1964 Gibson GA17RVT "Scout" volume......

[B bent]

I acquired a 63-64 Gibson Scout. It uses a pair of 6AQ5 power tubes to produce what Gibson probably called 17 watts. My guess is that this is actually about a 7-12 watter.

Regardless, the amp isn't very loud at all. In fact you have to crank it to ten to get it to give up any goods at all basically. This is my first Gibson amp so I cant say I knew what to expect, but I certainly would expect even a 7-12 watter to produce a little more goods than this guy.

I have some new power tubes on order and for kicks I swapped in a nice Weber highly efficient speaker, but the speaker didn't do anything for it. The same general tone and volume still existed.

When the tubes arrive I plan on popping those in as well as checking the preamp tubes. i do have plans to crack it open to inspect the internals for anything blatant.

I guess my question is twofold:

1. How much volume should one expect from this amp? (I know the Fender equivalent is much, much louder and heck, even my Silvertone 1482 that's never been touched is MUCH louder)
2. Besides new power tubes, speaker swap and an overall health inspection, what should I hunt for when making sure this amp is producing all the volume it was designed to produce?

PS...The verb and tremolo are nice and pronounced. Also I am not as knowledgeable as lot of you guys so forgive me if my question seems a little amateurish. If it does seem this way, it's likely because it is! ;-)

[dkevin]

GA-17RVT

Welcome to the wonderful world of Gibson! I have many of their tube amps and can appreciate (almost) all of them.
The Scout is a difficult amp to mod yet it begs to be modded. Get ahold of a schematic and visually confirm that the layout conforms to the schematic. The first thing you will notice is that the components flow from the tube sockets toward the chassis face and meet at a row of solder tabs. This row of connecting tabs serves as a meeting place for the resistors and capacitors on their way from the tube to the pots and switches.
I'm sure that the amp was carefully and thoughtfully designed, but it is an absolute PITA to figure out and make connections. Some time back, I offered advice to a Gibson amp owner and was dogpiled for my efforts. To make a long story short, I just finished rebuilding a Scout and the amp has a lot more gain than it did as stock.
In short, don't give up hope for the Scout. It has potential!

[B bent]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Gibson! I have many of their tube amps and can appreciate (almost) all of them.
The Scout is a difficult amp to mod yet it begs to be modded. Get ahold of a schematic and visually confirm that the layout conforms to the schematic. The first thing you will notice is that the components flow from the tube sockets toward the chassis face and meet at a row of solder tabs. This row of connecting tabs serves as a meeting place for the resistors and capacitors on their way from the tube to the pots and switches.
I'm sure that the amp was carefully and thoughtfully designed, but it is an absolute PITA to figure out and make connections. Some time back, I offered advice to a Gibson amp owner and was dogpiled for my efforts. To make a long story short, I just finished rebuilding a Scout and the amp has a lot more gain than it did as stock.
In short, don't give up hope for the Scout. It has potential!

Thanks for the post. How loud are these amps in stock form? This amp isnt even capable of being mic'd and used on 5 with pedals. It just isnt very loud.