with the gook. I see a few spots that will need a dab here and there. Bill Nash makes a living with this stuff ya know? I may start a whole new movement with amps!

Here's the puzzle for me. I googled and looked at quite a few GA-19RVT amps and they all have what appears to be a brushed chrome look panel. This one appears to be paint from the get go. Have I just not found the right year? <edit> heck, I think that is the brushed chrome the more I look at it. Hahaha Hmmmm Wow <end edit>

It should be here this coming week.

[Phil_S]

Here's the puzzle for me. I googled and looked at quite a few GA-19RVT amps and they all have what appears to be a brushed chrome look panel. This one appears to be paint from the get go. Have I just not found the right year?

This should be a Crestline model, with the red badge. The chrome is polished, not brushed. Here's what my Scout looks like. It should be very similar.

I previewed the picture (appears 2nd, shows the red crest) and it doesn't do justice to the real thing. It appears to be brushed, but that is more like a graininess to the metal. In person, it does not look brushed. So, I added a 5mp picture (full panel, appears first), different camera, different angle; more representative.

The GA19-RVT was made from '62-'65, and maybe a handful after that. Production records indicate almost 14,000 were shipped, so this is one of the more common Gibson amps of the era.

[skyboltone]

Textured Brown Tolex, making it a 62 or 63. The rust is not as bad as it appears.......it's worse! But I love it. Smells like an old Accordion. The only oddball inside is a 6PS sprague .002 between one side of line and ground. Looks like it was soldered in by Lurch. It's gonna get a three wire cord, so that goes away. Pin one is missing from one of the power tube sockets. It has a pair of National black plate clear glass 6V6/7408 and three identical Sylvania 6EU7s. I've got some Hammond branded smoked glass bottles an a couple of Sylvania button base to roll when this thing is up and running. The 6C4 is a GE. Very clean inside. This one has inputs 1 and 2 and a monitor output.

The output transformer is the whimpyiest little thing I ever saw. The speaker looks good but won't know till she's up and running. C12R

Anybody got a plan on the reverb tank? You can see the footprint of it on the bottom of the amp but the scheme is not clear as to which one to put in there.

Oh, as far as paint. I've brushed it hard with a soft bristle brush so you can sorta read all the printing on the front. Other than that I'll probably spray it with a draftsman's fixative and keep it out of the rain.

Dan

[dartanion]

Hey Dan,

We can take numbers off the tank in mine and see what we are options. It's too bad the original tank is gone as the reverb on these sounds really nice.

[Phil_S]

Textured
Anybody got a plan on the reverb tank? You can see the footprint of it on the bottom of the amp but the scheme is not clear as to which one to put in there.

I posed the question on another forum and this what I got back from someone I consider a reliable source.

"4FB2A1B is what I put in mine... works fine. You can go
for longer reverb with the 4FB3A1B.
http://www.accutronicsreverb.com/Type4.htm
I have a '61, btw... 7199 drive."