❌SOLD❌ Gibson Maestro GA-45 Amplifier, 1957

Like Fender, Gibson offered amplifiers. Fender was surrounded by country music, but Gibson was in the Polka Belt and so produced amps like the Maestro GA-45. This amp was voiced to handle the full lows and midrange of accordions, and delivered 14 to 16 watts through four eight inch Jensen speakers. It has four inputs and a tremolo circuit. The cabinet changed over time, with its covering ranging from a two-tone to a ‘black sharksin’ style by 1957.

This Maestro GA-45 example dates to 1957, and was built by Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It has been recently serviced, and two speakers have been replaced.

These are interesting amplifiers, intended for the music that surrounded the Gibson facilities. While both kinds of music – country and western – were represented, there were also crooners, pop artists, and of course Polka bands and orchestras.

Polka parties can get pretty lively, and the amplifiers and instruments used have to be able to deliver clean clear sound.

Grant MacNeill played for some years in a small orchestra at such events, and these were the places where they would be asked to turn up and play louder!