Gibson Review: Red Bear MK60

History:

Purchase: Bought it locally at a Consignment shop for $500. Bought it 'cause I wanted a 1/2 stack, and the SOUND and price pulled me in.

What I Like About This Gibson Red Bear MK60: 60 watts. Tube amp head. Hand wired point to point, just like back in the day, 50's-60's-70's. Solid construction. Russian technology. Converting the tubes would be a solution, since finding replacement tubes is somewhat difficult, but CAN be found. Low, Mid, High, Presence, Master Volume, and Gain volume. High and Low 1/4" input. "Sensitivity" button increases the volume/output. Came with a 4x12 cab with Celestions in it. Nearly identical to the 70's Marshalls in sound; practically no difference other than the label. Nice warm tube sound. Awesome!!!

What I Do NOT Like About The Gibson Red Bear MK60: NOTHING WHATSOEVER.

Gibson Red Bear MK60 Quality Rating: Built brick house solid. Just like the Old Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth Cars in the 50's-60's-70's, the manufacturer knew they had built the Holy Grail of amps here. And that it was built to LAST. So, D/C'd them in 1998. Insane; other than replacing the tubes, will last forever. Guess disposability is in. Won't find that with this one. PPL who've heard of these or own one will tell ya: GET ONE!!! That is, IF one likes GREAT TONE.

Review Summary: Hopefully, will NEVER PART with my amp, will always own it, and always gig/play with it. If you find one, even just the amp head, GET IT!!!! You can always get some other cab; mine is std, pkg. thing, Red Bear sold these like that. But on Ebay, some sell just the amp head (Red Bear MK60 and MK120, 120 wts of course)so getting a separate cab isn't a big whoop. Matching the amp with a cab takes some time. But anyway, the amp head is all that and a bag o chips!!!

Rating of this Gibson product: 5

This Gibson Red Bear MK60 Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: Jiver

Review Date: 2003-10-29