The only difference between a Showman and Dual Showman should be the output transformers. The Showman is an 8 ohm transformer and the Dual a 4 ohm. Same power, tone etc.
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Fender Dual Showman
- Thread starter Oren Hudson
- Start date
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,066
- 45,992
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
FWIW, here's a different upgraded F2B DIY build with some really nicely thought out details: http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff/SonOfAlembic/SonOfAlembicF2B.html
I agree these record great. Used a 1968 Dual Showman with 2x15 JBL D140's. In a Studio in CA last year. Got some great tones.
just to chime in. I am also one of those who used Showman heads back in the day ('73 to'78ish)-. 1 Showman into a D140 loaded 2x15 cab for smaller gigs, 2 Showmans into 2 D140 loaded 2x15 cabs for bigger shows. Sounded great and weighed a ton, but all gear weighed a ton then, and it was actually way easier to move and set up than the kb players B3, so I never got too much grief from my sound guys.
I use a Fender Studio Bass amp and a Faital Pro 15PR400 loaded 2x15 cab to approximate that sound these days. I really dig that Fender all tube thing. Wonderful stuff in the right application.
I use a Fender Studio Bass amp and a Faital Pro 15PR400 loaded 2x15 cab to approximate that sound these days. I really dig that Fender all tube thing. Wonderful stuff in the right application.
I have owned and played both the Showman and Bassman 100, each paired with two JBL D140F drivers. In my opinion, they are among the best sounding bass amps that I have ever heard. I can't tell $0.02 worth of difference between the two. This is just a guess, but possibly the Showman is more popular for nostalgic reasons. When the Showman first appeared, it was one of the most powerful amps available, until other manufacturers started building bigger amps with speakers that were more efficient. Nearly every bass player I saw in the '60s used a Dual Showman with D140s. By the time the Bassman 100 was introduced in the '70s, many bass players had moved to the more powerful amps as their primary rig.
4Mal
The buddy I got the DSR from also has a 64 Showman head but I couldn't get him to part with that one. I agree that the DSR does seem to break up earlier than the BF does. One thing he does have that he's going to give to me is a 63 blonde Showman cab. Original owner said it was a tone ring cab. The owner tore out the speaker baffle and reworked it to hold a single 15 and two 10's ???Cab is empty and is in decent shape. I'm going to restore it back to original.
Interested in that DIY pre. Did you do it yourself? Any plans available for that?
Agree on those old Music Man heads. They are way underrated and darn near bulletproof. Best thing is that since they are rather overlooked in the market, you can still find them out there for decent prices.
Keep Low
The baffle board I believe should be easy to restore. Hit the TDPRI.com aka Telecaster.com. Pretty much if it's info on old Fenders... Somebody over there knows the skinny...
I bought the pre out of the GfS here a week or two back. It is similar to 1 side of an F2B but more hifi. There seems to be no grind in it which is fine by me. It's the clean and sparkly Fender thing I love... Passinwind modeled the circuit and did some interesting comparison plots with an F2 b model. Based on the plots, the Alembic would have relatively less low end at approximate flat. The DIY seems to be pretty close to flat from 50hz on up. It is very interactive and a really interesting box... I could see pairing this with a really good active DI and using it for what I used my U5 for... It's that good... If there is room, I may beg Passinwind to embed a nice Jensen DI in the box...
The HD150 is killin' me... Sweet amp!
I have a Silver Face Dual Showman head with the Dual cab. Bought them both new about 1978 from Robbie's Music City in Wayne NJ. The proprietor, Charlie Robbie, gave me a great price at the time, $400 dollars for both. Like I said, I still have both. The cab has JBL D140F's. I use this amp for practice ONLY as it does not leave the house. EVER! The tone and volume is so pure and clean. I have played all of my basses through it. From a Jazz to a Pedula 5 string to an Ibanez 6 and even a Squire Bronco. What a sound, so clear it makes you cry.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
Nice tone for sure.
I gigged a 1967 silverface DS with D140F drivers from 1967 to 1970. Even with two cabinets (2nd one had D130F drivers), it just did not keep up with a couple of medium-sized Fender guitar amps. We were quite loud, as was nearly everyone who could be back then, LOL! Thanks, Jimi, Eric, and Jeff.
Huh? What? Could you please repeat that?
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IMHO the Orange AD200B with the Master maxed out sounds and behaves a lot like a Showman with approximately double the power. From what I have read the AD200B typically benches at about 165-170W clean. My assumption is a blackface Showman would make about 85W clean.
My first amp was a blackface Fender Twin, which is basically a Showman circuit with Reverb. I currently own a 68 TFL5000D Showman Reverb which is really a Twin Reverb in a head case. I also own an AD200B for comparison. I won't say the sound and feel is exact, but it's as close as I have come across as long as I max out the Master. The AD200B does have a relatively high gain preamp, so if you turn the Master down and run up the Gain, you will quickly get into preamp drive territory which does not sound very Fendery.
People seem to either love or hate the AD200B. If you remember the old Showman fondly and wish it had more power, I suggest taking an AD200B for a spin; I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
As far as how loud an AD200B plays. Mine is definitely louder than my Showman Reverb, but not quite as loud as my SVTs; exactly as you would expect.
My first amp was a blackface Fender Twin, which is basically a Showman circuit with Reverb. I currently own a 68 TFL5000D Showman Reverb which is really a Twin Reverb in a head case. I also own an AD200B for comparison. I won't say the sound and feel is exact, but it's as close as I have come across as long as I max out the Master. The AD200B does have a relatively high gain preamp, so if you turn the Master down and run up the Gain, you will quickly get into preamp drive territory which does not sound very Fendery.
People seem to either love or hate the AD200B. If you remember the old Showman fondly and wish it had more power, I suggest taking an AD200B for a spin; I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
As far as how loud an AD200B plays. Mine is definitely louder than my Showman Reverb, but not quite as loud as my SVTs; exactly as you would expect.
Last year I sold my '62 Dual Showman (it's in post #24) since I'm no longer gigging and a buyer who is an active player that had been searching for "the right one" contacted me. It went to a good home.
But.....I kept this backdated-to-blonde 1967 Dual Showman that I sometimes use for studio work. It was a blackface 20 years ago when I acquired it but it became a blonde to match the other amps in the instrumental progressive rock/surf band I was in at the time. The speaker is a 400W single EV-15BX that was converted to 4 ohms.
But.....I kept this backdated-to-blonde 1967 Dual Showman that I sometimes use for studio work. It was a blackface 20 years ago when I acquired it but it became a blonde to match the other amps in the instrumental progressive rock/surf band I was in at the time. The speaker is a 400W single EV-15BX that was converted to 4 ohms.
