N0_Camping4U
Joined: May 03, 2012
Posts: 341
Galveston, Texas
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Posted on Jun 07 2025 07:46 PM
https://austin.craigslist.org/msg/d/laredo-1960-fender-showman-amplifier/7855801718.html
No affiliation. Looks like an early one in pretty good and original condition. Title says 3,500 but listing says 3,000 OBO. Doesn't seem too bad of a price. I have conversed with him briefly, it does seem to be a 1960, right? The serial number is in the low 200's. I wonder if that would mean it's the rare 6G14 circuitry, and not the more common 6G14-A. I'd love to get it to have a brother to my 61 Showman, but I'm not that cool 
Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.
Last edited: Jun 07, 2025 20:39:01
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Pyronauts
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1177
Northern CA
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Posted on Jun 07 2025 10:15 PM
Wicked cool! I think should invest in it. I don’t think it would ever go down in value at this point.
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N0_Camping4U
Joined: May 03, 2012
Posts: 341
Galveston, Texas
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Posted on Jun 08 2025 09:59 PM
I chatted with the guy briefly via text. Seems like a cool dude. NO he does not play surf music on it! He's owned it for about 15 years. He got it from an old co-worker who owned it for 20 years, and the guy he got it from bought it new.
He said that he doesn't use it much and the caps should be replaced (as is protocol of amps of this age). Everything is all original, though. That alone is pretty rare. He said the tube chart has fallen off long ago. Hell, even my 61 chart is deteriorating rapidly and is quite brittle and flakey. I really feel like if it is indeed a 1960 and in the low 200's serial number then it has to be the rarer 6G14. I'm asking for gut pics to see if we can discern that circuitry. If it is indeed a 6G14 I may have to acquire it.... 
I've got a 6G14-A already, and the A is handwritten in pencil on the tube chart. I know Dick Dale used the 6G14, and the amps do sound slightly different. I'd love to have both to compare....
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Pyronauts
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1177
Northern CA
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Posted on Jun 09 2025 01:12 AM
When you look at the price and the fact that it comes with a 15 cabinet and it’s early… I mean it’s making more sense to me. There two on Reverb with 12” cabs for way more. There’s a 61 head only for more… looks good, if it sounds good…
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DeathTide
Joined: Apr 13, 2018
Posts: 1383
New Orleans
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Posted on Jun 09 2025 08:27 AM
Oh man I'd love to get this! I also have a 6g14-A and it's awesome, but it's so clean. I had Carl's Amps make a 6g14 clone and it's a lot more midrangey and a bit "more raw" than the 6g14-A. This, among many many other things, makes it a real shame the film industry is dead. I can't afford any of these anymore. This will forever be a hole in the brown panel heads collection. Damn. I hope someone here buys it.
— Daniel Deathtide
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SixStringSurfer
Joined: Sep 23, 2014
Posts: 1436
Memphis, TN
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Posted on Jun 09 2025 04:26 PM
If he didn't live so far away, I would buy this! If someone here ends up with it, please let us hear how it sounds.
— MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.
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kick_the_reverb
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 1340
Escondido, CA
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Posted on Jun 09 2025 11:05 PM
From my records of early Showman listings, a chassis number in the 250s doesn't necessarily mean 1960, there was 00252 that is January 1961 (KA). There's a 00226 that is probably 1960. I have a 00250 which is KC - March 1961. I can't see the actual number, but if it's really close to 200, there may be more chance of the amp being a 1960.
If anyone is serious about buying this amp, clear gut shots are needed to determine what year and what circuit it may be.
As far as I understand, the chassis were stamped and put in stacks. Sometimes when a chassis was taken to be finished, a later number may be finished before an early one that stayed in the stack while the stack was being replenished.
So the numbers on the components and the stamp on the tube chart help determine the date.
Good luck to whoever buys it and uses it to play Surf.
Ran
— The Scimitars
Last edited: Jun 09, 2025 23:10:41
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