Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi guys,
When I got my SVT I had to split my twin cabs due to lack of space, one 8x10 cab is in our rehearsal room with the SVT head and the 2nd cab is at home.
I have a really small house so I had to take out my existing guitar & bass amp that I used at home for practice and I now have a single cabinet, headless.

I decided to search for a guitar head that will yield good result with my 366/12 and my 68 365 but will also be able to run my 4001 for home practice (with some eq tweaking, I know I won't get the "prefect" sound)

To make a long story short, my options are quite limited, there aren't too many nice amp heads in Israel and I am not up to importing anything in the near future again (the SVT was hard enough...). A trustworthy dealer I know in Israel has a pre-cbs 1964 Fender showman, all original except the tolex which was replaced by the previous owners to white tolex so it would look like the older amps.
The seller says it's the head version of the twin reverb without a reverb and the fender amps book confirms it, I always wanted a twin reverb so I am thinking about getting it and get a Fender tube Reverb unit (such as this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0415175661) and use it with my 8x10 svt cab.

My questions are:
Have anyone ever played a Fender Showman? how is it? Ever Played the Fender tube reverb unit? how is it? better yet - anyone tried it WITH a Fender showman?
Any idea how it might sound on my SVT cab? I need it mostly for practicing but would very much like to record (guitars, not bass) with it as well, basically I am looking for a guitar head that will stay with me from now on...

Any suggestion is much appreciated here.

Thanks!

Gil, all of my older Fender amps are early silverface versions, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Have anyone ever played a Fender Showman? how is it?

It should be similar to my 1968 Showman Reverb (except for the reverb, of course). IMO you'll want to use the vibrato input because I have found that with Fenders the Middle tone control makes the Rickenbackers really jangle.

Ever Played the Fender tube reverb unit? how is it?

No. Doesn't Peter have one of these?

better yet - anyone tried it WITH a Fender showman? Any idea how it might sound on my SVT cab?

Obviously, I don't know this either. It should be similar to my Showman Reverb, hopefully even better.

I need it mostly for practicing but would very much like to record (guitars, not bass) with it as well, basically I am looking for a guitar head that will stay with me from now on...

Remember that the Showman won't have a DI output (unless it's been modded), so you'll need to mic the amp for recording.

Oh, also ... the Showman cabinet is most likely 8 Ohms, so if you go to use another cabinet, you'll have to take that in consideration.

One other thing to consider is that the Showman will be pretty loud ... I usually play mine below "3" on the volume, and that's plenty loud!

IMO a modern tube amp like the one of the Kustom Coupe series is a better choice, as it has all of the modern 'perks' like DI out, switchable channels, etc.

Thanks Gary! It's actually a dual showmen so it has 4ohm output.
Thanks again

You will love the Showman, Gil. I used to have a '66 Bandmaster that sounded great for bass and guitar, not a lot of power, but the Showman is twice the output of the BM, so you should be fine. You may even like it more than the SVT, tonally.

have you tried the svt with the guitars...1st or second channel ? you can set the first channel for bass then the second channel for guitar. try it and let us know if it sounds good or bad with the guitars. the stones and aerosmith used them on guitar.

Elliott Randall used an SVT all the way up with a Strat to record his lead guitar part on Steely Dan's "Reelin' In The Years" so an SVT can sound with guitar and/or bass. The first channel is simlar to the Portaflex in the preamp, and is generally a bit more suited for guitar use, though YMMV.

Greg

Thanks for the tips guys.
My problem is that my svt head stays in the rehearsal room and I am not going to carry it back and forth so I need another head... I wanted to get a v9 svt but decided not to get into the mess of importing another amp and decided to look locally. This dual
showman seems to be only decent alternative around right now

Gil, I've been wanting to try out a Showman as well, but they're just too hard to find. I think the best amp for you would probably be a '65 Blackface reissue amp with a reverb channel. Blackface amps are rather versatile, can do just about any style of music and look cool.

What do you think of the '65 reissue Twin Reverb? I've played through one before, and while it was a little too loud for my taste, it had a good tone.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-65-Twin-Reve ... 2a05abff5d

Another amp (though I haven't played through it) is the '65 reissue Super Reverb. While it isn't as powerful as a Twin, the 4 10" speakers should really boost the volume for you, and can go clubs and bars unmiked, from what I've gathered. I'm hoping to obtain one of these in the near future.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-65-Super-Rev ... 4cee51c1d4

Our own Paul Azpeitia owns a few Twins as well as a Super Reverb and once owned a Showman in his past, so maybe he can give you some insight on the amps and an idea on what is best for you.

Gil is looking for a head, not a combo amp, IIRC.

Thanks Jake,
I am looking for a head only as I have my 2nd SVT cab at home and I don't have room for my old amps...

An update: Apparently the amp is showman, and not dual showman, additionally it's 1965/6 (post CBS for sure) and the input transformer is not original (220v instead of the original 110).
While I know that input transformers do not matter so much, this is no longer an all original pre cbs dual showman...
If the seller would reflect this in his price offer, should I go for it? he currently asks for about $1600 (that was for the all original pre cbs dual showman).

Given the lack of originality, I'd say the price is a tad high by several hundred dollars, after allowing some extra mark-up for the location.

How about these?
http://www.gbase.com/gear/fender-showman-amp-1964
http://www.gbase.com/gear/fender-showma ... 6-black-to

Thanks Jake,
Don't forget that I don't live in the states, importing an amp to Israel is not that easy, shipping is normally pretty expensive (a showman head should cost about $200-$300) and there is 34% tax to pay.
I decided that if I'll find a good condition dual showman with or without the cab I'll get it, there is one in CA that I found on craigslist, I am still waiting for an answer from the seller.

Thanks again, don't worry about searching for me, I have a script I wrote that searches ebay, craigslist and gbase and summarize the results, no need for manual labor here

Just bought this:
http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/proddet ... man&cat=55

$795 + $149 shipping.

Chicago? Is that like, near Haifa or something?