New Gibson Falcon amps

[M. Black]

This is so disappointing. I have used a ‘63 ga19 for 50 years and it still sounds killer. Whoever says the original Falcons suck has no clue what they’re talking about. I was always hoping Gibson would reissue the Falcon and when I saw they had, I couldn’t believe it. But this is not a Falcon. The original uses 6EU7, and 5V3 tubes and has a reverb circuit before the power section. I can’t believe it is that difficult to manufacture the simple point to point like the Falcon used to be. Sad this happened.

 

[dronerstone]

This is so disappointing. I have used this ‘63 ga19 for 50 years and it still sounds killer. Whoever says these suck has no clue what they’re talking about. I was always hoping Gibson would reissue the Falcon and when I saw they had, I couldn’t believe it, until I looked closer. The original uses 6V6, 6EU7, and 5V3 tubes and has a reverb circuit before the pre amp. The new version is this amp is entirely different, and looks more like a Hot Rod Deluxe. Nothing at all like the ‘60’s Falcon. This is blasphemy. Sad. Why is this so hard? Come on people.

I'm not a tech, but wouldn't these be quite easy to DIY, except for the reverb circuit maybe?

 

[metropolis_4]

This is so disappointing. I have used a ‘63 ga19 for 50 years and it still sounds killer. Whoever says the original Falcons suck has no clue what they’re talking about. I was always hoping Gibson would reissue the Falcon and when I saw they had, I couldn’t believe it. But this is not a Falcon. The original uses 6EU7, and 5V3 tubes and has a reverb circuit before the power section. I can’t believe it is that difficult to manufacture the simple point to point like the Falcon used to be. Sad this happened.

Are 5V3 tubes even still in production?

 

[quadgear]

At least the power tubes are off-board. Presumably the side mount provides better cooling and avoids blasting the PCB with rising hot air.

Mounting tubes on the PCB is a classic Mesa cost reduction tactic dating back to the past millennium.

Falcon gut shot:

View attachment 17477

It’s not the tubes being inside that concerns me.

The problem with this is that every time you need to change a preamp tube it puts strain on the PCB as you pull to remove a tube and push to place a tube.

That introduces risk of accidentally breaking solder connections.

I’m sure it will work just fine at first, but over time the chances of causing accidental damage increase

 

[norminal]

 

[gearJunkie]

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

“This bona fide bird can’t wait to elevate Gibson amplifiers to the stature they’ve always deserved”: Gibson debuts all-new flagship Mesa/Boogie-designed Dual Falcon 20 combo

The Falcon family soars to new heights with a well-spec'd 2x10 that makes clear Gibson's intentions to claw its way into the amp market

www.guitarworld.com

"probably thanks to Mesa Boogie...competitively priced"

 

[Byrdman]

 

[Life Eats Life]

Gibson new amp line marketing meeting......

"Ok team, I want ideas. What do today's players want in an amp?"

- no master volume!
- no tone stack, only a single tone knob!
- a really cute but ridiculously shitty amp handle!
- a retro Jensen speaker instead of a Celestion rocker!
- only 5 and 20 watt options!



Although, with Mesa Boogie in their back pocket I guess it sorta makes sense.

Randall Smith designed that amp btw

 

[Life Eats Life]

Yeah, well there’s that, too …but seriously, I plugged in with a totally open mind and prepared to have an eyebrow-raising moment or two; instead, it was like “yeah, whatever” after a few minutes.

I guess the takeaway is that it seemed to sound kinda Supro-like to my ears, but my ears don’t really care for that. There’s like an OK clean at low volume, and kind of a flabby crunch at higher volumes. It doesn’t get all that loud, either. For the price, it didn’t give me much to care for.

I hate that bloated gray haired midrange…
Weird bottom end just really hard to put that sound & feel into real world playing and influences.
I dig the raunch of it..for maybe one song?

 

[CBHScott]

So, for whatever reason I couldn’t get the curiosity of the 5 out of my head.

Went to the area shop and tried the 5 with one of them new Squier Paranormal Troublemaker Teles (REALLY good for $450, BTW). I was stunned by the clarity of the clean tones - sounded really good with some near Vox-like chime. The dirt is not bad, either. The only thing that bothered me a little was some weird thing with the reverb, but that was only when it was turned up past about a third. Surprisingly, I then plugged into the 20 next to it (second try - see earlier in the thread), and again, I was somewhat non-plussed.

If the 5 dropped to $999 like the Fender ‘68 Viro Champ (which I have tried to like numerous times, but just don’t), I would have to consider it.