Fender Dual Showman - Help Me Choose

[8bitBarry]

Ok, I am a self diagnosed Marshall man but recently got the hankering to buy a Dual Showman. I am a home musician with reasonable space, I ALWAYS play through an Ironman II attenuator as I don't want to become deaf and I truly believe this unlocks the sound of these amps.

Most of the heads that have found their way to me I own are 100w / 50w and I love the sonic weight of the 100w sound. This brought me to the Showman. I mainly play though an early 70's Pre-Rola Marshall 4x12. Its a glorious deep sound so gravitating to a Dual Showman seems inevitable for those magic clean tones.

1. I have been looking at a 1970's Dual Showman head, but have since found a relatively clean one with the matching 2x15" cab. I gather this combo is pretty rare these days, so I don't mind investing in it.

Q. Do you think the true magic of these heads is through that 2x15"? A Dual Showman head without the cab / through my Marshall 4x12 is probably going to sound great and will save me the space, but I am swayed towards the monolith!

 

[Pcs264]

You have a wonderful dilemma here! Your expectations of a good Dual Showman are right on the mark - big, rich & full cleans for days…. I’ve never heard a DS through a 4x12 Marshall cab, but I suspect it would sound great (though those speakers are meant to give some break-up when driven hard).

At the same time, I’ve had a couple of amps with 15s, and I really think 15s are the forgotten heros among guitar speakers. It’s hard to describe, but they can just give a big open richness that you’ll never forget.

If you just get a DS head, I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it. And if you can swing getting the 2x15 cab as well, you’ll be even happier.

 

[Tubedrt3000]

I have a '69 DSR head and a '68 DS 2-15" cab. I actually had the cab first, using it with a Bassman head. The cab sounds great with the DSR and I've always preferred the pairing over any 2-12" or 4-12" cab. I have not opened the cab in years, only remember that the 15's had large square magnets... and the back panel uses more screws than any cab has the right to. I agree with Pcs264, the heads are fun, and with the 2-15" DS cab you will be even happier.

 

[ampking300]

I own 3 Dual Showman and 7 Single 15/12 Showman amps from 1961 to 1967. A DS wants to see a 4 ohm speaker load but will still sound great with an 8 ohm load. Most 4x12" Marshall cabs are 16 ohms,( I am talking about the older basketweave and checkerboard grill models ). Just make sure that the Marshall cab is rewired for 4 ohms, if it is a 16 ohm cab. 4 of the 16 ohm speakers hooked in parallel will get a 4 ohm load. The DS and Single Showmans will sound great with mostly any speaker cabinet as long as the impedance is not more than a 50% mismatch. They will sound great with guitar OR bass, as long as you use a bass cab for EB. They sound glorious with their 2x15" JBL D140F/D130F tall cabinets and the smaller single 15"/12" JBL D140F/D130/D131 speakers mounted in their original double baffle board tone ring cabinets. All of Fenders Tone Ring Cabs Sound Great. I have used them many times with both guitar and bass in the '60's/70's/80's and they are one of my favorite vintage speaker cabinet. The DS and SS amp heads are just super loud and clean amp heads.

 

[8bitBarry]

You have a wonderful dilemma here! Your expectations of a good Dual Showman are right on the mark - big, rich & full cleans for days…. I’ve never heard a DS through a 4x12 Marshall cab, but I suspect it would sound great (though those speakers are meant to give some break-up when driven hard).

At the same time, I’ve had a couple of amps with 15s, and I really think 15s are the forgotten heros among guitar speakers. It’s hard to describe, but they can just give a big open richness that you’ll never forget.

If you just get a DS head, I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it. And if you can swing getting the 2x15 cab as well, you’ll be even happier.

Thank you for all that. I have since found a decent Bassman 1x15 that may actually be a better idea. It’s got a JBL D140F speaker which is the bass version from what I’ve read so far.

Do you think this would cut off too much top end as I’ve heard they only extend to 5k?

I would seriously love the 2x15”!

 

[8bitBarry]

I own 3 Dual Showman and 7 Single 15/12 Showman amps from 1961 to 1967. A DS wants to see a 4 ohm speaker load but will still sound great with an 8 ohm load. Most 4x12" Marshall cabs are 16 ohms,( I am talking about the older basketweave and checkerboard grill models ). Just make sure that the Marshall cab is rewired for 4 ohms, if it is a 16 ohm cab. 4 of the 16 ohm speakers hooked in parallel will get a 4 ohm load. The DS and Single Showmans will sound great with mostly any speaker cabinet as long as the impedance is not more than a 50% mismatch. They will sound great with guitar OR bass, as long as you use a bass cab for EB. They sound glorious with their 2x15" JBL D140F/D130F tall cabinets and the smaller single 15"/12" JBL D140F/D130/D131 speakers mounted in their original double baffle board tone ring cabinets. All of Fenders Tone Ring Cabs Sound Great. I have used them many times with both guitar and bass in the '60's/70's/80's and they are one of my favorite vintage speaker cabinet. The DS and SS amp heads are just super loud and clean amp heads.

What a collection! I’m very envious.

Thank you so much for all that. Ive just found a 1x15 JBL D140F on eBay and your post mentioning the tone and that particular speaker with guitar has given me the confidence to go and get it.

I’m lucky to have the Ironman Atteuator. It gives me 4/8/16ohm input switching and 4/8/16ohm on the output, so I can just dial in all sorts of combinations without rewiring. I can also have two outputs, so I often run two attenuated Marshall 4x12 cabs. They sound deep and rich even at moderate bedroom levels. It’s a magic setup.