Tubes are mounted to the PCB. No modern features. The design team apparently decided to pick the most generic, boring design in their archives. I mean, it kinda sucks.
Given the price/performance ratio, sadly, they do. Way too high a price for such a mediocre tone. Their bassy blatting noise they make when turned up is maybe the most awful sound I've ever heard out of an amp that wasn't on fire.
@@BrendanMakesMusic1) you can't complain about something having a pcb and not being modern in the same post, it is contradictory. 2) built in attenuation is a modern feature and in my opinion the most important modern feature. 3) these amps are built by mesa boogie in california but are drastically cheaper than any mesa boogie combo currently on the market. If you want modern features, pay for it and buy a boogie. If you don't need modern features, this is a very good re-imagining of 60+ year old classic.
This is what I was hoping for when Gibson purchased Mesa a few years ago. Those old Gibson amps are so cool and deserve a reissue. I'm going to assume these are all PCB construction since that's pretty much all Mesa does, but regardless, it's cool to see Gibson giving their classic amps a nod. Plus, they sound great (obviously, Nathaniel makes everything sound great)!
@@Dram1984 perhaps it is. That said, I've seen a lot of amplifier manufacturers use a very liberal definition of that word. If these Gibsons are true turret board or point-to-point construction, that would be so cool (even if I honestly can't hear a difference either way)!
@@reverb508 the only real difference is repairability. Point to point is 100x easier to fix. Talking about sound differences is almost entirely cork sniffing.
@@Dram1984 I agree. Maybe some people can hear a difference, but I’m definitely not one of them. That said, besides being easier to repair, I love (well executed) handwired amps mostly for the craftsmanship that goes into building them, and an irrational nostalgia for the old way of doing things. To me, theres nothing cooler than looking into an amp chassis and seeing a methodically constructed highway system of capacitors, resistors, and wire, all joined by immaculate beads of solder (whew! Is it getting hot in here?😅). I swear, I think I enjoy the guitar gear more than I enjoy playing. I should go practice…
Gonna disagree. I had an original Falcon. I'm sure some old blues guys like it, but I sure don't think they were worthy of reissue. Hearing the demos, I have definitely not changed my mind. Definitely not at those prices!!!! This is a waste of Mesa's manufacturing capacity, when they have such a backlog of orders for the UK and Europe to fill. I was afraid Gibson would do something silly like this to Mesa. Waste their time. What next? A Lab Series L5 reissue? Oh crap I hope not!!!!
That 5 watt amp would be so perfect for my little studio space. I love my Marshall Origin 20. And a little 5 watt Gibson tube amp would be perfect sitting next to it. Hope my local shops get some to play with.
@@scottfleming2166 On the back of the amp it says "handwired in Petaluma, Ca". I guess you can hand wire to a PCB. Depends on your definition of handwired I guess.
I believe the Falcon 20 is just a repackaged California Tweed 2:20. Check all the specs and compare videos. The Cali Tweed has a front panel...clear winner for me!
I love it. On a waiting list now. All the right features and like a simplified Mesa with better cosmetics. I know some purists hate it already but I don’t care. Personally I don’t need to open it up and change tubes etc; rather spend the time playing. Would be nice to see more demos with Fender single coil pickup guitars.
Ahh damn... As soon as I heard the Mesa connection, I dropped my hopes in that these were reproductions. I'm sure they sound nice but I can't do the circuit board thing unfortunately. It does say "hand wired". we'll see. So far it really sounds similar to a Cali Tweed.
Sounds tight, almost like a solid state amp. Maybe the speaker needs breaking in. But I’m not impressed that these are PCB construction and cost almost as much as a Point-Point original 50’s-60’s Gibson amp. For $800-$1000 maybe. So many more options out there if your willing to drop $1800-$2000. Roadhouse comes to mind.
Honestly, their tone is pretty mediocre. Not bad, but not 1500 dollars worth of good (5 watter) or 1800 dollars worth for the 20 watter. They didn't win out against Fenders the first time around, what makes you think they'll do it this time? This is a waste of Mesa's manufacturing capacity when they have such a backlog of orders for the UK and Europe to fill. To really love these amps you need to be wearing your rose colored Nostalgia Glasses...and it helps to have owned a Falcon back in the day. Which I have....and it was the amp I never played becasue it just wasn't very good. Definitely a niche tone.
Yep you need to modify the coupling capacitors to get it sounding anywhere near any good. I specifically if you use it with single coils. I wonder if they updated that here. It doesn’t seem to be the original schematic at all.
I’m in the market for a 20W amp and I was originally sucked in by the name of this new Falcon 20. I thought it was a 20W. Now I know it’s just a 12W. And then I saw the price. $1800 for a pretty severely de-featured 12W combo? Yikes. Here’s a bit of market research for Gibson. It looks very nice. But the combination of features and pricing are a total no-go for me.
I think they were attempting to make a single channel throwback here. Putting channel switching, effects loops, etc on this amp wouldn't appeal to the target audience. There are plenty of great amps that have those features if you want them.
ah ha! gibson reveals the next phase of their master plan! well heck if the mesa peeps are making them they wont suck. cool looking and they sound great. Sidenote, I just spent the last couple days trying to make a video for my little nascent RUclips channel and to watch Nathaniel just fucking spin Bad ass groove after bad ass riff without even thinking about it. No red light fever. nothing. it’s pretty humbling. dudes bad ass.
Nobody is opening these amps up to see what is in them. Gibson could be taking everyone for a ride having a cheaply built amp and slapping that $1,799 price tag on that 12 watt version I am just gonna wait and see how many people have problems with these amps.
FOR ALL WHO ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING. Please watch a video which shows the insides of this amp. I am an amp tech of sorts. This is just a scary design. You should never have board mounted tubes inside of the amp. 😂
I've been waiting for Gibson to resurrect their amps for years. But I have NO interest in mesa boogie, so I'm supremely disappointed. I would rather they had made faithful reproductions of their own real amps.
My bench resurrects dozens of mesa boogies built exactly like these. It's shameful to see vendors bending the knee to this company at the expense of hard working musicians. There's enough information out there to rule out ignorance at this point. Sorry to say bc I like cme as a brand.
Cool amps, will likely pick one up soon-glad to see gibson back in the game. Great playing on the video as well. These amps are not really to me comparable to the fender designs with tube rectifiers, but have their own vibe.
How exactly are they hand-wired? Why were the 12ax7 mounted horizontally on the PCB? Oops said too much 🫢 . . seems like a rip off for some “mojo” I’d never buy a single ended amp for 1500.
Utter junk at a total rip off price. Show us what is inside. It's not much and those internal valves are going to cook it. The 20 is only a 12w amp stock!
for the money Gibson is charging why not just make a true reissue? These amps are not Falcons. They could name these amps the Gibson Moonbeams and no one would argue that they are not an original amp series. Calling them Falcons is just sad.
Absolute junk... won't last 5 years! $1500 for a circuit board (with tubes on the board!) single ended 6v6? Just wow... Lost a lot of respect for CME for pushing this garbage.
In my opinion 98 % of tube amp reissues sound terrible and are absolutely not comparable with the originals. Exception are some expensive brands like Victoria, Swart and even those while they are very good, they don't sound like an old one. I am talking about 40s and 50s small amps, Fender, Gibson, Supro, Valco and related. Those have a warmth and compression i have not heard in a new one. Ever.
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The amps sound good, but the playing is excellent.
🤘🤘🤘
Damn I've been waiting for Gibson to reissue their amps. I hope they don't suck
Right? Possibly my holy grail tone and feel. I hope they aren't too noisy
They’re both pretty sweet!
Tubes are mounted to the PCB. No modern features. The design team apparently decided to pick the most generic, boring design in their archives. I mean, it kinda sucks.
Given the price/performance ratio, sadly, they do. Way too high a price for such a mediocre tone. Their bassy blatting noise they make when turned up is maybe the most awful sound I've ever heard out of an amp that wasn't on fire.
@@BrendanMakesMusic1) you can't complain about something having a pcb and not being modern in the same post, it is contradictory. 2) built in attenuation is a modern feature and in my opinion the most important modern feature. 3) these amps are built by mesa boogie in california but are drastically cheaper than any mesa boogie combo currently on the market. If you want modern features, pay for it and buy a boogie. If you don't need modern features, this is a very good re-imagining of 60+ year old classic.
This is what I was hoping for when Gibson purchased Mesa a few years ago. Those old Gibson amps are so cool and deserve a reissue. I'm going to assume these are all PCB construction since that's pretty much all Mesa does, but regardless, it's cool to see Gibson giving their classic amps a nod. Plus, they sound great (obviously, Nathaniel makes everything sound great)!
Spec sheet says handwired.
@@Dram1984 perhaps it is. That said, I've seen a lot of amplifier manufacturers use a very liberal definition of that word. If these Gibsons are true turret board or point-to-point construction, that would be so cool (even if I honestly can't hear a difference either way)!
@@reverb508 the only real difference is repairability. Point to point is 100x easier to fix.
Talking about sound differences is almost entirely cork sniffing.
@@Dram1984 I agree. Maybe some people can hear a difference, but I’m definitely not one of them. That said, besides being easier to repair, I love (well executed) handwired amps mostly for the craftsmanship that goes into building them, and an irrational nostalgia for the old way of doing things. To me, theres nothing cooler than looking into an amp chassis and seeing a methodically constructed highway system of capacitors, resistors, and wire, all joined by immaculate beads of solder (whew! Is it getting hot in here?😅). I swear, I think I enjoy the guitar gear more than I enjoy playing. I should go practice…
Gonna disagree. I had an original Falcon. I'm sure some old blues guys like it, but I sure don't think they were worthy of reissue. Hearing the demos, I have definitely not changed my mind. Definitely not at those prices!!!! This is a waste of Mesa's manufacturing capacity, when they have such a backlog of orders for the UK and Europe to fill. I was afraid Gibson would do something silly like this to Mesa. Waste their time. What next? A Lab Series L5 reissue? Oh crap I hope not!!!!
That 5 watt amp would be so perfect for my little studio space. I love my Marshall Origin 20. And a little 5 watt Gibson tube amp would be perfect sitting next to it. Hope my local shops get some to play with.
Perfect addition to any blues lawyer closet. Would look perfect next to the set of unused Callaways.
I'd like to see a gut shot; PCB or handwired? I'd like to hear it with single coils. I understand why all the demos are with Gibson guitars.
It says hand wired on the back
They gonna be expensive…!😁
@@druwk$1499 for the 5 watt, $1799 for the 20 watt.
EDIT: The 5 and 20 models, respectively, apparently don't indicate wattage
It’s a PCB design, there are pics on the internet.
@@scottfleming2166 On the back of the amp it says "handwired in Petaluma, Ca". I guess you can hand wire to a PCB. Depends on your definition of handwired I guess.
I believe the Falcon 20 is just a repackaged California Tweed 2:20. Check all the specs and compare videos. The Cali Tweed has a front panel...clear winner for me!
I don't know why you would say that?
Nathaniel
I was at your place 1-20-24 and did some horse trading with Wrenn and took home the Falcon 20
LOVE IT !!!
don’t know what i’m more surprised about, gibson making an amp or Nathaniel getting a haircut
Nice playing & Amp! You got my $ . Ordered the 20 , I have a feeling it’s going to be a amazing surf style & classic Rock amp. 🤙🏽🤘🏽
It will be great.
When it arrives have a look inside. You will have paid 1200 for air.
open it up. the design is trash. nothing like the old ones.
Love the sound guys !!! I live south of you all(Spfld) ,and have been to your shop
If I remember to ,I’ll call Johnathan tomorrow!!
I love it. On a waiting list now. All the right features and like a simplified Mesa with better cosmetics. I know some purists hate it already but I don’t care. Personally I don’t need to open it up and change tubes etc; rather spend the time playing. Would be nice to see more demos with Fender single coil pickup guitars.
We currently have both in stock if you are interested!
Petaluma is not in the south. Great looking & sounding amps.
Ahh damn... As soon as I heard the Mesa connection, I dropped my hopes in that these were reproductions. I'm sure they sound nice but I can't do the circuit board thing unfortunately. It does say "hand wired". we'll see. So far it really sounds similar to a Cali Tweed.
It’s a PCB. I don’t know how they’re getting away with calling it handwired when it’s very obviously not.
Nice bit of Black Night by JoBo there!
Great Job!!!
I dig it! Is this supposed to be a deluxe reverb killer? I'd like to see those go head to head. Great features and similar price points.
It's about half the wattage of a deluxe. Probably closer to a Princeton with 12
@@zenmaestro04They actually sound very much like a 1950s Fender Tweed Deluxe. And those were 12 watts.
Sounds tight, almost like a solid state amp. Maybe the speaker needs breaking in. But I’m not impressed that these are PCB construction and cost almost as much as a Point-Point original 50’s-60’s Gibson amp. For $800-$1000 maybe. So many more options out there if your willing to drop $1800-$2000. Roadhouse comes to mind.
6:00 Freebird got me
Honestly, their tone is pretty mediocre. Not bad, but not 1500 dollars worth of good (5 watter) or 1800 dollars worth for the 20 watter. They didn't win out against Fenders the first time around, what makes you think they'll do it this time? This is a waste of Mesa's manufacturing capacity when they have such a backlog of orders for the UK and Europe to fill. To really love these amps you need to be wearing your rose colored Nostalgia Glasses...and it helps to have owned a Falcon back in the day. Which I have....and it was the amp I never played becasue it just wasn't very good. Definitely a niche tone.
Yep you need to modify the coupling capacitors to get it sounding anywhere near any good. I specifically if you use it with single coils. I wonder if they updated that here. It doesn’t seem to be the original schematic at all.
Magnatone vs Gibson video soon?
i had the mag tooooooo loudddddddd
I can't wait for a head-to--head between this and a Swart.
Are you kidding? There's no comparison. Magnetone blows it out of the water
@@incredifunk
My point so much for the big G
They sound like I expected my Supro to sound. That tweed feeling but with the body of a Magnatone. A bit gutted that I just bought a Princeton...
Good move. You won't regret it!
So you weren't impressed with the supro either? I was severely disappointed when I went to check those out and did a little playing through a couple
Does someone knows which song is nathaniel playing at the beginning (00:30)? so soulful
It really reminded me of Khruangbin, but I don't think it was actually one of their songs.
The clean is ok with that much reverb, overdrive sound harsh too me even with the sofisticated playing and the expensives guitars that we all own
I’m in the market for a 20W amp and I was originally sucked in by the name of this new Falcon 20. I thought it was a 20W. Now I know it’s just a 12W. And then I saw the price. $1800 for a pretty severely de-featured 12W combo? Yikes. Here’s a bit of market research for Gibson. It looks very nice. But the combination of features and pricing are a total no-go for me.
I think that's incorrect. Look at the website.
The Falcon 20 is 12 watts with 7 watt & 3 watt attenuation
I think they were attempting to make a single channel throwback here. Putting channel switching, effects loops, etc on this amp wouldn't appeal to the target audience. There are plenty of great amps that have those features if you want them.
Do I get a free haircut with these amps like Nathaniel?
ah ha! gibson reveals the next phase of their master plan! well heck if the mesa peeps are making them they wont suck. cool looking and they sound great.
Sidenote, I just spent the last couple days trying to make a video for my little nascent RUclips channel and to watch Nathaniel just fucking spin Bad ass groove after bad ass riff without even thinking about it. No red light fever. nothing. it’s pretty humbling. dudes bad ass.
Nobody is opening these amps up to see what is in them. Gibson could be taking everyone for a ride having a cheaply built amp and slapping that $1,799 price tag on that 12 watt version I am just gonna wait and see how many people have problems with these amps.
Brad, The Guitologist, opened one up. Hot glue and PCB mounted tube sockets. Some wire.
Does these have effects loops?
FOR ALL WHO ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING. Please watch a video which shows the insides of this amp. I am an amp tech of sorts. This is just a scary design. You should never have board mounted tubes inside of the amp. 😂
I've been waiting for Gibson to resurrect their amps for years. But I have NO interest in mesa boogie, so I'm supremely disappointed. I would rather they had made faithful reproductions of their own real amps.
My bench resurrects dozens of mesa boogies built exactly like these. It's shameful to see vendors bending the knee to this company at the expense of hard working musicians. There's enough information out there to rule out ignorance at this point. Sorry to say bc I like cme as a brand.
Freebird 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
Albatross❤
Construction, layout; what's inside it?
PCB!
The big boy sounds great. If I were a rich man…?
Hand wired?
The design looks a bit like a Fender amp.
Sounds good but should be $299.00
Cool amps, will likely pick one up soon-glad to see gibson back in the game. Great playing on the video as well. These amps are not really to me comparable to the fender designs with tube rectifiers, but have their own vibe.
What’s that your playing on 5:59?
Freebird
Screw the amp, show us the Microfrets!
🐦🐦🐦🐦 6:00 ♥
How exactly are they hand-wired?
Why were the 12ax7 mounted horizontally on the PCB? Oops said too much 🫢 . . seems like a rip off for some “mojo”
I’d never buy a single ended amp for 1500.
Exactly. They a promoting a POS product.
A $30 circuit board in a $100 speaker cab .
Bummerrrrr
I would skip this amp and get something from Toneking like the Gremlin or....Falcon.
these amps are nothing like the old ones. open them up and you will find the design is garbage
Totally true. And you put it very kindly!!! Brad the Guitarologist wasn't as kind in his review
How does it sound though? 😊
sounds good, but will not withstand more than a month of touring. @@mickenilsson
@@ericajohnson7535 that doesn't sound very promising 😬
@@ericajohnson7535 strong claim about an amp thats not even been out a month
Don't get me wrong Nathaniel is awesome but what happened to Joel and Andrew. Dudes were funny as shit and great guitarist. Maybe they moved on.
Utter junk at a total rip off price. Show us what is inside. It's not much and those internal valves are going to cook it. The 20 is only a 12w amp stock!
for the money Gibson is charging why not just make a true reissue? These amps are not Falcons. They could name these amps the Gibson Moonbeams and no one would argue that they are not an original amp series. Calling them Falcons is just sad.
Absolute junk... won't last 5 years! $1500 for a circuit board (with tubes on the board!) single ended 6v6? Just wow... Lost a lot of respect for CME for pushing this garbage.
Should've used a telecaster or a jaguar.
garbage pcb board
In my opinion 98 % of tube amp reissues sound terrible and are absolutely not comparable with the originals. Exception are some expensive brands like Victoria, Swart and even those while they are very good, they don't sound like an old one. I am talking about 40s and 50s small amps, Fender, Gibson, Supro, Valco and related. Those have a warmth and compression i have not heard in a new one. Ever.
Awful lot of buzz.
You won't getaway with your new haircut ........Fells kind like I can't trust you anymore:):)