1960s Guyatone GA-930 Vintage Tube Amp Head w/ 6L6, Tokyo Sound Co, Japan

Up for sale, a 1960s Guyatone GA-930 vintage tube amp head in exceptional condition and in perfect working order. This rare Japanese-made amp is one of Guyatone’s higher tiered amplifier offerings, crafted by the Tokyo Sound Company. This GA-930 pushes roughly 35 watts, yielding a blend of clarity and warmth, with a full midrange and broad, spongy lows. The EQ knobs have a wide sweep, from treble-centric sparkle to darker, harmonically-rich sounds. Beyond 5 on the Volume dial, the amp is an absolute monster with rich, barking natural distortion.

This amp features a dual-channel, dual-input design, and while the differences between the Normal and Bright channels are subtle, there is a touch more sharpness and shimmer in the Bright channel. Additionally, there is (independently) footswitchable onboard Reverb and Tremolo; the Reverb is splashy (and somewhat trashy), and the Tremolo has solid depth, with somewhat limited speed but a strong pulse. Controls include a Master Volume; Treble, Medium (Mid), and Bass EQ knobs; a Reverb knob; and Speed and Intensity knobs for the Tremolo.

The circuit has been thoroughly serviced here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with all modern Sprague Orange Drop capacitors, and all modern smaller electrolytic caps in the preamp as well, ensuring the amp is operating optimally. The original transformers are all intact, and the power transformer has taps for both 100V Japanese power and 120V USA power. The tube complement comprises a matched and properly biased pair of Sovtek 6L6WXT+s in the power section and four 12AX7s in the preamp.

The original two-tone tolex exhibits some requisite minor marks and scuffs, while the aluminum faceplate retains clean graphics and its full set of machined aluminum knobs.

A footswitch is included.