Need a little help on an amp tradeand thoughts?

[Professor Plum]

try re-tubeing with lower gain tubes... espically the pre's... i think that would work

[mynameisjonas]

OK to answer this question the overdriven sound is insane, really sick, its like a clean crunch(think stoner metal black sabbath its an orange you know what it sounds like), but its single channel so to get the headroom of a loud clean is nearly impossible. The set up is really nice ( high & low input, F.A.C. switch, bass, treble, presence, GAIN, volume)  and the thing has to weigh close to 75lbs. I bought it at a really good price and its a cool amp but breakups super early.  I still play it not like it is collecting dust, but I was looking to change direction with the type of sound I want. Think of Explosions in the Sky very clean very reverby. Any thoughts of what I can do? anyone ever use a Fender Showman I saw one on craigslist.

if i'm not mistaken, a showman is the same amp as a twin, only it's a head and doesn't have reverb (although the bigger dual showman has reverb). i think it would be a very good amp for what you want to do, they're known for their great clean sound.

[dug]

Old fenders are awesome. If you're playing explosions in the sky kinda stuff you might wanna get one.
I had a 66 bassman head, it was the best amp I've ever owned, I wish I would have kept it.
But I wouldn't trade the orange for one.

[Snake Hips]

As the total gear whore that I am it looks like I will be able to get a Showman and keep the Orange as well, here is the only problem, I would be trading a Les Paul Studio for the 68 Showman (not a big deal,  I think ) BUT here is what it has done to it: "1968 Fender Showman Reverb Head. Model TFL5000D. I modded this with a few Torres mods. A 50-100 watt switch, Heat up the Normal channel kit and a Hot Fender kit". The 50 -100 switch is totally fine but its got two hot rod kits on this sucker which is  kills the fender sound, the reverb also doesn't work and its wrapped in some kind of lepoard print over the real amp cover.......... WITH this said I still feel it is a good trade, but I am going to have to rebuild this sucker. I have never done amp work barely any guitar work so I am going to get it done somewhere or attempt to see what I can do, they seem pretty simple if I don't kill myself from the stored up energy.

Black-face it or Silver-face it?

Once I get it I guess it will be a project do I post in this forum or the project/mods?


And if I run these two A/B switch (with the ablitiy to run at the same time) can they run through the same cab
100+120 = 220 so as long as my cab can handle that?

try re-tubeing with lower gain tubes... espically the pre's... i think that would work

Any tubes I should look at???

[dug]

I can't believe someone would ruin an amp like that.

[Professor Plum]

as far as the tubes, i wish i rember where i saw a huge list of weird tubes that were all 12ax7 variants but with diffrent gain levels and such...

while i dont know the specifics im 99.9% shure i can be done and do what you want it to do, try emailing http://www.kcanostubes.com/content/ iv asked them questions before and there always prompr to respond...

p.s. the fender head sounds like a cool project!

[Snake Hips]

I can't believe someone would ruin an amp like that.

Yeah tell me about it like get a marshall if you want it

as far as the tubes, i wish i rember where i saw a huge list of weird tubes that were all 12ax7 variants but with diffrent gain levels and such...

while i dont know the specifics im 99.9% shure i can be done and do what you want it to do, try emailing http://www.kcanostubes.com/content/ iv asked them questions before and there always prompr to respond...

p.s. the fender head sounds like a cool project!

Yeah I have been looking into doing an amp project sooo this is looking good, but I will see when I actually see it in person how bad of shape its in.

[stevejamsecono]

well, if you like the Orange's overdrive so much, maybe a two amp rig might be in the cards for you. If you want that big Explosions clean, def. a silverface fender would be the way to go. What about a biamp rig that would consist of your Orange through like.. a 2x12 ab'd with a Silverface Twin Reverb (easily can get one for like, 700 bucks or so, watch craigslist) and just go to town. It'd probably sound awesome

-Steve

[mynameisjonas]

the first time i saw mogwai, one of them (i think it was john) played through a SF twin + an orange OD120. it's great combination indeed.

[stevejamsecono]

Where are you located anyway, dude? Because at the moment on the Boston Craiglist there's two Silverface Twin Reverbs.... one of which is going for like, $400. PM me if you want the link...

-Steve

[Snake Hips]

the first time i saw mogwai, one of them (i think it was john) played through a SF twin + an orange OD120. it's great combination indeed.

Really I am going to look into this now and see whats up.

Damn but can I run two amps into the same cab? I am thinking of a 2x15 that way I can do bass through the rig as well thoughts? possible?

[stevejamsecono]

I'm not sure if they make stereo 2x15 cabs, although you might be able to construct one yourself.

I have a 2x15 that I run my Bassman 70 through, and it sounds amazing. I've played a JCM900 through it as well, sounded even better with it than it's matching 1960A cab!

Give it a go! Tell us how it turns out.

[Snake Hips]

true story

[mynameisjonas]

Damn but can I run two amps into the same cab? I am thinking of a 2x15 that way I can do bass through the rig as well thoughts? possible?

if you want to use two amps on the same cab (using both speakers all the time) you'll need a special switching box that provides the correct load for the amps. like this one: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... c=3SOSWXXA

a stereo cab is one way to do it (i've done it lots of times), but then you're never playing through both speakers at the same time (and for miced gigs you'll need to mic them separately just as if they were two seperate rigs).

[ohm-men]

Yup, Showman with a Single 15" or 2x15" or even a 2x12" with outboard tube reverb is Clean reverb heaven imo. I tend to be biased to BF Showman or early SF (pre reverb Showman)
But the later Showman reverb is also nice. If you like loads of headroom, clear bell like tones then a Showman with a closed back JBL 2x15 is the way to go, mind though that the Showman is in fact a reverbless twin in Piggyback configuration, so overdriving this thing is not easely done imo....But they take pedals well. They work extremely well with reverb, echo, flanger, etc...

But a Showman is do-able to rebuild.The one I have (a '66) was also heavely modded, screwed and trashed. But a friend tech brought it back to life. I have to add I bough the head cheap since it was sold as non working "parts-chassis" It now looks like a BF blonde Single showman. But I don't use it that often anymore due it's volume.