Why my Silverface Fender is my favorite amp ever

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BoomTexan

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So, I've owned a Fender Dual Showman Reverb for around 3 months now.
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It was the subject of my first TDPRI post, and months later, I made the drive to Orange, Texas, with $1000 in hundreds and twenties in my glove box, and picked it up. I was able to crank it to 6 on the master in the parking lot, which was incredible. Needless to say, my ears were ringing all the way home.

Drove it home, parked it in the dining room, and was greeted with the best clean sound I've ever heard. I've played a pristine '65 blackface Fender Twin with original tubes, and that didn't come anywhere close to the incredible sound I had here. The dual 15" speakers really have an awesome crisp bass response and it absolutely smokes my bandmate's JCM800 50-watter. In rehearsals and gigs, it's the best tool for any job. If I need a good surf tone, volume to 7, treble to 7, and reverb to 7. For rock, volume to 10, boost with overdrive pedal. For clean, well, this amp is practically all clean. For high gain, this provides a really awesome grounding effect. My rhythm guitarist loves using it for U2-esque delay fills and piercing high triads in the middle of rhythm sections. It's incredibly easy to diagnose and it'll take anything that you throw at it with ease. I didn't notice a tube redplating for 10 minutes when it was idling and I was talking with the drummer. Put a spare in and it played for another 2 hours without any problems. Finally, while many people say that 100 watts of clean power is way too much for any reasonable application, you don't have to have the master up all the time. I think that it's better to have the option of playing clean at incredible volumes and less of a dirty tone than to be able to get a saturated tube tone everywhere.

Edit: I would like to say that one of my favorite things about it is that its a vintage Fender that I don't feel scared moving around. Its got style points but its not so expensive that if it gets stolen I'm out of 5k. My old Univox UB45 was so finicky that I never wanted to bring it anywhere. My carpeted Carvin X100B was really tacky. Its just an incredibly pretty, solid, and reliable amp that isn't too expensive.

These are my complaints: the head and cab weigh 150 pounds together, so when I leave the cab at home, I need a 4-ohm cabinet at the place, which can be hard to find. The transformers on the amp are very unbalanced, it's like carrying a briefcase with a brick on one side and a book on the other. Finally, treble on 10 will cause uncontrollable feedback and uncontrollable hearing damage.

I've loved having this amp, and I think that any complaints about master volume silverface Fenders are completely unwarranted. This big guy sounds incredible and I've loved owning it for these past few months.
 
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63 vibroverb

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Nothing quite has the authority and crystal cleans as a Twin/Showman. I passed on a 68 drip edge Dual Showman Reverb w/ cabinet for $600 years ago and still kick myself for that.

You could get a single 1x12 or 1x15 cab with a 4 ohm speaker. I have an Eminence Big Ben in 4 ohms (225 watts) that handles a cranked Twin without a sweat.
 

BoomTexan

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Nothing quite has the authority and crystal cleans as a Twin/Showman. I passed on a 68 drip edge Dual Showman Reverb w/ cabinet for $600 years ago and still kick myself for that.
Woah, that's gotta hurt. I actually passed on a 68 Drip Edge DSR too for 400 in untested condition at an antiques shop once. I said, "I'll get the money tomorrow and come back." Came back the next day and the owner said that he put it in the window and it lasted about 30 minutes before someone came in and bought it.
 

68goldtop

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Hi!

I used to own a couple of Bandmasters (2 x sf BMR + bf BM) and a couple of (2x12" + 2x15") cabs to go with them.
AWESOME sound from all the set-ups - but I decided that I don't really have a use for them...
The guy who bought the 2nd sf BMR + cab was SO happy. He played the amp LOUD when he picked it up in our rehearsal-space and it sounded gorgeous - but I knew right away that I (personally) won't ever play THIS loud again ;)

Bandmasters + SG.jpg


cheers - 68.


P.s.: I still kept one of the BM (2x12") cabinets, just in case ;)

P.P.S.: Actually, the 2x15" sounded GREAT - possibly better than the 2x12 (y)
 
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schmee

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These are my complaints: the head and cab weigh 150 pounds together, so when I leave the cab at home, I need a 4-ohm cabinet at the place, which can be hard to find.
You can order a 4 ohm high wattage speaker from Weber that might fit the bill. I've found with a higher wattage amp like that, an 8 ohm sounds fine also. I used to run my 50 watt Bassman head all the time with an 8 ohm 15" speaker.
 

adjason

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aint nothing like a loud amp cranked and being young- yep I love most silverface fender amps but for pure sound the twin reverb does it for me. Heck I even like master volumes and disagree that they should just be turned all the way up- I find them useful
 

63 vibroverb

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Woah, that's gotta hurt. I actually passed on a 68 Drip Edge DSR too for 400 in untested condition at an antiques shop once. I said, "I'll get the money tomorrow and come back." Came back the next day and the owner said that he put it in the window and it lasted about 30 minutes before someone came in and bought it.
I have 2 BF Twin Reverbs, so I’ll survive. The closed back cabs give you fatter mids though, which helps with cranked/break up tones.

Damn, even for untested, that’s crazy tempting. Those deals that fly by as random as the wind are gone just as fast.
 

Refugee

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Here, here for the SF Fenders!! Had to sell my '76 SFTR. I do miss it. But, I replaced it with something more practical, that does an even better job. Congrats on getting two D130F's. Those are really neato, aren't they? Here's my upgrade...Top cab is a JBL K120. Bottom is D130F.

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BoomTexan

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Hi!

I used to own a couple of Bandmasters (2 x sf BMR + bf BM) and a couple of (2x12" + 2x15") cabs to go with them.
AWESOME sound from all the set-ups - but I decided that I don't really have a use for them...
The guy who bought the 2nd sf BMR + cab was SO happy. He played the amp LOUD when he picked it up in our rehearsal-space and it sounded gorgeous - but I knew right away that I (personally) won't ever play THIS loud again ;)

View attachment 961133


cheers - 68.


P.s.: I still kept one of the BM (2x12") cabinets, just in case ;)

P.P.S.: Actually, the 2x15" sounded GREAT - possibly better than the 2x12 (y)
Oh man. If I ever flip this amp, first thing I'm getting is either a blackface Bandmaster or Tremolux. Those are literally my dream amps, along with maybe an Alamo Paragon or a blonde Bassman.
 

redchapterjubilee

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The 69 bandmaster I got last year has quickly become my #1 amp. i run it into a 10a125-loaded 2x10 and it just sounds right to me. I got other amps I’ve gigged and recorded with but not anything like this that was so easy to make it sound good.
 

Wildeman

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I had a BMR, i miss that thing... I have a killer '74 Twin with SRO's now though, and soon a '71 Deluxe. Anybody know what the TFL 5005 means? the Showman had it too.
 
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