I think everyone's going to recommend the brownface circuit and I reckon I'll be the first.

However, if you're looking to get a bit of grit, you're going to be playing at "peel the paint off the walls" volume with a Showman. I think your current Bassman is a pretty sweet setup already, actually. That was the first brownface amp I played (briefly) and I was surprised but also intrigued by how much it distorted at lowish volume.

Not the same story with the Showman. That will leave you in fear of the volume knob any time you're trying to play it at "bedroom" levels. They're like the top fuel dragster of Fender amps. If you don't need crazy volume, you could go with a Bandmaster instead. I think it's essentially the same thing but with half the output tubes. Still really loud, I'm certain.

Great replies thanks chaps !
@redfeather yep the 6g6 is sublime. I can cross from surf to setzer pretty happily with this and to be fair it does 90% of what I would want live.
I guess im just pining a bit for that traditional 'look' of a black tolex piggy back stack and crystaline cleans. I use a jess loureiro telemaster pickup in the bridge position of my Pink avri JM and thats mostly what gives me grit. Also use a little dirt form the caitlinbread 5f6 pedal on my board.

Sadly I did own a bandmaster in my very early days of playing surf and I let it go ! Such a mistake. I had less $$ then and I really wanted to import a vintage jag (glad I did that becase now they are unobtainably expensive). But yeh here in NZ its verrrrry hard to come by a amps such as a s 60s bandmaster or showman. I see a lot for sale in the USA but shipping is a disaster then youve got the tranni to deal with...

@synchro yep yep a lot to be said for that sort of set up. Ive been down the road of super small amps and still have a set up for that application. The blossom point I owned for a while but with teh presence on my 6g6 it didnt have a role. With an ab763 I totally see that it would.

I guess its fair to say I dont 'need' any of this big iron amps to do the job but its kinda a bucket list thing to be on stage with a 63 JM and a matching showman

I could still see a 6g14 build in my future. Im stuck on where to get a chassis tho. I see a face plate on Ebay....

SixStringSurfer wrote:

If you want to get as close to the real deal as possible, nothing less than the 6G14-A will do. I had mine built on a Twin Reverb chassis, and absolutely love it. I crank it loud as hell and it sounds gorgeous! Keep us informed with whatever you decide to do.

I think this is the way im heading...

So is yours running 5881 tubes?

Also is the face plate an exact repro and if so did that line up with the twin reverb chassis punch outs?

kick_the_reverb wrote:

See if a "Blonde Twin" chassis could work for you. That's basically the same amp as the brown panel Showman. There are a couple of eBay sellers selling those kind of chassis. Contact them and find out, they may be se to accommodate you. A Twin Reverb chassis is very different and will require a lot of modifications as a few here already found out.
Even if the external dimensions of a Blonde Twin chassis is different, it will be much easier to use.
Good luck

Ran

Looking for the chassis you refer too and not having much luck
I beleive it would be a 6g8a model?

kick_the_reverb wrote:

Yes, that would be the model.
Contact these two eBay sellers, they offer them from time to time:

1032canter1961
zachmdhunter

Good luck,
Ran

Pihabeach82 wrote:

kick_the_reverb wrote:

See if a "Blonde Twin" chassis could work for you. That's basically the same amp as the brown panel Showman. There are a couple of eBay sellers selling those kind of chassis. Contact them and find out, they may be se to accommodate you. A Twin Reverb chassis is very different and will require a lot of modifications as a few here already found out.
Even if the external dimensions of a Blonde Twin chassis is different, it will be much easier to use.
Good luck

Ran

Looking for the chassis you refer too and not having much luck
I beleive it would be a 6g8a model?

Thanks !

This looks very narrow. Remember that a Showman output transformer is much larger than a Band Master transformer.
Contact the seller and ask about what you need (that was the original advice)

Ran

Pihabeach82 wrote:

If im not mistaken this chassis would work perfectly ? Its listed as a blonde bassman but it has slots for four power tubes
the face plate cut outs seem ideal?

The only catch is he doesnt ship outside the US !!!

Link

The Scimitars

Last edited: Mar 18, 2024 12:59:24

Hammond 290fex is the PT transformer I’ve arrived at.

are there reasons to consider any alternative?

kick_the_reverb wrote:

FYI. These are the Power Transformer models that 6G14-A amps used:
67233
125P7A
125P7B

I suggest you find the closest equivalent that works for you.

Ran

I find this interesting. These seem all to be form mid sized 50w offerings such as brown face bassman, bandmasters etc. Where as the builds I have looked at on these forums tend towards PT assosciated with contemporary twin reverbs etc.
I think ill be slightly constraiend by whats available as an export model in NZ.

kick_the_reverb wrote:

FYI, one of my 61 Showman amps had a Twin Reverb power transformer in it when I bought it. My tech said he could never get the voltages up to spec. Replaced with a Mercury Magnetics 67233 equivalent and then everything worked as it should.
I would suggest making an effort to find the closest instead of copying builds that you never heard compared to the real amp side-by-side.
But what do I know...
Good luck
Ran

Pihabeach82 wrote:

kick_the_reverb wrote:

FYI. These are the Power Transformer models that 6G14-A amps used:
67233
125P7A
125P7B

I suggest you find the closest equivalent that works for you.

Ran

I find this interesting. These seem all to be form mid sized 50w offerings such as brown face bassman, bandmasters etc. Where as the builds I have looked at on these forums tend towards PT assosciated with contemporary twin reverbs etc.
I think ill be slightly constraiend by whats available as an export model in NZ.

This is my concern!

Very intersting response form Dave at Mercury Magnetics
@kick the reverb this seems to go along with what you were saying....

_I was just researching this very subject for another customer yesterday. That person is looking to build a Blonde Bassman amp using circuit #6G6-A

Fender’s schematic for the 6G6-A amp shows the power transformer to be the Schumacher made one #125P7A.

Mercury Magnetics has a clone of the 125P7A that was made from an original PT sent in for a rewind/rebuild: model FBTW-P

When we rewind a transformer, we created a build sheet that documents all the construction details on how it was made: wire gauges used, number of turns, bobbin size, lamination size and stack heights, insulation materials, and so on

So our Mercury “clone” models are replicas of the original designs.

However, our clone of the 125P7A’s build document says that the original power transformer sent to us came from a very rare Brown Twin Amp.

My research showed that the Brown Twin Amps were possibly not produced by Fender (some web sites say it was advertised but never made), but the 125P7A did appear in the Blonde Twin Amps

I’m saying all this to let you know that I have found that my research found that the 125P7A got used in lower wattage Fender amps: Blonde Bassman, Bandmaster, and probably even the Concert as you stated, but then also got installed in the higher power Twin and Showman amps.

So I would think you would be okay with using our FBTW-P as the 125P7A clone PT for your 6G14A Showman build.

I have attached the wiring diagram for your review of the voltages it produced.

It comes in a flat mount type with bolt hole spacing of 2 ¾” by 3 7/16”, which is the proper size for the 125P7A._