GA25-RVT Manual

[65strat]

Does anyone know where I can get an owner’s manual for a 1963 Gibson Hawk GA25-RVT? This one has 2 10” speakers.

[Enzo]

Hi, and welcome.

We can probably come up with a schematic, but did they even make owner manuals?

[dkevin]

I am not certain but I believe he is looking for a hard-to-find schematic. If it is a Crestline series GA-25RVT, and has two 10 inch speakers, it uses 7591 output tubes. Gibson amp owner's manuals are available in the Gibson Master Service manual which is freely available online. This schematic though is a bit harder to lay hands on. I had to buy one online...now if I can only remember where I put it after I was finished....

[Rhodesplyr]

According to the Gibson Garage site, the Crestline Hawk RVT came in three different versions, each using a different output tube lineup, 6V6, 7591, or EL84.

If you haven't worked on them before, this is par for the course with Gibson amps. You have to look at what's actually in the amp and then try to find a Gibson or Epiphone schematic that matches what you have, even if you find the schematic with a different amp model number on it.

Even then, I've never seen a Gibson amp that matches the schematic 100%. It must have been a crazy place to work.

[dkevin]

[dkevin]

I managed to find one and one-half GA-25RVT's for sale and kept looking for pieces until I had completed them. They are both Crestline era amps but one uses 7591 output tubes with 2ea. 10 inch speakers and the other uses 6v6 output tubes and a single 15 inch speaker. The 6v6 version was the earlier production amp as far as I know. It sounds sweet and has sag when driven. The 7591 has a solid state rectifier and is more of a beast when driven. They both have the Gibson swampy tremolo and splashy reverb. I prefer the 6v6 version but I'm sure the 7591 version has its fans too.