Modeling the tonal character of the Gibson GA-40?

artzeal

Experienced
My mail order bride -delete- My AX8 will move in next week: I’ve vacuumed and spruced the place up: The Zoom G5 is on craigslist, the Boss RT-20 and Blackstar HT-Dual on the closet shelf. The amps will have their covers on. I thought it would be nice to have a head start on specific tonal goals. I’m new to Fractal: so I’ve perused the manual and researched various threads. Thanks to Yek’s alluring Page 3-esque amp presentations; I feel well informed on performance expectations.

Although I will be confidently futzing away on most of it without guidance and the door locked: there is one challenge I would like to solicit the advice of seasoned Fractal Audio veterans on. Emulating the Gibson GA-40 (since it isn’t specifically modeled) or, more generally, its kin - 50’s Gibson amp tones: GA30, GA9. I’m interested in that lower gain range where it goes from cleanish to fat harmonic sustain without much grit. Tone guide: Bebop with a hollow body, jump blues. "Look Ma - no headroom". Not crunch, chime, grind: all this other good stuff can be had elsewhere.

This range of GA-40 type tone doesn’t seem to be in the job description of most tube amps or models I’ve come across thus far: My understanding is that 50’s circuit topologies are fairly similar: but Fenders’ IME have quite a different texture from the Gibsons’ : but maybe you can get close with some under the hood adjustments: Swapping 6V6 for 6L6 in the Bassman model possibly?

And so, if you've had success of this sort: nudge, nudge, know what I mean? Is there already an amp model that can be coaxed into that naughty behavior? If so: How far do I twist the knobs? If not, then what amp model, speaker and special tonal, biasing, or transformer tweaks from among the array of Fractal Audio models and settings would get you to first base; or at least in the ballpark? Are there advanced parameters that might offer similar preamp performance to the GA-40’s 5879 tube? Once I wade in, I’m sure I’ll eventually find something: but why reinvent the wheel if its already be done?

Cheers!
 
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Well: now that I have the AX8 in hand, or should I say underfoot, I have discovered that the Swart Atomic Space Tone aka Nuclear-Tone will do what I had thought a GA-40 might be needed for (and so much more): between the Nuclear-Tone and the Gibson Scout: seems like a wide array of 50s/60s tones that aren't Fender can be crafted, but with more flexibility and reliability.
 
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