Hey Ivan,

The Bandmaster was used during The Bel Air days. Having had a second 12" speaker put in my Bandmaster, I had already established a relationship with Leo Fender. I had the first ever Piggy Back Bandmaster with two 12s. Boy was I in amp heaven. Mr. Fender was one of the kindest human beings I have ever known. Sort of treated me like a son.

Leo gave me a couple prototype Showmans to try. I remember one concert I did using an empty Twin Amp (no speakers) and a two 15" Showman cabnet. There was not much difference if any from a twin head to a showman head at the time.

In The Eddie and the Showmen project I used Showman amps with two 15" JBL D130s. It seems to me I may have had a single 15" in my cabnet for a minute.
I never used a "Dual" Showman Amps.

So, all that to say the Eddie and the Showmen name came from the Showman Amp.
Seemed natural to me at the time.

Best Regards Ivan,
Eddie

PS...Not sure if I would call it "humoring you all"
I am, and will remain, very honored that all of you care this much.
Also, thank you Ivan, for the very kind words recently.

Hi Danny,

Larry Carlton was in Eddie and the Showmen for a while. He then went on to join the Jazz Crusaders. One of the best in the world. It was an honor, looking back, to have shared the stage with him.

Eddie

I remember hearing something about Glen Campbell ("Rhinestone Cowboy" fame, egads) playing surf music back in the day...Eddie? Is that perhaps the case? Seems funny to me...

By the way, it was great to meet you at the Pier show when I was hanging with the Longboard guys from Spain.
Cheers,
Ted from The Detonators

Q: Eddie have you stayed in touch with Richard Delvy after The Bel Airs?

Q: What's he up to these days?

Q: Any plans in the future for a Bel Air's reunion?

Q: Do you still own many of the amps, reverb tanks & guitars from " The Bel Airs" "Eddie & The Showmen" era?

Thank you Eddie it's such an honor

~Kyle

-Kyle

Beyond The Surf YouTube channel
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The Verbtones @ bandcamp

Eddie,

I'd like to echo other's sentiments. It is wonderful to have you on board!

Your fan in Canada,
Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

DannySnyder
Another question:

What notable contemporaries of yours went on to success in other genres of rock music as the popularity of surf music waned?

Dick Dodd went on and had great success in the Standells.

T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S

SPELLING ERROR............."ACCIDENT"

You are very welcome, Eddie! I would venture to say that almost all of us here, if not in fact all, owe you a big debt of grattitude! Hearing Squad Car in '91 on the "Legends of Guitar - Surf" CD (on Rhino) was one of the defining moments in my gradual process of falling hopelessly in love with surf music.

I have two more (well, actually a LOT more, but I'll stick to these two) questions: do you remember your reverb unit settings in the sixties (are you still using the same settings); and were you ever told you were too loud (either individually or as a band) and asked to turn down? Did that happen in the sixties?

Thank you, Eddie!
Ivan

Ivan
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Hey Ivan,

Yes I remember my reverb settings! But if I tell you, then I would have to kill you! (laughing....could not resist)
The dwell at 3 ... mix at 7 ish ... tone 6 ish. Same now as then. It may change slightly depending on where I am playing. However the dwell setting does not change.

Only one person one time ever said I was too loud.
It was set up and sound check time. I was playing a very large hall. It was empty of course. I had a rig that night that Leo gave to use as he was doing work on my 62 showman amp. It was an empty "twin" cabnet with just the amp going into a two 15' cabnet with JBL 130s. As I was checking it out I had the volumn at only about 2 plus. All of a sudden this lady came running from the box office all the way to the stage at the back of the hall. She was waving her arms to the sky screaming at me saying "your not going to play that loud are you?" I said no, probally about 3 times louder. (I normally had my amp volumn at about 7 to 8 plus) But I said don't worry, when the 4,000 or 5,000 people get here, it will just fine. I felt as though she walked away with major doubt lol. True story I will never forget.

Thanks Ivan for the questions, and your interest.

Eddie

Eddie, this is good stuff! I'm going to go ahead and throw my 'one question' in here: Why the switch from the Strat to the Jaguar. I'm sure this would be of interest to a lot of folks on this forum. Thanks!

Ryan
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