Showman testamonial

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 31 Dec 2000 9:18 pm

I just bought a black face Fender Showman, which had been previously gone through by Andy Marshall at THD Electronics in Seattle. I've got to say that this is a great, great, steel amp. This thing is loud enought for just about any country or jazz gig I do, and it has a very sweet sound for recording. I don't particularly care for spring reverb, so I didn't miss that at all. Definitely the best clean country steel sound I have ever gotten on tape.

What was surprising was how great this amp works as a rock and roll amp. The amp has a half power setting (only two of the tubes, maybe 45 watts). When you turn the volume to about 9, it has a very nasty sound, similar to a Dumble (not surprising, given that the Dumble was based on a blond showman).

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www.tyacktunes.com

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 1 Jan 2001 7:51 am

What speaker(s) are you hooking it to?

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 1 Jan 2001 11:22 am

I have tried it with several cabinets, and they all sound great. The best 'classic' steel sound is with a THD cabinet with a single JBL E-130, close behind is a THD cabinet with a single E-120 and two Celestion 10" speakers. For more of a smooth, punchy sound, I also like my THD cabinet with 2X12" Celestions. (I like THD cabinets a lot).

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www.tyacktunes.com

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 1 Jan 2001 11:34 am

Dan;

I'm kind of running an eBay orphanage here (one of the orphans is a blackface Showman head) so I have a couple of questions for ya:

what are you using for power tubes? can you elaborate a bit more about the half-power switch (sounds a bit more promising than just yanking two tubes, as this changes the impedance right?)

I was just talking to Andy before Christmas to get the name of a local guy who does mods/deals THD and he also mentioned that the Univalve will finally be available to us lesser mortals soon

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Greg Simmons
Custodian of the Official Sho~Bud Pedal Steel Guitar Website
shobud.cjb.net

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 1 Jan 2001 11:45 am

The power tubes on this are Sovtek 5881s, I believe (Andy would know). The mods that Andy did to this amp (at the owners request) were to disable the vibrato, which adds more gain, to put a switch on the back which disables the middle two tubes, and to tweak the components (caps, resistors, etc.) to voice the amp more like a Dumble. Whatever he did is magical, the head sounds way better than any Showman or Twin I have ever heard, especially when driven. Most twins I have played sound thin when driven to distortion, this amp just sounds fat and compressed.

I am not sure of the effect in terms of impedence when two of the tubes are removed.

The Univalve is indeed in production right now, and will be on shelves this month. The production model is considerably improved over my prototype, I'll post a review after I get more time with it.

For those of you who aren't aware of the Univalve, it is a class A single ended amplifier which uses a single 6L6, 6550, or EL34 power tube, and has a built in power attenuator and direct out. It is great for use both as a recording amplifier, or as a preamp. This is the amp I used on about a third of my Blackened Toast CD (I used another THD prototype on the rest).

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www.tyacktunes.com

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 1 Jan 2001 1:01 pm

Thanks for the further info Dan;

I had Mike Kropotkin do a cap job, the tremolo bypass mod, excessive treble reduction, retube with 7581As and rebias before I go the head, but I will definitely look into the half-power thing.

Looking forward to the Univalve being available as well

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Greg Simmons
Custodian of the Official Sho~Bud Pedal Steel Guitar Website
shobud.cjb.net

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Greg Simmons on 01 January 2001 at 01:04 PM.]</p></FONT>

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 2 Jan 2001 12:55 pm

Dan, that sounds like a mod that many steel guitarists can benefit from, as there are alot of Showman amps in the field and, generally, they can be had for a reasonable price. Would you consider asking Andy Marshall if you or he could release the details of this mod to the Steel Guitar Forum? I'm thinking mainly of the tweaking of the components part of the mod (caps, resistors, etc. to voice the amp more like a Dumble), as the vibrato (tremelo) disconnect and standby 2 power tubes have been very well documented in many books and on many other areas of the net in the past. Anything that can coax an existing amp that is pretty commonly available into a good steel amp, is of interest to us all, especially those among us that love the tube amp sound.

Anyone who wants to know more about tremelo disconnect or standbying 2 power tubes (on a 4 power tube amp)(no, this won't work with a 2 power tube amp; the amp has to have 4 power tubes to begin with) can leave a message here or email me and I'll walk 'em thru it.

Bob