I have an early 60's Gibson 210 cab i recently acquired and was wondering if anyone had any info on any 210s made by Gibson around this time. I will follow up with some pics when i have the time but basically its covered in black tolex made to look like a weave pattern and a tan grill cloth. It is a bit bigger then a large power head. i love the sound i get from the thing but my only problem is i don't know anything about it. i cant seem to find anything on the net bout it. Could it be a custom build?
The speakers have some numbers ill hafta write down on them but nothing else not ever an impedance mark(I was told 4 ohm for the whole cab and i haven't caused any damage yet i use it with a 5 watt black heart all tube head). The thing is built like a tank was really hard to get open.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
The speakers have some numbers ill hafta write down on them but nothing else not ever an impedance mark(I was told 4 ohm for the whole cab and i haven't caused any damage yet i use it with a 5 watt black heart all tube head). The thing is built like a tank was really hard to get open.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
A Gibson catalogue from 1967 shows that the GSS-100 head came with a stack of two 2 x 10” cabinets similar to yours. Unfortunately there is no additional information about them, except that they have power rating of 50 watts each. I’m pretty sure this actually means peak watts. The “Slave amplifier” Plus 50 (also solid-state) was housed in a very similar 2x10” cabinet as well. The speaker configuration is likely two 8-ohms in parallel. But hey, why not just measure it to be sure? Someone could have done some modifications anyway so any information you get might not apply at all.
Here’s a picture of an ad from 1968 showing the GSS-100 at right:
Here’s a picture of an ad from 1968 showing the GSS-100 at right:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
That number is pretty pointless unless you also state the unit - ohms, kilo-ohms?? A decent meter will have a maximum error of about half Ohms or something. Even cheap 10$ meters are this accurate. Furthermore, you can actually measure the error by shorting the meter's probes together; the reading you get will show how much your meter lies (you should get zero ohms). Set the meter to a very low impedance range (they usually have a setting like “200 ohms”) otherwise it will not be very accurate measuring low impedances. If your meter can’t do this buy a one that can (10$ isn’t much of an investment in this case). The error of the meter is likely less than an Ohm so you can pretty “accurately” measure the DC resistance. It’s not “anything above that impedance” – you will surely get to the ballpark of the actual nominal impedance. The nominal impedance is somewhat higher than the DC resistance (e.g. 4-ohm speaker may measure 3 ohms, 8-ohms speaker may measure 6 ohms) so it doesn’t even make a big difference if the meter lies a bit. If the measurement you quoted was in ohms then you’re speakers are dead.
Edit: Forget the last sentence. I ignored the fact you used tha cab already. It may be 4-ohm cab (reading in kilo-ohms) but you'll find out for sure by measuring.
Edit: Forget the last sentence. I ignored the fact you used tha cab already. It may be 4-ohm cab (reading in kilo-ohms) but you'll find out for sure by measuring.
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/brand/Gibson
Hi,
Work your way through the older stuff here. Probably Jensen drivers.
/sreten.
Hi,
Work your way through the older stuff here. Probably Jensen drivers.
/sreten.Its from a gss 50 i believe its 4 ohms (what i was told and have been using it at) But Gibson emailed me back saying it was an 8ohm cab thens sent me a schematic for the original amp used with it which said it had a 4 ohm out. This is the only cab used with this amp it didn't have 2. so either the guy that emailed me was wrong or they used an 8 ohm cab with a 4 ohm amp to just make sure ya didn't blow it but i don't know ill continue to use it as a 4 ohm cab.
As far as I know, GSS50 was a combo amplifier and therefore did not have additional cabinets. Schematic doesn’t show an external speaker jack, only two AUX jacks for line level output. That information is consistent with the photos I’ve seen. (There could have been later revisions though). The combo’s cabinet had two 8-ohm “Gibson Ultrasonic” 10” speakers wired in parallel. They likely had not been made by Gibson; just manufactured for them by some 3rd party company.
GSS100 was a head amp that initially came with two 2x10” speaker cabinets although the amp had three speaker output jacks. The amp was rated for 4-ohm loads so the cabinets were eight ohms each and had a power rating of 50 watts. Later Gibson also introduced cabinets with 12” speakers.
GSS-100 service manual states two references to the speakers:
4 Used (HC12), part number: 985-009961
And:
4 Used (SC10 cabinet), part number: 985-013778
That could refer to two speaker combinations they had (10” and 12”). Then again, it could not. The GSS100 had at least two versions “Set-A” and “Set-B”; both were featured in the same service manual so these sets could have used the different speakers. Information about these amplifiers is really is scarce and judging the history of Gibson I wouldn’t trust that even they know much about their ancient products.
I suppose you still haven’t done the easiest thing and just measured the impedance? As I already mentioned, someone could have changed the speakers so whatever anyone tells you might not apply. Do the speakers have the golden Gibson stickers in their back?
GSS100 was a head amp that initially came with two 2x10” speaker cabinets although the amp had three speaker output jacks. The amp was rated for 4-ohm loads so the cabinets were eight ohms each and had a power rating of 50 watts. Later Gibson also introduced cabinets with 12” speakers.
GSS-100 service manual states two references to the speakers:
4 Used (HC12), part number: 985-009961
And:
4 Used (SC10 cabinet), part number: 985-013778
That could refer to two speaker combinations they had (10” and 12”). Then again, it could not. The GSS100 had at least two versions “Set-A” and “Set-B”; both were featured in the same service manual so these sets could have used the different speakers. Information about these amplifiers is really is scarce and judging the history of Gibson I wouldn’t trust that even they know much about their ancient products.
I suppose you still haven’t done the easiest thing and just measured the impedance? As I already mentioned, someone could have changed the speakers so whatever anyone tells you might not apply. Do the speakers have the golden Gibson stickers in their back?
Re; Speaker Codes
137 is the manufacturer, in this case CTS
605 is the date code, the first digit being the year of an unkown decade (66?), and the last 2 digits are the week (1st week of February)
As far as your Ohms? Your meter should read about 3 ohms if they are 2 X 8ohm in parallel.
-Dave
137 is the manufacturer, in this case CTS
605 is the date code, the first digit being the year of an unkown decade (66?), and the last 2 digits are the week (1st week of February)
As far as your Ohms? Your meter should read about 3 ohms if they are 2 X 8ohm in parallel.
-Dave
I tested it again with another meter with a speaker cable The cable had a resistance of about 0.5 or 0.6 ohms. the cab tested at 7.7 to 8.2 Through the cable so its an 8 ohm cab and the other meter was just broken. It seems Gibson used an 8 ohm cab with a 4 ohm output on the amp for this thing. The previous owner sold the amp a long time ago and said it had a 4 ohm out. Guess they were just ensuring you didn't blow it? Oh well either way it tests and works as an 8 ohm cab. My current plan is to use it as an extension cab for my fender super 210 as well as with the blackheart little giant head.
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