Fender Dual Showman and reverb question

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

I have a question for folks who use Fender amp heads without reverb, particularly the Showman or Dual Showman heads. I'm looking for an amp with more headroom than what I've got right now for my PSG, and also an amp that will be a good amp for my Tele. I know that a lot of people love Fender Twin Reverbs for PSG, and the Showman is basically the same amp without the speakers and the reverb. I know someone who is selling an early '68 Dual Showman (early Silverface, but with the AB763 circuit, and 85 watts). I know these are good amps, and it will probably have the headroom, tone, and volume that I need. My concern is adding an external reverb device to the amp. I'm assuming that with a Showman one would have to use a stompbox or outboard reverb. How does this compare to an amp with built-in reverb, like a Twin? Is there a compromise having the reverb in the chain before the amp (I don't think this amp has any effects loops added to the circuit, and I wouldn't want to modify a vintage amp)? Also, how do the Fender closed cabinets sound for steel? I've only played through open backed combo amps before. If all works well, this would be an affordable way to get into an AB763 Fender.

Thanks very much for your comments,
Clifford Kane

mtulbert · From: Plano, Texas 75023

Hopefully, this will steer you in the right direction.

Just about all amps have a spring type system that gives you the reverb in an amp. Depending on the amp builder, you can get great sounding reverbs or in some cases reverbs that are noisy and poor sounding. The cost of that type of reverb system is a small part of the overall price of an amp. An outboard unit such as a Lexicon will give you a wide choice of reverbs and in the long run are going to blow the spring system out of the water for flexibility in my opinion.

I have a Twin Reverb and the reverb is ok. I do play my steel through that amp occasionally and the reverb is adequate. That amp with the Lexicon sounds to me much better. The reverb is deeper, and quieter and as mentioned earlier, you have can shape the reverb much better than a stock spring unit.

While some of the old technology offers great tone and performance, this is one case where the digital era blows away anything that is analog short of an acoustically perfect building.

Again just my 2 cents.

Regards,

Mark T.

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

Mark--thanks for your comment. Your experience with the Twin and the Lexicon addresses my concern, as that would be the scenerio for me with the Showman.

Cheers--
Cliff

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

Another vote for Lexicon. I am not a big fan of spring reverbs for pedal steel, I think any Lexicon unit sounds way better for steel than any Fender reverb. IMHO.

I have a Showman that I love. One mod you should consider is removing the vibrato circuit, which increases gain. This is a well known modification for Shomans.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Rick Johnson · From: Wheelwright, Ky USA

Cliff
I have a '66 Dual Showman that I had reverb
installed in it. The tech used the vibrato
section and converted it to reverb.
I made a killer head cabinet for it.
Its amazing to me but that amp will work
for steel and guitar and even bass guitar.
I use a 1/15 JBL Showman cab.
Who else can make an map that is so
versitle?
My amp tech is David Allen www.allenamps.com

Rick

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Rick Johnson

Cliff Swanson · From: Raleigh, NC

I have a silver face Dual Showman that dates out to the fall of 1967, and it has the AB763 circuit. I've used both an Alesis Nanoverb and a Boss RV-3 for reverb and both sound good to me. I don't use much reverb, as I prefer delay, but nonetheless I think effect box route is perfectly acceptable with this amp for steel.

I'm playing my Dual Showman through a Jenkins Sound Shop open back 1x15" cabinet loaded with a Weber CA15 speaker, and I couldn't be more pleased with the sound of this rig.

Feel free to mail me if you have other questions about tubes and other electronics for the Dual Showman.

[This message was edited by Cliff Swanson on 20 April 2001 at 05:14 PM.]

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