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NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:24 pm
by JCH519
It is a 1969 Fender Dual Showman Reverb with matching 2x15 JBL D130F speaker enclosure.

I used to own this same amp head before and I actually ended up getting it back the other day from the person who I sold it to last year.

Story:
I originally had it with a Bandmaster Reverb 2x12 cabinet with replaced speakers. I never really liked the tone all that much. It was ok. The amp sounded great through other cabs used - it was the replacement Eminence speakers the previous owner put in that just lacked tone.
So I decided to sell it (sold the head and cab separately). The reason I sold it was I thought I would likely never come across a matching 68/69 drip edge 2x15 JBL D130 cabinet for it. I had looked for two years previously for one making want ads, constantly checking out craigslist and kijiji.
I also kind of think this amp head only looks right on it's original matching cabinet. With the Bandmaster cabinet I always thought it looked kind of weird, but then again I always had my eyes set on finding a 2x15.
About 2 months after I sold the amp head this 2x15 came up for sale locally and I bought it.
I still knew the person I sold it to as we struck up a friendship. I ended up mentioning a found the matching cabinet for it and he said if I wanted to head back I could have it. So here we are now. After owning the head for 3-4 years and then it being away for 6-7 months I finally have the full set up.

In decent shape other than someone put stickers on the side of the cabinet. They super glued them to stay on so I have no clue how to get rid of the weird patches/shapes of glue residue.

And it sounds incredible.

Image
69 Dual Showman Rev - 1 by j_charles67, on Flickr

Image
69 Dual Showman Rev - 2 by j_charles67, on Flickr

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:01 pm
by my bloody television
hawt 8)

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:08 pm
by StevenO
Dear God! That setup must sound incredible... I like my Blackface Showman, but I'd REALLY like a Dual Showman Reverb with 2x15 JBL cab. :?

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:42 pm
by OffYourFace
Nice! I have the same cabinet in my garage atm. It's a '67 Blackface model. It's got an awesome sound! It's the perfect 'Giant Clean' tone.

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:49 am
by hornz
Its so big I had scroll down to see all of it! Seriously nice stuff.

Might turpentine (or a turps substitute) help remove the superglue residue?

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:57 am
by dan_abnormal
Congrats! Great score...I'm sure it sounds terrific... ;)

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:25 am
by Stratelejazzuar
Wow. :o :?

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:57 am
by JCH519
it is indeed massive. I don't plan to use this amp for any gigs. Plus I would really like to keep it in the condition thus far. It's by no means mint but most of these are pretty beat up by now due to how large they are. I have the original cover for the cabinet (it can be seen behind the amp) but it's all duck taped and in bad shape. I might just throw it away some day - I'll probably take the tape off and see if I can patch it but if not it's just taking up space.

Anyway, I have been setting up/accumulating recording equipment for the last couple of years so I am looking forward to having the option of being able to use this amplifier to record both guitar and bass.

I heard that acetone might get the glue off but I've yet to try. Next time I go to the hardware store I'll check out my options.

Now I'm looking for a decent overdrive to use with it. I used to have a tubescreamer which I sold - early 90s TS9. Anyone have any suggestions? Not interested in boutique stuff. I am broke right now so either way it will have to wait.

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:03 pm
by hornz
JCH519 wrote:Now I'm looking for a decent overdrive to use with it. I used to have a tubescreamer which I sold - early 90s TS9. Anyone have any suggestions? Not interested in boutique stuff. I am broke right now so either way it will have to wait.
Cheap, but not nasty - DOD FX50B Overdrive Plus, 80's or 90's variants, kind of similar to a TS9. Plus it has a boost on the drive pot taper - dial 8 and it really cranks up.

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:06 pm
by WonderCouncil
:? :? :? Everything in those pictures, is (are?) perfect. A gorgeously huge amp for an equally gorgeous Jaguar. Color me jealous. Something I've always been curious about. What's the story behind the huge head cabinet some Fender got. They look really massive and cool but lugging it around has to be a pain. Granted in your case with the 2x15, a slightly larger head is probably not much of a worry. ;D

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:38 pm
by duncanjames
WonderCouncil wrote:Something I've always been curious about. What's the story behind the huge head cabinet some Fender got. They look really massive and cool but lugging it around has to be a pain. Granted in your case with the 2x15, a slightly larger head is probably not much of a worry.
The super tall head cabinets were for the heads with reverb. The pan would mount on the front "baffle" of the head, and at least some of them had spring loaded piggyback screws to secure them to the speaker cab. Even with all of that extra stuff in there, I feel like the cabinets are larger than they needed to be. I like to think that they made the oversized speaker and head cabs to compete with the look of Marshall full stacks, but that's just my wild guess!

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:53 am
by JCH519
Definitely agree with the competing with Marshall's full stack thing. Too much of a coincidence that in 66 they started making their amps taller and that's pretty much when Marshall started to get recognized as a big amp brand in the U.S by then, especially for a British company.

I believe having the larger cabinet with the reverb suspended rather than sitting in the bottom of the cab makes for a different sounding reverb. I think that's what they were going for.
I have owned two Bandmaster Reverbs, a 69 Twin Reverb w/ JBLs, 1970 Twin, two late 70s Super Reverbs, a 72 Super Six Reverb & a 72 Quad Reverb. From my experience with them the reverb heads have a deeper reverb. The combo amps I always had the dial the reverb higher. The Super Six Reverb was pretty similar to the heads - its tank is suspended at the side.

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:37 pm
by JCH519
Thinking of converting it to the blackface circuit. Trying to find a detailed guide. Anyone know of one?

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:44 am
by OffYourFace
JCH519 wrote:Thinking of converting it to the blackface circuit. Trying to find a detailed guide. Anyone know of one?
that one could be already there or completely wrong. 1969 was the worst year in Fender amps and I learned the hard way when I bought a '69 Twin with JBLs. BUT it was also the best thing that ever happened to me! Brad and Jay helped me convert it to BF specs and that set me off into amp-land forever.

Anyway, post a gut shot for us. In '69, CBS-Fender hired all these MIT grads to redesign the amps. They came up with a Cathode & Fixed bias hybrid ckt. to elimate the need for matched power tubes. This would've sped up production... but the amps sounded like complete shit. People complained and the amps went back to the fixed bias ckt. Hopefully your amp doesn't have the hybrid ckt and you just need a cap job or something.

Re: NAD - Fender Dual Showman Reverb JBL D130F

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:27 am
by JCH519
I actually used to have a 69 Twin Reverb with JBLs. Sounded amazing. I sold it due to its all original state and there was no way I could afford to have it completely overhauled at the time.
I think this Dual Showman Reverb sounds amazing too but I bet it could sound better. It was completely recapped and retubed in late 2010. The DSR never came with a blackface circuit from my knowledge. You also see many times when people are selling them that they say it's a 1968 but they just did not make them in 1968, period. They came out in 1969 with the Silverface circuit - many had 68 dated transformers.

I'm not sure if I can do the mod myself without some great detail and with photos. If I can find a good guide then I might pull the chassis out, but for now I'll leave it in as it's a pain in the ass to get out of there from previous experiences.