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Post subject: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:22 pm
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I had the opportunity to test out a 1967 Dual Showman the other day at a local guitar shop. I played a 70's P bass through it into a smaller single 12 cabinet and I've got to say I loved the tone. It was clean and warm. Everything a classic bass tone should be. I know Billy Talbot of Crazy Horse plays through a showman with some JBL 15's and I do like everything I hear from him. I'm running a solid state Peavey with a single 15 in it, and when a drummer is really giving 'er hell I approach the point of not being able to keep up. The cool factor on those old piggyback amps is just so cool. I've got a 65 bassman that rocks my world as a guitar amp, so I'd kinda like to get something similarly cool for my bass rig. Does anybody have any experience with a showman for a bass? With an efficient pair of 15's could I keep up with a drummer in bar or a barn? (no stadiums for me quite yet!)

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:43 pm
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The Showman does not lack in the power department. However, the speaker enclosure (all variants of them) is not well-suited for bass instruments. However, if you mate the head to something like a 2 x 15 Sunn 200S cab with a pair of JBL D140F's or K140's, you'll hear some real LF magic much like Jack Casady's tone during the early Jefferson Airplane years. Push this combo with an EB-0 or EB-3 and you'll hear a definite Felix Pappalardi (Mountain) or Jack Bruce (Cream) vibe.

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:51 pm
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I was thinking I'd go with a home build on two 1x15 cabinets if I were to pull the trigger. I'm fairly handy and have a good friend who's a carpenter by trade, so I figure it wouldn't be too hard to reverse engineer a BF cabinet. Either take the standard fender 15 enclsure and make it about 18" deep instead of 12 for some more room to move, or maybe build a pair of tone ring cabs. I'll admit to not being very speaker savy, so if it came to it I'd start sourcing ideas.

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:30 pm
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Barely_Oakely wrote:
...take the standard fender 15 enclsure and make it about 18" deep instead of 12 for some more room to move...


That's the biggest drawback to the original cabs -- lack of depth. However, eighteen inches is too unwieldy as far as loading and packing. I think fourteen inches should be sufficient. A 2 x 15 folded-horn enclosure will be quite efficient for developing the long waves needed for a punchy bass tone.

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:34 pm
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Just buy the Avatar computer designed 1x15 or get two of them. Done. You can get them in the Fender cosmetics and it will look pretty tight with the head. In fact I might do a 1x15 with a 4x10 or 2x10 on top. Super cabs and not expensive at all. I love my 1x15 Neo Avatar cab and indoors a pair of them stacked would be sweet but somewhat less versatile than 10's stacked on top of the 1x15.


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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:15 pm
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The Avatar option is an excellent cost-effective alternative.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:18 pm
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Of course the current Bassman cabs wouldn't be a bad choice either. Even the Rumble 4x10 would not be a bad choice.


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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:40 am
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All solid options. I'm still a ways out on this - finally finished the bassman - but the more I can soak this in the better.
I've been curious about the new fender bassman cabinets lately. I haven't heard good things about the heads, but the neo cabinets are interesting to me. As I've said, I'm fairly naive when it comes to speakers, but if one of the new fender cabinets is rated at 500 watts, and a showman only pushed 85 wouldn't the cabinet be under powered? I've never really understood how that works. I've got 2 50w 12's in my bassman and it sounds awesome, so technically it's only pushing half the watts to the speakers as they can take. Blowing up speakers is an expensive hobby...

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:14 pm
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The 500-watt rating on a speaker enclosure only represents the maximum power that the cab can handle. It would fare well and likely sound great with an 85-watt Dual Showman. Just be certain that whatever system you decide upon has an impedance of 4 ohms (that's what that amp requires to be able to access its full power potential).

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:23 pm
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So a pair of the 115 neo bassman cabs would work with a dual...
Has anyone ever used a tone ring cabinet for a bass? Personally, I mean. I know they're not an effieient modern cab, but the cool factor is definately there. Again, I'm a ways off pulling the trigger, but I still can't get the warm clean bass notes out of my mind. It makes my peavey sound like electric mud - not Levon - sharp and wayyy deep, but little articulation.

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:50 pm
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The tone-ring cab is an excellent design for guitar but IMO it actually provides too much total port area for the tight, well-defined low frequency response that most bassists prefer.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:25 am
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I always wondered about that - but since 15" tone ring cabs aren't exactly plentiful these days I've had no way of trying it out.

In the beginning of this thread a sunn 200s was mentioned. That's another one of those mythical cabinets that I've read about but never seen. That'd be a fun build...

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:06 am
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Sunn's 200S cabs are getting pretty scarce now but their similar 215S enclosures still turn up periodically. They're ported a bit differently than the 200S but deliver similar performance. Sunn also offered the cab in a 6 x 10 bass-reflex configuration.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:27 am
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A 200s built to fender-esq standards would be pretty cool. Round the edges, and use fender style grill cloth and corners to match a showman. That'd be a good lookin rig. So many projects, so little time/money...

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Post subject: Re: Dual Showman
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 8:21 am
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So, outta nowhere a SUNN 2000s cabinet appears on craigslist locally. I know they're the size of a refrigerator, but if the the JBLs are still in good shape it'll be worth what he's asking. Worst case scenario, I'll put together a 200s or a pair of 1x15 cabinets and put the JBLs in that. I guess I'll have to start shopping for a Showman.

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