Would you buy a Fender Showman for bass?

Would I? No- but I'd love one for gtr or a two-channel Tom Petersson-type rig.
Speaker's suitability for bass- I'm guessing no, except at lower volumes.
Main amp- no.
Testimonial- no experience; used a 50 watt bassman w/a 15" once, found it lacking big-time(for bass).
Buy it? Sure- stimulate the economy.

Edit: That is lovely.

 

When I was a kid my dream amps were the Ampeg B15 (got one now) and the Fender Dual Showman in Blonde. I owned a blonde 2x12 Bassman for all of one gig. It was a terrible bass amp!

If you wish to gig with this amp it won't go too far but as a practice amp it'd be perfect. If you have the money buy it if not pass.

Paul

 

The EV SRO was a guitar speaker. It worked as well as most 60s 15s for bass, but that's not saying all that much. It's a nice head, and with an Eminence Deltalite 2515 in the cab would be OK for moderate volume gigs. With the SRO it would fart out at even moderate levels.
The Tolex color and size of the speaker cab doesn't work as a '64, and the vibrato channel is short one control. Most odd. Could be a fake, it happens Details on the '64 and prices shown at http://www.ampwares.com/amp.asp?id=85

 

I would buy for guitar for sure. Get a 2x12 to go with that and you would have an awesome sounding rig.

 

Now you didn't tell us that!

I'd pass.

Paul

 

For a bass amp, that's a great guitar amp.

 

i have used a showman for many years for bass guitar

it held its own in a two guitar/keyboard bands
bigger gigs/ svt's

i agree with bill determine if it is a real showman, i have seen many fake fenders, usually out of the philippines, with less than the normal number of tubes, and an aluminum chassis

 

Blackfaces were either white or black, not blonde. Both Blackfaces and Blondes, and Silverfaces for that matter, had six knobs on the vibrato channel. This one has no middle control. It looks like a Bandmaster with an altered face plate. Or a flawed copy of a Showman.