Gibson Amplifiers return [Falcon 5 and 20]

[jb_abides]

Gibson Amplifiers return [Falcon 5 and 20]

First product from the MESA era, designed by Randall Smith, made in Petaluma.

Sounds pretty good if you are looking for those tones.

Maybe just me, but the 5 sounded better than the 20 here...?

...

Also notice: ~13:35 they leaked a new guitar in the launch video: presumably a USA Theodore, with humbuckers vs P-90s, trapezoid inlays vs dots, and no walnut center stripe...

sneaky!

[will post another thread for discussion of this guitar...}

 

[DutchRay]

Being a massive Gibson fan, I want one. But, 12 watts is pretty useless and why would you name a 12w amp the GA20? If it were 20w I'd be all in, but I guess I'll have to wait for the GA40.

 

[zacknorton]

LOVE both of those amps. sign me up.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Being honest with myself, I never liked Gibson amps, and apparently I still don't. They look great though. Built in Petaluma?

 

[lure555]

I'm pretty stoked.

 

[JASIII]

Not stoked about Mesa being involved. Their design is typically messed up and prone to failure and techs hate working on them.

 

[Amp360]

100% buying Theodore

 

[LeonC]

The 20 was way too compressed when cranked. Squish-city. Yuck. Also seemed too dark when cranked. Like at 6:00 when he goes down and hits C and B barre chords. He's on the bridge pickup but it sounds like dark mush to me. He does the same thing with the 5 at about 10:45...wow...not my thing!

That said, I thought it sounded very good earlier in the demo (and later) with the vol backed down. I thought both sounded very nice to me when he didn't have them cranked. And both cleaned up well when the amp was cranked and he brought the guitar volume down.

I thought it was funny that mentions that they wanted to use Jensens because the original Gibsons amps used them....as if modern Jensens are made by the same company in the same way.

Just MHO, YMMV, yadda yadda.

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

They look better than they sound, just.

 

[NickiC]

Demo of the Falcon is very akin to my Valve Jr. I wonder what it looks like inside.

 

[jb_abides]

Demo of the Falcon is very akin to my Valve Jr. I wonder what it looks like inside.

Found on the interwebz.

- Some have commented on the pre-amp tubes being too sealed inside the chassis, even though there are Vox-like grates on top. I expect Randall Smith and Mesa have thought thru and tested heat dissipation under normal environmental conditions, where your don't block the airflow.

- Other have commented on sideways valve/tube orientation, believing this will lead to undue stress on the socket and PCB.

- Then there are those who don't like PCB.

You can't really make it out here, but under the 'FALCON 20' model name on the PCB, it indicates the board is 'Rev 4' so they've been through some design iterations.

 

[NickiC]

Thank you for posting @jb_abides

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Found on the interwebz.

- Some have commented on the pre-amp tubes being too sealed inside the chassis, even though there are Vox-like grates on top. I expect Randall Smith and Mesa have thought thru and tested heat dissipation under normal environmental conditions, where your don't block the airflow.

- Other have commented on sideways valve/tube orientation, believing this will lead to undue stress on the socket and PCB.

- Then there are those who don't like PCB.

You can't really make it out here, but under the 'FALCON 20' model name on the PCB, it indicates the board is 'Rev 4' so they've been through some design iterations.

View attachment 24513

I'm no electronics wizard, but

 

[darkwave]

Horizontal tubes isn't exactly a new thing. Peavy had a combo a few decades ago that way (Triumph?) and I believe there were a few rack units that did it with pre and power tubes. Some Mesas too? I know every little change holds potential for new problems, but I don't think this is an unproven approach.

That said - the breakup on these is not what I typically would look for. :-(

- Douglas C.

 

[JASIII]

What I find most disappointing is that they made a big deal a year or two ago about how they found the original schematics for the classic Gibson amps back in the day (some of which were fantastic amps!) and hinted they would be reissued and then they handed it over to Randall Smith to "design". They were already designed......over 60 years ago. I don't know how many people are aware that even though Mesa Boogie is a big name and reputation, their amp designs all too often kind of suck. They do weird stuff that serves no purpose but is executed poorly and causes huge headaches. Things prone to failure that are expensive to repair because of poor layout. Check out some of the repair videos on Youtube channels like Psionic Audio or Brad's Guitar Garage. They know what they're doing and complain a lot about Mesa in almost any video where they are working on one. I know plenty of people love Mesa and cool for them, but I'd never consider getting a modern Mesa or anything made by them.

 

[NickiC]

Looking at the guts, not surprising Mesa had their hand in the design.
So, is it true this amp has a cooling fan?

 

[Amp360]

The date on the PCB is like 2022 or something.

They look great. For the money it seems overpriced and the sound isn't something I love. If they do something simpler maybe I would get one. I've blown up many a Mesa over the years.

 

[jb_abides]

The date on the PCB is like 2022 or something.

They look great. For the money it seems overpriced and the sound isn't something I love. If they do something simpler maybe I would get one. I've blown up many a Mesa over the years.

Rev 4.



So far, all is well with my Mesa amps: TA-15 head, TA-30 head, RA-100 2x12, and Mark V:35 head. Built with similar aka typical Mesa construction.

Some folks have had issues, although I'd argue there's no statistical evidence this is different from other modern manufacturers.

 

[JASIII]

 

[el84ster]

This thing is an overpriced price of amp. I’m a tech and this thing will not last too long built like that and not be very repairable, maybe not at all depending on what’s wrong. This thing would be great priced at $600 or so but for what they’re asking, it’s totally nuts.
Just the stress of the horizontal tubes on those soldered sockets is asking for trouble. Def not road worthy.