Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

[JeffB]

So the Nuge was famous for using these throughout the 70s, and Robin Trower used the red knkbs during the 80s and early 90s.

What is the scoop with these amps? Gneral specs, etc. Anyone have one or experience with them? both Ted, and Robin had some amazing aggressive hard rock tone with them, and they are much heavier sounding than typical Fender tweed, BF, or SF amps.. Was this Fenders answer to Marshalls dominance of the 70s/80s in the hard rock arena?

 

[glassman]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

The Dual Showman is really nothing more than a Twin Reverb in head form. Nugent's tone is definitely aggressive; any Fender can get that level of aggression with some slight modifications and a lot of volume.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

the red knobs ones are pretty different than the silverface ones.

i have a '69 dual showman reverb thats been blackfaced and its fantastic, albeit loud as hell. i had a red knob twin too and it was a good amp for what it was. dont expect the dirt channel to do metal without a pedal though and not all of them have reverb.

they are all solid loud amps with good clean tones. if you crank the volume till the overdrive they sound great too, just very loud

 

[JeffB]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

Wow. I thoughi saw on google some fender ad where the models ted used had some eq and gain boosts, but they were stock from fender that way. They dont sound like a cranked twin to me..which I have played...tweeds, sf, red kob and bf versions.... but maybe they did have them modded..or the speaker/cabs are making the diff?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

Ted's studio tone back then was a brown Deluxe but he used various bigger Fenders live...I've seen footage and pics of blonde Twins on Showman cabs, BF and SF Showman heads and cabs and even Super Twins and Showman heads...

FWIW, those red knob Fenders are really pretty bad sounding IMHO but some guys have used them as a platform for good OD pedals.

Showman amps form the 60's and 70's are non reverb Twins as heads...big, loud and clean...cool amps but not practical for most guys these days.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

I love the tone of a BF or SF Showman--and I can remember doing a couple of outdoor festivals back in the day where I was using TWO DSRs daisy-chained together.

I think you can still get pretty good clean tones from the red-knob Fenders. Some of them though used active, rather than standard passive, tone controls--especially in the Drive channel. A moderate amount of gain in the dirt channel can get you a a nice ratty blues tone; if you want the singing sweetness of a Mesa lead channel, you'll need a pedal.

Aside from the red knob models, you should also look at the Fender 75 and Concert models.

And the old Super Twins that Nugent used are just hellaciously loud. They obviously caused a lot of brain damage....Ted, Ted, Ted.....

Bill

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

showmans are no louder than twins. Loud is a combination of where you set the volume knob, and how efficient you speakers are. Anyways...this guy seemed to like them. I'm not sure. but his speakers look like 2x15 cabinets...

 

[JeffB]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

Of course Jimi used a fuzz for most of his gain though. I cannot post vids from this stupid Nook but there are plenty of live vids of the nuge from thr 70s and there is no way its a stock twin with the kind of gain he has got going on and the tonal character. Maybe its pedals. I need to go back and google the models with the mid and gain boosts.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

Yeah if you wiki fender showman, it talks about master and NMV models with the boost circuitry. Not that wiki is always spot on, but.

Again, I canmot post a link or I would.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

Also in the ad, Ted states he is using super twin heads with dual showman cabs. Super twins are like 200w no?

Of course all of this is just curiosity on my part, ive no practical use for such a setup...though I wish I did

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

a super twin reverb is like 180w

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

showmans are no louder than twins. Loud is a combination of where you set the volume knob, and how efficient you speakers are. Anyways...this guy seemed to like them. I'm not sure. but his speakers look like 2x15 cabinets...

With D130F JBLs.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Fender Dual Showmans..70s, red knob 80s

One of the best rigs I have ever heard was a band that I used to book for dances at my high school, c. 1968. The guitarist used a SF Fender Pro Reverb with two JBL D120s, sitting on top of the tall Showman 215 cabinet with two JBL D130s. I don't remember his name, but he was an awesome player, with great tone.

The lead singer in that band was really good too. A beautiful young girl with a fabulous voice...by the name of Ann Wilson, before she formed Heart.

Bill