Up for sale, a 1966 Fender Showman Black Panel vintage tube amp head, recently serviced and in perfect working order. Loaded with a fresh quad of properly biased JJ 6L6GC power tubes, this Showman has a sound that is powerful, clear, and sparkling. As Fender's flagship "piggyback" amp head of the Black Panel era, the Showman delivers 85 watts of all-tube power. The Showman is a real powerhouse for guitar, bass, or your favorite Fender Rhodes or combo organ. The low end is ample, and the amp has plenty of headroom and efficient clean power until about 6-7 on the Volume knob, where the signal starts to compress and overdrive. Fresh back from our techs and ready for another half century, this Showman is dialed in for stage and studio use.

The circuit retains all of the original Schumacher-made transformers which date between 1965-66 (curiously, the transformers bells have been painted gold). All of the Ajax blue molded signal caps are present in the preamp, central to the sweet, musical tone that's a hallmark of the Black Panel sound. The stock CTS and Stackpole pots are intact with visible date codes from '66, the preamp features a recap of the smaller electrolytics, while the power supply has also been professionally recapped with new Sprague Atoms. A new three-prong power cable has been installed.

This amp retains the original smooth black tolex and deeply aged silver sparkle grillcloth. There is no tube chart inside the head cabinet. All of the hardware is intact, including the piggyback clip bars, handle, corners, and raised metal Fender logo, and the faceplate also retains its stock complement of witch hat knobs.