FEATURES
World's most versatile guitar amplifier -- use any combination of power tubes
Adjustable from 1 up to 15-, 30-, 60-, or 90-watts
12 pounds total weight
Transformer-less design eliminates drawbacks inherent in traditional amps
Accepts 36 types of power tubes in any combinations; input tubes can also be changed
Plays "matched" tubes as well as tubes of completely, even wildly different types
Plays all standard tube complements
Allows over 1.6 million combinations of tubes
No adjustments required - all combinations of tubes are auto-biased
Hand-wound power magnetics & impedance converters
Impedance converters attain correct theoretical output transformer turns ratio
No low-frequency saturation, high-frequency roll-off, or phasal non-linearities
Low impedance output drives a wide range of speakers
Not damaged by no load / open-load or shorted load
Automatic protection circuitry
Ramp-up turn-on delay extends tube life
10 - 20 years tube life depending on use
Class AB output stage; 2 push-pull pairs, can be used imbalanced for tonal effect
Proven Baxandall tone-stack; Effects loop with Send volume control
P3™ Phantom Power optionally powers pedals and active pickups via signal cable
No heavy power or audio transformers - no hum
Domestic or Universal (autosensing 100-240VAC 50/60Hz) power supplies available
Interchangeable features may be changed for look, or removed to cut weight even further
Fits anywhere, even inside a "small head" case with room to spare.
Uses patented designs by David Berning, one of the world's premier audio designers
Premium components and craftsmanship, made in USA
Upgradeable to any power capability and/or international supply
PERFORMANCE
"Went to the amp show... Most innovative... P3 ... Milbert tube amp with no transformer. It sounds amazing. The builders brought a drummer and bassist with them, and people were jamming all weekend. ... It sounded excellent." »
REVIEWS
Shape Shifter
Milbert Amplifiers GAGA 60-watt tube head
by Rich Maloof / Vintage Guitar, Jan 2014
PDF format -or- JPG format
Milbert Amplifiers has produced a genuinely revolutionary guitar amplifier in GAGA. Lightweight, exceptionally adaptable, and featuring an innovative transformerless design, GAGA may be unparalleled in matching versatility with supremely satisfying tube tone.
Under a hood of aircraft aluminum, GAGA has the capability to use any tubes, auto-match impedance to any speaker, adjust headroom, and provide phantom power for pedals. ...all players really need to know is that a transformerless amp allows pure, unfiltered tube response -- and that without a hunk of iron in the chassis, the head weighs just 12 pounds.
Any common power tubes can be used in any combination of two, three, or four tubes you like. Because the amp autobiases, you can even use mismatched tubes together to shape your tone. ... Without a transformer to drive, the distinctive qualities of different output tubes can be heard unimpeded. And because you can easily swap tubes after pulling off GAGA's top, the amp provides a singular opportunity to explore truly pure tube sounds. We exhausted only a handful of the hundreds of possible tube combinations...
Any speaker cab or cab pair can be connected to GAGA, regardless of load....
... well beyond the amp's capacity for emulation is an opportunity to discover entirely new timbres, and to nail a sound that otherwise exists only in a player's mind. ...touring musicians, session players, recording studios, and total tone hounds may find this amplifier undeniable.
Local Music Gear
"This amp is cool in so many ways! ...you build your tone and get to change it whenever and wherever you want. ...[Milbert offers] one amplifier that can perform as many different amplifiers -- and they did it correctly. ... you can get the sound of any amp you want with real tubes ... and [GAGA] weighs in at [12] lbs. Do I really need to say anything else?"
Tone your own
Performer Magazine, September 2014, pp. 46-47
GAGA, the Guitar Artists Guitar Amplifier ... uses advanced power conversion and other patented innovations ... to uniquely convey maximum tube tone and to attain what has previously been elusive: The verifiably purest-possible tube performance and a stunning "clarity of tone" that unleashes cleaner cleans, dirtier dirties, and a more natural, most-musical ecstasy...
With well over 1.6 million possible “tube cocktail” combinations available by plug-n-play mixing a few dozen types of tubes, GAGA can be like getting a new amp, every day, for the next several thousand years. ... [GAGA is] a “ridiculously versatile” tube alchemy set for the incorrigibly creative muse.
Billy Penn's 300 Guitars
BELOW: April 2010 early news about GAGA. Note the chassis shown in the picture is the original 3-pound aluminum prototype (50 watts via four EL34 power tubes) which was necessarily increased to a sturdier road-worthy chassis capable of withstanding mighty forces in the wild.
GAGA's production chassis is aluminum alloy (up to 1/8th-inch thick) and completely encloses the amplifier, including internal barriers and safety cage. All component parts meet or exceed "mil-spec", including the extra-thick silver-plated circuiboards, down to the stainless-steel hardware used throughout. The aluminum side-panels and top handle may be removed or swapped; custom wooden faceplates are available. Excepting its durable soft red rubber "shoes", all Teflon-coated tin/copper internal wiring, and fully powder-coated metals, the use of plastic materials is otherwise minimized. Recessed laboratory glass features behind the faceplate, deep-milled letters delineate the single-function knobs, and similar luxuries and attention to all details appear throughout. Carbon-wiper potentiometers are optionally available for old-school purists. A removable top cover allows easy access to the tubes. GAGA is thoroughly unique and fresh in design, build and performance.
INFORMATION
Mix Your Own Tube Cocktail - Mix tube tones to your taste, over 1.6 million variations
Tubes vs Transformers - An Esoteric Exploration of Tubes, Transformers, Tone, Transcendence
What Good Tone Looks Like, September 2014 (PDF)
Regarding "high-fidelity" instrument amplification --
Jun 2024 -- Promptly after GAGA's introduction in 2009, a few internet forums denigrated its "hi-fi design" and veered off into the weeds; that was 15 years ago.
Recently this gem surfaced: "The [300-watt Ampeg SVT] amplifier [frequency response] was flatter than a bookkeeper's ass from [20 Hz to 20 kHz] plus or minus a [decibel] at 300 watts. It was a beautiful high-fidelity amplifier...it was flat; all the voicing was [per] standard Baxandall-style tone-controls..." - Roger Cox, lead project designer of the celebrated Ampeg SVT combo, 10:00 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhWz2pUWrvE&t=600s
Sep 2024 -- "Talking in a 1985 interview, [Alexander] Dumble states: 'One thing I noticed about early guitar amps is that they were real limited, especially in the lower-end [of the audio spectrum], but you have to be careful to make sure you still keep the proper midrange and treble response: You can't build a hi-fi circuit and expect it to be a good guitar amp; it just doesn't work out. You need a whole different response curve, but I did notice that if you put a little more low-end into the preamp circuitry it was much more tasteful and fun to play.'" ~7:56 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSe5sR1xTA0&t=476s
~9:30 in the video above, Dumble: "...the concept of processing the [audio] signal post-preamp stayed the same. Most other high-gain amplifiers use a pre- preamp gain boost, but I broke away from that quite early, in the late 1960s. I found that trying to build the signal up before the preamp had a tendency to really overload the preamp, and you got non-harmonic tones and a very unmusical end result, plus you ran into a lot of vacuum tube problems with harmonics. So what I wanted to do was get all the wonderful umph and beautiful sustain and harmonic richness without the electronic troubles."
All interesting because: "'Hi-Fi' are the words most often used to describe the sound of any Dumble, [meaning] that all the frequencies are there [and] all of them are balanced at the same time." ~15:14 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOJU8nlzFA&t=914s -- and at 16:35: "Often, the output transformer is replaced with one that is more capable of handling the full range of frequencies from the amp."
"Likely, when you hear the word 'Dumble' you think of Robben Ford...When most people say, 'It sounds like a Dumble', they're really saying, 'It sounds like Robben Ford's Dumble' [which has] become the generic tone associated with Alexander Dumble's [amplifiers]..." from ~0:35 then 8:50 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOJU8nlzFA&t=35s From Robben Ford himself: "[Dumble tone] has this perfect sonic curve: The lows are deep and rich but not unclear...you have the frequencies, they're [present for] use: The midrange, punchy and clear; the high-end: bright, clear but doesn't hurt your ears...it's loud but it sounds good." ~0:50 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlWrkqChSVk&t=50s
So, it's contradictory and conflicting information all around, even from Dumble himself. Combining all comments and schematics: The clean tone appears to be tuned tone-stack and powerful "hi-fi" with switchable distortion circuitry adding flavor: "The clean channel is often cited for its highly-responsive, transparent and open sound. The overdrive channel is widely viewed as the ultimate example of tube-generated overdrive: Harmonically rich, fat, creamy and above all touch-sensitive. ... Dumble was trying to create amps that were instruments of interaction." Dumble designs are noted as having begun as [full-spectrum, powerful, high-headroom] bass amps. ~4:30 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOJU8nlzFA&t=270s
The above is relevant because GAGA is an ultra high-fidelity audio amplifier with a switchable tone-stack and distortion circuitry (both preamp- and power-tube) capable of introducing a widely variable amount of power, color and flavor, also designed as an interactive instrument.
AVAILABLE MODELS
There is wait list for all GAGA models.
Call or email to get on the list.
GAGA D-15
15 W max audio power, 120 or 240 V mains
GAGA D-30
30 W max audio power, 120 or 240 V mains
GAGA D-60
60 W max audio power, 120 or 240 V mains
GAGA 90
90 W max audio power, universal world power
Each of the lower wattages is upgradeable. Domestic and world power universal supplies are available. Electromagnetically clean patented power conversion technologies maximize performance and greatly extend tube lifetimes. Numerous customizations are available, including some that are player-changeable: Different rubber feet (black, blue); wood sides, wood faceplate, various handles; different knobs, anodized aluminum hardware, etc. GAGA ships with standard tube complements - 6L6, EL34, 12AT7 - or with custom-selected tubes per specification. Available bare, mounted in a "small head", or mounted in a 1 x 12 cabinet, GAGA can fit practically anywhere.
