GAS_logo

GAS (Great American Sound Company) came out of SAE. James Bongiorno, a designer at SAE, created a product called the “Ampzilla”, which was originally designed as a construction project for Popular Electronics Magazine. There was sufficient demand for the product that he left SAE and founded GAS. Over the years, he designed an entire family of preamplifiers and amplifiers.

I am always looking for literature, manuals, schematics, etc. for these, so if you have any I’d love to hear from you!

NOTE: GAS did not publish schematics or service manuals for their products. I have gone to quite a bit of effort and tried my best to collect documentation on their products as a service to other GAS owners. These are the best examples I have been able to collect; if you don’t like them, please have the courtesy not to complain about them.

To view GAS literature including product brochures and copies of the GAS “Gasette” , click here.

Here’s a rundown of the products:

Amplifiers

Amplifier

Power
(watts @ 8 ohms)

Year
Introduced

Comments

Other Info

Ampzilla

200

1974

Original design, initially a project in Popular Electronics

Schematic

Ampzilla II

200

1977

First DC-servo controlled amplifier

Schematic

Manual*

Ampzilla III

200

1984

Kit amplifier

Schematic*

Son of Ampzilla

80

1977-1982

Considered by some the best sounding GAS amp

Schematic

Manual

Grandson

40

1978-1982

Available with and without meters

Manual
Schematic

Godzilla

90 watts Class A
350 watts Class AB

1978

Dual, monoblock, only 20 manufactured

 

Ampzilla 500

256

1980-1982

Last GAS product, designed by Andrew Hefley

 

White Knight

90

?

Class A; white; not sure if it was ever produced or was just a prototype

 

* Courtesy of David Swindell

Other Components

Name

Type

Comment

Other Info

Thaedra I, II

Preamplifier

Top of the line preamp, servo controlled

Schematic

Manual

Thoebe

Preamplifier

Midrange preamp

Schematic

Manual*

Thalia I, II

Preamplifier

Budget preamp

Schematic

Manual*

Bridge

 

Bridges multiple amps

Manual

Goliath I, II

Preamplifier

Phono amp

Manual

Sleeping Beauty

Phono Cartridge

Moving Coil

 

* Courtesy of David Swindell

As best as I can ascertain, the intention was to match high end amps with a comparable high end preamp, and low end with low end. So, the Ampzilla and the Thaedra went together, the Son and Thoebe went together, and Grandson and Thalia went together.

Here are some photos of additional GAS products:

ampzilla500

Ampzilla 500 (original)

GAS_500_Front1
GAS_500_Front2

Ampzilla 500 (late-model)
(photo by John Via/Jim Hamilton)

GAS_Godzilla

Godzilla
(photo by Ampzilla Joe)

GAS Grandson w-meters

Grandson with meters

GAS ampzilla orginal

Original Ampzilla

goliath2

Sleeping Beauty cartridge

Contact me at: david@davidsaudio.com

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