In the ’70s, Gibson tried a few high-tech experiments (read “something not of the Ted McCarty era).  Two of their innovations included active electronics designed by Robert Moog in guitars and...the infamous Lab Series amps.  It’s said that Dan Pearce had a hand in designing them, but I haven’t been able to find any hard documentation yet.  UPDATE: the “History of Pearce Amplifiers” article included below explains Pearce’s involvement in the Lab Series and also an overall history of the Pearce Amplifier company and DP’s design philosophy.  A must-read!

In the ‘80s when I first heard of them, I remembered they had a reputation for blowing speakers (although I don’t know how well-founded that was), and that B.B. King used them.  A little later, I read an interview with Ty Tybor which made much of how his amp was a closely-guarded secret.  “You’d laugh” he said, “I’m trying to find them all while they’re cheap”.  I remember guessing that it had to be some sort of solid state amp, either a Peavey or a...Lab Series.   Turned out, it was the latter.