1946 Gibson BR-1 1x12 Vintage Tube Guitar Amp, Collector-Grade w/ Jensen

Description: Up for sale, a 1946 Gibson BR-1 combo amplifier in collector-grade condition and in perfect working order. This rare Gibson dates to the earliest days of guitar amplification, produced in limited quantities, with only a few hundred made between 1946-49. This particular iteration is also notable for featuring a green felt stenciled “G” on the aluminum grill, an extremely uncommon feature only seen on select few surviving amps and likely only used in first-year examples from ‘46. The BR-1 is arguably one of the most important amplifiers of the early days of rock and roll, and was the amp used by Danny Cedrone to record the iconic solo on Bill Haley & His Comets’ landmark Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll song to experience significant commercial success. This BR-1 pushes around 12 watts and offers distinct voicings via two Instrument inputs and a single Microphone input. The Microphone input is far and away the most aggressive, quickly pushing into fuzzy, sizzling breakup, while the Instrument inputs have more headroom and retain clean, warm sounds with a very pleasing chug that evokes the earliest days of rock and roll, particularly when paired with a set of single coils. The Tone knob has a limited sweep: rolling it off results in a slightly gentler, spongy sound, and when opening up the control this amp really starts to sing, with a full-bodied sound and just a touch of natural gain. Or, roll off the Tone and crank up the Volume for a thick wooly heft and roar similar to a classic fuzz box, particularly via the Microphone input. The amp retains the original transformer pair, and the power transformer dates to the 17th week of 1946. The original 12” field coil speaker is present, with the output transformer mounted to the speaker frame. There are only a couple modern capacitors in the preamp, and a three-prong power cord has been installed. The tube complement comprises a pair of JAN Philips 6L6WGB power tubes, a Tung-Sol 5U4GB rectifier, and an RCA 6J5 preamp tube. The amp retains its original smooth brown covering with only minor edge wear, and gold "Gibson" text is silkscreened on the top edge of the amps face. The perforated metal grill plate is extremely clean, retaining the green felt-stenciled “G" and original trio of brown Bakelite knobs. The original leather handle is also intact.

Price: 3799.99 USD

Location: Seattle, Washington

End Time: 2025-01-30T09:42:25.000Z

Shipping Cost: 150 USD