NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Make it loud here.
User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:34 pm

Bought a '63 Fender Showman head from Emerald City Guitars via Reverb. The head has been re-covered in Brown tolex and brown grillcloth. Original output transformer replaced with a Mercury Magnetics output transformer. Price wasn't astronmical, as is typical with vintage Fender gear on Reverb and eBay.

Sadly, the tube chart didn't survive but the chassis has a '63 date code. Good enough for me. It also says "Fender Electric Instrument Co. Fullerton, California" as opposed to the later designation, "Fender Musical Instruments Santa Ana, Calif.".

I actually love the idea of it have been re-tolexed by a previous owner in brown, my fave Fender amp tolex. Of course, now my next project is to re-cover my Beavaer Bottom 15" blonde tolex/gold-wheat grillclothed Tone Ring cab with a early '60s JBL D-140F speaker. The blonde tolex has already been lifting on a corner so I'm OK with changing it out. Matching the brown grillcloth may be more of a challenge. I'll likely end up swapping out the grillcloth on both head and cab for the Fender Beige Brown Wheat. At least then it will match up with my '64 Fender Reverb Unit.

Previously, I had bought what turned out to be a '67 Showman head in a '64 shell. I wasn't vibing with it and eventually sold it. Before selling it though, I bought a Weber Mass 200 Attenuator box and a Weber Z-Matcher imedance box. So now I can finally put them to some use if I want to play around with attenuation and various speaker configurations.

For now, though, I just had a play without the attenuator attached. I can get the volume to 4 where you can feel the air move and it gets a bit too loud for for home use. Up to 3, though, it sounds fine. I'll hook up the attenuator at some point to get the volume up to 7 without deafening myself, wife, and beasties. I think someone on here once said 7 was the sweet spot, but I could be wrong. Feel free to offer your ideal settings.

Super pleased with the tone! The harmonic vibrato sounds lovely and smooth.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

While I adore the early '60s Fender brownface era, I'm totally guilty of being infatuated with birth year gear acquisitions. I'm super stoked that I have my '63 Fender amp along with my '63 Fender Jaguar. My wife will be ecstatic that my hunt is over...for now?!? :whistle:
Last edited by Surfysonic on Fri Sep 17, 2021 5:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
s_mcsleazy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 18423
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:30 am
Location: glasgow

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by s_mcsleazy » Fri Sep 17, 2021 3:15 pm

i didnt even know there was a brown showman conversion. looks great though
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Sep 17, 2021 3:44 pm

Thanks! I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding - a previous owner simply did a re-tolexing/grillcloth change from the original blonde tolex. Of course, that's my possibly incorrect assumption - only going by what Emerald City Guitars said in their listing - https://reverb.com/item/43832860-1963-fender-showman. Maybe it was a special order? The Showman was first produced between '60 - '63 (brownface era) prior to the blackface ('63-'67) and then silverface ('68-'70). Originally created by Leo for Dick Dale who played super loud back when he played at the Rendevous Ballroom in Balboa, California.
He partnered with Leo Fender to test new equipment, later saying "When it can withstand the barrage of punishment from Dick Dale, then it is fit for the human consumption." His combination of loud amplifiers and heavy gauge strings led him to be called the "Father of Heavy Metal". After Dale blew up several Fender amplifiers, Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares saw Dale play at the Rendezvous Ballroom, Balboa, California and identified the problem arose from him creating a sound louder than the audience screaming. The pair visited the James B. Lansing loudspeaker company and asked for a custom 15-inch loudspeaker, which became the JBL D130F model, and was known as the Single Showman Amp. Dale's combination of a Fender Stratocaster and Fender Showman Amp allowed him to attain significantly louder volume levels unobtainable by then-conventional equipment.
I should have mentioned the 85 watts - this beastie roars! :w00t:

'61 Fender Showman

Image

'63 Fender Showman

Image
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
HNB
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13513
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by HNB » Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:48 pm

Sweet! Looks like a clean version of the blackface one I got from Pat. :)
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Sep 17, 2021 5:49 pm

Cool, Chris! What kind of cab configuration are you using with it?
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
HNB
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13513
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by HNB » Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:35 pm

A custom 1x15" cabinet. :D

ImageIMG_3413 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:04 pm

Nice! A fellow surf guitar friend recommended that I convert a 2x12 cab into a 1x15 using a 15" baffle. Would be much easier to move about than the 15" Tone Ring Monster I have. Just moving it around the home office today burned some serious calories, heh.
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
HNB
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13513
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by HNB » Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:19 pm

At least the head and cab are separate. My twin reverb is a back killer.
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:27 pm

Yeah, I've owned 3 Twin Reverbs in the past. I always ended up moving them on due to the weight even though I think they're great amps. Loving the light-weight Tone Master Twin Reverb - it's definitely a keeper. It's the only amp I'll take out, maybe with the exception of my "Custom" Vibrolux Reverb.

My current backbreaker is the Fender Vibro-King. Glad I got a hand cart in case I ever do decide to play out with it. :derp:
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

Sauerkraut
Expat
Expat
Posts: 2827
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:23 am

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Sauerkraut » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:11 am

Awesome amp!

If it's not too creepy a request, can we see gut shots?

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:37 am

Not creepy at all! I'm curious as well and I want to see how the cloth was installed in case I decide to swap it out for beige/wheat cloth. I'll take out the chassis later today and take some photos.
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
DeathJag
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2297
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 11:44 am

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by DeathJag » Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:48 am

Surfysonic wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:34 pm
I'm totally guilty of being infatuated with birth year gear acquisitions. I'm super stoked that I have my '63 Fender amp along with my '63 Fender Jaguar. My wife will be ecstatic that my hunt is over...for now?!? :whistle:
Awesome score!! You have a ‘61 Showman also?!! That’s an amp I wish to have before I die. I’m born in ‘72, and if they were making the 6g circuits then I’d have that same goal. Is your tank a ‘63? Bassman? So many cool amps! And a ‘63 jag too? That’s freakin awesome. I doubt I’ll ever dip into the vintage thing with a guitar. Amps though, big yes! The brown tolex is crazy to me, I didn’t even know what I was seeing at first.

Daniel Deathtide

User avatar
Surfysonic
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1863
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 pm
Location: Walkersville, MD
Contact:

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:30 am

DeathJag wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:48 am
Surfysonic wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:34 pm
I'm totally guilty of being infatuated with birth year gear acquisitions. I'm super stoked that I have my '63 Fender amp along with my '63 Fender Jaguar. My wife will be ecstatic that my hunt is over...for now?!? :whistle:
Awesome score!! You have a ‘61 Showman also?!! That’s an amp I wish to have before I die. I’m born in ‘72, and if they were making the 6g circuits then I’d have that same goal. Is your tank a ‘63? Bassman? So many cool amps! And a ‘63 jag too? That’s freakin awesome. I doubt I’ll ever dip into the vintage thing with a guitar. Amps though, big yes! The brown tolex is crazy to me, I didn’t even know what I was seeing at first.

Daniel Deathtide
Sorry, I don't own either the '61 Showman and stock '63 Showman. I just posted those photos for comparison to my '63 Showman that was changed to brown tolex/brown grillcloth.

My wife was also born in '72. I'd love to score a cool Competition Mustang to honor her birth year. She thinks I'm nuts. :wacko:

Image

I bought the Fender Reverb Unit from Carter Vintage Guitars via their website. They had it listed as a '62 for like $1200 so I snapped it up without a thought. Posted it on the Surf Guitar 101 about it and was gently schooled that what I actually had was a '64 Fender Reverb Unit. It was a good education because I'm totally versed into checking out tube chart codes and when the change from the flat Fender logo to the raised (current) Fender logo took place. It sounds fantastic and is museum quality. For safety, I did change out the 2-prong cord to a 3-prong cord.

I scored the '62 Fender Bassman from a used music shop here in Maryland - Atomic Music. They have a Reverb shop - https://reverb.com/shop/atomicmusic?sor ... ake=fender. I traded in a bunch of impulse buy gear to match the asking price. The speakers were shot and I had my amp tech check out the head and make sure it was in good working shape. I eventually got the speakers re-coned and they sound great. I don't think they're even fully broken in yet (tooo many amps).

I got the refinished '63 Jag via Reverb from Fiesta Finishes. The price was affordable for me a few years back. The Oly White is aging/yellowing quite nicely! Currently have a Mastery bridge on it and the original bridge is safely stored away.

I know, right?!? Brown tolex on a '63 Showman for a decent price - the stars aligned! :? :w00t:

Now that I've got the '63 Showman and I'm really loving it, I've decided to move some of my other vintage and non-vintage amps. I seriously need to simplify somewhat and I don't foresee me playing some of these amps nearly as much now. Others should enjoy them. Stay tuned in the FS section! :whistle:
The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

User avatar
s_mcsleazy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 18423
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:30 am
Location: glasgow

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:41 am

HNB wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:35 pm
A custom 1x15" cabinet. :D

ImageIMG_3413 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
are those grolsch bottle top stap buttons between the feet of the amp and the cabinet of the head?

also this is just another bit of gear of yours i want to try
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

User avatar
JSett
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8803
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:33 pm
Location: Old Hampshire, Old England

Re: NAD - '63 Fender Showman

Post by JSett » Sat Sep 18, 2021 12:28 pm

I'd love to buy a 'birth year' offset but, having been born in 1982, I've basically got nothing fun to try and attain :fp: 😭

Lovely looking amp. Harmonic vibrato is something I've never found a use for in 'my' sound but to occasionally play with it is always a wonderful experience.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

Post Reply