To reiterate the video description since nobody seems to read it: Note: this is a comedic opinion piece only. Opinions not to be taken internally. If pain persists, please see a qualified medical professional.

Finally, an amplifier built to the same quality standard as Gibson guitars and priced to match.

I'm holding off for the Murphy Lab reliced version.

$1,799 US, it's £2k here in the UK... With those PCB insides... Ok... So. Go custom made to order. There's a company here in the UK called Stoneham Amplification who makes bespoke amps, hand wired, made to order, made in a little workshop in the UK. Sleeves, head shells & cabs are commissioned for another UK builder called F.A Guitar Cabs. I bought a custom 150w Sunn Model T clone, KT88, bespoke custom UK made output transformers, hand wired etc., boutique quality. And it's an absolute beast. I paid £1,750 for it a couple of years ago, prices may rise ever so slightly now but the builder keeps the prices realistic and I very much doubt the same amp will go over £2k, if so it won't be by much. Keep in mind older "real" Model Ts and clones by others will cost you way, way in excess of £3k-£4k, I've seen originals go for £5k and some clones costing not much less. Go custom. Support the little guy who works with passion in his little shed and workshop.

"Hand" wired is a gibson acronym for 'highly automated neatening device''

Absolutely fantastic have a good weekend Brad ❤😊

Really appreciate this type of review, thank you

“That’s our Gibson!”

as someone who spent way too much time looking at dual rectifier gutshots, this is a Mesa Certified Design. this is going to be fun for techs...

Love the review ya bloody legend!

Thank you brad- you were first and made everyone else follow suit. Bravo to a truth seeker

Thank you. These are everywhere, it seems, but you're the first to pull off the back for me. As I suspected. No surprise at all. Certainly not what I'm after.

Thanks for posting

another brad vid !!! yay Oh you're reviewing pictures. Nice man. I'd love to send you pics of my Tremlord 30 for review. I have thick skin.

Awesome vid. I hope you will do the same for the new Magnatone Slash amp. Would love a deep dive on that one.

I bought a Maz 38 NR in 2008 for $1650 Canadian, I had a look inside and it’s night and day compared to this, have had no issues, my Mesa Lonestar is a nightmare to fix, which crackles in channel one.

great honest review

I’ve been waiting for this!!🍿

Thanks so much for a honest review😁‼

I see several sets of IDC connectors (insullation displacement connectors) which are probably being used at well above their voltage and current ratings.

When I heard Gibson was coming out with a line of guitar amps this is exactly what I expected. A real Mess of Boogers.

Greetings Brad. I’ve seen your messages at Psionic Audio’s video and decided to check you out. I subbed.

When this was first announced I wanted to see the guts…oh dear Lord it’s about what I feared.

Its good to see some people on YT exposing what youd get for +$5K AU. The cab and speaker look the goods. Its a shame the most important piece in ones signal chain looks like absolute garbage.

Thanks for the honest opinion. When I first saw these amps, listed as handwired, I was seriously interested. Nowhere could I find an inside shot, to check out the lead dress. How the heck can Gibson sell these as handwired?

We get shafted on prices over here in NZ on some brands as well. Same problem I guess. Distributors who have a brand monopoly, so add on a big cut. There's not many guitar items that do not work out significantly cheaper to just import yourself. Don't tell folks on local pages though. They tend to go 'support local' -- but plenty of them turn out to have a horse in the race, i.e., they work at a music retailer etc. Some of the 'NZ' distros are based over there in Aussie, so we would probably get stung for GST and duty, as well as the Distro's cut (Fractal is one of them, plus Guitar Parts NZ is based there now too, so no more local parts supply, or Allparts necks and bodies etc). For $5K I'd be expecting good. Very, very good. Close to that did not get me quality from Marshall unfortunately. The Randy Rhoads head. It blew up about a week from being brand new. I think if you want the classic sounds, it's best to get a clone built by somebody who really knows their onions. That goes for all the classic brands, e.g., Fender, Marshall, Vox, Orange, and Hiwatt. A clone can be built the way they were back in the day, which is something amp brands do not see to be able to do these days. It matters to how the thing ends up sounding. My JMP clone is a little ripper and does the Marshall thing so well (I need to trace the source of a bit of treble channel hiss though, but that's no big deal). My nephew likes Dave Gilmour's playing and tone the most, but what he actually likes playing is stuff like Tool , AIC, and Lamb Of God etc. He thinks he needs a Mesa. I am on the look out for a video that might explain to him how much owning a Mesa could cost in repair bills. Fender and EVH have issues too. He asked what amps are well made. I said Friedman or Suhr. That's not easy for me and makes me a little sad. I am a Kiwi, but grew up in Milton Keynes where the Marshall factory is, so have a soft spot for them (plus they are such a classic sound and rock icon, e.g., Angus!). Marshall is not stupid expensive in NZ though (I see the Americans have to pay almost Friedman prices for Marshall amps like the JVM, so they must have some add on bumping the price up I guess - so much for fee trade huh?)

I own both tube amps and modeling amps, as well as the most traditional speaker cabinets with Celestion Vintage 30s inside. However, I must say that this whole debate is completely irrelevant because modeling and solid-state technology are the future. Modeling or solid-state amps, even the inventor of Dumble himself (a bit before his death), when asked if transistor amps would ever be as good as tube amps, responded that the question wasn't if it would happen but when. He emphasized that one day someone would make a transistor amp that sounds exactly like a tube amp, and given the way the market is evolving, I believe we are not far from that point. Even without considering that, basic modeling today is already excellent. Take anyone and blindfold them, and no one can tell the difference. Unfortunately, musicians often rely too much on their eyes instead of their ears. ( Most by the way jackoff way to much on gear all the time ( wether it’s new or vintage it’s the same ) instead of really playing guitar but that another debate) In any case, for guitar, the trend is to build things that are always lighter, better, more practical, simpler, and more intuitive. Even the country of origin hardly matters anymore because you can find quality in Europe, Asia, and even China, which wasn't known for quality products, is now able to copy or even surpass some American brands. We must recognize that American quality has significantly degraded, while Japanese quality remains stable at a high level. So, things are changing for the better.

Mesas may be built haphazardly to the technician's eyes, but they do sound great. And mine have never failed me yet. This Gibson branded amp isn't for me and I do agree that the price point is off the charts. Maybe you could start a chart with best to worst build quality ratings of all amps that come across your bench?

As soon you see "Made in Petaluma" I would recommend running out of the store screaming "Get thee behind me!!"

I've been trying to get a look inside the new Soldano 20 . Or any of them , can't find any .

I actually wasn't expecting the insides to look like this. I was expecting PCB construction, but 1970s style with the valve bases fixed to the chassis and wired to the PCB.

Thank you for helping to debunk the myths of these hyped up reissues. This amp was a pos when they first made them and very few wanted them. In my book, Friedman and Suhr make good amps now. There may be others I am not familiar with.

Thanks for the heads up. Will the Mesa Boogie California amps, be the same crap or are they made better?

Not sure that the hand-wiring is authentic?

So many great quotes in this video 😂👏👏👏 “That drugged out weirdo signed it” killed me

Compare the falcon 5watt to the fender bassbreaker 007.

I watch a couple of other amp repair channels, but I've never seen as detailed a breakdown on how good/bad a circuit design is. I'll keep an eye on Freidmans. Do you have any thoughts on PRS amps? MT15 (most interest), MT100 and the Archon series? What about something like the EVH 5150 Iconics?

I’m so stoked to hear this thing shredded apart by your expertise lol

I don't think I've ever clicked on something so fast! ..... lets just say I'm very curious. I'll watch the video now. :)

Yep, reminds me of my old Peavey Classic 30.

Curious if the components are soldered to the pcb by hand. U could claim hand wired at that point. But why make it handwired to start with when it’s designed like that? They are ~$2.2k CDN and I think supros are around there. So prob not to outline for that category, no? For the record I’m not defending mesa and gibson prices have just gone completely nuts.

From what other Falcon amp reviews say, this amp has a loud fan like the Trace Elliot Elf and Hartke amps use

That quality looks like one of the old Tandy or similar kits you could get, shocking for the price. I used to design and layout circuit boards and that is not a great layout, like you say pads are too small and creepage gaps are too close in some areas and yep many rookie mistakes. That amp looks like it would fall apart if taken on the road and thrown in and out of a van. Good honest detailed review you did here.

Do you like the Engl Ironball SE? My amp, a lot of features, and sounds good made in Ger. What do you think about it? :P

love getting shafted here in australia

I wish someone would do a deep dive and inside look at the new Supro Delegate and Ambassador Custom amps. They are over 3000 US and Im wonder ing if they are as crappy as the Gibsons

It was hand packaged

Have you checked out the Quilter mach 3

whats with the hot snot glue randomly deposited on some components 🙃

That's some outrageous pricing! The 5-watter looks to be about $4360! In 2010 I bought a little Marshall Class 5, mostly because it was pretty cheap and halfway decent for what it was. UK made, single-ended, $799 AUD retail. I was staff, so I only paid cost for it ($450 or so), but street price was about $600. With all the inflation, if they released something similar today I'd expect it to be about $1100-ish maybe? It's probably a similar level of construction quality to these Gibsons. I wonder how they're justifying the extra $3200? Edit: Just checked Australis (Aus wholesaler) website. 5-watter is $4799 retail! Crazy.

Whoa what, hand wired?? ”Play authentic” - I finally get it!

shipping costs are up ?

This looks like the inside of a blackstar ht series. Since when did accountants design amps?

It’s a Boogie.. quality and pricing as predicted.

Gday from Melbourne!

Why didn’t they just make a GA-5 skylark reissue and be done with it

When you said the price I yelled "HOLY FUCK!!!"

Australis Music Group dont mind a decent margin (imagine how little these amps cost at wholesale, probably 1,100 USD?). We have 15% duty plus GST to pay of course, but with freight costs post covid still being high and are forecast to go much higher again with whats happening with the Suez........ We are going to be pretty cooked in Aus! If we want nice import amps itll cost more than ya left nut. Its a great time to make you own small batch amps Brad! I would buy at least one or two quality Aussie made heads at 2.5-3k AUD ea (ill take an AB763 super, and a JTM-45 mod kthx 😁 )

Good call out mate. It’s a $500-$700 amp tops.

For the price this is pretty much what I expected inside these Gibson amps. Check out Carr amps which are absolutely beautifully built inside but that puts the cost of an amp like it over $3000 USD. On the other end of things the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is $1000 USD but is built even worse than these Gibsons. At least the pots on the Gibson aren't on the board and from what I have heard in other videos on KZfaq the amp does sound a lot more like a vintage amp than the stiff bright modern sounding Hot Rod. That stuff and a nice cab I guess is what you get for the extra $800 USD.

I’ve said it before Brad, you should make and sell replacements for boogies…. Start with the Lonestar Special hahah (and yes I know this isn’t realistic but we can dream)… Have you seen the PRS Hendrix clone, are they crap? The guy shot seems OK for the price to me….

When I saw the inside I figured they will follow later with a hand wired version at a higher price. But I see this one is already "hand wired."

Great amps for the money-Dr.Z,hand wired in Cleveland,Ohio.

On the bright side it looks like that board will come out easy.

Handwired can literally just mean wired by hand & not necessarily meaning point to point wiring (pre pcd which people mistake for being hand wired), the other option is robots where the entire pcb is populated & soldered by machines and not by hand. Like big name swiss watches people often think that they are getting something entirely hand made, the reality is they are often only getting something machine made & then finished by hand unless its a company that prides itself on being bespoke & hand made.

I tried to think positive and noticed that those front panel pots are not mounted on the PCB. Perhaps that, according to their interpretation, gives them the right to use the term "hand-wired". 🤓 However, no fake bumblebees this time. 😁

What is with all of the seemingly randomly-applied silicone supposed to be doing? It reminds me of a "modern' era Supro Model 50 over on Psionic Audio, except the Supro has a LOT more silicone inside.

Good to view someone who tell the truth about rip off companies

Vox's new "hand wired" series has been released at NAMM 2024. It would be interesting to get your thoughts.

This is why I have a quad cortex

Someone should sue Gibson for falsely claiming this amp is handwired, or at least report them to some consumer protection agency.

None of my amps have backs on them because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I am often swapping out preamp tubes in pursuit of "tone". How long would these PCB tube sockets last before the solder joints crap themselves? Not very long I'm picking. I love my Les Paul but I am embarassed with this latest debacle that Gibson and Mesa have created. Likewise all of the KZfaq channels that are attempting to rip off their customers by saying nothing about these POS amps should be ashamed. Props to you and the Guitologist for speaking out. Cheers from NZ

The picture might be fake, the lack of leather jackets makes me suspect it's not from a authentic gibson amp

Hey Brad, how much does a fender DR reissue cost in Aus?

I always have, and will defend their guitar's. Mine are great,never had a problem one,but this is off the chain. The balls to print handwired right on the amp when all a person has to do is look at it to see that its not.

you’d think these companies would just consult with people who actually know how to do this stuff nicely, like yourself or Psionic, but i guess almost every decision is based on making it cheaper to produce.

Honestly, those plastic clip PCB standoffs makes me think of a $100 Bluetooth speaker.

you can get a vintage gibson amp for less.

lol, great upload, had me in hysterics. "Just don't buy one" Exactly. Prices are weird here in the UK. For the fist time ever we seem to be paying less than they pay in the States (for some things), despite having heavy import duty and 20% sales tax added. I bought a brand new HSS Fender Player Strat for 525 (Pound sterling), and a brand new Blackstar HT-5 mkii for 269. Was so happy with the amp I bought another as a spare. I checked Andert*ns shop online today and they still have 10+ in stock! Why? They're almost giving them away! I hate to think what you guys are paying in AUS for low-ish end gear like that.

It's a joke imho. You can buy a fender Deluxe, Deville, Pro reverb, Twin Reverb, Marshall DSL40, Vox AC30, and many others for less with as good or better quality.

Look at Traynor. Great Canadian amps.

Like Deja Vu all over again!

This is incrediby ridiculous and disappoiting at the same time.

I could see the price if they make a super limited amount, and later becomes a collector piece because of gibson name

In the words of Luke Skywalker... "what a piece of JUNK!"

Looks better then most Mesa on the inside

The only new amps I would buy are a Friedman, Suhr , Amplified Nation and Two Rock. Go with a Suhr/Friedman for the absolute best quality v money. Go with the other two if you’re a blues lawyer.

$5500 AUD WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks cheap like something from Crate or Fenders cheapies. And trust me the "Hand Wired" was no mistake on either Gibson or Boogies part. In their mind this is up to Gibson snuff and hands at some point did wire some of it. What a joke. These amps were never highly sought after. In fact up until recently you could buy 60's examples for $400 and less. These are geared at lawyers who are buying up the $5k Les Pauls and the 1k pickup sets. Gibson Lifestyle strikes again.

I looks like a blues Jr, and should be priced accordingly

Sad to think someone voided their warranty by doing this and taking the pictures because you know they’re gonna need it.

I will agree Friedman is probably the bast amps for the money these days , but what can we do as consumers, all the amp companies make mostly cheaper amps, cause they gotta sell stuff to make money

as a mesa owner for 30 years, and had great trust in them, i'm quickly wondering - WTF am i doing. maybe i should just flog my single rec and go a local brand who gives a sh1t. heard you're going to make amps. I like Friedman, but keen on Ozi stuff. show us what your doing.

Jeezus H Christ! $5K for that????

Every paid shill and dealer is raving about those electric turds. I recently spent $2200 on a 1968 Deluxe Reverb with a JBL D120F. Which one would you rather have? I spent $200 on speaker reconing supplies and a JBL D120 Pro kit made by JBL. The F in a D120F is just a wider voice coil gap. I have to add some old greeting cards as shims when I put the voice coil and cone assembly in. Whoopty doo!

When Gibson bought Mesa we knew what was coming. Mesa amps rebranded as Gibson.

SHIT! Hand wired? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for the photo. If I got one, I’d reuse the cab, valves, trannies - mod the chassis, get a turret board and point to point it.

It’s a shame, as I quite like how it sounds. Only Gibson would build a compact amp to Fender Reissue quality standards, and then price it up in Custom Shop territory…

I was wondering what you and Lyle would think of these. Edit: I’m probably 30 seconds in and already I smell a RAT. There’s a Kalamazoo pun in there if you look close enough.

WTF!!! 6000 Australian Dollars!!!! Now I can relax after I spent 940 US on a handwired Champ! They are taking the piss with doubling the RRP. Like you say the cab and speaker look Okay. Makes the Fender 68 Deluxe look like a steal!