1962 Fender Dual Showman Blonde Brown Panel Vintage Piggyback Tube Amp 2x15 w/ Altec 421A

Up for sale, a 1962 Fender Dual Showman Brown Panel tube amp head and matching 2x15 speaker cab in perfect working order, loaded with a pair of early Altec 421A ceramic magnet 15" drivers. Along with the Twin, the Showman was the flagship of the early 1960s Fender tube amp lineup, featuring a whopping 80 watts of power, and boasting Fender's unique "Harmonic Vibrato" circuit. And while the "single" Showmans are rare amps with limited production totals, a Dual Showman from 1962 is an exceedingly hard to come by variant.

Clean, clear and powerful, yet with a richness and full-bodied tonal character indicative of Fender's Brown Panel era circuits, the Dual Showman can throw an incredible amount of sound via its Altec 421A speaker pair. The perfect middle ground between the dynamic, saturated tones of the earlier Tweed era amps and the clarity and shimmering cleans of the later Black Panel line, this Showman has a very warm and nuanced sound, with absolutely giant transformers that keep the low end thick and focused. Perfect for guitar, bass, or keyboards, this is a versatile setup that pairs well with just about anything from the era.

The circuit is extremely original, with all of the original Schumacher transformers dating to 1962. The power transformer, while it has a stamp on the bell from '62, also has an inked stamp over the top of the code from the 8th week of '63. The preamp is untouched save for a few new electrolytics sleeved in the original Minimite wrappers and new bias caps. All of the famed blue molded Ajax capacitors are intact, an essential part of the sweet, musical sound of Fender's Brown Panel amps. All of the original Stackpole pots are present as well. The power supply has been professionally recapped, with the caps sleeved in the original wrappers in the same fashion as the preamp, and a modern three-prong power cable has been installed. Tubes include a matched quartet of Sovtek WXT5881 (6L6GC) power tubes, with modern valves in the preamp.

The speaker cab features a pair of early Altec 421A 15" drivers (vintage, yet not original to the amp) with date stamps on the edges of the frames from 1970. Both speakers retain their original 21353-3 speaker cones and aluminum dust caps. The original baffle is still in good shape, and while the cabinet originally had the same fiberglass baffling as the single Tone Ring version of the Showman speaker cab, this baffling was removed in the past (evidenced by the residual glue along the inside edges of the cab). However, the stock central divider is intact, and along with the baffle we can be assured this cabinet left the Fender factory in a "Dual" configuration.

The original rough blonde tolex and wheat grillcloth are present, and the cabinet shows moderate wear, with removed tilt-back legs and a few added mounting holes on the sides from a small set of casters. The tube chart is intact inside the head cabinet with a handwritten "LE" date which translates to May of 1962. The original dogbone handle is intact on the head, while the cabinet handle is a later Fender replacement, and stock hardware includes the original piggyback clip bars, thumbscrews, corners, and flat Fender logos. The Brown Panel faceplate is very clean, with a full complement of original cream barrel knobs.