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Topic: New Dual Showman Reverb |
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 12:31 pm |
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OK--the amp literally just came in the door and is really cold so I'm letting it reach room temperature before firing it up. It is VERY clean. Truly EXCELLENT condition.
I'm confused abvout what I've got here and the Fender Field Guide doesn't help. The front panel says Dual Showman Reverb On the back panel it says TFL5000D. It has a master volume AND a pull boost but it says 100W on the back, not 135. The output is 4ohm.
So what is this? Is it an Ultralinear model? Or is it a Silver Face that can be black faced if I choose (unlike the ultralinear that, I've read many times cannot really be blackfaced). Anybody know the history of these? The ad said, I think, '74.
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 12:44 pm
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| It is not an Ultrlinear. I have one just like it in my shop that I will be modding for steel guitar and guitar (reverb on channel one) this Saturday. Excellent amp and can be Blackfaced. The master volume can be left in with no consequence, just keep it wide open. The pull boost is actually not bad and can be used to add a little crunch, for guitar work (it also dampens the reverb signal quite a bit). [This message was edited by Ken Fox on 08 December 2003 at 12:44 PM.] |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 12:56 pm
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| Super cool Ken. Thanks. I think I got real lucky. Actually, it is cosmetically so clean that I'm a bit suspicious that there may be some replacement stuff--the front panel gleams, the grill cloth is immaculate, the tolex is real good. Or maybe I have a real under the bed amp! Better get the bedbug spray. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 1:27 pm
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Hang on to those Dual Showman heads, someday people will figure out how cool they are. It's the answer to the Twin weight issue.
Brad Sarno
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 1:55 pm
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ohm'gosh.
It would appear that I have really lucked out. This is absolutely silent. No issues. It sounds.......like it should!!!!! Even has the footswitch. It has a tag on the power cord explaining the use of the pull boost. I reckon it's original?
I was so braced for some kind of rude surprise, buying this sight unseen. It would appear that somebody somewhere likes me. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 3:20 pm
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Jon, congrats. What speaker will you be playing your Dual through. I recently got a Custom Vibrasonic head, which is like the Dual and Twin, but it has reverb in both channels and the clean channel is called the "Steel" channel. It was made in the '90s with a black face front and seems to sound like a black face - warm, sparkling highs, the mids are scooped and have to be cranked up to 8. I play it through a 15" JBL D130 in a homemade reflex cabinet. The combination is all you could ever dream of.  |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 3:56 pm
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Cool, David. Yeah, as per Ken, I expect tot do the two channel reverb mod too so I expect our amps will be quite similar. My intent is to run thru a 15" Weber Cali I've got in a Marrs cab. But it is 8ohm. I've also got a D130F I could put in there. But it is also 8ohm. I'm also spooked about blowing it. I've read all kinds of numbers for the JBL but one rating I saw for it, in a discussion by the designer of the speaker, rates it at 50W! Obviously it can handle more but....The Weber is rated at 80W so that falls a bit short too but it is supposedly a conservative rating. I've also got a 2x10 cab with Cali's in it too. 8ohm. I'm not sure I like its sound but the speakers aren't broken in yet so I'm holding out some hope there. I'd rather not be buying yet another speaker but I'd also rather be running at the 4ohms the amp wants to see. So I'm not settled in yet with the speaker situation.
You say you are boosting the mids to 8? Interesting---I was thinking that a major part of the BF sound was the scooped mids. I've only begun messing with this but that's something I'll check out for sure. |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 7:39 pm
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I am both pleased for your good fortune and a bit envious! 
dva |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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David Friedlander
From:
New York, New York, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 10:31 pm
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Congratulations Jon, sounds awesome. I really love silverface amps.
Is the reverb box the same as the one in the combo amps? |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 10:49 pm
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Thanks DVA---I knew you'd be cheering for me. But jealous? Man, I was jealous of you! We can't be chasing each other, now, can we? Jody. Thankyou. Glad to have some back story. You got 7581A's in that 150W monster?
Take care of yourself!
David, thanks. Yeah, with the rebuilt Deluxe Reverb and now this DSR--with a BF Showman awaiting my TLC as well as a hurtin' Vibrosonic Reverb, I think I may kinda like Fenders. Good question about the reverb. I'm not sure I'm happy with it. Nothing bad. Just not quite what I've heard elsewhere in terms of lushness. I have another tank I might slip in and I have some tube options. I'll be experimenting this week. [This message was edited by Jon Light on 08 December 2003 at 10:50 PM.] |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 11 Dec 2003 8:07 pm
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Hey Jon,
Get 2 cabs going ....Use both your 15's ...
If you run 2 - 8 ohm speakers together , wired properly, you get 4 ohms !!...Now your amp runs at full power, and you don't have to worry about blowing EITHER speaker !!...Plenty of sound there !!...Jim |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2003 9:17 am
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I am in the process of modding one just like yours for a fellow Forumite. The pull boost circuit is easily removable, and a good idea to do! The reverb was strangely designed as well and sounded thin and weak (unbypassed 470 ohm cathode resistor on valve 3, two suppression caps). I am putting it back to early Silverface/Blackface style. This one is also getting:
-tantalum bypass caps
-new filter caps, power supply and bypass(tremolo section).
-Blackfaced power supply and bias control(this raises the preamp voltages and the power amp voltages back to Blackface levels)
-Orange drop and Silver Mica tone caps
-all new JJ tubes
-Blackfacing inverter section
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 12 Dec 2003 12:51 pm
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Hey James--I only just saw your post. Yeah--that's one way to get there. Not my idea of fun carrying two cabs though. Plus my regular gig is a tiny bandstand (actually not that small, just too many people on it) and it won't hold a second cab. I'm still considering my options--I've got an 8 ohm D130F that I've considered having reconed to 4 ohms and to E130 (or is it K?) but it disturbs me to do this to a perfectly healthy speaker.
Ken--I was just reading your account of this at the Amp Workshop. If/when I'm ready to mess around with this I may ask for more specifics about what you did with the reverb. I have indeed found the reverb a bit less than Fender lush. Not awful by any means. But lacking in bottom. I expect I'll want to do that mod and the mid slope resistor thing.
I'm liking this amp more every day. |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2003 3:39 pm
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That was what I found, too! It lacked any bottom in the reverb tone. I think largely due to the unbypassed cathode resistor on the reverb drive tube (12AT7). Also 470 ohms is just running that tube too hot! When I touched the resistor, it fell into two pieces! That baby had run hot and hard for years. An early Silverface uses a 2200 ohm resistor there with a 25/25 uf bypass cap (lets the lows go on by a lot better). hesea re great amps, and easy to convert back to a desirable tone!
I just got a line on a 100 watt Silverface twin in a Head cabinet (not a tall one, looks like an old Showman cab). I might get it soon! I also found a guy with two Twin reverb cabs that are empty. Might be able to put together a Twin at a fairly reasonable price very soon!
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2003 10:34 pm
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| Got the Dual Showman done tonight. Sounds awesome. Reverb is greatly improved, sounds like a Fender amp now! |
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