Just Got A Dual Showman

[viivian23]

Went down to GC today. It was an impulse buy. I didn't mind the lack of reverb because I liked the trem so much. Great for playing 13th floor elevators or stuff like that. When I brought it home, I plugged it into my friends Deville speakers (I have no cabs) and I was very impressed with it.
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[PennyCentury]

Good find. Now please play Reverberations

[Thin69]

Congrats!!

I just love those Fender amps.

Enjoy!!

[T Prior]

great amp, looks to be a 68 or 69 from the grill panel, these amps are very a hard to kill , are very loud and sound great !

enjoy !

t

[viivian23]

Originally Posted by T Prior

great amp, looks to be a 68 or 69 from the grill panel, these amps are very a hard to kill , are very loud and sound great !

enjoy !

t

It seemed to not be as loud as I thought. Probably because I ran it through a 2X12?

[toadman]

i had one for a few years. ran it through a 4x12 cab. got rid of it because i was to inexperienced to know how to use it properly. wish i still had it!

[Singin' Dave]

Originally Posted by viivian23

It seemed to not be as loud as I thought. Probably because I ran it through a 2X12?

It should still be darn loud. Might need a cap job or tubes or something, but then again, if it's working for you now, maybe hld of a bit (though having it gone through is not a bad idea with an amp of that age).

[Wally]

Congrats, viivian. FWIW, that amp could be a '67 as well as a '68 or early '69. I have one I bought recently complete with a JBL-loaded cab, and it looks just like yours. THe SF cosmetics were first shipped beginning in April of '67. You are going to have to date the amp by the tranny codes and/or the serial number via the GG charts. My Dual Showman is in fact a 1967 amp...dated by codes, build dates on the chassis and the serial number.

Go here for dating info..

http://www.superchamp.dk/papers/dati..._tube_amps.htm

[stantheman]

If it's got black lines on the faceplate it's an early Dripguard.
Not that it matters all of the Dripguards are pretty cool.
I've never seen a Silverface from '67, heard tales of them, but never saw one.

Your Dual Showman has move "explosiveness" that the TFL5000D's which have a sweeter Twin Reverb Tone - because that's what they are Twins as heads.
I had two TFL5000D's and one was a Dripguard - 'scuse me while I kick my @$$ for selling that one.
I can't even remember who the lucky stiff was I sold it to...

Regardless - Your's is a TRUE HOSS - the logical successor of the High Power Tweed Twin and the "Rough Tolex Twin".

...not a Bedroom Amp.

[Wally]

From the link above......A07800 to A12000 - 1967 AB763 Dual Showman Amps
My DS is indeed a blackline SF with the serial number A11304, which would put it in the latter part of '67. All components date accordingly to earlier in 1967. AS is true for all blackline '67 SF FEnders that I have seen, there is no date stamp on the tube chart.
As with our dear women, cosmetics do not the entire story tell. (;^)

[BuddyLee]

Originally Posted by viivian23

It seemed to not be as loud as I thought. Probably because I ran it through a 2X12?

It should sound like Thor's Hammer. You may need new tubes.

Bassman's are loud, but I think the Showman should be even louder.

[BigDaddyLH]

Curious: how many watts?

[Wally]

BigDaddy, my '67 SFDS is jsut like its contemporary Twin
REverb...that is, under the spkr jack is written '85 watts'.
At some point the TR and Dual Showman amps went to 100 watts....early '70's?
Then the much disrespected Ultralinear OT's took them to 135 watts.

[Singin' Dave]

Wally is correct (as usual) about '67 SFs. I have a beat up (but wonderful sounding) '67 Bassman head. Blackline, dripedge, AB165, etc, serial # 38335. So they are out there!

[viivian23]

does a drip guard mean the guard is curved? because this amp has one of those. The tube chart reads AB763, serial # A 12728(I don't know if this is correct). Anyway, the amp does not put out any sound until it is on 3, but it isnt like a jump it just transitions into a low volume. Will I have to do a cap job or get new tubes to make it louder??? (hope not) It doesnt affect the tone but that extra volume would be real nice

[Dave Hopping]

No sound until the volume is on 3? That's bad,and something is wrong.A Showman on 3 isn't quite peeling paint,but they're pretty loud. I'd get it thoroughly checked out before turning it on again.

[dalandan]

CRANK HER UP!

and wait for the police to come.

[BuddyLee]

Originally Posted by viivian23

does a drip guard mean the guard is curved? because this amp has one of those. The tube chart reads AB763, serial # A 12728(I don't know if this is correct). Anyway, the amp does not put out any sound until it is on 3, but it isnt like a jump it just transitions into a low volume. Will I have to do a cap job or get new tubes to make it louder??? (hope not) It doesnt affect the tone but that extra volume would be real nice

If the caps have not been done ever, then it is probably about time. And by the time it is on 3 it should be loud. Full bore and it should rattle your house with 2x12s. It probably needs new tubes, but something else could be wrong. I would not worry too much, there is really nothing that can't be fixed on those old heads.

That head would probably drive 4x15s just fine. Especially with the channels jumped.

This page says it's a '68

http://www.superchamp.dk/dating_fenders.htm

Showman AB763 (silverface)
A12000 to A12500 - 1967
A12500 to A15000 - 1968

[Wally]

A Buddy, notes, you probably have an early '68 amp with the BF circuit. That serial number should be stamped into the chassis on the rear right hand side of the chassis.
+1 on the service work....new electrolytics, clean, retension sockets, general check up, new power tubes. All of this needs to be done. IF there is a more drastic problem concerning the volume, then that will be discovered while this work is being done. Keep your fingers crossed on the output transformer. An OT can 'work' even though it is compromised and not putting out full wattage. Odds are that the OT is fine, but the amp needs the service.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by viivian23

does a drip guard mean the guard is curved? because this amp has one of those. The tube chart reads AB763, serial # A 12728(I don't know if this is correct). Anyway, the amp does not put out any sound until it is on 3, but it isnt like a jump it just transitions into a low volume. Will I have to do a cap job or get new tubes to make it louder??? (hope not) It doesnt affect the tone but that extra volume would be real nice

Most often called a 'drip rail', this is the strip of aluminum trim that surrounds the grille cloth. IT was used from April '67 through sometime early in '69.
See my last post on the service needed. All vintage amps need to be properly serviced. IN fact, when one buys any used amp, it needs to be assessed by someone who knows what from what.
The automotive equivalent of "crankin' it up" and playing on with an unknown amp would be like buying a used car and setting out on a 3,000 mile trip without even checking the oil much less the transmission fluid, the brakes, the hoses, the belts, the coolant fluid..... Even if a vintage amp makes appropriately loud sounds, that doesn't mean that it is functioning properly and yielding the quality of sounds that it should.